"Finished packing already?" A golden-haired prum asked Riveria as he leaned on her door. Riveria gave him a side glance before returning to the paper she was writing. Finn acted hurt, though mockingly. After all, Riveria always listens to her family, especially Finn, all the time. If she is unable to do so, then there is something important occupying her. This has been like this ever since they met, and the others paid no mind. After all, like Finn, Riveria's paperwork varies. She and the other executives share the work in tax, equipment management, budgeting, and a lot more. With an expedition coming near, they are expected to be even busier than normal, typically unable to deal with other minor things at the moment.

"I was supposed to finish my paperwork this week. However, because of an unforeseen event that was Mr. Bell Cranel, I would just be listing down a quick list of what to do during the time that I accompany him to the dungeon." The high elf, though timely, replied to her companion.

"Besides, I doubt he will dive as deep. So I will just bring light supplies as he will be the one doing the fighting and not me," she replied nonchalantly.

Finn laughed softly to think that a boy would disrupt their mama's schedule. "Your departure is at nine. Bell will be waiting at the guild entrance." Seeing Riveria nod to him, he left with a smile.

...

..

.

After settling an agreement with Goibniu about his debt, Bell continued his walk around the plaza, where he was baited into dining in by a gray-haired girl that same night, and then went into Babel to browse and hopefully buy some armor, but came out empty-handed. He also found a pharmacy with a disabled chienthrope that sells diluted health and mind potion, which her deity probably never knew about. After the commotion that happened in the hostess last night, Bell rented a room in the hostess after the Loki family left. Now, Bell sat on one of the tables around the guild, eating a crepe and peacefully waiting for the jade-haired elf.

His wait was not long, though, as he came face-to-face with a small bag filled with vials, followed by Riveria, who sat right in front of him. She was wearing her usual outfit, alongside her robe and her trusty wand, like a normal day.

"No armor?"

"I don't intend to fight," Riveria deadpanned. "I could say the same to you."

"I'm well-equipped; the hell are you talking about?" Bell replied as he inspected for any missing valuables in his body. He wore brown trousers paired with a black shirt, equipped with a small body bag that contains vials, health potions, and other miscellanous supplies, which was then covered by the dark blue coat that he was wearing when they first met him. On his sides were two short swords, specifically a wakizashi and a standard dagger, his newly crafted broadsword on the back, and an old staff. The only armor he had standing out were his elbow pads, knee pads, and a blank smile.

Riveria could only shake her head; she is about to accompany this man in a solo dive that goodness knows where will take them. Just a glance at him tells a lot about how much he values his safety and others.

"You ready to go?"

"Yep! Oh, let me carry this for you." Bell picked up her bag as they started walking to the dungeon entrance. "After this, you're going to tell me what you know about the boreal forest, hmm?"

"Yes, ma'am." And with that, they were off to the dungeon and are expected to come back by the end of the week. Meanwhile, the others are preparing for the deep expedition that the Loki family is about to commit, and in the middle of it, something unforeseen happens to those on the surface.

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"I wonder how they are doing right now...." Eight words filled Lefiya's mind as she threaded down the busy streets of Orario, accompanying her rather.... unpleasant deity.

"yeesh, you worry too much Lefiya. It's only been two days since they left y'know?" Loki waved her hand at the back, knowing the young elf was behind her. Lefiya sighed, her god was right; maybe she's just overthinking. If Loki herself is not a single bit worried about Riveria and Bell then there's none for her to worry about. After all, deities have literal divine senses at the back of their heads that are far more powerful than any living being in the lower world, who is she to question their credibility?

Lefiya tried to put her worries to rest as they approach their first destination for the day. Loki opened the door gently as they enter the pub.

"Huh?" Lefiya said with a puzzled face.

"Hmm? What's the matter Lefiya?"

"Uhm, nothing--Nothing!" Lefiya shook her head quite violently. Loki gave her the same look she wore earlier; but decided to ignore it and started heading to the second floor. There awaits a tall beast-person, muscular build, standing at 210cm. His face bore no expression; rusted eyes peering into their souls as they appear into his line of sight. Lefiya could feel it on her feet. She swallowed, in front of them right now is the King, Ottarl of Freya familia accompanied by a person whose face hid under a veil.

If Ottarl's here, that must be... !

"Yo, Freya! I never thought of you to be into this kind of stuff...." Loki greeted cheerfully,

"Saying my name in public so casually...Though I don't really mind hehe." The woman giggled as light finally caught onto her face, revealing beauty that is arguably unmatched by mortals. Long silver hair, with strands fortunate enough to touch her flawless face. Silver eyes glistening in a mysterious hue of purple, and a skin like that of a fresh snow. The pinnacle of fertility; the goddess of love and beauty:

Freya.

"Hmm? What's wrong darling?" She inquired, staring at the orange-haired Elf behind her fellow goddess.

Lefiya felt weird, her cheeks warming up the moment she met the goddess' eyes.

Snap!

Lefiya was briefly broken from the goddess' daze as Loki snaps her fingers, "Can you stop charming my child, Freya?" Loki clicked her tongue.

"Oh? My apologies, but I guess you already know what this veil is for, hmm?"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Loki rolled her eyes, Freya giggled which was replied by a loud sigh from her fellow goddess.

"So is this about a new man?" Loki questioned, a small lips appeared on Freya's face.

"Oh, you know me too well. In fact, I feel like you already know who it is..."

"He's unique. Each soul has color distinct to the owner's personality, with behaviors varying from one another. Some souls shine brightly, while some are dimmed." Freya gently twirls the glass of wine she's holding, almost as if she's illustrating the movements of a soul;

Until she stopped.

"But his, is completely different, something I have never seen before. His soul glowed... None. Completely transparent, with a hue of the lightest shade of blue frequently surrounding it. It's as if I'm looking through a clear frozen water. Devoid of any imperfections and unnecessary debris."

The goddess' cheeks adapted a rosy appearance, her pearl skin intensifying it. Her breath grew frequent and ragged as she stares into an empty space, absorbed in her own fantasies. Her inside felt hot, extremely hot, holding back the urge to let loose and drown in a sea of pleasure.

"N-no, I shall continue this some time later..." She hesitantly stopped and faced Loki.

Loki opened her eyes narrowly, staring at the former cunning eyes of the goddess of beauty, now fueled with unmeasurable lust and longing. She rested her back on the chair, arms behind her head, watching Freya recompose herself.

"I can't give him to you. Situation's much more complicated than that." Freya let out a breath of disappointment. She rests her arms on the table, as if eagerly begging---demanding answers out of Loki

"Oh? How come, Loki? Is it something that even you can't handle? If that's the case I'd willingly lend a hand." She smiled brightly at Loki, almost too innocent for Loki to believe.

"I wouldn't say much for now. But for the meantime, I am not open for negotiations." Loki rebutted at her.

"Fine then, I would leave you alone for now. However, keep your guards up. I will still try to snatch him away from you if opportunities are given." Freya stood up and elegantly walked through the stairs, Ottarl following suite. Loki watched her descend down until a waiter approached her.

"Wait, why are you leaving me with the bills!? I barely even touched my food goddamnit Freya!" Loki looked down the balcony and aimed her fist in annoyance, while Freya waved her hand at her before disappearing into the crowd.

"What was that about?" Lefiya finally broke her silence.

"Ugh, just a pointless meeting. Another headache for me." Loki sighed, She had never seen her goddess this stressed.

The two were left alone on the table where Freya formerly sat at. Loki gestured her to take Freya's seat in which Lefiya obliged. Her nose scrunched up due to the intoxicating scent left by the goddess.

"What time is it?, AH, its almost time for the performance! I want to see Aizu in there... Hurry Lefiya let's go!" Loki was gone in a daze. Lefiya decided to follow after. As she picked up her staff, her eyes wandered into the untouched glass of wine on the table. However she immediately went down as she heard Loki's voice calling for her.

"Coming!"

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"AAAAIIIIIIZZUU." The blonde took a step back, avoiding a speeding red thing while biting onto her newly bought jyagamarukun. The red entity turned out to be her goddess, who was now stumbled all over the floor after colliding with an immovable object that was the ground. An orange-haired girl soon reached Aiz's sight, running really sloppy, trying her best to catch her breath but still failing to do so every time she attempted to do so.

Aiz munches down on her snack as she innocently watched her junior reach her destination, completely ignoring the fact that a level 3 mage got outran by a deity with no authority over her divine powers; simply speaking, she was literally powerless. It is either the willpower to see Aiz that got Loki to leave Lefiya on the run or that the elf was just too slow entirely.

"Lefiya..."

"Miss Aiz, have you seen Lok? Oh, there she is." The orange-haired woman mumbled in exhaustion, hands on her knees, trying her best not to be like the goddess in front of her.

"Has the performance started yet?"

"Oh, it's starting shortly," Aiz replied blankly.

"Great, we made it just in time! Oh, and why are you still outside, Miss Aiz?"

"We're supposed to be on guard. Tiona and Tione are inside." Lefiya nodded in understanding. "How about you guys? Where have you been?"

"Hmm? I never expected that from you, Aiz. Hehe, something good happened~~?" Loki appeared behind Aiz, her arms navigating their way to her armor up to her middle. But before Loki's mischievous hands reached her, she grabbed them and slammed her deity on the ground for the second time, just this minute, practically speaking. She then stretched her arms between her legs, slowly twisting them.

"AAHH, WE MET UP WITH A DEITY, THAT'S IT!"

Loki's face brewed agony, yet Aiz insisted until Loki finally tapped out. Lefiya only dared to watch the two's banter; her feelings for her goddess' situation were conflicting. Is she supposed to feel bad about it? But it's Loki, though?

"In the end, they were up to no good. Haaa, now I regret even wasting my time going to that meeting." Loki slumped her ass on the ground beside Lefiya. Aiz had long disappeared, now back in front of a big-fronted woman's jyagamarukun stall, buying her third-no fourth-serving for the day. They were left alone in silence. Just them and the busy streets of Orario. For Lefiya, it was weird. Ever since she joined the family, she hasn't had a single second spent without Loki trying to flirt or grope her whenever they were together. And it wasn't just with her; she does it with almost every female member of the family, except for Riveria. That's why being left with a well-behaved Loki was unusual for her. Maybe something was bothering her perverted goddess that caused her to be like this, or maybe because of the meeting earlier, or maybe it's far less serious than she thought. Just the thought of Loki trying to reason out with Finn and the other two because she lavishly spent money to buy alcohol is quite humorous for her. This made Lefiya silently giggle; she broke the silence.

"You seem sad, Loki."

Loki sighed,

"Don't dig in too much about it, Lefiya; I'm just a hangover, that's all," she finally replied, her head resting over her palm like a bored toddler. The elf nodded calmly, yet her eyes defied, twitching violently with every ticking second.

"Argh! Where are they?" Lefiya scrambled through her hair, slightly messing it.

"You know what? I'm going to look for them! Stay here for a bit, Loki." Lefiya marched away from Loki, heading towards the entrance of the colosseum. Loki could only slump her body over. Her Aiz is busy with snacks. Her guard, who's supposed to be keeping her safe, left her alone like a ragged child.

"I miss Riveria." She could only mutter. Her ears drowned in the noise of the crowd, and her eyes drooped as they were occupied by the passing of time. Amidst it all, he heard a rowdy and familiar laughter.

"BAHAHAHAHAHA! You haven't drank a single drop of alcohol today, Loki! What's wrong? Are you sick or something?"

Loki's eyes shot up, and her heart started to beat heavily as she stood up, frantically searching for the source of the voice she just heard, but was only met with the noise of the people. Registering it before her breathing finally calmed down. She looked at her shaking hand as her lips trembled.

She sighed,

"I gotta hit some booze." Loki added as she admired the rowdy but peaceful festival.

However it wasn't long before her silence was interrupted by a huge explosion. A series of large collisions soon followed, causing a stampede of civilians making their way to the colosseum. Adventurers were quick to take notice and immediately arrived at the scene.

"Miss Loki, let's go somewhere safer!" A half-elf guild adviser grabbed the bewildered God and dragged her to the guild's stands, where Aiz, Tiona and Tione are waiting for command.

"Thanks, Eina. Tiona, Tione. What's the situation?" queried the goddess.

"Several plant-like monsters started appearing and caused havoc around. Aiz has already killed a handful of them but they kept respawning."

Loki sat on the floor, hand over her chin. Was it the Evilus? No, let's think about that later. Since the monsters are spawning endlessly, then something must be keeping it alive....

Like a bulb-lighting, realization hit Loki.

"Roots!"

Loki snapped her fingers, gaining the attention of the twins, "Tiona, Tione, go help Aiz. Tell her to find the main branch of the plant." She ordered, the twins immediately responded and went off like a breeze.

"I need to report this to Finn. Perhaps Lefiya can reach him fast....Wait, LEFIYA!?" The goddess panicked as she searched for Lefiya in the area, only to see her fighting alongside Aiz. "That girl....!"

Before she can run off, Eina grabbed her and held her down. "You can't go outside miss Loki, it's dangerous." Loki tried to protest but soon gave up. Clicking her tongue, she could only watch and hope for the young elf to survive.

-

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-

Stems flew in the air as Aiz mutilated every stem that dared enter her peripheral vision. In each sway of her rapier, a viola goes down; however, a new one emerges as well. After a while, more violas emerged as a replacement for the fallen monster, ultimately surrounding Aiz in all directions.

"Tempest." A gust of wind enveloped her, followed by a flurry of slashes that wiped out every monster that's around her. Like a breeze, Aiz paced around the monsters, slicing every head that popped out of the ground. "There's no end to them," she muttered as she diced another viola to pieces. Just then, she heard familiar voices calling her out, followed by the crashing of a double-edged sword on the creeping monster behind her.

"AAAAAIIZZZ" Tiona landed suite, picking up her urga in the process while her sister, Tione, followed.

"Don't overwork yourself, Aiz. Leave some for us too!" Tiona grinned as she patted the blonde's back. "Loki said we should look for the host; there's no use killing these pesky plants if the root is not destroyed," Tione added, inspecting the surrounding area, which is now infested with violas. Aiz only nodded, readying her rapier for another round. The twins also readied their stance. But just before they started, another familiar scream alerted them. It was of their orange-haired elf, getting chased around by plant monsters.

"Lefiya?" Without hesitation, Aiz rushed down to Lefiya, and in a swift move, all the violas chasing Lefiya exploded into ashes. Lefiya opened her eyes and saw Aiz standing in front of her. The elf lit up in joy and hugged the blonde from behind. "Why are you here?"

"Ms. Aiz, I want-"

"Find a safe place; let us handle this." Before Lefiya could explain, Aiz had already carried her a few meters away from the monsters. As Aiz jumped back into the fight, her ears drooped in sadness. Lefiya clutched her staff as she watched her seniors deal with an endless supply of monsters. She found herself standing, doing nothing, like a helpless child. Bitter words and insults from Bete flooded her mind at the moment, reminding her again and again how 'useless' and 'weak' she was. She fell to her knees, looking down in pity, questioning herself and her entire existence as a mage.

Use me.

A chilly breeze raised her head, drying the tears that formed on her eyes.

"What if I failed again?" Lefiya narrowed her eyes.

Mhmm, I'm here for you. This time, I will guide you.

A pair of arms raised hers. Lefiya couldn't see it, but she felt the cold touch and the warmth.

Just call my name...

....

...

..

.

"No, I'll use my own strength! I am Lefiya Viridis, and I am a member of the strongest familia in Orario!" Lefiya wiped her tears, her eyes fueled with will. She stood on her weakened knees and started running towards her companions, swiftly avoiding every obstacle that blocked her way. Nearing the scene, she gripped her staff with resilience.

"I wish upon the name of Wishe. Ancestors of the forest, proud brethren. Answer my call and come to the plains. Connecting bonds, the pledge of paradise. Turn the circle and dance around. Come, ring of fairies. Please, give me strength."

"Lefiya?"

"Elf Ring." Magic shone as a circle appeared beneath Lefiya's foot. The three took notice and backed slowly to protect Lefiya. Her magic, the Elf Ring, allows her to imitate any elf magic that she can chant and use. This opens her to a horizon of magic spells that no other mage can access, and being a member of the Loki familia grants her access to the magic of one of the most powerful mages in Orario-Riveria Ljos Alf.

"Harbinger of the end, the white snow. Blow with the wind before the twilight."

I'm not afraid...

Because they're here...

"Closing light, the freezing land, Blizzard, the three severe winters-my name is Alf!"

To protect me!

"Wynn Fimbulvetr!"

A wave of bright light hit the violas, devouring them in all their glory. The magic given to the strongest mage in Orario, with its honed capability and absolute freezing point, Wynn Fimbulvetr was believed to freeze time. Its victims were left frozen, unmoving, until freed from its shackles. The only thing left for them to do was shatter the ice. The three moved in unison, completely destroying the hopeless viola frozen in time.

"Lefiyaa!" An arm made its way to the elf's shoulder, dragging her down the floor as it tightened gently. Tiona hugged her from the back while Tione patted her head, leaving the poor elf girl flustered from all the sudden skinship. "That monster was a pain in the ass! Good thing your magic worked on it," the cheerful Amazoness added. A blonde joined in their little commotion with a soft smile on her face.

"Thank you, Lefiya. You're so strong back there, like Riveria."

"Ms. Aiz..." The elven girl blushed slightly, hearing the compliment from her idol. "Can I go to the dungeon with you from now on?" she requested, holding her hands together.

Aiz only smiled back at her, giving Lefiya a reassuring nod. "Fine by me." Lefiya bloomed, hugging her idol by surprise. Aiz didn't mind the gesture, as Lefiya went through quite something.

"Celebration's later, girls! Aiz, Tiona, Tione, go search the area for potential monsters. And you, Lefiya, glad you're safe. But don't go running into the fray outta nowhere! Riveria's going to kill me if something happens to you!" Loki snatched Lefiya's head and rubbed it gently. Her goddess might be a pervert at times, but she still has a heart for her children; even the gods get worried too. Lefiya's smile can finally be seen fully on display. As much as Bete's words might hurt her, they helped her a lot this time. However, she still prefers this kind of feeling.

...

..

.

Maybe you won't need me for a while yet...

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Hello! Assitant here. I'm deeply sorry for not releasing for so long. I've been really busy with school, like REAL busy, so I just waited until the school year was finished before I continued working with this again. This chapter has been on hold for 6 months now, and I just haven't made myself some free time to continue this. But now that I'm currently on vacation, y'all can expect a few releases before school starts again. That's all. See you, and thanks for reading!