That same night, Yoruichi returned from her late-night investigation and went straight to Kisuke's lab, "How is it?"

Kisuke didn't look up and continued examining the strangely colored magic stone that Yoruichi has brought today using his myriads of devices, "Basically, it is just a regular magic stone, but the strange bits inside of it form a spell, augmented with a bit of spiritual powers."

"A spell? What does it do?"

"I'm still not sure about the entirety of its function, however, I managed to uncover a few things. First, the spell is a set of commands that the monster follows and the spiritual powers is a tether for it to be connected to its host or the person who created this magic stone."

"Can you trace this connection?"

Kisuke shook his head, "The moment the monster died, this connection disappeared. I might be able to find some other way, but not now."

"I see. You're focusing on creating the 'gate'."

"Yes. I'm on a critical stage. If I can divert my attention, that's only for the Sacred Gear project as that is important for our future growth." Kisuke then turned to Yoruichi, "What about you? What's the result of your investigation."

"It's actually easy to find the information about the Elf as it seems that she's pretty famous.

"Other Adventures gave her the nickname 'The Banshee' for reasons that everyone she apparently partied with, her own Familia and those outside of it, are dead. Each and every time, her party would meet an unfortunate accident and only she would survive.

"It all started six years ago on the incident known as the Nightmare of the 27th Floor. A lot of adventurers died that day due to machinations of the former organization Evilus. Their leader sent his men to the 27th Floor to wipe every Adventurer there.

"They leaked false information stating that there was suspicious activity going on in the Dungeon. They lured several influential parties to the 27th Floor. All of Evilus' people acted as decoys and led a mass of monsters to those parties. All of the floor's monsters, as well as the floor boss, had a free-for-all frenzy. It was like a painting of hell, they say.

"The reinforcements arrived late, all they witnessed was a river of black and red, filled with bodies which you couldn't even begin to count. And then the monsters that followed. The Adventurers that were attacked were at a loss and the scenery on the 27th Floor continued to spread.

"The black-haired Elf, Filvis Challia, was one of the few survivors of that incident. Barely making it out of there with her life. She came back to the town, looking like she had already died. They said that there were a lot of Adventurers that had lost their comrades or lost body parts, But they have never seen anybody with as bad of a face as the one she had.

"And from that day on, it's as if she has become cursed. Any party she approaches, sooner or later, it gets annihilated. Once, their party made an error in judgment. Another time, they ran into an irregular environment. A falling out among comrades. There are at least four cases where her party has been completely annihilated. She's always the lone survivor.

"If you party with that Elf, you'll die. That rumor spread like a wildfire because it wasn't a joke. Even though she is now a captain among the Dionysus Familia, there are still fumes of that rumor floating around. Solo Adventurer, the Party Killing Elf, Banshee." Yoruichi ended her story.

"Where did you get this information?"

"Riveria. Just a bit of money, and everyone will be talking."

Kisuke stayed silent for a moment before voicing out his thoughts, "Is it bad that I became interested in partying with her?"

"It's bad." Yoruichi, however, grinned, "But I also want to try it."

Chuckling, Kisuke changed the topic, "Setting that aside, are you sure that there's a missing part of her soul?"

"Yes. I can tell you that much. Though I still wonder how she can still move around properly."

"Hmm... If we want to know more about it, I guess we should investigate what really happened down on the 27th Floor six years ago."

"I have the same thoughts. But Kuroka's and my hands are already full, so we'll just be putting it to our side note. What's important is that she immediately tried to snatch that magic stone and that she's from the Dionosys Familia."

"Right. We don't know what's their connection with this incident, but it'll be good if we put an eye on them in case they do something nasty and we're affected by it."

"Got it. I'll make the preparations to put them in our limited monitoring."

Yoruichi sat down on the sofa prepared for the resting period and intended to accompany Kisuke with his research all night when the latter suddenly pulled out a bunch of paper and passed it to her, "By the way, the girls already decided to level up. This is their stats before and after."

Yoruichi nodded and took a look at the papers.

Sona Sitri

Level 1

Basic Abilities:

STR: C-698 ---> SSS-1101

VIT: A-901 ---> SSS-1232

DEX: S-925 ---> SSS-1354

AGI: C-699 ---> SS-1099

Extra Abilities:

DEM-POW: SSS-1302 ---> EX1500

Aika Kiryuu

Level 1

Basic Abilities:

STR: SS-1001 ---> SSS-1409

VIT: S-989 ---> SSS-1384

DEX: SS-1092 ---> SSS-1489

AGI: SS-1002 ---> SSS-1401

MANA: A-898 ---> SS-1100

Extra Abilities:

REI-KI: B-703 ---> SSS-1480

DRACONIC AURA: C-669 ---> EX1500

Shirone Toujou

Level 1

Basic Abilities:

STR: SS-1059 ---> SSS-1490

VIT: SS-1069 ---> EX-1500

DEX: S-998 ---> SSS-1339

AGI: SS-1010 ---> SSS-1475

MANA: A-872 ---> SS-1001

KI: E-596 ---> EX-1500

Kuroka Toujou

Level 1

Basic Abilities:

STR: SSS-1349 ---> EX-1500

VIT: SSS-1401 ---> EX-1500

DEX: SSS-1203 ---> SSS-1475

AGI: SSS-1304 ---> SSS-1486

MANA: SS-1098 ---> SSS-1307

KI: SS-1027 ---> EX1500

Magic:

(NEW) Sage Mode: Expelling Black Flames

(NEW) Hohou (Movement Techniques)

Medusa

Level 1

Basic Abilities:

STR: SS-1099 ---> SSS-1301

VIT: SS-1058 ---> SSS-1298

DEX: SSS-1401 ---> EX-1500

AGI: EX-1500

MANA: EX-1500

"I see... They've been complaining about feeling bloated and I can somehow feel it too."

"Yes. I decided that it's already time to level up. It's not good to push too much because it'll only damage their foundation. What about you?"

"I just need two more parameters to reach the EX status. No way I'm going to level up without maxing it out."

"Just be careful."

"I will."

.

.

.

The next day, just as the trio was about to leave for the Dungeon, Riveria and Line arrived in the abandoned church. Kisuke along with the girls and the still lethargic Hestia came out to greet them, "Good morning, Riveria-san~. About the last time, please forgive me for that." The nasty shopkeeper immediately reminded her of what happened three days ago.

Line on the side became nervous as she peeked at Riveria's expression. Thankfully, however, there wasn't much of a change in her expression as she replied, "No. I don't blame you for putting those terms five days ago."

"Uhmm... I'm talking about what happened three days ago."

Riveria's smile didn't disappear but her eyes and atmosphere became cold, "The last time I came here was five days ago. I wonder what you're talking about?"

'So that's how she wanted to play it. Whatever.' Kisuke chuckled and chose to let her go, "Would you like to come inside?"

Riveria shook her head, "No. I only came here to bring Line and say that I would like to start our lessons a week later."

"Hmm? Is something going on?"

Riveria's demeanor slowly calmed down and answered honestly, "A few of our members are going to the Dungeon for a week to pay some of our debts. Our last expedition forced us to take loans for the destroyed weapons and we hope that we can recoup our losses."

"May I ask until which floor are you going?"

"At least the 30th Floor."

"If that's the case, do you mind taking three of my girls with you? They can act as supporters. They need valuable experience."

Sona, Aika, and Koneko looked towards Kisuke before looking towards Riveria with gleaming eyes. As the least experienced in the group, Kisuke's proposal is great for them.

Riveria hesitated for a few moments before answering, "It's fine with me, but I have to consult with everyone else. We plan to meet in the Central park of the Tower of Babel at noon after some preparations. They can come after they have prepared, but it's only then that the others can decide if they can come along or not."

"That's fine. Thanks~," Kisuke then turned to the girls, "Start preparing. Kuroka, Medusa, please help them."

"Okay~." "Understood."

"Yoruichi, please lead Line to the examination room."

"Got it." Yoruichi then grabbed Line's hand and dragged her towards the elevator where the girls were already entering.

Riveria only watched them silently before turning back to the grinning Kisuke and sighed. She then raised her hand and swore, "I swear to my Falna that I won't reveal any information to anyone regarding the members of the Hestia Familia without any prior permission to do so."

Kisuke then looked towards Hestia who was already wide awake, staring at Riveria, and nodded at him.

"I can also assure you that I didn't tell anyone else anything about your Familia." Riveria followed up before turning around to leave.

Hestia also confirmed that she isn't lying.

To her leaving back, Kisuke waved, "See you in a week~!"

Riveria ignored him and walked faster as she's still very embarrassed by what happened last time. She's already praising herself not running away from him the moment she saw him.

Editors:

28th00

Alexander

Alternative Title:

Riveria sells her soul to the Devil?! (28th00)