Correct me if I wrong but Egypt Familias only had levels 6 as their executives and level 7 captain right? Loki Trio already leveled up, and Ottar & the others FF executives will level up soon (I heard about Denatus in MS20 beginning? And Finn said something like that). So Loki and Freya together will have a total of one level 8, six level 7s, eight level 6s.

If we talk about system "some level x and captain level x+1" as in Freya and Loki Familias (Gullivers are count as one, plus Allen, Hogni, Hedin; Loki Trio are technically three but they are rival to one Ottar, and Ais, Bete, Tione, Tiona with them), we can see that having one level 7 captain you would probably have around four level 6s. Even if we multiple it by 3, that's still three level 7s and twelve level 6s.

In terms of just numbers, Egypt Familias would be... weaker than one Level 8 Ottar, if he is beastified to pseudo-level 9. I don't see how they can bring any problem for Orario. Hestia, Ganesha, Hephaestus excluded. Even Loki would stay aside.

I am just giving idea you know, I already complained about the difficulty it would be to make a credible antagonist from adventurers with what’s been established before.

But as long this antagonist isn’t a direct threat for Orario like Enyo or Evilus there would be no reason for Loki & Freya to involve themselves or work together to fight them. Conflict between Familia is something common in this city so as long this antagonist pick up the fight with just 1 faction (either Loki or Hestia/Freya) or excluding a faction from this story by for exemple saying they are currently doing an expedition, you can make a story of it & for the difference in power Leinad91 has proposed they recently obtained new skill & magic to close that gap.

@AlfiaTheNoise, being close to getting something is not the same as having gotten it, Ottar is not level 8, nor have his companions leveled up, so they would be equal with the Osiris family, with a level 7 captain and umpteenth level 6s just like them.

And if we are going to enter the game of assumptions, we can also assume that these Egyptian families have leveled up since more than 20 years have passed since that conflict, also even assuming that Ottar was a level 9 with his beastization, Omori would only have to say that the antagonist captain is also level 8 with a skill equal to or better than that and the supposed decisive advantage that you are giving him is over.

The logic I am using here is that those Egyptian families and others that have been rivals for Zeus and Hera in their time of splendor, would obviously be a challenge for the current elite of Orario. In the episode Freya, Ottar says that he resents being called the strongest because he's still weak compared to the true strongest (Zeus and Hera), so those who were a problem for the "true strongest" would obviously also be a problem for those who are trying to catch up to those "strongest", it's just transitivity.

This would be a believable way for the Freya family to level up, because I don't see how else they're going to do it if they don't have any antagonists to beat.

I don't see the logic in them leveling up in 20 years, since it requires a feat that's impossible to do outside of Orario unless they kill each other in roughly the same pattern as Freya or Kali. A Level 7 is unlikely to level up by killing multiple Level 6s, so let's assume the Level 6s fight each other, assuming there are four of them (for the reason I stated earlier). That way, after two duels, they'll have two new Level 7s in addition to the high Level 7 captain. By training with each other for that long, two of them could raise to their max, giving them three high Level 7s in total. They could leave it at that, or one of them could have another duel, leaving them with a high Level 7 and a low Level 8. That's the only way they have without a Dungeon. If we're talking about Freya, it would be a good opportunity for Ottar to level up by beating a Level 8; the others would have to work together (which isn't their strong point, which means development) to beat another high Level 7 with strong skills and magic. I don't think it makes sense to consider Loki, since they're not going to level up unlike Freya. Although they can do it in Dungeon.

My first comment might have come off as too critical, but I want to say that I actually like the idea of "reviving" the Egyptian Familias or something, considering they're listed as missing and we're even given the name of one of the captains for some reason. We could also learn more about the Zeus and Hera Familias through this interaction before we get a full spin-off.

I think it was mentioned that there are 3 unexplored areas, the dungeon being one of them and I think the dragon valley was another.

One idea that occurs to me is that the future antagonists have gotten stronger by exploring the other 2 and their surroundings, in Zard's SS it was said that some threats managed to escape the barrier. It would be a good way to justify why they took so long to act, since they needed years to increase their status there.

As for why adventurers from outside Orario don't do that regularly to increase their level, well maybe because unlike the dungeon which starts with level 1 difficulty, allowing anyone to explore it, the other 2 have a much higher initial difficulty level, which would not allow a level 1 or 2 adventurer to prosper there.

I think it's good to try to take advantage of the rest of the world, besides Orario if what is intended is that the antagonists have gotten stronger outside.

After Enyo and Evilus were defeated for good in Sword Oratoria, and Freya Familia conquered/tamed, there pretty much isn't any new villains left they could reasonably introduce, especially with the heights most of the major characters have reached.

Beyond the OEBD, and I guess technically speaking Asterius, like others mentioned the Corrupted Spirit is the biggest threat left, and it'll most likely be part of the Ais arc anyway.

Considering that we are creeping up on the conclusion of the story, right now in the "late worldbuilding and training before the final battle" phase, they don't really need another villain in the same vein as the others in the series.

@InversePrime

You're confusing narrative time with chronological time, limiting ourselves to the remaining time (4 months) it seems that the series is already in its final stretch, but is that the case? In these 4 months many more volumes can be written, just look at the expedition arc (vol 12-14) Bell's group was only 1 week in the dungeon and that was enough for 3 volumes, or look at Astrea Record which focused on the great Feud and was also a week with 3 volumes narrating the events. Therefore, assuming that a short chronological time is equivalent to being close to the conclusion of the story is too simplistic and reductionist.

How many antagonists did the expedition arc need? The Moss Huge, 2 Lamptons, the Amphisbaena and the Juggernaut, in one week; how many did Astrea Record need? Alfia, Zard, Barlsam and his 12 spirit soldiers, the Dis sisters, Valletta and Delphyne in one week too. This is a shonen, in each volume of adventures antagonists are needed and the more characters participate in the adventure the more antagonists will be needed for each group of participants and Danmachi has too many characters...

So, it is reasonable to assume that there are many volumes left before the final conclusion since time is not an absolute limitation as I explained and also, Bell still has to overcome levels 5 and 6, because he is expected to be level 7 against OEBD or at least close to be it, so he has many adventures ahead for that purpose, and how is he going to achieve it without antagonists to face? and also how are his new friends from Freya going to level up without worthy opponents to defeat?

Omori could send absolutely everyone to the dungeon: Hestia, Freya, Loki, Hermes, Hephaestus and Ganesha families, yes, it is an alternative, but would that be fun and interesting? We know that the Loki family is focused on exploring the deepest floors so Sword Oratoria will be about that, now imagine what would be happening in the main series, as there is nothing else, Bell and all his friends would also go to the dungeon to go as deep as possible, so you would have 2 novels that dealt with exactly the same thing, with the only difference being that the faces of the protagonists were different in each case. Would you enjoy reading 2 identical novels where only the names of the protagonists changed in each one?

I am well aware that introducing new antagonists under the current conditions would violate this or that pre-established rule, but if it is in favor of the novels having a more diversified and interesting content and not being a constant monotony (dungeon and more dungeon) it is a reconfiguration that I think is worth it.

Honestly, I am surprised that you are precisely the one who is so strict with the power system when in the past you have sent it to hell in favor of better plot developments, like when you defended that it had been good that the Loki family did not participate in the war game because that allowed better developments for Freya and her family and you sent the power system to hell in favor of that.

If you're looking for an excuse as for why powerful opponents would attack now instead of earlier, the war game is an obvious reasoning. Forget Freya's Familia, nothing matters if Freya can just one shot the universe itself with her charm. Outside of Orario people might believe that Freya herself has left Orario.

My comment doesn't have to do with the power system, but rather the emotional/dramatic stakes for the story. Like Enyo/Evilus were all about trying to literally destroy Orario, and then you have Freya brainwashing the whole city right after, it's harder to think of what else they could do that could reasonably go further than that other than the Dragon or the Corrupted Spirit.

Most of the antagonists in the story weren't just about overcoming strength but also the investment and connection they had to the other characters. Apollo's attempt to take Bell, partly as revenge against Hestia, Lili and Welf's personal histories with Soma and Ares Familias, Ishtar's schemes using Haruhime, Ikelos Familia's Xenos hunting, and Freya's own desire to claim Bell. And then most of the villains in SO also have their own clear drives and connections to the characters in the story (Dionysus, Filvis, Revis, Thanatos, Valletta, etc.)

It isn't really a power scaling thing, but after conquering Freya Familia, it's hard to think of anyone in Orario that could or would want to beef with them, that could be considering compelling threats (since even all the off-screen attempts at kidnapping Haruhime post-War Game are just played as basically gags). And if there is a new threat that comes from outside, I think you would need someone who could intellectular or ideologically challenge Bell in some way.

If they wanted to bring in a more grander antagonist, the smartest thing I think they could do would be something like a hostile takeover of the Guild from outside forces in some way. It's a threat they can't just simply beat in a fight, and could have ramifications in the planning for the eventual Dragon battle.

@InversePrime

Villains like Enyo and Evilus wanted to destroy Orario, if you don't want the same thing to happen again you could have villains who don't aspire to destroy it but to colonize/dominate the city, since as it is the center of the world, conquering it will bring a great income to the colonizer. In such an event you would have all the residents involved because their well-being would be compromised, in one way or another.

Also, if you want a villain who can ideologically disturb Bell, it could be some who somehow know his origins; They could pose the dilemma of: "you are defending those who opportunistically expelled your family (violence included), or even more traumatic if they allow him to discover that his beloved Ryuu and Ais are responsible for the death of his aunt Alfia. Bell would be at the crossroads of putting the greater good above family ties, something not so easy to do, especially for a sentimental child like him. I think we have already talked about something like this before.

It would be the author's literary challenge to build antagonists and their intricate motivations and personal stories to want to antagonize the protagonists, all that in order to diversify the plot, something that I see quite necessary for the following:

Imagine that Omori is going to write 21 more novels for the franchise (MS and SO), just to give an example. Let's say that 3 of them are the final arc of the black dragon, and that there are 3 or 4 volumes of rest, so You would have 14 or 15 adventure novels, what would they consist of? In exploring the dungeon, as things are there is nothing else; then in one MS arc you would have Bell and company trying to get to the 50th floor for example, in the next trying to get to the 54th, in the next to the 58th, etc. The same in SO for the Loki family, they try to clear the 60th floor, then the 65th, then the 71st and so on.

If things go like this, Danmachi is heading irremediably to be a monotonous and repetitive series, and therefore boring. Something that I personally think should be avoided and the way that occurs to me is leaving the dungeon, having adventures in other scenarios, and whatever these other scenarios are, they should have antagonists since this series is a shonen, hence the need for them.

My conclusion is that nothing good awaits this series if the dungeon remains the only scenario for adventures, although I won't be upset if others don't share my opinion.