The young man stood casually with his sword in hand, dazzling countless onlookers.
"Can you... really... replace it?"
Bache lowered her head, her voice coming in broken fragments.
"Even a pretty boy... who interferes with the ritual... must die!"
They had met three times so far. Excluding their last encounter, they had only crossed blades once—during which she had lost an arm.
But that was due to a sneak attack!
Bache thought to herself. Without being ambushed, a Level 5 could never defeat a Level 6!
Even facing Eiji, she brimmed with confidence!
If he could use that magic, it might be different. But the curse of the sealing ritual takes time to dissipate—he shouldn't be able to cast spells yet. She was certain she wouldn't lose!
"Seems you've misunderstood me somehow!"
Eiji scoffed, raising his blade horizontally.
Whoosh!
His figure shot forward like a cannonball, covering dozens of meters in an instant.
"So fast!"
"Tch!"
Bache startled, barely registering the clicking tongue lost in the wind as she instinctively raised her arm to block.
Her forearm was clad in sturdy metal armor. Blocking this strike would let her counterattack.
Clang—!
In a flash, the blade met her guard.
No impact?
Bache felt a flicker of confusion. The strike didn't even push her back, let alone deliver any real force.
But she didn't dwell on it. After all, wasn't this how a Level 5 versus Level 6 should be?
She immediately prepared to counter—only for searing pain to erupt in her chest. Blood gushed uncontrollably from her mouth.
"Gah—!"
Bache screamed.
"How...?"
All strength left her body as she crumpled to the ground like a ragdoll.
"Just because I played along with your act, did you really think I couldn't fight above my level?"
A condescending gaze looked down at her.
But she could no longer speak—darkness swallowed her vision as she lost consciousness.
Another instant defeat!
"Ooooh!"
"That's the Handsome Aurora for you!"
"The rumors were true after all!"
Cheers erupted not just from Loki Familia, but even the surrounding Amazons.
"Whose side are you on anyway?"
Alicia glared at the Amazons in disgust.
As an elf with a cleanliness obsession, she particularly despised the overly unrestrained Amazons.
"We side with the handsome ones!"
"Shameless hussies!"
"Ha! We'll take that as a compliment!"
"...That wasn't a compliment."
Aisha's booming laughter left Alicia speechless.
"Eiji, I knew you loved me!"
Tiona cried tears of joy.
"Not really."
Eiji offered an awkward yet polite smile.
"You really had us worried, kid."
Finn and the others approached with smiles, delivering friendly punches to his shoulders.
"Good thing you're fine. The girls in the familia would've been devastated otherwise."
Riveria glanced at Ais beside her, lips curling into an auntie's knowing smile.
"I was actually just here to fish... Things happened too fast to notify you all..."
Eiji wiped his brow sheepishly.
He possessed an irresistible charm and an illusory domain that could absolutely preserve his life. His Sword Heart's Valor allowed him to ignore both charm and divine intimidation. Even if he entered Ishtar Familia, he could undoubtedly swagger his way out unscathed.
"Don't let the little one escape!"
Loki shouted, directing Raul and others to swarm toward the loli goddess Kali, successfully capturing her.
With that, Ishtar Familia became history, and Kali Familia was reduced to captives.
Half of the Evilus's active forces were annihilated in this incident.
"But this has created another extremely troublesome matter..."
Finn looked up at the distant Temple of Sacred Prostitutes.
The top floor of that palace had been blown away by the pillar of light. Affected by the divine energy within the beam, the entire temple was now half-destroyed.
"Ishtar was sent back—moreover, sent back after being killed by a mortal. This will become a major incident. The Guild definitely won't let this slide," Riveria said with a stern expression, one eyebrow raised.
"After all, Ishtar paid the highest taxes to the Guild in all of Orario. The Guild's expenditures heavily relied on that goddess!" Gareth added, wearing an expression of distaste for trouble.
The Guild's operations required enormous funds, and aside from selling magic stone products worldwide, their primary source of income was collecting taxes from various familias.
Because Ishtar contributed massive tax revenues annually, the Guild often turned a blind eye to her actions. They even granted her the privilege of being one of the three deities allowed to freely enter and leave Orario—which was also how she easily smuggled in Kali Familia.
Now that their major benefactor was gone, the Guild's operations would face tremendous pressure.
Not to mention that deicide was already a grave sin. If a god killed another god, it might be one thing, but if a mortal killed a god, it would be an unforgivable crime.
Not only would the perpetrator be hunted by the Guild, but they might also be stripped of their Falna, expelled from their familia, imprisoned, or even executed!
With their funding cut off, the Guild would absolutely not let this go.
"Should we leave the familia?" Ais suddenly spoke up.
Her eyes were downcast, her mood seemingly low.
"Don't worry. This time, Ishtar was clearly in the wrong first. There's no way we'd let Eiji suffer unjust accusations!" Finn declared firmly.
"Exactly."
"Otherwise, we wouldn't deserve to be called Loki Familia!"
Riveria and Gareth nodded proudly in unison.
Loki Familia would never abandon any of its members—a principle few other familias could uphold, and the most important reason why this familia stood as the strongest.
"More importantly, hand it over."
Finn suddenly smiled and reached out to Eiji.
"What?"
Eiji looked puzzled.
"What do you mean 'what'? The reason you risked yourself here was surely for the key, wasn't it?" Finn wore a look that said, "Stop playing dumb."
"Kali Familia hiding in Ishtar Familia proves they were colluding with the Evilus all along. They must have had one of the keys, and you came for it, right?"
Everyone's faces lit up with realization, giving Eiji looks of admiration.
This prum leader was indeed sharp.
But unfortunately—
"I didn't get the key."
Eiji's expression darkened. "Ishtar did have a key, but three days ago, it was stolen by her vice-captain, Tammuz. Its current whereabouts are unknown."
"Stolen?"
Everyone froze in unison.
"Just missed each other, huh?"
Riveria let out a frustrated sigh.
"Seems revenge will have to wait a while longer."
Gareth also sounded helpless.
"Let's increase our search efforts in Tammuz."
Finn sighed, "It's a pity, but this is all we can do for now. At least it gives us a direction to work towards."
Though they'd successfully halved the Evilus's forces, they still hadn't managed to obtain the key.
The path to revenge against the Evilus and launching the artificial labyrinth conquest remained long.