"Isn’t that... Crusher?"
"And Jormungand?"
"They actually got captured by Telskyura’s amazonesses?"
As soon as the surrounding onlookers saw Telskyura’s amazonesses escorting Tiona and Tione forward, an uproar broke out.
Both of them had just risen to Level 6, stepping into a new stage as First-Class Adventurers, and yet they had been captured just like that?
In an instant, the crowd fell into a heated discussion, their gazes toward the tightly bound Tiona and Tione growing increasingly strange, filling the two with shame and anger.
In Orario, the two were notorious figures—one regarded as a destroyer, the other as a rampaging menace.
Countless people both feared and dreaded them, yet now, in full public view, they were tightly bound by kin from their homeland and escorted before others as prisoners.
For them, this was humiliation of the highest order.
"Mphm!"
Tione struggled so violently that she nearly twisted her own limbs apart, her skin cut open by the mithril chains binding her, drawing blood.
As someone who harbored intense hostility toward Telskyura and Argana, she had already been extremely unwilling to accept her defeat at the hands of her rival. Now, making a spectacle of herself in front of everyone—before her familia companions, and even before the one she loved (Finn)—if possible, she truly wished she could die.
Unfortunately, Argana did not even spare Tione a glance.
Facing the increasingly cold gazes of the members of the Loki Familia, Argana spoke with difficulty.
"Return Kali... Return our goddess to us."
As expected, these amazonesses had come for Kali.
It was only natural.
One’s god being captured by others was a matter of concern for the very survival of one’s familia.
Once Kali encountered misfortune and was sent back to Heaven, Telskyura would essentially be finished. Every single amazoness of Telskyura would likewise be reduced to an ordinary person.
Telskyura was neither an exploration-type familia nor a commercial-type familia, but a rare nation-type familia in this world.
A nation-type familia referred to one that governed and developed itself as a country, establishing territory outside Orario and forming a nation. Telskyura was precisely such a nation-type familia, both a familia and a country, with Goddess Kali as its supreme ruler.
For this reason, every amazoness born in Telskyura would be marked with the blessing of Kali at the moment of birth, becoming her servant.
If anything were to happen to Kali, all of Telskyura would collapse.
Given that, the goddess who had fallen into the hands of the Loki Familia had to be rescued no matter what.
It was precisely because of this that Argana and Bache had, for the first time, refrained from killing their opponents, Tiona and Tione, during the ritual and instead captured them alive.
To rescue Kali, they had no choice but to break the rules of the ritual.
Their act of blocking the city gate and causing trouble in Orario was likewise for the sake of rescuing Kali.
"Loki."
Finn had already anticipated this situation and calmly addressed the goddess who had come over.
"Hmph."
Loki snorted, clearly displeased, but said nothing more as she dragged out Kali, who was likewise tightly bound.
"Kali!"
Upon seeing Kali bound in the same manner, Argana called out.
"Are you alright?"
Bache also spoke up.
Faced with the concern of her two strongest servants, Kali appeared utterly uninterested.
"I am naturally fine. As for you all, you actually did not carry the ritual through to the end..."
Looking at Tiona and Tione, who had likewise become prisoners, Kali even let out a regretful sigh, as though somewhat disappointed.
"...You little runt, you really ain’t scared of dyin’, huh? Even now, you’re still worried about that damn ritual?"
Loki spoke in a mocking, sarcastic tone.
"Why not?" Kali replied calmly, even adding, "I won’t truly die, after all. At most, I will just be sent back to Heaven."
"You..."
Loki looked at Kali’s composed expression, her teeth grinding in irritation, and her fists clenching.
"Enough."
Riezel reached out, grabbed Kali by the back of her collar, and threw her down in front of him.
"Now, release Tiona and Tione."
A hostage exchange—trading prisoners—was the only possible course of action in the current situation.
Riezel directly stated the condition without wasting words, causing the onlookers to suddenly realize what was happening.
"So the Kali Familia’s goddess ended up in the Loki Familia’s hands?"
"No wonder they’re acting so crazy."
"But how the hell did Crusher and Jormungand end up in the Kali Familia’s hands?"
"Did these two familias have some connection before? Why are they suddenly out here capturing each other’s key people like this?"
Seeing Kali, the crowd whispered among themselves, seemingly trying to guess what had happened between the two familias to lead to this situation.
Everyone knew that the Loki Familia was one of Orario’s top familias, while the Kali Familia was a force from outside the city. Previously, the two had nothing to do with each other—no interaction whatsoever. Yet now they were confronting one another like this, even capturing each other’s important figures.
Where had their conflict begun?
Quite a few people, along with various gods, had their eyes shift as they keenly sensed that something unusual was at play.
However, neither the Loki Familia nor the Kali Familia had any intention of revealing the internal details, so both sides completely ignored the surrounding crowd and began negotiations.
The content of the negotiation was simple: exchange hostages and release each other’s captives.
But could things really end just like that?
Naturally, the Loki Familia did not intend for it to end this way, and neither did the Kali Familia.
For the Loki Familia, they had no prior grudges with the Kali Familia, yet had been targeted unilaterally. Not only had they been obstructed in Man-Made Dungeon Knossos, but their members had also been attacked and abducted so brazenly within the city.
Needless to say, that left a fire of anger burning in everyone’s hearts.
For the Kali Familia, they likewise had no intention of simply returning home, because the battle they desired had not yet ended. After the hostage exchange was completed, the tension between both sides did not diminish—instead, it grew to the point where it could ignite at any moment.
"Damn you, Argana!"
As soon as she was released, Tione rushed forward like a mad dog freed from its leash, attempting to charge at the opposing side.
"Calm down! Miss Tione!"
"You’re still injured!"
Raul and Anakitty, along with several second strings, immediately swarmed forward to restrain Tione’s limbs.
"Let go of me! I’m gonna kill her!"
Tione was clearly driven mad with rage, her eyes bloodshot, and her strength was so great that she nearly flung Raul and Anakitty around like rags, drawing cries of alarm from everyone trying to hold her down.
"Dammit! I’m so pissed!"
Even Tiona began shouting, only to be held back by Ais at her side.
And so, while the two rampaging amazonesses were temporarily restrained by their companions, Riezel and the others stepped forward together toward the members of the Kali Familia.
"Hey, shorty..." Loki said slowly, her smile vanishing as she opened her eyes and stared at Kali, who had just been returned. "We ain’t done yet. You get that, right?"
"I don’t mind," Kali replied, once again surrounded by Argana and the others, standing among Telskyura’s amazonesses. "If anything, this is exactly the situation I wanted to see. Among your children, there are quite a few strong ones. I would very much like to know—aside from the two little girls I let go before—whether the children in your familia are stronger, or whether Argana and Bache on my side are stronger."
"I think you’ve totally lost your mind," Loki said with a sneer. "Take a good look at what’s goin’ on, will ya? You really think just ’cause we took a small loss, you can actually go up against my familia? You got two Level 6s—that’s it. I’ve got three Level 7s among my kids, and five at Level 6. How the hell are you gonna compete with me? I don’t even take that lovestruck goddess seriously anymore, let alone you, shorty. Imma crush you completely."
Faced with Loki’s threat, Kali remained unmoved.
"Hmm, that would be fine as well."
Kali spoke calmly, a bloody and dangerous smile appearing on her youthful face.
"Whether my children are slaughtered to the last by you, or your children are crushed by us, I do not care."
"What I enjoy is the process of slaughter—the blood, the sweat, the roars of warriors, and the wails of stray dogs."
"I want to see it. I want to see how the familia I built compares to the strongest familia on the surface, and what kind of warriors are stronger than Argana and Bache."
"If they can turn defeat into victory and use it as nourishment to step into a new stage, then that would be even better."
As a Goddess of War who controlled blood and slaughter, Kali responded to Loki’s malice and ominous aura with a fearless smile.
"Tch, damn battle maniac..."
Loki clicked her tongue again.
Finn and the others frowned one after another.
On the other hand, aside from the taciturn Bache, the members of the Kali Familia all had burning fighting intent rising in their eyes.
It was not as though they did not understand how strong the enemies before them were, but so what?
It was better if they were strong.
Only the strong were worth challenging.
Even if the end of the challenge meant their own deaths, they could accept it calmly.
Because Telskyura was that kind of nation.
Day after day of bloody rituals, combined with the warlike nature of its people, made them fearless of death.
Only the fervent fighting intent in their hearts could never be satisfied.
Otherwise, they would not have left Telskyura with Kali, come to Orario, and joined forces with the Ishtar Familia to prepare to confront the Freya Familia, which was filled with powerful individuals.
Vana Freya, Hildrsleif, Dainsleif, Bringar—these were all world-renowned, top-tier warriors—each of them was no weaker than Argana and Bache—some were even stronger.
And then there was King, one of Orario’s strongest, one of only two Level 7s in the world before the Loki Familia returned from their expedition. Just the thought of fighting such opponents made nearly every amazoness in the Kali Familia feel their blood boil.
Needless to say, that was why they had come—to fight against the world-famous experts of Orario.
As for the consequences of the battle, those were not within their consideration.
Now that they were facing the Loki Familia, which stood on equal footing with the Freya Familia, they did not feel any hesitation and instead felt that this was exactly how it should be.
After all, since their last expedition, the Loki Familia had been recognized as the strongest familia in the world in a true sense, even surpassing the Freya Familia.
In other words, the people standing before them were the strongest in the world today, and realizing this, any Telskyura amazoness who did not feel their fighting intent surge would be unworthy of the name.
"It seems you have no intention of repenting."
Finn tightened his grip on his spear.
"In that case, lemme see what you’re capable of."
Gareth’s eyes sharpened as well.
"You all have gone too far."
Riveria spoke in a cold voice.
"Why even bother talking?" Bete said viciously. "They dared to mess with us—just kill them all."
Ais said nothing, still holding the indignant Tiona.
"Get over here, Argana!"
Tione was on the verge of breaking free from her restraints.
Meanwhile, as the entire Loki Familia had entered a combat-ready state, clearly prepared to reclaim their honor, Riezel had quietly prepared his magic, intending to cut off the Kali Familia’s retreat and leave them with no escape.
But in that moment...
"Riezel Brynhart."
Argana stepped forward again.
"I challenge you."
Argana, who was the strongest amazoness of Telskyura, did not hide her intentions in the slightest, as from beginning to end, her gaze had been fixed solely on Riezel. Her expression had completely transformed into that of a hunter, her eyes as if they were ready to devour him whole.
"Your opponent is me!"
Tione was furious, but Argana completely ignored her, clearly having already lost interest in Tione after defeating her.
Now, the one she was most interested in was undoubtedly Riezel.
At the thought of the strength and the heroic, invincible figure he had displayed in Knossos, Argana felt a heat rise in her chest, and her gaze toward Riezel grew even more intense.
"Challenge me?"
Riezel raised an eyebrow, while the surrounding crowd immediately grew interested.
"That’s right," Argana spoke in clumsy common language, extremely direct. "You are strong. I want to fight you. If you lose, you will come back to Telskyura with me and become my partner. I want to have children with you."
As soon as these words left Argana’s mouth, the already tense atmosphere on the Loki Familia’s side shifted again, becoming even more explosive.
"What did you just say?"
"Who would have children with you?!"
"Shameless!"
"What a disgraceful amazoness!"
All the female members immediately burst into angry condemnation, especially the elves, pure and dignified, led by Alicia—all of them glared at Argana with undisguised disgust.
"That amazoness..."
Anakitty clenched her small fists, veins even appearing on her forehead—something rarely seen.
"..."
Ais still said nothing, but she silently released Tiona, drew her sword, and prepared to step forward.
"E-Eh? Ais! Calm down!"
As if startled, Tiona grabbed onto Ais this time, trying to stop her as a strangely terrifying aura began to emanate from her.
"Mr. Riezel!"
Meanwhile, inside a room at Twilight Manor, Lefiya, who had been unconscious, suddenly sat up as if jolted awake from the brink of death.
It couldn’t be helped.
Just now, she had dreamed of Riezel being swallowed whole by a giant snake.
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[A bonus Chapter for every 300 Power Stones.]
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