"Just a bunch of useless trash!"
In another corner of the city wall, Ishtar grew so agitated upon seeing the Loki Familia achieve an overwhelming victory that she slapped the stone wall beside her—though the impact made her face twitch in pain, and she nearly cried out.
"Liberator Riezel Brynhart… he is far too strong. Even a Level 7 boosted by Haruhime couldn't defeat him—and was instead beaten with ease..."
Seeing Ishtar throwing a tantrum, the tall amazoness closest to her murmured with a complicated expression.
She was none other than Aisha, a berbera who had once attacked Riezel during the battle in Man-Made Dungeon Knossos, only to be sent flying with a single strike. As a Level 3 Second-Class Adventurer, she had already developed a deep fear of the overwhelming strength Riezel had repeatedly displayed.
'Even if that toad woman showed up, she probably wouldn't last long against him.'
Aisha did not voice this thought aloud.
Phryne Jamil, known as Androctonus, was the captain and strongest member of the Ishtar Familia, as well as its only First-Class Adventurer.
In Aisha's and the others' eyes, that grotesque toad-like figure was already terrifying enough, yet even that terrifying figure would likely amount to nothing in front of Riezel.
Phryne, who required Uchide no Kozuchi just to rival Level 6—how could she possibly compare to Riezel, who could challenge Level 7 across ranks purely with his own strength?
Because of this, Aisha had already come to regard Riezel as an object of fear and even felt that this monster rookie, who had debuted less than half a year ago, was the most terrifying and powerful individual within the Loki Familia.
Incidentally, Phryne was not present.
After losing to Ais once again and suffering a crushing defeat even with Uchide no Kozuchi and the magic-sealing curse, Phryne had completely lost her composure and had become like a volatile explosive, ready to detonate at the slightest provocation. Even Ishtar did not wish to deal with such a Phryne, let alone Aisha and the others.
Hence, for this operation, Ishtar had not brought Phryne along—or rather, she had not dared to. If that madwoman, utterly lacking in self-awareness, had been present, she would have lost control the instant she saw Ais and charged out recklessly.
"Haa…"
While Ishtar burned with rage and Aisha and the others grew fearful of Riezel, the only one who quietly let out a sigh of relief was the renard woman confined within the cage—Haruhime.
From the bottom of her heart, Haruhime truly did not want to see Riezel get hurt because of her magic. Because of this unspoken thought, when she saw Riezel defeat Argana and Bache, she was likely the only one present who felt genuine joy.
'He's very powerful… just like a hero…'
Haruhime formed this thought, then lowered her head.
'Even a hero… probably wouldn't come to save someone like me, right?'
As this thought crossed her mind, Haruhime's gaze dimmed, and by then, Ishtar had finished venting her anger.
"You got lucky this time."
Ishtar gritted her teeth as she stared at Riezel outside the city gate, throwing out her words like a curse.
"Next time, I'll make sure you understand the consequences of humiliating me."
With that, Ishtar turned and left.
"...Let's go."
Aisha spoke to the other berberas, casting a glance at the caged Haruhime before following after Ishtar.
Silently, the berberas pushed the cage along as they all departed from the city wall.
===
At the same time, in a more concealed location, a masked figure clad in a purple robe that covered the head appeared silently.
"…Now isn't the best time to act."
Seeing that the Loki Familia had cleanly defeated the Kali Familia, that Riezel had single-handedly taken down Argana and Bache, and that Finn and the other two top executives remained vigilant of their surroundings, the masked figure murmured softly.
In the next moment, the figure vanished in a flash.
===
A commotion of moderate scale came to an end thanks to the actions of Riezel and the Loki Familia.
Now, the blocked road was reopened, and the Guild, along with the enforcers of the Ganesha Familia, began maintaining order, driving the onlooking gods and adventurers back into the city.
Once inside, those who had witnessed everything gained ample material for discussion, loudly spreading news of the conflict between the Loki Familia and the Kali Familia.
In particular, the battle between Riezel and Argana—where two Level 6s displayed combat power rivaling that of Level 7—spread rapidly throughout Orario.
As a result, the people of Orario confirmed two things.
First: the rumored Liberator had not disappointed—he truly possessed the ability to fight across levels, and the title of Orario's strongest magic swordsman was well deserved.
Second: the Kali Familia appeared to have mastered an extremely powerful form of magic capable of granting users combat strength beyond their level.
Needless to say, these two revelations successfully captured everyone's attention, especially the latter—it immediately drew widespread focus across Orario.
Riezel's ability to challenge higher levels was astonishing, but rumors had circulated before, so while people were impressed, they were not overly shocked.
However, the latter was entirely different.
Magic that allowed one to fight beyond their level—such a thing sounded outright absurd, almost like cheating.
Could such magic really exist?
Some were confused, some skeptical, some dismissive—but others firmly believed it, sparking countless discussions throughout Orario.
Some even went to Twilight Manor, attempting to extract information from Loki and members of the Loki Familia. A few gods even caused loud disturbances, behaving shamelessly enough to embarrass their own familia members.
In response to these individuals and gods, Loki gave a single statement:
"Get the hell outta here! You cause any more trouble, and I swear I'll kick your junk to pieces!"
Loki's one sentence immediately turned the troublemaking gods pale, sending them clutching their crotches as they fled in panic.
It was understandable.
Loki was, after all, not someone to be trifled with—if truly angered, she was absolutely capable of doing exactly what she threatened.
Fortunately, the Loki Familia had no time to deal with such nuisances. After capturing all members of the Kali Familia, Finn immediately put forward his proposal.
"Lock them up."
Finn had two objectives.
One was to interrogate members of the Kali Familia and extract intelligence about the underground forces, while the other was to restrict the Kali Familia, preventing them from colluding with the enemy again and interfering with their own side.
Based on the Kali Familia's usual conduct, it was clear that if they were released casually, they would inevitably cause more trouble later.
Moreover, these amazonesses were not ordinary adventurers.
Not only did they have two highly powerful Level 6 combatants, but the rest of the amazonesses were also fierce and fearless of death. If they were allowed to stir up trouble again, the consequences would be significant.
For these reasons, Finn had no intention of releasing anyone from the Kali Familia. At the very least, until the crisis in Orario was resolved, he did not want these unstable elements acting freely.
Thankfully, the Guild agreed with the Loki Familia's handling of the matter, allowing them to bring all the captives back to their familia home and confine them in a temporarily cleared basement, to be dealt with later when time permitted.
"Let me guard them, Captain!"
Tione volunteered.
"Heehee, I wanna have a good chat with Kali and Bache too!"
Unlike Tione, Tiona bore no grudges—or perhaps she was simply too simple-minded to remember that much. By now, she no longer looked resentful or unwilling and instead cheerfully recommended herself for the role of jailer.
"Mm. Approved."
Finn deliberated briefly before agreeing.
When it came to dealing with Telskyura, Tiona and Tione were certainly more familiar than anyone else, so having them guard the Kali Familia was also a sensible choice.
As for Riezel, he did not involve himself in this matter.
He was not familiar with these Telskyura amazonesses to begin with, and now that they had inexplicably taken an interest in his genes, it was better for him to keep his distance. Even though Argana and Bache both looked very beautiful—exotic beauties with figures that rivaled each other, especially Bache, who did not lose to Lizbeth and was even taller and more mature, highly stimulating to male instincts—the amazonesses were truly too fierce.
He admitted he could neither handle nor accept them, so it was best to keep a respectful distance.
Consequently, Riezel stopped concerning himself with the Kali Familia and went with Ais to visit Lefiya.
He had heard that Lefiya had woken up earlier than expected for some reason and seemed to have had a nightmare. Concerned, Riezel once again followed Ais to the girls' dormitory to check on the elf.
Upon stepping into the dormitory, however, Riezel was quite puzzled.
Even after what had happened last time, why were the female members still behaving in such a revolting manner?
Each of them actually dared to run around the hallway dressed so lightly.
Moreover, this time, when Riezel arrived, none of them screamed and instead greeted him gracefully, their eyes shining in a way that briefly made him feel as though he had walked into some kind of man-eating den. Even Anakitty calmly came out in pajamas to receive him and accompanied him to visit Lefiya.
Only the female elves led by Alicia hurried back to change into proper outfits upon learning of Riezel's arrival before coming out to meet him.
As for Lefiya, her state of mind was not very good.
Although she had awakened early, that also meant her mind had not fully recovered yet and still felt somewhat fatigued. Aside from that, however, she seemed to be mostly fine, so as long as her mind fully recovered, she would return to normal.
Thankfully, this could also be supplemented with magic potions, so she would likely be able to get out of bed and move around soon.
However, rather inexplicably, just as Riezel was about to take his leave, Lefiya hesitated before saying something to him.
"Mr. Riezel, it's best if you stay away from things like snakes for a while…"
Lefiya's inexplicable warning left Riezel confused.
"Stay away from things like snakes? What?"
Why?
Riezel could not figure it out, so he decided not to dwell on it.
Girls of that age were often sensitive and prone to overthinking, so perhaps she had thought of something he had not.
In that case, he would just heed her advice a little.
From now on, he would stay away from things like snakes. (Argana: Achoo!)
===
For a period of time afterward, Orario remained as lively as ever, mainly because the topic of Riezel and the Loki Familia's return from their expedition continued to dominate discussions, drawing ongoing attention.
Daedalus Street remained under strict lockdown—no one was allowed to enter, and only members of the Ganesha Familia were seen going in and out, fully armed. Occasionally, some were carried out severely injured or utterly exhausted, leaving onlookers—both people and gods—itching with curiosity, desperate to uncover the secrets within.
During this time, the Loki Familia was not idle either.
Finn ordered large-scale purchases of potions, weapons, and various items from shops across Orario, preparing for the next assault on Man-Made Dungeon Knossos.
Riveria led many of the familia's elf mages in frequent visits to Daedalus Street, providing support at the request of the Ganesha Familia.
Bete, Anakitty, and other beast-human members with sharp senses, under Gareth's leadership, frequently entered the Dungeon during this period, searching for the entrances connecting Knossos to the Dungeon.
"If we're going to attack the enemy's hideout, it's best to confirm multiple routes—so we can advance or retreat as needed."
Finn reasoned like this, and he acted accordingly.
In particular, if there were entrances connected to Knossos's 10th Floor, they would be the shortest path directly to the location of the six Demi Spirits—those absolutely had to be found.
Riezel and Ais also entered the Dungeon multiple times for this purpose, searching across its various floors. As it turned out, they did find quite a few entrances leading to Knossos.
All these entrances were cleverly hidden behind the Dungeon walls, so even if the walls were destroyed, the Dungeon's self-repair would restore them, allowing the entrances to remain undiscovered.
At the entrances, doors made of orichalcum blocked the way, so Finn assigned Riezel to destroy these doors one by one to ensure the passages could be used.
Riezel complied, but when he did, large amounts of green flesh poured out from behind the doors, nearly causing another disturbance.
"Looks like if we wanna lock down our attack routes, we gotta figure out how to clear out this green flesh first."
Loki no longer wanted to handle such matters alone, so she went to the Guild to negotiate, requesting the issuance of a compulsory quest to dispatch multiple familias to deal with the green flesh.
Meanwhile, the magus from the Guild who had previously tasked Riezel and Ais with investigating the Pantry incident on the 24th Floor personally took action, as they discovered a method to reduce the activity of the green flesh and prepared to create related magic items to eliminate the threat it posed.
Just like that, the days passed—whether fulfilling or exhausting—in such a manner.
From top to bottom, the Loki Familia remained busy, hardly ever stopping, but soon, on one such day, one—no, three—shocking pieces of news spread throughout Orario.
—'King' Ottar has returned from a solo expedition and successfully advanced to Level 8.
—'Vana Freya' Allen Fromel has returned from a solo expedition and successfully advanced to Level 7.
As soon as these two announcements appeared, they instantly ignited the entirety of Orario.
And then...
—'Little Rookie' Bell Cranel has spent one month and successfully advanced to Level 3.
In an instant, Orario completely erupted.
===
[A bonus chapter for every 300 Power Stones.]
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