At this moment, within Yuukaku, Riezel had already become the center of attention.
Under the curious and puzzled gazes of those around him, Riezel slowly turned and looked toward the direction from which the voice calling out to him had come.
There, a tall, dark-skinned amazoness approached with a large group of berberas, advancing in an imposing formation.
"Antianeira?"
Riezel showed no surprise as he spoke calmly.
"Liberator…"
Aisha, bearing the alias Antianeira, stared at Riezel with a wary expression, as if facing a formidable enemy.
Not only Aisha, but the berberas who had arrived with her were the same.
Seeing this, many onlookers were astonished.
"What's with this atmosphere?"
"People from the Ishtar Familia seem kinda on guard around Liberator…"
"What? Does the Loki Familia have some kinda grudge against the Ishtar Familia? Or does Liberator himself have beef with Antianeira?"
"Who knows…"
As the crowd exchanged glances and whispered among themselves, Riezel paid them no attention, nor did he regard Aisha and the others' vigilance as anything noteworthy, speaking as usual.
"Hmm, that's quite the show of force. Don't tell me you're here to welcome me?"
Riezel's remark, however, did not earn Aisha's agreement.
"What are you doing here, Liberator?!"
Aisha demanded sternly.
"What kinda weird question is that?" Riezel replied with a faint smile. "As long as you're a guy, you're allowed to have fun here, right? Isn't that the rule in your Entertainment District?"
"I don't believe that!" Aisha said bluntly. "Other than High Novice, not a single man from the Loki Familia comes here. If you don't have a purpose, there's no way I'd believe it!"
"Now that's odd..." Riezel said without changing his expression. "So people who haven't been here before aren't allowed in? Besides, I was just here not long ago, right?"
"But you…"
Aisha wanted to say more, yet hesitated because of the people around them and did not continue.
Of course, she knew that Riezel had come to the Entertainment District not long ago.
However, his movements that day had been extremely suspicious, since he had not seemed like someone seeking pleasure, but rather someone searching for a person.
Back then, the matter of Raul asking prostitutes in the district whether there was a golden-haired renard had already been gathered as intelligence by the Ishtar Familia. And that day, Riezel had indeed come here, found Haruhime, and then left shortly afterward.
Needless to say, his actions had been highly unusual.
As a result, Ishtar had taken it very seriously and personally interrogated Haruhime, asking whether she had come into contact with Riezel. Unfortunately, Haruhime had looked confused and told Ishtar that she remembered nothing.
One should remember that before a god, mortals of the Lower World could not lie.
Recognizing that Haruhime was telling the truth, Ishtar did not pursue the matter further, but she still instructed her familia members to pay close attention and investigate what exactly Riezel had done in the Entertainment District that day, and what he had done with Haruhime.
This matter had already spread throughout the entire Ishtar Familia and even across the entire Entertainment District. Every prostitute, every shop master, and every attendant was aware of it.
Both Ishtar and Aisha placed great importance on this because Haruhime was a very special existence.
Uchide no Kozuchi was an extremely powerful, almost cheating-like magic.
Ishtar intended to rely on it to deal with the Freya Familia, so she could not afford to ignore anything unusual regarding Haruhime.
According to rumors, Liberator seemed to be like Thousand Elf—someone capable of learning and using other people's magic. For such a person to come into contact with Haruhime and even cause her to forget everything was deeply unsettling upon closer thought.
Previously, they had not fully realized the implications.
It was only after Ishtar began to harbor resentment toward Riezel and ordered her familia members to constantly gather intelligence on him and monitor his movements that they belatedly realized just how alarming it was.
And now, at such a critical moment, he had appeared here again, clearly heading for Haruhime.
How could this not heighten the nerves of everyone in the Ishtar Familia?
Aisha very much wanted to point this out, but she was not foolish enough to say it in a public setting.
Recently, the matter of 'magic that allows one to possess combat power beyond their level' had spread like wildfire. If others were to learn that such cheat-like magic existed within the Ishtar Familia, then Ishtar would become the center of attention in Orario in every possible sense, which would not only hinder the Ishtar Familia's covert actions against the Freya Familia but might also endanger Haruhime, their crucial sorcerer.
Hence, Aisha suppressed the question that was about to slip out and shifted the topic.
"You're here to see Haruhime, aren't you?" Aisha said in a low voice, staring directly at Riezel. "Forget it. Haruhime won't be receiving you."
"Hm, that's not necessarily true," Riezel said, casually glancing at Aisha. "Maybe she'd be more than willing to see me."
"…Not happening," Aisha said with a frown, her tone carrying a hint of threat. "I don't know what you're trying to do, and I don't know what you've learned, but I have to tell you this—Haruhime is the trump card of the Ishtar Familia. If you dare do anything to her, that's the same as declaring war on us."
Hearing this, Riezel immediately chuckled.
"Haha, declare war on your Ishtar Familia?" Riezel said mockingly, as if he had heard an extremely amusing joke. "You really think the Loki Familia would be scared, or what?"
At this, Aisha's expression froze, while the people around them began murmuring.
"Is she dumb or something?"
"Who does she think she's even talking to?"
"He's from the Loki Familia—one of the strongest familias in the city."
"Other than the Freya Familia, who would they even be scared of?"
Many people wore mocking expressions, looking at Aisha as if she were a fool.
It was true that the Ishtar Familia was powerful—in terms of territory, it could even be said to rank first in the city, occupying the entire Entertainment District and acting as a dominant force in Orario.
But what did a large territory amount to?
Aside from Phryne, who was a First-Class Adventurer, all members of the Ishtar Familia were merely second- or third-class adventurers below Level 4. Compared to other familias, they were respectable, but compared to the Loki Familia, they were simply overestimating themselves.
In fact, in most people's minds, the Ishtar Familia was inferior not only to the Loki Familia and the Freya Familia but even to the Ganesha Familia.
At best, the Ishtar Familia might rank within the top five in Orario, perhaps even fourth place, but the top three were positions she could never shake. Not to mention the Loki Familia and the Freya Familia—even the Ganesha Familia had eleven executives, all of them Level 5 First-Class Adventurers.
How was the Ishtar Familia supposed to compete with just one Phryne?
And aside from Phryne, the highest-level berbera in the Ishtar Familia was Aisha, which was why she held a relatively high status within the Ishtar Familia, arguably second only to Phryne in influence among the berbera.
Yet even so, Aisha was only Level 3.
An adventurer of that level would not even make it into the second string in the Loki Familia.
For this reason, Aisha's threat seemed nothing more than a joke to Riezel and the others.
Riezel even said so directly to her face.
"Since you're saying Haruhime's your trump card, then today I'm gonna take a good look at what this so-called trump card can actually do."
After throwing out these words, Riezel turned around, preparing to continue toward Haruhime's room.
"Stop!"
Aisha immediately lost her composure, as if anger had overtaken her, and lunged in Riezel's direction.
One had to admit that she was fast, her movements highly agile—clearly those of a seasoned fighter. Although only Level 3, as an amazoness, Aisha's hand-to-hand combat ability was far from ordinary.
Even if she could not compare to those from Telskyura, amazonesses were largely the same—battle-loving, aggressive, lustful, and deeply reverent of strength. As a result, regardless of the region or tribe they came from, they instinctively developed combat techniques.
Because of this, amazonesses from different regions might use different styles of hand-to-hand combat and martial arts, but without exception, they were all formidable fighters.
Judging from Aisha's skill, although she was only Level 3, she was likely not far from Level 4.
In fact, even an average Level 4 adventurer might suffer at her hands.
Unfortunately…
"Too slow."
Unfortunately, what Aisha faced was no ordinary Level 4, but a Level 6 with the ability to fight across levels.
Several levels separated them, a gap as vast as heaven and earth.
As Aisha attacked from behind, Riezel did not even turn his head, merely shifting his body slightly, allowing the incoming fist to brush past his shoulder and strike nothing but air.
*Pa!*
Immediately after, Riezel reached out, seized the dark-skinned fist before it could retract, and with a pull and a twist, threw the tall woman—well over 170 cm—away.
*BANG!*
Aisha slammed into the corridor wall, shattered a paper door, and tumbled into a room.
"Holy shit!"
"Ah…"
Inside the room, a god was in the middle of having fun with a prostitute.
When Aisha suddenly crashed in, he was so startled that he blurted out a curse completely out of place for the era, his face turning pale as he hurriedly pulled up his pants. Meanwhile, the naked prostitute beside him merely widened her eyes slightly, then watched the scene with clear interest.
"Aisha!"
"Big Sis!"
"Liberator!"
"You bastard!"
At the same time, the other berberas, after realizing what had happened, cried out one by one and charged furiously toward Riezel—some throwing punches at him, some lashing out with their long legs, and others even drawing weapons, slashing at his body without hesitation.
In response, Riezel's expression did not change in the slightest.
Even while facing the well-known berberas in Orario, he moved as if taking a leisurely stroll—shifting his body here, stepping aside there—easily evading every attack.
After a while, Riezel began to counterattack.
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
As the berberas relentlessly rushed at him, Riezel dodged while striking back from time to time.
Sometimes he grabbed an arm and threw the attacker away; sometimes he pressed a shoulder, forced the opponent to their knees, then kicked them in the rear, sending them flying with a cry of pain; and at other times, he simply threw a punch, driving it hard into their abdomen and launching them like projectiles into walls or even the ceiling.
For a time, dull impacts echoed one after another as Riezel sent every berbera flying without changing his expression, handling them with such ease that it hardly looked like a fight—it was closer to play.
Amid this, the surrounding onlookers had already tried to scatter, but some were caught in the crossfire, struck by berberas that were thrown or knocked away, and sent tumbling across the floor.
Of course, some high-ranking adventurers reacted in time.
Not only did they dodge the incoming berberas, but a few even seized the opportunity to grab them mid-flight and grope them, their expressions thoroughly lecherous.
"Liberator!"
Just as Riezel knocked away the last berbera who charged at him, a figure burst out from a nearby room.
It was Aisha, who had now somehow retrieved her weapon—a heavy, broad-bladed greatsword.
"I won't let you do anything to Haruhime!"
With blazing fury burning in her eyes, Aisha raised the greatsword and closed in on Riezel.
"Come, champion of the savages!"
Suddenly, Aisha began to chant.
"Manly warrior, strong hero, greedy and unjust hero!"
"Show your worth if you desire the girdle of the empress!"
Aisha swung her greatsword down at Riezel while rapidly chanting magic with a strong, steady voice.
"Concurrent chanting?"
Riezel raised an eyebrow and reached for Fool at his waist.
No—he did not draw the sword but instead drew Fool's scabbard along with it, gripping the sheathed crystal blade in his hand.
*Clang!*
Aisha's greatsword struck down, colliding with Fool's scabbard and sending sparks flying.
"Satisfy my body, penetrate my body, kill my body, and prove your worth!"
"My starving blade is Hippolyta!"
When her strike failed, Aisha did not stop, continuing to chant while swinging her greatsword, relentlessly attacking Riezel and seamlessly combining combat with incantation.
Riezel, simply defending and deflecting each blow, stood in place, unmoving, as if he did not even notice that Aisha was chanting magic, his expression unnaturally calm.
Seeing him like this made Aisha realize something—this young man was not taking her seriously at all. He was not even trying to interrupt her chant, nor was he wary of the magic she was about to unleash.
Furious, Aisha shouted at the top of her lungs, pouring all her strength and a vast amount of mind into her magic.
"Hell Kaios!"
As the magic activated, magical energy surged instantly.
*BOOM!*
A section of Yuukaku exploded as the wall shattered, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.
===
[A bonus chapter for every 300 Power Stones.]
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