Driven by shame and rage, Ishtar tore at her own hair like a madwoman, her eyes wide and glaring. "You dare play me?! Aisha, kill him!"
Aisha's eyelids twitched violently. This is the man who suppressed half the Freya Familia... and you want me to fight him? Are you serious? She desperately wished someone would tell her she didn't have to face an unwinnable foe. But she could not defy her goddess.
Aisha raised her great blade and charged, beginning her chant: "Come, Lord of Brutality! Brave warrior, towering hero, greedy and violent champion!" Her only hope of victory lay in her magic.
She moved like a ghost, her speed leaving afterimages as her blade carved a cold arc through the dim light. She swung with everything she had, the blade screaming as it tore through the air toward Roy's head.
Roy didn't move an inch. Aisha was only LV.3, and he had his Adventure Development Ability active. The gap in their stats was cavernous; her movements looked like they were in slow motion. As the blade reached him, Roy pivoted slightly, the edge whistling past his skin without touching a single hair.
CLANG!
Roy drove a sword-finger strike into the flat of the wide blade. The high-pitched screech of metal-on-metal erupted like an ultrasonic blast. Aisha's pupils shrank as a bone-shattering vibration surged up her arms, making her veins bulge as if they were about to burst. She nearly lost her grip on the weapon.
The scent of death was so thick it was suffocating. To her, this man felt even more terrifying than an LV.7.
Roy unleashed a whip-like roundhouse kick. Aisha's face paled, but she managed an incredible feat of agility, hollowing out her stomach to dodge the strike. She retreated, continuing her chant: "To obtain the Empress's belt, prove yourself! Satisfy me, pierce me, slay me as proof!"
Roy felt a flicker of surprise. For an LV.3 to survive two moves against him was impressive. Her bold, wide-reaching combat style truly earned her the title "Antianeira." Her parallel-chanting skills were even better than his, which honestly annoyed him a bit.
"My thirsty blade is named—Hippolyte!" Aisha's chant was complete.
"Hellish Chaos!"
Aisha's eyes turned bloodshot and feral. She roared, forcing her numb body to arch back like a great bow before lunging forward. Magic energy coiled around her blade like bloody veins. She swung with both hands, a blood-red wave of energy tearing through the air to cleave Roy in two.
Roy watched the incoming blast with a calm gaze.
SWISH!
Aisha watched with hope, but in an instant, Roy vanished. No—he was simply too fast. He lunged forward, leaping over the lethal arc and appearing directly in front of her. He delivered a brutal kick.
Aisha instinctively raised her arms to block. Roy's foot smashed into her left arm, the overwhelming force shattering her bone instantly before slamming into her ribs.
CRACK!
The sickening sound of ribs snapping echoed through the room. Aisha was sent flying backward like she'd been hit by a lightning bolt, a mist of blood spraying from her mouth. She slammed into a stone wall, rubble falling around her. Her mind was a hazy mess. Damn it... he's a monster.
Ishtar clenched her fists, her expression thunderous. Another useless failure. Why do all these men revolve around Freya?!
Roy walked forward with a leisurely pace.
"Stop right there!" Ishtar commanded, the violet light in her eyes intensified by her rage.
Roy didn't pause. He walked straight up to the goddess.
"Is it a special skill?" Ishtar hissed, her teeth bared. It was the only explanation.
"The Daedalus Orb. Hand it over," Roy's voice was distorted by the mask—deep, raspy, and unrecognizable.
"The Daedalus Orb?" Ishtar paused, then realization dawned on her. The Amphisbaena was a distraction; the real goal was the key to the Knossos labyrinth. "And what if I refuse?" She smirked, feeling she had regained the upper hand.
Roy reached out toward her.
"You wouldn't dare!" Ishtar's face twisted in a snarl. She roared from the depths of her throat, releasing her Divine Aura at full power. The air around them froze.
A god was, after all, a god.
Ishtar was suddenly enveloped in a garment of light—the effect of space warping under her aura. To any mortal, the sight of Ishtar in this state would trigger a deep, soul-level reverence. It felt as if a thousand mountains were pressing down on Roy's shoulders, making it hard to even breathe. It was a fear encoded into his very genes; every cell in his body screamed at him to flee.
Unlike Ares, who was all brawn and no brains, Ishtar knew how to use every weapon at her disposal—her body, and her Divine Aura.
This was Roy's first time facing the full, unrestrained aura of a deity. Cold sweat rolled down his forehead. His instinct was fighting him, refusing to allow him to harm a god, as if it were a taboo no mortal should touch.
But Roy was the type of person who only grew more stubborn under pressure. The ruthlessness in his bones was ignited, his eyes turning bloodshot with a terrifying, violent intensity.
The Adventure Development Ability triggered properly now—not from a simulated crisis, but a real one. His stats and hidden attributes surged, helping him resist the crushing weight. He straightened his back like a piece of unyielding bamboo.
"Impossible!" Ishtar gasped.
Ishtar recoiled in horror, her crimson lips parted in disbelief. How could a human like this exist in the Lower World?!
Roy moved like lightning. His palm whipped out like a blade, striking the back of Ishtar's neck with surgical precision.
With a soft thud, Ishtar collapsed unconscious to the floor. The suffocating pressure of her Divine Aura vanished instantly.
"Hah... hah..."
Roy breathed heavily, his chest heaving. That was a close call. The sheer weight of a god's aura was no joke; if not for his Adventure Development Ability being a cut above, he might have folded.
Aisha, heavily wounded, watched the scene with utter dread. When Ishtar had released her Divine Aura, Aisha hadn't been able to move even a finger—yet this "Berserker" was absolute. He had ignored a goddess's charm and resisted her divinity as if it were nothing.
Roy didn't want to linger. A burst of Divine Aura was like a flare in the night; it would surely draw the attention of other gods. He stepped over to Aisha. "The blood-red eyeball engraved with the letter 'D'... where is it?"
"Keep dreaming," Aisha wheezed, her voice raspy. She gripped her trembling blade with her remaining strength, using it to prop up her sagging body. The agony of her shattered left arm made her vision swim with dark spots. "I'll tell you nothing."
Roy narrowed his eyes. Sometimes, threatening to take something isn't as effective as promising to prevent a loss.
"The Killing Stone," Roy said calmly. "Do you know of it?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Aisha sneered, her lip curling.
Roy nodded inwardly; she didn't know yet. He leaned in and whispered, "Let's try a different name then: Sanjouno Haruhime."
At the mention of that name, the defiant Aisha transformed into an enraged lioness. "If you dare touch her, I will hunt you to the ends of the earth and kill you!"
Thick, metallic blood bubbled from her lips. Every breath she took sounded like a broken bellows, sending sharp stabs of pain from her broken ribs straight to her brain.
Seeing her reaction, Roy knew he had her. According to the original timeline, Haruhime should have been sold to the Entertainment District about a year ago. Clearly, she and Aisha had already formed a deep bond.
Roy chuckled. "A magic that allows someone to forcefully level up... even I'm tempted by that."
Aisha's heart sank. How does this man know everything?!
Roy shook his head. "But I'm not the one trying to harm her. That would be your own goddess."
"What?!" Aisha's face paled.
"Hand over that blood-red orb with the 'D' on it," Roy said, "and I'll tell you the truth about the Killing Stone. It concerns your little sister's life."
Aisha's eyes flickered with indecision.
"Decide quickly. Five seconds," Roy stated, beginning the countdown. "Five... four..."
With every number, Aisha's heart hammered harder against her ribs.
"Is a mysterious trinket more important than your sister's life?" Roy's voice was low, tempting her like a devil.
Aisha's mind cleared, sharpened by desperation. "You better not be lying to me."
Roy's grin widened behind his mask. "Relax. Unlike those unreliable gods who only care about entertainment, we 'devils' are very big on contracts. My word is my bond."
They entered Ishtar's private chambers. Within the Familia, only Ishtar and a few select members knew about their collaboration with the Dark Factions. Aisha wasn't one of them. However, as the de facto captain of the combat courtesans, her connections were vast; she had heard from a close friend that Ishtar kept a special treasure—a crimson eyeball.
After a frantic search that nearly tore the room apart, Aisha pulled open a hidden compartment in the wall. Inside lay a blood-red orb, deep and crimson as fresh gore, with the letter "D" carved into its center.
The Daedalus Orb was finally in his hands.
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