Chapter 155: Sword Pointed at God! Rescuing People on the Spot!
The next morning, in the grand dining hall of Twilight Manor.
A grating metallic screech tore through the deathly silence of the dining hall.
Tione, whose injuries were just healing, was repeatedly torturing the pork chop and egg on her plate with her knife and fork. The fragmented, tragic sight mirrored the tormented nerves of all the male members present.
Even the usually lawless Bete had his tail tucked between his legs, wishing he could bury his face in his bowl.
"Hey, Raul," Tione suddenly stopped, her voice sickeningly sweet, "I remember you've been to the Pleasure Quarter, right?"
"Y-yes!"
Raul, as if granted a great pardon yet facing a formidable enemy, sprang to attention, cold sweat instantly soaking his fringe.
The moment he spoke, several sharp, knife-like gazes pierced him in unison, the palpable pressure nearly making him kneel on the spot.
Under the sympathetic yet spectating gazes of his male companions at the same table, Raul licked his chapped lips, his voice trembling.
"I... I was just confused at the time! Since then, I swear, I haven't been back!"
Tione casually put down her knife and fork, a beautiful, alluring smile blooming on her pretty face, but her voice was laced with ice shards.
"Don't be nervous, I was just asking, do those Amazon viragos from the Ishtar Familia drag men into bed right on the street?"
"It-it's the Pleasure Quarter, so... so..."
Raul was really on the verge of tears; this question was practically a death trap.
"Heh heh."
Before the laughter faded, the alluring charm on Tione's face instantly transformed into a demonic visage, and she was about to rush out of the dining hall, enveloped in an astonishing murderous aura!
"Stop!"
A burly figure blocked the doorway. Gareth, who had been waiting for a long time, stood with his hands on his hips and grunted.
"Finn's worries were right after all. Calm down, Tione, he's just going to negotiate with Loki, not to carouse."
Unfortunately, the Dwarf's advice had no effect on an Amazon pantheress consumed by jealousy.
Helpless, Gareth used a set of skilled close-quarters grappling moves to forcefully subdue his rampaging companion, then turned to complain to his old comrade in the corner.
"Riveria, don't just watch, do something! Otherwise, these girls are really going to tear down the Pleasure Quarter!"
"...Hmm?"
Riveria, who had been lost in thought, suddenly snapped back to attention. Noticing that all the female members' gazes were fixed on her, she cleared her throat uncomfortably.
"Do not arbitrarily speculate about your comrades. Arthur and Finn would never linger in such a place. Everyone, sit down and eat."
With the Familia's Vice-Captain speaking, the restless female members temporarily suppressed their dissatisfaction.
However, Riveria, who had just uttered these words, suddenly held her breath, and that azure figure uncontrollably appeared in her mind.
She found that she urgently wanted to see him immediately, and there were some things she hadn't had time to say.
...
On the other side, in the Pleasure Quarter, Ishtar's palace.
The voluptuous and alluring goddess Ishtar gently tapped her pipe with her fingertips, exhaled a puff of purple smoke from her fragrant mouth, and lazily glanced at her visitor.
"What a rare guest, Loki. Why aren't you joining the fun with Apollo and Hestia, and instead come to me?"
Loki had a devil-may-care smile on her lips, and dismissively waved her hand at Ishtar's feigned ignorance.
"Oh my, we have all sorts of reasons on our side too. But the most important point—"
Her smile instantly vanished, and the evil god's gaze, imbued with divine power, shot out like a drawn sword, directly piercing her opponent.
"You idiotic harlot, do you even know what you're dealing with?"
The overly blunt taunt, however, failed to rouse Ishtar's interest. She shook her head listlessly.
"I don't understand what you're saying. Aren't all those who come to the Pleasure Quarter just males looking to vent their desires?"
"Still pretending?" Loki clicked her tongue, and pulled a handwritten confession from Njörðr from her bosom. "That idiot confessed everything. Do you want us to accompany you to the Guild?"
Ishtar's gaze swept over the confession disdainfully, a colder sneer deepening on her lips.
"Where's the evidence? Without evidence, such an accusation is just a piece of waste paper, and the Guild can't do anything to me."
These words were tantamount to an admission.
But she relied on the lack of concrete evidence, acting with impunity.
"You won't listen to reason, so I'm saying..."
Loki curled her lips in a blatant sneer, and gave a meaningful look to Arthur and Finn beside her.
Finn, understanding what was about to happen, rubbed his brow with a pained expression, while Arthur had been waiting for a long time.
He took a step forward, his figure like lightning, directly pressing towards the enchantingly seated goddess.
Tammuz, her close guard standing by, roared and stepped forward to intercept.
Clang!
The sword's cry erupted, and a shadow flashed.
A line of blood bloomed on Tammuz's chest. The LV.4 adventurer's eyes were wide with disbelief, and he crashed to the ground.
Arthur flicked a drop of blood from the durandal's blade, his indifferent gaze already fixed on the goddess's startled face.
At that moment, the high and mighty Ishtar felt undisguised killing intent!
The charming smile on her face completely froze, her pupils constricting violently!
"W-wait! Loki! Do you know what you're doing...?"
Before she finished speaking, the cold steel edge was already pressed against her delicate neck!
An invisible wind pressure, like a collapsing mountain, pinned her firmly in place, unable to move!
"Don't joke, Loki!"
Ishtar, who had not been restrained for a long time, screamed, her pretty face pale and green, her voice hoarse.
"Attacking a god is taboo! Do you want your children to bear the crime of deicide and suffer eternal damnation!?"
Loki, however, was studying her palm lines with interest, and replied perfunctorily without raising her head.
"Then you've really wronged me. The first condition this kid had for joining our Familia was that I not interfere with him."
She paused, then raised her vermilion eyes to glance at the pale goddess, full of disdain.
"So... you harlot, pray for yourself."
The cold killing intent materialized, and Ishtar felt as if she had fallen into an ice cellar, chilled to the bone.
The goddess knew very well that the other party was serious.
She laboriously turned her gaze to the silent Arthur, forcing out a ingratiating smile that was uglier than crying.
"I... I and the Dark Faction are just using each other! I only know their base is under Daedalus Street, but... but I know nothing else!"
Arthur's lips curled into an amused arc, and with a slight flick of his wrist, the wind pressure intensified, pressing her entire body onto the luxurious tabletop.
"My Lady Goddess, I can see you are very afraid of returning to Heaven. Not afraid of death, but afraid that your burning ambition will turn to ashes before it's realized."
"A constantly betraying ally, or an ambition that allows you to continue contending with Freya, which do you choose?"
Ishtar's palms clutched the tabletop tightly, with such force that her deep purple fingernails actually cracked.
The dignity of a god, the resentment of being suppressed by Freya, the fear of returning to Heaven, the ambition to reach the top...
Countless emotions surged within her, and in the end, the long-accumulated jealousy and unwillingness gained the upper hand.
"...I understand." She squeezed out the words through gritted teeth. "Tell me your objective."
Arthur instantly withdrew the wind pressure, his tone devoid of any emotion, speaking directly.
"First, convert Haruhime."
"Second, spill every single piece of information you know about the Dark Faction."
Ishtar suddenly looked up at his words, a strange mockery appearing on her face.
"Heh heh... Fine, I'll tell you everything! But do you think you're facing the Dark Faction?"
She stared intently at Arthur, saying each word slowly and deliberately.
"No, your opponent is a madman who brings about chaos!"