"We are under attaaaack!"
Haruhime stumbled to her feet when the noises of the explosion and the shouts fromt he guards reached her ears. The other women followed her shortly, they all were confused and looked shocked.
"Wha-"
Another explosion echoed from the direction of the gates and they moved back from the window.
"An attack?!"
"Who would dare?"
"They ruin our evening!"
"Such brutes!"
The other women in the shop with Haruhime were not so easily startled, it wasn´t uncommon in Orario to get attacked. Maybe it was just a small force, the Ishtar familia was pretty strong.
"We-"
"RUN! RUUUUUN!"
They were at a loss for words when they saw all the customers...and the guards...running away from whatever attacked them.
Haruhime was afraid, easily to see at her trembling tail.
"What shall we do?"
The door got burst open by a familiar amazon.
"Haru Haru! Girls! We run! Come!"
"Ms. Lena, who is at-"
"No questions now, run!"
They all wanted to follow Lena out of the backdoor of the main room.
Haruhime was too startled to wonder why exactly one day before the sacrifice an attack started.
Exact in the moment that she wanted to turn to the backdoor, a movement in front of the window catched her eyes.
.
.
Alfia had put on a sinister look, not that anyone could see that. The robe, hood and the magic item that created the small shadow over her face conceiled most of her. The entrance gate of the district was only a ruin now, smoke, dust and sparks rose up into the air.
A few people lied around, knocked out or hurt, but no one was dead. Alfia didn´t held a personal grudge against the members of the Ishtar familia or the prositutes working here. She wanted to wreck the place and not slaughter all the people. Her goal lied easily visible in front of her, a long road went from the entrance to the tower, which was the home of the familia.
Alfia had thought about what to do with the goddess Ishtar, even she wouldn´t just kill a god and send her back to heaven.
But if she would lay waste to the City of the Night and destroy their home, maybe beat their members to a pulp, that would ruin the goddess´ plans completely. Also, she had to find the Killing Stone and destroy it.
A girl like Haruhime didn´t deserved this fate, Bell had really made Alfia soft.
But also...a place like this...she couldn´t allow such a place to exist in Orario. Such a place with such influence could have a bad influence on Bell. She didn´t really thought it would corrupt Bell, he was too pure for that...but better safe than sorry.
If there is even a one percent chance that this place could have a negative influence on my son, I will take this as an absolute!
.
.
In the highest chamber of the tower in the middle of the Pleasure Quarter, a woman of divine beauty let her pipe fall down due to her surprise.
"What is happening?!"
The goddess Ishtar looked out of her enormous window. As usual she wore nearly nothing, her divine parts barely covered by cloth. She could easily see that smoke rose up from the entrance of the district, and that some buildings were on fire.
"Are we under attack?!"
A muscular, handsome man stood a few meters behind her. "I don´t know, Mylady."
"Then go and find out!"
In that moment, an amazon of her familia burst into her room.
"Lady Ishtar! We are under attack!"
"What?! So it is an attack! Who is it? Is it Freya?"
"We don´t know, we got reports that say it is one person, but the damage caused is way too much for a single person. There are explosions anywhere on the street."
"Which familia is this?!"
"We don´t know, Mylady. The ones we saw were cloaked."
The darkness worked in Alfia´s favor, due to the confusion and trouble...and her magic that was invisible in the night, the Ishtar familia couldn´t confirm how many people attacked them.
"Get everyone down there and call Phryne! Curses! I will not allow to get disturbed one night before we have our victory!"
The door got opened again and several amazons came jogging inside.
"Finally. Samira, you go an secure the killing stone, let no one outside of our familia touch it. Aisha, you go and secure the sacrifice, don´t let her escape and kill everyone that wants to take her away."
Aisha bowed slightly to Ishtar.
She could at least use Haruhime´s name...
As much as she wanted to disobey Ishtar, ever since she got charmed she couldn´t do that anymore. Her mind was strong but her flesh was weak. This attack would´ve been the perfect chance to get Haruhime out of the Pleasure Quarter. But now that Ishtar had given her an order...
The door opened an additional time, the amazon that came in was the most beautiful of the whole familia. Truly there was no match for her curves, her full breasts, her inviting hips and her beautiful smile. At least in her opinion.
"Keh, Keh, Keh. What is going on? A ruckus again? Are the men fighting over me?"
"We are under attack, Phryne."
"What?! Who dares it?!"
"We don´t know, go down there and crush them. Bring everyone that looks suspicious to me for interrogation."
"But..."
"I don´t care what you do with the men afterwards! Have your way as often with them as you want!"
"Keh, Keh, Keh! That´s why you are the best, lady Ishtar! I hope there is a handsome, young man among the attackers. *Slrp*"
.
.
Haruhime wanted to stumble backwards when the figure stopped in front of her window. The figure was clad in a black robe, a hood hid it´s face. In her right hand she held a scimitar-like sword, people of knowledge would call this an Chepesh. And to Haruhime´s immence luck on this day...the figure stopped right in front of the window...and slowly turned the hood into her direction.
"Wa...wawa..."
The hood got slightly tilted to the side, Haruhime couldn´t see a face. She saw how the figure raised the left arm, the hand was covered by a gauntlet. Then she winked with her index finger, as if to lure Haruhime closer to her.
"Hawawawa!"
Haruhime was shaking heavily from fear, her tail got pushed against her legs from behind. She was frozen in fear, wanted to run away but couldn´t.
"Come...here..."
The voice sounded not human, it was a whisper...like from a ghost!
"Hiiiiii!"
"Come...to...me..."
The figure came closer and raised the Chepesh, maybe it wanted to cleave the window in half.
"Iyaaaaaaah!"
Haruhime finally got the control over her legs back and ran away. But sadly...towards her room and not the backdoor...
Outside, the figure sighed lightly.
As long as she stays in there, nothing will happen. Do I look that frightening?
While she was in thoughts, a amazon with a spear jumped at her from behind. Out of reflex, Alfia blocked the spear with her sword, pushed it up and dealt a straight punch into the woman´s stomach.
"Guhärgh..."
Alfia didn´t paid much attention to the unconcious amazon and continued her way. But then she got an idea and turned to the entrance of the building. .
.
.
About twenty minutes after the start of the attack, a young man arrived at the entrance of the Pleasure Quarter.
Ms. Haruhime!
Bell heard the explosions and saw the red shine of the fire, he didn´t knew what was happening but even from the distance it didn´t looked like a small fire.
All he could think of was the girl that he had started to like so much and wanted to rescue.
He had already apologized in his mind or mumbling, he hoped that Miach and Nahza would forgive him. The problem wasn´t that Bell sneaked out of the home at night...not even that he did that to run to the Pleasure Quarter...or that he wanted to visit a prostitute...even when he refused to call Haruhime that.
No the problem was that this could mean trouble with the Ishtar familia, he just hoped he could explain the situation and that Miach wouldn´t banish him from the familia.
Lord Miach. Lady Nahza. I´m so sorry if that means trouble. I will take full responsibility!
He ran faster, for now letting his sword inside the sheath, he didn´t wanted to seem like an attacker or a threat to someone. It was a bit embarrassing for Bell that he knew the way so well because he came to the Pleasure Quarter nearly every night over the last week.
Bell ran around the last corner and was in front of the entrance to the Pleasure Quarter. Or at least...the entrance should be here.
The gate was just a pile of rubble now, dust covered everything with a grey blanket. It looked a bit surreal and quiet, but only around the entrance. Behind the entrance...the Pleasure Quarter was on fire, many of the buildings were burning. A path of destruction led deeper into the district.
"Ms. Haruhime, I will get you out of there!" He spoke with clenched teeth and ran forward.
He didn´t knew what caused the fire and the destruction, but Bell would make sure that Haruhime wouldn´t get hurt.
Mom, I´m sorry...
Bell had promised Alfia to stand down for now and let her get informations first, but he wanted to see Haruhime. Bringing himself into danger would probably lead to her scolding him fiercly. But...he just had to do it.
Covering his mouth with his sleeve, Bell jumped over the pile of rubble and moved into the district.
In the second he did that, a small, armored figure, that was hidden in the shadows, noticed him. A small armored figure that looked almost identical to three other armored figures. His job was it to keep an eye on the entrance, to see if people would come to help the Ishtar familia.
"Ms. Haruhime! Where are you?!"
Grer exhaled through his nose and lowered his greatsword.
Looks weak, not a threat, probably just a horny teen that wants to save his favorite prostitute. Poor boy, he will never witness pure grace, like our lady´s.
Bell Cranel didn´t knew how close he was to get killed just to be sure. And Grer didn´t knew how close he got to get half of Orario and probably most of his familia slaughtered because of that.
He kept on running, his first goal was the Crimson Lotus, from there on he had to keep looking until he found her. And he would find her!
.
.
"Lord Miach..."
"Nahza, is it what I think it is?"
"Mhm. It comes from the City of the Night..."
"And Bell isn´t sleeping on the couch as I see."
"Correct..."
The god and the chientrope stood at the entrance of their home, they could see the red-orange shine in the distance. Miach saw how Nahza´s ears twitched from time to time, she could hear the explosions.
"Bell really got himself into something."
"Do you think he..."
"No, I doubt he is the one doing that. Not only because he doesn´t have the strength to take on the whole District, but because it isn´t in his nature."
"Right..he seems to be more the kind one..."
Miach nodded, he was worried about his newest member.
"What do we do now, lord Miach?..."
"We do what we always do when someone is in trouble or needs help. Get your bag, Nahza."
"Alright...But I will stick close to you..."
"I´m counting on that."
Three minutes later, Miach and Nahza ran in the direction of the Pleasure Quarter. For a big part of the way, Nahza would carry her god in her arms, even with only level two, she was much faster and more agile than him.
.
.
"S-S-Stay away!"
Haruhime had fled to her room out of reflex, but the figure was following her. In panic, she took her bow, but of course it the bowstring was not taut. So all she could do was to hold one of her arrows in the direction of the figure. The arrow and her tail were shaking heavily.
"Come here...girl..."
Thankfully, someone had noticed that Haruhime didn´t went with the other women.
"Haru Haru!"
"Ms. Lena!"
The young amazon burst into her room, she held her scimitar in her left hand. Lena didn´t froze when she saw the figure, that held a hand towards Haruhime.
"Don´t touch Haru Haru you creeper!"
Instead of attacking the figure, Lena dashed forward, grabbed Haruhime and ran with her out of the backdoor of the room, to the courtyard where Haruhime normally trained with her bow. The figure saw how she lifted Haruhime up like she would weight nothing and jumped over the wall.
Alfia clicked her tongue in annoyance, pointed her hand to the wall in the right direction and used her magic on a lower level. It had been years since she used her magic so often.
.
.
"M-Ms. Lena, what are we going to do?!"
"Running of course! Aisha said I shall prot-"
The wall of Haruhime´s room exploded towards the street, rubble hammered into the building on the other side. While she was in the air, Lena couldn´t do much to move around. So while she went down again with Haruhime in her arms, they saw in shock how the figure came out of the room.
The easiest solution for Alfia would have been to show Haruhime her face, but she couldn´t risk doing that.
"Not looking too good..."
Lena´s feet touched the ground and she wanted to dash off, but the figure was much faster than her. Her way got blocked, when Lena turned around, the figure was already on the other side. Five or six times did she try to run away, but she had no chance.
"How crazy fast is that creeper?!"
"I would appriciate it if you wouldn´t call me a creeper."
"Kuah! What is that creepy voice?!"
Alfia sighed in her mind, the magic item altered the sound of her voice.
"Give me the girl, now."
"No! You won´t get Haru Haru!"
Haruhime yelped a bit when Lena put her down on her feet and readied her weapon.
"Ms. Lena, please don´t! You get hurt!"
"No chance am I losing here!"
The figure let her Chepesh hanging down. "You don´t want that fight, amazon. Stay down and hand over that girl."
"Are you from Kali´s familia? You won´t get her!"
Lena Tally was a true amazon, she wasn´t afraid of her opponent, even more since she didn´t knew how strong that opponent was. Her usual way of fighting took most people off guard, she made fast movements and it almost looked like a dance. In fact, Lena had a form of dance with her scimitar, but that one was meant to enchant men.
She was proud of her fast attacks, the scimitar almost looked like a scheme as it hacked through the air. With a light clank sound, the scimitar was stopped, she didn´t even saw how the figure moved.
"Kuah! You are strong! Hhhrrnnngh!"
Lena pushed with both hands and all of her strength, but the figure easily held her at bay with just one hand.
"You are not Bete are you? Are you my hubby?!"
What a crazy girl.
"Hey Hey, Bete is that y-"
"I don´t know anyone of the name Bete."
"So you are not Bete?!"
"Why are you looking so shocked?"
"Tch, tricking me into thinking you are my beloved... Shame on you!"
Alfia was a bit taken aback by the logic of the amazon.
Lena used her full blade dance and slashed from many directions at Alfia. She almost wove a steel cage around Alfia with her blade.
Level two...maybe close to three I would say.
Alfia could end the "fight" on the spot and cleave Lena in half if she wanted to. But it looked like this girl cared about Haruhime, and Haruhime in return seemed to be worried about her. So striking the young amazon down and painting Haruhime with her blood was not an option.
The problem was, how to knock Lena out without killing her, the difference in strength was enormous. Alfia wasn´t only a normal mage, she had been a part of the vanguard of her familia. So her strength status was bigger than usual for mages...maybe she really was a cheat to the world, like Zeus said.
"Ms. Lena, please stop! I will go with her or him!"
"Nonsense! We w-"
Alfia whirled around and dealt a chop with her hand faster than Lena could react. She hit Lena in a certain spot at her neck.
"Ugh..."
Lena´s eyes became unfocussed, then she collapsed on the spot.
"Ms. Lena!"
Alfia had held back as much as possible, she didn´t heard a crack so she was alive. Haruhime dashed forward and landed on her knees next to Lena. She pulled the unconcious amazon into her direction with one hand as good as possible, threatening the robed figure with her arrow, that she held in her other hand.
"I w-w-won´t let you harm my friend a-anymore!"
"Are you afraid, girl?"
"No!"
Haruhime´s tail was clutched to her body, she trembled in fear. But Alfia was impressed, even when Haruhime was so afraid of her, she refused to leave her friend behind, even when she was too weak to fight back.
Alfia made a small step closer, the arrow trembled and tears appeared in Haruhime´s eyes, but she pulled Lena closer.
"S-Stay away..."
Alfia wanted to say something when she heard a familiar voice yelling.
"Ms. Haruhimeeee!"
Bell?! What is he doing here?! Argh, that boy! Why didn´t he listened to me?! He is coming for her, to save her from the danger here?! Dear gods...I am so proud of you, Bell.
But that also meant that Bell was in danger, she had no choice but to continue.
Alfia turned away from Haruhime, she had to trust that Bell would find her and keep her safe.
I´m counting on you, my son. Use this chance to safe her.
Haruhime held the arrow pointed at Alfia while she walked away, towards the castle that was the home of the Ishtar familia.
"Ms. Haruhimeeeee!"
"Mr. Bell?!"
.
.
Alfia gritted her teeth while she walked, she started to get really furious. Not because Lena had attacked her, but because of how Haruhime had acted. She had only heard from Bell about her, talked to her once and now saw her how she acted in danger.
This girl is too pure for this city! Curse you, goddess Ishtar!
Even Alfia wasn´t that cruel in her worst time. Well she had to admit that what they had done to Astrea´s elf by nearly shattering her picture of the world was very cruel. But even that was nothing compared to what this goddess had done to Haruhime. To take her as a slave, use her as a tool, force her into prostitution, that girl had surely cried many times at night. Alfia didn´t even wanted to think about how much Haruhime hated herself...that her virginity had been taken by some guy, who probably had his way with her after she had fainted.
How is that possible? We are not even here for two weeks and I am already growing attached to someone I barely know! Is this because of Bell? Hah...my baby...you really changed me.
In her mind Alfia saw an image of a half naked Haruhime, hugging her own body while crying, after losing something really precious to a young woman. She probably showered more than one time after she lost her virginity. Alfia had learned that for women from the far east, that was even more precious than for women from the west, it had something to do with their culture.
I bet she feels tainted...I will make this goddess pay for that.
Alfia didn´t realized it...what made her so angry were her maternal feelings, awakened by Bell.
Eventually the closed gate of the wall that surrounded the palace grounds were before her.
Alfia was about to raise her hand and unleash her magic, when...
"Could I kindly ask you to stop what you are about to do?"
She froze, Alfia hadn´t noticed that someone was there, was she that furious? When she turned around, her eyes that were hidden in her hood widened.
The person that stood before her was one she despised deeply. She was incredibly beautiful and elegant, had a soft, knowing smile on her lips. The outfit that she wore would have looked slutty on every other woman in this district, yet she managed to let it look graceful. Her full breasts, slender waist and swinging hips would let most men beg to allow her to kiss her feet at least.
The goddess of love and beauty...Freya.
And she wasn´t alone, a tall, boar man accompanied her, Ottar. Alfia noticed no other members of her familia nearby. Yet she lowered her Chepesh, she couldn´t risk to threaten or anger Freya. Not that she was afraid of her or Ottar, she had defeated Ottar once easily, but the Freya familia was the last she wanted to mess with when Bell should have a mostly peacefull life.
"Goddess...Freya."
"Oh my, so you know who I am, wonderful."
"Everyone knows the goddess Freya."
A pleased smile appeared on Freya´s lips.
"Am I correct assuming that you have a personal grudge against Ishtar or her familia?"
"Yes."
Alfia eyed Ottar, hidden under her hood, he didn´t moved as long as Freya didn´t ordered him to.
"Well that is understandable, but I would like to ask you to stay down and let me take it from here."
Alfia didn´t answered, she was honestly confused.
Freya´s smile widened a bit, it made Alfia uncomfortable.
"I want to talk with Ishtar from goddess to goddess...no...from woman to woman about her...shenanigans."
"Is that so.."
"Yes, and if you continue...you will ruin my...fun."
Alfia understood what Freya said, she wanted to destroy Ishtar for whatever she had done to Freya. And Alfia was about to take that away from her, that would displease the goddess. She was sure that more of her children were nearby, so Bell could be in danger, that couldn´t be allowed.
So she put away her Chepesh and showed a slight bow towards Freya, even if she hated to do that.
"Then I won´t get in your way, goddess Freya."
"Oh my, what a polite child you are, Ehehe."
Freya´s giggle surely was to die for, but Alfia wished she would instead choke on a carrot or something like that...that would be a hilarous sight.
Ottar´s eyes followed Alfia while she slowly left.
"Are you sure of that, lady Freya? We don´t know who this is, suddenly attacking this place."
"Oh I know who this is."
"Oh?"
"Hmm, are you curious, Ottar? But sadly...I won´t tell you, that would be no fun."
"If you say so."
"Awwwww, you are so cute when you are so stoic."
"I am a grown man, I am not cute."
"Ehehe, that´s what I love about you. Now would you be so kind?"
.
.
Ishtar went pale when the gate that was the entrance to her palace grounds exploded. The attackers were this close now.
"Who would dare to-...No...no...no way..."
The goddess saw it...saw her. Saw Freya half smiling, half smirking up to her.
"Freya!"
.
.
Freya´s high executives went on their way to fulfill their orders.
"Ottar, you can go now and block the way."
"Are you sure, lady Freya?"
"Yes, I will be enough for Ishtar, are you worried about me?"
"Every second when I am awake."
"Ehe, such a good child. Now go."
"As you wish."
Freya walked alone in the direction of Ishtar´s palace, she looked over her shoulder to be sure that Ottar was gone. Eventually she stopped and turned slightly towards some bushes that were nearby to the small road...they were big enough for a person or two to hide inside.
"You two can come out now."
No reaction.
Freya sighed slightly and crossed her arms under her breasts, lifting them up a bit.
"I know that you are hiding in these bushes."
No reaction.
"*Sigh* Ryu, would you please come out already?"
Now the bushes rustled.
A few moments later, a figure rose from the bushes, clad in mostly black cloth and leather, the hands were free. Even when she covered her hair and some of her ears, Freya knew who that was, and who was behind her.
"You can also come out...Kaguya, right?"
The other woman appeared too, both seemed to be really startled that Freya had noticed them.
"You two are good, I didn´t noticed you in the first moment."
That was a small lie, Freya noticed them as soon as the gate was torn down by Ottar. Even when it was dark around the bushes, their souls were like lighted signs for her eyes.
Both didn´t said anything at first, then Ryu started.
"You know that it was us, goddess Freya?"
"Of course, I never forget the face of such a cutie."
It was a big fun for Freya to tease Ryu a bit.
"But...we were hidden."
"Not good enough for me, you still have much to learn, young lady."
Kaguya waited behind Ryu in silence.
"So...did Astrea sent you two?"
Ryu shook her head. "No, lady Astrea doesn´t know that we are here."
"You know that you can´t lie to a god?"
"I am not lying."
"I know, you are too honest for that."
"Eh...?"
Teehee.
"So then, why are you two here? Night patrol?"
Ryu looked for a moment at Kaguya, who nodded.
"We kept an eye on the Pleasure Quarter, something seemed to be strange."
"What brought you to that?"
"Syr."
Freya smiled. "Is that so?"
"Yes, Syr told me she heard rumors and we went to investigate."
"What rumors?"
"That the Ishtar familia is up to something big and that this familia doesn´t really like your familia, goddess Freya."
"Oh? So you were worried about me?"
"Syr was worried, she said you are a dear friend, lady Freya."
"And you came for that reason? You truly are good children."
Now Kaguya spoke for the first time.
"Leon was worried that a fight between your familias could be dangerous for Syr."
Freya looked confused. "Leon?"
She saw that Ryu got red. "My...nickname..."
"Oh my, how cute."
"Irgh..."
Ahahahaha, Ryu, you are so fun to tease. I can really understand Alise and the others. Do you even know how much you are loved?
"So you were worried about Syr´s safety?"
"No one would dare to attack the Hostess of Fertility, so Ahnya and Mama Mia are safe...but Syr has to go to Babel after work. Something could happen to her...she is so vulnerable..."
"I am really glad that Syr has such a friend."
Kaguya made a step forward. "Goddess Freya, may I ask why your familia is here?"
"To wipe out the Ishtar familia."
"Don´t look so shocked you two. Ishtar has something evil planned, I guess she is even messing with Loki´s familia behind the curtains somehow. I have informations that she wants to strike down my familia and me...however she wanted to do that. So I beat her to it."
"Oh."
"I didn´t wanted to let Orario become a battlefield again, these times should be over."
Both adventurers were silent.
"So, you two, what are you planning to do now? I would ask you to leave and let me do what I do."
"Goddess Freya...I..."
"I will be honest with you, Ryu. I am a bit worried about Syr. While we are busy here, she is alone at home, who knows who might sneak in there."
Ryu´s eyes widened in shock.
Now Freya looked at Kaguya. "Would you be so kind and tell Astrea that I took care of this matter? That I...how do you call it? Protected Justice."
Kaguya and Ryu exchanged looks.
"Or do you intend to stop me? I know that as an elf, you despise this place."
"I do...but..."
"Innocent people would have died and I´m sure Astrea wouldn´t have stand down when Ishtar would´ve tried to take over. Your goddess and your familia aren´t like that. That would´ve brought you in danger as well, Ryu."
"Me?"
"Yes. You are Syr´s dear friend, she really cares for you and you are irreplaceable for her. So I can´t allow you to get hurt or Syr would be sad. This way Ishtar would hurt what is mine, and I don´t allow that."
Ryu didn´t knew how to respond.
"So?"
Kaguya looked at Ryu for a few moments, before she tugged at her shirt from behind.
"I will bring lady Astrea your message and tell her you did it to prevent escalation. Come, Leon."
Ryu looked again at Freya, before she nodded.
"I will look for Syr, do I have your permission to enter the floor where you live?"
"Why do you think I gave you the silver coin?"
What the goddess meant was a special silver coin with her symbol on it. If Ryu showed that to the guards in Babel, they would let her pass. Like that she was able to come and visit Syr or have a sleepover from time to time.
Freya watched these two vanish in the darkness, then she turned around again.
"Ishtaaaar~~~I´m coming for youuuuu~~~~~"
The goddess of love and beauty planned to have her way with Ishtar...from a certain point of view.
.
.
Kaguya and Ryu split up, the whole Pleasure Quarter was a battlefield now and many buildings burned. Ryu wanted to go in the direction of Babel, but then she heard a familiar voice.
The voice of a young man who shouted.
Is that...him? What is he doing here?!
Ryu immediatelly moved into the direction of the voice.
.
.
Bell had covered his mouth and face from smoke and the heat of the fire. It was probably due to the big amounts of alcohol and perfumes in the buildings, that let the fire get bigger and bigger.
He had shouted Haruhime´s name again and again and then he finally got an answer. Bell saw no other people, they had probably fled from the attack, the destruction and the fire.
"Ms. Haruhime!"
"Mr. Bell!"
His heart made a jump when he saw her, relieved that she wasn´t hurt. Bell ran to her, he saw that she was holding a familiar amazon.
"What happened?"
"Someone attacked us, I don´t know from which familia."
"Did they try to hurt you?"
"I can only say that one was after me...Lena tried to protect me..."
Haruhime shed tears, she couldn´t do anything to help Lena.
Bell hastily opened his leg holster and pulled out a potion. Quickly he had opened it.
"I´m sorry Ms. Lena, I hope she doesn´t understand this wrong."
He emptied the potion over Lena´s upper body.
"Mr. Bell, what are you doing?!"
"I want to help her, this potion heals."
"But why do you pour it over her? She has to drink it!"
"Ahm, no? My captain gave me these potions, they don´t need to be swallowed."
"What? Such a potion exists?!"
"Apparently."
"Wow...this must be a high potion."
"I guess so...lady Nahza is a genius when it comes to making potions."
"Nnngh..."
"Ms. Lena!"
Haruhime had her tail wrapped around Lena´s waist, while she gave her a lap pillow and gently held her head, now the amazon started to groan.
"Ms. Lena, are you okay?!"
"Ouch...my neck...that really...hurt.."
"Ms. Lena! Thank the gods you are alive!"
"My head hurts...what happened?"
"You protected me from the attacker."
"Did I got him?"
"Y-Yeah of course you did!"
"Hehe, you are a terrible liar, Haruh Haru."
Lena´s eyes wandered to Bell.
"What do we have here?"
"Mr. Bell saved you, he used a potion on your body, I have never seen such a potion."
"Hehe, wanted to pour liquid over my chest so badly, hm?"
"I-I-It´s not what you think!"
Bell got deep red by Lena´s words.
"Came for Haru Haru, hm?"
"I wanted to see her..."
"Huh?!"
Haruhime´s cheeks got red by Bell´s words.
"Owie...please wait with your flirting for later."
""We aren´t flirting!""
Lena tried to get up, but everything was spinning in her head.
"Ouch...looks like we got company."
A familiar adult amazon walked slowly towards them, as usual she wore very revealing clothes...but this time she had her Podao Zaga on her shoulder. The blade was enormous.
"Here you are, Haruhime."
"Ms. Aisha!"
Aisha stopped and eyed all three.
"Lena, what are you doing here?"
"I protected Haru from the attacker, but he really got me good."
"You did well...and what are you doing here...boy?"
"I will bring Ms. Haruhime out of here!"
Haruhime blinked by the emotion in Bell´s voice. "Huh?"
"Bring her out of here you say?"
"Look around! The District gets destroyed in the fight between familias! There is no way she is safe here!"
"True, the Ishtar familia is doomed."
Lena blinked from her position on Haruhime´s lap. "What are you saying, Aisha?"
"The Freya familia is responsible for the attack, they are destroying everything."
"What should we do?!"
"Nothing, Lena. This is the end for our familia."
Haruhime got big eyes.
"That´s right, Haruhime. When this fight is over, you will be free."
"What?..."
Aisha´s expression slowly contorted in anger. "But sadly, boy, you said you wanted to bring her out of here."
"Yes I did."
Aisha´s expression got dark. "And lady Ishtar ordered me to kill anyone who tries to do that."
"Wha-"
Aisha´s greatsword came slamming down with enormous speed, Bell could barely jump backwards and evade it like that.
"Ms. Aisha, what are you doing?!"
"What lady Ishtar ordered me to do, I can´t fight against her orders."
Bell got pale. "So what you said was true?!"
"Of course it was true. As much as I like to stop, I can´t."
Aisha´s eyes wandered to Haruhime. "And also...I don´t want to let you take her so easily."
"What are you saying?!"
"I can´t just hand her over to you, leaving a familia comes at a price."
She squinted her eyes. "You understand that, right?"
Bell slowly drew his cheap looking sword, but remained silent.
"And even if Haruhime escapes today, another familia will hear about her power and will target her, to get her hands on her."
"Ms. Ais-"
"I won´t let them take Ms. Haruhime! No one will ever put his hands on her against her will!"
Pure anger was on Bell´s face, his heart hammered in his chest from strong emotions.
"Nice words, but do you still want to take her? Even if that means your familia could be in danger?"
"What powers do you speak of?"
"Haruhime has a very unique magic, it is incredibly strong. That is why she is meant as a sacrifice for the killing stone."
"Aisha!" Haruhime looked shocked from Aisha to Bell.
Bell stuttered. "A...sacrifice...?"
"What, you didn´t know? Haruhime is meant to be sacrificed tomorrow night, the familia wants to imprison her soul in the killing stone, then shatter it and use the power to attack the Freya familia...not that this will happen now."
"How can you do that?! Isn´t she one of your friends?!"
"No, Haruhime is like a little sister to me."
"Then why?!"
"Because I was ordered to do it."
"That is enough for you?!"
"Boy, you have no idea what it feels like to feel the charm of a goddess. Lady Ishtar had her way with me and my body, she made me experience things that I never thought were possible. And that destroyed something in me, I can´t disobey her orders, as much as I want to."
"Then..."
Aisha raised her sword again. "If you can stop me from killing you until the fight is over, you win."
Determined, Bell readied his sword with both hands.
"I WILL bring Ms. Haruhime out of here, she doesn´t deserve something like that! She is suffering right now, so I´ll save her!"
"Why?"
"Because this is what heroes do!"
Aisha grinned statisfied. "Then ready your sword. When a man is taking a woman away, he needs to do it by force!"
Aisha jumped forward, her sword raised.
During the first clash of their weapons, Bell felt that he had no chance against her. He was an upper level one adventurer, his status was higher than most adventurers would go before leveling up, but he couldn´t level up so far.
And Aisha...was a level three, close to be able to level up to four. She was two whole levels above him, in terms of pure status, around one and a half level above him. So she was faster, stronger and tougher than him.
The only lucky part was, Ishtar hadn´t ordered Aisha to kill anyone as fast as possible. So she could take her time.
Sparks flew everywhere as Bell got pushed back from that murderous swing.
"Surely you can do better!"
"Of course I can do better, and my name isn´t Shirley!"
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High up on a rooftop, two shadows looked over the burning District.
"Oh, what tragedy! My heart aches!"
Hermes threw himself into a pose. "It was I who spread the rumors about Ishtar being up to something, how could I know it would turn out like this!"
The blue haired woman next to the god sighed. "How much of this was your plan, lord Hermes?"
"All of it? Nothing? Who knows. I just lit the spark, Asfi. But I seriously didn´t expected some unknown adventurer to wreck most of the District before Freya even appeared."
"I wonder who that was."
"Judging by the strength I would say one of Loki´s or Astrea´s children."
"The Astrea familia is in the dungeon on the 37th Floor, they are claiming Udaeus for themself this time."
"Hmmm and Loki´s are on an expedition."
"Maybe one of lord Ganesha´s high members?"
"No, even little Shakti couldn´t do that."
The god grinned. "But anyway, I prepared a fine stage for Bell!"
"Bell?"
"Haven´t I told you about Bell Cranel?"
"You didn´t."
"Hah, strange. Anyway, look down there! Our young hero is fighting against the leader of the Berberas to protect the poor, pure girl in danger! His first real appearance in Orario! It´s perfect!"
"Who is he? I have never seen him before."
"He came to Orario not even two weeks ago."
"Then he will die against the Berbera leader!"
"We will see that, Asfi. Now let us watch, I want to see what Bell can or can´t do."
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Swords clashed with each other while the two whirled around and fought. A shadow watched them, a shadow that was hidden by a black robe and a hood. A shadow that gritted her teeth, seeing her beloved son in danger and getting pushed around by a half naked amazon!
But Alfia didn´t interfere, she couldn´t do that, it would be cruel. Bell stood in front of Haruhime and protected her with his life, he lived his dream right now. Alfia had promised to Zeus and herself that she wouldn´t take every burden away from Bell, or he wouldn´t be able to grow.
And she was curious, it was Bell´s first fight against someone who wanted to beat him honestly. Or more..fight him honestly.
I wonder what this amazon is up to. Come on Bell, you fought against me! This amazon is nothing compared to me!
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Unnoticed by Alfia, since she was focussed on her son, another shadow...a really big shadow...watched the starting fight. Something picked his attention, he couldn´t put his finger on it.
Who is the boy that is fighting this amazon? I have to watch for lady Freya´s sake.
Ottar told himself that, but Freya would know that he was just curious as a fellow warrior.
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"Raaaaah!"
"Haha! Come on, boy!"
Aisha blocked Bell´s sword, sparks flew everywhere. She wanted to see what he could do, so she hammered down on him with all of her strength. Instead of blocking the attack head on, Bell caught her blade with his own, and led himself out of the way, pushing her to the side would be impossible by their difference in strength.
She leaned closer and lowered her voice.
"There are conditions to take a prostitute from the Pleasure Quarter with you forever!"
"Grml!"
They wrestled their swords against each other, Bell got pushed back.
"One. You have to be a good man for her."
"I will!"
"Two. Treat her well and take care of her."
"That goes without saying!"
"Three. Don´t ever dare to hurt her or we will come for you."
"I would never!"
"Four. If you are not serious about your intention, we will dismember you. Don´t dare to make her false illusions!"
Bell jumped backwards, made a quick sidestep and slashed from below. Aisha catched his sword with her own.
"I will do all that!"
"Five. Prove that you are worthy to pull my little sister out of her dreams and help her!"
Bell had heard about everything.
Haruhime got kicked out of her own house and was taken away from her homeland. She was brought into a city where she didn´t know anything or anyone and was solde. Her life was one big series of tragedies.
Becoming a prositute against her will, being forced to expose her skin, being touched.
Her virginity taken...
Haruhime always got opressed, lost everything she knew in one moment and got traped in a cycle of darkness..ever since she was a child. That she got consumed by despair was understandable.
Her life was a nightmare.
No escape, she could barely differ between the realitly and her dreams anymore, she had tried to lose herself in her beloved hero stories.
It were more than enough reasons for Bell to help her, to save her.
Aisha and Bell stared each other down, sounds of roaring flames, screams and clashing sounds came from everywhere.
They jumped at each other again, Aisha´s sword was similar to one that Alfia had used during their training. Aisha was really good with it, but Alfia was much better. Yet Bell was still the weaker one.
This fight could only end in one way.
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"Haru Haru..."
"Lena?"
"Are you...just gonna watch?"
"What do you mean."
Lena showed her a tired smile. "You know what I mean."
She raised her hand and gently touched Haruhime´s cheek, Lena knew how delicate Haruhime was.
"Don´t just wait to be saved, Haru. Help him, stand up for yourself, smash these chains around your heart. Help him to crush them."
"Lena..."
"Come on, do it. Or Aisha will probably kill him, if she wants to or not. You have a man that is fighting for you, that really likes you."
Haruhime looked up, the whole situation was nearly too much for her mind and heart. Her freedom was within reach, she had accepted that Bell wanted to save her.
I...I...
She was afraid to do something.
"Haru, put your hands together, as if you want to meditate."
"Huh?"
"Just do it."
Haruhime did as Lena told her, then the amazon suddenly slapped her hands from the outside, that startled Haruhime. It was a way to fight nervousness.
"Now do it, Haru Haru. Fight with your man."
The fox woman looked up and started to look determined.
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"Grow."
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Haruhime slowly raised her hands and started to sing...to chant.
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"That power and that vessel. Breadth of wealth and breadth of wishes. Until the bell tolls, bring forth glory and illusion.-"
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Her voice got a bit louder and stronger, her emotions and her wish for freedom washed into her chant.
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"Grow."
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Golden light circled around her, strings of light came from all directions and whirled around each other, forming something like an orb above Haruhime.
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"Confine divine offerings within this body. This golden light bestowed from above."
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The light whirled faster, forming a small tornado.
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"Into the hammer and into the ground, may it bestow good fortune upon you.-"
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The light whirled so fast that the individual strings couldn´t be seen anymore.
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"Grow."
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As Haruhime came to the end of her chant, the tornado formed into a pillar.
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She yelled out at the end, yelling out her wish for freedom, for a life, to do what she wanted, without selling her body anymore.
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"Uchide no Kozuchi!"
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The pillar of light hammered down on Bell, illuminating him and the surrounding area. Aisha´s next strike came and now Bell was able to block it for the first time.
"Wah-.."
Aisha grinned. "Looks like Haruhime made her choice. Now fight me!"
Bell felt...great! Never before had he felt like that. Pure strength pulsed through his veins, he wanted to scream and laugh about this sudden boost in strength. But not only his strength, everything on him got stronger suddenly.
His sword moved faster than he was used too and Aisha actually had to block him now.
The difference between them got smaller, with Haruhime´s unique magic, Bell had now for a few minutes the strength of an upper level two adventurer. Their status points counted, since the skill added a complete level as if Bell went up normally, he was now only half a level behind Aisha. For Bell the enhancement was stronger than for other adventurers. Others would level up after reaching numbers of five hundred to six hundred in their numbers, but Bell was close to reach the nine hundred in three parts and had surpassed them in two already. That added for two levels, would leave all of his individual numbers by over one thousand eight hundred, while Aisha went up at the normal numbers, she was only a bit stronger than him now.
But Bell Cranel only got so strong since he had the most loving, yet merciless teacher of them all.
But only for a few minutes.
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Alfia raised her eyebrows slightly.
Buff...no...Enchantement magic? Now that is rare.
She watched closely, Alfia would let him fight this alone. It didn´t looked like the amazon wanted to kill him as fast as possible, so she waited. But if the amazon would try it, Alfia would react in a time that no other person could do, since she was a level seven Mom.
Fight, Bell! Remember your training!
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And Bell rememberred his training. Alfia had drummed it into him again and again, strength alone wasn´t everything. At some point the strength got so overwhelming that he would have no choice, for example if Aisha would be level four or five. But what could make the difference was technique, mastering martial arts could be his strength.
And Bell was on his way to master his very own martial art, it just wasn´t perfect for now.
He did something that would confuse many opponents, by suddenly changing his way of fighting. Bell jumped backwards, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. He could do that because Aisha was a second confused about his behaviour. Bell was focussed on Aisha and their surroundings, and then...he relaxed.
When you're tense and your mind is distracted, you can't act with speed, control, or mental clarity. This can and will be deadly. With practice, you will learn to achieve a state of calm concentration in the midst of danger. You learn to focus on what is.
Those were Alfia's words to Bell. He had practiced this and was now putting it into practice. Despite the fires all around them, only the Crimson Lotus not burning, Bell emptied his mind, creating an island of calm deep within him. Not blocking or parrying just once can be deadly. So Bell protected himself. He held his sword in a position that went from the lower torso to the top of the head. This allowed him to react to an attack with reasonable speed, and he could launch his own strikes at various angles.
His own fighting style was more fitting for humanoid opponents instead of monsters, but it worked well in the dungeon too.
Bell watched Aisha.
He took in everything about her body, not like another man would, but the movements of her feets, legs, hands, arms and body. Bell didn´t attacked or countered, he deflected her sword blows whenever possible, not blocking them when it wasn´t necessary, to save his strength. He watched her fighting style, analyzed her range.
This was his very own "Golden Guardian" style, named after the hero of the past that he had read about.
Due to the difference between them, Bell needed one or two minutes to get used to his opponent, at least someone as strong and experienced as Aisha. Alfia would have finished her analysis in five to ten seconds... But well his Mom was something else.
It wasn´t only that Bell deflected Aisha´s strikes, but the way he did it. Always to the sides, changing the direction which he chose to do it at random, always doing one side or changing every time would let Aisha see through him.
"What´s wrong? Only running away and dodging?! Fight me like the man you want to be!"
Bell didn´t answered, Alfia had drilled that too into him...no talking during fights.
Be stone. Be iron. Be ice.
She attacked him again and again, Bell only deflected, blocked and didn´t reacted to her taunts.
"Hoooo...such a stern, manly face, I like it!"
Metal slammed together again, her broadsword reflected Aisha´s grin, her blood started to boil, a nice feeling for an amazon.
You are lucky that Haruhime took a liking to you!
While his expression was calm, Aisha saw that Bell´s eyes were burning with determination and resolve.
Then he started to move, his first counter attack took Aisha by surprise. It came so fast that he got a few strands of her hair.
"Ahahaha! So you can actually fight!"
Their weapons clashed, bodies overlapped but never touched. Aisha grinned wildly, she was glad that Ishtar didn´t ordered her to kill her opponents as fast as possible, she started to enjoy this fight. Bell wasn´t perfect, he wasn´t as strong as she had hoped, but dear gods he had the spirit!
An endless series of collisions and eruptions of sparks, gave her a feeling of pure joy that she didn´t felt in a long time, if Bell were stronger and not Haruhime´s favorite, she would have gone after him herself.
"You are great! This is how a man is supposed to be! Attack me! Strike me! Your swift counter attacks are great!"
She leaned forward, smiled from ear to ear.
"You have it in you! To become a true man! To be arrogant, violent, strong! You get my blood boiling! Now tell me your name!"
Despite the fierce clash, Bell decided to break his rule for a short moment.
"Bell Cranel."
Aisha´s next slash came too fast, Bell couldn´t deflect it completely and received a small cut at his shoulder.
Before her next tremendous blow from above her head could come down, Bell thrusted his sword forward, forcing her to dodge with her head to the side. She misjudged his speed for a moment as he charged forward with his shoulder and rammed her. Since his sword was shorter, he had the advantage on closer range.
Aisha did what Alfia had shown him many times could happen, she dealt a headbutt. Bell had waited for that and moved his head first, knocking his forehead against her nose. He her a cracking sound and blood spurted out of Aisha´s nose, not broken but hurt.
Instead of being shocked, she just laughed, the blood flew down to her chin. Her next blow hammered down, Bell stepped to the side and debris flew around, Aisha was too excited to stop her attack.
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Ottar watched the fight with a stern face, but inside of him, he was surprised.
Why is he fighting like that?
He watched the exchange of blows, clashing of weapons and quick steps.
He is fighting like him.
While his fighting style was not perfect and needed improvement, Ottar saw how Bell fought. He had only seen a style that looked like this once.
Bell Cranel drew the attention of the captain of the Freya familia onto him...
Because he fought exactly like Maxim, the deceased captain of the Zeus familia.
Alfia had never told Bell this, since it had slipped from her mind too. She had shown him various styles from the Zeus and the Hera familias, and by chance Bell had taken a liking to this one the most.
The only one that had noticed that before, was Zeus.
But the old man too didn´t said anything, it touched his old heart and sometimes he saw Maxim in Bell´s movements again.
He was growing into a worthy heir of both familias.
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Their fight went on for ten minutes, there was not much time left for Haruhime´s enchantement. Aisha only showed a few small cuts, Bell had way more wounds and bruised than she had. And yet he didn´t gave up.
Even if Aisha didn´t wanted to, Ishtar´s order was inside her and couldn´t be ignored.
"-Come, champion of the savages!"
Bell´s eyes widened slightly, Aisha started to chant even while they kept fighting. He knew that Alfia could do that, but she told him it was a rare ability.
"Manly warrior, strong hero, greedy and unjust hero. Show your worth if you desire the girdle of the empress!"
He didn´t panicked, Bell didn´t lost his focus. What he didn´t knew was how long Aisha´s chant was, his only advantage was, that his magic had no incantation.
"Satisfy my body, penetrate my body, kill my body and prove your worth. As I hunger, my name is Hippolyte!"
In the last moment before she unleashed her magic, Aisha jumped back. Bell didn´t wanted to give her the chance to finish her chant, so he took a big risk.
While she jumped back, Bell raised his hand.
"Hell Kai-"
"THUNDER-BOLT!"
Bell was faster, his magic came earlier and moved with the speed of sound. Smaller than Alfia´s Satanas Verion, but still pretty big, moved the wave of thunder and lightning forward. It hit Aisha head on.
But sadly...exact one second before Bell fired his chant, Haruhime´s magic ran out. So the magic of an upper level one adventurer hit an upper level three adventurer.
Aisha didn´t even flinched, it was more like...a pleasant shiver running over her body.
"-os!"
She swung her blade around and fired the magical slash towards Bell.
But...not directly at Bell, Aisha had aimed at his feet. If she had pointed at him directly, her magic would have cleaved him in half.
Like that, the magic hit the ground to his feet. The stone in front of Bell exploded and sent sharp splinters his way. He flew backwards with a scream, more than one splinter had dug into his legs as he was thrown backwards.
"Ack!"
The impact was painful and his wounds hurt, a lot.
"Looks like you ran out of luck, Haruhime won´t be able to cast her spell again..."
Aisha didn´t looked too happy as she raised her sword and came closer. She finally had to give in to her goddess´ order.
"I will not enjoy this."
Haruhime screamed in horror as she ran forward. She dashed the last meters and jumped, clinging to Aisha´s waist from behind.
"Aisha, no!"
"I can´t fight it, Haruhime! You know that!"
Haruhime did her best to keep on holding Aisha´s waist and even grabbed her arms from behind. Aisha could easily sent her fly, but neither did she wanted that, nor did Ishtar ordered something like that.
Bell tried to get up, Aisha´s arms came slowly down, her order fought against her body and Haruhime.
"BELL!"
Haruhime yelled out his name.
"I´m...sorry...Boy!"
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A pillar of light shot into the sky behind them, going up from the top of the palace.
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No one of them had ever seen such a light, yet they all knew what this special light meant.
The effect came immediatelly, Haruhime was able to break Aisha´s balance, who collapsed on the ground, all her strength gone.
"Ack!"
"Kyau!"
Aisha lied there, now her wounds were too much for her body. She had never felt so weak before, her falna was sealed.
That could only mean one thing.
Ishtar was sent back to heaven by someone.
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High up on the top place of Ishtar´s former palace, stood a goddess of true beauty, a handsome young man behind her, a man that was formerly Ishtar´s favorite.
The divine light illuminated her and only enhanced her beauty in this moment.
Many may hated Freya, but there was one thing that no one could ever take away from her.
She had sent Ishtar back to heaven with the most magnicifent and elegant bitch-slap of all time. Ottar would later report to her about the interesting young man and his fight, she would become a bit fascinated by him, but only a little bit.
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"Hah...hah...hah...looks like...hah...hah...you held out long enough...hah...hah...Ahahaha!"
Aisha laughed loud from her spot on the ground. She didn´t knew how close she was to being killed. If Ishtar´s light had shot up only a few moments later, Alfia would have hit her with the full force of her magic.
"Irgh...ouch..."
"Hahahaha! You took quite the beating."
Haruhime looked worried from Aisha to Bell.
"Don´t worry about me, stupid little fox. Go to your man!"
"*Yelp*!"
Haruhime squeaked when Aisha shoved her over, letting her stumble to Bell.
"Mr. Bell i-i-i-isn´t my man!"
"But you sure as hell called him by his first name just now."
"Mmmmmmh!"
Haruhime got deep red, despite the situation.
Then she turned to Bell. "Mr. Bell, are you okay?"
"Ouch...not really..."
"*Sniff* *Hic* Mr. Bell..."
He smiled slightly, even when he had lost the fight against Aisha. "I´m just glad that you are okay."
"But...you..."
"Haruhime."
"Huh?"
He had called her for the first time just by her name. Bell moved his hand slightly to show her to come closer. Haruhime leaned forward, then Bell moved his hand, grabbed her collar and cracked it between his fingers. With the return of the goddess that had used it, the magic item had lost all of it´s power. The magic power wasn´t bound to Ishtar, but these items lost their power when the user was dead or in that case, sent back to heaven.
The remains of the collar fell down between Bell´s fingers. Haruhime´s slender neck was not free and pure again.
"You are free now, Ms. Haruhime."
Tears filled Haruhime´s eyes while she looked down, her lower lip quivered and she sobbed.
"Uuuh...*Hic* *Hic* *Hic*..Uaaaaaaaaah!"
Haruhime started to cry from relief and happiness.
She had found a hero.
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Aisha looked from her position on the ground and smiled wryly.
Take good care of my little sister, Boy. Or I swear I will hunt you down and gut you like the guy who wanted to put it inside Haruhime even after she fainted, that Lena could just stop in the last second.
Lena also watched how Haruhime knelt and cried next to her own, personal hero. She wasn´t sure if Bell and Haruhime were in love right away, but she was sure these two would fall for each other soon enough.
Now...where will I go now?
In that moment, came two figures running out of the smoke, a Chientrope and a very handsome god.
"Bell!"
"Bell..."
Are these his god and his familia member? He is quite handsome...not as much as Bete Loga of course.
As Lena Tally witnessed how Miach and Nahza immediatelly took care off the wounded Bell and after that even Aisha, she thought by herself it would be nice to belong to such a familia.
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Alfia nodded slightly after she witnessed Bell´s fight and the outcome.
"You did well, Bell."
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Unnoticed by everyone, a shadow vanished after witnessing the fight. A shadow with long, pointy ears and beautiful, blue eyes.
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Author´s note: Hello everyone, thank you again for the reviews.
I wanted to make it a bit different from the original arc, that was one of the reasons why Bell lost against Aisha in a way. I don´t want Bell to be overpowered from the start, he way up will be a slower one.
Meeting the Astrea familia isn´t far away now.
ShadowKing042: I´m sorry if what I wrote was misleading. I didn´t meant that Lefiya and Haruhime won´t have certain feelings for each other later. What I wrote down was simply my thought process as I decided which the second partner would be. Bell won´t just have two partners that both accept the other as the other wife...something will be happen between the fox and the elf.
But you will all see this later.
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Now a few announcements,
I will end the normal version of Blood of Zeus. Instead of a full Harem story, I will bring out a few short stories, about as long as Riveria´s arc was, each focussed on one or maybe two girls. These will be "What-If" stories. In not all of them will Bell be part of the same familia. Like that I can focus more on one girl, a full Harem story turned out too hard and shallow to write.
For now I have planned.
Mikoto - Ninja Rabbit
Ray - Xenos lover
Freya - Vanadis Odr
Ryu - During the dark times
Daphne and Cassandra - Stealing from the Sun god
Artemis - Changing a Goddess
A few others are still in process and have to titles so far. I have no certain order in which they will come out. So far number one will be Freya or Ray.
One for Tiona still needs ideas.
I will start with the first when Spirit Child is finished.
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That means that Loki´s chapter after the orgy one will end the Harem route of the Blood of Zeus (Ero) story. But at the same time it will start the "What If" route. Aside from that there will be chapters that play in Change of Fates.