Chapter 11-

The Secret in the Courtyard

It was obvious to him that Bete was struggling, even with the boosts that he had given him from Tarukaja and Rakukaja.

Minato didn't have a chance to compare before, but he now realized the massive difference in strength between levels. Even though Bete was a level-five adventurer that had his abilities amplified by his magic, he still wasn't a match for Ottar. He didn't think that he'd survive an up-close encounter with the man, so he kept his distance while Bete acted as the front line.

Although with how the fight was going, it didn't look like the werewolf would last much longer.

Ziodyne.

A massive bolt of electricity flew past Bete straight towards Ottar. The adventurer in question was more agile than he looked however and managed to step out of the way just in time. The electricity zoomed by him and collided into the wall behind the two instead, creating an explosion of debris. Bete decided to take the initiative and charged into the shower of debris with his knives, intent on landing on a lethal blow. A large hand shot out from the dust however and grabbed the wolf by the neck.

Bufudyne.

A massive pillar of ice exploded from the ground, forcing Ottar to relinquish his hold on Bete as he jumped backward to avoid being impaled. The werewolf fell onto the ground on his knees as he grabbed at his neck and tried to take in as much air as possible.

"M-motherfucker…" Bete managed to hoarsely cough out.

Minato sent a quick Dia spell the werewolf's way, to help with the pain. As a wave of green light washed over Bete, the werewolf in question looked over towards his direction in surprise before giving a curt nod in response and slowly got back to his feet. They wouldn't have any time to rest though, because the ice separating them from the Freya Familia's captain shattered into a dozen different pieces soon after, with Ottar standing menacingly on the other side of it.

At the rate the battle was going, they were going to lose, Minato was almost sure of that.

Bete couldn't match up head to head against Ottar, and the man was agile enough to dodge most of his single target spells. He could extend his range of attack and just try the carpet bombing tactic, but then he might hit Bete in the process. It wasn't worth the risk in his eyes, not when he still had an ace in the hole left.

His hand began to subconsciously reach for the evoker in his pocket.

Ottar had taken notice of his slight movement and rushed forward in response, sending pieces of ice and debris flying in many different directions all the while. Bete moved to intercept but with his injuries not fully healed from the Dia spell yet, he was easily tossed aside by the higher level adventurer. Ottar held his broadsword overhead and prepared to swing it down on him as he pulled out his evoker.

A rush of power surged through his veins and the familiar sounds of shattering glass followed soon after.

The Persona to answer the call was the Irish hero Cu Chulainn. With his flowing white cape and famed spear, the hero held his ground against Ottar's mighty swing. The adventurer's eyes widened in surprise and Minato took that moment to run over towards Bete's crumpled body. The werewolf was unconscious, so he quickly cast a Recarm spell on him in order to bring him back into the world of the living.

Bete's eyes shot open in a panic before he managed to get his bearings.

"Bete, I'm going to create an opening for you." Minato said as he helped the werewolf back to his feet. "Can you take advantage of it?"

Bete looked like he had a ton of questions that he wanted to ask him, but thankfully, the werewolf just nodded in response instead.

Even though Cu Chulainn was one of his stronger Personas and was a close-range fighter, he could tell that the Irish hero wouldn't last much longer. Not only was Ottar as strong as some of the Arcana Shadows he had come across, but the man was also agile as well. He didn't think that he would be able to hit him with one of his spells unless he decided to scorch the entire area along with him.

Luckily for him, Bete wasn't acting as the vanguard anymore so he could attack without worrying about friendly fire.

Minato reached into the Sea of Souls and searched for the strongest spell that he had in his possession. He could hear the laughter coming from Loki as she allowed him access to the Almighty spells in her repertoire. He had no idea how much damage an Almighty spell would do, but he didn't want to take any chances against someone like Ottar. If Ottar perished from it, then so be it.

And if he didn't, he had Bete waiting in the sidelines to act as his insurance.

Megidola.

The effects were instantaneous as a flash of blue light lit up the Dungeon floor like a demented Christmas tree. The explosion came soon after, as pieces of the Dungeon floor and walls were sent flying everywhere as debris. No matter how agile Ottar was he wouldn't be able to avoid it, not while being locked into a fight with Cu Chulainn. The strategy required the sacrifice of the Irish hero, but a Persona never truly died, they just returned back into the Sea of Souls so there wasn't any real loss for him.

Minato could feel the drain from the Almighty spell though, and it was a heavy one.

As the dust began to settle, he could make out a lone figure standing amidst the rubble. Much of his skin was scorched and parts of his clothing were torn. The broadsword that he held in his hands had melted to the point where only half of the weapon still remained intact.

The adventurer was still standing though, so Bete took his chance and lunged forward with his daggers. Ottar moved to react, but it was obvious that the Almighty spell had damaged him enough that his movements were slowed a little bit. Bete ducked under the swing from the mangled broadsword and slashed at Ottar's ribs, landing a clean-cut before jumping away to avoid a kick to the face.

Bete had managed to land a hit, but Minato could tell that it was a shallow one.

Even though Ottar only had a damaged weapon in hand, the man still radiated a dangerous aura about him. It was the same type of feeling he felt when he faced an Arcana Shadow, the man managed to give off the vibes of a final boss from a video game. He would have been impressed if the man wasn't trying to kill him.

Minato doubted that the same strategy would work again. The Almighty spell had managed to inflict some heavy damage onto the man though, so with Bete's help along with another Persona, they might be able to bring him down in an old fashioned brawl. He could probably manage one more Megidola spell if push came to shove, but he'd need to figure out another way to guarantee a hit.

"Just what exactly is going on here?"

All three pairs of eyes in the area turned towards the source of the voice coming from deeper inside of the Dungeon.

He thought that the voice sounded familiar, Riveria stood at the entrance to the next floor along with Ais Wallenstein. It seemed that Bete had been right about the two adventurers having stayed behind in the Dungeon even after their quest had been finished. It was a lucky break for them because with Nine Hell and the Sword Princess here now, Ottar shouldn't be a threat anymore.

"Should we see this as a declaration of war against the Loki Familia, Ottar?" Riveria's voice cut through the air like a blade. "Does Freya-sama wish for something like that to descend upon Orario?"

Ottar only closed his eyes and tossed his weapon to the ground.

"No, I was acting on my own accord." The captain of the Freya Familia simply replied before he opened his eyes once more. "I have no chance of winning against all of you."

Nobody moved to stop him as the adventurer known as the King began to walk away. Ottar stopped walking when he reached him, however, and Minato couldn't help but tense up a bit, ready for an attack.

"I acknowledge your strength, Minato Arisato." The King simply declared before he walked away.

Minato wasn't sure what to make of that, so he just let out a sigh of relief in response.

He could see that even Bete exhaled a little bit while Ais and Riveria were giving him strange looks. He hadn't been expecting to get into a fight with the strongest adventurer in the city when he had decided to embark on a quest with Bete, but at the very least, he picked up on some interesting tidbits of information.

For one thing, Freya must have really hated him if someone from their Familia was willing to attack so brazenly in the Dungeon.

He just couldn't help but wonder what he could have done to draw such ire.

"Hey, you're not serious now, are you?"

"I saw it myself, Loki-sama," Riveria confirmed with a nod of her head. "Ottar attacked Arisato-san in the Dungeon."

The red-haired Goddess looked in his direction and he just shrugged in response.

If he had known why Freya seemed to hate him enough that even members of her Familia wanted him dead, he would have tried to remedy the situation from the beginning. A woman had never looked at him with such disdain in their eyes before, not even had ever Junpei received looks like that. It honestly confused him to no end, because he couldn't recall ever doing anything negative to the Goddess of Beauty.

"You sure you didn't do something to tick off Freya?" Loki questioned.

"Not to my knowledge." He simply replied. "She seemed to hold disdain for me even when we first met."

"Tch… What a pain in the ass." The red-head muttered to herself. "And right before the expedition too."

"Perhaps we should push it back to a later date?" Riveria suggested. "At least until we get this situation with the Freya Familia sorted out."

Loki looked over his way again and just sighed.

"No, we don't need to do that. I'll take care of the Freya problem."

The elf just raised an eyebrow in response. "If you say so, Loki-sama."

"You really can't think of anything you might have done?" Loki squinted at him. "Nothing?"

"You already asked me that, Loki."

"Alright, alright, I got it. It's probably Freya going crazy over a man or something then." The red-head scowled. "Stupid ero-goddess never could control herself when it came to men… Anyway, you can go now if you want."

Minato just nodded in response before he made his way towards the door.

He tried to think back to all of the encounters he had with the Goddess of Beauty. The only time they had ever met was at the cafe, and he didn't think that he had ever even managed to exchange any words with her. So where did all the animosity come from? Loki had mentioned that it was probably something over a man, so perhaps he had offended her love interest instead of her?

But even if that were true, he didn't have the faintest clue as to who that love interest could be. The whole situation was a pain and he was actually tempted to just waltz into the Freya Familia's base to drop a Megido on them in order to end it all. Not that he would ever actually do it, he didn't have a death wish after all.

As he was making his way into the Loki Familia's courtyard to get some fresh air and perhaps think on the subject at hand a little more, he found Bete waiting for him.

"Hey, Minato." The werewolf greeted with his usual scowl. "Let's talk."

He probably shouldn't have been surprised, Bete had looked like he had been wanting to speak with him for a while now since the battle with Ottar. The werewolf gestured for him to follow so obliged, and he soon found himself standing at a corner of the courtyard that was shielded off by some trees. It seemed like a place where they wouldn't be disturbed anytime soon.

"What the hell is that magic of yours?" The werewolf got straight to the point. "You've got more firepower than the old hag without even needing to chant. And then there was that warrior you summoned to fight Ottar."

Minato supposed that there was no point in hiding anything from Bete since he had already seen his Personas first hand. He felt like the werewolf deserved to know the truth anyway, after helping him with Ottar. So he simply told him about his Personas and the whole fake backstory that Loki and her executives had created for him.

"No shit? Guess that explains why Loki was following you all the time."

To his credit, Bete seemed to take everything in stride. Or perhaps he just didn't really care all that much to begin with and was simply asking out of curiosity.

"So, what the hell did you do to piss off Ottar then?"

Minato just sighed at that. "I wish I knew."

Bete looked like he was about to say something, but then he quickly whirled around and looked over in the direction of some bushes.

"Who's there?!" The werewolf growled out. "Show yourself!"

For a moment, nothing happened, but then the bushes started rustling and Ais Wallenstein of all people stood up from her hiding spot. He wasn't sure how Bete had managed to spot her out, but then again since he was a werewolf, he probably picked up on her scent or something.

"Ais?" Bete had a confused look on his face. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Eavesdropping again?" Minato asked with a raised eyebrow.

The Sword Princess actually seemed to wilt a bit at the accusation.

"Sorry."

"It's fine." Minato waved off. "It's not like we were talking about anything you haven't heard already."

"What? You already told Ais?" Bete questioned with a frown. "Who else knows about this?"

"Aside from you two and the executives? No one." Minato hastily replied.

"I'm guessing that you want to keep your whole Persona thing a secret?"

Minato confirmed with a nod.

"That's what Loki and I agreed on."

"Tch… Fine, it's a pain in the ass, but I'll do it."

Minato raised an eyebrow at that.

"I'm saying I'll help you keep it a secret, dumbass." The werewolf scowled.

Loki was right, Bete really was a tsundere.

"I'll help too." The Sword Princess added with a nod of her own.

"Why the hell were you eavesdropping on us anyway, Ais?" Bete asked as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Were you following us the whole time?"

The Sword Princess just nodded in response before she turned her attention his way.

"Let me come with you the next time you go into the Dungeon." The blonde-haired girl all but ordered.

Minato just raised another eyebrow in response, although he had a feeling he knew where she was going with this.

"Strong enemies appear near you," Ais said, as if she were reading his mind. "I want to fight them in order to get stronger."

The werewolf just laughed while he sighed.

She was basically saying that he was a magnet for trouble and that she wanted to take advantage of that. It honestly sounded like something Akihiko would say. He supposed that at the very least, there was no way that Loki could deny him from the expedition now. He was definitely fulfilling the criteria of 'getting to know' the other members in the Familia whether he wanted to or not.

Seriously though, what was he, some kind of bait used for trouble?

Loki kicked her feet up against the desk and leaned back on her chair.

A lot of important events had been occurring recently, and some of them even at the same time. Different players were making their moves on the board all over, and it was almost difficult to keep track of everything. To build on top of that, new pieces were being thrown into the board left and right to add even more chaos to the mix.

That just made the game way more interesting in her eyes though. The lower realm really was way too much fun to give up.

Although, Freya's latest move kind of ticked her off. It was one thing to add some spice into the game, but it was another thing to try and hurt her children in the process. They needed to add some rules to the game unless Freya actually wanted an all-out war with her. If so, then she'd happily crush her and her Familia. One less player in the game might make it less interesting in the long run, but sacrifices had to be made when it came to the safety of her children.

The door to the room opened and the Goddess in question stepped inside.

Freya didn't bother bringing an escort this time, and neither did she. They were meeting in private this time, so there really wasn't a point in bringing an escort to keep up appearances for the masses. They were on neutral ground anyway, so it wasn't like anything was going to happen in the Guild, not with Ouranos watching.

"Loki." Freya greeted with a smile as she took a seat across from her.

"Let's skip straight to the point Freya," Loki replied as she narrowed her eyes. "Why'd you do it?"

Of course, Freya being the annoying Goddess that she was, wanted to stretch things out and didn't reply immediately.

"You don't even realize how dangerous that new toy of yours really is, do you Loki?" Freya eventually began. "You don't have the slightest idea."

"Oh please, spare me your concern." Loki rolled her eyes. "Why do you even care about what I decide to do?"

"You're right, I don't."

Freya didn't say anything more, and Loki just knew that she was doing that to tick her off.

"This is about a guy, isn't it?" Loki asked as she shook her head in exasperation. "You never did have any form of self-restraint when it came to your love interests."

"Tell your new toy to stay away from Bell Cranel and I'll stay my hand."

Loki raised an eyebrow at that sudden declaration. "Cranel? Isn't that Hestia's kid? What's so special about him?"

Freya only smiled in response.

"Tch… Fine, keep your secrets, I can agree to that." Loki said before she put her hands on the table and stared directly into the other Goddess's eyes. "You try something like this again though and I'll make sure to book you a one-way trip back to heaven myself."

"I'm glad that we could come to an agreement, Loki." Freya replied, the smile never leaving her face. "It would be quite sad if I had to remove a good friend like you so early from the game."

Freya stood up and left the room soon after, leaving no room for retorts. Loki couldn't help but scoff in response. That stupid ero-goddess always did know what to say to piss her off. She was just lucky that none of her kids had actually seriously gotten hurt.

Otherwise, nothing would have stopped her from waging war against Freya and her Familia.

Author's Notes- I managed to update this twice in a month, yay.