"Captain!"
That shout echoed as dozens of other Apollo Familia members began arriving from various street corners. In a short time, that area had been completely surrounded. They formed a death circle trapping Charlie, Kei, the injured Bell, and Hestia.
"Ptui!"
Hyakinthos spat the blood in his mouth with a disgusted sound. His battered face now formed a victorious grin—or at least, what he considered as victory. The numerical advantage made him confident again.
With difficulty, he stood, leaning on one of his subordinates. His injured hand pointed toward Charlie trembling.
"Attack him! Don't hold back! Show this arrogant one Apollo Familia's power!"
Apollo Familia members exchanged glances. Some hesitated—they knew who Charlie was. But the captain's order was an order. And dozens against one was a pretty good chance, wasn't it?
"NOW!"
A group of mages in the back row immediately moved. Magic wands raised, short chants recited quickly.
"Burst of fire, destroy my enemy!"
*FWOOSH!* *FWOOSH!*
Within seconds, dozens of fireballs shot into the air, creating a rain of fire brightly glowing in the morning.
"Charlie-san!"
Bell panicked. His weak body tried to rise, wanting to help even though he himself could barely stand. Hestia's hand held him firmly.
"It's okay, Bell." Hestia's voice was calm, her blue eyes fixed on Charlie. "He'll be fine. Watch carefully... a Level 6's true power."
"Goddess..."
Bell swallowed, his eyes shifting back to Charlie.
Beside them, Kei stood with arms folded. Her face was flat, not a hint of fear. She knew exactly how the story would end.
"Numerical advantage means nothing if the power gap between both sides is too great." Charlie's voice sounded clear amid the roar of approaching magic. "Don't you even understand that simple logic?"
He didn't move.
Those fireballs drew closer—five meters, three meters, one meter—
And that's when Charlie moved.
However, to ordinary eyes, he seemed to just stand still. In reality, his hands moved at speeds beyond the limits of vision, leaving a series of blurred afterimages.
Each approaching fireball was deflected with perfect precision, as if Charlie was batting back harmless tennis balls.
*WHUMP!* *WHUMP!* *WHUMP!*
Those fireballs changed direction one hundred eighty degrees, thrown back toward the crowd of densely packed Apollo Familia members.
"WH—WHAT?!"
"Watch out!"
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
"Hyaaaaa—!"
"It hurts! Hot! Who's shooting at me?!"
"Idiot! Our attacks are being reflected!"
The atmosphere became hysterical instantly. Those who didn't expect friendly fire to turn back had no time to set up defense and suffered burns from their own magic.
"Don't use magic! Attack together with weapons!" One squad commander shouted.
"OHHHH!!!"
Apollo Familia adventurers drew their weapons. Swords, axes, maces, daggers, spears, even bows and arrows. With war cries, they charged Charlie from all directions.
"Haaah... You're really stubborn."
Charlie sighed deeply, looking very bored with this situation. He decided to end this madness by beating them half to death.
A sword adventurer from the front, the first to reach Charlie, slashed with a quick horizontal slash.
*CLANG!*
His sword bounced off Charlie's arm as if hitting solid steel.
*BAM!*
Charlie's fist hit his solar plexus. That adventurer bent over, his eyes rolled back white, and fell unconscious before touching the ground.
From the left, a dagger adventurer stabbed toward Charlie's kidney.
*CLANG!*
His dagger broke. Charlie caught his wrist, twisted, pushed. That man flew crashing into two of his companions behind. All three fell rolling.
From the right, the dwarf's large axe swung with full force. Charlie didn't dodge. That axe hit his chest with a thunderous sound.
*CRAAAANG!*
That axe blade shattered. Metal fragments flew everywhere.
The dwarf's eyes widened. "What—"
*BAM!*
Charlie punched the shield in the dwarf's left hand. That thick metal shield pierced through—his fist broke through the metal and hit the dwarf's chest behind it. That large body lifted, thrown ten meters backward, hitting the wall and fainting with the shield still attached to his broken arm.
*SWISH!*
An arrow shot from behind, fired by an archer hiding on a low roof.
Charlie didn't turn around, that wasn't necessary. With his Six Eyes, he had 360-degree vision. He could see that arrow approaching, its trajectory, its speed, even the vibration of feathers on its tail.
His left hand raised behind. Two fingers—index and thumb—pinched that arrow right on its shaft, a few inches from his nape.
The archer on the roof jerked. "M—my arrow was caught?! Without looking?!"
Charlie rotated his wrist. In one smooth movement, that arrow flew back toward its origin.
*PUCHI!*
That arrow pierced right in the archer's shoulder. Not a fatal wound, but enough to make him scream in pain and fall from the roof.
Two female adventurers with spears tried to stab from the side. Charlie grabbed both spear tips, pulled them, and pushed.
Those women staggered, he punched their stomachs and they collapsed simultaneously.
As a believer in gender equality similar to Satou Kazuma's philosophy, Charlie didn't hesitate to hit anyone who drew weapons at him regardless of gender.
*SWOOSH!*
An adventurer with a large mace, confident in his strength, swung his weapon like a baseball bat. Charlie let that mace hit his shoulder.
*CLANG!*
That mace shattered. Its stump detached from its owner's hand.
Charlie grabbed the head of the adventurer in front of him and planted it into the concrete floor with one hand until that man fainted instantly.
Behind, two adventurers tried to take advantage of an opening, thrusting their swords into Charlie's back.
*CLANG!* *CLANG!*
Charlie turned. His fist hit one's nose, then his elbow hit the other's temple. They fell like sacks.
He kept moving like an efficient destroyer machine. He showed no mercy.
"Impossible... Everyone defeated by just one person?" Bell's eyes sparkled full of admiration. "So this is a Level 6's power? Amazing... I want to be that strong someday too."
Hestia smiled slightly seeing Bell's spirit, though the situation was critical. "You will be, Bell-kun. I'm sure."
Meanwhile, Hyakinthos watched everything with wide eyes.
"..."
On the other side, Hyakinthos could only stare at that scene with horror and deep regret. He should have heeded Solo Leveling's warning.
His impulsive action had borne the worst result: his entire force now lay sprawled in the streets, groaning in pain with broken bones or severe bruises.
"Bell, Goddess Hestia. Let's leave this dirty place." Charlie said lightly while dusting imaginary dust from his clothes.
"Ah... y-yes!" Bell woke from his reverie.
Hestia supported Bell's still weak shoulder to walk, following Charlie and Kei's steps leading the way out of the conflict area.
That commotion was witnessed by residents and adventurers from afar; a demonstration of power that expanded their understanding of how terrifying a High Class Adventurer was when provoked.
Whispers immediately echoed.
"That's Solo Leveling!"
"He wiped out Apollo Familia alone?"
"I saw it from the beginning! He didn't even use weapons!"
"He just punched them! And all their attacks didn't work!"
"He batted back their fireballs with his hands! HIS HANDS!"
Several gods and goddesses watching that scene smiled widely, feeling very entertained by this unexpected morning "show."
"Oh! Amazing morning entertainment! I have to tell the others!"
"Now this is a show. Apollo will surely be very angry. But he started it, didn't he?"
That chaos spread quickly. News about the destruction of Apollo Familia's forces by one person would soon spread throughout Orario. Solo Leveling's name would become even more legendary.
In that alley, Hyakinthos still sat weakly. His subordinates began getting up one by one, groaning, holding parts of their bodies that hurt.
Among them, none dared to pursue.
None crazy enough to try again.
🎇Keep reading and support this story on Ko-fi:
📎Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/lovefanfiction or bit.ly/4sbFiOM
✅More early access chapters from WebNovel
✅5 translated fanfic chapters & 1-2 new original fanfic chapters every day (Monday-Saturday), exclusive on Ko-fi.
Thank you so much for your incredible support!