Where is the Ikelos Familia?
Takatsuki didn't know; in fact, even Hermes couldn't find their so-called base camp.
But Takatsuki had his own method: fishing.
He clearly remembered that in the original work, Ikelos had once been sent by his Familia to test whether Bell had encountered the Dragon Girl.
This time, it wasn't Bell but Kiana who brought back the Dragon Girl, so the result would be similar.
After Nana was brought back, Takatsuki specifically went to the Guild to confirm that there had recently been rumors of armed monsters. Then, after disguising himself with a Transformation Technique and spreading rumors in some underground taverns that Kiana had encountered armed monsters on the 20th floor, Takatsuki began his fishing.
"Hey..."
As Takatsuki walked along a road in the slum, a voice suddenly came from behind him. Turning around, a person dressed in a somewhat modern black tracksuit, looking like a small-time thug with his hands in his pockets, stood up from a flight of stairs.
"The white-haired Valkyrie of the Hestia Familia, right."
Because Kiana had been running around with Lefiya and the others during this time, and because this idiot occasionally let slip that she was a B-rank Valkyrie, she earned the title: White-Haired Valkyrie among adventurers.
However, this title was not confirmed by the gods, so it only circulated as an underground rumor.
"Who are you?"
A clear voice came from Takatsuki's mouth. Although the Gaia Foundation could perfectly disguise Takatsuki's height, weight, and even voice, Takatsuki simply couldn't disguise Kiana's lively foolishness. Fortunately, the person opposite him wasn't familiar with Kiana and couldn't see any flaws.
"I am Ikelos."
The slouching god walked towards Takatsuki with a bow: "Recently, my boys on the twentieth floor let a Dragonian girl escape. I wonder if you've seen her."
Takatsuki, in Kiana's appearance, coldly watched Ikelos walk in front of him and start circling him without speaking. Covertly, he had already activated his magic to confirm if there were others around.
"I've seen her."
Ikelos raised an eyebrow; he hadn't expected Kiana to admit it so readily. His immense confidence in his own identity made him walk defenselessly directly in front of Takatsuki.
"Then where is she?"
"If you want to know, then follow me."
As soon as Takatsuki finished speaking, Ikelos felt a bad premonition.
A white mist instantly filled his vision.
Ikelos, who believed that no one would dare to touch him due to his divine status, never expected that someone in this city created by the gods would dare to attack a god.
He wanted to immediately distance himself from this audacious mortal of the lower world, but how could he, with his divine power sealed, be a match for a battle-hardened adventurer?
A large hand instantly covered his face. Before he could even cry out, he felt the ground disappear beneath his feet, a sensation of weightlessness came, and then he landed on the ground with a thud.
"Where is this!?"
Ikelos scrambled to his feet after landing and looked around. Although he didn't know where he was, he was very clear that this was no longer within Orario's bounds.
The vast wilderness around them, with no other living creatures besides the two of them, and the white-haired girl he had initially thought she was, had now transformed into a black-haired young man. The young man looked down at him, who was in a sorry state.
"Heh... hehe, attacking a god, that's a grave sin."
Even now, Ikelos wanted to scare the other party with words: "You're that 'Blast' from the Hestia Familia, right? If I go missing, my boys will definitely know it was your the Hestia Familia. What they'll do then, I'm not sure."
"Don't worry, they won't get the chance."
Although Ikelos knew many things, Takatsuki knew that the other party would definitely not be willing to speak. He was also not good at such verbal sparring, let alone with a god who had lived for hundreds of billions of years.
Several black figures appeared around him.
The Shadowkhan, disregarding Ikelos's resistance, used ropes found from who-knows-where to firmly bind the god.
"The rest is up to you."
The Shadowkhan nodded at Takatsuki, tied a black cloth over Ikelos's eyes, and gagged his mouth.
Takatsuki watched the Shadowkhan's smooth operation and nodded. These Shadowkhan Soldiers were indeed more familiar with this kind of work.
Watching the Shadowkhan Soldiers, who had already taken out small bottles, forcibly draw blood from Ikelos, who was struggling and making muffled noises, Takatsuki turned and entered the re-opened [Close at Hand Yet Worlds Apart] to return to the Hearth Manor.
Divine blood, this was something Takatsuki had long been very interested in. Although he didn't understand this area of research, he felt it would definitely be very useful.
However, she couldn't possibly harm her acquaintances. Since Ikelos happened to deliver himself, Takatsuki reluctantly accepted.
But to clear himself of suspicion, Takatsuki had been preparing for a long time.
At night, he used Sky's Legacy to shoot arrows imbued with Nen, then used [Close at Hand Yet Worlds Apart] to reach where the arrows landed, and continued shooting. After dozens of back-and-forths, he finally found a desolate place far from Orario.
The rest was left to the Shadowkhan Soldiers. They would draw blood from Ikelos while ensuring he wouldn't trigger the divine return, and Takatsuki only needed to open [Close at Hand Yet Worlds Apart] periodically to collect the blood into his inventory.
Thus, Ikelos became his stable divine blood supplier, and he didn't even charge money.
Once he had harvested enough divine blood.
Then, in a situation with many witnesses to provide an alibi, he would return Ikelos.
Then he could clear himself of any involvement in the matter.
And the best time for this return would be when the Ikelos Familia was adventuring in the Dungeon. After their main god was returned, the Familia members would also lose the power of their blessings, and Takatsuki wouldn't even need to act to kill them.
Reviewing and summarizing his actions and plan, Takatsuki, after confirming there were no omissions, walked towards Twilight Manor.
Although the matter with Ikelos was resolved, Loki's previous reaction made Takatsuki feel there was still some hidden danger in Orario.
His plan was to level up in Orario for a year to expand his crystal reserves.
However, he had only watched the anime up to the third season, and after that, he lost the advantage of foreknowledge. So, after a day of consideration, Takatsuki decided to go to Loki to understand what the current hidden danger in Orario was.