After several seconds of dead silence, the spectator stands erupted into a frenzy!
"He won! He really won!"
"My god! A newcomer took down a Level 6 head-on! This is literally the stuff of legends!"
"That bleeding technique was too bizarre! And that flaming sword! What kind of artifact is that?"
Cheers, debates, and gasps of awe mingled together, nearly lifting the roof off the arena.
In the small corner where the Hestia Familia sat, Hestia and Bell hugged each other in excitement, jumping and shouting. Lili covered her mouth with both hands, tears of joy and relief streaming down her face.
In the Loki Familia's seats, the atmosphere was more nuanced.
"Was he this strong the last time we saw him?" Finn asked.
When they fought the Great Serpent, aside from that overpowered weapon, Lynn's basic stats hadn't seemed particularly high. But today, the speed he displayed was clearly on a different level than before.
On the ring, Royman Mardeel, the Guild Master acting as notary, finally snapped out of his daze. He took a deep breath and announced at the top of his lungs:
"Fourth match! The winner: Lynn of the Miyazaki Familia!"
With his declaration, Lynn's figure vanished in the glow of teleportation magic. Meanwhile, Phryne—slumped in a pool of blood—was laboriously carried off on a stretcher by several Guild staff members. She had completely lost consciousness.
The War Game wasn't over yet; the fifth match was next.
Under the gaze of the masses, two members of the Soma Familia shivered as they supported a man wrapped in bandages, his arm in a sling and his leg dragging. It was Zanis. He had originally planned to come out and act tough after Phryne finished Lynn off. Now, he was rudely pushed to the center of the ring. As soon as he regained his footing, his legs gave out, and he face-planted into the stone.
Lynn reappeared at the other end of the ring. He stood there leisurely, watching Zanis squirm on the ground, failing to get up. He even gave a low, mocking whistle.
Feeling that teasing gaze, Zanis shook even harder. He didn't have a shred of his former arrogance left. He didn't even dare to look up, staying pinned to the floor as he screamed with all his might:
"I surrender! I surrender! Don't hit me! I give up!"
This display of utter cowardice drew a wave of undisguised laughter and jeers from the entire audience.
Royman furrowed his brow, his face written with disdain. He stepped forward, confirmed Zanis's intent to surrender, and turned to the crowd to deliver the final verdict:
"The fifth participant of the Soma Familia, Zanis Lustra, has surrendered! In this War Game of five matches, the Miyazaki Familia has secured total victory with a score of five to zero!"
The final declaration of victory set the entire stadium ablaze. The War Game was over, but for some, the reckoning had only just begun.
Inside a sterile interrogation room, Zanis was pinned to a chair by two fully armed Guild guards. The terror on his face hadn't faded, but it was being replaced by a desperate, blustering attempt at denial.
"On what grounds are you holding me? I am the Captain of the Soma Familia! You can't just arrest a Familia executive without evidence!"
The Guild official in charge of the interrogation pushed a file toward him without expression.
"Zanis Lustra, you are charged with the suspected murder of multiple adventurers, illegal dealings with the city's underground Darkness Sect, and the illegal accumulation of wealth through Soma's Divine Wine, as well as the embezzlement of Familia public assets. Are these charges enough for you?"
"Slander! Pure slander!" Zanis shrieked, slamming the table. "Where is the evidence? Where is your proof?!"
At that moment, the door opened, and Lynn walked in alongside the Guild Advisor, Eina. Lynn casually tossed a thick black ledger and a jingling bag of items onto the table.
"The evidence you wanted."
The moment Zanis saw the ledger, his pupils constricted, and the color drained completely from his face. I should have burned those things!
That was his secret ledger hidden in a concealed room, recording every shady deal and scheme he had ever conducted. The bag contained mementos he had stripped from the adventurers he had killed—kept only out of a morbid desire to collect trophies.
I'm finished. The thought washed over him like ice water.
The Guild's tribunal was highly efficient. In the face of iron-clad evidence, Zanis's denials were hollow. In the courtroom, the Guild read out his list of heinous crimes. With every point, the weeping from the families of the victims in the gallery grew louder.
Finally, the Chief Justice struck the gavel.
"Defendant Zanis Lustra, found guilty on all counts. Sentenced to life imprisonment in the underground prison of the Tower of Babel. All personal assets are to be confiscated and used as compensation for the families of the victims."
"No... NO—!!!"
Zanis let out a scream of despair, collapsing in the defendant's seat, his face ashen. He looked up, using the last of his strength to fix his crazed, venomous eyes on Lynn in the gallery.
However, Lynn never looked at him once. The moment the sentence was passed, he had already stood up and turned toward the exit. He had zero interest in wasting another second on a dead man walking.
Meanwhile, per the wager of the War Game and the Guild's ruling on the internal corruption of the Soma Familia, the God Soma was officially deported back to the Heavens. Under the supervision of Guild staff, the Soma Familia's residence was sealed, and all members were disbanded.
It was said that when the Guild arrived at the door, Soma was still tinkering with his wine vats. The Familia that had led countless people to ruin and shackled so many was gone, vanished like mist.
Lili stood outside, feeling restless and uneasy. She instinctively touched her back; the place where the Soma Familia crest had once been branded was now smooth and clean. She was free.
But after freedom, where was she supposed to go? The thought left her feeling adrift.
"Lili!"
A crisp shout broke her train of thought. Haruhime ran out of the house in cute casual clothes, a brilliant smile on her face. She grabbed Lili's hand warmly.
"It's wonderful, Lili! We can live together from now on!"
"Eh?" Lili froze.
Haruhime tilted her head, taking it as a matter of course. "Lord Lynn said that you are family now. We can prepare dinner together and see whose cooking Lord Lynn likes better!"
Family...? The word hit the softest part of Lili's heart like a warm current. Her nose crinkled, and her eyes turned red. "I... how could I..."
"Why couldn't you?"
Lynn's voice came from the doorway. He was leaning against the frame, holding a cup of hot tea. "Perfect timing. I heard you're quite good at managing accounts? You've got a sharp head on your shoulders; from now on, you'll be our Financial Manager."
Lili looked up at Lynn's face, which held a trace of a lazy smile, then at Haruhime's sincere, expectant eyes. The hardened shell she had built to survive finally shattered. She didn't suppress her emotions anymore, letting the tears fall freely, but this time, her face bloomed with a radiant, heartfelt smile.
"Yes! Lord Lynn!" She nodded vigorously, her voice trembling with excitement. "From this day forward, all of Liliruca Erde is at your service!"
The clamor of Orario finally settled. The celebratory feast had long ended, and the girls in the house had retired to sleep with a satisfied daze.
Lynn, however, was wide awake. He sat alone on the wide steps extending from the roof, gazing at the infinite sea of stars. He raised his left hand and lightly pressed his right shoulder. The wound left by Malenia still sent sharp, stubborn pulses of pain through his clothes.
Even after reaching Lv. 3, the stat growth hadn't weakened the curse in the slightest. During the battle with Phryne, every time he exerted himself to the limit, it tugged at something deep within that scar. Has this thing always been this annoying? Getting hit by the Black Blade twice would probably feel better than this.
In the air, a sliver of cold moonlight quietly coalesced. A small, translucent figure materialized out of thin air, four arms folded across her chest, floating silently beside Lynn.
It was Ranni. She didn't look at Lynn; instead, she gazed at the night sky just as he did, as if appreciating the tranquility of this mortal world.
"You have done another great deed." Her ethereal voice rang directly in Lynn's mind, devoid of much emotion, as if stating a fact.
"Yeah," Lynn replied.
"That Level 6," Ranni's gaze finally turned toward him, her blue dual-pupils reflecting the starlight. "If you do not kill her, she will come for you again. Hatred is a powerful motivator."
"She won't dare." Lynn curled his lip, dropping his hand from his shoulder. "For an idiot like her, death is a momentary release. But the flames of the Blasphemous Blade—the terror of having your life force sucked out and your soul scorched—will haunt her like a nightmare for the rest of her life. Next time she sees me, she'll run faster than anyone."
Ranni was silent for a moment, seemingly mulling over his logic. Then, her gaze fell on Lynn's right shoulder.
"Your wound... was it stirred again?"
"It's a small thing. I can still suppress it for now."
Ranni's phantasmal body floated a bit closer. One of her hands rose, pointing toward his wound from a distance. A wisp of soft, blue light carrying lunar magic seeped into Lynn's clothes. Lynn didn't move. He felt a cold, pure power soothing the restless wound. But as that power tried to go deeper, a strand of deep, domineering black fire suddenly rebounded from the depths of the scar!
Ranni let out a soft grunt. The moonlight was instantly devoured, and she drifted back a short distance.
"The power of Destined Death... is more stubborn than I imagined." For the first time, there was a trace of gravity in her voice.
Lynn rolled his shoulder as the suppressed sting returned. "You need to find clues about the Rune of Death as soon as possible. Given the level of intrusion from the Lands Between, since Destined Death has appeared, the Rune of Death must exist here as well."
"I told you, it's fine." He grinned, showing his white teeth. "I'll find a way."
Ranni looked at him silently, a flash of an unnamable emotion in her blue eyes—perhaps helplessness, perhaps something else. "You are always like this, carrying everything yourself."
"You say that as if you aren't the same," Lynn countered instinctively, recalling the long ages she spent casting aside her divine flesh and exiling herself to defy the Two Fingers.
As soon as he said it, he felt something was off. Ranni's exquisite doll-face showed no expression, but Lynn could feel the air around them getting colder.
"...Presumptuous." The cold voice rang in his head, tinged with an imperceptible touch of bashful irritation.
Then, Ranni's figure turned into points of blue light and dissipated into the night wind, leaving only a lingering echo.
"Do not die, my King."
Lynn froze, rubbing his nose. After a long while, he shook his head with a laugh. "I won't. A Tarnished does not die."
Returning to the residence Eina had arranged, the lights on the first floor were still on. Haruhime and Lili were huddled at the table under the magic lamp. One was carefully mending a corner of Lynn's clothes that had been torn in battle; the other was holding a small ledger, meticulously recording something with a quill.
Hearing the door, both girls looked up.
"Lord Lynn, you're back!" Haruhime's face bloomed with a smile. "My Lord." Lili stood up, her eyes full of heartfelt respect and concern. "Yeah. Not asleep yet?" Lynn asked, hanging his coat by the door.
"Lili said she wants to handle the financial planning for our future... Familia!" Haruhime said excitedly, clearly fond of the new term.
Lili's face turned slightly red, and she shyly pushed the ledger forward. "It's just... just some basic organization. You won the War Game today, My Lord. According to the rules, all assets of the Soma Familia are to be received by you. It's a massive sum; we have to plan ahead."
Meanwhile, Eina, who was tidying up some documents nearby, spoke up: "As much as I hate to dampen the mood, Lynn's God isn't in Orario. That means he can't give you a Falna, and he can't officially create a Familia."
"It doesn't matter! Even without a Falna, we can do what needs to be done!"
Looking at Lili's serious, "little housekeeper" expression, Lynn couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, do as you see fit. I trust you." He waved a hand. "I'm heading to my room. You girls should get some rest too."
"Yes, Lord Lynn!"
In his room, Lynn sighed in relief and collapsed onto the soft bed. With a thought, a shimmering, translucent panel—visible only to him—unfolded before his eyes. In the center was a flickering Site of Grace. At the top sat the portrait of his primary God.
However... today, Miyazaki Hidetaka looked a bit different. Lynn squinted. On that eternally stoic face, the glasses still reflected the light of wisdom (or conspiracy), but the corners of the mouth seemed... to be tilted up slightly? As if he were giving a tiny bit of approval for today's performance.
"Damn, you old troll, are you actually smiling...?" Lynn muttered.
Suddenly, a cascade of notifications refreshed on the panel like a waterfall.
[Great Feat Detected: Defeated a Level 6 adventurer as a Level 3.] [Great Feat Detected: Ended a corrupt Familia single-handedly.] [Fame of the God 'Miyazaki Hidetaka' has significantly increased in Orario. The divinity of 'Hardship and Trial' has been recognized by some deities.] [God 'Miyazaki Hidetaka' has been officially registered in the Guild's Divine Registry.] [System Permissions Unlocked: You may now act as the Proxy of 'Miyazaki Hidetaka' to carve the 'God's Grace' (Falna) onto members who follow or believe in you.]
Lynn bolted upright in bed. "Holy crap? I can give out Falna now?"
This was huge. It meant he could truly form his own Familia. It would no longer be the "Miyazaki Familia" with just one member; he could have teammates to dive into the Dungeon and grow with.
Before he could finish being excited, more prompts popped up.
[New Function Unlocked: Divine Incantations (Lynn Exclusive)] [Description: As the sole believer and Proxy of 'Miyazaki Hidetaka,' you may consume Runes to directly learn 'Incantations' from the Lands Between.]
[Current Incantations Available:] 1. Golden Vow: Consumes FP to increase attack power and defense for yourself and nearby allies for a duration. Cost: 50,000 Runes. 2. Blessing of the Erdtree: Consumes FP to continuously restore HP for yourself and nearby allies for a duration. Cost: 50,000 Runes.
"No way... Golden Vow?!" Lynn's eyes lit up. This was the essential super-buff for any powerhouse in the Lands Between! Whether solo or in a group, one shout before a fight boosted combat effectiveness by a whole tier. And with Erdtree healing, his status in a team would skyrocket from a main DPS to an all-around War God who could both kill and heal!
"Learn! I have to learn them!" He checked his Rune count and selected both without hesitation.
[Confirm spending 100,000 Runes to learn 'Golden Vow' and 'Blessing of the Erdtree'?]
"Confirm!"
A warm, majestic golden light surged from the panel, enveloping him. Two sets of completely foreign knowledge were branded into the depths of his soul like natural instincts. One was how to guide the power of faith into a vow; the other was how to pray for grace to mend wounds.
The light faded. Lynn opened his eyes and held out his hand. A cluster of soft golden motes gathered in his palm, radiating a holy warmth.
"Incredible..."
Finally, a final system prompt arrived:
[System Shop Updated. New items in stock. Please browse at your leisure.]
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