While Hedin was busy delivering divine punishment to Phryne.
"This should suffice as your portion."
The scene shifted to Belit Babili, the grand palace and headquarters of the Ishtar Familia. Sitting elegantly on her throne was a Goddess with beautiful purple hair styled with perfectly curled ends, dark skin, and flawless makeup, adorned in lavish gold jewelry across her limbs and neck.
This was Ishtar, the mastermind scheming to annihilate the Freya Familia.
Spread out on the floor before her were massive wooden crates packed to the brim with weapons.
"Master-smith weaponry and [Cursed Weapons]. You are certainly well-prepared."
Sitting opposite Ishtar was another Goddess. She possessed red hair, dark skin, a necklace made of interconnected skulls, and a terrifying mask complete with fangs. Despite her intimidating attire, she looked no older than a young child.
This was Kali, Goddess of the Kali Familia.
The Kali Familia was not based in Orario. Their home was Telskyura, an isolated island nation situated far to the southeast. It was an Amazoness-only country where men were strictly forbidden from entering; the few who did exist there were treated solely as slaves or tools for reproduction.
Kali was a war deity governing combat and slaughter. She believed that shedding blood and taking lives was the ultimate truth of her children. To witness the birth of the ultimate warrior, she forced her Amazoness dependents to engage in brutal deathmatches day and night in Telskyura. This savage tradition had been taking place since long before the Gods descended to the lower world.
"We are going to war with the Freya Familia. There is no such thing as being over-prepared," Ishtar replied.
"Aye, I suppose there isn't."
Ishtar had secretly recruited the Kali Familia to assist her in crushing her rival. Lured by the prospect of fighting Orario's strongest faction, Kali and her children had eagerly accepted the invitation.
Because Kali frequently updated her dependents' Falna, and due to their endless daily deathmatches, her Familia possessed two Level 6 adventurers. Ishtar intended to use the Killing Stone to cast [Level Boost] on those two warriors, utilizing their enhanced strength to overwhelm Ottar and the rest of Freya's elites.
"…Leaving that aside, it seems almost all of your combatants are currently out. What exactly are they doing?" Kali asked.
"Oh, just a little spiteful prank aimed at Freya."
"Harassment?"
"Apparently, there is a man Freya is deeply obsessed with. I sent my girls to snatch him up so I can eat him alive before she does."
Good grief… what a hopelessly petty and jealous woman, Kali sighed internally.
Annihilating Freya's Familia would have been more than enough to humiliate her, but Ishtar was so obsessed with ruining Freya that she went out of her way to execute such a spiteful side plot.
"…What is it?"
Suddenly, the halls outside the room grew incredibly noisy. Ishtar frowned, sensing something was wrong.
"I highly doubt it, but your children aren't killing each other out there, are they?" Ishtar asked suspiciously.
"They wouldn't do something so foolish right before a war with the Freya Familia," Kali dismissed.
"T-Terrible news!!"
"Quiet down. What is going on?"
As the two Goddesses wondered about the commotion, an Ishtar Familia member violently threw the doors open. Standing beside Ishtar, a dark-skinned human man demanded an explanation.
This man was Tammuz Belili, the Vice-Captain of the Ishtar Familia and one of the very few male members in their ranks. Though he held a position of high authority, Ishtar's Divine Charm had completely brainwashed him, reducing him to a perfectly obedient puppet.
"W-We're under attack!!"
"Under attack…!? Is it the Freya Familia!?" Ishtar demanded, instantly shooting up from her chair.
"No!! The attacker is a single member of the Hestia Familia named Sawada Tsunayoshi!! The Kali Familia combatants are currently intercepting him, but he's already decimated more than half our forces!!"
"What did you say!?"
"Ho…?"
It was a completely absurd report, but as a Goddess, Ishtar possessed the innate ability to detect lies. She was forced to accept that the frantic report was the absolute truth.
Kali, too, realized the report was genuine. Far from being panicked, her interest was deeply piqued by the existence of a man capable of single-handedly decimating more than half of her elite Amazons.
"Furthermore, his target is the Killing Stone!!"
"What does that mean!? How does he know about the Killing Stone!?"
"I-I don't know!! But if this continues, the stone will fall into his hands!!"
"—Tammuz!! Come!!" Ishtar commanded.
"Yes, my Goddess!!"
If Tsuna managed to steal the Killing Stone, Ishtar would permanently lose her only means of defeating the Freya Familia. Panic setting in, Ishtar bolted from the room with Tammuz to intercept him.
"Calm yourself, Ishtar. Argana and Bache are out there. I do not know how strong this boy is, but he cannot possibly defeat those sisters."
"He is an illusionist!! If he slips away, we might never be able to track him down!! And if he steals the Killing Stone, our strategy against the Freya Familia is ruined!! I have to stop him right now!!"
"I see… so he uses illusions as well… That certainly makes him troublesome…"
Realizing her highly anticipated war with the Freya Familia was on the verge of being ruined, Kali let out a heavy sigh and stood from her seat.
─────
Meanwhile, on the lower floors of the palace.
"Hahaha!! To think I'd run into someone this strong!! Orario never disappoints!!"
"…He's definitely no ordinary man."
At the end of a corridor littered with the unconscious bodies of Kali Familia members stood Tsuna. Watching him carefully were two Amazonesses: one with long silver hair tied into a single tail, and another with short silver hair wearing a mask over the lower half of her face.
They were Argana Kalif and Bache Kalif, the Captain and Vice-Captain of the Kali Familia.
Both sisters were Level 6 dependents, serving as the ultimate trump cards of the Kali Familia. Their very existence was the primary reason Telskyura was recognized as one of the major world powers.
"…I have no desire to fight a meaningless battle. Step aside," Tsuna warned them.
"Not a chance. Besides, after slaughtering this many of our members, did you really think you could just walk away?"
Seeing the ecstatic, battle-hungry grin plastered across Argana's face, Tsuna realized negotiating with her was impossible.
"Bache, he's my prey. Don't interfere."
"…Do as you please."
Knowing perfectly well that there was no stopping her sister when she got like this, Bache didn't even try.
In a flash, Argana closed the distance, stepping deep into Tsuna's range. With a gleeful smile, she unleashed a devastating right straight at his face.
"Ho…"
Tsuna effortlessly caught her fist in his palm. Rather than being shocked that her monstrous power had been stopped cold, Argana's excitement only spiked higher.
Tsuna instantly switched the flame on his ring from Sky to Lightning.
"!?"
…She's more composed than I thought, Tsuna noted.
The very instant his flames shifted, Argana sensed the lethal danger and immediately leaped backward to create distance.
Her absolute confidence was obvious, but Tsuna quickly realized she was on a completely different level than Phryne. Having survived relentless deathmatches in Telskyura since childhood to reach Level 6, Argana's danger-sensing instincts were supernatural. Her body reacted to threats before her brain even processed them. That was the only reason she had managed to escape the paralyzing shock of his Lightning Flames.
Her raw power is higher than Phryne's… She must be a Level 6. Tsuna deduced her strength from the impact of her punch.
"—Good reaction, kid."
Argana swept her right arm out, snapping one of Belit Babili's massive stone pillars with pure brute force. As the colossal pillar began to tip toward her, she caught it with both hands, hoisted it up, and hurled it directly at Tsuna like a javelin.
"[X-Cannon]."
Tsuna instantly switched his flames from Lightning to Rain. Aiming his palm at the high-speed projectile, he fired a concentrated blast of Rain Flames.
"It stopped…!?"
The moment the Rain Flame bullet struck the stone pillar, its momentum died almost instantly. Unable to comprehend the logic behind the sudden deceleration, Argana finally showed a hint of genuine shock.
By striking the pillar with the Tranquility trait of the Rain Flame, Tsuna had forcibly killed its kinetic energy, bringing it to a near halt.
Tsuna stepped in front of the floating pillar and thrust his palm against its base.
"—HAAAH!!"
The exact instant his palm made contact, he switched his flames from Rain to Sun. The Activation trait of the Sun Flame flooded the pillar, overwriting the previous effect and launching it back at Argana with more than double the speed she had originally thrown it.
"What!?"
Faced with her own attack returning at terrifying velocity, Argana violently twisted her upper body backward, narrowly dodging the massive projectile. The pillar blew past her and violently smashed into the grand staircase behind her, reducing it to rubble. Witnessing the absurd destructive power, even Argana felt a chill run down her spine.
While she was distracted by the sheer impact, Tsuna vaulted high into the air, preparing to deliver a devastating right straight from above. However, before his attack could connect, Bache launched herself at him, executing a flawless flying knee strike aimed directly at him in mid-air.
Tsuna blocked Bache's knee with the sole of his foot, using her leg as a springboard to flip backward. He executed a clean backflip in the air and landed smoothly on the floor.
"…I thought I told you not to interfere, Bache."
"…This boy is far stronger than we anticipated. You cannot defeat him in a one-on-one fight. You know this as well as I do."
"…"
Knowing her sister was entirely correct, Argana clicked her tongue but didn't argue.
"…Do not forget our objective."
"Fine. But the killing blow is mine. Got it?"
"…Very well."
Reluctantly agreeing to a united front, the two sisters fell into combat stances side-by-side.
"[Di Asura]," Bache chanted softly.
A highly elastic, purple liquid oozed from her palms, rapidly spreading out to coat her entire body.
"[Vellgus]."
Poison…
The moment a drop of the purple liquid slipped from Bache's body and hit the floor, the stone instantly began to melt and sizzle. Tsuna immediately recognized that the liquid coating her was a highly corrosive, lethal venom.
Bache's magic, [Vellgus], was an enchantment spell that cloaked her in a deadly poison. It was a simple magic, but incredibly dangerous—whether she was attacking or defending, the mere act of touching her would cause the opponent's flesh to melt away.
This is going to be a massive pain to deal with… Tsuna sighed internally, bracing himself for the fight.
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