"Just what kind of monster is this guy?!"
The remaining Amazon warriors were terrified by the bizarre scene before them, and their assault faltered involuntarily.
One second, he was a swordsman wielding a curved greatsword and a thrusting sword; the next, he had transformed into a mage casting instantaneous spells. Was his hand some kind of spatial pocket?
"Get out of my way!"
Phryne's roar sounded like a clap of thunder.
She had recovered from her earlier paralysis, her coarse face a mask of fury and humiliation. As a Level 5 powerhouse, it was intolerable to be forced back by a Level 2 using such strange techniques.
Her hulking, unwomanly frame surged forward again. The stone slabs beneath her feet cracked inch by inch as she transformed into a living cannonball, charging straight for him!
This time, Lynn's response changed yet again.
The Bloodhound's Fang and the Glintstone Staff in his hands dissolved into points of light. In their place appeared a massive, ancient, and heavy spear, nearly as long as he was tall—the Serpent-Hunter.
He gripped the shaft with both hands, lowering his center of gravity into a standard bracing stance.
The moment Phryne reached him, bolstered by a force of ten thousand tons, Lynn's core snapped with explosive power. He swung the massive spear in a horizontal sweep of titanic strength!
The wind pressure generated by the spear's tip even produced a sharp, piercing whistle in the air!
Phryne's pupils constricted. She felt an unprecedented sense of pressure from that great spear, as if it weren't a weapon at all, but a collapsing mountain peak.
She didn't dare take the hit directly and was forced to kill her forward momentum, leaping backward in a clumsy scramble.
Boom!
The heavy spear struck empty air but carved a deep trench into the hard stone of the altar.
The entire rooftop fell into a deathly silence.
Every Amazon warrior who had been closing in stood frozen in place as if under a binding spell. They stared at Lynn, their eyes filled with fear and bewilderment.
Thrusting swords, staves, great spears... what was the deal with this guy?
It was as if his hands were connected to an entire armory. Every switch was fluid, every strike was precise and lethal, perfectly countering their every move.
Lynn ignored their shock entirely.
Suddenly, he flicked his left wrist, and an unremarkable black sphere appeared in his palm. It was the smoke bomb he had obtained from Patches.
Without hesitation, he slammed it onto the ground.
Bang!
With a muffled pop, a thick, acrid white smoke exploded from the floor. It spread with incredible speed, enveloping the entire tower top in an instant.
"Cough, cough! What is this?!"
"Careful! Don't let him get away!"
Caught off guard, the Amazon warriors coughed violently as the smoke filled their lungs. Deprived of their vision, their formation instantly collapsed into chaos.
Now!
The moment the smoke erupted, Lynn grabbed Haruhime.
Taking advantage of their brief confusion, he stowed the Serpent-Hunter and scooped the still-trembling Haruhime into his arms. With a burst of speed, he moved like an arrow released from a bow, dashing toward the edge of the rooftop.
"Lord Lynn..." Haruhime, held tightly in his embrace, felt his steady and powerful heartbeat. The faint, pleasant scent clinging to him caused a blush to creep onto her pale cheeks, her mind going completely blank.
"Hold on tight," Lynn whispered. In a few leaps, he reached the edge.
He had planned this clearly: jump to a slightly lower roof below, then use the complex terrain to make a quick escape.
However, when he reached the edge and looked down, his pupils shrank slightly.
The plaza beneath the tower was now brightly lit.
Dozens of Amazon warriors from the Ishtar Familia stood ready, surrounding the tower so tightly that not even a drop of water could leak through. They had formed an impenetrable blockade.
Standing at the front was a black-haired woman who was equally tall but possessed a completely different aura than Phryne. She held two scimitars, her gaze as sharp as an eagle's.
It was the Level 3, Aisha Belka.
Behind her, over a dozen warriors were poised for action, encircling the base of the tower.
"Running? Why have you stopped running?"
Phryne's sneering laughter came from behind, carrying a hint of cat-and-mouse mockery. She and the remaining warriors had closed in again, blocking Lynn's path of retreat.
Pincered from the front and pursued from behind.
The drop from the tower was nearly a hundred meters. If he jumped directly, even as a Tarnished, this physical body would be smashed into meat paste.
A total dead end.
"Lord Lynn..." Haruhime tugged at his sleeve, her voice trembling with tears and despair. "Please, just go... don't worry about me... I'm the one who dragged you into this..."
Meanwhile, at the entrance to the Pleasure Quarter.
Bell was pacing anxiously, his red eyes fixed on the brightly lit tower in the distance. He rubbed his fists until his knuckles turned white.
When he saw squads of Ishtar Familia's Berbera—combat prostitutes—rushing out from every corner to seal off the streets, his heart sank.
"Lord Lynn has been discovered! We have to do something!"
Bell's voice carried a hint of a tremor, born of both nervousness and urgency.
Standing beside him, Mikoto appeared much calmer. She placed her hand on the hilt of the sword at her waist, her sharp eyes scanning the bustling street. In a deep voice, she said:
"According to the plan: create a diversion. Ouka, get the carriage ready. Be prepared to pick us up at any moment."
"Understood!" The most hulking member of the group, Kashima Ouka, nodded heavily and vanished into the shadows.
Mikoto took a deep breath and looked at Bell.
"Lord Bell, stay close to me!"
Before her voice had even faded, she shot forward like an arrow!
The two of them, one following the other, charged into the main street of the Pleasure Quarter like lightning.
Mikoto had a clear target. She locked onto the towering flagpole outside the largest tavern on the roadside. With a flick of her wrist, her snow-bright blade cleared its scabbard.
Hah!
A concentrated arc of sword light flashed, and the base of the flagpole—thicker than a man's torso—snapped instantly!
Rumble—!
The massive flagpole fell with a whistling wind, crashing squarely into several stalls along the street. Splinters, liquor, and fabric flew everywhere, instantly triggering a chorus of piercing screams and alarms.
"What's happening?!"
"An enemy attack?!"
The pedestrians on the street fell into a chaotic mess.
Now!
Bell saw his chance. He pulled out a specialized smoke bomb that Hermes had shoved into his hand before they left and threw it with all his might toward a nearby Ishtar Familia outpost.
Bang!
The smoke bomb exploded, releasing a cloud of smoke several times more potent than the one Lynn had used. It swallowed half the street almost instantly, the acrid smell bringing tears to everyone's eyes.
"Cough, cough, cough! Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Sound the alarm!"
Inside the outpost, the Ishtar Familia guards were caught completely off guard by the sudden turn of events. A shrill alarm bell immediately began to ring throughout the entire district.
At the base of the tower, Aisha, who was currently directing the archers to aim upward, heard the commotion and the alarms coming from the perimeter. A flash of displeasure crossed her heroic face.
"What's the situation? Are there more of them?" After thinking for a few seconds, she turned to her lieutenant.
"You stay here and keep watch. I'll go see what's happening! We cannot allow anything to interfere with the Goddess's ritual!"
With that, she gripped her scimitars and led a squad of troops toward the source of the chaos.
Bell and Mikoto exchanged a look, understanding each other perfectly.
The plan was a success. They had successfully created chaos and diverted a portion of the Ishtar Familia's forces.
However, as they looked up at the lonely tower, their hearts remained heavy. This small disturbance was likely only a drop in the bucket for the man surrounded at the top.
On the rooftop.
Listening to the alarms growing louder below, Phryne's grin became even more hideous.
"Do you hear that? Your accomplices have been found. Stop struggling. You've lost this game completely."
Just as Lynn was contemplating the possibility of using himself as a meat shield for Haruhime and then reviving at a Site of Grace...
A vibration hundreds of times more terrifying than the previous disturbance erupted from the outskirts of the Pleasure Quarter without warning!
BOOM!!!
It was a sound like the world itself was rending asunder, followed immediately by even denser shouts of battle and explosions.
The entire tower hummed under the violent impact, as if it might fall apart at any moment.
Everyone on the rooftop, including Ishtar, looked toward the source of the sound in horror.
The sturdy barricades at the outermost edge of the Pleasure Quarter, built of giant stones and ironwood, were currently being torn open like a massive gap by an invisible beast!
Amidst the swirling dust, a lone Boaz figure slowly stepped out.
He was hulking, wielding a massive sword proportional to his stature. Just by standing there, his terrifying, sovereign aura caused the very air of the Pleasure Quarter to freeze.
The strongest man in Orario, the Level 7 "Warlord"—Ottar!
Behind him, dozens of elite warriors from the Freya Familia flooded into Ishtar Familia territory like a silent, highly efficient tidal wave.
Everywhere they went, Ishtar's defensive lines crumbled like wet paper. They couldn't organize any effective resistance.
On the rooftop, after Ishtar clearly saw the prominent banner of the Freya Familia below, her face—previously flushed with fanatical excitement—turned as pale as paper.
"Freya...?!" she shrieked, her voice filled with unbelievable terror and rage. "How does she dare?! How does she dare to make a move against me at a time like this?!"
Phryne also completely lost her composure. She no longer cared about Lynn; she spun around and rushed to Ishtar, shouting urgently:
"Goddess! It's the Freya Familia! Ottar is leading them personally! Our people can't stop him! I have to go down and join the fight!"
"You are not allowed to go!"
If her Familia's strength could have faced Freya head-on, Ishtar wouldn't have needed to resort to these schemes involving Haruhime.
Ishtar stared deathly at Lynn, as if he were her only life-saving straw, and screamed at the top of her lungs:
"Capture that man first! He must be someone Freya values! Capture him—he will be our hostage!"
However, the Freya Familia's offensive was moving much faster than anyone had anticipated.
Boom! Rumble!
The sounds of explosions drew closer, and the firelight had already turned half the night sky red. The screams and the clashing of weapons rose and fell, reaching the top of the tower with chilling clarity.
The Pleasure Quarter, which the Ishtar Familia had operated for years, was disintegrating at a visible speed.
Lynn looked at the chaotic scene before him and nodded with satisfaction.
Though the Freya Familia's involvement was a bit of a surprise, reinforcements were reinforcements.
----
Danmachi: My Primary God is Hidetaka Miyazaki? (Simulpub – Ongoing)
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