Chapter 9 - Chapter 9

The stolen black knife felt heavy under Lili's cloak, pressing against her ribs with every step she took through Orario's black market.

She had already visited three different potential buyers, people who had happily purchased stolen drop items, potions, and scavenged gear from her with no questions asked in the past.

Every single one of them had turned her away.

"It's a blunt piece of junk," the last one had sneered, tossing the black blade back across the counter. "I couldn't cut a block of cheese with this, let alone goblin hide. Bring me something that actually holds an edge, or don't waste my time."

Lili gritted her teeth, her small hands clutching the blade tightly against her chest as she navigated the shady streets. It didn't make any sense!

Bell Cranel had treated this knife like it was his own heart, and she had seen him use it to carve through monsters like butter! It certainly wasn't a useless piece of scrap iron in his hands!

Driven by desperation, Lili made a bold gamble to uncover the blade's true worth: she abandoned the slums and slipped into the legitimate commercial districts inside Babel.

She kept her head down as she entered the free market floor dedicated to Hephaestus Familia rookie products. She slipped through the crowds of towering adventurers like a breeze, trying to locate a secure way to get information about the knife. The smallest mistake or misjudgment could lead to her exposure, and escaping a dense floor like this would be a nightmare.

Suddenly, a loud voice caught her attention.

"You don't want to sell my stuff?! Fine! Your shitty shop ain't even worth displaying my shit!"

"You armor no sell! Name is stupid! Who buy 'Singing Frog'?! Frog no sing, frog croak! You take your croaking metal and go!"

A fiery, red headed young man angrily barked at a local shop owner, who, with his heavily accented and half-decent Koine, yelled back in turn. Judging by the box containing a set of armor, it didn't take a genius to figure out that the merchant was taking the redhead's products off his shelves for not selling well.

"Oh yeah!? I'll show you a singing frog, you Eastern cunt—!" The redhead barked. The friction between the two was intensifying rapidly.

"I no Eastern cunt, you Western broke-boy! You bring me trash, I treat you like trash! I sweep you out with broom! You go now! Out!"

"Tch." But the young smith didn't escalate as he saw the crowd slowly forming around them. He turned away with a heavy sigh, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

"You banned! You never come here no more!" the merchant called to him.

"Shut up!"

Lili watched the bizarre interaction, and a plan began to form in her head.

The redhead defeated and gloomy current mood might work in her favor, he likely wouldn't have the energy to ask too many difficult questions if she approached him.

With a potential target found, Lili carefully stalked the blacksmith through the dense crowds until he exited the market floor of Babel and stepped into the plaza. He finally came to a stop, slumping onto a bench and burying his face in his hands, staring up at the sky, lost in deep thought.

Taking a deep breath, Lili steeled her nerves, pasted on a mask of pure innocence and naivety, and moved forward.

"Mister! Excuse me, mister! Are you a blacksmith?"

Hearing the sudden, high-pitched voice, Welf Crozzo tore his gaze away from his depressing thoughts of unsold products. He looked down to find a small Pallum girl smiling at him with wide, curious eyes.

"Uhh...yeah," Welf answered, caught a little off guard by the sudden approach. "Did ya need something? A repair on some supporter gear?" He assumed that had to be the case. Why else would a random supporter approach him on the street?

"Somewhere in between, Mr. Smith!" Lili forced her features to maintain their polite innocence, fighting down her building nervousness as she reached into her cloak and slowly pulled out the black knife just enough to show him the metal.

"My...my captain asked me to bring this to a blacksmith," Lili lied smoothly, her voice sweet. "It's gotten terribly dull. He wants it polished and sharpened, but I haven't had any luck finding a smith good enough to handle it."

Welf casually glanced down at the blade. But the very second his eyes registered the sophisticated, flawless forging technique used on the dark metal, he froze.

"May I?" he asked, his voice suddenly hushed.

Lili didn't hesitate to hand it over to not appear suspicious. Welf handled the blade like it was an artifact. He twisted the knife toward the sunlight and ran his thumb over the entirely blunt edge, his eyes sparkling in awe, before widening drastically as his gaze fell upon the emblem near the hilt.

"Gods above..." Welf muttered breathlessly.

"I-Is something wrong with it, sir?" Lili felt a spike of anxiety. She gripped the edge of her cloak tightly, ready to snatch the knife and bolt if it came to it.

"Wrong with it?" Welf let out a low, disbelieving whistle. "Kid, the build on this is insane. This isn't just a knife, this is a masterpiece, one of our own." He pulled out his own Familia pendant, bearing a familiar symbol. "Hephaestus herself, or one of the absolute top-tier high-smiths, forged this."

Lili's breath caught in her throat. Her eyes widened, the mask of the innocent supporter slipping for just a second.

Welf squinted slightly, studying Lili's reaction with sudden suspicion. "Who exactly did you say this belongs to?"

"M-My captain," Lili repeated, forcing herself to maintain eye contact, praying to whatever gods were listening that the lie held. "I'm just the supporter. He asked me to get it fixed."

Welf stared at her for a long moment. Supporter or not, it was highly unusual for an adventurer to hand off a weapon of this caliber for a simple errand. But then again, adventurers were an eccentric bunch, and supporters did handle all the mundane logistics of Familia life.

He shrugged, carefully offering the priceless knife back to her. It wasn't his problem.

"Well, you're out of luck here," Welf told her, shaking his head in defeat. "I can't do a damn thing with this. This blade is forged from Mithril, and it's coated with a technique I can't even begin to identify. It's way beyond my league. I'm just a Level 1 smith. Might wanna check on the first-tier smiths."

Mithril.

The word echoed in Lili's mind like a choir of angels. Mithril was one of the most expensive metals in the world. A tiny dagger made of the stuff could buy a small mansion. A custom piece crafted by the Hephaestus Familia? It was practically priceless.

"I...I understand!" Lili bowed her head deeply, frantically wrapping the knife back up and clutching it to her chest as if someone were about to tear it away from her. "Thank you for your time, sir! I'll go inform my captain right away!"

"Sure thing," Welf said, watching as the Pallum bolted away rapidly.

With her gone, Welf slowly returned to his bad investments. Out of all the armor sets he had made, only one had sold so far. Maybe he should track the buyer down and request feedback, so he could figure out how to improve his work?

Meanwhile, the moment Lili turned her back on Welf, her mind immediately raced toward her next course of action.

She couldn't sell the knife now. If she tried to sell it as a Hephaestus original made of Mithril, the buyer would either murder her and take it, or the Guild would track her down for dealing in stolen high-grade weaponry. It was too hot, too recognizable, and far too valuable to liquidate for simple Valis just yet.

But she had leverage now. This knife was worth a fortune and it would be worth even more to a greedy, power hungry man.

༻❁༺

The sprawling compound of the Soma Familia loomed into view, its many towers and storehouses casting the image of a castle of evil. Lili ignored the armed guards stationed at the gates as she walked inside.

The air inside the Familia compound was always heavy, thick with the sickly sweet scent of fermenting grapes and ruined lives.

Lili walked through the shadowy corridors of the main building, keeping her eyes firmly locked on the stone floor. She ignored the Familia members slumped against the walls, their bodies trembling as they suffered through the agonizing withdrawals of the divine wine.

She finally reached the Captain's chambers, the doors were open, revealing a lavishly decorated room that stood in stark contrast to the misery directly outside it.

Sitting comfortably in a chair behind his desk, Zanis Lustra, the Captain of the Soma Familia, was swirling a glass of wine. His cold eyes carried the cruel amusement of a predator watching a mouse willingly approach its den.

"So," Zanis spoke, his voice slithering into her ears. "Our dear supporter has returned home. The guards said you requested an important audience. What grand proposition brings you crawling back to me, Arde?"

"I have something," Lili swallowed her nervousness, barely keeping her voice steady.

She had been too paranoid to leave the knife stashed somewhere safe, fearing it might be stolen by another thief. But now, looking at the greedy bastard sitting before her, she was beginning to regret that decision. "Something incredibly valuable. I lifted it from an adventurer."

Zanis raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed.

"An elixir? A decent sword? Spit it out, Arde. I don't have time for your games."

"A Hephaestus original," Lili revealed. She watched Zanis's eyes twitch. "A custom piece forged from Mithril."

Zanis's lazy amusement vanished instantly, replaced by a greedy glint.

"Show it to me," Zanis commanded, holding out his hand.

"No," Lili said, her heart rapidly beating against her ribs as she declared her defiance.

"Excuse me?" Zanis's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"You can use it to negotiate a ransom from the owners if they are alive, or melt it down on the black market," Lili continued, refusing to back down. "Its value is more than enough to cover my...debt to this Familia ten times over. But I'm not giving you anything until I get a guarantee."

"A guarantee." Zanis stared at her, genuinely surprised by the sudden spine the little Pallum was displaying.

"A formal release document," Lili demanded, her eyes burning with determination. "Written by your hand, stamped with the Soma Familia official seal. A contract stating that Liliruca Arde's debt is fully absolved, and she is officially released from the Familia. Write it, sign it, and stamp it."

A long silence stretched between them. Zanis stared at the girl, evaluating her. Then, a low chuckle escaped him.

"My, my. The little street rat has learned how to bite," Zanis mused. He casually pulled open a drawer, retrieving a crisp piece of official Guild parchment, an ink pen, and the wax seal of the Soma Familia. "You don't trust your beloved Captain, Arde? How hurtful."

"Just write it," Lili whispered, her hands shaking slightly.

Zanis smirked. His pen moved smoothly across the paper, writing out the exact terms she demanded. He then melted red wax, letting it drip onto the bottom of the page before firmly pressing the heavy seal into it.

He slid the document across the desk. "Read it."

Lili stepped forward, her eyes frantically reading across the ink.

It was flawless. No loopholes, no hidden conditions. It was a legally binding document recognized and signed by the captain of the Soma Familia.

"Liliruca Arde's debt is absolved. She is granted her freedom to leave the Soma Familia by her own will."

An overwhelming wave of pure relief washed over her. She had actually done it. She had outsmarted him. She was finally going to be free!

Lili slowly reached into her cloak and pulled out the wrapped weapon, gently placing the Hestia Knife onto the desk.

Zanis picked it up instantly. He unwrapped the cloth, his eyes gleaming with raw greed as he felt the weight of the dark metal. He inspected the divine lettering near the hilt, confirming the Hephaestus seal to be perfectly genuine.

"Magnificent," Zanis breathed, tucking the knife securely into his own belt. "You really do have the most slippery fingers in Orario, Arde."

Lili smiled in pure relief. She reached out to take the signed contract from the desk—

Before her fingers could even brush the parchment, Zanis's hand shot out like a viper. He snatched the document away, violently crumpling the crisp paper.

Lili froze.

"W-Wait...what are you doing?! We had a deal! You signed it!"

Zanis looked at her, the greed completely vanishing from his eyes, replaced by a cold, sociopathic sneer.

He held the crumpled contract directly over the candle flickering on his desk. The parchment caught fire instantly, the bright flames devouring the ink, the wax seal, and with it, Lili's freedom.

"Did you honestly think a piece of paper means anything down here?" Zanis asked, his voice filled with mockery. "You are smart, Arde. I'll give you that, but you forgot one crucial detail. We aren't in the Guild. We're in my territory."

Before Lili's brain could even react to the absolute devastation that had just befallen her, Zanis moved.

His heavy boot lashed out across the desk, slamming directly into Lili's stomach. The brutal strike shot her small frame across the room, hitting the hard stone floor as all the air left her lungs.

"Gahh...You!" Lili curled into a tight ball, gasping frantically, her vision swimming with black spots as agonizing pain coursed through her. "Snake!" she cursed breathlessly.

"Did you honestly think a rat like you could negotiate with me?" Zanis chuckled cruelly, standing up and towering over her gasping, pathetic form. "You don't make deals, Arde. You belong to the Soma Familia. You will steal for us, you will bleed for us, and you will die for us. That is your life."

"Throw this useless trash in the cells," Zanis ordered aloud, his voice reaching the guards stationed outside. "Let her rot in the dark for a while so she remembers her place."

Lili couldn't even find the breath to scream as two guards dragged her across the stone floor, hauling her down the staircases deep into the compound's dungeon before violently tossing her into a cold, dark cell and leaving her to the silence.

The biting chill of the cold stone cell was entirely eclipsed by the crushing, suffocating weight of her own regrets.

She sat curled in the darkest corner of the pitch black cell, hugging her knees tightly to her chest. Tears carved hot tracks down her dirty face, dripping onto the floor.

It had all been for nothing. Every lie, every precaution, every awful thing she had done. She had tried to play by the rules, tried to secure her freedom with a contract, but she was nothing more than a thing to them.

Her mind, desperately seeking comfort, drifted back to the Dungeon.

To Bell...if he was even still alive after what she did.

She was haunted by the memory of his shockingly pure red eyes. She remembered the gentle, awkward way he had smiled at her when they shared a meal and divided the profits of the dive equally.

He hadn't looked at her like a tool, or a rat, or a thief. He hadn't treated her with the disgust she was so used to. He had looked at her like a person, offering her genuine warmth and worth in a city that had only ever shown her freezing cruelty since the day she could walk.

And how had she repaid him?

She had stolen his most prized possession, shattered his trust, and trapped him and his Captain to face the horrors of the Dungeon, potentially dooming them both to a horrible death or crippling wounds.

She had thrown away the only genuine kindness she had ever experienced, convincing herself it was the only way to survive. And it had ended with her right back where she started: locked in a cage, stripped of absolutely everything.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed silently into her knees, her small frame shaking violently in the dark. "I'm so sorry, Bell-sama."

༻❁༺

Toji Fushiguro walked through the lower commercial districts of Orario with long steps. Beside him walked Shiu Kong, the information broker hurrying to keep pace.

"Look, the well is a little dry right now," Kong explained, adjusting his collar. "I don't have much work to offer you at this exact moment. But I did manage to get information regarding that little abducted knife."

"Hm," Toji hummed, his gaze fixed on some invisible point in the middle distance, clearly not listening to a single word the broker was saying.

Kong sighed in exasperation. "Are you even paying attention?"

"Not really," Toji replied, letting out a yawn.

"I'm talking about the kid's knife," Kong pressed, lowering his voice as they passed a sleeping drunk slumped in a filthy alleyway. "The fancy black one."

That finally earned a sliver of Toji's attention. He lazily rolled his neck, glancing down at the broker out of the corner of his eye. "You got a lead on it?"

"I do," Kong said, a chuckle escaping his mouth. "Turns out, an old associate of ours got his hands on it. And lucky you, he reached out to good ol' Kong. Asked me personally to go and blackmail your little Familia member into a meeting."

"Figured it'd end up with a shitbag," Toji muttered, his gaze returning to the street ahead. "Who is it?"

Kong smirked. "Captain Zanis Lustra."

Toji stared at the empty street for a long, silent moment. His dark brows furrowed very slightly. "...Who was that again?"

Kong's smug demeanor instantly deflated. "The Soma Familia? The guy who runs the booze cartel?"

"Oh. The junkie lord," Toji said mockingly, his lip curling in mild amusement. "Did he get the short rat for it?"

"Don't know," Kong shrugged. "He didn't mention her, just that he has the knife and wants to make sure the Hestia Familia gets to be his little pet Familia for a while. So, what's the play? You want me to set up a meeting between the kid and him? How about a tip regarding his location."

"He's there. Saw him sneak out the other day," Toji said, lazily pointing a finger toward the north of the city, a gesture that offered absolutely zero functional knowledge to Kong.

"As for the next move..." Toji thought about it for a second.

Zanis was a guy who relied entirely on drugged, desperate underlings and possessed absolutely no real physical strength of his own.

It was a setup so ridiculously easy that it actually felt boring to think about. But then again, he had made a deal with the kid to get his favorite toy back, and Toji was never one to leave a job unfinished, unless the pay was dogshit.

"I'll take care of it myself." Toji finally said, a sharp smirk curving onto his face.

"In that case...you and I have a very fat turkey to carve for ourselves, Fushiguro." Kong's eyes lit up. He knew exactly what 'take care of it' meant when Toji Fushiguro was the one saying it. "You up for a bit of empire building?"

༻❁༺

The night air hanging over the Soma Familia headquarters was thick, but deep within the walls, a new, sharp scent was beginning to aggressively overwrite the smell of fermented grapes: copper.

The eastern courtyard was plunged into absolute darkness, with the magic stone lanterns being shattered, their faint hums silenced one by one. For the armed guards loyal to Captain Zanis, the night had abruptly shifted from a routine patrol into a nightmare.

They didn't see an attacker. They didn't hear battle cries. They only heard the wet, sickening thuds of bodies hitting the cobblestone.

"Form up! Form up!" a lieutenant hissed, his voice trembling as he backed against the stone wall of the barracks, his spear raised blindly into the dark. Five guards clustered around him, their eyes wide with terror. "Where is it? Has anyone seen—"

A shadow detached itself from the thick branch of the oak tree above them.

An instantaneous surge of violence occurred. A massive hand gripped the lieutenant's face, fingers digging into his skull with the force of a hydraulic press, and violently slammed the back of his head into the hard stone floor, shattering his skull.

Before anyone could even register what had happened to their leader, the shadow was already moving. The Split Soul Katana cut through armor and flesh like wet paper, painting the path red with blood.

In less than three seconds, six adventurers were reduced to bleeding carcasses on the floor.

Toji Fushiguro exhaled a bored breath, shaking the blood from the katana before casually stepping over the twitching bodies.

"I should've asked for an advance," he muttered, scratching the back of his neck in annoyance.

Behind him lay an absolute bloodbath. Almost the entire standing force of the compound had been wiped out without a single alarm being raised. Spines were snapped, limbs severed and bodies dissected.

To an outsider, Toji was simply violating every fundamental law of the city by massacring a neutral Familia with no just cause or wargame declaration between it's deities.

But Toji seemingly bloodlusted crusade was actually a brutal political purge. He was systematically dismantling any future opposition to a yet to be picked puppet Captain that Kong was planning to install.

This was the turkey Kong was carving for them both. In exchange for a permanent, passive income stream routed directly from the Soma Familia treasury to Toji's occasionally dry bank accounts, Toji will be acting as the shadow enforcer, cutting all the loose ends in the way of absolute authority of the future wine Captain.

However, these political maneuvers were tedious in Toji's humble opinion, but he wasn't about to pass on free money. Plus, he was getting the kid's knife back. Two birds, one stone.

"Better than doing charity for the brat," Toji grunted, resting the flat of the blade against his shoulder as he started moving again, casually strolling toward the main building. "Wonder where the junkie lord keeps his vaults at?"

༻❁༺

In his luxurious chambers at the main building, Captain Zanis Lustra was leaning back in his chair. A smug smile stretched across his face as he casually flipped the black Hestia Knife into the air and caught it.

"A few million Valis, at least," Zanis muttered greedily. "Or better yet, I keep it, enslave that white haired brat, and force him to farm the middle floors until he drops dead. I win on all fronts." He chuckled to himself, already favoring the second option.

Zanis placed the knife on his desk and checked the clock on his wall. It was getting late. Where the hell was Kong?

"Guard!" he barked toward the heavy wooden door, intending to ask if anyone had arrived at the gate yet.

Silence.

"Guard! Get in here!" Zanis yelled louder, annoyance building in his voice.

Still nothing.

Picking up the knife and grumbling about incompetent fodder, Zanis stood up and marched to the door, throwing it open. "Are you doltish morons deaf—!"

The words died in his throat.

The hallway was a slaughterhouse. Blood painted the walls in gruesome streaks. Severed bodies were scattered across the carpets, twisted into unnatural, horrifying angles.

"S-Shit..." Zanis's breath hitched as he stammered, an icy chill ran up his spine at the realization of what was happening.

Then, the slow, heavy sound of a boot echoed from the far end of the hall. The deliberate work of an apex predator revealing its presence to its prey.

Panic seized Zanis's mind. He didn't think twice as he turned on his heel and sprinted in the opposite direction.

His mind was a frantic blur of terror, wildly assessing who could possibly be after him. "Is it the Guild?!" he muttered in horror, his eyes wide as he swept across the hallways. "Or the Ikelos Familia?! That bastard Dix! Dammit!"

Zanis bit his lip hard enough to draw blood as he remembered turning down Dix Perdix's offer to smuggle monsters out of Orario. Dix had wanted to use Soma's wine to place the beasts into a calm state to make smuggling them out easier.

Zanis had refused for the time being, mostly because he had discovered that Arde possessed a shape-shifting magic, a development he could have used as leverage against Dix.

If he had known Dix would take offense and send an assassin, he would have gotten into the operation for free!

Zanis needed protection. He needed his God!

He violently burst through the heavy double doors that led to Soma's chambers and workstation.

"Lord Soma!" Zanis shrieked, his face twisted in pure terror. "We are under attack! The compound—!"

Zanis froze.

God Soma was there, standing over his massive vat, stirring the divine liquid with utterly disinterested eyes hidden behind messy long hair. It was nothing out of the ordinary.

But he wasn't alone.

Sitting casually at the guest table, holding a glass of standard wine and looking completely at home, was Shiu Kong.

"Captain Zanis," Kong greeted smoothly, a sleek smile on his face. "I was wondering when you'd finally join us. I hope the walk down wasn't too...slippery."

"Y-You..." Zanis wheezed, his brain struggling to process the scene. He looked frantically to his God. "Lord Soma! What is this man doing here?!"

Soma didn't even look up from his brew. "I am in the middle of a delicate fermentation process. Do not disturb me."

Kong chuckled, taking a sip of his wine. "He really is a stubborn deity, Zanis. Doesn't even look me in the eye as I threaten to wipe his Familia off the map...mostly because I was lying."

Zanis's fear rapidly morphed into a cornered rage. "You betrayed me! We had a deal, you bastard! What have you done?!" Ironically, he sounded just like Arde in that moment.

"A deal?" Kong feigned ignorance, tapping his chin. "I don't remember accepting any deals from you. Especially after you stole from a very close associate of mine." Kong waved his hand dismissively. "You and he seemed to get along quite well during that retrieval contract you gave him, remember?" Kong flashed a cheeky smirk.

Zanis gritted his teeth, his hand flying to the hilt of his sword, unsheathing it in a flash. "You double-crossing maggot! I'll kill you!"

"Now, now," Kong said, raising a hand. "Let's calm down and discuss this like civilized—"

"Shut it!" Zanis snapped.

With a furious roar, the Level 2 adventurer lunged across the room, thrusting his sword directly at Kong's heart. His speed far surpassed anything Kong could track.

But before the blade could touch the broker, a hand suddenly reached out from the shadows and grabbed the midsection of Zanis's sword!

CRUNCH!

The steel shattered into tiny shards within the man's bare grip.

"What—Ghk!" Zanis's eyes widened in shock, but before he could process the impossible feat of strength, a knee buried itself deep into his stomach.

Zanis clutched his abdomen in blinding, hot pain, collapsing to his knees and gasping rapidly for air.

"Thought you'd last longer." Toji let out a disappointed sigh, staring down at the wheezing Captain with disgusted eyes. "Bleed on my shoes and you're dead."

"You...!" Zanis slowly tilted his head up. All the remaining blood drained from his face, leaving him as pale as the moonlight outside.

Toji Fushiguro stood there, towering over the Familia Captain. He looked bored out of his mind, his dark clothes spotless despite the massacre he had just committed against Zanis's entire loyalist faction. His inventory curse, unseen by normal mortals, was wrapped securely around his torso.

"Fushiguro," Kong smiled. "I take it you're done exercising with the fodder?"

Toji let out a quiet scoff. "Yeah. Barely worth the walk." Then his gaze shifted to Zanis. "Dropped by the vaults too. For a bunch of addicts, you people had some decent stuff stashed away."

"What have you done?!" Zanis staggered backward, his legs giving out completely as he scrambled away from the assassin.

"Cleaning house," Kong said, his voice dropping its cheerful manner. He gestured to the empty chair across from him. "As I was saying. Let us discuss this. Sit down, Zanis."

Zanis swallowed hard. Feeling utterly helpless beneath Toji's oppressive presence, he crawled to the chair and shakily pulled himself up.

"Took you long enough." Toji said as he watched the pathetic display before slouching against the wall and crossing his arms.

"The...the knife," Zanis stammered, frantically reaching into his coat. He placed the wrapped Hestia Knife on the table and shoved it toward Kong. "You are here for this, right?! T-Take it! I had nothing to do with this! It was her! The Pallum brat! Liliruca Arde!" Zanis's voice trembled as he desperately threw his Familia member under the bus. "The little rat stole it! I was holding it for safekeeping! I even punished her by throwing her into the dungeons!"

Toji snorted loudly from his corner at his squirming form. "And you're supposed to be captain?"

"Yeah, yeah," Kong dismissed, picking up the wrapped blade. He inspected it briefly before casually tossing it toward Toji.

His cursed worm caught the blade midair, swallowing the priceless weapon.

The brat's contract is now officially over.

"Look, we aren't here to point fingers, Zanis," Kong said, resting his elbows on the table. "We are here to fuck up an idiot who doesn't know how to use the money he gets. Namely, you."

"What did you say?" Zanis's eyes darted between Kong and Toji, his fear momentarily eclipsed by a surge of indignant pride.

"We are telling you to fuck off. Effective immediately," Kong continued smoothly, pulling a piece of parchment from his suit. "You will stand down as Captain of the Soma Familia. You will sign over all administrative control, properties, and remaining vaults to your successor. And in exchange, Fushiguro here won't sever your limbs and feed them to you."

Zanis's eyes went wide. "My successor?!"

Kong smirked, relishing the desperation in Zanis's eyes. "Haven't thought of a candidate yet, but perhaps I'll give it to that Pallum girl just to make it easy on myself. Captain Liliruca Arde has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

"Her?! That little worm!?" Zanis exploded in anger, his voice cracking. He slammed his hands on the table and looked desperately toward the brewing vat. "Lord Soma! You cannot allow this! I have served you for years and expanded your operations beyond any other predecessor! You cannot let these parasites usurp our Familia!"

Kong sighed, "You really don't get it, do you, Zanis?" He shook his head, looking at the man as if he were a child failing basic math.

"I've read your profile, Lord Soma. You couldn't care less about who signs the paperwork as long as your basic ingredients arrive." Kong looked confidently at the uncaring deity, entirely convinced he had secured the takeover through Soma's sheer lack of interest.

But to Kong's genuine surprise, Soma stopped stirring.

The deity slowly turned around. His eyes, usually hidden behind his messy hair, were exposed a tiny bit, holding a sharp glint as they swept across the room. He looked at his pathetic Captain. He looked at the surprised broker.

Then, Soma's eyes landed directly on Toji Fushiguro and the strange monster around him.

"I am not so detached that I would let my Familia be stolen without a word," Soma finally spoke, stepping closer to the table. His voice was raspy from long disuse, his eyes lingering on Toji with intense curiosity. "You...Why are you so empty?" He asked out of the blue.

There was something fundamentally wrong with this one. Soma could feel it in the air. A vast emptiness that occupied both spiritual presence and mortal senses, something Soma had never encountered before.

Toji narrowed his eyes, annoyance flashing across his scarred face. "Got a problem?"

Not receiving an answer, Soma merely shrugged. "I will not accept a new Captain. Zanis remains."

Zanis let out a laugh. "You see?! You hear the word of God! You cannot touch me now! He will use his divine authority to—!"

"This is getting shitty," Toji interrupted, dropping his arms. He rolled his broad shoulders, his joints popping with the sound of cracking stones. "Let's just kill them all and raid the storages."

"Now, let's not rush to murder just yet," Kong muttered, his mind calculating rapidly as he eyed the deity.

"You may be right, Lord Soma," Kong pressed. "But…are you really satisfied with a Captain like Zanis? A man who hoards all the Familia's funds for himself, leaving none for the rest or for repairs?"

"Lies! I have built this Familia from scratch!" Zanis defended, clenching his fists.

Kong swallowed nervously at Soma's lack of reaction. "What about the Familia members themselves? Did you know Zanis puts them into crippling debt unlawfully?"

Zanis gritted his teeth but remained silent over that point.

Kong paused, realizing Soma's expression remained utterly unreadable. He needed a better hook.

"And…what about you, Lord Soma?" Kong quickly added. "With us, we can secure deep floor ingredients for your divine mission easily. You can further improve the wine you brew. Fushiguro here and I have the logistics and the muscle to get you anything you desire."

Kong had laid out all his cards, hoping the promise of better ingredients would sway the God.

Soma eyed the broker. The idea of deep floor ingredients did hold a certain appeal, it was something Zanis had never managed to secure for him despite his many requests. "You make fair points for a stray thug," Soma admitted.

Zanis panicked instantly. "Lord Soma?!"

Soma raised a hand, silencing him instantly.

Kong smirked. Checkmate.

"However," Soma continued, holding up a single finger that made Kong's smirk vanish into a frustrated sigh.

A glint of interest flickered in the deity's eyes as he looked at the two intruders. "I am willing to reconsider the leadership of this Familia...if one of you manages to overcome my perfected wine. If you cannot, then we have nothing left to discuss."

It was a fair term in exchange for what they ask from him. The chance to win an entire Familia was practically like striking gold after all.

The room went dead silent.

'Yes!' Zanis thought, looking at Toji as a triumphant sneer spread across his face. He's dead! No one can resist the divine wine! One drop and he'll be reduced to a weeping, obedient slave! Lord Soma is a genius!

In reality, there was no grand political plan on Soma's part. The God simply saw the empty anomaly that was Toji and was mildly curious to see if his life's work could break him just like it broke so many others.

Kong frowned, leaning toward Toji. "That is not a logical term. The wine is a lobotomy in a bottle, Fushiguro. It's not worth the risk. We'll do it your way, take this compound by force, and launder the assets through—"

But Toji wasn't having any of it anymore.

The way Soma was looking at him was insulting. The Wine God was absolutely certain Toji would be a squirming mess after one sip.

As if.

"I'll take it," Toji smirked, accepting the challenge as he stepped forward. "Bring it on, wine freak."

Kong's eyes widened in alarm. "Fushiguro, I strongly advise against—"

"Shut up, Kong," Toji cut in dismissively. He grabbed a goblet from the table, slamming it down in front of Soma, and smirked. "Pour it."

Soma's eyes lit up. He admired the mortal's bravery, even if he believed it was incredibly foolish.

He grabbed the pristine jug of his finest, fully matured vintage and poured the thick sweet smelling liquid into the glass.

Soma set the jug down, staring into Toji's dark blue eyes. "Go ahead."

Zanis gripped the edge of the table, his knuckles turning white at the pressure.

Kong tensed, his hand inching toward the dagger hidden in his coat, ready to run away the second Toji fell to the wine's curse.

Toji picked up the glass, and without hesitation, he drank it all in one smooth motion.

One second. Two seconds. Three seconds passed. Everyone held their breath.

"Disgusting." Toji spat, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, his face twisting into a scowl of absolute disgust. His Heavenly Restricted body violently rejecting the magical, mind altering properties of the brew, recognizing it as nothing more than a foreign useless toxin to be immediately neutralized.

"People drink this?" Toji deadpanned, his voice completely level. "I've drunk better wine from a mud puddle."

...

Zanis Lustra's eyes practically bugged out of his skull as he stared at the completely sober, deeply annoyed assassin, the wine having zero effect on the monster in human form.

"Hahaha! Amazing, Fushiguro!" Kong laughed, releasing his grip on his hidden dagger in a massive wave of relief.

"What?" Soma staggered backward. The jug slipped from his hand, shattering loudly against the floor. For the first time in centuries, the God of Wine looked genuinely shocked by a mortal.

It wasn't that no one had ever resisted his wine before. In extremely rare cases, a person with an incredibly strong soul could fight off the euphoric bliss. But to drink an entire glass, remain entirely unaffected, and then criticize it?

A small smile cracked across Soma's face.

"You passed," Soma whispered. "The terms are accepted. You may offer a new candidate for the Captain post. However...on one condition."

"Hey! That wasn't in the deal!" Kong protested, but Soma ignored him as he walked toward Toji.

"My wine failed against your empty body," Soma muttered, stepping directly into Toji's personal space, his eyes burning into the lazy assassin. "You will return here every week. I will brew a new vintage each time, and you will drink it."

To call his life's masterpiece less appealing than mud puddles was an insult Soma could not ignore. He had a new mountain to climb.

Toji looked down at the unflinching God. Are all these so-called deities this much of a pain in the ass to deal with? He thought he had scraped the bottom of the barrel with the shortstack, but this one was really getting on his nerves.

He glanced toward Kong. The broker was nodding furiously, almost begging him to accept.

"The hell kind of condition is that?" Toji said, looking back at Soma with visible annoyance. "You want me to show up every week just to puke your shitty wine?"

"Yes. If you refuse, the deal's off." Soma's stare never wavered.

"Tch. Fine," Toji grunted. "But I'm charging you for it each week." He wasn't some kind of lab rat to be tested on for free.

"Done!" Soma declared, smiling genuinely for the first time in a long time.

"No...no!" Zanis shrieked, his sanity completely snapping. The reality of losing everything was too much. His hand grabbed the hilt of a hidden boot knife, and he lunged wildly toward Kong, the architect of his ruin. "I WON'T LET YOU TAKE MY BIRTHRIGHT!"

"Shit!" Kong reached for his own weapon, but Zanis, fueled by adrenaline and the enhanced physical stats of his Level 2 Falna, was simply too fast for the broker to track.

Not for Toji tho.

His hand blurred toward his cursed worm, his fingers wrapping around the cold grip of a blocky, matte black, modified S&W 500 Magnum. It was a piece he had received as payment from an American contractor for a job well done.

BANG!

The gunshot was deafening inside the enclosed stone room. The modified muzzle flash illuminated the room like lightning, temporarily blinding the occupants.

Zanis's head snapped back violently as the high-caliber round took him squarely between the eyes. But the sheer density of a Level 2 adventurer's skull acted like thick steel plating, the bullet flattened against the bone, failing to pierce the brainpan.

"Tch," Toji clicked his tongue. These annoying adventurers are all bulletproof, maybe he should commission specialized bullets?

BANG!

He fired a second shot with terrifying, superhuman recoil control and precision, the second round hitting exactly into the crater left by the first.

The fractured bone gave way instantly. The second magnum round tore through Zanis's skull, completely destroying his brain. The Captain's body went slack, crashing heavily onto the table before sliding off to the ground, blood rapidly pooling on the stone floor.

In just 2 seconds, the former captain Zanis became nothing more than another kill in Toji's outstanding kill count.

The echo of the two gunshots rang through the entire main building, reaching deep below in the dungeons, the noise jolted a bruised Pallum awake.

Liliruca Arde sat up in her cell, looking around in confusion before a creeping sense of guilt dawned on her face again.

Toji lazily blew the smoke from the barrel of the hand cannon, tossing the gun back into the mouth of his inventory curse. He looked at Soma, who had a few drops of Zanis's blood splattered across his cheek. "You should probably clean that up."

"Ahem," Kong cleared his throat, relief washing over him at the save. "That's one hell of a musket, Fushiguro."

Kong turned to the deity. "My apologies, Lord Soma. Is the deal still in place? With Fushiguro here killing your Captain and a fair majority of your lackeys outside?" Kong paused, glancing at the corpse. "Honestly though, they were mostly scum."

Soma wiped the blood from his cheek with his thumb. He didn't even spare Zanis's body a glance.

"Clean it up, broker," Soma ordered Kong. The God turned his back on the carnage and walked back to his brewing vat, his mind already racing with new alchemical formulas. "I will see you next week...Fushiguro."

Kong exhaled slowly, finally releasing the tension in his shoulders. He looked at Toji.

Toji met his gaze for a second, then made a small circular motion near his temple. "This guy is insane," he muttered with a smirk.

Kong gave a tight smile. "Well, we got our turkey."

Toji snorted and turned away, already heading for the exit. "I'll be waiting for my share, I've got a race to catch."

༻❁༺

The early morning sun bled through the cracks of the ruined church, casting pale beams into the gloom of the basement.

Bell Cranel moved with the grace of a cat, like a rabbit terrified of waking a sleeping dragon, or in his case, a fiercely overprotective Goddess.

He held his breath as he slipped one arm, then the other into his light armor, wincing at every soft creak the material made. He cast a nervous glance toward the main bed where Hestia lay curled up, the blanket rising and falling steadily.

"Phew." Bell released a quiet sigh of relief.

His ruby eyes briefly darted toward the empty sofa where Toji usually slept. There had been no sign of his terrifying captain for a few days now. Bell carefully reached for his hip, feeling the heavy, comforting grip of Grinding Edge sitting exactly where his Hestia knife usually rested. Maybe Toji had gotten a lead on his knife and is out getting it?

Bell violently shook his head, casting the hopeful thought away. He would be late if he stood around wasting time thinking about his stolen weapon!

He had training to catch with Ais Wallenstein. The Sword Princess! Just the thought of it made his heart hammer against his ribs in pure excitement!

Double-checking all his buckles and gear, Bell silently walked up the wooden stairs, slipped out the heavy doors of the church, and vanished into the early morning streets of Orario.

The moment the heavy door clicked shut, the calm breathing from the bed completely stopped, and Hestia's blue eyes snapped open.

She jolted upright, throwing the blanket off her legs, her teeth gritted in absolute frustration.

"Where are you going so early, Bell-kun?!" Hestia whisper-yelled to the empty room, clutching her twin tails in sheer distress.

She couldn't just ask him outright. Her innocent child would clam up, stutter, and definitely try to lie to her. He was hiding something! A secret morning rendezvous? A bad meetup with some bad people? A...a girl?!

Driven by a chaotic mix of maternal panic and intense jealousy, Hestia scrambled off the bed and went for Bell's living corner, which consisted of nothing more than a bedroll and a place for his spare gear. She violently unzipped his dungeon backpack, thinking she might find a clue hidden among his stuff.

Meanwhile, a certain deadbeat had finally decided to head home after a chaotic night.

"Fuck ass War Shadow, weren't they supposed to be fast?"

Toji Fushiguro muttered to himself, strolling lazily through the quiet streets toward the abandoned church, a small paper bag of freshly baked bagels in one hand he had stolen from a bakery. His cursed worm's favorite.

He spent the rest of the night after the violent administrative takeover of the Soma Familia at an illegal underground monster fighting ring, blowing a decent chunk of his newly acquired fortune on bets.

"Rigged garbage," Toji grunted, scratching the back of his neck as the ruined church came into view. He really wasn't cut out for easy money. Every time he tried to passively invest his cash, the universe specifically went out of its way to screw him over.

He ran a hand through his messy black hair, his mind shifting from his wallet to the actual reason he was heading back to this dump of a Familia headquarters.

He patted the side of his cursed spirit that was eating a piece of bagels. The brat's knife was still sitting in its dimensional gut. He needed to return it to fulfill the contract and secure a favor over the kid's head, ready to be cashed out whenever Toji wanted.

It wasn't that Toji actually cared about Bell's wellbeing. But getting a timid replacement like him will be an immense hassle, and the shortstack would undoubtedly throw an apocalyptic ear-piercing crying fit if her favorite pet died. Toji valued his quiet time way too much to deal with that headache.

Speaking of the shortstack...

Toji pushed the heavy church doors open, his utterly silent footsteps carrying him down the stairs and into the basement.

"Oh Bell-kun...Bell-kun...what are you hiding from me?!" Hestia was practically shrieking into Bell's empty backpack, her face buried deep inside it as if trying to sniff out the scent of another woman.

Toji blinked at the pathetic display.

"Oi...What are you doing?" Toji called out, his deep voice shattering the silence.

"Ah!" Hestia yelped. She spun around so fast she tripped over the bedroll, landing ungracefully on her backside. A furious blush exploded across her face as she scrambled to kick Bell's belongings behind her.

"I-I wasn't doing anything! I was just...cleaning!" Hestia stammered defensively, her blue eyes darting everywhere before finally locking onto his towering frame. Her embarrassment instantly morphed into indignant rage.

She pointed an accusatory finger at him. "Wait! What are you doing here so early?! Don't tell me you were out all night blowing money on your gambling spree again, money that should be in our nonexistent Familia fund box!"

"Bingo," Toji replied smoothly, ignoring her outrage entirely as he walked past her. He dumped the small bag of bagels onto their table. "Where's the kid?"

"He's—wait, you did?!" Hestia caught herself, jumping to her feet. "You bastard! How can you be so calm about throwing money away!? How about getting a job and putting a good roof over our heads?!"

Toji sighed heavily, rubbing his temple. "You sound like my second wife. I'm not in the mood for the morning lecture, did the brat go to the Dungeon?"

Hestia deflated slightly, her righteous anger overwritten by her own rising anxiety. "N-No...he didn't. He's been leaving early for a few days now, way before he usually goes to the Dungeon. I don't know where, though. He just sneaks out!" Hestia bit her lip, looking genuinely distressed. "Do you think he's in trouble, Toji?"

Toji hummed, narrowing his blue eyes as his processed the information.

"He's with the blonde bitch," Toji muttered, remembering the distinct scent he had smelled on the kid recently, the exact same scent of the Sword Princess.

"You know where he is?!" Hestia gasped. "Aha! You conspiring, devious liars! I knew you two were up to something! Oh, Bell-kun, why did you have to shatter my heart like this?!"

Toji ignored the pipsqueak entirely, his thoughts focusing in on Ais Wallenstein's motives.

The Sword Princess was likely stingy from Toji beating her ass into the dirt.

She was fishing for clues, and she was using the rookie to get the info about Toji, hoping to figure out exactly how he beat her, and what other weapons he was packing in his arsenal.

It was a smart, tactical move for a high-level adventurer. But she had picked the wrong person to play smart with.

Toji needed to make sure the brat wasn't accidentally spilling any vital secrets to the Loki Familia. If the blonde decided she wanted a rematch, it wouldn't be a problem for him to put her in the dirt a second time.

But if her massive, militant Familia decided to come knocking on this church door looking for a coordinated fight...

Toji crossed his muscular arms. His physical baseline was already at the absolute peak of humanity. He had gone toe-to-toe with the Sword Princess in their first clash, emerging as the undisputed winner. While it wasn't impossible, his raw flesh would eventually find its limits against literal armies of Level 5s and 6s storming him all at once.

He needed a bigger edge. Perhaps it was finally time to put his physical stats on the local grid.

Toji turned to Hestia, completely cutting through her panicked, babbling delusions about Bell finding a Loki Familia blonde girlfriend and leaving her forever for the walking washboard goddess.

He grabbed of his dark shirt and pulled it over his head, tossing it onto the floor, then slumped onto the edge of the sofa, resting his elbows loosely on his knees.

"Update me," Toji ordered bluntly.

Hestia froze mid-delusion. She blinked, staring at him in sheer bewilderment before a deeply smug, triumphant grin spread across her face. She crossed her arms, pushing her chest out proudly.

"Oh? Ohoho!" Hestia laughed smugly, walking over and looking down her nose at him. "Look who finally comes crawling to his Goddess! What's wrong, Mr. Tough Guy? Did you finally get your butt kicked in some dark alley? Did you realize you actually need my divine grace?"

"Just do it, shortstack," Toji grunted, his patience already wearing violently thin. "I don't even know if this ink is going to do anything for me, so quit wasting my time."

"Don't you 'just do it' me!" Hestia huffed, violently tapping her foot against the stone floor. "You have been nothing but a massive freeloader since I generously let you into my Familia! You occupy space, you eat our food, and you contribute absolutely nothing to the Familia funds! You make me worry sick because I never know where my 'Captain' is! Do you know Bell-kun had to fill out the Guild paperwork for you yesterday?! Bell! Doing the Captain's paperwork! You're a fraud and a freeloader!"

Toji raised a single, uncaring eyebrow. "So?"

Hestia's eye twitched violently. She uncrossed her arms and shoved an open palm directly into his face.

"Pay up!" she demanded loudly. "Right now! If you want an update, deadbeat lechers like you need to pay a fee!"

Toji stared deadpan at her small hand. "You're charging your own Familia members for a status update?" Is this bitch for real? "You know I could just walk out and find a new sucker."

"I am charging you for emotional damages and back rent!" Hestia countered fiercely. "Besides, who will accept a guy like you into their Familia? Other deities will make you hand over all your money to them and force you to join the other members daily in the Dungeon, something I have graciously not enforced upon you!" She smirked at him, thoroughly convinced she had backed him into a corner. "Are you really willing to take the hassle to find a new Familia? And if you choose a bad one, you'll have to wait an entire year to switch again!"

Toji thought about it. She wasn't entirely wrong. The hassle simply wasn't worth it. Other Familias expected absolute, dog-like loyalty to the God and the Captain, forced party dives, mandatory taxation, and a mountain of annoying bureaucratic nonsense.

It was nonsense he never had to worry about here because the Goddess was too desperate (or dumb) to actually enforce the rules on him, and the kid was too terrified of his shadow to voice objections over his absentee captainship.

Toji sighed heavily, tilting his head back to stare at the cracked ceiling, they really need to fix that. "How much?"

"Good boy!" Hestia beamed, her blue eyes darting around as she calculated a number that would sting his pride but wouldn't make him actually walk out. "Ten thousand Valis!" she declared, puffing her cheeks out to look intimidating.

Toji didn't say a word. Instead, he reached over toward his inventory worm, which was currently hovering over the table and actively devouring the bagels he had borrowed. He shoved his arm deep into the fleshy mouth of the curse then pulled a sheet of paper out.

Quickly writing a check backed by his decently filled official Guild account, he casually slapped the paper into Hestia's open palm. A clean deposit of 500,000 Valis was written on it.

It was pocket change compared to what he had looted out of Zanis's private vaults and what he had in his overhaul assets from dungeon dives and contracts. Besides, it would keep the shortstack quiet about him "not contributing."

"There," Toji deadpanned. "Put me down for the future updates and drop your whining about my spendings."

Hestia's jaw unhinged. She stared at the check in her hand, her eyes practically bulging out of her skull. "F-Five hundred thousand?!" she squeaked, her divine brain momentarily short-circuiting at the sight of more money than she had ever held in her current mortal life.

"Are we doing this or what?" Toji asked, turning around and offering his back to her.

"Y-Yes! Right away, Toji-sama!" Hestia completely changed her tune in a millisecond from distasteful mother to a respectful subservient host. She carefully placed the check on the table like it was a fragile, holy relic. Her worry about Bell vanishing, replaced by glorious visions of a beautiful new dress, a repaired roof, actual plumbing, new furniture that doesn't smell like urine, and eating meat instead of potato snacks!

She scrambled onto the sofa behind him, quickly sterilizing her silver needle.

As she moved, Toji's cursed spirit quickly wrapped itself back around his neck. It moved its grotesque head, sniffing at Hestia curiously.

"Mommy...?" the curse gurgled in its horrifying, distorted voice.

"Who's the ugly good boy~!" Instead of shrieking in terror like she used to, Hestia cheerfully cooed, reaching out to scratch the hideous monster right behind its head. The curse let out a wet, contented purr and rested its heavy chin on her shoulder.

Over the continued exposure to one another, the goddess and cursed spirit seemed to have gotten closer, with the Goddess of the Hearth bizarrely tolerating the creature's dark existence, treating it like a pet.

"Alright, hold still," Hestia murmured, focusing deeply as she stared at Toji's wide back. She pricked her finger, a single drop of glowing, divine blood welling up on her skin.

She pressed her thumb directly against his spine, instantly initiating the updating process.

'Let's see,' Hestia thought curiously, channeling her divinity into the cold flesh of his back. 'He's never been updated since I gave him his Falna. He doesn't have magic, nor will he ever get any. But he's leagues above a normal Level 1 thanks to his 'Heavenly Restriction' skill.'

She wondered, truly fascinated: How will the Falna system even register a body like his?

The moment of truth bloomed before her eyes in ethereal blue light, so intense it almost blinded her.

Her breath hitched at the results.

The color completely drained from her face. Her hands began to shake violently with incomprehensible shock.

"Wh...what...?" Hestia whispered, her voice cracking into a high pitch.

She rubbed her eyes aggressively with her free hand, convinced it was a morning illusion. But the divine text burned into his skin remained completely unchanged.

༻❁༺

Toji Fushiguro

Level 1

Strength: I 0 — S 999

Endurance: I 0 — S 999

Dexterity: I 0 — S 999

Agility: I 0 — S 999

██████ ██

Skills: Heavenly Restriction

༻❁༺

"I broke it!" Hestia snapped nervously, her mind completely shorting out. "No...You broke it! This is impossible. S-Rank in the very first update...In everything?!"

Toji glanced over his shoulder, looking at the hyperventilating Goddess with mild amusement. "What's the problem?"

"The problem?!" Hestia shrieked, grabbing his broad shoulders and shaking him—or rather, trying to shake him, as he didn't budge an inch. "You're at 999! In every physical category! From absolute zero! That's not how the Falna works, Toji!"

Toji faced forward again, a low chuckle escaping him.

He cracked his knuckles, feeling the undeniable surge of strength settle into his body. He felt like he was back in his prime!

The Falna, as rigid and absolute as it was as a divine system, was being forced to be incredibly generous toward Toji thanks to his unique physiology.

The Falna did not care if the user was a hardened, veteran mercenary with decades of bloodshed, or the softest, greenest boy who just walked out of a cabbage farm.

Both earned equal numerical points when updating based on the feats they achieved. But the baseline strength and combat experience of the veteran always gave them the lethal edge over the farm boy, even if their Falna stats were numerically identical.

It was essentially the same principle with Toji. No matter how physically broken he was compared to other Level 1s, the system still treated and distributed Excelia based on the severity of the feats he had achieved since receiving the blessing as a level 1.

And Toji, the supposed Level 1 adventurer, had been out in the world moving at speeds that would literally tear a normal Level 1's skin apart. He had been slaughtering hordes of Level 2 to Level 4 monsters with terrifying ease, actively beating a Monster Rex to a pulp, and effortlessly humiliating a Level 5 adventurer who was on the brink of a Level Up.

All of these impossible, high-tier feats had accumulated instantly, stacking over one another until they violently hit the numerical cap. His Falna was a cup that had been shoved under a waterfall of Excelia.

It had overflown instantly, wasting vast amounts of potential points into the void. But it was nothing the Sorcerer Killer couldn't recover easily, given that fighting high-level threats was just a morning stroll for him.

"You...you qualify for a Level Up," Hestia whispered, still staring at his back like it was a horrifying, world ending eldritch text. "I-I can level you up right now, Toji. To Level 2. W-With these base stats carrying over..."

"Level me up," Toji said with a lazy yawn, scratching his stomach.

If his understanding of the divine multiplier was correct, then walking over to the Sword Princess and if it came to it beat her ass a second time was going to be an absolute breeze.

"You're impossible," Hestia sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat at his complete lack of awe for the miracle etched into his flesh. "But I know you care deep down." she muttered under her breath as she began the Level Up process.

༻❁༺

"Ghr!" Bell Cranel hit the stone ground with a heavy thud, gasping for air as his bones rattled.

Gritting his teeth, Bell refused to stay down. He immediately rolled out of the way, springing back to his feet. In his right hand, he held Grinding Edge, in his left, a standard combat knife.

He dropped his center of gravity and lunged forward with a double strike, pouring every last ounce of his speed and agility into the maneuver.

Ais Wallenstein didn't even blink.

She wasn't sweating and her breathing was perfectly even. With a mere flick of her wrist, she brought up her wooden sheath, deflecting Bell's blades with a precise parry that completely ruined his momentum.

"Ouch!" Then the flat of Ais's sheath cracked sharply against his wrist, disarming him. It was followed by a light, effortless tap against his chest that sent him tumbling backward onto his rear.

"Down again..." Bell sat there, panting heavily, his muscles screaming in protest.

Ais lowered her weapon, looking down at his tired form. "Rest," she called out, her voice as calm and quiet as the morning wind brushing past them.

Bell nodded gratefully as Ais walked over to him, staring down with her unreadable golden eyes.

"You did good," Ais said with a smile. "You have improved a lot in only five days."

"Thank you, Ais-san," Bell panted, a tired but genuine smile crossing his face. "You're a really good mentor."

Ais looked away, her cheeks flushing a faint pink at the praise. "I am not the best when it comes to teaching...or sparring with people."

As she spoke, her thoughts drifted away from their light sparring session and back to her own grueling training. She had been pushing herself to the absolute brink in the Dungeon lately, diving deeper, fighting harder, and taking on absurd risks, trying desperately to break past the invisible wall of her Level 5 status.

But it was futile. The Excelia she was gaining was almost nonexistent. Her growth had completely stagnated. It stung her pride and fueled a quiet, desperate anxiety in her heart.

What if this is it? What if she never hit the required conditions to reach Level 6?

And then there was Bell that defied her doubts.

She hadn't been polite when she said he was improving, the boy was utterly exceptional. It had been less than a week, and his combat awareness, his speed, his sheer reflexes had spiked noticeably. That wasn't just raw talent at play, there was some unseen force accelerating his growth at an impossible rate.

Could her own growth be as fast as his, if she could just figured out his secret?

She felt extremely guilty at those thoughts, not only was she fishing him for info about his captain, she was also trying to figure out his hidden skills as well.

That was a deep low.

"Why do you say that?" Bell voice reached her deep thoughts, tilting his head curiously as his breathing began to steady. "Is fighting people and fighting monsters really that different, Ais-san?"

Ais's eye twitched.

The image of a man with a lazy smirk flashed vividly in her mind. She Instinctively felt her slender fingers trace the flawless skin of her cheek where Toji Fushiguro had cut her.

"Yes," Ais replied, her voice steady but carrying seriousness. "Monsters follow a pattern. They operate on instinct, which means they can be predicted. But people are not. Each person has their own unique fighting style, their own rhythms, and their own tricks up their sleeves. Fighting a person is like fighting an entirely new monster species every single time."

Bell thought about that, his eyes wide as he absorbed the lesson. He slowly nodded in understanding, committing her words to memory.

A comfortable silence stretched between them, filled only by the whistling wind sweeping over the city walls.

Ais's thoughts drifted once again to her healed cheek. The wound Toji had given her was gone but not easily. Not even when she had snuck a elixir out of the Loki Familia storage and poured it directly over the cut.

When she gave up on potions, she had quietly asked Line Arshe to use her healing magic on her. That hadn't worked either.

Ais frowned as she remembered Line's panicked reaction. The young healer was insisting that they call upon Riveria to use her high-tier healing magic instead, fearing Ais might catch severe infections and blood loss.

Thankfully, Ais had managed to talk her out of that idea.

The wound had finally sealed when Loki had updated her Falna the next day. The status update had somehow forcefully overwritten the damage inflicted by that cursed katana, as if it rebooted her body.

She hadn't told any specialists about it. But she suspected that if she hadn't gotten her status updated, the cut would have stayed there.

She had tried to subtly get information out of Bell over the week of their training, starting with careful questions about his familia then gradually to his captain's arsenal and his nature. But Bell had only offered confused shrugs and vague, unhelpful answers.

Ais could tell the boy wasn't lying. He genuinely had no idea what kind of weapons Toji possessed in that ugly monster, which somehow Bell did not even know existed.

Ais thought about what she had gathered about him, her golden eyes narrowing slightly as she stared out at the horizon. A man who can inflict near permanent wounds and deactivate her Ariel with a weapon.

Maybe it's time to tell the Captain and Riveria about her encounter with this Toji Fushiguro just in case.

Meanwhile, mere feet away, a completely different and more chaotic internal dialogue was playing inside Bell Cranels mind.

Bell was feeling nervous. He had been looking forward to this training all week, thinking it would be his golden chance to finally get closer to his idol. But so far, the routine had been brutal and entirely humiliating: get knocked out, wake up on her lap, entirely freak out, apologize profusely, and repeat.

It was too degrading.

The two hadn't had any real conversations with each other that weren't about training, his Familia, dungeon progress, and...about Toji.

Wait a minute.

Bell froze. He looked up at Ais, watching her stare thoughtfully into the distance while touching her cheek, his mind sending frantic alarms to his heart.

She had been asking a lot of questions about Toji lately. What his weapons were. Where he came from. What he was like in the Familia home.

'Oh no. No, no, no, no, no...NO!' Bell's eyes widened in sheer horror as terrifying teenage logic took hold of his brain.

Does his crush have a crush on Toji? His Captain?!

Bell's face turned pale as he began to internally freak out, his heart beating faster than it ever did in the Dungeon.

Suddenly, a familiar boisterous voice echoed in the halls of his mind.

"BELL! MY BOY!" His dead grandfather's voice roared. "What are you doing sitting on your ass?! Make a move! The Sword Princess is right there! Assert your dominance before your harem queen is stolen away by an older, much cooler man with a bad attitude! ROMANCE HER NOW!"

"Shut up, you old perv!" A second voice interrupted. It was Goddess Hestia, her tone sweet but fiercely protective. "Bell-kun! Do not listen to him! You must be a perfect gentleman! Women hate aggressive meatheads! Just be polite and eventually she'll realize you're the only one for her!"

"You're pathetic, kid."

A third voice cut cleanly through the others. It was Toji's slow and mocking voice, dripping with laziness even inside Bell's own head.

"Look at her. She's probably thinking about me right now. If you don't hurry up, I'm just gonna make her my third wife. I wonder how much the Loki Familia would pay for the dowry? Probably a lot."

The voices began to scream over one another in Bell's head. His grandfather yelled about romance, Hestia screeched about purity, and Toji mocked his complete lack of a spine with women.

SNAP!

Bell shot up from the stone floor like he had been launched by a trampoline. His sudden, explosive movement startled Ais out of her deep thoughts.

She blinked, looking up at him in surprise. "Bell? Are you alright?"

Bell looked down at her. His face was entirely flushed. He needed to say something. He needed to be cool, assertive, and confident—just like Toji!

"Y-Your posture looks terrible!" Bell blurted out at the top of his lungs.

...

Absolute silence descended upon the wall.

Bell stiffened instantly, his soul violently attempting to eject itself from his body.

'Why did I say that?! Am I actually losing my mind?! Why would I use Toji-san's advice of all people!'

Ais, however, didn't look offended. Instead, she tilted her head in genuine confusion. She looked down at her own shoulders, suddenly feeling the deep, aching knots in her muscles from days of non-stop Dungeon diving.

"You're...right," Ais murmured, looking back up at him with mild surprise. "I've been putting too much strain on myself lately. I'm a bit tense."

'It's okay! It worked! I can turn back now! Just say 'take a break' and walk away!' Bell thought, trying to save himself from getting potentially slapped and permanently dumped.

"I-I know a massaging technique! It could help release the pressure!"

...

Bell had just offered to touch the Sword Princess. He was a dead man walking.

Ais thought about it for a moment. Her shoulders really did ache, and the pressure in her upper back was giving her a mild headache.

Completely oblivious to the boy's internal meltdown and viewing the offer with total innocence, she gave a small smile.

"I appreciate the offer," Ais said, a response that made Bell's vision briefly go dizzy. "But you are...too, uhh..."

She paused, her brow furrowing slightly as she tried to find a polite way to tell him that he lacked the grip strength to massage a Level 5 adventurer's absurdly dense muscle fibers without being rude.

"You have soft fingers," she finally decided.

That somehow came out sounding worse than just being called weak.

"Well, he's a fresh monkey. Soft fingers are a given. Soft spines too, from the looks of it."

The voice sliced through the crisp morning air like a blade.

Ais flinched violently backward, drawing her rapier in a fraction of a second, her golden eyes wide with shock. He managed to sneak on her again! How did he find them!?

Toji Fushiguro was there, leaning casually against the stone walls with his arms crossed, his face unreadable.

"C-Captain?!" Bell shrieked, his heart practically leaping out of his throat. He waved his hands frantically in front of his flushed face. "I-I wasn't—we were just—I was just offering a—!"

"Keep it in your pants, kid. You're misreading the room," Toji interrupted smoothly. His sharp blue eyes bypassed Bell entirely, locking dead onto Ais, who was gripping her rapier so tightly her knuckles were white.

Toji chuckled darkly. "Stalking my rookie just to fish for clues about me?" Toji mockingly tapped his chin. "Didn't peg the great Loki Familia members for being this desperate."

"I am not stalking," Ais said, her voice tight, completely on edge as she stared at the man who broke every rule of her reality.

"Sure you aren't, Doll face," Toji deadpanned, pushing himself off the wall. He reached behind his back, pulling a wrapped bundle and tossing it carelessly at Bell.

Bell scrambled to catch it, fumbling slightly before clutching the Hestia Knife to his chest.

"Don't lose it again," Toji ordered gruffly.

"My knife!" Bell exclaimed, quickly unwrapping the bundle and seeing his precious weapon returned. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Stop it." Toji ordered, then pointed a finger at the Sword Princess. "And stop wagging your tail for her. She isn't out here at the crack of dawn because she likes your face, rookie. She's here because she's terrified of mine."

Bell's grateful expression suddenly vanished. He looked from Toji to the on-edge Ais, his eyes wide with confusion. "W-What do you mean…?"

Ais didn't say a word. Her jaw clenched tight as her golden eyes glared daggers at Toji.

"She's pumping you for information, idiot," Toji drawled, his lips curling into a mocking sneer. "She wants to know my stats. She wants to know my arsenal. She's buttering you up to figure out a way to beat me, isn't that right, Blondie?"

Bell's heart skipped a beat, he looked at Ais, desperately hoping she would deny it. But the Sword Princess just kept her eyes locked on the mercenary, her stance defensive.

Bell felt a cold knot form in his stomach. The magical, romantic bubble he had been floating in for days getting shredded.

Toji took a slow, heavy step forward. Ais immediately shifted back, the tip of Desperate trembling just a fraction of an inch as her Level 5 instincts flared up.

"If you want to know more about me, princess, I'll be happy to do a rematch," Toji said, his voice dropping into a whisper that carried absolute lethal intent. "But if I catch you using my rookie as a glorified spyglass again, I'll assume the Loki Familia is officially declaring a turf war. And next time we clash..."

Toji raised a hand, casually tapping the exact spot on his own cheek where he had cut her. "...I'll take the whole head."

Ais's breath caught in her throat. A phantom sting flared on her cheek.

"Later, soft fingers," Toji called out to Bell over his shoulder, already turning his back on them and walking toward the stone steps. "I expect you to sort this out and be back at the church before noon."

The sound of Toji's boots slowly faded down the stone steps, leaving a tense silence behind.

Bell stood completely frozen, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the Hestia Knife. He didn't want to look up. He didn't want to see her face. If he looked up, the perfect image of the Sword Princess he had built in his heart might shatter completely.

"Ais-san..." Bell's voice cracked, sounding incredibly small and fragile. He forced his head up, his eyes shimmering as he looked at the golden haired warrior. "Is...is it true?"

Ais Wallenstein stood perfectly still. The tip of her rapier had been lowered, but her body was entirely rigid.

She looked at the boy. She saw the absolute devastation swirling in his wide eyes, and a sickening knot formed in her stomach. She wanted to instantly deny it. She wanted to tell him that Toji was lying, that he was just a cruel man saying cruel things.

"I..." Ais opened her mouth, her voice barely a whisper. She struggled to find the right words, her emotionally stunted mind short-circuiting under the weight of this reveal. "I wanted...to know more."

The words hung in the air like a death sentence.

Bell physically flinched, taking a half-step backward as if she had actually thrust her rapier through his chest.

"So...that was it?" Bell whispered, the one-sided romantic illusion of the past five days burning to ash in his mind. "You didn't offer to train me because you wanted to help me. You didn't care about me at all. I was just a stepping stone...a spyglass."

"No!" Ais stepped forward, reaching a hand out toward him, her golden eyes wide with sudden desperation. "Bell, that's not—"

But the words died in her throat. How could she explain it? How could she articulate that while her initial motive was to gather information on his captain, she had genuinely come to enjoy their mornings together?

"I needed to know, you wouldn't understand it!" Ais said quietly, her hand dropping back to her side in defeat. "I...I..."

She couldn't form a justifiable excuse. Ais didn't know how to lie.

Bell stared at her, the final pieces of his naive heart fracturing.

A crushing wave of isolation washed over him as the harsh reality of Orario finally set in.

Lili had only cared about his coin, stealing his knife and leaving him to die in the the Dungeon. Eina-san was just doing her job as a Guild advisor. Ryuu-san only helped him because of Syr, and Syr...he didn't even know what Syr wanted from him.

The only person who seemed to truly, unconditionally care about him was his Goddess, Hestia.

Even Toji, as terrifying and infuriating as he was, operated with a twisted kind of honesty. He didn't care about Bell's feelings, but he had actually delivered results, lending him weapons and recovering his precious knife.

But Ais? The idol he had been frantically chasing?

Bell figured she only cared about strength. He wasn't a person to her, nor a fellow adventurer she respected. He was just a convenient tool to reach Toji...

He was so weak. So pathetically weak. Toji didn't even have to try, yet he commanded the absolute attention of Bell's idol. Meanwhile, Bell was just the collateral damage caught between two apex predators. A soft fingered weakling playing pretend.

"I'm sorry," Bell choked out. Despite all this, his heart still yearned for her. Yet at this moment, he wanted nothing more than to be away from her.

"Bell..." Ais whispered.

"I'm sorry for taking up your time!" Bell shouted.

He turned on his heel, clutching the Hestia Knife to his chest as if it were the only real thing left in his life, and sprinted toward the stairs. He didn't look back. He just ran, desperate to be as far away from the city walls as he possibly could.

He needed—no, he had to get stronger. If he wanted people to look at him instead of what he could do for them, then he needed power. Enough power that nobody could use him ever again!

Standing besides the Sword Princess as an equal will not be enough!

Ais was left standing entirely alone on the high walls of Orario.

The wind blew her golden hair across her face. The crushing weight of guilt slammed into her shoulders, inflicting a wound far deeper than any monster's blow. She slowly sheathed Desperate, her hands trembling slightly.

Looking down at her palms, a wave of self-hatred began to bubble up in her chest.

Meanwhile, high above the city, standing inside her private floor in the towering glass windows of Babel's top floors, Freya's eyes narrowed.

She slowly lowered her binoculars, though she didn't need the lenses to see the brilliant, radiant soul of Bell Cranel.

She had been watching him everyday, absolutely captivated by the pure, white light his soul emitted. And whenever he was near the Sword Princess, her own Golden light mixed with his transparent one, blending into beautiful colors.

Freya's grip on the binoculars tightened. She had seen the exact moment Toji Fushiguro, Bell's captain, stepped onto the wall. She couldn't read Toji's soul because there was absolutely nothing there to read. He was a abyssal void in her divine sight, a repulsive being in her perfect world of vibrant souls.

And that void crashed into her beautiful canvas.

Freya watched in silent rage as Bell's perfectly pure soul violently shuddered, warping and wobbling with the colors of betrayal, sorrow, and desperation. The beautiful, transparent white light was temporarily stained by the crude, brutal reality that Toji had undeniably forced upon the boy.

"Ottar," Freya whispered, the temperature in the room dropping at her cold call.

From the shadows of the massive chamber, a towering figure stepped forward.

Ottar, the Level 7 Warlord and the strongest adventurer in Orario, dropped to one knee, bowing his head respectfully.

"You are displeased," Ottar rumbled, his voice like grinding stone.

"I am far beyond displeased, Ottar," Freya said coldly, her eyes remaining fixed on the tiny, running figure of Bell Cranel far below in the city streets. "A weed has taken root too close to my favorite flower. It is suffocating him with its filthy rot."

"Toji Fushiguro," Freya slowly turned away from the window, her expression lacking its usual warmth. "I want that mistake taken care of. Send in the brothers after him."

"My lady...perhaps you are being too hasty," Ottar began carefully.

"I did not ask for your opinion, Ottar." Freya's voice remained calm, but the finality in it was absolute. "I gave an order."

Ottar lowered his head, all traces of doubt erased. "As you wish, my lady."

Rising to his feet, he vanished into the corridors of Babel.

Freya turned back to the window, looking out over the city. A smile returning to her flawless face as she thought of the white haired boy.

With Toji upcoming accident, Bell would be completely isolated.

And in his desperate, lonely pursuit of power, she would be right there waiting to watch him burn like a star!

༻❁༺

The End

Aight, sorry for not updating recently. I was briefly hospitalized from overworking myself (I was pulling double shifts with basically no breaks)

But I'm doing better now!

And as an apology I blended two chapters together into a single one

Unfortunately, I also forgot like half of the plot I originally had planned for this story...

I deleted and rewrote this chapter exactly 4 times from scratch because I was always hitting a wall, hope it turned out okay

On top of that, people kept complaining about things like:

"Bell is just a background character!"

"You literally changed nothing from canon!" (Which is not true by the way.)

And of course:

"WHY ISN'T TOJI LEVELING UP ALREADY?!"

But the most repeating one was:

"Why isn't Toji changing and becoming Bell's dad!?"

I can't answer all of those complaints (mostly because I've already addressed them in previous notes and comments), but to show that I do care, I've decided to change parts of my already developed plot to include Bell and other characters more often

Mostly because I forgot my original plot and now I'm rebuilding parts of it from scratch

Anyway, this chapter focused on several things happening at once

First, Toji and Kong have effectively taken over the Soma Familia, with Lili being heavily hinted at as the future captain. (I'm outright telling you she will)

This also means Bell no longer has a supporter to help him push deeper into the Dungeon

Welf isn't even close to joining Bell yet. He had a small cameo with Lili, so we're getting there, but I'm not sure if I'll make him a permanent party member

Then Ais shattered Bell's heart and sent him running away by treating him as a spyglass

Ironically, I wasn't originally planning to do that at all, but all the complaints made me reconsider certain parts of the story

So what does all of this mean?

It means Bell is isolated, he's alone

And that isolation is starting to slightly reshape both his goals and the way he looks at the world

But don't worry, he's not turning into an edgelord who wants to become a demon lord or something, he still wants to be a hero, he's still in love with Ais

He just doesn't see her as a flawless goddess sitting on a pedestal anymore

Basically, Bell is becoming about 1% more like Toji when it comes to interacting with people

And I think we all have Toji bulldozing through canon events to thank for that

Freya, in particular, would like to thank him personally

Now, for a clarification:

Up until this point, Bell's story and interactions have followed canon fairly closely

Not perfectly, but close enough

From this point onward, however, I will try to make bigger changes whenever I could

Anyway...

Toji leveled up, y'all happy now? I bet you are

Next chapter will probably be a lot more action-focused

Expect it to take a while to publish because I want to catch up to Sword Oratoria manga again, also I'll probably rewatch season 5 to get more visualize reference to use for Freya Familia

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