DanMachi Universe, Lower World, Orario.
Four days passed after the Aislynn Familia's weekly day off. During that time, nothing out of the ordinary occurred. Although the three teams exploring the Seventh Floor changed, nothing else was different from the week before.
This week, the teams were James, Alfonzo, and Zelretch on one team. The second team was Elicia, Violet, and Aletia while Akatsuki, Sakura, and Momo made up the last team.
However, on the morning of the fourth day of the week, something out of the ordinary happened. Today, Aislynn followed the rest of the Familia towards Babel Tower.
"Last time this happened, we ran into Apollo outside of the Dungeon," Tatsuo muttered while stealing glances at Aislynn. "What kinda crap are we walking into this time?"
"Something much more disgusting," Aislynn said with an expression that made it look as though she smelled something foul.
"More disgusting than Apollo?" Akatsuki asked with a raised eyebrow. "That's pretty bad."
"Could it be the remnants of Evilus," Zelretch asked solemnly.
"No, those evil gods aren't crazy enough to mess with me like this," Aislynn replied while waving off Zelretch's concern. "Since they know that if they don't cross my bottom line, I couldn't be bothered to deal with them, they do their best to stay out of my way."
"That makes sense," Alfonzo said with a shrug. "They're evil gods, not stupid ones."
"That still doesn't tell us what we're walking into, though," Elicia said.
"Lici's right," James added. "Don't tell us you plan on keeping us in the dark again."
"If it were anyone else, I would tell you," Aislynn said with a small smile. "But this time I have to keep it a secret. Your natural reactions to seeing them and the way they act will give them more than enough rope to hang themselves with."
Reaching that point, Aislynn's casual smile turned into one with a mixture of viciousness and greed.
"And when it does, I can't wait to yank the rope... hard," Aislynn said. "Then, I'll be able to make an unreasonable demand of their patron. Hehhehheh."
"Sounds like someone is going to have a bad day," Momo said quietly.
"A really bad day," Sakura added.
"Don't feel sorry for them," Violet said while lightly shaking her head. "It sounds like they will be bringing this bad luck on themselves."
Aletia did not speak, but she nodded emphatically, showing that she agreed with Violet.
Meanwhile, at Babel Plaza, there was a large number of Adventurers and Supporters moving towards Babel Tower to enter the Dungeon like always. However, all the Adventurers coming from the southwest had concerned expressions on their faces.
And the reason for that was the person standing midway between the southwest entrance of the plaza and Babel Tower.
"Why is she here?" A male cat-person asked his comrades as they took a wide turn around the person standing in the middle of the path with her arms crossed.
"I don't know," a human woman replied while stealing glances at the reason for everyone's wariness. "But it looks like she's looking for someone."
"I feel bad for whoever she's looking for," another human woman said.
"Let's not talk about it," a handsome male Elf said while trying to hide his face. "Let's just hurry past her. I really don't want Androctonus to decide I'm her next evening companion."
As the Elf said, the Level 5 Adventurer, Androctonus, also known as Phryne Jamil, was standing in the middle of the path leading from the southeast district of Orario and the entrance to Babel Tower along with a squad of the battle prostitutes known as the Berbera.
And with every good-looking man that walked past the group of Amazonesses, Phryne's head would snap in their direction. And if she liked what she saw, she would lick her lips lecherously. Luckily, Phryne already had a target in mind. So, she did not bother with the other men that walked by.
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"Where the hell are they?" Phryne asked in an irritated tone. Then, she turned to one of the Amazonesses who came with her. "I thought you said they came here six out of every seven days at the same time."
"That's what we observed over the past two weeks," the Amazoness replied with her head lowered.
*Bang!*
"Then why have we been waiting here for half an hour longer than we should have?" Phryne asked angrily after backhanding the Amazoness that just answered her.
Seeing a woman flying through the air with blood leaking from her mouth caused the other Adventurers in the area to gasp before those who were closest to the Amazoness' landing point quickly moved away and diverted their gazes.
None of the other Amazonesses spoke up for their companion, either. Instead, they all quietly lowered their heads, knowing that trying to reason with Phryne was a fool's errand.
"And that is a perfect example of what not to do as a Familia Captain."
That female voice caused everyone close enough to hear to whip their heads in its direction, curious to know who had a death wish, as Phryne did not usually care about following Orario's laws once she was angered.
Phryne and the conscious members of the Ishtar Familia also turned to look at who spoke. However, when they saw the approaching group of eleven, the Berbera all breathed a sigh of relief while Phryne's eyes lit up, and she licked her lips once again.
Naturally, the one who spoke was Aislynn, using Phryne as a negative example of a Familia captain for Tatsuo. And the reason Phryne's eyes lit up when she saw them was because this was the first time she saw the members of the Aislynn Familia in person. Or rather, the first time she saw the male members of the Aislynn Familia in person.
And while she was not too interested in the old man, Zelretch, both James and Alfonzo were her type. But when she saw Tatsuo, her breath hitched and her heart started smashing against her rib cage.
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With Tatsuo completely occupying her thoughts, Phryne completely ignored Aislynn's insult. She then started walking towards Tatsuo while swaying her hips, causing everyone who could see her to try their best not to throw up at the sight. Then, when she was only a few yards away from the Aislynn Familia, she struck a pose she thought made her look extra sexy.
*Gag!*
Seeing that, there were a number of people in the crowd who almost failed to hold in their breakfast. Luckily, Phryne was too preoccupied with Tatsuo to notice. Otherwise, she would have probably caused a bloodbath over the insult.
The expressions of the members of the Aislynn Familia did not look too good either. Even so, they were able to hold back their instinctive bodily reactions. Though, it was not because they were scared. Rather, it was because they were too concerned with missing what would happen next.
"Can we help you with anything, Androctonus," Aislynn asked bluntly. "If not, don't block the way, my children need to go to the Dungeon."
Aislynn's voice pulled Phryne's infatuated gaze away from Tatsuo for a second. However, she did not answer Aislynn with the respect that was commonly heard when addressing a deity.
"Hmph!" Phryne snorted as she quickly turned her gaze back to Tatsuo, causing it to turn lecherous. "What would an ugly woman like you be able to help someone as beautiful as me with?"
*Gag!*
The sound of gagging sounded throughout the plaza once again. And once again, Phryne was too preoccupied to notice.
"But you..," Phryne continued with her sticky gaze wandering up and down Tatsuo's body, causing the young Captain of the Aislynn Familia to feel goosebumps rise all over his skin. "You could help me quite a bit. And I'm sure I can help you, too."
Phryne punctuated her sentence by winking her left eye at Tatsuo.
Seeing that, Tatsuo felt his stomach trying to return breakfast. But with his superhuman willpower, he managed to keep his food down.
"And... how exactly could I help you, Androctonus," Tatsuo asked in a shaky tone.
"Well~," Phryne said while dragging her words out in what she considered to be a seductive way. "Why don't you ditch all those ugly women and follow me back to my residence. Then, I'll show you."
As her words ended, Phryne raised one of her thick fingers to her mouth before sticking out her tongue and licking it.
At that moment, Tatsuo's willpower decided it had enough. As a result, Tatsuo fell to his knees.
Seeing that, Phryne nodded with satisfaction. With her over-inflated opinion of her own looks, seeing a man kneel to her incomparable beauty was only natural.
*Urgh!* *Cough!* *Cough!* *Urgh!*
Yet, when Tatsuo started to vomit all over the stones paving the plaza, Phryne's self-satisfied expression froze on her face. And for the next few seconds, it stayed that way because she was unable to immediately process what she was seeing.
When Phryne's brain finally caught up, her eyes were immediately filled with fury. She then took a large step forward, raised her right hand above her head, and balled it into a fist.
"What is the meaning of this!," Phryne bellowed with undisguised fury. "You dare insult my unmatched beauty? I'll kill you!"
*Swoosh!*
As soon as she finished speaking, Phryne brought her fist down with enough force that the wind was stirred up around her. At the same time, the surrounding Adventurers gasped in shock while some turned away, regretting the loss of a young Adventurer over something like this.
At the same time, the Berbera were panicking. They all remembered Ishtar's warning about provoking Aislynn. In fact, none of them wanted to be here at all. However, Phryne's immediate threat scared them more than the possibility of being punished by Ishtar if something were to happen. On top of that, no one knew that the real threat was neither Phryne's violence nor Ishtar's punishment.
*Boom!*
*Swoosh!*
In the next instant, the sound of an explosive impact echoed around Babel Plaza. Shortly afterwards, a shockwave so powerful that it threw most Level 1 Adventurers off their feet expanded from the point of impact.
It took a few seconds before anyone came back to their senses. But when they did, they were all thoroughly flabbergasted by what they saw.
To the onlookers and the Berbera's surprise, Phryne's fist never reached the back of Tatsuo's head. Instead, it had been stopped roughly two feet away. Yet, that was not the most surprising thing about what they saw.
Instead, it was how Phryne's fist was stopped.
Without even moving, Aislynn stretched her arm out over Tatsuo, and with her much smaller hand, she caught Phryne's punch. And judging by the expression on her face, it did not take any real effort on Aislynn's part.
Though, that expression did let everyone know that Aislynn was incomparably angry at the moment.
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"What," Phryne exclaimed in complete bafflement. "How is this possible? You're just a weak goddess."
"Ishtar has repeatedly warned you not to provoke me, Phryne Jamil," Aislynn said in an icy tone. "Too bad she never told you why. Otherwise, you might have been able to continue your career and possibly reach Level 6 in the future."
"What are you---" Phryne began to ask.
"Unfortunately, you've provoked someone you could not afford to provoke," Aislynn continued, talking over Phryne's question. "And I do not have the habit of showing mercy to those who would seek to steal or harm my treasures."
*Swoosh!*
Then, before Phryne could respond, Aislynn tightened her grip on Phryne's fist before she flicked her arm upward, sending Phryne's massive body flying into the sky.
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*
*Crack!* *Crack!* *Crack!* *Crack!* *Crack!*
Then, Aislynn leapt into the air faster than anyone present could follow with their eyes, making it look as though she disappeared from where she stood. However, the sounds of impact coming from above drew everyone's eyes. And when they saw Aislynn viciously beating Phryne in midair, every strike accompanied by the sound of breaking bones, they had the feeling they would never forget the scene for the rest of their lives.
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"Tatsuo-kun, are you okay?" Violet asked as she knelt next to Tatsuo and rubbed his back gently.
"*Cough* Yeah, I'm alright," Tatsuo said while dry heaving a few more times. "But seeing that toad trying to seduce me was too much for my stomach. I just couldn't hold it back."
"You should have thrown up in her face," James said with disgust. "Her seduction wasn't even aimed at me, and I wanted to throw up, too."
"I think we all did," Elicia said while looking a little queasy.
"This isn't going to cause a problem with the Ishtar Familia, is it," Momo asked in a concerned tone while looking just as queasy as Akatsuki.
"I doubt Ishtar will make a fuss about it," Alfonzo said while looking up at the midair beating.
"Yeah, if she does, I bet Aislynn will destroy the entire Entertainment District," Elicia said while also watching Aislynn's midair combo. "Wow! She's already up to a hundred fifty hits!"
"Then, what do you think will happen after this," Sakura asked curiously.
"We should leave it to Aislynn," Zelretch said. "Only a god can negotiate with another god."
Everyone nodded in agreement with Zelretch's suggestion. At the same time, Tatsuo finally managed to stand up while wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Simultaneously, Aislynn's combo ended at exactly two hundred six hits before she allowed herself and Phryne to fall from the sky.
"Damn... She broke every bone in her body," Alfonzo muttered while watching gravity pull Aislynn and Phryne back towards the ground. "And how the hell did she manage to stay airborne for so long?"
*Bang!*
A moment later, Aislynn landed with Phryne following a second later. And with Phryne's massive weight, her landing caused a crater to form in the plaza. Then, once the dust settled, Aislynn jumped down into the crater, grabbed Phryne by one leg, and dragged her out of the crater.
"I just kicked the air," Aislynn said, replying to Alfonzo's question. "It's the same concept as [Moon Walk] from One Piece."
Hearing that, everyone who knew the One Piece manga/anime series looked at Aislynn with stunned disbelief.
"Anyway, you all can go into the Dungeon," Aislynn said while a smirk curled the corners of her lips. "Meanwhile, I'll take this back to the Entertainment District. I need to have a little talk with Ishtar."
Then, without waiting for a reply, Aislynn turned to the southeast and dragged Phryne's twitching, unconscious body as she moved towards Southeast Main Street.
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Meanwhile, Tatsuo and the others exchanged glances before they headed towards Babel Tower. However, before they got too far, Tatsuo stopped and turned in a different direction.
"You guys go ahead," Tatsuo said. "I'm gonna get something to eat. There's no way I'll be able to fight on an empty stomach."