Berylnice gently licked her lips. She slowly opened her mouth, "You truly are a natural-born Dominator. No wonder those three girls so easily prostrated themselves before you."
She pulled out a cold smile at the corner of her mouth, "But if you think that we're the same as those weak Amazons in Orario, then you're gravely mistaken."
"The warrior women of the Telskyura will show you what true 'battle' means. Then, you'll understand who is the one that should submit."
Her voice gradually rose, "However, looking at your abilities, you should be qualified enough to serve as an excellent breeding tool."
Then, Berylnice's gaze shifted, meeting Emiya's line of sight.
Those calm molten-golden eyes pierced straight into her soul. In an instant, everything around her seemed to freeze.
[Development Ability: [Dominion] activated.]
[Mental Intimidation: Against targets falling into fear, submission, worship, etc., gain combat power bonus]
[[Innocent Monster] effect activated.]
[Greatly increased attack power against Amazons]
Berylnice's voice abruptly stopped. Her aura was crushed in that instant by an invisible pressure.
Her heart felt as though gripped by an invisible hand. Her breathing became short, and her mind went completely blank.
In that moment, Emiya's figure disappeared.
"Sister!", Elna cried out, trying to warn her, but it was already too late.
Before Berylnice could even react, her hair was fiercely grabbed by a hand.
Emiya's voice came from behind, "Don't fight on the building. Don't break other people's inn."
With those words, he gave a powerful swing, throwing Berylnice's body flying.
She smashed into the corner of the courtyard like a kite with its string cut, hitting the ground with a dull thud and kicking up a cloud of dust.
Emiya turned around, his gaze locking onto Elna. The two were almost face-to-face at close distance. When his molten-golden eyes stared at her, Elna's body froze.
The next second, she followed in her sister's footsteps, blasted away by a fierce strike, losing her balance and crashing hard to the ground.
"So that's it. Their appearance is very similar to the three sisters of the Ishtar Familia," Looking down at the beautiful faces of the two Amazon warriors from his usual overlooking angle, their facial features gradually overlapped with the images in his memory.
———
Berylnice gritted her teeth, swinging the longsword in her hand with all her might. It collided over and over again with Emiya's gauntlets, named [Hrunting].
With each clash, new cracks appeared on the blade.
'Why exactly… did I come here?', This question suddenly surfaced in her mind.
Though her sword-swinging never ceased, her heart was gradually consumed by her thoughts.
The clashing sounds of blade and gauntlet echoed in the courtyard. After several exchanges, her sword could no longer withstand it. The cracks rapidly spread across the entire blade, eventually shattering it into countless fragments.
Berylnice gritted her teeth, discarded the longsword, and quickly drew another battle axe from the weapon rack behind her, charging forward once again.
She carried multiple weapons on her, three longswords, two recurve sabers, and now this battle axe.
Berylnice possessed a skill that allowed her to quickly master various weapons and gain combat bonuses in weapon battles.
This kind of skill couldn't match Argana's [Kalima] or Bache's [Velgus], but it was still a source of great pride for Berylnice.
In battles among equals, even Argana couldn't easily defend against her fierce assaults.
Unfortunately, after slaying that charging variant species [Setes], a Level 6 ichthyodragon monster, it was the younger, more talented Argana and Bache who leveled up, while Berylnice remained stuck at Level 5.
She swung the battle axe fiercely, only to be effortlessly knocked back by Emiya's gauntlet the next second.
Staggering to stabilize herself, Berylnice panted heavily, her thoughts becoming more and more difficult to suppress.
'Did I come to Orario seeking a chance to level up?', She stared at the weapon in her hand, then at the man in front of her.
The battle axe began to crack again, letting out a despair-inducing sound of fracturing.
Emiya's fist flew toward her, and after the clash, both retreated a few steps.
'No…', She denied the thought in her heart, 'Even if I came to Orario, I can't enter the Dungeon.'
'Then, was it to survive just one more day…'
Berylnice kept questioning herself, 'It's true, Argana has leveled up. For now, we don't need to fight to the death anymore.'
Though she was fighting, Berylnice couldn't stop herself from zoning out.
'But before coming here, I didn't know we'd encounter such powerful monsters. If Argana and the others hadn't leveled up, we'd still have to fight to the death afterward.'
Emiya caught that moment of distraction. His thunderous fist struck, and Berylnice had no time to defend. Her body was sent flying, rolling several times on the ground before finally slamming to a halt.
She half-propped herself up, her breathing disordered, yet a complicated emotion gradually surfaced in her gaze.
'I used to think I came to wash away the shame of my race.'
'Those three cowardly girls actually submitted to a male. To someone with the same bloodline like me, that's an unforgivable disgrace.'
'At first, that's what I thought…'
She tried with all her might to stand up, but Emiya had already closed in. All her weapons had been broken, and even her hands gripping the shattered remnants were trembling violently.
Helpless, she could only raise her fists, trying to defend in the most primitive way.
However, Emiya's fist struck sideways, accurately hitting her ribs.
The powerful impact bent her body backward. Accompanied by the crisp sound of cracking bones, Berylnice's body howled in agony.
"Guh!"
She lowered her head in pain. Blood slipped from the corner of her mouth, but she did not completely lose consciousness.
Berylnice's vision blurred, and the last thread of clarity emerged in her heart.
'Now… I finally understand—'
'I came here… to find the master who can conquer my bloodline.'
'To be defeated by him, crushed by him, tormented by him, and then discarded by this man who cares nothing for Amazon pride.'
'The only reason I came here… was for this.'
This was Berylnice's final thought before being defeated by Emiya.
Emiya stood in place, exhaled a breath, and cast his gaze toward Elna not far away.
The Elna who had been knocked down earlier had, at some point, struggled back up, her eyes tightly locked on him.
One could only say, as expected of an Amazon. Their vitality was truly strong.
"Next… it's our turn to fight," Emiya spoke.
However, Elna did not move.
Her legs trembled. In the end, she collapsed powerlessly to her knees.
This battle had drawn the attention of the Loki Familia members from the very start.
They gathered around the courtyard, eyes locked on the confrontation between Emiya and the two Amazon warriors.
Though only female adventurers from the Loki Familia were present, not their full force, if they truly swarmed, taking down two Level 5 enemies wouldn't be difficult.
However, they all tacitly chose not to interfere.
Because Emiya hadn't asked for help.
In the rules of adventurers, this meant, the battle belonged to him personally.
Moreover, he didn't need help at all.
Though Emiya's advancement to Level 4 hadn't been publicly announced in the dungeon city, as his companions, these Loki Familia adventurers already knew.
They recalled how even at Level 3, he could defeat Level 5 Tione in direct combat.
These two Amazons before them, Berylnice and Elna, though a bit more experienced than Tione, were essentially just two Level 5 warriors.
[Amazon's Owner]
Such a title, was indeed well earned.
Only Riveria sighed deeply, "We have to hurry and drive out the Kali Familia…"
At that moment, Tiona suddenly noticed something wrong.
"Sis… where did she go?"
———
Tione, covered in wounds, curled up on the floor. Blood kept seeping from her injuries, dyeing the ground around her red.
Her breathing was faint, yet she still tried to force herself up. But her unsteady form looked especially wretched.
"Tione, you've certainly gotten stronger," Argana bent down, licking the blood left on her lips, revealing a mocking smile, "But it's still far from enough."
[Kalima]
That was Argana's unique magic, or more accurately, a kind of Curse.
By drinking the blood of those who received the "blessing of the gods," she could greatly boost her abilities for a short period of time.
However, the boost was temporary. Once the [Kalima] effect ended, her stats would revert to their original values.
At the same time, as a price, her Endurance would drastically decrease.
But at this moment, she hadn't even seriously activated that ability.
Argana had only casually licked a bit of Tione's blood, more for symbolic humiliation than actual enhancement.
She didn't need to use [Kalima]. The outcome of this battle had already been decided.
The difference… came from level.
Argana's current level was Lv.6.
Looking at the fallen Tione, Argana's eyes held a faint curiosity, "By the way, I have zero interest in the current you, so why did you come after me?"
Argana slowly stood up, "Could it be… you didn't realize I'd already leveled up? You just saw Berylnice still alive, and assumed I was still Level 5?"
Normally, the promotion path of Amazon warriors from the Telskyura was extremely brutal. Duels among equals, where the blood of the dead fueled the glory of the living.
In Tione's understanding, the top warriors of the Telskyura were still alive, meaning their death duels hadn't happened yet.
Thus, she naturally believed Argana remained Level 5, same as her.
"What a shame. You had bad luck."
The serpent-shaped sword in her hand lifted slightly. The blade glinted coldly, "Though it's a bit wasteful, this is the rule of the Telskyura, the loser… can only die."
Argana's sword sliced through the air, aiming directly at Tione's neck. However, just as the blade was about to fall, a calm voice rang out.
"Wait."
Goddess Kali stood at a distance, speaking, "Spare her for now."
Argana's motion halted. Her brows furrowed in dissatisfaction, "Why?"
Kali shook her head, "Berylnice and Elna have been captured by the Loki Familia."
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