"Sis isn't in the room either!", Tiona shouted anxiously.
Members of the Loki Familia had already gathered in Tiona and Tione's room. The goddess looked around, "There are no signs of fighting in the room."
This meant that Tione was not forcibly taken away after an enemy broke in.
Although there was no solid evidence, the moment Tione was confirmed missing, Loki and her familia members almost instinctively listed the Kali Familia as the prime suspect.
After all, besides the Kali Familia, there was no other force that dared provoke the Loki Familia, let alone kidnap one of their core members.
However, even though the Kali Familia had two powerful upper-class Lv.5 warriors, possibly even Lv.6, to abduct Lv.5 Tione without leaving a trace was still highly unlikely.
Riveria calmly analyzed, "In other words, Tione left on her own accord. With her personality…"
Loki sighed deeply, "She must've gone to find the Kali Familia… That child really doesn't let people rest easy."
Upon hearing this, Tiona's expression changed, and she turned to rush out. However, Ais reacted quickly and immediately blocked her.
"What are you doing, Tiona?"
Riveria's tone became serious.
Loki waved her hand to signal her to calm down, "Don't be impulsive. Going alone now is completely meaningless."
Loki's gaze swept through the room, finally falling on Emiya, then at the Kali Familia members he had defeated, Berylnice and Elna, who were still unconscious on the ground.
"We need to negotiate with Kali first."
The goddess said, "Emiya, lend me these two for a bit."
Emiya silently nodded, looking at the empty room. A crescent moon hung behind him, clouds slowly drifting past. The dim moonlight spilled on the ground, stretching his shadow long.
The location of the Kali Familia wasn't hard to find.
Dozens of beautiful Amazoness warriors swaggering through the city naturally drew attention, not to mention they had no intention of hiding their identities.
The place where the Kali Familia was temporarily staying was a luxurious inn operated by the Murdock Family. The Murdock Family was a highly influential family in the port city of Melen, holding a prestigious position in the town for decades.
And this inn was even more grand and luxurious than the residence the Loki Familia had spent a fortune renting.
The Loki Familia adventurers walked along the stone-paved streets and arrived in front of this luxurious inn.
"Guild lackeys, what are you doing here?"
Surprisingly, the ones who came to meet them weren't Amazoness warriors of the Kali Familia but a group of guards in uniform.
Even the current head of the town's ruling family, Borg Murdock, stood at the front of the group, holding a trident-shaped weapon in his hand.
Borg was a burly middle-aged man with white facial hair. His muscles were as solid as iron, possessing a physique rivaling a martial artist.
His gaze was sharp, and although he was balding on top, once he wore a hat, he looked like the old sea captain leading sailors in a fairytale.
In the port city of Melen, the managers were divided into two factions, one representing the city, the Guild, and the other local town administrators, with the Murdock Family as the core.
The former mainly handled matters related to Orario, such as tariffs on goods entering through the port, while the latter handled daily town management.
The relationship between the Guild and local administrators was hostile: to the Murdock Family, the Guild was a powerful external invader seizing most of the town's profits.
To the Guild, used to acting high and mighty, the town side, relying on local roots and hidden overseas support, daring to openly challenge their authority was naturally intolerable.
Therefore, the Murdock Family viewed adventurer familias from Orario as nothing more than the Guild's claws and mouthpieces.
Facing the guards' interception, Goddess Loki felt both speechless and irritated. In fact, the Loki Familia's relationship with the Guild was at an all-time low, making this hostility especially ironic.
Normally, Loki might have had the mood to spar verbally with these people, but now she just wanted to quickly find her familia member, Tione, that important child. With the situation so urgent, the goddess's patience was nearly exhausted.
Just as she considered how to "peacefully" clear the path, Emiya stepped forward.
"Move," His voice was cold and deep.
The crescent moon hung behind Emiya. The faint moonlight illuminated his back. From Borg Murdock's perspective, Emiya's tall, dark figure seemed to merge with the night, with only those golden eyes flashing coldly in the dark like a beast.
In that instant, Borg had an illusion, the man before him seemed to grow taller and larger, transforming into a giant towering over him.
By the time Borg came to his senses, he found himself drenched in cold sweat, and all the guards behind him had obediently stepped aside.
These ordinary people, without the blessing of the gods, dared to stop the Loki Familia only because they bet the other side wouldn't strike in town. However, if they voluntarily gave way, there would be no problem.
With the support of his Development Ability [Dominion], the pressure Emiya radiated was tangible. The oppressive aura of a high-level adventurer was something normal people simply couldn't withstand.
Emiya's actions prevented anyone from getting hurt.
Ignoring the now-frozen Borg, Emiya walked past him. The Loki Familia adventurers followed closely behind, filing into the inn.
"'Mental Intimidation', a related spell or skill, huh…", Loki muttered to herself on the side.
———
Inside the luxury inn booked entirely by the Kali Familia, the Amazoness warriors had already gathered due to the commotion outside.
Dozens of fit and deadly Amazoness warriors stood in neat rows, with the two most powerful leaders, Argana and Bache, the tall, white-haired, dark-skinned sisters, at the front.
Previously, because of the presence of Argana, Bache, Berylnice, and Elna, four top-level warriors, the others hadn't stood out much.
But now, the Loki Familia members realized: the rest of the Kali Familia warriors were anything but ordinary.
Among these warriors, even the weakest were Lv.2s comparable to third-tier adventurers. There were nearly ten Lv.4s.
In terms of mid-tier adventurer numbers, the Kali Familia even surpassed the Loki Familia and could rival the Ganesha Familia. The only thing they lacked was a sufficient number of first-tier adventurers.
Loki stood at the front of her group, narrowing her eyes and sharply staring at Goddess Kali. Leaning forward slightly, her smile held no warmth, "Shorty, my child has been properly 'taken care of' by you, huh?"
"Right back at you," Kali smiled in return, not backing down at all, "My children were also quite 'well treated' by you."
On the Kali Familia's side, two Amazoness warriors dragged forward the captured Tione. On the Loki side, Anya and Alicia brought the bound Berylnice and Elna.
Two battle axes were held on either side of Tione's neck, while Anya and Alicia pressed their swords against the Kali Familia warriors' throats. Poor Elna trembled, constantly shivering from Skadi of Ice's cold aura.
"Your people attacked my child first," Loki said, voice calm.
"You don't think I sent people to capture Tione, do you?", Kali responded, her tone equally even.
Judging from the actions, both Tione and the two Kali Familia warriors, three Lv.5 Amazoness fighters, did essentially the same thing: acted on their own, then got defeated.
Loki sneered, her tone full of disdain, "There's a huge difference between a junior challenging a senior, and a high-level adventurer attacking a lower-level one."
For the first time, Goddess Kali's voice held visible emotion, "High-level, against low-level?"
Emiya stepped forward and spoke, "They came looking for me, and I defeated them."
Kali turned to him, "Alone?"
Loki grinned and added, "Solo, one-on-two."
Even though Emiya wasn't her actual familia member, and had even been considered an "enemy" in some ways, now, he was practically half a member of the Loki Familia, so Loki had no hesitation in showing him off.
And she had to admit, Emiya's excellence was too astonishing. Watching the short goddess look dumbfounded, Loki couldn't help but feel secretly delighted.
"I see," Kali looked at Emiya with a complicated expression, the corners of her lips curling, "So you're that [Amazon's Owner], huh. Well, allow me to ask, what is your level?"
Emiya answered, "Lv.4."
"Oh my, oh my, oh my, oh my…", Kali's laughter held surprise and disbelief.
Loki looked at Kali, "Now do you understand? You're in the wrong. Return Tione to us. We'll give you these two in exchange, one for two. It's a good deal for you."
However, Kali didn't respond as Loki expected. She gently shook her head and sighed, "I'm afraid… you've misunderstood something important."
Loki's brows furrowed, "What?"
"Berylnice and Elna, they're my beloved children, yes. But since they lost, and lost to someone lower in level, then… even if they were killed, I wouldn't have any complaints," Kali said.
Loki: "What?"
Goddess Kali smiled and continued, "But you, on the other hand, seem to care very deeply for that child, Tione, don't you? So why don't we renegotiate? As for Berylnice and Elna, I don't care how you treat them. What I want is—"
"Sigh!"
Loki interrupted Kali with a long sigh.
"Return Tione to me right now, or tonight, the Kali Familia will be destroyed. I'll personally kill you and send you back to heaven," The smile vanished from Loki's face, replaced by bone-chilling cold.
The goddess of dusk, always smiling with squinted eyes, now opened her amber pupils wide, divine majesty surging within them.
The corners of Kali's eyes twitched. Behind the childlike goddess, the Amazoness warriors quickly took combat stances.
Bache remained calm, while Argana's lips twisted into a sinister grin.
Yet in the next moment, their expressions froze.
A magic circle activated within the Loki Familia ranks. The overwhelming magical surge, enough to bridge heaven and earth, released with such intensity that it made even the seasoned warriors' breathing grow tense.
The Elven Princess, who had not spoken until now, stared at them coldly.
Riveria, once just of the Dungeon City, but now without a doubt, the world's strongest mage.
Level: Lv.7.
As for the elven girls beside her, each pointing massive magic swords forward, the Kali Familia warriors had no room to think about them anymore.
[T/N: Motherflecker cliffhanger.]
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