"Do you truly intend to make an enemy out of the entire Ishtar Familia over some bitch from the Guild?!"
Ishtar screamed, her face contorted with rage.
As if on cue, thunderous, hurried footsteps echoed through the halls. Judas sensed dozens, then hundreds, of presences converging on their position.
In the next moment, members of the Ishtar Familia swarmed the grand hall in droves.
Armed with swords, spears, and axes, they formed a suffocating, multi-layered perimeter around him.
With the commotion he had caused, the Berbera and even some of the lower-ranking members, who had been carrying out their nightly duties in various pleasure shops just minutes ago, immediately abandoned their patrons and customers after hearing about the attack on their home base.
'Damn it... are we going to have to fight this monster after all?'
Among them was Aisha, who was positioned at the front, her hand gripping the hilt of her sword, ready to take action at a moment's notice.
"Hey, hey… isn't that Veneratus Est? The one in the same Familia as my precious Bete?"
A younger Amazon beside her spoke up, wearing a reluctant expression.
"I don't really wanna attack him. What if I make a terrible impression and my chances with Bete plummet to zero?"
"Lena, please take this seriously."
Aisha reprimanded her, feeling her lips twitch.
'Nearly three hundred… it seems like almost every combat force of the Ishtar Familia is gathered here.'
Judas calculated smoothly, his gaze sweeping over the crowd.
He watched impassively as a squad of healers and nurses rushed to Phryne and Tammuz, splashing high-grade potions over their wounds and casting recovery magic.
But he only gave them a brief glance before he turned his attention back to Ishtar, who was staring at him as if trying to burn a hole through his skull.
"Ishtar, she is not just someone from the Guild, she is my advisor and a precious friend."
Judas replied, staring back at Ishtar, unflinching.
"But earlier tonight, she was attacked and had been hospitalized..."
"If it weren't for Airmid, her life would've been lost..."
"I am sure you already know who the culprit is."
Everyone's and Ishtar's gaze subtly shifted towards Phryne, whose face was swollen and purple.
'Tsk! That stupid frog just had to go and cause trouble.'
Ishtar cursed internally, throwing her captain a venomous glare.
"I came here tonight to settle things with Phryne and no one else."
Judas continued, his voice echoing clearly across the area.
"I am giving the rest of you one, and only one, opportunity to stand down and walk away."
"However… if any of you intend to stop me."
His eyes swept over the hundreds of armed warriors surrounding him.
"Then come."
The Amazons instinctively tightened their grips on their weapons, but no one moved.
Not a single warrior dared to take a step forward.
Ishtar gnashed her teeth, a thick vein throbbing at her temple.
'This arrogant mortal! Just because he is a little strong, he thinks he can do whatever he wants!?'
Yet, knowing the terrifying display of power he had already shown, she took a deep breath to force her composure back.
"If you want to teach the toad a lesson, then fine, but tell me, what do you intend to do with her?"
She questioned, trying to maintain her composure.
'If we can sate his anger by letting him beat up Phryne, I guess this situation can be resolved cleanly. That arrogant bitch needed to be taught a lesson anyway. With her vitality as a Level 5, she will be restored to combat condition in no time. Letting him beat her up will be fine as long as it doesn't delay my plans too much.'
Ishtar rationalized.
Although the situation was infuriating to her, she wanted to avoid confrontation as much as possible.
"What I am going to do to her? Isn't it obvious? I'm going to cripple her so severely that she will never function as an adventurer again. The world will be a much better place without filth like her in it."
Judas replied indifferently, as if he was stating a matter of fact.
"WHAT?!"
Ishtar shrieked, pointing an accusatory finger at him.
"How is that any different from killing her?! You're taking away my only First-Class adventurer! There is no way in hell I will accept that!"
Though Ishtar loathed Phryne personally and often did not see eye to eye, the toad was her most powerful pawn.
For her plan to take down Freya and fulfill her ambitions, the strength that Phryne provided was necessary.
There was no way that Ishtar would just let her go.
"You shitty goddess! Why are you even trying to negotiate with this brat? Since when did the Ishtar Familia become a bunch of cowards!?"
Phryne roared, grabbing a large axe from a nearby armor stand.
She fixed a bloodthirsty glare on Judas.
Lowering her center of gravity, she coiled her legs like a giant spring.
"With this many people, I refuse to believe we can't kill this bastard!"
She bellowed as she launched herself forward and swung her axe in a brutal arc as she put every ounce of her strength into the attack, fully intending to kill.
This was the most powerful attack that Phryne could currently muster.
A full-power attack from a Level 5, it was powerful enough to completely split Tammuz, a Level 4, in half like butter if he ever got hit by it.
Facing the incoming strike, Judas didn't even bother turning his body.
He merely glanced over his shoulder.
The instant before the blade made contact...
『Energy Blade』
BOOM!
The resulting collision created a powerful shockwave as dust and pieces of the floor were sent blasting outwards, cracks spreading across the ground beneath them.
"What!?"
Seeing a blade made of energy extended from Judas' right hand, Phryne's eyes widened.
Not only had her attack failed, but looking down at his feet, he hadn't even moved an inch.
"Damn it! Don't look down on me!"
Phryne shrieked, desperately pressing her weight into the axe to overpower him.
But no matter how hard she pushed, Phryne felt like she was trying to push against a mountain.
Judas pivoted on his heel, meeting her gaze head-on as his arm shot forward like a whip.
'Shit!'
Phryne's instincts screamed at her to throw herself backward.
She was a fraction of a second too late.
The sharp tip of Judas' energy blade grazed the side of her throat, instantly opening a deep crimson line.
Blood sprayed across the marble floor as she grabbed her neck, screaming in pain.
"Aaaaaah!"
Thanks only to the thick, fatty layer on her neck, the cut had missed her carotid artery, sparing her from instant death.
"Dammit!"
Seeing her strongest warrior bleeding out, Ishtar abandoned all restraint.
"TAKE HIM DOWN! ALL OF YOU, ATTACK!"
The surrounding Amazons hesitated for a fraction of a second before rushing forward en masse, swarming him like a wave of army ants.
"So, is this the stance that the Ishtar Familia chooses to take?"
Judas remarked, looking directly past the charging crowd at Ishtar.
"Veneratus Est, you may be strong, but we also have our own pride. We will not allow our dignity to be trampled so easily."
It was Samira who replied, the first Amazon who had arrived in front of him.
Judas looked at her and easily blocked her sword with his Energy Blade.
"Is that so? Then I'll respect your choice."
He raised his arm as a small, dense crimson orb manifested above two of his extended fingers.
The rest of the Berberas closed in a heartbeat later, raining down a flurry of spears, maces, and swords.
Judas didn't even bother dodging... he simply snapped his fingers, deploying a translucent protective barrier around himself.
Blade after blade struck the barrier, sparking uselessly without leaving a single scratch.
"You'll survive this."
Judas said calmly.
『Repulsion』
The tiny crimson orb expanded instantly into a shockwave of kinetic force.
"Aaaaagh!"
Samira and the frontline warriors raised their weapons to defend, but the raw kinetic force launched them backward.
But it didn't end there.
The second wave immediately came, rows of Amazons coming upon him relentlessly.
Tammuz led the charge, his sword glowing with a brilliant yellow aura as he activated his enhancement magic, striking at the barrier with everything he had.
Faced with the endless swarm, Judas raised his hand and formed a miniature, spinning hurricane in his palm.
Seeing this, Aisha's pupils shrank.
Sensing the danger, she turned toward her comrades and screamed at the top of her lungs.
"EVERYONE, RETREAT!"
Judas swept his arm outward.
『Cyclone』
A terrifying vortex of razor-sharp wind detonated around him, expanding outward in a massive sphere.
BOOM!
BOOM!
CRASH!
Ceilings caved in, stained-glass windows shattered, and stone pillars crumbled to dust.
Dozens of Amazon warriors were hurled through the air like cannonballs, crashing through walls and tumbling into the courtyard outside.
When the dust finally settled, Judas stood completely untouched at the center of a ten-meter wide crater, entirely cleared of enemies.
"Our combined assault... was stopped just like that?!"
Phryne growled through gritted teeth, splashing a healing potion over her bleeding neck.
Because Judas had knocked out several of her teeth earlier, her speech came out with a wet, slurred lisp.
'Damn it... my divine beauty has been ruined!'
She raised a finger to her mouth, feeling it pass straight through the gap in her gums.
"To be able to activate such powerful spells without the need to chant... that is just cheating."
Aisha muttered, a bead of cold sweat running down her cheek.
The surviving members of the Ishtar Familia stared at Judas with sheer terror.
Standing in the middle of the ruined hall, they didn't feel like they were fighting against another adventurer.
Instead, it felt as though they were facing a Monster Rex from the deepest floors of the Dungeon.
Looking at the expressions on the faces of her companions, Phryne clicked her tongue.
"You weaklings getting cold feet already?"
"If we can't even take down this brat, how do you expect us to take down Ottar?!"
"Besides... we haven't used one of our trump cards yet."
A sinister, ugly smile spread across her battered face as her pupils shifted toward an Amazon mage in the back, silently signaling her to make her move.
"He's a mage, right? Let's see if he can keep acting so arrogant once we strip away his magic."
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