"Kid, you can head back on your own. There's something I need to take care of first."
Loki's sudden words pulled Judas out of his thoughts.
"Are you going to get yourself drunk again?"
Judas raised an eyebrow, suspicion clear in his voice.
Loki nearly tripped at his blunt remark.
"You—! Okay, maybe a little bit."
She admitted with a huff.
"But that's not all I'm doing. I'm going to ask for some help."
"With Finn and the others away, and with no indication of when that slutty goddess will make her next move, we are going to need some backup."
She said this with a rare seriousness.
"Alone? What if Freya targets you?"
Judas frowned.
"Are you worried about me?"
Loki grinned, then waved off his concern.
"Don't sweat it. Where I'm going might be even safer than Twilight Manor right now."
She ruffled his hair roughly.
"Hey!"
Judas slapped her hand away, immediately trying to fix the mess she made.
"Oh, come on, just let me pat your head."
Loki pouted.
"No."
Judas flatly refused, stepping out of reach.
"At least let your goddess give you some head pats."
Loki said as she put her hand over her head and acted like she got hurt.
Judas looked her in the eye, slapping the hand that was slowly approaching his hair, not entertaining her antics one bit.
"Where are you heading anyway?"
Hearing his question, Loki grinned and wagged her index finger side to side.
"You'll have to find out tomorrow."
Judas did not ask any further and the two went their separate ways.
Seeing the retreating figure of his goddess, Judas muttered something under his breath and a magic circle appeared on his palm.
Loki, who was walking with her hands behind the back of her head, paused for a second as she felt a subtle glow surrounding her body.
"Heh."
Realizing this, a grin crept up on her lips.
"What a tsundere."
She said as she looked behind her, seeing that Judas was already out of sight, his figure lost among the crowd.
She let out a loud exhale before turning around, heading southwest of Orario and continuing down the road.
After some time, she finally saw the familiar gates of the Stardust Garden, the home of the Astraea Familia.
"Hey! Astraea! Open up will ya?"
After a couple of seconds of waiting, the sound of metal rang out as the gates opened.
"Hmm? Loki? What brings you out here in the middle of the night?"
Astraea asked, flanked by several members of her familia.
"Yo! Astraea, I got a favor to ask."
Loki said as she opened her usually slit eyes, her face smiling, but Astraea noticed the slight serious tone in her voice.
...
Back in the Hostess of Fertility, Ryuu Lion was seen standing next to Mama Mia.
"Please Mama, hear out my request."
Ryuu said as she bowed her head.
"You want some time off duty so you can help out that kid?"
Mama Mia questioned with crossed arms.
"It is only until his familia returns... he saved not just my life but also Alise, Kaguya and Lyra. I can't stand by and do nothing while he could potentially be in danger."
Mama Mia stared at her, whose head remained lowered, and then at the wooden sword strapped to her waist.
"Alright, I will allow it, but when you come back, I will make sure to work you to the bone to make up for the time lost, got it?"
The giant dwarf said with a stern voice before turning around and walking away.
"Thank you."
Ryuu smiled, her eyes shining with resolve.
It was at this moment that Gale Wind made a return.
...
By this time, Judas had already returned to the Twilight Manor.
The guard on duty spotted him and quickly opened the gates.
"I heard you were attacked in the dungeon. You alright, Judas?"
Ren hurried over, his face lined with concern.
"It's fine. I managed to get out safely."
Judas replied.
"That's good."
Ren nodded, relieved to see him in decent condition.
"By the way, where's Loki? I thought she was coming back with you."
"She had some errands to take care of. She'll be back later."
Judas assured him.
"I just hope those 'errands' aren't her spending the familia's funds on more wine."
Ren said with an exasperated voice.
"I'm going to take a bath. See you later, Ren."
Judas said, waving his arm as he entered through the manor's doors.
...
Within the men's bathhouse, Judas lowered himself into the steaming tub, submerging his body until only his head remained above the surface.
After his body completely relaxed, he closed his eyes in deep contemplation.
'...I was completely outmatched.'
His mind replayed the perilous encounter he just had against the executives of the Freya Familia.
As a Level 2, the fact that he had managed to escape the pursuit of so many first-class adventurers was nothing short of a miracle.
But he didn't see it that way.
'...It was humiliating.'
Even back when he was Estelon, he had never once fled from a fight.
That ambush was not only his first loss in a long time... it was his first ever cowardly retreat.
'...I should've done better.'
In DanMachi, levels were nearly absolute.
For most adventurers in Orario, the rule was simple and cruel.
Once someone stood above you in level, your only chance at survival was to avoid crossing blades with them.
A higher-level adventurer would almost always triumph over a lower one.
It wasn't just a simple number on a status sheet.
When an adventurer levels up, they don't just get stronger, they go through an evolution in their vessel.
The higher the level, the closer they are to a god.
Of course, exceptions existed.
Proper strategy, the right magic, or rare skills could allow a lower-level adventurer to challenge someone stronger.
But such cases were exceedingly rare, often regarded as miracles rather than reliable outcomes.
'...Was there a way I could've won?'
He ran through the battle in his head over and over, using the information he had gathered about his enemies... what he had seen and heard.
Image training.
It is a mental exercise where someone visualizes certain situations inside their heads.
The person imagines the movements, techniques, or scenarios in their mind as vividly as possible.
He thought of different strategies, various contingencies, searching for a path to victory.
Yet no matter how many times he played it out, the result remained the same.
He always had to retreat.
And in many cases, he ended up dead.
'...Shit!'
He got out of the bath and dried himself with a towel.
After wearing a fresh set of clothes, he returned to his room and put down the sack filled with his gear.
Seeing the damage on his armor and gauntlet, Judas gently put them back in the sack and laid down on the bed.
'...I will have to pay a visit to a blacksmith to repair them.'
He closed his eyes and his mind continued to simulate the encounter he had with the first-class adventurers of the Freya Familia.
Hours passed.
He remained completely still, his body unmoving as he relived the fight countless times in his mind.
His mind raced in overdrive, pushing him to the brink of mental exhaustion.
The strain grew so intense that blood began to trickle from his nose.
It wasn't until long past midnight that he finally opened his eyes.
'Out of thousands of battles... the number of times I've claimed victory...'
Judas slowly exhaled, wiping the blood from his nose.
'...is only once.'
And that single victory had only been possible when he damaged the dungeon so severely that he was forced to recreate the Irregular Monsters incident.
Seizing the chaos as a chance to bring down the Freya Familia's executives.
Thousands of simulations. Thousands of battles. Thousands of defeats.
Only one victory.
His hand pressed against his chest, tracing the faint thrum of the fractured mana core buried deep within.
A multitude of emotions rose in his heart.
Humiliation.
Anger.
Embarrassment.
Regret.
And most importantly...
'...Stronger... I want to get stronger.'
A burning desire he hadn't felt since his earliest days as a mage.
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