He headed towards them, his steps casual, as if he had merely swatted a slightly annoying insect aside, not beheaded a Level 4 adventurer without effort.
Under gazes ranging from rage, shock, to bewilderment, he finally reached Haruhime.
The amazons holding onto her limbs released them and backed away from him as if encountering a dangerous beast.
Yet... he did not care. Instead, his hand came down to push her chin up with a single finger.
Green pupils gazed up at him with surprise, shock, and a tiny bit of hope.
Twin voids of absolute nothingness peered back.
It was only in this moment that Haruhime understood the true meaning of 'When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you.'
.
Bell looked at Haruhime lost inside the abyss within him, his voice echoing out, uncaring.
"Tell me... Little Fox, do you hate the gods?"
She snapped out of her stupor at his words, her eyes going wide.
The surrounding Barbara went pale at his words, unconsciously stepping further away from them.
Even Phryne felt a chill run down her rolls of fat, her toad-like face twisting with fear.
Ishtar's expression morphed into an amused one as she watched.
Either this hooded man was mad, or a literal lunatic... Hating all the gods? Heh...
Any among the gods could squash him like the insect he was if they unsealed their Arcanum.
Wanting to go against heaven itself?
Wanting to hate the gods?
Was he even worthy?
Hah... Delusions of grandeur of another fly from the lower world...
How amusing!
.
Meanwhile...
"I-I..." Haruhime felt like a lump was stuck in her throat, instinctive reverence for gods ingrained in her from birth warring with the pain and despair Goddess Ishtar made her go through daily.
She looked into those abyssal eyes with palpable confusion, searching for an answer within them.
They carried absolute indifference.
They were blasphemous toward gods.
Yet...
Were they also not the most pious eyes she had ever seen?
They treated gods and ants alike...
But from another angle... they treated everything as gods.
So...
Who were gods when those eyes looked at everything as gods?
.
Those eyes dared to fight against a Goddess for a tainted Renard like her.
They were the most beautiful things she had ever seen in her life.
.
"I... I hate Goddess I-Ishtar for trying to take my life. I hate other gods for not helping even when they could. I h-hate that it took so long for someone like you to come..." Haruhime finally choked out the words, her voice shaky and fragile.
He tilted her face toward him as he brought his face closer, his lips just an inch away from her skin. He spoke after a moment, his voice ruthless, exposing everything she tried to hide beneath her earlier words.
"You should hate yourself more, for wanting someone else to come to your rescue, for expecting that a hero would walk out from a storybook to save you like a damsel... You have yourself, and that should be enough." His voice did not even waver as he voiced the truth she did not have enough courage to speak.
"I am not here to save you. Instead, I'm here to give you a chance, to fight for your own... freedom." He concluded while pulling his hooded face away from her.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
"What grand words. What touching feelings. What a chance to fight for freedom." Ishtar clapped her hands with an amused face, her sneer growing more pronounced with each clap.
"Stranger, do you really think that me and my Familia are hot air? You think you can come and go from here as you please?"
"You might have taken Tammuz out by a surprise attack but... can you take on my whole Familia, that too alone?" She continued, her voice slowly getting shriller by the end.
.
Bell's gaze finally turned away from Haruhime to land on Ishtar and Phryne beside her.
"You Patton tank. Yes you... go and slap your Goddess three times, and I might spare you later." He spoke while looking at Phryne, his face covered by his hood.
"You-You are calling me what? Pat-ton what?" Phryne pointed at herself, her toad face filled with confusion.
Even Bell's lips twitched slightly, his eyes taking direct damage from her actions.
"Forget it... You slap yourself three times instead." He spoke without a change in expression.
Phryne's face turned red at his words, her mouth twisting into a wrathful expression.
"You want me to slap my own devastatingly beautiful and Orario-toppling face? How dare you? How dare you!?" She roared while pointing her finger at Bell like he had said something treasonous.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Silence fell across the area for a short while. Everyone from Ishtar, to the Barbara, Aisha and even Haruhime, all simultaneously looked at Phryne with blank faces.
Phryne continued, thinking everyone was shocked speechless by her beauty.
"Pretty boy, I've had my eyes on you from the moment you appeared here, so come on, let me take a look at what lies beneath that hood. I promise I won't gobble you up." She started to walk toward him mid-speech, her eyes filled with naked lust.
Bell went quiet for a moment, then pointed toward the sky while speaking flatly.
"Patton tank... look above."
Phryne followed his finger and looked above, freezing dead in her tracks.
At some point in time... countless long, tube like cylinders with pointed ends comprised entirely of flames had materialised above them, every single one of them pointing straight at Phryne.
"These are called anti-tank missiles specifically created for Patton tanks. You like to gobble things up, right? These will make so many holes inside of you that from now on, you'll be able to gobble many things simultaneously, if you survive that is." Bell's voice was not loud, yet it resounded like thunder in the ears of Ishtar and every amazon nearby.
"Wait... wait... We can talk this out." Phryne spoke, her toad face finally flashing with terror.
"Now... I announce, the first tank versus missile live show. Orario edition." Amusement could be heard beneath his indifference as Bell ignored her, waving his hand down.
Countless anti-tank missiles plunged from above, heading straight for a tank.
BOOOOOOM! BOOOOOM! BOOOOOM!
The impact was catastrophic.
Only her screams could be heard from within.
"AHHHHH! NOT THE FACE!! NOOO!"
"NOT MY PERFECT BODY!!!"
"M-MY BEHIND IS ON FIRE! HELP!!"
"ISHTAAAAAR! SAVEEEE MEEEE!"
Bell watched on with the same indifference as always.
As a clownish toad performed in his live show for the first time.
...
..
.
***
[300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[8 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
...
[Authors Thoughts]
Tank Vs Missile in another world... How nostalgic.
Enjoy.