"I'll KILL YOU!!" A burnt, charred, toad-like woman emerged from his bombardment. The ground shook with each of her steps, her expression maniacal, her eyes spitting pure hatred.
"Berbera! What are you all gawking at!? Attack this intruder and capture that Renard!" Ishtar roared with fury, her finger pointed straight at Bell.
The surrounding Amazons were snapped from their daze by her command. They turned their gaze toward Bell and reluctantly moved to attack.
He ignored the Amazons. He ignored Phryne. His indifferent gaze shifted instead to land on Haruhime.
His hand went to his back, unsheathing a small dagger. He offered it to the Renard amidst countless Amazons lunging at them from all sides.
He remained calm—even as an entire first-rate Familia surrounded him. His voice rang out with indifference, beneath which lay something unbound by everything.
"Do you dare to seize freedom with your own two hands?"
His hand remained above the kneeling Haruhime, a dagger offered to her. No, her freedom offered to her.
Haruhime stared at the dagger hovering above her. Struggle flashed through her eyes... deep-rooted obedience to Ishtar, drilled into her for years, warring against embers of the real Haruhime still alive within.
Bell did not speak. His uncaring eyes took in her struggle with neither reassurance nor disdain.
"Haruhime! Don't you dare! You've already been tainted and ruined. No one in this world other than us would accept you." Ishtar screeched from behind.
The Renard felt her ears droop, her eyes glossing over at those words. She peered toward Bell, watching for his reaction.
Yet his expression did not even twitch. His eyes beneath his hood showed no fluctuation.
Everyone had looked at her with judgment when they heard she was already ruined.
However... those eyes did not judge. They did not compare. They didn't even expect anything.
Amazons had closed them in a circle by now, about to reach both of them at any second.
Her hand rose up unconsciously... reaching for her freedom.
"Haruhime!!"
Ishtar's cry was ignored.
Slender, white fingers soon wrapped around the dagger. A choked sob followed.
"I-I want to b-be free!"
What answered her desperation was...
Clunk.
A wheel with eight spokes loomed into existence above his hood.
Sight became aimless. Sound became senseless. Scent became worthless. Touch became pointless. Taste became useless.
BOOOOM!
The sound barrier shredded apart. One moment, he was motionless. The next, everything dissolved into a kaleidoscope of shades.
Time stretched as the world moved slow compared to his speed and cognition.
He moved across the Amazons—who crawled slower than snails inside his perception—his pace climbing higher and higher.
An elbow crushed an Amazon's face inward, her eyes bulging in slow motion.
A kick shattered another Amazon's ribs, blood spurting from her wounds slower than his own blood flow.
A punch disintegrated a burly Amazon's jaw, his eyes watching in slow motion as the pain forced her brain to shut down.
Bell alone... was pushing back a huge number of Berberas surrounding him and Haruhime from 360 degrees, not even letting them take a single step forward.
Whenever they tried to... he was already there, his body acting as a weapon more lethal than any weapon had a right to be.
Even as he pushed every Amazon back, he deliberately let two Amazons bypass him to reach for Haruhime.
The Renard's eyes flashed with fear as two Amazons closed in, her fingers around the dagger tightening imperceptibly.
Just before they reached her, Bell's voice echoed throughout the area.
"You want to be free? Then...
Fight for it. Bleed for it. Die... for it."
Haruhime's hands shook as both Level 1 Amazons swung their swords toward her.
Clang.
She barely blocked a single sword with a trembling grip. The other sword headed toward her shoulder unimpeded.
Another arrow blazed from their side, colliding with the sword just before it could be buried in Haruhime's shoulder, deflecting it aside.
Bell flashed to her side. Instantly, both Amazons distanced themselves from them in haste.
Meanwhile...
A huge hand reached out from behind the cluster of Amazons ahead of them, holding a clueless Amazon up and throwing her aside like a toy.
Phryne's toad-like voice followed.
"Get aside, you skanks! I'll kill him with my own two hands!!"
Berberas parted frantically, making enough space for a road roller to pass through as Phryne waddled to the very front.
Bell ignored that sack of fat, instead he gazed at Haruhime beside him and caught her sneaking grateful peeks at him for his earlier save.
His gaze flashed down to his dagger and her inexperienced grip holding it.
A flaming dagger coalesced between his fingers, looking eerily similar to Haruhime's dagger.
"Wrap all four fingers around its handle, with your thumb placed on the side of its handle, like this." Bell showed it to her, changing his grip to give her a better view.
She followed his instructions, adjusting her grip, following his example to a T.
"You dare ignore me!? What are you all staring around for? Continue your attacks!" Phryne roared while running toward them, her charred face fuming.
"Put your right leg forward, and maintain a low balance. Lock your shoulder blades and use your right leg as a pivot to swing it, using the ground for balance." Bell ignored them, taking the stance he had just described with fluid ease, letting her watch and understand.
She tried to follow his example, her stance awkward and rigid. Yet... he didn't mind. No one could master something overnight.
"Look... this is how it's done."
He vanished from beside her, reaching Phryne in a blur of pure speed. His stance remained similar as he tensed his calves, transferring force from his heel to his back and all the way to his arms, his flaming dagger swinging with terrifying momentum.
Phryne tried to block but was a second too late.
"AHHHHHHHHH!"
A huge piece of her fat was sheared apart, like a stretch of bacon being stripped off from a pig.
"You—You! Die!!!" Phryne went mad, her huge hands punching toward Bell with abandon, drowning the area he stood in beneath a rain of blows.
Yet... He was already gone, once again standing beside Haruhime quite casually.
"So, Little Fox... You up for it?" Bell asked, his eyes tracking all the Amazons heading toward them.
"Ye—Yesh." She nearly bit her tongue in nervousness but replied nonetheless.
"Let's go then." Bell spoke, walking toward Phryne and a horde of Berberas.
Haruhime followed behind with uncertain steps.
She nearly stumbled, falling onto Bell's back in her haste.
"Oww..."
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..
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***
[300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[8 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
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[Authors Thoughts]
Alright... I've got you all with another chapter. Do comment on the developments till now, It'll be fun to discuss things which had happened till now.
Enjoy.
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Sorry for the late chapter. Your boy was held up by some work.