Regardless of whether it was done with malice or good intentions, the presence of that gaze was extremely strong.
It was like being stared at by a dangerous wild animal, and the body reacted unconsciously.
She couldn't tell what attitude the owner of that gaze had towards them, but the blonde elf was certain that whoever it was, they were very dangerous.
"Hey! Stupid elf! What are you slacking off for?"
The long-haired beauty in a kimono, who was chopping meat with a skillful knife next to her, looked pitifully beautiful, but her lovely voice was laced with a rude and mean streak.
The blonde elf, who would normally retort, rarely held her tongue. This time, however, her eyes were still scanning the crowd warily.
"Wait, Kaguya, I don't want to argue with you right now. I just felt like someone was watching us. I wonder if it was someone from Evilus."
Hearing this, the girl in the kimono narrowed her eyes slightly, and her dangerous gaze, like the blade of a knife, swept across the crowd.
However, after a few scans, the crowd remained as noisy and crowded as ever, with nothing unusual.
She looked away and glanced at the blonde elf suspiciously.
"Hey, you're not in heat and just imagining things because you're unsatisfied, are you?"
No matter how good-tempered the blonde elf was, she couldn't help but explode in anger at that.
Forget about a lurking Evilus agent; even if that Black Dragon itself descended, she would have to fight this venomous woman first!
"Hey! Kaguya! You bastard! You want to fight?!"
"Huh? You think you can beat me?"
The people around were not afraid of the scene but showed excitement. Some even looked ready to applaud and cheer.
After all, what could be more exciting than watching beautiful girls fight each other up close? It just goes to show that some people's appetite for chaos is insatiable.
At the critical moment, a girl with a red ponytail and a cheerful smile squeezed in between them and stopped the fight before it could start.
"Alright, alright, Kaguya, Ryu, you two were getting along fine. Why are you suddenly arguing again? You know, the Loki Familia and the Guild are watching us. This will reflect poorly on the Astraea Familia!"
Kaguya flicked her sleeves gracefully, turned around, and resumed cutting ingredients.
The blonde elf, Ryu, looked at her captain with her eyebrows raised in displeasure.
"Alise! Let me tell you, Kaguya..."
After hearing the story, Alise Lovell roughly understood what had happened and subconsciously glanced at the crowd.
Noticing nothing unusual, she puffed out her flat chest under her armor and waved a hand at Ryu.
"You must be overthinking it, Ryu. After all, as a world-class beauty, it's normal for people to stare! It's just a pity that I must fight for Astraea's justice! I can't respond to their feelings!"
Looking at their captain, who went from excited to complacent to regretful in seconds, not only Kaguya but even Ryu was left speechless, completely forgetting the earlier incident as a dark line appeared on her fair forehead.
However, Alise was completely unaware of this.
Instead, her eyes lit up when she caught a glimpse of an emerald figure out of the corner of her eye.
She vaulted over the table and ran straight out of the stall.
"Ah! Isn't that Lady Nine Hells?! Long time no see... Eh? And who is this little girl?"
Watching their captain completely lose her composure upon meeting the city's famous first class adventurer, the blonde elf and the kimono-clad girl, who had been about to fight just moments ago, looked at each other and couldn't help but sigh helplessly.
In the third district, northeast of the city.
Perhaps because of the food distribution event, the crowds of passersby made the surrounding area seem quiet by comparison.
Even the noise from the North District seemed far away.
In a quiet and deserted alley, Noah stopped and touched his somewhat empty stomach.
Sighing, he decided to get rid of the trouble quickly so he could find time to get something to eat.
"Come out. How long are you going to follow me?"
The cold voice, carried by the strong midday wind, slowly echoed in the quiet alley. As the sound faded, the heavy footsteps of hard leather shoes on stone slabs could be heard approaching.
Beast-like eyes slowly emerged from the darkness.
The man's hair appeared a bright, dazzling red in the sunlight, and he was wearing a torn sweatshirt and leather pants.
"Hey, kid. I'm sure you've never been in Orario before. Are you new here? I'm quite curious about you."
Valletta Grede glanced at the silver-haired boy with a look that was seemingly frivolous but actually serious.
As one of the most important cadres in Evilus, although she was given the epithet "Arachnia" because of her crazed bloodlust, she was actually one of the most intelligent and capable leaders in the organization.
If not, she wouldn't have survived the many battles against Finn Deimne, from the 'Dark Age' seven years ago to the present.
A few days ago, after learning that Thanatos had failed to recruit that girl, a well-known rookie in the Loki Familia, and had been attacked by an unknown swordsman suspected to be Level 4 during his retreat, Valletta had begun her investigation.
After all, with the Zeus and Hera Familias defeated, there was only one Level 6 adventurer, Ottar from the Freya Familia, in the entire city.
The Guild had no more than ten Level 5 adventurers on record. An unknown adventurer with at least Level 4 strength could potentially turn the tide of battle at a critical moment.
While arranging for her people to search for and monitor adventurers matching the description, she also activated her intelligence network to see if any new forces had entered Orario.
But because she had preconceived that her target was also targeting Evilus, Valletta had focused her search on various hidden locations in the city.
After three or four days, she had found nothing.
It wasn't until an Evilus member saw Noah on the street that she suddenly realized what was going on, and her face became serious. He was moving in plain sight.
It seemed her opponent this time was not simple. So, along the way, Valletta had already prepared for various scenarios in her mind. She decided that no matter what happened, she would remain calm.
"Kid? Compared to you, I am indeed a kid, old woman."
Noah glanced sideways at Valletta.
"You're interested in me, but I have no interest in you. Anyway, you're just a heretic like that perverted purple-haired man, blaspheming the name of the God of Death."
...
"What?"
Valletta had to admit, she lost. Although she had firmly decided to remain absolutely calm, the silver haired boy had managed to make her unable to suppress her murderous intent with just one sentence.
She could almost hear something snap in her brain.
She, Valletta Grede, was a woman! Even if she was a murderer, Valletta was still a woman! Evilus was not some church that emphasized abstinence and the erosion of personal will.
On the contrary, it was about indulging in desires. Any woman, from the age of nine to ninety, did not like to be called an old woman!
Valletta almost drew her sword to kill the young man right then and there. However, after hearing his second sentence, she forced herself to stop.
Although the tone was light, the arrogance and fanaticism within it were very familiar to her.
There was no mistake. Wasn't that the same pious tone their own members used when swearing an oath or praying?
Could it be that this silver-haired boy was also a member of Evilus? And from a faction under a god she didn't know?
Valletta didn't think there was anything wrong with her guess.
First of all, there were countless gods in Tenkai, many unknown to others. It was doubtful that even Ouranos knew all of them.
Perhaps outside the city, there was a god whose ideals were very similar to those of Evilus, who had trained their own Familia and sent them to Orario.
Secondly, since they were all Evilus-aligned, it was normal for them to hide their affiliations.
Valletta herself knew there was another mastermind in Evilus named Enyo, whom she had only heard of but never seen. Even the other dark gods had probably never seen Enyo.
Finally, and most importantly, the boy's madness in daring to attack other gods was very consistent with the temperament of their members.
In this era where gods were the absolute center, almost no one dared to disrespect them. Those who dared to attack the gods, or even kill them, were rare even among Evilus.
Compared with the daring act of killing gods, attacking someone from the same general alignment was nothing.
Valletta herself had killed plenty of her own idiotic members when she got angry.
Thinking of this, Valletta restrained herself and remained calm. "Boy, does your Lord God also have the same beliefs as us?"
Noah widened his eyes as if insulted, staring at Valletta with murderous intent.
"Don't lump me in with you! In this world, the only one who has the right to wield the power of death and be called the God of Death is me! The rest are all heretics! One day, I will execute all of you!"
Although she was being threatened, the murderous intent in Valletta's heart dissipated, and she even felt like laughing. It's confirmed.
This guy is one of us. And he was a fanatic more extreme and crazier than herself, or any Evilus member she had ever met.
His belief was so devout and extreme that he couldn't even tolerate other dark gods who also held the domain of death.
After all, Valletta had often heard that heretics were more hateful than infidels.
Thinking of this, Valletta's mind became active, and the way she looked at the boy changed.
No one knew how miserable Valletta was, being surrounded by a bunch of stupid teammates.
If Finn Deimne provided half of the Guild's strategic intelligence, then Valletta provided at least two-thirds of Evilus's!
What's more, even if the members of other Familias lacked brains, at least they didn't hold Finn back.
In Evilus, which was full of lunatics, anyone who could execute a plan without going berserk was considered elite, let alone someone who could help formulate one.
Valletta really needs a smart teammate to lighten her burden! Hostility isn't a problem.
Didn't the Loki Familia and Freya Familia almost fight each other every time they met?
Nowadays, one shouldn't fear a god-like opponent, but a idiotic teammate.
Smart people could be negotiated with and predicted, but stupid people are completely unpredictable!
Hmm! Let's test him.
"Eliminate us? Kids these days are hilarious. You know nothing, yet you speak so brazenly. Even the Guild wouldn't dare to say such a thing!"
As if feeling indignant at being looked down upon, Noah snorted and raised his chin slightly.
"That's just their sheer stupidity. They knew your weaknesses were right in front of them, but they didn't know how to exploit them."
Valletta raised her eyebrows slightly. "Oh? You know our weaknesses? You're not just guessing, are you?"
"Guess? Hilarious! First of all, where does your food come from? The only ones who can evade the Guild's inspection and replenish your supplies are those fat-cat merchants!"
Valletta's eyes narrowed, and the corners of her lips curled up.
Although Orario prospered from its monopoly on magic stones, it couldn't escape the inherent drawbacks of large cities.
Due to insufficient farmland and a large population, its food supply had to rely on the outside world.
Evilus was no exception. It was possible to create a few small-scale secret passages into such a large city, but it was nowhere near enough to supply the needs of hundreds or thousands of people.
Evilus could only obtain such supplies thanks to the merchants who made huge profits selling Orario's magic stone products to the world and various commodities back to the labyrinth city.
The only thing that drove merchants to act was profit, which was why they supported Evilus. Although Orario sold various monster drop items and magic stone crafts, it had monopolized the commercial trade of raw magic stones.
This was because if a monster swallowed too many magic stones, it would become a highly dangerous Irregular.
Even in the Dungeon, where adventurers were generally higher-level, every appearance of an Irregular caused massive casualties, to say nothing of the outside world where combat power was generally lower.
Monopolizing the sale of magic stones, like prohibiting first class adventurers from leaving the city at will, were measures taken by the Guild to prevent bringing disaster to the outside world.