Chapter 444

Chapter 451: Tiny Discrepancies (Please Subscribe!)

As Izay entered the port city of Merun, twilight had already begun its descent below the horizon.

Orario was currently in late winter, a time when spring’s revival was eagerly awaited.

But spring hadn’t fully arrived yet; traces of winter’s routine still lingered.

Naturally, the evening twilight faded earlier than usual.

The brackish lake shivered under a moist breeze, ripples spreading like trembling waves, tides crashing against the shore, heralding the start of a long night.

At this moment, Izay had no interest in admiring the scenery.

After entering the small town of Merun, he activated the perception effect of the ‘Zodiac Disk’, encompassing the entire town within his senses.

Many shadowy figures were constantly moving through dark alleys, carrying various items, their destination being the vast docks on the west side of Merun port.

Through the branches distributed along the central avenue… more accurately, on rooftops near the port, Ais was also rushing there with companions like Alisia.

On the west side of Merun, besides the docks, there was also a massive shipyard.

Inside the shipyard, the Tione and Tiona sisters had been separated by a few Amazonians.

From the Dou country, two Level 6 warriors faced off against the two sisters, one each.

The elder sister complied with her opponent’s wishes, heading to a large ship docked at the port, about to set sail; the younger sister followed another group of Amazons into a grove close to the lakeshore.

It seemed they didn’t want the sisters fighting together, or perhaps it was a requirement for Dou’s ritual—Tione and Tiona were separated.

Izay wasn’t overly worried about their safety.

After all, the two Level 6s from Dou had only reached that level in the past two to three years. In his personal opinion, the four individuals were evenly matched.

In fact, thanks to the {Experience Ornaments}, Tione and Tiona might even have stronger fundamentals.

What concerned Izay more was Ais’ situation.

Ais and her group, who had chased to the docks, were already engaged in battle with the carnivorous flowers released, and their opponents included a large group of similarly-skinned Amazons as well as four whole Level 5s!

“Dou really knows how to hide their cards…”

Izay swept his perception over the Amazons, clearly distinguishing two groups. As expected, they were teams from Ishtar Familia and Kali Familia.

As for those four Level 5 adventurers, aside from one toad he recognized, Izay didn’t know the other three.

They were likely warriors cultivated by Dou…

A nation with a large population base, adopting a “bug-farming” method of combat and sharpening their tools, able to produce two Level 6s, would naturally have an abundance of Level 5 warriors!

Remember, those two Level 6s, before their promotion while pursuing the “feat” of upgrading, directly fought and killed two Level 5s!

In Orario, first-tier adventurers treasured beyond measure, in Dou, were used as nourishment.

Extremely ironic, but it also demonstrated the strength of this nation, whose national power far surpassed that of the war god Ares, who frequently attacked Orario.

Even in Orario, only Loki Familia and Freya Familia could hold their own.

Additionally, Izay located Refia, that clumsy idiot.

She was currently some distance from the port city of Merun, inside a sea-erosion cave near the coast, which was Tiona’s destination. There, one of Dou’s Level 6s and a higher deity were waiting.

“Should I go save Refia, or help Ais?”

After a brief moment of thought, Izay quickly made his decision.

“Help Ais.”

In the picture he saw through magic, Refia was merely tied up and unable to move freely, with a few people guarding her, but she was safe.

The higher deity from Dou had no intention of causing any trouble and harming her, merely wanting to use her to lure out their target—the Tiona sisters.

Meanwhile, at the port docks, Ais and her group had already engaged the enemy.

Loki had taken Riviria and a small part of the team to chase after the masterminds behind the Merun incident, leaving them short of one Level 6 support. With just Ais and Alisia holding off four Level 5s, the situation was somewhat dire due to certain reasons…

…

At the port docks.

The first danger to appear here was a large number of carnivorous flowers.

More than ten long-bodied monsters burst through the cargo storage area, their colorful petals blooming, their monstrous jaws shocking the peaceful port.

“Ugh, ughhhhhhhhh!”

The carnivorous flowers appeared right in the middle of the port, extremely close to the bustling trade zone. Seeing the towering bodies reaching towards the sky, the sailors remaining at the port screamed and fled.

Faced with the choice between helping her companions forced to board ships and leave the land, or aiding ordinary people attacked by the carnivorous flowers, Ais hesitated for just a moment before choosing the latter.

The kindness in the young girl’s heart wouldn’t allow her to ignore those ordinary people who could be saved.

She also believed in herself and Tione’s strength.

She was confident she could quickly defeat these carnivorous flowers… Tione was so strong, surely nothing would happen to her easily.

“Hooooooouuuuuu～！”

The death cries of a broken gong reached the heavens as Ais and Alisia swiftly dealt with all the carnivorous flowers.

“The monsters are all gone!”

“What’s the damage?”

“Many goods have been destroyed, but no one is injured. The townsfolk have been evacuated!”

With Navi leading the charge, the voices of the members echoed continuously throughout the cargo storage area.

To be fair, many of the members present, as part of Loki Familia, weren’t inexperienced when it came to dealing with carnivorous flowers.

Even those who hadn’t personally encountered these new species had received plenty of individual data from their comrades, giving them theoretical experience.

Thanks to this, handling the carnivorous flowers wasn’t difficult for them.

The battle ended in mere minutes.

However, at the same time, Ais noticed a tiny discrepancy.

If one had to put it into words, it was the intuition honed by years of high-level adventuring.

Somewhere along the line, all the lights in the dock area had been extinguished, and the darkness did not seem calm.

(Something else is coming…)

Just as if to confirm her suspicion, she heard what sounded like a frog-like mockery.

“Attack!”

“!?”

A sudden voice cut through the darkness, followed by countless figures leaping into the air.

“Ambush!?”

Figures that must’ve been hiding nearby since earlier raised their weapons, swinging them down at the startled members of Loki Familia.

From inside the warehouses, the shadows of damaged goods, and even the rooftops near the docks, various weapons gleamed faintly in the moonlight, their numbers overwhelming.

“Are they Amazonians? Kali Familia!?”

All the enemies had their faces covered with headscarves, revealing only brown skin below the neck, wearing clothing prioritizing mobility with minimal armor.

They were definitely Amazonians… and the ones staying in Merun were none other than the Kali Familia who had clashed with everyone just a few days ago. That’s what Alisia and the others thought.

Except one…

The fox-girl who had recently advanced to Level 2, now qualified to act alongside the Familia, trembled her tail.

“A-Aisha-neechan…”