Chapter 208: SFDI: Chapter 208
"Curtain Call" Phryne, being the leader of the Ishtar Familia, immediately spurred the other battle prostitutes into action upon seeing her
"Curtain Call"
Phryne, being the leader of the Ishtar Familia, immediately spurred the other battle prostitutes into action upon seeing her fall.
Bolts of lightning and fiery spears, unleashed from their magic swords, flew towards Drake.
Drake reacted instantly, catching a fiery spear and crushing it with a forceful squeeze of his fingers; the fragmented flames clinging to his hand.
He then used his now flame-wreathed palm to effortlessly swat away the lightning bolt.
Drake stretched his shoulders, his gaze sweeping across the battle prostitutes whose faces were etched with terror. He spoke, "While I doubt it will have any effect, I’ll say it one more time!
Stand aside! I’m only here for the person who orchestrated all of this."
Aisha, having consumed a universal healing potion, approached, dragging her greatsword behind her, her gaze fixed on Drake without uttering a single word.
The other battle prostitutes showed no sign of relinquishing their weapons.
"Very well. I understand your answer."
Drake shook his head, and in the next instant, he appeared amidst the crowd, initiating a one-sided, merciless assault.
Even against the combined might of several dozen battle prostitutes, Drake required only a minimal amount of time to subdue them all, swiftly bringing them down one after another.
Drake released his grip on the neck of a short-haired Amazon, allowing her to collapse limply onto the ground.
Only Drake and the cloaked Sanjouno Haruhime remained standing.
Drake approached Sanjouno Haruhime, observing her trembling form, as though he were some kind of malevolent demon.
After glancing back at the battle prostitutes scattered across the floor, Drake wasn’t surprised by the level of fear she was exhibiting.
However, Drake noticed that the fox girl quickly regained her composure, and her subsequent reaction was quite peculiar.
Raising her head, she revealed a pair of luminous, emerald green eyes.
"As expected," she stated, "For a hero who would selflessly risk their life to save their companions, prostitutes are merely enemies, utterly unworthy of being rescued."
In the hero legends that Sanjouno Haruhime had read, prostitutes were consistently portrayed as shameless and unscrupulous villains.
More than the fear that coursed through her veins, Sanjouno Haruhime was consumed by a profound sadness at having been reduced to such a role.
There was nothing more utterly despairing than the realization of this harsh truth for someone who had always yearned for the rescuing hand of a hero.
Observing the sadness that clouded Sanjouno Haruhime’s emerald eyes, Drake reached out and placed his hand gently upon the top of her head.
"What kind of nonsense is that?! They harmed my companions, therefore, they are my enemies. What does being a prostitute have to do with anything?
If one were truly a hero, they would come to the aid of anyone in need, regardless of their background or social standing!"
Sanjouno Haruhime looked at Drake with hopeful eyes.
"Even someone like Sanjouno Haruhime, a prostitute, would be deserving of such aid?"
Drake nodded.
"While I don’t consider myself to be some kind of hero, if you are willing..."
As he spoke, Drake used his fingers to grasp the choker around Sanjouno Haruhime’s neck, a magical tool used for restraint.
With a surge of magical power, he violently shattered the device.
The choker disintegrated into countless points of light that vanished into the air.
"I will restore your freedom immediately,"
With that declaration, Drake set off towards the direction in which Ishtar had fled.
The time had come to bring an end to all of this.
Ascending the spiraling staircase, Drake found Ishtar standing with a group of people behind her, effectively blocking his path.
Ishtar gritted her teeth.
"What more do you intend to do? Don’t forget, I am a goddess."
However, upon observing that Drake hadn’t even slowed his pace, Ishtar’s tone immediately softened.
"There’s no need for things to escalate to this point. Let’s call it a day, before things get any worse, shall we?"
Drake looked at her coldly.
"Ishtar-sama still fails to comprehend that matters which may be insignificant to a god are often more precious than life itself to us mortals.
I will not gamble the safety of my companions on the whim of Ishtar-sama’s temperament. Therefore, I must insist that you return to the heavens!"
Upon hearing Drake’s uncompromising words, Ishtar’s reaction was surprisingly different from her previous displays of furious indignation.
"Is that so? Then I shall... What are you waiting for?"
Ishtar’s words were not, of course, directed at Drake; they were merely a calculated attempt to distract him.
The moment she finished speaking, a figure emerged from the shadows behind Drake.
It was a human male, his upper body bare, his expression devoid of emotion as he aimed a short sword at Drake’s neck.
Tammuz, the only male member of the Ishtar Familia, and an adventurer of Level 4.
He was the same individual who had been publicly cuckolded by Freya in the original storyline.
Before the short sword could even make contact, Drake sensed the cursed energy emanating from the blade.
A cursed weapon? Considering Ishtar’s close ties to the Dark Faction—she was, after all, their most significant benefactor—acquiring one or two cursed weapons would hardly be surprising.
Furthermore, the power emanating from this particular short sword was exceptionally ominous; the curse it carried was likely a high-level instant-death spell.
However, even the most potent curse would be useless if it failed to connect with its target! Even if it were a surprise attack, it was utterly delusional for a Level 4 adventurer to believe that they could inflict any meaningful injury upon Drake.
Before Tammuz could even get close enough to Drake, he was sent flying backwards by a sudden eruption of flames, crashing through a nearby wall and leaving the short sword lying discarded on the ground.
Drake turned his attention back to Ishtar.
"Is that the best you can do? If so, then I implore you to return to the heavens with peace of mind."
Ishtar glared defiantly at Drake.
"I refuse to believe that you would truly dare to lay a hand upon a goddess!"
Drake took a single step forward, the flames engulfing his body intensifying to the point that they threatened to breach the very ceiling of the palace.
He was about to demonstrate to Ishtar just how far he was willing to go.
"Enough!"
At that precise moment, a voice boomed from behind Drake, and upon hearing that voice, the flames that enveloped Drake’s body instantly subsided.
Drake turned to see Hephaestus, accompanied by a throng of her Familia’s blacksmiths, striding towards him.
Hephaestus approached Drake, her gaze briefly resting upon him.
"You fool," she said, "This is not some personal vendetta of yours."
"Hephaestus..." Drake began, but Hephaestus raised her hand to interrupt him.
"I will handle the rest," she declared.
With that, Hephaestus turned her attention to Ishtar. "Ishtar, let us have a little chat."
The moment Ishtar saw Hephaestus, her demeanor immediately shifted to one of arrogance. "Hephaestus, you’ve arrived just in the nick of time. Quickly restrain your rabid dog!"
Hephaestus didn’t bother to respond; instead, she performed an action that left everyone present utterly speechless.
She delivered a resounding slap to Ishtar’s face, sending the goddess sprawling to the ground.
Although her divine power was sealed, Hephaestus was, after all, the goddess of smiths, and the strength she possessed from years of wielding a hammer was not to be trifled with.
Hephaestus spoke coldly, "Ishtar, are you laboring under some kind of delusion? You dared to kidnap one of my Familia’s members, and you actually thought I had come here to negotiate a peaceful resolution?
Do you truly believe that you can underestimate blacksmiths to such an extent?!"
As Hephaestus delivered her scathing rebuke, every single one of the blacksmiths who had accompanied her drew their magic swords.
And it wasn’t just one sword per person; each blacksmith was wielding two magic swords in each hand.
This was precisely the reason why the Hephaestus Familia was known throughout all of Orario as a force not to be trifled with; the sheer destructive power that these blacksmiths were capable of unleashing was comparable to, if not greater than, that of the Loki Familia’s elite magic artillery unit.
Hephaestus then made her intentions perfectly clear.
"We... are here to utterly destroy you!"
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