Roy didn't miss the greedy gazes of the Ikelos thugs, but he didn't care. A legendary weapon in the hands of a weakling is a death sentence, but he was no weakling. If they wanted to try their luck, the minced meat on the floor was their future.
Something else caught his attention as well. As the Spirit Soldier fell, wisps of bloody mist rose from the remains and were absorbed by the Ghost King's Armor on his chest. The armor seemed to pulse with life, glowing with a faint red light and emitting a low, rhythmic heartbeat.
[Absorbed "Spirit Soldier (LV.5)" Essence. Ghost King's Armor quality upgraded to High-grade!]
Roy's eyes flashed with delight. This was an unexpected bonus. Since the Spirit Soldier had no sanity, it met the armor's absorption criteria perfectly. The Level 5 essence had single-handedly pushed the armor from Low-grade to High-grade. He finally understood: the materials from Muzan only provided the framework; the armor needed the blood of a thousand beasts and monsters to reach its final Legendary potential.
Roy deactivated the Synchronization Contract and his Adventure ability. A wave of exhaustion hit him, making him feel like he was falling from a mountaintop into a canyon. He forced his body to remain upright, keeping his expression cold and unyielding.
"We won, Lord Ikelos!" Roy declared.
Ikelos's "best of three" deal was dead. Two of his Level 5 combatants had been crushed. The Astraea Familia was the victor.
Ikelos was speechless for a moment, but to a god of his temperament, this twist was just another form of entertainment. He burst into high-pitched laughter. "Hahaha! How fascinating!"
His laughter echoed through the tunnel before finally subsiding. "Truly, I have no choice. This matter ends here. Neither I nor my children will trouble you further... but that only applies to 'Me and My Familia'."
Splash. Splash. Splash.
The sound of footsteps in water echoed from the darkness. Under the gaze of the group, hundreds of figures stepped out from the shadows—many of them Level 3 and Level 4 adventurers, armed to the teeth and wearing cruel smirks. They surrounded Roy's group.
"Ikelos!" Astraea's face filled with fury.
"Now, Astraea, these people aren't members of my Familia," Ikelos said smoothly. "Just moments ago, they converted to the banner of another god. So, technically, this has nothing to do with me!"
Ryu and Daphne trembled with rage. What a loathsome god, playing such cheap word games. Roy, however, just shook his head. It was exactly what he expected.
One of the men shouted, "Boys, the 'revenge for our brothers' part is over. Now comes the looting!"
"Oooooh!" the mob roared.
Ikelos chuckled. "Don't blame me, Astraea. The wealth you've accumulated is just too tempting. No matter how much I tried to persuade them, they just wouldn't listen."
"Revenge" was just a cover for plunder. Between their cash and high-end gear, the Astraea Familia's assets were worth over a billion Valis. Put simply, their strength didn't match their wealth—the Loki or Freya Familias were richer, but no one dared mess with them.
"Astraea," Ikelos continued, acting like he was giving friendly advice, "leave the money, the gear, and especially that sword Roy is holding, and maybe you'll walk out alive."
The thugs closed in. To them, Roy and his companions were rats in a trap. To their surprise, Roy remained perfectly calm. Even the newcomers, Daphne and Cassandra, showed only tension, not fear. They trusted Roy implicitly.
"Lord Ikelos," Roy said, his voice quiet. "Knowing there was an ambush, why do you think we followed you in here?"
His calm voice was like a bucket of ice water dumped on the mob, chilling their feverish brains. Things had gone so smoothly they hadn't bothered to ask that question. They had been too busy dreaming about how to spend a billion Valis in the Red Light District.
"Don't panic!" an Ikelos executive shouted. "He's just bluffing!"
The thugs wanted to believe him, but was the Astraea Familia full of idiots? Obviously not. A goddess who had lived for eons, a Level 5 Gale, and a Sprout of Justice who had spent months turning Orario upside down—none of them were easy targets.
Roy shouted, "Captain Finn! The show is over. It's time to earn your paycheck!"
From the moment Roy's group left the arena, the Soma and Loki Familias had been tailing them, sealing off the area above ground. Just as Roy finished speaking, a thunderous roar erupted.
BOOM!
With a massive shockwave, Gareth used his axe to literally split the earth from above. A massive fissure extended a hundred meters, allowing sunlight to pour into the dark drainage tunnel. The thugs squinted, blinded by the sudden light, but they didn't have to squint for long.
Dozens of figures leapt down through the rift, forming a protective circle around Roy's group. Finn, Riveria, Gareth, Aiz, Bete, Tione, Tiona, Raul... a roster of elite high-level adventurers appeared, followed by a countless number of Level 1s and 2s.
Roy had only paid for the Level 4s and up, but Finn had given him "extra service" by bringing the whole crew. This lineup was a death sentence for the Ikelos Familia.
"The Loki Familia?! Why are they here?!" a thug screamed, his face pale.
Roy smiled. "Nothing much. I just spent 150 million Valis to hire them as my personal bodyguards for the day."
150 million Valis. At the mention of that number, even the smelly drainage tunnel seemed to smell like gold. The Ikelos thugs felt their hearts shatter. You would rather spend 150 million on the Loki Familia than just pay us off?! If you gave us that money, we could've been drinking with girls right now!
Roy's sneer deepened. Pay them off? Ridiculous. That would only encourage them. He'd rather drop half a billion Valis to see them wiped out.
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Danmachi : Starting with an Elf (388 Chapter – Ongoing)
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