"What did you say?"
The catman's expression twisted with disbelief. For a moment, he honestly thought he'd misheard.
This brat… how dare he talk to him like that?
No—this tone wasn't ignorance. It was deliberate.
"Was I wrong?" Xien's voice stayed cold. "This is the last proof that the strongest familia ever existed. You're rushing to erase it—why? Fear?"
"So you can hide something as fast as possible?"
"You bastard—how dare you—!"
The black-haired catman snapped. His fur stood on end.
A day ago, he had seen it—seen the scene with his own eyes.
That helplessness. That fear.
Those weren't things you simply "got over."
He hadn't even participated directly in the fight, but the pressure that figure radiated, and the inhuman level of destruction…
It had carved a deep shadow into him.
He was furious—furious at his own weakness.
As the goddess's chariot, he had actually felt the urge to retreat.
And now this kid had stabbed right into the truth, ripping the scab off in public.
Allen's anger surged.
Xien, on the other hand, kept twisting the knife.
"Did I say anything wrong?" he asked, eyes like ice. "Or do you need to be taught another lesson?"
"…You… what do you know?" Allen's voice dropped, suspicious. "Don't tell me you're… Hera Familia's…?"
"No. That's impossible. They should've been driven out already…"
Hearing that reflexive conclusion, Xien's gaze turned even colder.
"Sorry. Wrong guess, kitty."
"I'm Xien. You do know that name, right?"
"Astraea's 'Walker of Abundance'…?" Allen's face tightened. "Why are you here? What's your connection to those women?"
As a warrior, controlling emotion was mandatory. Xien's abnormal presence triggered his instincts.
Why would a member of Astraea Familia know something this confidential?
Only their two familias should know what happened yesterday…
But Xien didn't answer the question. He wasn't stupid enough to feed information on demand.
"Don't misunderstand," he said. "I'm just complaining."
"Do you have any idea how much trouble your actions caused my familia?"
"What?"
Allen blinked.
"Orario has officially entered an era of chaos," Xien said flatly. "From here on out, the casualty count will skyrocket."
"You did great. Truly. The 'strongest' familias."
Xien's sarcasm choked Allen. He wanted to retort—but couldn't.
Because it was true.
They did have plans to stabilize things, plans he couldn't say aloud… but that didn't change the fact that the immediate cost would be paid in blood by the people who had no say.
"Tch. What would you even understand—"
"You're right," Xien cut in. "What would I understand about 'the strong' deciding everything?"
"After all, it's not you who pays in blood."
"The ordinary people of Orario will pay it for you, won't they?"
Allen's patience hit its limit.
"…Brat. Didn't your captain teach you to show awe when facing someone stronger than you?"
"So you're breaking already?" Xien's smile was razor-thin.
Allen's jaw clenched.
"Sorry," Xien continued. "She did teach me."
"But her exact words were: 'Strong people who deserve respect.'"
"And you're clearly not in that category."
"You—!"
Allen finally snapped. He blurred forward, intending to close the distance and "educate" this mouthy runt with his fists.
"Stop, Allen!"
Allen turned.
A male elf was walking over.
"Hedin," Allen spat. "Don't interfere."
But Hedin ignored him, eyes fixed on Xien.
"The crest of Astraea… and a male." His voice was sharp and formal. "Walker of Abundance, Xien."
"Why are you here?"
"If you came to provoke our authority, then prepare to face Freya Familia's wrath."
Xien answered with a contemptuous laugh.
"Oh? I'm curious—when you faced Silence, did you also act this arrogant?"
Hedin's pupils tightened.
"…You. Do you know something?"
"Who knows?" Xien rolled his shoulders. "We can't stand each other anyway."
"How about we fight?"
Hedin's gaze hardened as Xien casually flexed his wrists, confirming his body was in perfect condition.
"I can interpret that as a formal duel?"
"Yeah," Xien said brightly. "Beat me, and I'll tell you what you want to know."
Hedin's tone turned colder.
"In that case, Freya Familia's dignity cannot be questioned."
"Allen."
A Level 4 was more than enough. Hedin—an intellect-type adventurer—had no desire to bully a Level 2 support adventurer. It was already overkill.
Allen's lips curled.
"Gladly."
"Brat, I'll teach you what it means to respect the strong."
"Come on," Xien taunted. "Little cat that hisses at people."
But Xien wasn't underestimating Allen's strength at all.
Level 4—this was a real gap, even with Xien's recent growth.
And Allen wasn't an ordinary Level 4; he was a Freya Familia executive, a genuine talent among talents.
If you took them lightly, you died.
Allen didn't draw a weapon.
In his mind, using a weapon on a Level 2 healer would be an insult.
He wanted to "correct" Xien with his fists.
That arrogance—assuming the gap guaranteed victory—was his first mistake.
And he paid for it immediately.
Xien opened everything.
Sharingan. Transparent World. Even "One Thought—God and Demon."
In his hands—
Bajiquan intent.
Allen's beastman senses screamed. Danger stabbed into his brain. His vertical pupils shrank to needles—
Too late.
Xien's arm slid around Allen's incoming punch like a coil of rope.
A sweeping kick struck the weak point. Allen's balance broke.
A heavy stomp—his whole body force gathered into a single point.
Xien's palm clamped onto Allen's face.
And with absolute, undeniable power, he smashed him into the ground in a blink.
BOOM.
The impact cracked the floor in a spiderweb nearly two meters wide, radiating from Allen's skull beneath Xien's hand.
"Wha—?!"
Hedin froze.
What did he just see?
Allen—Level 4—was put down in one move.
By a Level 2 healer?
Had the world gone insane?
No—wrong.
That strength wasn't Level 2.
That was Level 3… no, at least Level 4-class output.
But that was even more impossible.
Didn't this boy only reach Level 2 a few days ago?
And that technique—what was it? How did he lock Allen down so completely?
"AAAAH—YOU BASTARD—!"
Allen's head throbbed, but the pain didn't matter.
What mattered was the humiliation tearing him apart.
He'd been slammed—by a healer kid who was supposed to be harmless?
A divine joke.
He tried to rise.
But he couldn't.
That force wasn't "huge"—it was perfect.
His joints were pinned. His power had nowhere to go.
He could only rage helplessly.
"Heh." Xien looked down at him. "So this is Freya Familia's executive level?"
"Kind of… disappointing."
"You…" Hedin's voice sharpened. "What are you?"
"Astraea's Xien," Xien said lightly. "Just a mere healer."
He lifted his foot slightly, as if reminding Allen how far beneath him he lay.
"Careful."
"Don't let me catch up too fast—otherwise today won't be this gentle, senior adventurers."
Allen kept struggling, trying to force himself up.
Xien decided to make him quiet.
He tapped a precise point—Allen's body went slack.
Half an hour, at minimum.
Xien stood, dusted his hands off, and turned away under Hedin's stare.
Hedin didn't pursue.
Because he felt it—a faint, irrational sense of threat.
And because Xien's confidence was wrong.
It was the kind of calm you wore when you knew more than the other side did.
Hedin hated that kind of asymmetry.
He crouched by Allen, brow furrowing.
Why wasn't he getting up?
That blow shouldn't have been fatal.
Far away, Xien walked with both hands behind his head, relaxed.
He felt good.
No regret whatsoever.
As for retaliation?
Freya Familia's strongest was Level 6.
At this point, Xien wasn't helpless even against that—even with three levels of difference.
If they wanted to go feral and fight to the end, Xien had ways to make them pay—if they were willing to burn everything they'd gained for it.
Right now, though, the real problem wasn't them.
It was the rats.
The dark faction's movements were still unclear. He had leads, but only leads.
Hunting them directly would waste time and energy.
So Xien chose a different approach.
The commission he'd asked Eina to post was one piece of his net.
On top of that: patrols, free clinics, accelerating the production of a new "spirit medicine," and training—
For the next stretch of time, he would respond to change with stillness, and let the enemy reveal themselves.
Come on, trash.
Let me see what you can do.
Making medicine wasn't the hard part—Xien's knowledge base was already sufficient.
The problem was cost.
He wanted something affordable. Something that could be used widely.
He already had an idea.
"Orange Cat," he asked internally, "can the power of Abundance be refined into a permanent-effect special medicine?"
"It can, meow," the system replied. "You can repeatedly test different power ratios infused into simple potions until you reach the effect you want. But you'll need continuous trials, meow."
"Good." Xien's eyes narrowed. "And—upgrade my Sharingan to three tomoe."
"Understood. That'll be 2,000 Interference Points, meow! Collected!"
Heat surged through his eyes.
The Sharingan manifested on its own, spinning—
And the third tomoe formed.
At last, the eyes could display their full baseline power.
Xien's combat capability climbed again.
Other abilities could be refined through effort.
But ocular power?
If there was a clean upgrade path, he was willing to pay.
Not because he feared pain—
Because he hated tragedy.
Even if he had ways to patch it after the fact, nobody liked living through it.
He would rather prevent than repair.
He exhaled and asked, "How much to reach Mangekyō?"
"10,000 points, meow!"
"That expensive? Because the abilities are beyond standard limits?"
"Exactly, meow!"
It made sense.
From Mangekyō onward, the abilities were outright abnormal.
Amaterasu. Tsukuyomi. Susanoo…
By performance alone, they were comparable to—or potentially beyond—this world's grand magic.
And worse: they were instant, controllable, and precise.
Unlike many wide-area grand spells that were nearly indiscriminate and constrained by huge chant times—like the Nine Hell's long incantations that could only be used in deep dungeon conditions.
Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi could be fired immediately, with adjustable range and intensity.
Even the Black Dragon likely wouldn't find those pleasant.
But acquiring them wouldn't be simple.
The price was brutal.
"And isn't there a 'vision loss' limitation?" Xien muttered. "Shouldn't that count as incomplete?"
"Yes, meow," Orange Cat answered. "But power has never been easy. If you want Mangekyō directly, it won't come cheap."
Xien clicked his tongue.
If he ever bought Mangekyō, he would have to upgrade to Eternal Mangekyō after—unlike the original world, he had no blood relative to harvest eyes from.
Otherwise, he'd go blind.
…Could Abundance heal that?
If it could, he might delay the Eternal step.
If not, then it was non-negotiable.
"Fine," Xien said at last. "Having a growth channel is already plenty. I can't be greedy."
"Correct, host!" Orange Cat chimed. "So I recommend gaining power through your own growth path—for example, advancing your profession!"
"Yeah," Xien agreed quietly. "Enough."
He lay back, letting the day's tension loosen from his shoulders.
"Sleep," he ordered himself. "Tomorrow will be busy."
"Good night, meow!"
"Good night."
....
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