"Thank you, Lady Istaroth!"
The figure gradually dissipating in the sky was naturally seen by Barbara. She had originally thought she could only borrow the power of those existences, but she didn't expect that she had actually summoned the person herself?
Although the time was very short, at least the goal was achieved. Under the power of the Ruler of Time, Ishtar's time was constantly regressing.
As for what she would regress into... who knows?
It's estimated that only the Ruler of Time, Istaroth herself, would know. Anyway, Barbara herself didn't figure it out either.
Today's matter could be considered completely over. As long as she returned to the Familia smoothly, no one would know that today's matter was done by her.
"Did you see that, Lady Ishtar?"
"I saved all the people here!"
"But next, there might be some chaos..."
Barbara looked out at the distant Pleasure Quarter, her figure gradually disappearing into the air, because the Pleasure Quarter had already started to become noisy.
"What's going on? What was that beam of light just now?"
"It seems to be a deity's repatriation? Why would it be at this time?"
"Which god was repatriated?"
The beam of light during a deity's repatriation naturally could not be hidden from anyone. The deities and people in the Pleasure Quarter almost lifted their heads at the same time.
Even some people who were 'working' stopped their physical movements, and their faces became ugly.
That's right, it was the women of the Ištar Familia, and most of them were Amazons.
The Amazons felt the weakening of their power almost the moment the beam of light left the ground, which is why their expressions changed drastically.
A deity's repatriation meant the failure of the Falna. Although a small part of the power they had trained for many years would be preserved, most of it would be sealed.
If they didn't find a new master, they would easily fall into danger. After all, people in the Pleasure Quarter... those who know, know.
If one were to be dragged back by certain familiar customers, they might end up living in a basement for the rest of their life. The Pleasure Quarter is just that dark!
"My power... is gone?"
"The one who was sent back is Lady Ishtar!"
After a brief silence, the entire Pleasure Quarter became bustling. Everyone who ran a shop along the street became panicked, and they all fled the Pleasure Quarter almost at the same time.
There was also a small group who had been charmed by Ishtar. Even though the goddess had already left, they still had no intention of giving up and walked toward the Ištar Familia headquarters, attempting to find the vanished goddess, even though it was all in vain.
—
"What's going on? Is it an attack by the Dark Faction?"
The blonde Male God Hermes stood on high ground with his familia, his expression very serious.
"The Loki Familia just returned from the Dungeon, and it hasn't even been a day, yet the Pleasure Quarter has suffered such an attack... It's hard not to connect these two events."
"As expected, the wheels of time have started turning once again. What kind of fate will Orario head toward next?"
"Will it be like seven or eight years ago, breaking and then rebuilding to move toward a new life? Or will it completely fall into the abyss?"
"Let us wait and see..."
When Hermes was serious, he did look quite handsome, but the familia behind him looked at him with dead fish eyes.
"Lord Hermes, even if you say that, it doesn't change the fact that you were planning to go play in the Pleasure Quarter..."
Hermes didn't care at all about his follower's sarcasm, and he even became unserious again.
"Haha, you know me best, Asfi."
"But after all, why the Pleasure Quarter? That Ishtar should have been a good partner for the Dark Faction. Why would she be sent back?"
"I can't figure it out!"
"But for now, let's watch the show first. Maybe we can learn something from it... or maybe not?"
There were actually many other gods like Hermes watching the show.
Ever since Ishtar was sent back, those gods had retreated outside the Pleasure Quarter at top speed and began to observe the situation there.
Some gods just liked chaos, while others genuinely intended to see something from it...
Another location.
"Ishtar was actually destroyed..."
"That's right, that god should have died back when Hera was still around!"
"I didn't expect her to disappear only today... Truly retribution!"
Although the white-haired woman had her eyes closed, she could feel the situation inside the Pleasure Quarter, so her tone inevitably carried a hint of joy.
After all, as long as one is a normal woman, one would absolutely not like a place like the Pleasure Quarter!
"Only those people from the Zeus Familia would like this place..."
"But for now, there are more important things to do."
The white-haired woman didn't look at the Pleasure Quarter again; instead, she turned her head and walked toward a place that was both familiar and strange in her memories.
"Resurrection?"
"If nothing unexpected happened, it must be the work of the Deliverer."
—
Besides that, many people were lingering near the Pleasure Quarter.
But their thoughts weren't wrong, because the perpetrator of all this, Barbara, had indeed not left the vicinity of the Pleasure Quarter; instead, she had snuck into the core area.
Because just as the young girl was preparing to leave, she suddenly thought of a certain person... that might not be quite right, it should be a certain fox.
"Almost forgot about you, Sanjouno Haruhime!"
In the DanMachi World, there was a fox-person girl known as the "Harlot Fox" who possessed extraordinary magic.
That was the ability to increase an Adventurer's level for a short time!
In this city where most Adventurers were Level 1 and Level 2, it was impossible for anyone not to know what being able to increase levels meant.
Especially for those familias with top-tier Adventurers, it was a trump card capable of overturning any disadvantage. Even with the time limit, it was extremely exaggerated.
"So, I'm coming in?"
After locking onto the fox-person girl's location, Barbara immediately flashed to the outside of a venue's window and easily opened the door to enter.
Unlike the outside, the room appeared exceptionally tidy. Haruhime did not seem to have fallen into a panic because the goddess Ishtar had been sent back...
Because she had already fallen unconscious!
Although she was full of jokes, whenever it came time to do the real thing, Haruhime would always fall unconscious due to being too shy.
If you were a customer, and just as you were about to do the real thing, you discovered the girl in front of you had fainted, and no matter how you called her, there was no response.
What would you think at that moment?
Is she sick, or is it a honey trap?
Therefore, all along, Haruhime had been a "pure" girl, never truly tarnished by the Ištar Familia.
This time was the same; the fox girl didn't understand anything and just inexplicably fell into a coma.
And Barbara directly manipulated a breeze, gradually lifting the little fox.
"If your ability were exposed, it would probably cause a lot of trouble, right?"
"So, come with me!"
Barbara, carrying the unconscious fox-person girl, slowly disappeared into the air...
Above the sky.
"I... fainted again?"
Sanjouno Haruhime slowly opened her eyes, but what came into view was not the familiar ceiling, but a starry sky shimmering with countless points of light, which was truly beautiful.
How many times had Haruhime gazed at the sky from within the Pleasure Quarter, dreaming of the world outside, but because she was kept by the Goddess of Beauty, she had never been able to truly leave.
But today, the young girl suddenly realized...
She was free?
"Are you awake?"
"Rest assured, I have brought you out of the Pleasure Quarter, and from now on, you won't have to live there anymore."
Although the voice did not sound like it belonged to an adult, Haruhime felt an unprecedented warmth and peace of mind.
"Who are you...?"
Only then did Haruhime realize that she seemed to have been taken out of the Pleasure Quarter by someone, but she just stared blankly at everything in front of her, unable to say a word.
"I'm Barbara! And you?"
Under the starry sky, the young girl's golden hair shimmered with a few points of light, making her look not like a human, but rather like a deity under the moon.
At this moment, it was as if only one person remained in Haruhime's eyes...
"My name is Sanjouno Haruhime..."
"Thank you, Lord Hero!"
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