Chapter 126: Helping Just to Avoid Trouble (Bonus)

The Amazoness girl was sent flying several meters, Bell's shoe print stamped across her face.

The kick wasn't particularly forceful, but it was deeply humiliating.

And that was exactly Bell's intention this time—to humiliate her.

He walked toward her step by step, then crouched slightly as he looked down at the woman, who couldn't even muster the strength to crawl.

"I believe I said this just now: 'You can fight all you want, but why invade the territory of our Familia?'"

"I'm not interested in why you're fighting, but you picked the wrong place. And what was that attitude just now? Were you trying to provoke me into killing you?"

"Is this how a Level 3 behaves?"

The Amazoness girl lifted her head, her face filled with humiliation. Bell could tell she refused to acknowledge her defeat, instead blaming it on being poisoned.

But she didn't even understand how she'd been poisoned in the first place.

Bell had no intention of explaining. He wasn't like Gojou; he had no interest in exposing his own intel.

'Survival of the fittest… huh.'

Bell stood up and turned to leave. Once he had walked far enough to avoid being splashed with blood, he snapped his fingers.

A massive arm of stone surged from the ground. The Amazoness girl's expression twisted in horror.

She tried to flee, but her body was too weak to even support her.

The stone arm clenched into a fist and crashed down on her.

"Pia!"

The sound was like a watermelon bursting. Blood splattered in all directions, turning the scene into something straight out of hell.

Yet the ground rippled silently. The blow made no sound upon impact, instead pulling the Amazoness girl into the earth along with the bloody spectacle, as if hell itself had been swallowed whole.

"So, now I'm the stronger one."

Bell's gaze swept across the remaining Amazoness girls. They all shivered, spines going cold, but none of them looked away.

He withdrew his gaze and simply ignored them.

Since they hadn't tried to kill him, and they hadn't shown much intent to pursue him, retaliating further would only cheapen his response to their actions.

He headed straight toward Aisha, who had also collapsed on the ground.

All the Amazoness girls had bronze-colored skin—perhaps matching the fierce lives they led.

Bell glanced at Aisha's ankle, bruised and swollen with a sickly purple hue. He crouched down and touched the spot with his fingertips. The bruising faded almost instantly.

'It's healed? Healing magic?'

Aisha stared at her ankle in shock. It had been throbbing with pain moments ago, but now it didn't hurt at all.

Facing her gaze, Bell stood up calmly.

"Be more careful next time. Don't go barging into someone else's territory."

"And by the way, no one outside can hear cries for help from in here."

With that, Bell turned to leave. He'd never intended to get involved in some brawl between women. If it hadn't been Aisha Belka and Sanjouno Haruhime in trouble, he wouldn't have cared if everyone outside died.

But since it was those two, he had no choice.

After all, it was the Hestia Familia that had traded information about them to Loki. If they ended up dead right outside Hestia's doorstep, Bell had no doubt Loki would come knocking.

"Why did you save us?"

Aisha looked at the man about to leave, confused as to why he would help them.

Bell didn't turn around.

"I don't know you at all, but our Familia has strong ties with Loki. If you ended up getting killed, Loki might come after me."

"!?"

Aisha was taken aback. How did he know something like that?

But before she could ask, she realized he was already gone.

Her limbs, which had felt weak just moments ago, were regaining strength, and even the pain from the serious wound on her back had eased.

'That weakness… it felt like an illusion.'

'Wasn't that some kind of poison magic?'

'No… If it really were poison, my abnormal resistance should've reacted somehow.'

'And judging by how my injuries are healing now… that wasn't poisoning. It was… healing.'

Realizing this left Aisha speechless. What kind of bizarre healing magic was that?

Still, her ankle and back were healed—that alone was worth being thankful for.

She glanced at the spot where her comrade had died, then turned to the others who were still frozen in place.

"Like I said before, the Ishtar Familia is finished."

"Because of that child, Loki won't let Ishtar off the hook."

The others exchanged looks and sighed helplessly.

"We're well aware of that."

"But Aisha… you didn't have to leak that kid's information, right?"

Aisha sighed, preparing to set things straight.

"...Why are you all assuming I'm the one who leaked it?"

"When Loki summoned me, she already knew about the kid through other sources."

"Huh? You didn't leak it, Aisha?"

Everyone had assumed she was the one who betrayed them. But judging by her reaction, that clearly wasn't the case.

"I was actually wondering if it was one of you."

That's exactly what Aisha had been thinking. After all, Haruhime was the Familia's biggest secret—only those inside could have known. If she didn't leak the info, then someone else among them must have.

They looked at one another in confusion. No one seemed guilty. It was obvious none of them had betrayed the Ishtar Familia.

Watching their reactions closely, Aisha confirmed they hadn't spread the information. That meant someone else had.

"I won't say much more, just this: do not go back to the Ishtar Familia."

"This time, the Ishtar Familia is involved in a deal with the Evilus."

"!?"

Every Amazoness present looked like their eyes were about to pop out. None of them had expected Ishtar to be connected to the Evilus.

"I… The Ishtar Familia is involved with the Evilus? Ishtar-sama must've lost her mind!"

"Otherwise, where do you think all those Pallums and Elves showing up in the Pleasure District recently came from?"

The room fell into stunned silence.

They had all noticed the sudden influx of Pallums and Elves in the Pleasure District lately, but it never occurred to them that the Evilus might be behind it.

"Come on, let's go."

Aisha urged her former comrades to leave. This wasn't the time to hesitate.

"Once Ishtar is sent back to Tenkai, then look for another Familia to join. But for now, keep your heads down."

"...Right. See you, Aisha."

Now that they knew about the Ishtar Familia's connection to the Evilus, they all understood they had to make a choice.

Should they return and face the consequences alongside Ishtar? Or leave now, wait for the chaos to settle, and then find a new Familia?

Almost everyone made the same decision in that moment.