Chapter 110: Chapter 110
"Whoa, the Man-Eater is here."
"That toad woman... quick, get farther away."
"My eyes! My eyes!"
The people around the arena were first startled by the thunderous voice.
But once they confirmed who had arrived, they immediately backed away in fear.
The male adventurers, in particular, practically scrambled away in panic.
Their reaction was entirely because Phryne’s nickname, "Man-Eater," was still infamous throughout Orario.
If she took a liking to them, both their body and soul would suffer a massive impact!
No.
Calling it "suffering" was too gentle.
Devastation was more accurate!
According to reliable rumors in Orario, many of the men Phryne set her eyes on had been squeezed dry to death.
The moment those men imagined that face and body pressing down on them, they felt an urge to die on the spot.
Although Phryne’s attention was currently focused on Kiriya, who knew whether she might suddenly feel inspired and come for them instead?
So the adventurers hurriedly retreated, looking almost as if they were fleeing on all fours.
The male gods reacted even more directly.
The contrast was simply too great, and the visual shock hit them full force!
If the beautiful women who appeared earlier had made the men feel as if they were standing in a pink paradise, then Phryne’s arrival was like Cthulhu descending to the world.
One look was enough to make them feel as if their minds had been polluted, and they could not help but cover their eyes and screaming.
Yet Phryne herself had absolutely no self-awareness.
She stood there laughing proudly.
"Gua, gua, gua! As expected, my beauty is unmatched! The gods and men are all stunned by me."
As she spoke, she even twisted her bulky body into an "S" shape and blew a kiss toward the male audience.
"UAGHHHHH—!"
The sound of retching rose one after another.
That only made Phryne even more pleased!
"See that, Sylvan? My charm is irresistible! Just surrender quietly. I can forgive your offense from last time and love you properly with this sexy, mature body of mine."
"..."
Kiriya felt his stomach twist violently.
He suddenly wanted to dig out his own eyes.
’It’s decided. This time, I’m getting rid of this toad woman for good.’
For the sake of his eyes and the purity of his soul, Kiriya immediately made up his mind.
Phryne knew nothing of Kiriya’s resolve.
She tapped a finger against her lips and put on a coquettish expression.
"Come now, my little darling. Hurry into big sister’s arms! Big sister will teach you all kinds of happy things."
If Aisha had done that, it would definitely have charmed a large crowd.
But when Phryne did it, a whole group of people nearly collapsed from terror, wanting nothing more than to run.
"Wood Release: Hell’s Chaos."
Kiriya pressed his right hand against the ground, and countless hard, sharp wooden spikes burst upward, spreading toward Phryne.
"Hah! Is this supposed to tickle me? Are you joking?"
Phryne swept her great axe across the ground, shattering the wooden spikes in one blow.
"Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash."
Kiriya turned into a streak of lightning. In the blink of an eye, he appeared in front of Phryne, his sword slashing toward her throat with thunderous speed.
Clang!
At the final moment, Phryne raised her great axe and blocked Kiriya’s attack with the shaft, even knocking him upward with the force of her guard. She grinned viciously at him.
"Little boy, the same trick won’t work on me."
As she spoke, tremendous strength burst from her arms, and she sent Kiriya flying far away.
’What a terrifying power. Looks like she used that Renard girl’s strengthening magic.’
Kiriya’s body shot rapidly into the air. Looking down at the shrinking figure below, a smile suddenly appeared on his face.
’Interesting. I’ll play along.’
"Hehehe, here I come!"
Phryne laughed loudly and stomped hard against the ground.
Her whole body shot upward like a rocket, rising above Kiriya before bringing her great axe down toward his back.
She used the back of the axe.
After all, Kiriya was her chosen toy.
Until she had played with him to her heart’s content, she was not willing to kill him.
Crack!
The great axe struck heavily. Kiriya’s back caved in, and a large mouthful of blood sprayed from his mouth.
It looked as if he would not survive.
A series of gasps immediately rang out across the arena.
"Kiriya?"
Tiona’s eyes widened, her bright eyes full of disbelief.
She truly had not expected Kiriya, who was so strong and possessed so many methods, to be defeated by that toad woman in only a few moves!
Tap.
Ais instinctively tried to rush forward, but Riveria casually pressed a hand onto her shoulder.
"..."
Ais looked at Riveria.
"He’s my friend."
"That’s not it."
Riveria shook her head and lifted her chin, signaling Ais to look again.
"Watch carefully first."
Ais looked over and saw the heavily injured, dying "Kiriya" suddenly turn into a wooden carving.
Several arms extended from the carving and tightly wrapped around Phryne.
"That’s... a substitute?" Ais asked, somewhat confused.
"To be precise, it should be something closer to a clone."
As Orario’s strongest mage, Riveria could still see some things.
"When active, it is almost indistinguishable from the main body. But once it suffers a fatal attack, it turns into wood and binds the opponent."
"It’s quite a practical technique."
"Tch. Nothing but petty tricks."
Bete, who preferred direct confrontation, sneered at it.
"Huh? Then where’s Kiriya?"
Tione and the others ignored Bete’s sarcasm and started searching for Kiriya’s figure.
Before they could find him, two massive arms rose from underground.
Huge palms emerged, preparing to squash Phryne like a fly!
"..."
The adventurers and gods all held their breath, focusing completely on the battle.
Layer after layer, twist after twist.
This was way too damn entertaining!
This show had absolutely been worth watching.
"I already told you, the same trick won’t work on me."
Phryne was in midair, bound by the Wood Clone and just about to be smashed into a meat patty, yet she showed no panic at all. Instead, she let out a mocking laugh.
Then the muscles across her body tensed, and she easily shattered the wooden strips binding her.
Immediately afterward, before the two huge wooden palms could strike her, she swung the great axe in her hand and chopped them into useless firewood.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Kiriya was not discouraged.
Several wooden arms attacked Phryne from six different directions, almost completely sealing off her space to dodge or block.
"Now, how will you deal with this?"
"Haha! Useless, useless, useless!"
Phryne turned into a whirlwind in midair, swinging her great axe so quickly it left afterimages.
Her enormous strength and extreme speed gave the weapon unbelievable destructive power.
Even Kiriya’s enhanced Wood Release was no different from ordinary firewood in front of that axe.
’Her strength is completely different from when we fought before.’
Kiriya became even more certain of his guess.
He continued increasing his output, using larger-scale Wood Release to block Phryne.
However, each technique was cut apart as easily as slicing vegetables, forcing Kiriya into a state that actually looked somewhat flustered.
"Hahaha! Do you see it, little darling? This is my power. If you know what’s good for you, surrender obediently and I’ll be gentle. Otherwise, big sister is going to get angry."
"In your dreams." Kiriya said.
He used Wood Release to interfere with Phryne’s vision, then flashed behind her and unleashed Destructive Death: Final Form.
Boom!
The powerful punch stirred up a shockwave, but Phryne easily blocked it with the shaft of her axe.
Her face showed the relaxed confidence of a cat playing with a mouse.
"Little darling, are you trying to tickle me?"
As she spoke, she reached out with a large hand and grabbed toward Kiriya.
Boom!
A thick log rose between them, blocking her hand, and Kiriya immediately dodged.
After that, the pattern repeated again and again.
Confusion, teleportation, sneak attack.
And every time, he failed.
Phryne seemed to have the ability to predict the future, and her body showed agility far beyond what her build suggested.
She could always block Kiriya’s attacks with ease.
For a while, Kiriya was completely suppressed, and the fight looked extremely difficult for him.
This sudden reversal left the crowd stunned.
"So... so strong." Tione spoke in a daze.
"Even I would have trouble dealing with that kind of siege, but she handled it so easily..."
"That strength, reaction speed, and movement speed don’t look like something her Level 5 status should allow," Finn said. "It looks more like Level 6."
"Don’t tell me... did she level up?"
"No. If Level 5 could become Level 6 that easily, she would have succeeded long ago."
Riveria calmly analyzed the situation.
"Besides, with her personality, if she had really leveled up to Level 6, she would have rushed to challenge Ais immediately."
"That makes sense."
Everyone nodded.
Phryne had disliked Ais for a long time.
She had once challenged Ais herself and lost. If even Ais, with her leveling speed, had not yet reached Level 6, what right did Phryne have to do so?
"Then there is only one possibility."
A sharp light flashed in Riveria’s eyes.
"She must be under the effect of some kind of magic that greatly raises her ability values."
Everyone understood, but at the same time, they found it difficult to accept.
They understood because only the miracle-like power of magic could raise Phryne’s basic abilities by that much.
But what they could not accept was this:
There really existed a magic in this world that could raise someone by an entire Level in one breath?
Wasn’t that too ridiculous?
"Most likely. The Ishtar Familia has been moving strangely lately, as if preparing to make a move against the Freya Familia. It seems this magic is their trump card."
Finn reached that conclusion.
As expected of the famous Braver, he had pieced together most of the truth from only a few fragments.
Phryne had indeed made Haruhime cast Uchide no Kozuchi on her in advance, raising her ability values to the level of a Level 6. That was why she had shown such overwhelming dominance in the fight.
"Then... doesn’t that mean Kiriya is in danger?"
Tiona became anxious.
"Hmph. That’s what he gets for being arrogant and accepting any ridiculous bet."
Bete clicked his tongue in displeasure.
"Still, it really pisses me off to see that toad woman winning."
"Riveria... Is there anything you can do?"
Ais looked at Riveria expectantly.
Riveria smiled bitterly.
This girl really lost her composure when she was worried. What could Riveria do now?
Interfere in the duel?
That would only escalate the situation and make things even harder to control.
Similar guesses spread through the surrounding crowd.
People began whispering among themselves, and many looked at Kiriya with gloating expressions.
"That’s what you get for showing off."
"Serves him right."
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