Chapter 331 - 327: Level 4

"About the information on the 61st to 71st floor, sorry about that."

Judas said solemnly, recalling the deal that they had with Royman.

"Bah! Don't go worryin' your head about that. What ya brought us instead is way more excitin' anyway!"

Loki scoffed, dismissively waving a hand.

"Aye, I have to admit, I would prefer dealing with Evilus as soon as possible."

Gareth rumbled, crossing his thick arms over his broad chest.

"I am glad that you came up with this plan of yours, and I do agree that taking care of Evilus should take priority, but still, charging into enemy territory by yourself is a bit much."

"Even after all this time, you still have this recklessness of yours."

Riveria interjected, her brow furrowing.

As she scolded him, Judas's brazen assault on Belit Babili involuntarily brought Alfia to mind... specifically the memory of Silence utterly obliterating the Apollo Familia estate.

The only real distinction was that Judas had exercised restraint, whereas Alfia had been purely unhinged and unpredictable.

Riveria couldn't help but wonder if Alfia's lingering influence had rubbed off on him.

Finn spoke up, breaking the brief pause.

"Judas, while your actions will ultimately benefit both our familia and Orario as a whole, I agree with Riveria. Next time you do something like that... consult us first."

"I'll keep that in mind, Captain."

Judas acknowledged with a firm nod.

"I imagine Tiona, Ais, and the other... who were undoubtedly looking forward to fighting alongside you... are going to be quite upset."

Finn added, a small smirk playing on his lips.

Judas visibly stiffened, letting out a dry, nervous laugh while offering no defense.

"Ha! Look at that! Even someone like you can get nervous."

Gareth commented with a chortle, clearly amused by his reaction.

"The emergency Denatus to negotiate the War Game terms takes place in half a week, so I've gotta prepare for that circus."

Loki said, before turning her gaze to Judas.

"Judas, once we wrap up here, come to my room. There's somethin' I want to discuss with ya in private."

Judas raised an eyebrow in curiosity before nodding, while Finn, Riveria, and Gareth exchanged quiet glances.

After a couple of minutes had passed, Judas and Loki walked side by side before stepping through the door to Loki's room.

"Alright, take off your shirt. I want to see if your Falna is still showing those errors."

Loki said cheerfully, hopping onto her bed and grabbed a needle.

"Alright."

Judas said before taking off his clothes, revealing his chiseled body that made Loki whistle.

"I couldn't tell because you always wear baggy clothes. Ya were fit before, but ya really bulked up since last time."

Loki said with a sleazy grin.

She raised both hands, her fingers wiggling in uninhibited anticipation as if preparing to grope him.

Judas immediately slapped her hands away before sitting down and turning his back to her.

"Seriously, do you do this every time someone wants to have their status updated?"

Judas questioned with a deadpan expression.

"Only for the beauties! Like Ais, Riveria, Lefiya, and the girls!"

Loki replied without shame, to the point that Judas could tell she was even proud of admitting it.

Judas felt his lips twitch.

"Just update my status already."

"Jeez, alright, don't get your pants in a twist."

Loki grumbled playfully, pricking her index finger with the needle.

As a single droplet of divine blood touched his back, the sacred characters of his Falna flared to life.

As a blue light illuminated the room, Loki opened her slit eyes, watching the characters written in the language of the Gods begin to move.

"Oh…"

A broad grin spread across Loki's face.

She snatched a piece of divine parchment and pressed it against his back, transferring his updated parameters onto the sheet.

"Good news! The error glitch is completely gone. And even better news... congratulations on ranking up to Level 4, kiddo!"

========================================

Judas Spade

LV 3 → 4

STR: Err → I 0

END: Err → I 0

DEX: Err → I 0

AGI: Err → I 0

MAG: Err → I 0

Mage – G

Spirit Healing – H

Arcane Momentum – H

Magic Resistance – I

SKILLS: [The Blessing of the World Tree]

[Elemental Master]

[Eternal Persistence]

[The Venerated One]

[Penitent Executioner]

[Blessing of the Moon]

MAGIC: [Otherworld Thaumaturgy 5th-Tier]

[Body Reinforcement]

========================================

Examining the parchment, the first thing Judas noted was the total absence of the corrupted error symbols across his parameters and level.

Meaning he was no longer soft-locked to Level 3 and had now become a bona fide Level 4.

Judas had a guess as to why this was the case.

'The soul destabilization caused by absorbing Maxwell's memories must have finally settled, allowing the Falna to properly synthesize.'

Judas analyzed internally.

Updating his status right as Maxwell's memories had flooded his mind was simply terrible timing.

Had he delayed the update back then, the status glitch never would have occurred in the first place.

'In a sense, because of it, I had been stuck as a Level 3.5.'

Judas thought, flexing his fingers as he stared down at his palm.

Even without his mana core, Judas had a feeling that he could now stand toe to toe against Ottar with just his Falna alone.

'My next milestone… reaching the 6th tier.'

Judas already had this goal set in his mind as he clenched his fist in excitement.

Settling his thoughts, he looked over at Loki, who was observing him with a shrewd, knowing expression.

"If there is something you want to say or ask, just tell me."

When Loki asked him to come to her room, Judas could tell that there was something she wanted to speak about other than just updating his Falna.

"Hehe... Nothin' gets past you, does it?"

Loki chuckled, folding her arms behind her head.

"Tell me... did ya get your original power back?"

She questioned as she opened her slit eyes, staring into his purple ones to search for confirmation

To be honest, this was one of the things she had been curious about.

When Judas first joined her Familia, he definitely felt much more powerful.

But after the incident on the 9th Floor where he battled that irregular Juggernaut, his presence had noticeably dulled... as if a piece of him had been severed.

'From the name of his magic alone, [Otherworld Thaumaturgy]… I had a hunch.'

The reason why she had never asked about it was because she didn't want to make Judas wary of her by prying too much.

As a goddess, she was aware that other worlds existed out there, and Loki had long suspected that Judas belonged to another world and had somehow brought that world's power system with him.

Of course, it was mainly just a guess on her part, but right now, she had a feeling that asking about it… was the right time.

"I see, so you realized."

Judas met her gaze steadily.

"Well… being aware and knowin' ain't quite the same thing, but yeah."

After a moment of silence, Judas turned towards the trickster goddess and opened his mouth.

"Hey, Loki, I want to tell you a story."

"It's about a man born by the World Tree in a realm far from here… the Spirit King, Estelon Silverwood. Do you want to hear it?"

Hearing the title, the corners of Loki's lips curled into a broad, intrigued smirk.

"Sure thing, kiddo. Sounds like one hell of a tale."

…

Meanwhile…

In the depths of the dungeon, on an unknown floor, the sound of battle echoed through the area.

A rotund figure could be seen battling a horde of monsters by herself, her eyes filled with bloodlust as she slew anything and everything that she saw.

With a violent overhead swing of her battleaxe, a monster's head was severed clean from its shoulders, tumbling onto the stone floor before dissolving into black ash.

'Judas Spade…'

Phryne cursed internally, the memory of being crushed, beaten, and utterly humiliated burning in her mind.

Heavy bandages wrapped across most of her face and body, concealing severe, horrific burn marks that even high-tier healing magic had failed to mend completely.

For the first time in her life, Phryne... who delusionally regarded herself as the pinnacle of beauty... was consumed by shame over her appearance.

'I'll kill you... I swear I'll rip you apart!'

Ever since then, after getting somewhat healed, Phryne had descended into the Dungeon alone, ignoring the furious protests of Ishtar and her familia.

'I'll make you pay for what you did to me... I'll make you pay in blood!'

She had been doing nothing but hacking at monsters for hours on end without a single moment of rest.

"DIE!!! YOU BASTARD!"

With one more swing, she bisected the last monster in half.

She didn't even bother picking up the magic stones on the ground before stepping forward, looking for more things to kill.

"My, my... What delicious killing intent you're putting off."

An amused voice echoed behind her.

Phryne spun on her heel, swinging her massive axe with lethal speed.

CLANG!

However, her attack was stopped when a woman with short pink hair blocked it with her sword.

"Easy there... I know you are pissed off, but I can't have you do that."

Being a Level 5, there were not many people in Orario who could stop her attack.

Phryne narrowed her toad-like eyes when she recognized them.

"Valletta…"

She growled, before shifting her gaze to the figure standing behind her.

"Lord Thanatos."

Phryne lowered her weapon.

"What does Evilus want this time?"

She asked with an impatient tone, sending them a look of annoyance.

Despite her attitude, Thanatos continued to smile.

"Phryne Jamil, I have an offer for you."

He spoke softly, staring into her eyes as if peering directly into her soul.

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