Timeskip?!
Timeskip.
A small one was needed, so here it is...
Not much to say, enjoy.
Oh yeah!
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"URG!"
'Silver recovered his senses back in the brothel, he clenched his head in pain and took deep breaths to calm down.'
"Phew… Using some of these more complex Plasmids is starting to turn Viable, but it's still not something I can use in combat just like that."
"I feel as if my head is about to burst… Phew… Okay… Better now."
"Time for an overview of what I learned…"
I learned many things from this invasion, first, Freya.
'As Silver thought, he got up from his chair and closed the windows fully, he grabbed a cup of water and chugged it in as he recovered.'
'He also went to the bed and checked to see if the Amazon girl was still unconscious, but just to make sure, he fed her more of the drug he had made.'
"Looks like I have reached this point..."
Freya seems to be involved in all of this, but how?
That I don't know exactly…
Everything I know that happened after I got knocked down is known by Hestia, but she also didn't seem to know, or perhaps, Loki didn't tell her anything, and that is problematic on its own…
I have no idea if I am capable of resisting her charm if she does approach me, in fact, I am unsure if I can resist even the one Ishtar has.
And considering her beauty, it may seem tempting to go under her, but I have no plans of becoming a fucktoy for her.
That's why I took so many precautions to not get in contact with any of them, although I am unsure if the charm would still work if used on my 'clone'.
I could even extend this to any God of beauty, and it may be smart to seek a friendly and trustworthy Goddess of love and see the effects of their charm for myself.
"However, I do have a plan B."
Normally, even if she forces me to join her Familia, it would only be a question of time until I outgrew her and fled on my own even if it meant killing her myself, however, I am not confident of lasting years next to such a succubus of a woman.
Nor am I interested in being scorned by society for killing a God…
Especially one that can alter my mind so easily.
Passing from Freya to Ishtar... When compared to Freya, she is much more troublesome.
Freya and Ishtar are actually both very beautiful and smart, but Ishtar is a complete BITCH.
That is the sole point between their fight, one has a 'pure', 'magnificent', 'majestic', and 'lovable' persona, while the other is a complete and utter mess of a woman that is petty, aggressive, ignorant, arrogant and stubborn.
In fact, I would even say Freya is like her, but she shows her own emotions and chooses her actions in her own unique and refined way, and that is where her elegance comes from.
It's where the desire of many men comes from...
They should be both just as powerful as each other, but Freya ended up growing much stronger than Ishtar because she is… Well, elegant.
If a God grows stronger through prayer, there would be many more ratings for Ishtar due to her owning the Red light district or most of it at least.
The only ones that would pray for Freya would ve her simps or the people she somehow charmed.
And now that Freya's 'connection' to me has somehow escaped to Ishtar's ears, I have become her target, due to her envy.
"Sigh… This isn't really a problem per se, since I was planning on dealing with her one way or another, but it had to be now…"
And she decided to accelerate her own plans… The timeline is now fucked beyond comprehension.
She wants to clash with Freya within a month or two instead of a year or two, and she also plans to accelerate Haruhime's ritual… What a mess things have become.
Funny enough, she has a bigger chance of winning now than in the future…
In two years, Freya will gain multiple Level 6s and 5s while Ishtar literally gains 1 or 2 Level 4s and several dozen Level 3s. Even if you considered that all of them would be effectively one level higher due to the ritual, in no way does that compare to the Freya Familia at all…
Perhaps if you removed Ottar and the top executives…
"So the plan is…"
How do I achieve a point in which I can completely stop or crush the Ishtar Familia while also pulling Haruhime to my side in a natural way?...
"If I involve the Takemikazuchi Familia in this ordeal, they may not be able to help me per se, but they would be able to pull forth Haruhime's emotions and make this process easier."
This isn't really a solution, even if I kidnap her to bring her to her friends, things would only get messier, and soon enough, I would be affected. But it might indeed buy more time.
"Alas, it may put my Familia in danger, they are incapable of protecting themselves right now…"
'Silver suddenly had an idea.'
"What if I shift the blame?"
To the Freya Familia?...
Wouldn't this be a totally big brain move?
Ishtar is already wary of her, and I am sure the reason why she is bringing this plan forward is because of her, that is why I am being targeted because I am a potential 'weak' spot of Freya.
So if I just make it all look as if Freya was a masterful tactician that is 10 steps ahead of her… It may just be enough to make Ishtar take things slowly if not halt her plans.
It would sound natural since Freya is already a rather good tactician, and make Ishtar even angrier, and with a bit of luck perhaps make her ignore me completely.
Or in the worst-case scenario, become more aggressive towards me.
"But how do I make it believable?"
There is a lot to consider, and if I make the wrong choices... This would make me enemies with all of them at once…
This seems like a situation where I am escaping from a forest fire just to fall into a volcano…
"Should I just intercept the Killer stone?"
The main material to finish the ritual is the killer stone, so if it doesn't exist, Haruhime stays alive, and the rest doesn't matter to me.
I could also just steal most of her funds and make the Familia collapse from an economical standpoint…
No money, no war funds, no war funds, and Ishtar's plan collapses onto itself unless she is truly mad and thinks she can win without preparations.
"This is a better idea."
A series of small yet impactful actions would make Ishtar wary and delay her plan, if not outright scrap it.
I can take the extra step and make her think it's Freya but there wouldn't be any proof for that or against it…
And even if Freya came to realize I was the one behind it, she might not necessarily be angry because the misunderstanding was from Ishtar's side…
She would probably laugh at Ishtar's ignorance, but if Freya were to realize I was intentionally doing it things may change…
The one I should be wary of is her Familia members... The Simp army.
And all of it will start with a bit of incrimination… Hehe.
"I just need to refine this a bit more..."
'Smiling slightly, Silver turned around and left the room, some of the prostitutes looked at him with hot gazes but he ignored them all and left.'
'In the future, when the Amazon wakes up, her only memory will be of a strange liquid on her down parts, and once she talked with the other girls, she would only sigh in sadness for not remembering what seemed to be the night of her life.'
'She would then dream of this incredible man, hoping he would come back to knock her up once more…'
…
"YOU'RE FINALLY BACK?! WHERE WERE YOU!?"
'When Silver arrived back home he was welcomed by the heartwarming curses and bad words of Nicc, who had been here waiting for him for a few hours.'
'Hestia was at her side, gazing at Silver with a suspicious glare… She inspected his body, trying to figure out where he had been this deep into the night for such a long period of time...'
'To be honest, Silver was so focused on his task that he had actually forgotten Nicc was here, so when he saw her he almost laughed out loud.'
'But he kept his cool and apologized, and after a bit of discussion and a lot of apologizing, Nicc eventually joined the monthly training as per his expectations.'
'She was actually treated like a bigshot by the recruits since her stats were higher than most of them, so she quickly fit right in, especially with her Theoretical Dungeon knowledge, many of the girls would come to her daily during the study time.'
'Silver, on the other hand, focused entirely on sabotaging the Ishtar Familia.'
"I can get in and out whenever I want to acquire knowledge although I would want to avoid Phryne and Ishtar as much as possible… I just need to formulate a plan…"
Sabotage the money inflow and outflow… Forge information in their documents… Spreading false and critical information on the black market... And even incriminating a few people in and out of their Familia.
'Silver wasn't an insensible monster, he made sure to research the people he was planning on incriminating as to make sure they were on his bad moral side, so at the very least he wouldn't feel bad about having them be tortured by Ishtar…'
"Lastly... Their plans."
Just like me, they will be moving, and their target will be most likely me.
Not only do I need to sabotage them, but I need to do it while avoiding their eyes and ears... And since I will be operating in the Red light district, it would be like stealing right under their noses...
I need to keep an eye out in case they decide to move against me or against someone close to me.
'Silver frowned as his expression turned dark.'
Although technically illegal, I wouldn't be afraid of resorting to poisoning in order to take down that toad and her Captain in case things got messy...
Even if I have to spend tens of millions of Valis for a vial of poison...
"Time to shine..."
...
'As the days passed, Silver tried his best so as to not cause too much of a commotion, since his plan would only fully start once the operation to capture him started.'
'His plan was obviously to not get captured, and he would imply someone leaked the news outside as he scaped, and this would make Ishtar pissed and even warier of her surroundings.'
'Adding in all of his smaller actions and sabotage operations, Ishtar would realize something was wrong and she would be forced to choose one of two actions.'
'First, continue with her plan hastily, or two, abandon the current plan, and wait for another opportunity in the distant future.'
'She could even modify her current plan, but Silver couldn't think of any possibility that might aid her more than simply taking her time.'
'Hopefully, she would admit she was too hasty and would stop, or even better, Freya would learn of her plans and... To be honest, even if she learned, Freya would just laugh it off.'
'She would wait for Ishtar to move, corner her with her own plan, and only then she would deal her last strike with her gentle smile...'
'Even if the plan had several holes, it was enough and not completely unbelievable.'
'Ishtar wouldn't be able to continue with her war preparations without funds anyway…'
'However, even after one week, they had yet to prepare a plan to ambush Silver, it seemed they were keen on researching a lot more about him this time around, as from time to time, he felt eyes on his back...'
'And he was fine with it, the longer they took the better it was for him.'
'It's not like they can track everything, their agents were too inferior to sneak on him, and she didn't have the funds nor the interest to contract someone to this job.'
'After all, Silver was just an interesting and stronger Level 2, she had dozens of those including Levels 3 and 4!'
'And once the first week passed, Silver decided to visit Haruhime one more time, surprising her greatly.'
'He talked a lot with her about what was a Hero for him, and shared with her many more hero stories from his memory and from what he gathered during the last few days…'
...
"And what happened next?" Asked Haruhime as her tail moved behind her, showing her excitement
"Simple really, after defeating the Red Dragon, Shrek the Ogre, lived happily ever after with his princess. Although, that isn't the end of his story..."
'Haruhime seemed ecstatic to hear that,'
"I would like to visit Duloc one day…"
'Silver just smiled awkwardly.'
"That may be a bit hard..."
She really believes my story huh… I wonder, perhaps Shrek is truly out there…
Pfft...
'The reason why he was telling her so many stories, some goofy and others more serious, was so she started to trust him and possibly slowly change over time, to have her believe she was worth something…'
'Even if she didn't perhaps she would believe in him and agree with following him, and that would be enough as time washes away most sorrows...'
'As for his stories… Even if they were spread, what would change?'
'His stories were a mix of fantastical events that would make sense in this world and a few modifications made by Silver himself, so at most, they would be considered made-up stories and not something else…'
'But for the sheltered Haruhime who knew nothing about the world, all of these stories were refreshing, they showed her a different view from the always happy and shiny hero stories she was used to reading.'
'Not all heroes are 100% good, most rise from the mud before becoming something that could leave a mark in history... Before returning to it and becoming a legend.'
"If even Shrek can live happily, I don't see why you can't." Said Silver as he left once again, leaving Haruhime alone
I feel terrible for saying this...
"..."
…
'Silver also went to the Dungeon a few times during this week, but his results were only meh.'
'He couldn't focus on hunting and fighting when such a big thing was happening behind the scenes, so he only continued to scout the Middle floors and make some money as he ran around the place hastily.'
'Silver also wanted to talk with Hestia about this event, but he was sure she would either worry too much and not be able to relax anymore...'
'Or she may worry too much and just spill everything to someone after having a drink somewhere.'
'So he was thinking of holding onto this secret until he got strong enough to admit being the one behind it, at least for Hestia.'
'And to be honest, that wasn't so far away…'
'If he leveled up to 3, and got Harhuhime's Level booster magic's help, he would be able to topple the entire Ishtar Familia on his own.'
"After everything I've done, the real problem boils down to Phryne and Ishtar herself." Said Silver as he got up from his office chair in the Hearth Manor
"Ishtar Charm is a variable I cannot test, while Pryne is a strong Level 5 close to Level 6, that barely knows how to fight..."
"That is a bit of an understatement as she is an Amazon, but it's true she is extremely stupid and that she relies mostly on her physical strength."
"She is far from her peak, she became fat and drunk in her own power and luxuries... Although I believe she was already fat before she became this strong, perhaps not as fat..."
My current stats are nearing the limit of what a Level 3 would be able to have, if I raise my stats to their current limits and Level up once, I would be able to take on everyone apart from her by myself.
Their Captain may give me a bit of a fight, but he isn't that talented apart from his Level.
And if I convince Haruhime, I could forcibly put Ishtar in her place... But this is all meaningless since I don't have time...
'Silver shook his head and went over to his plans...'
...
'During these turbulent days, Artemis came to visit a few times, and her favorite pastime was simply spending time with Silver, although she would join in the recruit training from time to time.'
'And as compared to Hestia, she was also much more daring...'
'Hestia would take glances at him and stay away most of the time, apart from the times when she would crawl onto his bed at night, but it was clear to Siver that she was restraining herself due to everything that was happening around them.'
'And he made sure he would reward her once all of this came to an end...'
'The first time Artemis visited, she invaded his office and snuggled with him until she was satisfied, interrupting his work...'
'The second time she once again invaded his office, and this time, she sat on his lap and snuggled him until she was satisfied, and although he still managed to work, it was a bit harder to focus...'
'Silver asked her if she was really okay with taking things this fast, so to make things clear, he asked her out on a date…'
'Even if he was in the middle of something very serious, he still had to continue with his normal life, or else everyone around him might worry.'
...
'During their date, Silver walked around the city, making sure to keep his guard up for any ambushes, but their small date ended pretty peacefully on the rooftop of a restaurant.'
'They had a rather good time, and that way, they managed to spend more time together and discuss their relationship a bit more…'
'If there was anything to discuss that is… Artemis was very clear with her intention from the very beginning.'
'Although, there was one big thing Silver kept himself from discussing… And that was Artemis chastity…'
'As a Goddess who presides over it, what would happen to her if she were to lose it?'
'Artemis herself seemed to be very embarrassed as well, acting as a young girl in love, since that was what she was, a 'young' lady in love…'
'Throughout their entire discussion, Silver maintained a barrier of sound around them, he knew he was being investigated, and the last thing he wanted was for them to learn more than they should.'
'After all, Silver felt a weak glare on his back throughout his entire date…'
'He was happy that his romantic and social lives were progressing smoothly, but he simply can't focus on them too much...'
'That was why he was so intent on finishing this matter as fast as possible.'
'In the middle of the second week, Silver tried to talk with Takemikazuchi but when it came to that, he simply couldn't think of an excuse to approach the man…'
'Was he supposed to go to him and say: Hey, I know this girl?'
'That may work, but what if they convince her to leave with them? His entire plan would be foiled...'
'There are methods he could use to prevent that, but why so much work in the first place?'
'Perhaps in the future, he would go and talk with them, but right now, they weren't fated to meet yet…'
'So in the end, he turned his back and went on with his own worries…'
...
Orario was a busy city, one that never stopped, even at the night.
Everywhere you looked, you could see people going on with their own lives...
/Back in the Red light district.../
'Haruhime looked at the small and old mirror of her room with a conflicted expression.'
"What do I want... I..."
I wish to be saved... But please I...
I cannot bear to see him fight...
Fight for my sake!
'Haruhime cried silently, wishing her Hero would just abandon her and seek his own, "Happy ending"... Like in the stories she loved so much.'
'She kept thinking about him, kneeling on the ground as she stared at the moon…'
...
"Once again I watch..." Mumbled Hestia
'Hestia worried about her Familia as she looked at their training…'
...
"Hehehe..."
'Artemis was thinking about herself, rolling on her bed cutely…'
...
"Soon..."
'Ishtar was thinking about Freya relaxing on her bed next to a man…'
"... Urg..."
"Oh? You're up? Time for round 5..."
"..."
'Everyone had their own plans and worries, and it was like this that 2 weeks passed…'
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Notes
These chapters were all rather big, and I added quite a lot to this one as compared to the one on P@treon...
Besides, I have an announcement to make.
Sonic the hedgehog...
Sorry. Being serious now.
There is a big chance next week I will only post a single chapter as I have a serious exam that day.
Perhaps this will extend to the next week... In fact, I had one online today, and I got a 10, Sasuga me.
As always, I shall leave this here and head to the kitchen to make some food.
Adios!