Inside the Blood Nymph Tribe camp, 2 individuals were seen quarreling with each other. The first one was a female nymph wearing leather clothes and carrying a sheathed short sword in her back, while the other one was also a nymph wearing a golden mini dress. Both of them didn't want to back down.
"Huh? You think I'd believe that!? Tell me your real name!", Gia yelled at me.
"I told you my name is Farenna! F-A-R-E-N-N-A!", I yelled back at her.
Yes, we were the ones quarreling.
"I've never seen a nymph having that kind of long ass name! Tell me your real name!"
"Just because you never saw it doesn't mean it doesn't exist! Why are you so hard to talk to?"
If someone ever wondered what actually happened here, this dumb little shit and I bickered over something trivial, no, my name shouldn't be something trivial. It started around 10 minutes ago…
"Pffffffftt. My… My stomach hurts… Ahahaha!"
The tomboy with masculine build was still rolling on the ground while holding her abdomen with her hands. Tears were dwelling up in her eyes. And there, I was still being grabbed by the collar.
"Uh… Can you at least release me first? It's hard to breathe.", I begged Gia, who was still shaking due to embarrassment.
She released her grip from my collar almost immediately. I fell on my butt and tried to stand up, while wiping dirt off my dress.
"Thanks.", I thanked her and smiled a bit. "Can I also take my spear? It's still propped on the boulder we met before."
Without answering properly, Gia nodded her head and after seeing that, I started running towards the exit while still being watched by other residents.
"Dea? What should I do? Should I just escape like this?", I whispered softly while keeping my speed slow enough to convince them I wasn't trying to run away.
[Negative. That will be suicidal. I suggest you keep your act and pretend to be obedient for the time being. Do you not remember your true motive?]
"How could I forget something like that?", I smiled a little bit. "These are my preys…"
I ran towards the boulder I was hiding, took my spear back, and ran back to the camp. I recalled something midway.
"Dea, is Gia the strongest in this camp?"
[I believe she is. The second strongest will be the muscle-brain, while others are a bit stronger compared to you now.]
"Muscle-brain? You mean Sue?"
[Yes.]
A simple answer, enough to make me realize that Dea had no intention of going buddy-buddy with someone so overly familiar.
[There is also a particular reason for that.]
"What is it?"
[... She looked at you with pervy eyes.]
Oya oya? Did I just hear someone being jealous? Well, it was kinda obvious for someone like me to be lov—
[Cease your idiotic smug face. I only care for your body.]
"Huh…!? What the fuck are you sa—"
[That body belongs to Goddess Bona Dea, so it is normal if I care for your body. That is all.]
That statement was probably the most painful to hear considering she was always with me.
[Let me fix my phrasing.]
"Eh?"
[Your body is all that matters.]
"That doesn't help at all!"
I kept running at normal speed until I went through the camp's gate. Right after that, Gia and Sue, who was still trying to hold her laugh, approached me.
"Tell me your name."
Gia ordered me with a condescending tone, at least that was what I felt at that time. I felt a crack in my head, probably it was the switch to control my anger. I still tried to hold back my anger and replied to her.
"My name is Farenna."
It was hard to hold back. Really, really hard. But I succeeded otherwise. Well, at least until the second she opened that damned mouth of hers.
"Haaah? Fare what? Stop talking nonsense and just tell me your name, dumbass!"
Crack! I snapped.
"Say that again to my face, you little shit! That's legit my name!"
And it came to the scene where we bickered like crazy. Sue, who stopped laughing after seeing us being seriously snapped, tried to break up our quarrels.
"Hey, can you two please stop? You're scaring the kids.", Sue persuaded us.
It was actually the truth. The little nymphs who were looking at us from afar were now hiding behind their parents… Err… Their moms. But I was too mad to back off now.
"Shut the fuck up! You muscle-head!", both Gia and I spoke at the same time, making Sue cower.
We then stared at each other for a good 2 seconds before we continued arguing.
"Stop imitating me!", Gia grabbed my collar, but this time in the front.
"No, you're the one imitating me!", I headbutted her as hard as I could until I felt dizzy and nauseous.
"Auuuu…"
We both fell on our butts and started groaning. I tried to regain my senses and found out she was already standing while holding her forehead.
"You punk! What the hell do you think you're doing!?"
"Haaah!? You started this, didn't you!? If only you were smart enough to understand my words this kind of shit wouldn't be happening, you dumb little shit!"
"Urk…!", Gia took a step backward.
"What? Cat got your tongue? You should start studying, you stoopid! You're a failure! Bleeergh!", I sneered at her while sticking my tongue out.
[... You're so immature.]
Shut it, Dea!
By the time I realized it, Gia didn't respond to me. Instead, she lowered her head while making an almost crying face. Did I go too far?
[Allow me to rethink your qualifications as an Apostle.]
Hey, it wasn't that bad, right?
"You there, your name is Farenna right?", Sue walked slowly and approached us again.
"Look! Even this muscle-brain understood what I—"
Slap!
"Eh…?", I let out a weird sound from my mouth.
I felt a hot and painful sensation on my right cheek. The force also made me turn my head slightly.
"I don't care if you're calling me a muscle-brain or what, but don't you dare say that thing again to Gia!"
The masculine tomboy was the one who slapped me. I was still dumbfounded since I never expected to be slapped by her suddenly. What did she mean by 'that thing'? I only stated the obvious, what was wrong with that?
[Farenna…]
Dea paused for a moment.
[Have you heard a certain wise word, a sentence is sometimes sharper than a knife?]
"..."
I was speechless. I didn't even know what my fault was. Just by the time I got lost in thoughts deeper, I heard a loud voice from the biggest tent, questioning us.
"What is this commotion?"
Hearing that, Gia and Sue gasped and kneeled down, along with other residents around us. I was clueless of what was happening and Gia pulled my dress down. Her pull almost ripped the skirt part of my dress.
"Hey! My dress!", I shrieked in terror, imagining if I became naked again after all those hardships just to get myself a decent clothing.
"Kneel! Now!", she whispered while turning her head to me.
"Huh?"
There, a tall figure wearing a crown made of red crystals walked out of the tent elegantly. Her body was full of scars, while her red hair was white on the tips. Her horns weren't small, instead they were protruding from her head majestically. It was like looking at a ram's horns but more menacing. She was wearing a leather robe up to her hips, while her chest was covered by something like thin white cloth. A moment later, Dea apologized to me.
[Farenna, allow me to express my apologies.]
"What?", I whispered softly, while still being enchanted by the tall figure.
[The Nymph named Gia is not the strongest one, it is the one who is standing there.]
Huh?
[Perhaps appraising her will make it easier for you to understand.]
Deep down inside, I knew Dea wasn't exaggerating. The aura the tall figure emitted was in the different leagues compared to any monsters I had met before, even in my past lives. I didn't know how to put it in words. It was unexplainable. She was just that absolute. I then whispered in a soft voice and appraised her.
"Appraisal."
The next moment, a loud ring entered my ears. A sudden notice popped up in front of me. No, a warning would be more suitable instead of a notice.
[You cannot appraise a being with higher consciousness.]
That never happened before. Even when I appraised Surtr, it didn't go like this.
"Ugh!", I covered my ears immediately with my hands.
The buzzing sound in my head only became louder and louder, consuming all mental barriers I had.
"Hooo…", she smiled while looking at me. "What do we have here? Truly an interesting child."
She walked straight to my direction. Her glowing golden eyes enchanted me even further. It was as if I was looking at something so divine. How could a monster be this beautiful and menacing at the same time? She was already in front of me when I regained my senses.
"My, my. Look at me all you want, child.", she lifted her hands sideways. "Appraise me."
I tried looking in other directions. What I could see was kneeling nymphs around me. Their foreheads were stuck to the ground. I looked back at her.
"What's wrong? You appraised me, didn't you? I give you my permission to look at me now.", she smiled again.
"A-Appraisal.", my body swayed a little bit.
The next thing I could see only made me tremble in fear.
[Lilith (???/Alive)
Level: 961
Habitat: Abyss 16th floor (Formerly 999th floor)
HP: 27153/??? MP: 16352/???
SP: 6283/7000]
"What's wrong, little child? You look so pale.", she grinned.
"I think I'm fucked… Ahaha…"
She laughed to her heart's content right after.