True Vorpal Bunny (Danmachi SI) Ch.15 (Patreon)

Chapter 15:

“That is ridiculous.” Freya said, straddling Iru’s back.

The Seven Days of Death had ended with a clear victory for Orario, not only having defeated Evilus but having many of the people participating in the last day’s operation leveling up.

Iru was not spared from that. Fighting Alfia and cutting Delphyne down, stolen power or not, were feats that not only granted him a lot of Excelia, but were worth Rank Ups on their own, as demonstrated by the Astraea Familia and Ardee all ranking up too.

Plus, the consumption of Erebus’s blood and Delphyne’s magic stone pushed him over the edge stats wise, basically allowing him to skip to Level 3. His abilities already had shot up to the 700s just with Erebus’s blood and created his Mistilteinn Skill, while eating the Nightmare’s core went fully into increasing his stats, more than doubling them.

Iru Kratz

Hume Bunny

Freya Familia

Level 2->3

Abilities:

Strength: SSS-1566 ->I-0

Endurance: SSS-1680 ->I-0

Agility: SSS-1454 ->I-0

Dexterity: SSS-1460 ->I-0

Magic: SSS-1555 ->I-0

Spirit Healing: I

Hunter: H

Abnormal Resistance: H

Supreme Attack: I

This time, his stats were more balanced out, especially magic since he was able to use it more and more as his magic stat increased. And now, with Spirit Healing, he would be able to regen his mind faster between battles.

He hadn’t expected Supreme Attack, but it made sense. He had unleashed a Level 7 Afterglow as a Level 2. Even if it was because of different conditions that were not reproducible, that was still a feat now engraved on his Falna.

With further training and the development ability that goes with it, he should be able to refine his use of the technique without outside help.

And that was without taking Mistilteinn into account. With its effect to add his Strength stat to his magic, he was basically up there in magical might with those who had the Mage Ability.

While analyzing his own growth, Iru also thought about what he could do now. Evilus was beaten back for the moment, but they still had a lot of resources and would still be a problem in the future.

He did know one way to defang them pretty thoroughly though.

He put his shirt back on and turned to Freya.

“I know about an Evilus’s hideout, but it’s going to be a pain to break in.”

“Oh? And why would that be?” The goddess asked while leaning back on her seat sensually.

“It’s a man-made Dungeon being built by Daedalus’s descendants. The walls are made of Adamantite coming from the Deep Floors and the doors are pure Orichalcum. I know of two entries, one in Daedalus Street, obviously, and one on the 18th Floor.”

“What?” Freya straightened up, becoming serious. She wasn’t a smith god, but even she knew how hard and expensive both materials were. “When you say a man-made Dungeon…”

“I mean something as wide as Orario and currently built as deep as the 18th Floor. A thousand years ago, Daedalus cursed his family so that they would continue his work until Knossos was finished. A millennium later and they’re barely a third of the way done because he wanted it to be as close to indestructible as can be.”

Iru’s explanation made Freya’s eyes widen with every word.

“And the keys to open the doors are magical artifacts made out of the family members’ eyes.”

The goddess of beauty made a noise of disgust.

“I also know the names of some Familias that are in Evilus in addition to the ones currently chased. Rudra, Ikelos, Thanatos and Dyonysus, though the last one is only the god himself and not his Familia.”

Freya poured herself a glass of wine and downed it in one gulp.

“But you can’t just say that to other gods, because that knowledge comes from you knowing the future.” The goddess guessed.

“One possible future that I have already changed a bit, but not enough for my tastes. So, I need you to inform the others about that in my stead.”

Because Iru could lie to the gods thanks to Hell Howl, but that also meant that they couldn’t tell if he was telling the truth either. 

That would make him more interesting than he already was, and he didn’t want to deal with curious deities. That was one of the reasons he tried to avoid gods outside of Freya.

The goddess of beauty could make shit up, though, and most gods would swallow it even if the lie was obvious.

“Muh.” Freya pouted. “Recently, you only come to talk when you want something from me.”

“Don’t give me that. I hang out with Syr quite regularly.”

“But not with Freya.” The goddess pointed out.

“Syr is far more honest about herself than Freya is. I like the girl far more than the goddess.”

Freya blushed and spluttered.

“See. This is you. You may be a goddess of beauty with far more experience than me, but that above-it-all act of yours just hides the girl who wants to fall in love.”

“Iru.”

“If you were really true to yourself, most of the Familia wouldn’t worship you like fanatics. When you aren’t blasting it, your Charm isn’t that intense. It’s the way you act that made them worship you.”

“Iru.” She tried again, but the reincarnator was on a roll, and everything he wanted to tell her was just spilling out.

“And the worst thing is that this cage of zealots that protects and strangles your freedom is one that doesn’t need to exist. They would follow Syr just as faithfully as Freya. They just wouldn’t be complete maniacs about it.”

Iru took a deep breath.

“Sorry. It all came out quite abruptly, didn’t it? But think about it.”

The Hume Bunny left the goddess alone. Ottar stepped in.

“He isn’t wrong.” The Boaz said. “We will follow you no matter what.”

Freya sighed and signaled for Horn to come. Syr needed to go take a breath of fresh air.

[hr]

Iru punted a Minotaur as he went down the Dungeon. He needed to blow some steam and the monsters were free stress relief toys. 

With his new Level 3 stats, he could go through the Middle Floors even without a weapon, so he let loose and pummeled monsters. 

He knew why he blew up at Freya. He just finished dealing with a bunch of zealots willing to die for their cause, and the worst part of his Familia reminded him too much of that. If Freya decided to just switch sides to Evilus, she wouldn’t even need her Charm to have more than half the Familia follow without a word. And the other half would make sure that’s what Freya wanted before committing.

As much as people complained about a goddess of beauty’s supernatural Charm, outside of Freya pulling it at full power, it wasn’t permanent mind control. People could be annoyed at Aphrodite. Phryne Jamil could believe herself more beautiful than Ishtar through pure deluded ego. And Hedin could go against Freya’s orders if he believed that it was better for her.

Freya’s Charm was quasi-absolute only when she actively used it. Its passive form was resistable, as seen by Ais shaking it off the first time she saw her while following Loki to a meeting between the two deities.

All of that to say that Freya Familia wasn’t made up of brainwashed victims. They all followed willingly. The true issue was that most of them bought the perfect goddess act that Freya covered herself in, to the point that they treated her more like an idol not to be tainted by the outside world more than a person.

Syr was Freya with her defense down, the only time when she could be true to herself. A girl who teased but blushed when teased back. A girl that could get manipulative but made sure the ones she loved were safe. A city girl that helped at an orphanage because she liked kids.

And that was why Iru talked shit to Freya while he played along with Syr. He wouldn’t take someone seriously if they weren’t real with him.

Iru reached the 17th Floor. The Walls of Lament started to crack as the Goliath broke free.

“Damn it.” Iru sighed. “I have become shounen, wrecker of ass, but weak to cute girls in distress.”

“ROOOOOOOOOOOOOH!” The Monster Rex roared.

“SHUT UP!” The Hume Bunny roared back. “COLLAPSE, STAR CROWN!”

Iru rushed at the giant Level 4 monster.

[hr]

Iru was walking back up toward the surface, bruised but carrying the Goliath’s magic stone along with a bag of lesser stones from the Middle Floors. That would be enough to buy a replacement weapon so that he would be able to go deeper next time and make more money for new gear fit for going deeper in the Dungeon.

It had frankly been easier to deal with the Goliath than he had thought. Unlike the Black variant who could regenerate, the regular Goliath was slow and easy to break. The only real threat had been its breath attack, and even that was easy to see coming after dealing with Alfia’s bullshit invisible sound magic.

Iru reached the 10th Floor when he met another group of adventurers.

Tanned skins, and wearing what could only be counted as variants of Arabian harem outfits, the Amazons of the Isthar Familia made for quite a spectacle.

He did hear them whisper about him but they at least had the courtesy to not start shit in the Dungeon. It seemed that it would have just been an anecdotical encounter.

Except, from the mist, a large form approached the Ishtar Familia, revealing the form of their captain, Phryne Jamil.

The toad-like Amazon’s eyes found him and her face morphed into a hideous sneer.

“How cute. I always wanted a pet rabbit.”

A shudder ran through Iru’s frame.