[FGO]: 83

Atalanta Alter turned into a terrifying hunter in the night, and any Amazon who showed their head from any position would be killed with a single arrow through the throat.

Eventually, as if she grew tired of this boring hunting game, she stopped aiming for vital points, instead targeting non-lethal areas like limbs, kidneys, and liver.

An Amazon was trembling behind a wall, watching helplessly as her companions were shot dead one by one. The gruesome sight of their corpses made her too afraid to show herself.

However, a sharp whistle sounded, and the thick marble wall, nearly a meter thick, was directly pierced. The arrow, imbued with dark magic, hit her abdomen, lifting her and pinning her to the wall behind her.

Instinctively, she struggled to pull out the arrow, but as her blood flowed away, her strength waned, her body grew cold, and she could only futilely grasp at the arrow, unable to free herself.

Watching her prey struggle in a pool of blood, Atalanta, standing atop the high tower, showed a delighted smile. In the dim night, she resembled a terrifying night demon.

"Enemy attack!!"

"We need support here!!"

"Help! I still have many men to have fun with; I don't want to die!"

The Ishtar Familia was filled with various curses and screams.

A team of Amazons, cursing and swearing, rushed out of a large house while hurriedly donning their armor. They had just climbed out of bed from their male slaves, their clothes disheveled. Some hadn't even put on their underwear properly, and their bodies were covered with marks of recent pleasure.

At this moment, a dark figure appeared at the end of the corridor.

He wasn't particularly burly but exuded a sense of power. However, his eyes were terrifying—pure black yet filled with blood-red, as if a beast awakened from slumber, ready to devour.

He wore no protective gear, just a loose black shirt. He seemed unarmed, but a colorful glow flickered in his hands.

In his hand, he held something round and head-sized, but it was hard to see clearly in the dim torchlight.

When his figure became clear, the Amazons relaxed slightly.

Despite everything he had been through, Ryou's age was a limitation. His slightly immature face naturally made the older ones underestimate him.

But underestimating him came at a cost, such as their lives...

"Little brother, where are you from..."

An Amazon said with a teasing smile.

But before she could finish, the object in his hand became clear—a human head with a face twisted in terror, despair, and pain, belonging to an Amazon.

"Damn it! Kill him!"

The leading Amazon shouted immediately.

Her reaction was quick but not quick enough. Ryou's eyes swept over coldly, followed by an eye laser beam attack.

A searing beam of sunlight cut through them like a laser. Despite years or even decades of training and divine blessings, their bodies were split in half without any defense.

The upper bodies of the Amazon team fell to the ground in unison. The intense heat of the sunlight cauterized the wounds, leaving no blood.

It took a while for the Amazons to feel the pain, and they let out agonizing screams.

"Hmm?"

Ryou noticed someone was missing. He initially saw a team of twelve, but now there were only twenty-two halves of bodies.

"Die!"

At that moment, an Amazon with a face full of hatred emerged from a nearby window, clutching a dagger as she lunged at him.

Just before Ryou's attack, the Amazon captain's battle-honed instincts had made her dive into the adjacent building, narrowly escaping death.

Splat!

Blood splattered. The dagger, coated in poison and driven by endless hatred, stabbed into Ryou's chest!

Her face lit up with a satisfied smile.

However, that smile crumbled within seconds.

"Is that all? You managed to escape but came back to die. Isn't living better?"

Ryou said with a 'gentle' expression.

However, the Amazon was horrified to find that the wound she had just inflicted was healing at a visible rate, slowly pushing the dagger out.

"Monster!"

She screamed in terror, releasing the dagger and turning to flee, but he grabbed her by the hair.

Ignoring her struggles, he crushed the head he was holding, splattering himself with red and white matter.

With a look of unfinished satisfaction, he grabbed the Amazon's head, a 'kind' smile on his face.

"A team should be complete, don't you agree?"

The Amazon's face was filled with terror, snot and tears uncontrollably streaming down her face.

She could muster courage against human enemies, but against a demon, all she felt was despair.

"Mer..."

Before she could finish pleading for mercy, Ryou, still smiling, cut her in half with a beam of sunlight.

Thus, the Amazon team was finally complete.

Ryou was no longer bothered by the increasing number of Amazons, continuing to walk forward, sensing and searching for his prey.

Behind him, the Amazons, unable to live or die, completely collapsed. Some chose to end their own lives, while the remaining ones had vacant eyes, their spirits utterly broken.

As he walked, he extended his senses, searching for any stragglers.

As for those who fled the camp, when they thought they had escaped, Atalanta would teach them the true meaning of despair.

Occasionally, members of the Ishtar Familia hiding in corners were found by Ryou and killed in not-so-pleasant ways.

Be it cutting them in half, destroying their liver, or bleeding them out, he ensured they would survive for at least thirty minutes, dying slowly in helplessness and pain.

When Ryou discovered them, their reactions varied. Some launched desperate attacks, some knelt and begged for mercy, and some even tried to seduce him by undressing.

However, he treated them all the same, making them 'complete.'

Perhaps Ryou's actions were too arrogant, finally provoking a strong response from the Ishtar Familia.

As he stepped into a huge hall, a voice suddenly shouted.

"Fire!"

In an instant, arrows and javelins filled the direction he was heading.

Ryou had to raise his hands to protect his head and face, crouching down to minimize his exposed area.

Splat!

Blood splattered.

A series of sharp sounds pierced through flesh and blood, and within just a few seconds, he was riddled with more than a dozen arrows and several javelins.

When he stood up, he looked like an enlarged version of a porcupine.

However, this was just the prelude to the opponent's attack.

"Fire!"

With that determined voice ringing out again.

In front of Ryou was a massive ballista.

All the previous attacks were to pin him in place; the real killer move was this siege ballista that the Ishtar Familia had spent a fortune to purchase from black market merchants!

Following the command, the Amazons operating the ballista pulled the trigger.

With a teeth-gritting sound, a bolt as thick as Ryou's arm shot out, aimed directly at him.

Splat!

The bolt, several times thicker than a spear, carried immense kinetic energy, piercing through his body and dragging him backward, sending him flying out the door.

Boom!

There was a loud noise outside the door, followed by the sound of a building collapsing, then silence.

It seemed the terrifying monster was finally dead!?

The Amazons in the hall breathed a sigh of relief, and someone started to cheer loudly, followed by the others, who even began to sing songs in a strange language that others could not understand.

Even Aisha showed a relieved expression.

But none of them noticed the cold smile on Ryou's lips and the extremely calm voice that escaped just before he was hit.

"Second gear."

After a little while, just as some curious Amazons were about to step out the door to check on the monster.

Crash!

There was a faint sound of rubble being disturbed outside the door.

Hearing this, Aisha's face changed drastically.

"Come back!"

She shouted a warning.

But the few Amazons had already reached the hall's entrance, and upon hearing her warning, instinctively turned around.

Swish!

A blinding golden laser swept across.

Aisha's face changed dramatically, and she quickly shouted.

"Get down!"

But the celebrating Amazons had no time to react. Except for a few lucky ones, most in the hall were swept by the light.

Every Amazon touched by the light seemed to hit a pause button, their cheering and laughing bodies suddenly freezing.

Crash!

Then, everyone swept by the light, along with the iron-covered door of the hall, fell neatly into halves, collapsing to the ground.

There was no blood, but the scene was filled with the nauseating stench of burnt human flesh.

Seeing the extremely tragic scene before her, Aisha forced herself to stand, suppressing the urge to vomit.

Tap, tap~

At this moment, a series of cold footsteps sounded from outside the door, and then the terrifying monster walked in with an even more horrifying appearance.

As Ryou long walked, he casually pulled out the arrows and javelins stuck in his body and threw them at the surviving Amazons, including Aisha.

With his basic proficiency in cold weapons, he could at most ensure they didn't veer off course.

But that was enough to deal with a group of Amazons who were too weak to stand.

"Ah!"

With each step he took, pulling out a javelin, a surviving Amazon would scream in agony.

By the time he stood completely in front of them, except for Aisha, all the Amazons who hadn't been halved were pinned to the ground by javelins, able only to wail as they watched their blood drain away, dying slowly.

Aisha reacted quickly. When Ryou threw a javelin at her, she suddenly rolled to the side, saving her life despite the awkward move.

However, the javelin still grazed her arm.

In contrast, the wounds on Ryou's body, pierced by arrows and javelins, were almost just shallow marks now. Even the large wound caused by the ballista bolt piercing his abdomen was healing at a visible rate.

'Did we anger such a monster?'

Aisha couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Without reinforcements, the Ishtar Familia was likely doomed this time.

Aisha's sharp mind quickly grasped this reality.

'How can we win against such a monster... This might be karma for our Familia... Forget it, there's nothing worth holding onto in a life like this...'

Just as Aisha was about to give up completely, a kind, pure, and naive fox girl flashed through her mind.

'No! That child has a bright future! I can't let her die in this hellhole!'

Summoning strength from somewhere, Aisha clutched her arm and stood up, then quickly ran towards a side door in the hall.

"...I am a model citizen, so I will return what you lost, in my way."

Ryou was leisurely making a victor's speech when he noticed a figure escaping towards the side door out of the corner of his eye.

"Huh? There's still someone who can move. Ishtar Familia is a bunch of cockroaches."

Ryou said, shooting a laser at the escaping figure without thinking.

Aisha, with her back to him, suddenly felt a huge threat from behind and instinctively dove forward.

Sizzle!

The searing sunlight beam grazed her left foot and shot into the floor.

The instant high temperature vaporized Aisha's left foot along with part of her calf.

At first, she felt nothing, but soon a maddening burning sensation spread from her severed calf to her whole body, making her break out in a cold sweat.

Yet somehow, she found the strength.

Aisha managed to stand up with her hands and then hobbled away.

Ryou, initially planning to deliver a finishing blow, was intrigued by Aisha's determination and followed her with light steps.

Aisha was now moving purely on willpower towards her goal, completely unaware that a demon was following her.

Dragging her severed leg, Aisha arrived at a secluded house.

The house was empty except for a large iron cage in the center, holding a fox girl with smooth golden hair and a golden tail.

Her name was Sanjouno Haruhime.

This fox girl, who played a significant role in the original story, was born into nobility in the Far East. However, after many hardships, she was sold to Orario as a prostitute at the tender age of eleven.

Ultimately, because of her rare magic, she was locked in a cage by Isthar, who controlled Pleasure Street, for the ritual of the Uchide no Kozuchi.