Danmaku, my skills refresh weekly.

"Huh? Are you crazy, woman? That's a monster!" Bert couldn't understand Asphie's mind. In his world, monsters were enemies, absolute evil that had taken away his family, friends, people, and everything else.

With his volatile temper, he didn't give Asphie a chance to explain, baring his fangs: "Since that's the case, I'll kick you to death too, you woman who's protecting a monster! If you don't want to die, let go of that thing!"

The fierce combat boots swept in, and Asphie jumped away carrying the unconscious Marie. She put her hands into her prop bag and stared at Bert:

"I won't let you hurt her!"

“Ha, this is insane.” Bert grinned maliciously, leaning forward in a hunting stance.

boom--

Before he could even charge, a rock slammed into the werewolf's face...

"Huh?" He slowly turned his head, and a beastman holding a young child stared at Bert with a face full of anger:

"Pretty, adventurer! You dare touch that child and see what happens!"

The next second, a large number of residents emerged from Daedalus Street. They silently picked up the scattered rocks from the ground and threw them at the adventurers who surrounded them without the slightest hesitation!

"Pretty, huh? Did you hear me? Pretty, huh? Get out of here!"

Chapter 182 Huh? We're all from the Loki Familia?

"Get out!" the residents shouted angrily, throwing stones at them.

They knew exactly what they were doing, and this time there would be no hesitation or wavering. To them, all the adventurers had abandoned them; only the merman had saved their loved ones with blood and tears. Even as monsters, they understood their place.

There is no room for compromise.

The stone landed on Bert, momentarily halting his arrogant demeanor.

He never expected so many people to defend the monster. He didn't understand what was wrong with the world; he just felt that everyone else had gone mad.

"You... you worthless scum, have you been bewitched by this mermaid?"

He roared, and his fierce aura scared some people away, but they did not leave; instead, they continued to surround Bert.

Just as Bert was getting impatient and was about to launch another attack, a longsword appeared at the tip of his nose.

The golden-haired elf, brandishing a sharp blade, stood in front of the crowd: "Stop, [Grey Wolf]."

"You also want to protect that monster, Astraea Familia!" Bert tilted his head back, distancing himself from the sword.

"I still don't understand what's right and what's wrong." Ryu raised her head, her eyes clear and calm. "But I know that not wanting that fish-man to get hurt is everyone's 'ideal'! So this result that satisfies most people is absolutely the right thing to do!"

"Tch." Bert clicked his tongue, put his hands in his pockets, turned around and said coldly, "Then you can handle it. I don't care if anything goes wrong! You'd better all die, you idiots bewitched by the monster."

Liu sheathed his longsword.

But a resident behind them shouted, "That child isn't a monster, he's a celestial being!"

"Correct!"

"That is the celestial being who brings miracles and salvation to us mortals!"

"Master Xianjing! Master Xianjing! Master Ma Li!"

Bert stopped in his tracks, clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction once more, glanced at the Ganesha Familia that had gathered around him, and walked away grumbling.

"Liang~~, so handsome!" Adi jumped to Liu's side and nuzzled him from behind.

"Adi~! I told you not to hug me from behind!"

Shakti approached the crowd: "This... 'Fairy Spirit' will be in our care for now. Rest assured, Lord Ganesha will handle this person properly."

The residents erupted into another argument: "No, you adventurers can't be trusted! Who knows if you're like that werewolf, plotting to harm our Fairy Lord!"

Shakti was also very troubled by the hostile gazes of the crowd.

She couldn't possibly leave Marie among this group, and besides, she must be the special monster that Lord Ganesha was searching for...

"Adi, can't we just leave the child behind?" Liu asked.

"Sigh, there's nothing we can do. We can't let her stay in a place like this. We need to find her somewhere safe." Adi shrugged. "But it seems like nobody trusts us anymore."

Shakti was helpless. It was impossible for so many people to waste their time here for a monster. These people should also return to the shelter, in case the Dark Faction attacked again.

Just then, a giant shadow pushed through the crowd and disappeared into it.

"What are you doing? What are you doing?!" Mia walked over to Asphie with a nonchalant air and hoisted Marie onto her shoulder:

"What do you want to do to my daughter?! If you have nothing better to do, wash up and go back to sleep, you bunch of idiots!"

“Hey…you?…Why aren’t you guys…” One of them tried to stop them, but this time none of his companions objected.

“Have you forgotten? That’s the tavern owner. I saw Lady Marie working at her house before. I even had some porridge that Lady Marie gave me a few days ago,” the dwarf woman reminded her.

"So that's why my wounds stopped hurting all of a sudden back then. It was all thanks to Lady Marie's grace," the orc said belatedly.

"Lady Marie is truly an angel."

"Since she's the proprietress, we can rest assured. We absolutely cannot let these adventurers who don't care about our lives harm Lady Marie."

"Yes, we must keep a close watch on them and protect Lady Marie!"

"Let's form a support group for Lady Marie!"

"Yes!"

After Mia took the fishman away, the residents' conversation gradually changed.

Shakti covered his face and waved his hand, "You guys should come with me to the shelter first, be careful the Dark Faction doesn't launch another sneak attack!"

……

The oppressive atmosphere among the residents was dispelled by Marie's actions.

They firmly believed that the miracles of the immortals signified the birth of heroes. Countless historical accounts told them that no matter how great the despair, as long as there were heroes, it could be safely overcome.

Central Park, temporary command post.

Finn breathed a sigh of relief after receiving the information: "Sharlal, why didn't you tell us sooner that the fishman was your pet?"

Charles spread his little hands: "I think you know, after all, Raul and Ais were there too. But I was meant to be emergency food, so I was temporarily fostered at Mia's mother's restaurant."

Raul… Finn frowned. If Raul knew about Marie’s existence, why did he get so angry?

He glanced outside the tent but didn't receive any news about Raul. Instead, he saw Asif, who had arrived late.

"Alright, everyone's here." Finn calmed his racing heart as he looked at the dozens of adventurers gathered in the tent.

“Yesterday, a total of six families, including the Ishtar Familia, suffered heavy losses, and the gods returned. I need to reconfirm the new information. Ciel, let's start with you.”

Finn turned his head: "I deeply regret the departure of Chanis and Soma, but as the vice-captain of the Soma Familia, I think you have a reason to take on his responsibilities again."

Finn paused, then continued, "I heard that the formula and development of the 'fireworks' were actually your achievement? I hope you can work with Asfie to produce the new supplies we need in the shortest possible time. Is that alright?"

Charles nodded: "No problem."

Finn then looked at Asphie: "And [The Omnipotent One], I also received news last night of the fall of your clan leader. Now you are the leader of the Hermes Clan."

Seeing that her eyes were empty and unresponsive, she looked at the crowd again:

"Secondly, there is the issue of your families."

"The departure of the gods means that you have lost their favor, but in order to ensure the city's fighting strength, you will have to choose a new family."

The most troublesome one is Ciel. As the only remaining executive of the Soma Familia, he will naturally inherit all the wealth that the guild owes to the Soma Familia. Whichever family he joins, it means that this wealth will end up in whose pocket.

There's also the core of the valuable technology of "gunpowder".

Finn believed that Shire must have been holding back some information.

Finn took a deep breath and looked intently at the boy: "Ciel-kun, have you found a familiar you like?"

Ciel scratched his head: "Captain, what are you talking about? Didn't we already join the Loki Familia yesterday?"

"Huh?!" Finn was stunned for three seconds.

Ciel spread his hands: "Not just me, but everyone here, weren't we all bestowed with favors by Lord Loki himself? You were there too, weren't you?"

Finn: "Huh???"

Chapter 183 Loki: What? I didn't do it!

Was I there too?

Finn's breath caught in his throat, and a sharp pain shot through his thumb, which he couldn't help but lick.

"Can you explain what exactly happened to me?"

Ciel blinked innocently: "Yesterday we were all fighting in the Fourth District. After the gods were returned, we should have died under the sword, but Loki and you saved us from the Dark Faction."

"They also bestowed upon us a temporary favor, enabling us to continue maintaining the front line."

Finn's eyes turned into little beans: "Is that so?"

“It’s absolutely true, everyone saw it.” Charles looked at everyone.

Everyone in the room nodded in unison: "Yes, yes! We also saw Lord Finn's unparalleled marksmanship, and those scarlet eyes, are they some kind of special skill?"

Charles said nervously, "Although we acted hastily at the time, we knew that joining the Loki Familia was too hasty, and we didn't really expect to join the Loki Familia. But at least for the next year, we can't switch factions."

“No, that’s not right,” Finn interrupted, raising his hand. “There’s definitely something wrong here.”

His mind went blank.

Red eyes? Spear javelin thrower?

No, I have never revealed any of this to anyone. Even Valetta doesn't know why these people know.

The key point is, I didn't go to the fourth district either!

Yesterday we were clearly fighting Alfia in the Seventh District!

And... Raul...

Oh no! Could this be a conspiracy?!

Finn left his seat, pressed his hand against the eager crowd, and rubbed his temples, saying, "I'll have Loki check. I have a bit of a headache right now."

……

A moment later, Loki from the Tower of Babel arrived at the camp under Grace's protection.