"Take that back!"
Belle shouted angrily, glaring daggers at Luan and his companions.
The nearby citizens immediately turned toward the commotion, whispers quickly spreading through the crowd.
"Those adventurers… are they about to fight?"
"Hey, isn't that the recently famous Little Rookie?"
"That emblem on their shirts… don't tell me they're from the Apollo Familia?"
"Someone find a member of the Ganesha or Astraea Familia, quick! If these adventurers start swinging, innocent people are going to get hurt."
As more people gathered to watch, Luan visibly flinched and unconsciously took a step back, fear flashing across his face for a brief moment.
But a second later, as if remembering something, he forced his usual smug expression back onto his face.
"Heh… you're mad because I'm right, aren't you?"
Luan sneered.
Belle gritted her teeth, continuing to glare at him.
"Tell the truth! You're embarrassed to be the child of that tiny goddess, aren't you?"
That was the final straw.
Belle snapped and threw the first punch.
Luan didn't even see it coming before he was sent flying, several teeth scattering through the air before he crashed hard onto the street.
"This bitch!"
"Damn it!"
The remaining members of the Apollo Familia who had been loitering behind Luan squared up, their fists raised and their eyes locked furiously onto Belle.
"Sigh… this is the problem with adventurers."
Lili could only shake her head after witnessing the scene.
The first attacker lunged forward, throwing a wild swing aimed directly at Belle's head. But Belle had already moved.
The enemy's fist struck nothing but empty air before Belle executed a flawless counterattack.
"Gwak!"
Her knee drove violently into the man's gut, knocking the wind completely out of his lungs.
He dropped to his knees, clutching his stomach and gasping for air.
"How dare you!"
Several Apollo Familia members rushed her at once, attempting to overwhelm her with numbers.
Yet, Belle moved even faster.
Despite being outnumbered, she wasn't intimidated in the least.
She systematically dismantled each attacker and dropping them before five seconds had even ticked by.
"Dammit… she's strong."
One of them wheezed, clutching his fractured ribs.
He winced in agony just a second before Belle delivered a swift roundhouse kick to his temple, knocking him out cold.
"That's what you get for picking a fight."
Lili stuck out her tongue from the side.
Although she had been against this from the beginning, watching these idiots get beaten up after badmouthing her familia was undeniably satisfying.
The crowd that had gathered to watch this so-called 'fight' stood in absolute awe.
Even the seasoned adventurers in the audience were thoroughly impressed.
"Did you see the way she moved?"
"Yeah… she's pretty skilled."
"So this is the Little Rookie, huh?"
They whispered amongst themselves.
"Miss Belle, let's get out of here."
Lili walked over, noticing how much attention they were attracting.
Belle nodded and was just about to leave when...
"Where do you think you're going?"
A man's voice suddenly rang out.
Belle and Lili turned around to see a brown-haired man wearing the same uniform as the adventurers Belle had beaten earlier.
But unlike the others, this man carried a completely different presence.
"After beating up my familia members, you think you can just walk away?"
The moment he finished speaking, his figure blurred and instantly appeared in front of Belle, unleashing a rapid series of punches.
'He's faster than the others.'
Bell thought, crossing her forearms into a guard.
The rapid-fire sound of flesh hitting flesh reverberated through the street.
"Hey! Is that who I think it is?"
"That's Phoebus Apollo… Hyakinthos!"
"The captain of the Apollo Familia… he's a Level 3, right?"
Several adventurers in the crowd recognized him immediately.
Belle took a calculated step back, absorbing the momentum of Hyakinthos's assault, and dropped into a solid combat stance.
At the same time, several more members of the Apollo Familia surrounded her and Lili, glaring at them threateningly.
"Belle Cranel, you're coming with us."
Hyakinthos Clio spoke as though his words were absolute.
To him, his opponents were merely lower-level trash.
He was fully confident he could overpower them whenever he pleased.
As for the ridiculous rumors surrounding Belle's achievements?
'They're probably exaggerated. People love glorifying heroic stories after all.'
He surveyed the scene with a cold sneer.
Even though this confrontation had been planned beforehand, Hyakinthos still felt irritated.
He was deeply jealous that this white-haired rabbit had managed to capture the obsessive gaze of his beloved god.
'We're causing too much of a scene… I need to end this quickly.'
'But first… let me break you a little, you brat.'
With that thought, Hyakinthos lunged forward, fully intending to crush the rookie standing before him.
In his mind, he had already imagined Belle bloodied and beaten, bruises covering her body as tears streamed down her face.
But that fantasy existed only inside his head.
"What?!"
His eyes widened as Belle's fist slammed into his stomach while his own punch missed completely, Belle tilting her head just enough to evade it.
Saliva flew from Hyakinthos's mouth as the brutal force of the impact caused him to stumble backward.
He desperately fought to stabilize his footing, his eyes wide with shock.
"What?!"
"No way!"
"The captain got hit?!"
The surrounding Apollo Familia members stared in disbelief.
"Tsk… just a fluke. No big deal."
Hyakinthos growled through gritted teeth as he wiped his mouth with his wrist, glaring at Belle with pure hostility.
'I can't believe I let my guard down and let a Level 2 garbage hit me.'
Refusing to acknowledge Belle's skill, he simply convinced himself it had been beginner's luck.
"Don't get cocky just because you landed one punch, brat."
Venom dripped from his voice as he prepared to attack again.
"Bring it on."
Belle replied steadily as the two locked eyes.
Just as the air grew heavy and the two were about to clash again...
"What the hell is all this noise?"
A rough, irritated voice suddenly cut through the tension.
Hyakinthos snapped his head around, a furious expression on his face, ready to kill whoever dared to interrupt him.
But the moment he recognized the newcomer, his expression stiffened.
Standing there with both hands in his pockets was Bete Loga of the famous Loki Familia.
"Damn it… I was heading home after a good drink, and you lot completely ruined my mood. Get the hell out of my face!"
Bete clicked his tongue and glared at them.
"That's Vanargand of the Loki Familia!"
"Tsk, is it over already? I wanted to see them go at it."
Hyakinthos clenched his fists, almost raising them toward Bete.
But the instant Bete looked at him with eyes that practically screamed 'You want to die?'… Hyakinthos slowly lowered his hands.
"Let's go."
Hyakinthos turned around and walked away with the rest of his companions, helping Luan and the others who got beaten up earlier back to their feet.
Seeing them leave, Lili let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you very much, Bete."
Belle spoke gratefully.
She was reasonably familiar with Bete, considering they had both been thoroughly beaten into the dirt together by her aunt, Alfia, during their joint training sessions in the past.
Granted, compared to Tiona and the others, Bete wasn't exactly approachable.
He was the type who despised socializing, no matter how many times she tried to strike up a friendly conversation with him.
Bete merely snorted and walked past them without even acknowledging their existence.
"That guy… he seriously gives off the vibe of a complete jerk."
Lili huffed with an annoyed expression once Bete was finally out of sight.
"Haha… I guess he's always been like that."
Belle said, scratching the back of her head with a helpless smile.
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