Chapter 52: Siblings Meet

"Are you alright?"

"Ah… Yes. There's no need to worry."

Sometimes, I dream my future memories—the iterations I went through. Though, it is quite frustrating to only see the 'battles' and not the omitted portions. It's as if I forgot some crucial memories.

I felt Lady Artemis' gaze and stopped thinking about it.

"Will you still ask your brother to release his 'children'?"

"I… don't know. His children didn't want to leave him."

"It's natural… I think. His methods at the start are forceful but he genuinely cares for them. It's hard to leave such a god. Perhaps he inherited your kindness."

For a moment, I saw her smile. She was quick to retract it, however.

"Nevertheless, what he did is wrong. I shall reprimand him again."

"I will help, then." I replied. "There's also Kaye-san who holds him back."

"She's indeed holding him back."

Kaye-san was the knight with the tower shield. She served as the defender of the familia. During Lady Artemis' visits, I've heard that when she joined, Apollo began holding his bad habit back. Only when several children captivated him did he take action.

He was not the same as before where he eyed every single 'interesting' mortals.

"Come to think of it… Lady Artemis holds me back too."

"That's because you always go to danger."

"Lady Artemis shouldn't worry. I wouldn't place myself to danger anymore."

Upon reflecting from my past actions, I made her worry excessively. That was on top of the help she is giving me.

'Wait…'

Isn't it the time to make up for that?

'Should I give a gift or take her out somewhere?'

Considering our relationship, it'd be best to give her a gift. Taking her out somewhere could be... I don't know... Should I use it to step up? To resolve the matter between me and Lady Artemis, I might need a push.

I'll think of it later.

"You are thinking of something again."

"Mn. It's nothing."

"You are lying."

We had these casual talks until we arrived to Apollo Familia. After the gatekeeper saw Lady Artemis, we proceeded inside. There, we are greeted by Apollo-sama. He is a handsome blonde-haired god—his appearance resembling the cliche for narcissistic people.

"My dear sister!"

He tried to hug Lady Artemis but was rejected with a forehead flick."

"Ow!"

I though he was about to show an embarrassed look, only to be shut down.

"You're still the same as ever!"

"You also brought your nasty tendencies here."

Unlike before, Lady Artemis has a sharp tone. She is 'looking down' on her brother for his 'nearly deranged' tendencies related to 'love' (i.e., degeneracy).

"Oh? You brought him?" He looked at me for a while. "Hello, brother-in-law. I hope you take good care of my sister!"

"B-brother-in-law?!"

"W-what…"

Both of us were caught off-guard by Apollo-sama's words. Before Lady Artemis could speak, he followed up with his words.

"I completely understand. To be honest, I am glad you found your other half. It will help remove your tomb—!"

Bam-!

This time, he received a fist on top of head. At this time, Lady Artemis looked terrifying. This is her side that I haven't seen yet.

"O-okay! I will stop!"

The superiority of the elder sibling is present even in this world.

(A/N: Artemis is born first before Apollo in the myths.)

"You've also come here, Sirius."

An armored adventurer approaches me. From her voice, I knew it was Kaye–san.

"Greetings, Kaye-san."

"That's right! I wanted to thank you, br—Sirius-kun."

Apollo-sama's countenance turned serious all of a sudden.

"Thank you for saving my children."

To my surprise, he did a ninety-degree bow. A god bowing like this is a first for me.

"There's no need to bow like that, Lord Apollo. I did what was convenient at that time."

I decided to be honest. I saved them because their enemy didn't pose a threat.

"That doesn't change what you did." He retracted his bow. "Sister, I definitely approve of you two. If you are planning a wedding, make sure to—!"

Bam-!

Suddenly, Lord Apollo flew across the room. Lady Artemis lowered her leg that she used for a roundhouse kick.

"I used a lighter force than before. He should be alright."

"It's been long deserved."

Surprisingly, Kaye-san acquiesced what Lady Artemis did.

"Lord Apollo finally has someone to put him in place. I'm happy for it."

"I'm sorry about this sorry brother of mine. Still, thanks for taking care of him."

"It's not a problem…"

Lady Artemis walked over to him. She checked his condition, which is simply a 'scratch'.

"I will be taking him out for a while."

She left upon saying these words. With that, I am left with Kaye-san.

"Sirius, I'm curious about something…"

"What is it?"

"Do you use a shield?"

A shield..?

"Sometimes. I use it when the situation requires it. Though I don't often use them."

It was true that I use shields back in my world. They have some awesome anti-magic and anti-curse properties that are useful to defend against such attacks.

Yes, that's right—anti-curse properties.

Just because I don't have any cursed energy, it doesn't mean that I can't counteract it. I combined the principles behind the 'Simple Domain' and 'Anti-Magic'. It resulted in this discovery.

This is my main reliance against [Domain Expansion] and [Curses] in general. I perceive and interact with them through magic. It is tricky to deal, nevertheless.

"I thought you were the type to use it…"

"Is that so? How did Kaye-san think of it?"

To that, she answered:

"When we met for the first time, that thought passed by. I don't know why it appeared."

"I see…"

Perhaps she was misguided by my 'knight' armor. Anyways, that isn't important. I continued talking with Kaye-san until Lady Artemis returned.

*****

"I missed thi—nothing."

Apollo stopped his monologues when he saw Artemis' deathly stare.

"I'm not in the wrong this time! Isn't it normal to congratulate my sister who found her other half?"

He thought he'll receive another 'divine punishment' from her. This time, however, Artemis didn't choose to do so.

"Stop with your nonsense. Me and Or—Nobu isn't like that."

—at least not yet.

Apollo nodded with an 'understanding' look. Despite his degeneracy, he treated his sister's matter seriously.

She, who is a well-known tomboy in Tenkai, has her first love. Even Hestia would drop her jaws upon hearing it, much less Apollo.

They are born twins with opposite dispositions, but it didn't mean that they couldn't get along.

"If it's not for this matter, why did you come today?" He asked. A sign of tension could be seen in his eyes.

"I wouldn't force you to disband your familia. However, you must let go of the unwilling ones."

Artemis visited him for the third time already—to 'convince' him to reverse what he had done. Her righteousness never allowed for such 'injustice' to exist.

Then again, she knew from the first two visits that there are children that genuinely loved him. She couldn't force the ones who didn't want to leave him, hence her change of approach.

"I don't want everything to reach that point."

"..."

Apollo knew Artemis would wage a War Game if he didn't comply. That will be the remaining way to let the unwilling adventurers free.

She thought it wouldn't matter if his familia gets disbanded—his devoted children will still follow him. This condition allows everyone to have a satisfactory ending.

Apollo struggled inwardly. He couldn't simply let go of his children. His character doesn't allow such a thing to happen. If someone caught his interest, he wouldn't stop until that child becomes his.

However, his connection to Artemis and the inevitable future made him conflicted. If the two familias initiate a War Game, Apollo would definitely lose. Artemis has Rethusa, a level four, and several level threes. It is in sharp contrast to his side which only had Kaye as the sole level three. Moreover, he felt the need to concede to his sister whom he hadn't met for years.

"...Alright. I will do as you have said."

In the end, he came to that conclusion.

"Thank you."

"You can consider it as my advanced betrothal gift."

"..."

Apollo only saw a blur before an uppercut reached his chin.

Bam-!

*****

Boom-!

Lines of binary codes emerged out of thin air. A bolt of lightning went straight to the kelpie. Upon contact, it died.

"Level three… Are they this strong?"

After meeting with Apollo Familia and resolving things, I dove to the dungeon. I haven't tested my new strength due to the meeting earlier in the morning. I have been itching to try my new status out.

In the end, it is absurd.

"No, it shouldn't be as absurd as this…"

I know the sensation of fighting Level fives. Their reaction time is extremely fast and their body could move in a blur. I was lucky against Valletta simply because she let her guard down.

She suffered numerous 'avoidable' injuries as well as a debuff from my magic. Add to that her falna disappearing midfight, I won.

Bzzzt-!

A devil mosquito was burnt to crisp and fell to the ground.

"I can one hit monsters now?" I muttered. "Hacker can finally be used practically."

Ever since [Hacker] went up to F, I could use every short-verse spells with it. That included [Seiden], [Divided Projectiles], and several others. Of coursel, it is also undeniable that my level up increased their firepower greatly.

Hephaestus-sama told me how a level up is a major power-up. Most adventurers level up once they increase all of their stats to D which is the pre-requisite for the said level-up. That is true as a level six is stronger than level five, and a level five is stronger than level four.

It is an exponential increase. However, this is where most people missed out. Generally, an adventurer with an S in their status will be stronger than those who didn't have an S after their level up.

I didn't ask anyone else about their statuses, but Lady Artemis instructed her familia to have atleast an 'A' in their main status. That should also be the way Loki Familia treads—a specific status reaching a certain threshold before leveling up. It is the reason behind 'elite' adventurers.

This phenomenon is caused by a "limit".

Turns out, most adventurers would hit a plateau and won't be able to increase their status. It is not as easy as I have first heard.

This is where my case comes in. I didn't have the said "limits". My status grew normally. It didn't become slow at one point, only following an upward trend. As a result, I could reach all SSS across my status.

When I leveled up, I became stronger than an average level three. In short, this accumulation gave me more stat points than adventurers on a similar level.

"Bis Firmus." (Twice Robustness.)

A spell circle lit up beneath my feet. It was followed by a wave of heat throughout my body.

Shiing-!

I unsheathed my katana, [Sora].

Unlike before, I did not disguise myself. I wore the light-armor set as well. This is the bait I laid out. I will see later on if someone bites it.

Bzzt-!

Bzzt-!

Bzzt-!

Bzzt-!

Four lines of binary codes appeared before turning into purple lightning. It struck the mermen on water. Interestingly, the water on this floor is akin to seawater.

"...Now."

With the salt composition adding more charges, the arcs of lightning rippled before infecting others. Soon, everyone was electrocuted. They all floated like dead fish except for an exceptionally built merman. He wielded a blue pike made of corals. His webbed hands clutched and threw it at my direction.

Clang-!

Bam-!

I parried the attack easily. It was redirected to the dungeon wall and got stuck.

"Quaestrum ad astra." (Reach the stars.)

With an unreasonable flight spell, I went close to him and brandished the longsword to his neck.

Psshk-!

The sensation of tearing flesh appeared. The strength behind this strike successfully killed him in one blow.

Just as I was about to carve their magic stones out, several coral javelins were thrown in my direction. I deftly dodged them.

Several mermen appeared out of the water. Each group has a [Merman Captain] just like the guy from earlier.

"I see, I see."

I drew their aggro due to how I killed one of their kind. In the first place, water is their territory. Since I left the natural stone bridge, they thought they could overwhelm me with numbers.

A brilliant idea came to my mind.

"It's time to test it out."

I am about to do what I did weeks ago.

I sheathed my blade and took out my staff, [Edatsu]. I felt the emergence of another power. When I summoned it, a large magic circle manifested beneath me. I could feel my mind, mana, and concentration increasing.

"So that's how it is. I underestimated the effects of [Mage]."

[Ubiquitous] came right in time. I couldn't properly use [Mana Furnace] in battles yet.

Anyways, what would happen if it's superimposed with my magic? Soon, I will find it out.

"I shall not understand the irrationality, yet I ask thee."

Magic circles appeared on the sky. The bigger circles were drawn first before the more intricate small circles followed up.

"Illuminate the sky with thy light."

The circles started being loaded up with mana. It converges and transforms them to another power. I added the 'marks' to my targets. The converged mana are several times more abundant than what I could do before.

"Enth, Astrum."

The stars fell from the sky. A ray of light traced from behind as they gravely punished the marked mermen. When they fell to the sea, it caused a large pillar of water to emerge.

Splash-!

It caused huge ripples in the sea. When the barrage died down, I could see not only mermen but several other monster corpses floating.

"Er… Did I just do a dynamite fishing?"

My current prowess seemed stronger than I expected.