The Protagonist System

300 Business Acumen Conclusion

The next morning, we easily finished off the last of the maps above Floor 18 and returned home. We then picked a nice spot near the entrance of the dungeon where I easily constructed a stall for Lili to sell our lesser wares.

Thanks to having Hephaestus give us permission to use her seller's license, no one stopped us from setting up. I also added in the same wards I used to protect Yasaka's businesses in the last world. Anyone approaching the stall with evil intent, to either rob the place or cause trouble, would be warned with a push and then teleported away.

There was no body of water nearby, so they would be sent to just outside the walls of the city. We wouldn't tell anyone about that feature and would only warn people that there would be removed if they attacked the stall or the person manning it.

I set it up for easy access for Lili, with her safely behind the large counter, and the stock underneath it was in an expanded space. There would be display models on the wall behind her, just so no one would see how much stock we actually had for sale. I had made several hundred permanent copies of each item so that we would never run out of them. We also put up a sign with the cheap prices for the basic maps and how cheaply we were selling normal weapons.

We had barely finished when a crowd of people seemed to appear out of nowhere. I whispered to Lili that I better stick around for a while and she could handle the sales while I retrieved the items for the customers. Lili really liked that idea and we were soon working like a well oiled machine as we sold item after item, map after map, weapon after weapon, and some of the Hephaestus Familia's things as well.

By lunchtime, we had to temporarily close the stall to take a break from the constant flow of customers. It was almost shocking how quickly word of the stall's cheap prices had spread across the whole city. The best part? It wasn't only adventurers that were buying the armor and weapons. Because they were so cheap, normal people could afford to protect themselves and they never could before.

“Should we offer repaired furniture, too?” Lili asked.

“You want to do even more work?” I asked and she laughed.

“We've made almost as much this morning as we did in the dungeon yesterday, and this is just the basic stuff we had.” Lili said. “When you open the high-end stall on Floor 5, Ryuu won't have as many customers, even when I refer them to her; bu, she'll make even more money.”

I chuckled. “It was a little funny to tell a few of the adventurers that we didn't have the stall open yet down there.”

Lili laughed again. “Do you remember the look on their faces? They were so scared that they had to go all the way down to the fifth floor just to buy better armor pieces and weapons!”

I nodded. “When should we start offering the ferrying services?”

“I think we should wait and see who actually wants to buy the better things from Ryuu's stall. I want to see their relief when we guarantee safe passage down there and back.”

I laughed. “That's a good way to introduce the teleportation circles to a very limited clientele. Only serious people will want or need both things.”

Lili nodded. “We'll use the primary one on Floor 1 as the base to teleport from and back to, that way, no one that's not inside the dungeon will know about it, thanks to your protective wards.”

“That's the smart way to handle it.” I agreed and we finished up our meal. I stored everything and stood up. “Are you sure you can handle things from here?”

“I've got this.” Lili said and her voice and demeanor was confident as she stood. “Thank you for your help this morning and teaching me the Accio spell.”

I gave her a kiss and dropped the silence spell around the stall. The crowd that had been standing there watching us eat, immediately started to point at the display items and asked for what they wanted. “Are you still sure?”

Lili nodded and handled the first customer and exchanged a small amount of money for a summoned chest plate. None of the people noticed she had done magic under the counter, either.

I went back home and met up with Ryuu to take her to the dungeon and set up her stall. Aiz and Tiona were taking a day off to relax, because tomorrow I would begin their training. Ryuu had happily accepted running the stall, because she had years of experience as a server at The Hostess of Fertility pub. Instead of food, she would be handing out armor, weapons, and better maps in exchange for money or monster crystals.

It didn't take long for me to set the second stall up, adding appropriate wards and protections, extending them from around the teleportation circle on Floor 5. With her enchanted necklace and portkey, and her experience piggybacking her magic on the teleportation circle to use the whole network, she could leave and come back whenever she wanted.

The stall wouldn't be open all the time, either. She still had her work at the pub to do, since she didn't want to leave them shorthanded. She posted the large sign with the hours of operation, the prices of the things on display, including the more well known members of the Hephaestus Familia's armor and weapons.

There was even a note to ask about the more expensive and detailed maps of each floor down to the safe floor on Floor 18. It also had the same warning about robbing the stall or causing trouble. Just in case, I added an enchanted barrier in front of it to stop anyone from reaching it and showed Ryuu how to deactivate it when she was there and open for business.

She looked quite happy to be entrusted with such an important business and gave me a look I couldn't quite decipher, then Ryuu stepped close and gave me a kiss on the lips that let me know she was serious about it and it wasn't only a thank you. I put my arms around her and kissed her back in response, and she hummed and let it go on for a full minute before she broke the kiss and blushed.

“Have a good day at work.” I said and teleported us to beside the pub.

Ryuu nodded and walked to the end of the alleyway and looked back at me. I waved, like usual, and she smiled and entered the pub.

Now that I had set up the two stalls, I had to check up on a few things. I peeked at Loki and saw her panicking while her executives reassured her that there was no way for them to lose against Tiona. It made me laugh and I ended that view, then looked for someone I had only briefly heard about. Artemis. She had been kidnapped a long time ago by some monster that wanted to destroy the city by using her power against the people.

To my utter surprise, Artemis was safely in heaven and hadn't descended to the human realm at all, perfectly happy with watching as all of the events down below unfolded. Her head turned away from looking down at the mortal realm and she looked right at me through my clairvoyance power and smiled at me.

“I couldn't allow even a fraction of my power to appear in the mortal realm. It's too destructive, even if used by a hero such as yourself.” Artemis said and her smile faded as she sighed. “It would have been nice to experience a few things for myself, only it's too dangerous to risk the lives of the people that live down there if I were to manifest a mortal body to inhabit.”

“Please excuse me for a minute.” I said politely and cut my power, then checked on Antares, the monster creature man mixture that could cause all the monsters in the world to go crazy if it ever escaped. It was still sealed inside the Elsos Ruins and was in a deep slumber.

I opened a portal for my fingertip and poked the thing with Black Hole and it didn't even scream as it was sucked and compressed down into nothing ness. I closed the portal and left all the sealing enchantments and wards, since there was no point in trying to destroy them. It would also let people believe the creature was still there and would never escape.

I used my clairvoyance power again to look at Artemis and she smiled, then she gasped when I stepped from where I was and appeared in her room.

“What... how...” Artemis started to ask and I stepped close to pull her into my arms.

“There are more things under heaven than what your limited view could ever show you.” I said and hugged her, then gave her a look that clearly asked for permission.

Artemis blushed and nodded slightly as she closed her eyes and puckered her lips. I moved my head forward and briefly kissed her, earned another gasp from her at the contact, then I kissed her like she wanted me to. Passionately and full of emotion. She moaned and wrapped her arms around my neck as she kissed me back the same way.

I stepped us to her bed and stored our clothes, again earning a gasp from her, then she moaned as she felt me pressing against her very damp opening. She spread her legs, giving me full access, then she really moaned as I entered her and she felt how it fit her perfectly.

By the thoughts in her mind, I was meeting and exceeding her expectations of how these things were supposed to go. She had seen so many couples and the few romantic ones she had witnessed were the ones I had with Hestia, Lili, and Aiz. She had wanted it for herself and had no idea she would ever have it, then I appeared before her like she desired and now we were making love like a married couple and she couldn't have asked for anything better.

I didn't only do the basic things, though. I wanted her to have the whole experience and I went through a full gambit of foreplay, including licking and tickling her all over, which she really enjoyed. Her divine body was extremely sensitive and she reacted like she was receiving electric shocks whenever I touched her.

The whole thing ended up becoming really fun for the both of us and we both finished together with a moan and a laugh. We cuddled together afterwards and Artemis nuzzled my neck and ear as her thoughts of always wanting to do that warmed my heart.

“Thank you, Bell.” Artemis said and kissed my cheek. “I'm going to remember this moment for the rest of my life.”

Since gods and goddesses were technically immortal, that was going to be a very long time.

“I'm glad I made a lasting impression.” I said in a joking manner.

Artemis let out a soft laugh and sat up to look down at me. “You need to get back to your budding harem before they realize you left.”

I nodded and sat up, handed her clothes to her, and gave her a kiss. “It was nice meeting you and I hope you won't feel so sad about only being able to watch from now on.”

“I won't.” Artemis promised and then smiled coyly. “I am technically part of your harem now.”

I chuckled as I climbed out of bed. A wave of my hand cleaned me up with a spell and I equipped my clothes. I bowed to her, giving her a lot of respect, and stepped back home.

*

“I'm not sure why you gathered us all together this morning if you're training Tiona to fight.” Lili said as we all stood on the teleportation circle in Hestia's church.

Ryuu, Hestia, Lili, Aiz, Tiona, Tsubaki, and Hephaestus were there, just because I asked them to be.

“Because I'm going to do something very important and I wanted you all to be a part of it.” I said and they all looked pleased by that. “I just need a minute to prepare.”

They nodded and I took out the dressing screen and went behind it. I pulled out the suit I hadn't worn in a very long time and put it on, then I took out my enchanted guitar that I hadn't used since I was in Worm. Now that I was ready, I stepped back out from behind the dressing screen.

Shock was on everyone's faces for barely a second before Lili started to giggle. Tsubaki barked a laugh and clamped her mouth shut to stop from continuing. Ryuu blushed instead of laughing, which was a surprise. Aiz and Hephaestus seemed frozen as they stared at me. Tiona licked her lips and looked hungry.

“My Bunny!” Hestia squealed and jumped at me. She almost strangled me as she held me tightly around the neck and rubbed her face on my bright pink fur. “My sweet sweet bunny! My Bell! My Bunny Bell!”

Her reaction set everyone off and most of them laughed, then I was surrounded by blushing, horny women as they petted and stroked the fur of my were-bunny costume. For the next few minutes, I let them enjoy themselves as they fondled and cuddled a life-size right pink plush bunny.

“All right, that's enough. It's time for me to get serious.” I said.

A couple of them laughed at that word coming out of a giant pink bunny rabbit.

I gently pushed them away and they made disappointing sounds as they reluctantly let me go. I intentionally let them see me adjust myself inside the costume, so they knew I had been turned on as well, and earned a few blushes and more hungry looks.

I ignored them for now and hefted my guitar up and strummed a few chords. I knew the perfect song to bolster them with, Titanium by Sia. I just had to change a few words to fit the technology level and the main chorus from Ti-tan-i-um to Orich-al-c-um.

“You shout it out... but, I can't hear a word you say. You're talking loud, not saying much.” I said and strummed the guitar, letting the magic fill the room. “We're criticized... but, all your arrows ricochet. You shoot me down, but I get up.”

Everyone had wide eyes as they all started glowing from the magic.

“I'm armored up, nothing to lose. Fire away, fire away. Ricochet, you take your aim. Fire away, fire away. You shoot me down, but I won't fall! I am Orich-al-c-um! You shoot me down, but I won't fall! I am Orich-al-c-um!”

Hephaestus understood the reference right away and stood a little straighter. Tsubaki needed a moment to realize what I meant and whispered to the others about how much I valued them as I played the guitar.

“Cut me down, but it's you that has further to fall. All over town, word of our love.” I sang and they all blushed, even Ryuu. “Raise your voice, sticks and stones may break my bones. You're talking loud, not saying much.”

I sang the chorus again, keeping the altered words, then decided to skip the last verse of the song, since it didn't add anything necessary and I sang the chorus again.

“I'm armored up, nothing to lose. Fire away, fire away. Ricochet, you take your aim. Fire away, fire away. You shoot me down, but I won't fall! I am Orich-al-c-um! You shoot me down, but I won't fall! I am Orich-al-c-um!”

I slowed down playing the guitar and ended the song. The glow around them faded and they still had blushes on their faces. “The experience boost and the reflective enchantment will last until tomorrow morning.”

“A reflective enchantment?” Ryuu asked.

I smiled and held up a hand to create a small fireball. “With your permission?”

Ryuu nodded without hesitation and I shot the small fireball at her in the blink of an eye. It hit her chest and bounced off and up into the ceiling of the church before it exploded against the protective enchantments.

“That's my church you're lighting on fire!” Hestia exclaimed, even though there was no visible damage.

“Don't worry, it's protected as much as you are.” I said and she relaxed.

Everyone else looked over at Ryuu and saw she was unharmed.

“Does it work on weapons?” Tiona and Aiz asked at the same time.

“Go into the dungeon for that!” Hestia shouted and the others chuckled.

“That's why we're on the teleportation circle. We can all go where we need to.” I said and walked over to Hephaestus. “You can heat up your furnace as much as you want now and don't have to worry.”

Hephaestus smiled and gave me a quick kiss. “Thank you, Bunny.”

Everyone laughed and I chuckled at her actually teasing me. I turned to Tsubaki and she gave me a much bigger kiss and whispered that she wouldn't waste it. I sent them to the Hephaestus Familia's compound without sending anyone else.

“How did you do that?” Lili and Ryuu asked me.

“Like this.” I said and sent Lili to her stall and Ryuu to hers at the same time.

“They are going to get back at you for that.” Hestia warned me.

“I know.” I said and gave her a peck on the lips. “Have a good day at work.”

Hestia smiled and I sent her to the alleyway beside the shop where she worked.

I turned to Aiz and Tiona. “Are you ready for the most intensive training of your lives?”

Both drew their weapons and smiled. I smiled back and went behind the screen, took off the were-bunny suit and equipped my armor. I stored the screen and teleported us to Floor 31. Instead of allowing them to fight there like they thought, I led them up the pathway to Floor 30.

“This is technically cheating, since the Juggernaut won't have the time to prepare for someone attacking it.” I said and then explained how people usually had to fight through the floor to get to the thing and it had already seen or learned about their attacks. If it was somehow defeated, then it took anywhere from two weeks to a month to regenerate to be fought again.

“We're fighting it when we're fresh and not exhausted?” Tiona asked.

“Yes, and it won't be prepared for the attacks the two of you can do to it.” I answered and both girls smiled again. “It's up to you if you want to let it learn and adapt to your strengths and start countering you, or defeating it and moving on to the other floor bosses.”

“Defeating it.” Both Aiz and Tiona said at the same time.

I laughed at them wanting to move on to defeat as many floor bosses as they could instead of staying with just the one that could grow stronger and defeat them if they let it. They wanted to make themselves better, not the monsters. I agreed with them and sent a pulse of magic into the walls. The dungeon trembled at the threat I presented and started to spawn the juggernaut right there.

“Get ready, girls. You're up.” I said and stepped back to let them take point.

“This is going to be fun.” Tiona said and crouched slightly. Her orange-yellowish armor didn't hinder her fighting style at all and she liked that she matched us. It made her feel closer to us than any amount of casual clothes could.

The loud roar as the monster came out of the wall made both girls brace, then they both ran at the thing as soon as it was free of the dungeon's wall. I stood there and watched as the two fierce fighters used their weapons to tear the thing apart, piece by piece.

Their speed was just too high for the larger beast to handle properly and its defense was fairly weak. Once they could get past its attacks, both from claws and teeth, it was taken apart fairly easily. Yes, attacking it from behind was a cheat and I was going to use it as many times as possible to train both Aiz and Tiona for the 6 days we had left before the contest.

*

All of the Familias in Orario showed up to the Colosseum when it was time. Tickets had been sold and the most expensive were in the premium boxes where entire groups could sit and be close to the action. A raffle had been held the day before for all the remaining tickets to be sold for cheap to the normal citizens and they filled the Colosseum to capacity.

Before the time for the event to start, large viewing portals opened up all around the outside of the Colosseum, in front of every business, and on the Guild Hall. All of the people cheered, because those that couldn't get tickets had almost rioted over not being able to see it with their own eyes and would have to settle for hearing about it.

The Hestia Familia sat in the box beside Ganesha, the God of Games and Sports, and the Hephaestus Familia sat on his other side. It was Ganesha's Colosseum and he stood as he gestured for everyone to be silent and they all quieted down.

“As you all know, today we will all be blessed with witnessing an epic battle between a single opponent that represents the Hestia Familia against the entire Loki Familia.” Ganesha stated.

“It's gonna be a slaughter!” Someone shouted and a bunch of people laughed.

“The Loki Familia has chosen a mix of the options. There will be two one-on-one fights, because of personal honor, and then the rest of the Familia members will attack together.” Ganesha informed them. “Gareth the Dwarf will be first, because he was personally insulted, then Finn the Prum will be second for dismissing him as unimportant.”

No one missed how ironic going second was after being called unimportant.

“But first, there has been a request by the Hestia Familia to put on an exhibition match as a warm-up for the main event. When I heard the details, I agreed.” Ganesha said and motioned to the side. “Will the two main participants please step out into the arena?”

A lot of people were shocked when Aiz Wallenstein and Tiona Hiryule came out of the left side waiting area wearing the full battle armor that the Hestia Familia was becoming well known for. They walked over to near Ganesha's podium and bowed to him, then bowed to Hestia, then bowed to Hephaestus.

“I need to warn all of the spectators about what they are about to see.” Ganesha said and everyone gave him their attention. “Please, do not panic. Special wards have been constructed around the arena to keep all fights, magic spells, and damage within the arena and no one outside of it is at risk. I guarantee it.”

They all seemed to relax after hearing that.

Ganesha nodded at the Hestia Familia and then looked out over the Colosseum as he smiled and spread his arms out to the sides. “Let the exhibition match begin!”

A small portal appeared at the far side of the arena and a mighty roar came out of it. A few people screamed just from that, then the portal grew to an astonishing size and an absolutely massive pitch black dragon stepped through. Nearly everyone in the city of Orario screamed at the top of their lungs, even the men, because the One-Eyed Black Dragon had returned.

To put things into perspective, the Colosseum was a oval 600 feet long, 500 feet wide in the middle, and the walls were 150 feet tall. The dragon in comparison, was 150 feet long, a quarter of the length of the Colosseum and stood over 70 feet tall, or almost half the height of the Colosseum.

His wingspan almost matched his total length as well, or almost a third of the width of the Colosseum in the middle. You needed big wings to carry over four tons of weight. Since the dragon was at the far end of the Colosseum, he literally filled the entire space he occupied.

The dragon roared again and everyone seated there were knocked out of their shock and tried to flee, only there was nowhere to go, because the place was packed. It tried to flap its wings to take off and they smacked against the magical barrier and bounced off, making the dragon cry out in pain.

That action gained everyone's attention, because it had never happened before. No one had heard that sound from a creature so large and their panic started to fade.

“You're not going anywhere!” Tiona shouted and spread out from Aiz, whom took a fighting stance. “Come on, you overgrown lizard! I'm right here! Come over here and eat the shiny thing!”

The dragon roared again and charged. Well, it should have been a charge, except the Colosseum didn't have a lot of room for him to move around in, which was why the fight was planned that way.

Aiz and Tiona darted from their spots towards the giant monster and their blades flashed. The dragon roared in pain as its wingtips were clipped off and it stumbled to a stop in front of Ganesha's podium. The two armored girls stopped running near the other end of the Colosseum and met as high-fived each other, then they braced for the next attack.

What everyone had seen was a technique that Aiz and Tiona had worked on. They refined it by using it on all of the floor monsters the had access to and combined their attacks to whittle them down to a more manageable size and weakened them enough to finish them off.

“They're going to complete the final Great Quest!” A man shouted, then another did it, and soon the whole Colosseum was chanting it.

Of course, all the noise enraged the beast, and it roared in defiance. The crowd stopped chanting and the dragon let out a loud huff of air that sounded suspiciously like a scoff.

“Did... did it just scoff at the crowd?” Tsubaki asked, surprised.

“There's no way it could have gained enough experience or intelligence for that.” A male god said from the next box.

Hephaestus looked over to see Hermes there. “Oh, there you are. Where have you been?”

“I've been communing with the gods.” Hermes said and tipped his hat at her.

Hephaestus shook her head at the non-answer and looked back at the giant dragon as it turned to face the two very small armored fighters that had to be insane to fight the thing in front of so many witnesses.

“Aren't you going to ask about what?” Hermes prompted her.

“No.” Hephaestus said and tried to ignore him.

Hermes waited for a moment, and sighed at her not playing the game. “It was about Bell Cranel.”

“I don't want to hear it.” Hephaestus said, even though she did. This wasn't the time for a conversation like that.

“Aren't you a little bit curious about what they talked about?” Hermes asked with a smirk.

Hephaestus groaned and reached up to rub the patch she still wore over her eye, even though it had been healed weeks ago. No one else needed to know she had her full vision or more of her locked powers back.

“What do you want to tell me that you are too set in your ways to just say outright without me asking about it or playing your stupid word games?” Hephaestus asked and called him out on his antics.

“You're no fun.” Hermes said with a frown.

“We're watching history being made and you want to share stupid gossip!” Hephaestus almost spat at him as she glared at him, then she took a breath, calmed down, and looked back at the fight. “Just write me a cryptic letter or something else equally idiotic. I'll look at it in a month or so if I don't throw the useless thing into the fire before then.”

Hermes kept frowning at her. When Hephaestus didn't say anything else, he lost the frown and pulled a letter out of his pocket and tossed it over to her. “You won't want to wait a month to read that.”

Hephaestus looked at the thin envelope and gave him a raised eyebrow. “A single sheet? It's another stupid poem I have to figure out the clues to and find the message, isn't it?”

Hermes didn't answer and motioned to it.

“You know what? Forget it.” Hephaestus said and fire burst from her hands and incinerated the envelope.

It shocked all of the gods and goddesses around them, because they had been pretending to not listen in.

Hephaestus reached up and pulled the patch off of her eye and blinked it at Hermes with both of her fully working eyes. “Run along, little messenger. Let's see if anyone else will enjoy your word games as you try to tell them in every word but the truth that I've been restored.”

Hermes didn't move and opened his mouth to refuse.

Hephaestus stood up and glared at him, which was much more intense with both of her eyes intact. “I ordered you to deliver a message, Hermes. Are you refusing to do your divinely given duties?”

Lots of sucked in breaths came from his Familia members and many of the gods and goddesses around them. Everyone knew he was only allowed to keep the current breadth of his powers because he could freely travel between the mortal realm and heaven to deliver messages to both sides.

The crowd of people gasped as the dragon roared in pain again.

Hephaestus and the others that had been distracted by Hermes and his antics, turned to watch as one of the dragon's wings had been severed and Tiona was thrown off its back. She bounced off of the magical barrier and flailed through the air towards the dragon's mouth.

“NO!” Hestia yelled and leapt to her feet.

Ais was suddenly there as she leapt through the air and caught Tiona just as a beam of fire blasted out of the dragon's mouth and sprayed over half of the Colosseum. The pair came out of the fire and landed hard on the ground and tore up a huge trench as the fire on them dissipated. They looked a little scorched and neither moved for a few seconds, then they both groaned and Aiz sat up.

“Thank goddess!” The rest of Hestia's Familia said and Hestia glowed.

“You made me miss it.” Hephaestus said, her voice low, and she reached out with her hand and grabbed Hermes by the collar of his shirt and lifted him up. “You cost me something I should have seen.”

Hermes struggled and tried to get away, because he knew what she was going to do.

“No, don't!” Asfi Al Andromeda exclaimed and jumped to her feet. “He'll leave immediately!”

“It's too late for that.” Hephaestus said and her fingertip turned molten as she plunged it into the left eye of the God of Messengers and cursed him.

Hermes screamed and a good portion of the crowd watching the epic battle with the Black Dragon turned away from that to see a god lose his eye permanently.

Hephaestus let his collar go and Hermes dropped to his knees with tears in his lone eye. “Unless you have an official reason to, I never want to see you again. If I do see you without an actual letter from the gods, you will never see anything again.” She said, her voice deadly. “Do you understand?”

“Y-yes, I do.” Hermes said and stood up, his legs a little shaky. He steadied himself on his captain's arm and her eyes were full of sympathy and sorrow. He patted her arm and left through the door at the back of his assigned box.

Hephaestus nodded and moved back to her own seat and sat down. She ignored the glares from the Hermes Famila and felt her hand be taken on her right by Tsubaki. She was about to whisper a thank you, then felt a strong hand take her left hand and turned her head slightly to see Bell beside her. She nodded slightly and watched the rest of the brutal fight with the dragon.

*

“I think... it's time.” Tiona said as she panted and held her side where the dragon had kicked her. She was sure there were several bruised or broken ribs, her shoulder was almost useless after she had hit the barrier so hard, and she was sure one of her feet was crushed inside her boot. She was quite angry about being beat own by a stupid dragon.

“Just say when.” Aiz said. She had been just as beaten and battered as her friend as she covered for her. However, she had taken the hits and bites on the thickest parts of her armor. The back plate, thigh guards, and arm gauntlets were dented, pitted in places from tooth marks, and almost charred black.

Not surprisingly, the dragon was just as battered as them. He only had most of one wing left, one of the horns on his head was gone, several teeth were chipped, most of his claws had been trimmed, and he lost the spiky tip of his tail. He was bleeding a lot, despite his massive regeneration, and none of the wounds were closing as quickly as they were supposed to.

“Now.” Tiona said angrily as the dragon started panting. It was preparing a huge gust of volcano-level fire that would engulf the whole arena again. Neither she nor Aiz could stand the concussive blast and heat again, despite Bell's armor enchantments and their own skills.

Ais nodded and punched her friend in the face as hard as she could. The loud crack echoed in the arena and everyone winced at the sound, sure that Tiona's cheek was broken. Shouts and cries came from nearly everyone in the audience from shock.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?” Tione yelled, outraged that Aiz had turned on her sister.

Aiz ignored the yells and continued to pummel the poor amazonness and rained punches, kicks, and grapples to throw her into the ground. After 30 seconds of the one-sided beatdown, just as the dragon finished panting and gathering its strength for one last blast, Tiona started laughing.

When Aiz tried to punch her again, Tiona caught it and slowly stood up with a red mist flowing out of her entire body.

“Thanks, Aiz. I'm glad you're my friend and understood to not stop until I had what I needed.” Tiona said and stepped forward to hug her, then she picked her up and threw her up into the air. “Now FLY!”

Aiz took off like a shot straight up, thanks to Tiona's help. “TEMPEST!”

The movement distracted the dragon from aiming at the ground and it followed her movement and let the explosive blast of flame out with its head tilted up. It completely missed both Tiona and Aiz as the concussive force was wasted on open air and the flame spread out above the Colosseum harmlessly.

“BESERK!” Tiona yelled and the red mist burst into flames that swirled around her. It was a special ability that increased her strength and other stats in relation to the damage she sustained and the flames increased in heat with her level of anger, and she was pissed. She ignored all of her injuries and picked up her dropped double bladed weapon, swung it like a baton, and grinned. “You're going down.”

The crowd gasped when Tiona disappeared with a spray of dirt from where she stood and her blade sliced off the dragon's other wing. She had moved too fast for anyone to see. She stopped across the arena and braced again, then ran by the beast again. Her blade wasn't big enough to sever a limb completely in one slice, so she had to dash back and one of the beast's front legs fell to the ground.

Aiz wasn't floating idly, either. She swooped down, her ability to manipulate wind was maxed out and she could fly like a natural after Bell's lessons. Her smaller blade only peppered the creature's hide; but, it was enough to distract it as Tiona dashed continually back and forth and removed each of its limbs. She even removed the tail, except that took five shorter passes.

The dragon roared from every bit of damage and the crowd almost felt sympathy for the thing as it was slowly and methodically dismantled until it was only a head on a torso. That was when Tiona dashed in and punched the thing under the chin, driving its head up into the air. It was perfectly timed for Aiz to swoop in and she drove her sword deep into the dragon's sole eye.

A bright light came from it and the dragon screamed, as if it had taken lethal damage and not a superficial wound... then magic seemed to start building up inside the arena.

“Don't worry, I got this.” Bell said when he appeared beside the dragon and touched it, then the remains dropped down through a dark portal and immediately closed.

“Where did you send it?” Aiz asked as she tried to land and collapsed instead.

Bell caught her and held her tenderly. “It was exploding, so I sent it back where it belongs.”

*WHABOOM-THUMP!*

The ground beneath the entire city jumped slightly and everything shook for a second.

Aiz smiled and nodded in understanding. He had sent it back to the lowest floor where it had been first encountered and then escaped, so he let its death destroy an entire level of the dungeon.

“You both did it.” Bell said and kissed Aiz before he reached a hand out to Tiona. She was still smiling and the flames surrounding her body slowly dissipated. She took a single step towards him and collapsed, her energy and anger spent, and she was suddenly held by his arm. “You completed the last great quest.”

Both of them sighed with relief as Bell healed them and their injuries disappeared.

The entire Colosseum was completely silent for several moments, then there was a sound of a single clap, then another. Then the entire place erupted with applause and everyone stood up to give them a standing ovation, even the gods and goddesses and their Familias.

Bell held them for another few seconds, then he helped them stand on their own and stepped back as he disappeared. Both Aiz and Tiona took the cue and bowed slightly to Ganesha, then to Hestia, and stood back-to-back and waved at the crowd. The sound of applause doubled and nearly shook the whole place.

The victorious pair had a difficult time walking across the scarred and torn up battlefield and ended up near the podium and bowed again, then Aiz walked out through the entrance to the left side waiting area, leaving Tiona there wearing her beaten and battered armor.

“That was a wonderful warm-up match, wasn't it?” Ganesha asked and everyone suddenly realized there was supposed to be another fight. “Miss Hiryule, member of the Hestia Familia, do you wish to continue?”

“Of course I do!” Tiona said and with laugh. “I have an entire Familia to beat down and I can't wait to see how they fair against me.”

Ganesha nodded. “Will the first competitor enter from the opposing side of the area?”

Nothing happened and no one appeared. Ganesha frowned slightly and motioned towards the area. One of his many guards quickly ran down to the area and went inside.

“We surrender!” A female voice said and all of the lower level Loki Familia were ushered into the arena with Tione at the front.

“Where is your goddess and her other executives?”

“They left and said to surrender when you came for us to fight.” Tione said. “I was leaving them anyway, so I stayed behind.”

Ganesha sighed. “I assume they wanted time to flee the stadium?”

Tione just shrugged, since she knew it didn't matter. Loki had gotten away and would rebuild her Familia with new members.

“That doesn't work with us.” Tiona said and motioned to Bell with a smile.

Bell closed his eyes for a moment, then he waved his hand and several portals opened up between the Loki Familia and the podium.

“Ahh!” Several voices yelled as they suddenly dropped down onto the ground.

“Welcome back, Loki.” Ganesha said with satisfaction.

“Get me out of here, Finn!” Loki shouted and the older prum grabbed her and started to run, only to pass through another portal and they dropped back down where they had landed before.

“Who's the coward now?” Tiona asked with a grin.

Tione walked around the executives and hugged her twin sister. “I'm sorry I was so blind.”

Tiona nodded and hugged her back. “We're all allowed to make stupid mistakes. Yours was picking a guy that won't give you the time of day.”

Tione looked embarrassed. “You're such a brat.”

Tiona just laughed and kept hugging her. “Come on, I'll introduce you to your new Familia.”

Tione went arm in arm with her sister and left her old life behind.

*

The Loki Familia was officially disbanded and Loki was ordered to never form another Familia. In order to enforce this, she was banished back to heaven and wouldn't be allowed to descend ever again. She was quite angered by that, because it stopped all of her future plans of being the ruler of Orario.

Loki didn't want Ouranos' job, though. she just wanted the city and all the people in it as her playthings that she could do whatever she wanted to them. Now she never would, and it was all because she saw plot against her that was never there in the first place.