Chapter 212 - Disappearing

Ethan gulped as he knew the more he spent in pleasantries, the less time he would have, and when he asked the system how much he had to be away from Freya, the answer didn't help ease his tensions at all.

[..The Goddess Freya would be able to sense the Host's connection with her in due time. Even if the host escapes this hardship, it will be harder and harder as time passes to trick the Goddess.]

He had to quickly think of a way to replicate Freya's charm. If she understood it worn off, she would charm him again, obtaining what he wanted, but she would be cautious of him from that point on, and he didn't want her to think something is off.

'Just how much do I have to be away from Freya?'

But even if these thoughts claimed his mind, for now the only thing he needed was to be away from her, so that he would have more time to think.

[...At least 1000 meters away from her.]

The System's answer didn't help Ethan calm down at all. He knew he didn't have the speed to run 1 kilometer in less than 3 minutes, as if that was the case his speed would be his highest parameter.

'Think...what can I do...'

He didn't have much time left to choose, while Freya quietly opened the door and sent a smile to Loki, making her understand she knew she had heard their conversation, Ethan had to vanish, so fast she wouldn't know what happened at all.

'...Right!'

Ethan remembered. There was a way for him to vanish while everyone else wasn't paying attention. He had to enter the [True Dungeon] now.

He would have preferred to enter his Domain and speak to Light, but that only meant his soul would be somewhere else and time would be slowed down a bit for him, his real body would still be there.

Willing himself to enter the dungeon, Ethan apologized in his mind as he would leave a confused Loki deal with the situation, but he had no other choice now that the 'countdown' was approaching 0.

As if his will was the only key needed to open an invisible space, Ethan's surroundings immediately changed. His awareness for a moment went dull, but after he almost fell as he was still sitting on the couch before, he remembered the environment he was in, where only rubble was left after destruction claimed the whole city.

'I didn't expect my next visit in this gruesome area would be to escape from Freya, but at least I'll be able to obtain some SP before going back.'

He didn't know what would happen now in the real world, but he put his trust on Loki, on the Goddess whom at first he would never have allowed to even know anything about him.

'It seems I grew more trust than I could ever imagine for her.'

These thoughts made him smile for a second, but he couldn't rest in his thoughts for much longer as he saw several skeletons emerge from the ground while, unlike those that were there last time, those of now seemed visibly angry. Unlike the first time he was here, Ethan could see some macabre black auras wrapping them, a black so deep it gave him goose bumps.

'They don't even have that much fighting strength, but these auras have an enormous pressure, almost as if they would be able to slice me in two with a single blow.'

Even if his instincts were telling him the surrounding auras wrapping the skeletons were considerably dangerous, the skeletons alone were no threat for him at all.

'..If my guesses are right, then these skeletons have some kind of owner, otherwise these thick black auras doesn't make sense.'

They simply didn't conform to the aura. So Ethan had deduced his new skill allowed him to see not only the aura of one of his subordinates, but of any person capable of using spiritual energy.

He knew the master of these skeletons was a serious threat for him, probably strong enough to kill him with the merely swing of an arm, but he couldn't afford to leave the [True Dungeon] for now. If Freya was still there, his whole plan would be in danger.

'Luckily It seems the master of these skeletons won't show up unless I'll explore the Hidden Dungeon. Maybe they're underestimating me, or maybe they can't leave the place they are bound to.'

Expecting no less for the owner of the skeletons but to be one of the Bosses he would have to fight in the future, Ethan was in a risky situation before, and the latter didn't show up at all even if he could have been killed by a surprise attack while in search for the source of the cries he heard coming from the ground. So, it meant they simply couldn't, but it was better to not take it for sure, so he also expected the monster to be underestimating him.

'This skill is truly helpful here. I don't know what this thick aura mean, but since the pressure is pretty high I can only assume the strength of the latter is above any of my expectations.'

He could feel a great deal of pressure from The King back when he was with Freya and Loki in the room, even if the latter wasn't even trying to suppress him, but this pressure was many times greater than that, and this was assuming the master of the skeletons could reflect its full strength by the auras.

'..I can only be cautious from now on.'

'..That's the effect of [Reckless]'

Feeling much stronger and faster than before, Ethan understood he was once again surrounded by all sides.

---

Moments after he disappeared in the [True Dungeon], Loki was still engaging in some conversation with Freya.

"...That's enough for our favour, Loki. I don't think there's anything else I may want from you, so you can take this meeting as the fulfilment of that debt."

Loki looked at her with suspicion. It was unusual for Freya to behave like that, and to be so sure of herself, she knew something seemed to be missing in her mind.

"...You better remember these words, Freya. I will use them against you if you try to ask for something else."

Even if Freya was extremely happy, it still didn't mean she had to casually lift the debt, it meant she fulfilled whatever she wanted here for.

"Oh my. You don't have to worry Loki, I had vowed to not touch your Familia if you don't attack me first, it's all in your hands, Goddess of Trickery."

Emphasizing the last words, Freya passed Loki as she didn't have anymore business to be here as she, upon leaving the room, saw both Lefiya and Tiona looking at her.

Ignoring both, Freya continued to walk meekly towards what was the exit of the Twilight Manor, satisfied as she also made Loki angry in the process.

---

"..You saw her?"

Lefiya was amazed by Freya's beauty. Although it wasn't the first time she had heard about her, it was surely her first time seeing her up close, and she was almost envious she could display her beauty to such extent without being embarrassed in the slightest, instead, it seemed she wanted to be looked at.

"..I obviously saw her. She's beautiful and all, but I am attracted by men, no matter how beautiful a woman can be."

Tiona's crude answer made Lefiya's face of astonishment break down. It was true, she was also attracted to men, a particular man amongst many, to be more precise. But she still recognized Freya was many times more beautiful than her, and yet such a beauty was also visibly interested in Ethan.

'We live in different words. I am no match for her beauty, and yet Ethan...'

The fact she was so satisfied was also troubling for Lefiya as she didn't know what happened, but Loki said to wait for her as she wanted to talk with Ethan first---

She couldn't finish these thoughts, as Loki opened the door with a huge sigh.

"...Ethan isn't here."

These words confused both Lefiya and Tiona, but before they could say anything, Loki added

"..He did say he had something else to do, but he disappeared so quickly even I didn't sense it before Freya went out."

The fact Freya didn't care even if he disappeared was obvious. She didn't know the extent of his powers yet, and things such as fast movements weren't so rare amongst adventurers, but Loki who had more information about Ethan felt it was odd.

"...From Freya-sama's expression, it seemed Ethan's plan was a success though."

Tiona remembered Ethan's talking during their dinner. He told them he was thinking about the best method to make Freya vow to not touch the Loki familia under 'fair' circ.u.mstances, so that they could operate without worrying of her presence, and it seemed it was successful.

"..Did he say she would have such a pleased face? I have almost never seen her so pleased..."

Loki was shocked. If that was how the plan was supposed to go, then she had underestimated Ethan. It didn't matter what kind of plan Loki used to bind Freya, there would be no way for her to trick the latter this much, even if she was, as Freya herself pointed out, the Goddess of Trickery.

'This child..his plan wasn't just for show. He can do it.'

The whole plan they discussed the other day seemed a fantasy ending for her when he told her, even if she trusted him, her mind simply refuted to believe it could go smoothly, but with Freya tricked to this extent, the plan was already one step closer to the goal.

"...I always said he's an incredible fellow!"

Tiona didn't understand the real meaning behind everything that happened, but the only thing she knew was that Loki, the Goddess she never saw so shocked, now had such wide eyes that only a child wouldn't understand what they were for.

Hearing Tiona laughing it off, Lefiya nodded to support her.

"...I don't know what he did or how he achieved such a result, but I'm truly happy everything went according to his plans..I was so scared."

She wasn't like Tiona. Lefiya was frightened Freya would take Ethan away, yet it didn't happen. He managed to do what even Loki thought impossible. The man she fell in love with proved himself to be outside every expectations a Goddess like her could have, and she felt pride filling her heart, even if she wasn't the one that accomplished such a crazy feat.

---

(I have a discord server. discord.gg/cpVr5X8. You may ask me: "Why should I enter the server?". Well, I'm replying to every interesting question you readers are asking in my chapters, so, you should absolutely enter if you want to read my answers. Ah, and you can find some image reference of items in the story such as Light..! (Soon even Qienta).. so it's recommended to join, I frequently post polls as well, regarding things that(most likely) will be present in the story. One last thing, I post chapter updates in my discord right after I posted on , so I guess you can join to be able to know when I post chapters faster.)

(Poll going on in the discord: Vote what you think is better. I only want to introduce one of these three, the ones with most votes when I feel like it wins. - Light being able to interact with the real world. - Qienta shows up before planned. - More power ups than planned for the girls and Ethan himself.)

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(Alternate Titles: "In a sense, Ethan ran away fr", "Lefiya felt pride, Tiona didn't mind the seriousness of the situation and Loki was shocked to her core once she realized Ethan truly accomplished one of the hardest things that stopped their plan. Tricking a Goddess. How will Loki's opinion will change now, I wonder?", "Freya be like: hehe Loki you don't have to pay me back anymore. Btw it was easy only because she felt her charm wrapping his heart, that's the only reason for why she was so sure of herself, she ain't stupid at all.")