NOVEL NEXT Chapter 262: Give Up, Bete!
Chapter 262 - Give Up, Bete!
After Tiona's retort, Bete's face twisted into a vivid mix of emotions—anger simmering beneath the surface, yet unable to fully erupt.
Seeing Bete's expression, Tiona felt a surge of satisfaction.
She recalled how, back when they first met Mahiro, their own disbelief had mirrored Bete's current expression.
Now it was someone else's turn to grapple with it.
"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe the rookie Loki described could be this outrageous," Finn said with a chuckle, diffusing the tension.
Based solely on Loki's intel, no one would connect the Mahiro from her tales to the figure before them now.
"Too slow," Bete snorted, glaring at the sprawling black monster army ahead.
"At this rate, how long are we stuck waiting here?"
Thousands of monsters dwarfed the scale of a mere thousand adventurers.
Many towered over two or three meters blocking the path forward almost entirely.
To reach the 28th floor, they'd have to wait until the horde was mostly cleared, lest they get swept into it.
Monsters didn't discriminate; they'd attack any adventurer in range, not just Mahiro.
"Slow?" Tiona shot Bete an odd look before focusing on Mahiro.
Surrounded by monsters, he glided through them with graceful, light steps—like a dancer on a deadly stage.
At times, his figure flickered, moving so fast it seemed he shifted instantly across space, too quick for even their trained eyes to track.
Most striking was how his dance-like motions reaped monster lives with deadly precision.
"Bete, if you think this is slow, I'd question your competence as an adventurer."
Within the Loki Familia, she and Bete were perpetually at odds—one sociable, the other perpetually irked by everyone.
Bete's jab at Mahiro naturally provoked her retaliation.
The others quietly nodded in agreement with Tiona.
Bete didn't respond, instead stepping forward with a scowl.
"Bete, what are you doing?" Riveria called out, her voice sharp.
"Killing up the monsters, obviously," Bete replied.
"With them clogging the way, and at his snail pace, we'll be stuck here forever waiting to hit the twenty-eighth floor."
"Please don't," a voice interrupted from behind.
The group turned to see Gareth approaching with a contingent of Loki Familia adventurers—and the supporter they'd spotted earlier.
It was Lili who'd spoken.
"Gareth, why are you here?" Finn asked, puzzled.
"This pallum supporter insisted we bring her," Gareth explained, glancing at Lili.
"So you're Mahiro's supporter," Riveria said, piecing it together with a stunned look.
"That makes sense. Only he could safely bring a supporter into the lower floors."
With teleportation magic at his disposal, Mahiro could navigate the dungeon freely.
Escorting a frail supporter to the lower floors was trivial for him.
"You're trying to stop me?" Bete sneered, giving Lili a dismissive once-over.
"These monsters belong to Mahiro-sama—he gathered them himself," Lili replied, meeting Bete's gaze fearlessly.
"If the Loki Familia adventurers snatch them, it could violate Guild rules."
Per Guild regulations, taking another adventurer's monsters without permission was forbidden.
Bete's face darkened, his glare turning predatory, but Lili held her ground.
The Loki Familia, one of Orario's strongest, prided itself on a decent reputation.
They couldn't afford to flout Guild rules so openly.
"So we're just supposed to wait here as long as it takes him to grind through them?" Bete pressed, his tone biting.
"It won't take long," Lili countered.
"Based on his pace on the 26th floor, you'll only need to wait a short while."
Compared to an instant wipeout, a short while was still lengthy when thousands of monsters were involved—one-by-one kills took time.
"So it was Mahiro who cleared the 25th and 26th floors," Tiona said, her face lighting up with an adoring smile as she watched Mahiro.
"That's why we saved so much time. He's amazing!"
"Don't get all mushy," Bete snapped coldly.
"Now he's slowing us down and delaying our march."
"He cleared the last two floors, saving us hours," Tiona shot back.
"Doesn't that balance out?"
Her logic left Bete momentarily speechless, his expression tightening.
"Bete, you're just jealous," Tiona teased, smirking.
"Seeing how strong Mahiro is must be eating at you."
"Shut up with your nonsense!" Bete barked, looking away irritably.
"Heh heh," Tiona giggled. "Don't think I haven't noticed."
"Ever since Mahiro got Ais all distracted, you've been sulking."
Bete's not-so-secret crush on Ais was well-known in the Familia, though she showed him no interest—nor any man, for that matter.
But a few days ago, after returning from the Guild with Loki, Ais had been acting off.
It was the first time she'd shown such a reaction to a man, and Bete, smitten as he was, seethed over it.
He'd been the loudest in calling Mahiro a fraud and vowing to put him in his place.
At Tiona's words, Bete stiffened, his face cycling through anger warring with embarrassment.
"Give it up, Bete," Tiona pressed, grinning smugly.
"Ais and I belong to Mahiro. We've already decided to have his babies someday."
"Tiona, don't spout nonsense..." Ais murmured, her soft voice tugging at Tiona's arm.
When had she agreed to that?
"Ais, you do like Mahiro, don't you?" Tiona asked, shooting Bete a provocative glance.
Ais didn't reply, but a faint blush crept across her face.
Bete's expression turned a sickly green.
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