Sword Oratoria Light Novel Volume 8 is the eighth volume of the Sword Oratoria light novel.
Summary
“Didn’t I tell you? Weaklings are a burden”
Following their retreat from Knossos and his scorn toward the dead, Bete begins to isolate himself from the Familia, however…
“There you are! Bete Loga!”
Due to the sudden and fierce courting from the Amazoness girl Lena, they gradually begin to live together! His interactions with her makes him recall his memories about “the fang” and causes him to face his own past. On the other hand, the Familia of the God of Death quietly begins their operations. The assassin’s dagger that stole his companions draws near to Bete once again-
Chapters
- Prologue: Ridicule of the Strong
- Chapter 1: Lonely Wolf
- Chapter 2: Is the Order a Wolf?
- Chapter 3: Tears that Won’t Flow
- Chapter 4: Solitary Night
- Chapter 5: Wolf Covered with Injuries
- Epilogue: Instead of Goodbye
Volume 8
Prologue
Four days earlier, as soon as the trapped Loki Familia members managed to escape from Knossos and regroup with the others, they created a party that included Ais and Bete in order to rescue any members of the Familia that were left behind. Following the sounds of screaming, they found the members of Riine’s party, however they were all lying in a pool of blood. They tried to treat them, though unfortunately their wounds were inflicted by a curse weapon, making them unable to do anything about it. Eventually, Ais found Riine, who was impaled with the sword that Valletta had used. She was still alive but dying. Bete walked up to them, then began mocking the dying and the deceased, telling them to curse their own weakness and to never come out of their nests, causing the other Familia members to glare at him. Soon after, Riine lost strength and died with a face of a girl whose love was rewarded.
Chapter 1
At the present time, Finn, Riveria, and Gareth reflected over their recent defeat, each of them blaming themselves over it. The topic shifted to how they would gain revenge, going over recent events at the same time, but when Riveria started to talk about Bete, they heard a commotion from a nearby tower, making them look to see what was happening. In the cafeteria located in the tower, Raul, Aki, and the others were voicing their complaints about the Werewolf, while at the same time Alicia, Cruz, and Narvi did so silently. Ais arrived and asked Lefiya what she thought about Bete, to which she answered that she didn’t know what to think as she had once been motivated by his remarks. The Elf asked the same question to the girl, though she was unable to say anything.
Right after, Bete arrived, his attitude the same as usual. He complained about the noise, telling everyone to complain to him face to face, and was about to reach his seat when Tione and Tiona blocked his way. They asked him if he didn’t feel anything about Riine’s death, informing him that the girl had feelings for him, prompting him to mention that he hated weak women the most. Angered by his answer, the twins tried to attack him, but were stopped by Finn and Gareth. Even with Loki and the top executives’ words, he still refused to take back what he said, and left the cafeteria instead. Later, after Finn had finished his work, he summoned Bete, ordering him to take a leave of absence until things calmed down. The Pallum gave him some money to take with him, nevertheless Bete declined, stating that he could get his own money from the dungeon.
That night, Bete went to the Hibachitei, the pub that he frequented, but instead of the usual members, Ais was there for some reason. He questioned her about it, learning that she had followed him there, and told him that she did so because he seemed to be sad. She didn’t know what to talk about, as despite knowing him for longer than Tione and the others, she didn’t know much about him. Going over what she knew, she asked him why he looked down on others, then asked him why he wanted to get stronger. He told her that there wasn’t anything wrong in looking down on weaklings, however he refused to answer the second question, pointing out that she wouldn’t answer the question if he was the one that asked it, adding that she shouldn’t care about others. Unfortunately, as he was drunk, he continued on in the wrong direction, stating that the strong could do whatever they wanted, such as making fun of everyone around them while drinking, which he announced to the people in the pub.
As he continued to mock everyone else in the pub, a woman from the group of Amazonesses there approached him, and the two recognized her as Aisha. Aisha was disgusted with Bete’s attitude, telling him not to get full of himself, leading to a fight between him and the former Ishtar Familia Amazonesses there. Despite being outnumbered more than ten to one, he easily defeated them without taking a scratch, and began squeezing Aisha’s neck. He attempted to finish her off, though Ais stopped him by putting her sword at his neck, causing him to let go of her. Ais told him that she didn’t like how he hurt people, nevertheless he didn’t think much of it, and left as he paid the owner.
Later on, as Bete was depressed over Ais mentioning that she didn’t like him, he was found by Lena Tally, who had fallen in love with him after being effortlessly defeated by him in Melen. He refused her advances but had no choice but to listen to her when she pointed out that he didn’t have any money, making him realize that he had used all the money he had to pay the owner of the Hibachitei. Lena led him to a Kaios Desert style brothel near the wall. Following the Freya Familia’s attack, the damaged area had been deserted, though they still had to make sure they weren’t found out by the adventurers that patrolled the area to make sure people didn’t take up residence in the buildings there. She tried to sleep with him, but he kicked her away, forcing her to sleep on the bed while he slept on the floor near the window.
After dreaming about his past, he woke up the next morning to discover a naked Lena trying to sneak over to him, kicking her away once again. Elsewhere, the Thanatos Familia began searching for the key that Ishtar possessed before being sent back to heaven, worrying about it falling into the hands of the Loki Familia.
Chapter 2
The same morning, the Loki Familia also began searching for the key after their meeting. Meanwhile, Riveria visited Airmid to see if she could heal the wounds dealt by the curse weapons, learning that it would be impossible for anyone except her. Later that morning, Bete went on a date with Lena, as she had agreed to tell him what she knew about the key in exchange. The first part of their date involved them killing monsters in the dungeon, where she once again started making advances toward him, prompting him to tell her that he hated weak women. He expected her to back down, nevertheless his words had the opposite effect, motivating her to level up so she could become his woman. She then mentioned that Bete calling others weak wasn’t an insult but rather something to try to motivate others, causing him to remember that Riine had said the same thing two years earlier during an expedition.
Returning from the dungeon, the two began browsing stalls, eventually ending up at Dia Flora. Lena asked him to buy Myosotis flowers for her, and as they did so, Aisha spotted them together. Lena succeeded in persuading her to let them be, nonetheless Aisha warned Bete that while she would let them be together, she wouldn’t forgive him if something happened to Lena. Soon after she left, they were found by Ais, forcing him to knock Lena out after she mentioned that they were going to have a child and run for it while carrying her. He spent the rest of the afternoon running from her and finally managed to shake her off at night. Having no other choice, he agreed to spend another night with Lena.
Around the same time, over in the Ishtar Familia’s former territory, the Loki Familia were still searching through the area. Down below in Knossos, a Familia member reported to Valletta that the Loki Familia were searching the area, adding that they had been talking with Amazonesses as well. She came up with an idea and ordered them to gather their hired assassins, in addition to asking Thanatos to have Barca make as many curse weapons as he could.
Chapter 3
The next morning, Bete and Lena headed to the former Ishtar Familia home, as she had revealed that she had found a similar item behind a secret door in Ishtar’s room. On their way there, he sensed that they were being watched, and warned the two adventurers that spotted them not to come, but was too late as an assassin appeared behind them and killed them. Immediately, the two were attacked by a large number of assassins headed by Valletta who watched from above. The rest of the Thanatos Familia forces began attacking former Ishtar Familia Amazonesses across the city, forcing the Loki Familia and others to intervene. As the two fought against the assassins, he realized that they were after Lena, making him desperately try to protect her. Unfortunately, she also realized this, and ran off to let him fight freely. Valletta stayed behind to stall him while she ordered the assassins to chase after the girl.
During the battle, she began provoking him, telling him that she was the one who murdered Riine’s group, though she began to retreat when his attacks became fiercer, stating that she couldn’t let herself get killed just yet. Bete headed in the direction Lena had gone to discover her impaled with a curse weapon just like Riine, and she died after a short while later. As Ais, Riveria, and Aisha soon arrived, he began insulting the deceased Lena once the Amazoness confronted him about it, causing her to attempt to punch him, but she stopped when she saw his expression. As Riveria and Aisha left with Lena’s body, he looked up at the rainy sky, not knowing what to say.
Chapter 4
Soon after, Ais brought Bete to a room in the Dian Cecht Familia Pharmacy to have his wounds treated, though it took Airmid until night to find time to treat him. They discussed the recent events as they did so, telling him that they weren’t able to save all the Amazonesses, and the deceased were taken to the first cemetery. She explained that the Guild had figured out that the assassins were from the Sekhmet Familia, but as they couldn’t gain any information from them due to them committing suicide upon defeat, they deemed it to the work of a Goddess that held a grudge against Ishtar. Airmid finished treating him and was helped out of the room by Ais as she was close to having a mind down from overusing her magic. Once they left, Bete looked out at Orario through the window, then smashed through it with his body.
Over at Babel, Finn apologized for not being able to save everyone, stating that it was their fault for inciting the Thanatos Familia, nevertheless Aisha told him not to apologize, pointing out that they would’ve been attacked in the future anyway. She asked him to tell Bete not to blame himself being unable to save Lena, explaining to a confused Finn and Loki Familia members about what had gone on between the two. Hearing this, they were surprised, though Finn decided to use him as a decoy while they would prevent the Thanatos Familia from returning to Knossos. The members protested his decision, prompting him to rephrase what he said, mentioning instead that he would leave everything up to Bete. He had Lefiya relay his orders to the pharmacy where Ais reported that Bete was missing, prompting Riveria to ask her to chase after him.
On his way to the Entertainment District, Bete encountered Loki, who handed him a bag filled with potions and food. Her attitude reminded him of Vidar, making him angry at her, however she revealed to him that she had drunk with his former God before, adding that Vidar had asked her to take care of Bete if he ever left the Werewolf’s side. She then asked him if he knew what the fang meant, which he silently answered that he did.
At the former Ishtar Familia home, a member reported to Valletta that the Loki Familia had taken up positions in the sewers and around Daedalus Street, cutting them off from a way to return to Knossos. She wasn’t concerned about the news in the slightest, mentioning that Thanatos was probably looking for Revis to help them, and decided to focus her attention on Bete, who she theorized had some knowledge about the key due to him heading to the former Ishtar Familia home with Lena. Before she could order her subordinates to look for him, a howl echoed throughout the city, which he had let out to notify his enemies of his location.
Chapter 5
Immediately, more than thirty assassins headed to his location, taking up positions around the building he was on. Noticing that the tune of the howl had changed, they felt a chill, and were shocked when Bete disappeared, the first scream sounding right after. He began assaulting the assassins one by one, finishing the group off by the leader, the Level 3 that had killed Lena. Once they were down, he moved on to the other assassins, making sure to hunt down all of them. While he did so, Loki, Finn, Riveria, and Gareth explained his ideology to the other members of the Loki Familia.
Back at the Thanatos Familia camp, Valletta was impressed that Bete had been able to take out all of the assassins despite the wounds he received earlier from the curse weapons, however her subordinates were beginning to panic instead. She ordered them to prepare the trap, informing them that she would be the one to lead him there.
Eventually, Bete noticed that he had taken out all of the assassins, causing him to resume his. On the way there, he noticed a trail of blood that looked like someone had dragged a body, and followed it to a dead end with a message written in blood on a wall telling him to come to the basement of the former Ishtar Familia home. Making his way there, he saw that there was another trail of blood to guide him to the basement, which was a huge space with a ceiling more than ten meters high and a radius of a little more than sixty meters. As he arrived, Valletta revealed herself from behind a pillar at the center of the room, inciting him to come at her. Once he stepped into the area covered with reddish purple patterns, she ordered the Thanatos Familia members to attack, and they began to attack him from all sides. He ignored their attacks for the most part, instead focusing on his target Valletta, though she began running around the area, much to his annoyance.
Valletta continued to do so until he felt something strange, at which point he realized that his status was being lowered, prompting her to explain the mechanisms behind her magic, likening it to a spider web. Her excitement rising, she ordered the others to attack him again, this time with magic swords, forcing him to dodge with all his might. The Thanatos Familia members continued to attack him over and over, forcing him to use Hati even though he had vowed not to use it even if he died. Using his magic, the tides began to turn in his favor once again. Up above, Ais also noticed the bloody message, and began heading to the same place. On the way there, the ground shook, making her realize that Bete was being attacked below after feeling the ground with her hand. As she neared the building, the flames from Hati erupted onto the surface, forcing her to dodge it with Ariel.
There was nothing the Thanatos Familia members could do against Bete’s Hati, in addition to his beastification due to moonlight streaming through the hole to the surface, and eventually everyone except Valletta had been incinerated, striking fear into her heart. Before he could attack her, Ais dropped down through the hole, causing him to threaten to kill her if she tried to intervene. Despite regaining some composure with the Sword Princess’ arrival, Valletta’s hopes were dashed when she saw that Bete was able to absorb her magic with Hati, leaving her wide open to his relentless attacks. Her body half charred, she tried to beg for her life, but he refused to listen to her pleas, restating what he had said at the Hibachitei. As he believed that the strong could do whatever they liked to the weak, he didn’t think there were any problems with him killing her. Ais tried to stop him, nevertheless he ignored her protest and attacked Valletta, then slammed her against a pillar at which point he incinerated her, leaving only ashes behind. After he finished her off, he let out a howl toward the sky, as if to signal the fulfillment of his vow. Ais silently watched him, noting that the howl seemed fierce yet sorrowful at the same time.
Following the battle with the Thanatos Familia, Bete had disappeared, though Ais and the rest of the Loki Familia had found him two days later sitting on a pile of rubble at the spot where he had watched Lena die. They didn’t know how long he’d been there but assumed he’d been there for at least a couple hours. Seeing that Ais wanted to cheer him up, Loki gave instructions to her Familia, and had each of them act out their part. First, she had Ais talk to him, and as he left her, Loki appeared in front of him to order him to answer Ais’ question of why he looked down on weaklings and why he wanted to become stronger. After he answered Ais’ questions, Loki told the others to come out, causing him to be shocked when he realized that they’d heard everything. Raul and the others began teasing him about it, calling him a tsundere, but a fight quickly broke out that the others joined in on.
Eventually, Riveria tried to talk about Lena with him, causing him to try to avoid talking about someone who was dead. He was shocked once again to see that she was alive, nonetheless he proceeded to knee her in the stomach, stating that he would finish her off himself. Tiona was worried about her but was terrified when Lena mentioned that she was definitely pregnant after getting kneed in the stomach.
Epilogue
Sometime later, the former Ishtar Familia members headed to the first cemetery to remove their fake graves. Aisha and Samira were annoyed that Lena hid the fact that she was alive from them, though she protested that they had basically been locked up at the Dian Cecht Pharmacy. As they began to clean up the fake graves, Aisha noticed something in front of Lena’s grave, bursting out with laughter when she saw what it was. Lena moved around her to find Myosotis flowers laying there. Holding them close to her chest, she expressed her love for Bete, as he was the only person besides Aisha that knew about them.
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