The Captain of the Soma Familia, Zanis Lustra, is recorded in the Guild's archives as a Lv.2 adventurer.
However, compared to strength in terms of power, this 'Wine Keeper' clearly prefers wealth and authority.
After growing to Lv.2 more than twenty years ago, he stopped his own adventuring and defeated the previous captain of the Soma Familia through a challenge. It was also from that time onwards that the Soma Familia became increasingly rotten. Colleagues harming each other and the oppression of newly joined adventurers gradually became the daily norm within the Familia.
There were even quite a few members of the Soma Familia who, having originally sensed something was wrong with the Soma Divine Wine and never tasted it, were either coerced or tricked into drinking it. Coupled with the fact that Soma, as the patron god, never managed affairs and only treated the Familia members as ATM machines for purchasing brewing materials, these numerous factors superimposed together actually made Zanis the decision-maker of the Soma Familia in the truest sense.
Barring any accidents, he would serve as Captain until his death, or until he earned enough Valis to purchase the status of a noble in another country.
Today was supposed to be an incredibly ordinary day for Zanis as well. In the morning, he confirmed the sale and profit-sharing of the Divine Wine with the head of a merchant guild from outside Orario. In the afternoon, through some gray industries he purchased in secret, he became acquainted with a noble from a magical power nation.
By nightfall, Zanis would sit before his exclusive dining table on the second floor, enjoying dinner while admiring the various laughable behaviors of the others in the Familia as they fought over the meager drops of Divine Wine he tossed out.
This was a pleasure he had learned ten years ago from a noble of the Rakia Kingdom. Sitting securely on his high perch, watching others brawl, scramble, and kill like beasts. The infinite delight generated from this was precisely the sweetest fruit borne from the seed named 'power'.
However, a female voice suddenly sounding from outside the residence shattered this daily routine.
Zanis furrowed his brows and tore off the napkin tucked into his collar. Seeing this, the guard serving at the side hurriedly walked to the window. Immediately, a look of astonishment appeared on his face as he said, "Captain, it's Liliruca! She actually isn't dead!"
"Oh?" Zanis raised an eyebrow. "Since she isn't dead, she should have honestly stayed hidden. Or does she think that after working hard in secret for two months, she can surpass me, who has the entire Soma Familia as a backing?"
To become the Captain of the Soma Familia, Zanis naturally couldn't be a fool. Combining this with the current situation, he easily guessed the reason for Liliruca's appearance—to take revenge on him.
However...
"Heh~" A sneer escaped Zanis's mouth, but the words he spoke next revealed his caution. "Let Chandra go and test her."
Chandra was the second Lv.2 in the Soma Familia besides Zanis. In terms of strength, he was considered to be in the middle-to-lower tier of this stage. The reason for sending him, rather than personally taking action to solve Liliruca and thereby display his strength and status as Captain, was actually quite simple. Zanis wanted to determine the girl's true combat power through the ensuing battle between the two.
However, how could Liliruca possibly play along slowly with Zanis's plan?
Half a minute later, seeing that the 'Wine Keeper' hadn't even shown his face, the Pallum girl waiting at the entrance of the residence hesitated no longer. With a burst of acceleration, she directly leaped over the main gate guarded by two Lv.1 adventurers. She knew where Zanis would be at this time; making a noise earlier was merely to announce her arrival.
Seeing Liliruca invade and clearly display combat power exceeding Lv.1, the crowd of Soma Familia adventurers and supporters immediately retracted the steps they had originally taken forward. They didn't know what exactly this Pallum girl in front of them wanted to do, nor what changes would occur in the Familia's higher-ups subsequently. But there was one thing these guys, who had struggled and scrambled at the bottom for a long time, understood—regardless of who ascended to power, they would need manpower.
Liliruca naturally sensed the reactions of the others but paid them no mind. Using her long spear as an iron rod, she casually knocked out several of Zanis's henchmen. Then, she raised a foot and directly kicked open the main door of the residence's villa.
After walking into the hall, Liliruca raised her head and looked towards Zanis located on the second floor. A calm smile hung on her face: "'Wine Keeper' Zanis Lustra, in accordance with the Familia rules established by Lord Soma, I now issue a Captain's Challenge to you!"
The establishment of the Captain's Challenge could be considered the best thing God Soma had done since descending to the Lower World. Although it had caused Zanis's rise to power over twenty years ago, nowadays, it also gave Liliruca the opportunity to reach the top without having to slowly build up seniority.
Zanis frowned upon hearing this. He did not agree immediately, but instead raised his hand and waved it back and forth: "Attack her together. Whoever can take down Liliruca, I will give them ten bottles of Divine Wine. The others who participate in the battle can share ten bottles of Divine Wine."
Hearing 'Divine Wine', the expressions of the Soma Familia members immediately changed. When it involved their own interests, no one could truly remain an outsider.
Seeing this, a trace of helplessness flashed across Liliruca's face. She, or rather Lord Levi, did not need a Soma Familia that was just an empty title. However, she also didn't intend to hold back much.
Gold and white lights flickered around her body. Under the joint buffs of the 'Sacred Spear of Oath' and 'Phantom Goddess', her combat power marched straight into the Lv.5 threshold.
Facing the crowd's attacks, which were like those of mad dogs, she merely performed a few light sweeps, clearing out a circle with a diameter of over three meters on the spot. Outside the circle, the members of the Soma Familia lay on the ground in disorder. Inside the circle stood the calm, brown-haired Pallum girl.
Just then, Zanis on the second floor made his move. Through Liliruca's battle with the other members, he had roughly deduced that the opponent's combat power clearly exceeded his own. But she shouldn't have entered the ranks of First-Class Adventurers yet.
No, even a holder of Lv.5 Falna couldn't withstand this strike of mine.
Thinking this in his heart, Zanis took out a top-tier magic sword forged by a 'Cyclops' from his bosom. Completely disregarding the lives of the others in the Familia, he drove it with his will and slashed directly downwards!
—Boom!
Terrifying flames engulfed the entire hall. Ringing out simultaneously were the miserable wails emitted by the ordinary members of the Soma Familia as their bodies were ignited.
Seeing such a scene, a cruel smile appeared on the face of Zanis, who was standing on the second floor. He gave a light snort: "This is the fate of opposing me."
However, in the next instant, accompanied by three flashes of silver light, his right hand holding the magic sword, his empty left hand, and his right leg were severed by daggers flying out of the sea of fire.
By the time Zanis realized what had happened, he couldn't even stand and collapsed directly into the chair behind him. Then, painful wails, which were in no way inferior to the others, poured from the mouth of this 'Wine Keeper'.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!"
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