Store in Danmachi- Side Story: 5 (Patreon)

Title: Picking a Fight

—Pick a fight!—

She wakes with a gasp, sweat glistening on her dark, rousing skin as her purple orbs flicker between a dreamy daze and stubborn consciousness—just like that night. HE could never beat her to unconsciousness. It was his magic. It forced a slumber upon her, but his words fell into her ears all the same as he subdued everyone with his mere presence that night—His wild, untamable, pressing presence.

She gulps silently, swiping her voluminous jet-black locks behind since hair matting on her forehead feels slightly annoying. Sweat and something more drenches her bedsheet and mattress. The scent of arousal is evident in her luxurious but tidy room.

‘Pick a fight, huh?’ She muses with a smile so wide and manic that even she cannot attempt to understand her emotions except one thing—she’s marked.

Losing interest in every male specimen all of a sudden, her dreams consumed by his thoughts and the pain he gifted that night, her ears seeking every bit of rumor and story about him, and her eyes thirsting for another sight of him—oh, she is so marked.

Her thin fingers trace her sweaty body, gliding down the slope of her round, shapely breasts, tracing her slender midriff before exhaling hotly as her fingers contact her aroused clit.

“Aisha—” An Amazoness barges into her room before smirking slyly at the sight of Aisha’s glistening body and the heated look on her face. “Oh, my~! I disturbed our dear mistress! Am I going to be punished?”

“Do you see my hair turning grey and a blue-lightning tattoo on my face?” Aisha shoots back as the girl pouts. Not minding her presence the slightest bit, Aisha stops pleasing herself and gets up from bed. She saunters to her cupboard before pulling out a towel, questioning, “What’s up, Lena?”

“Hmph,” the long, dark-haired Lena pouts. An orange bikini top with a small cropped vest of the same color covers the bare minimum of her slender build alongside a white strip of silk dangling down the center of her waist and hips, covering her orange-panties clad crotch—barely. Pieces of golden jewelry adorn her body like every other Amazoness as she crosses her arms under her small, albeit perky breasts. “How come you left with Samira but not me?!”

The corner of Aisha’s eyes twitch as she walks past Lena, her towel hanging from her shoulders instead of covering her as magic lamps light the short, wooden hallway instead of the expected pristine marble finish of her previous home, Belit Babili.

“Oh, evening, Aisha~!” A group of two Amazonesses smile and nod at Aisha, uncaring of the woman’s nudity, while the former nods back with a smirk as Lena follows. “You didn’t trust me at all? Come on! That can’t be it! You adore me!”

“Stop tooting your horn, will you?” Aisha rolls her eyes. “I didn’t ask anyone to follow me, alright? Samira intercepted me with the rest. I wasn’t the only one dissatisfied with the shit Ishtar put us through!”

Lena pouts, “Could have asked me!”

“Ask Samira yourself,” Aisha half-shrugs as she opens the door, revealing a spacious bath with five shower stations and a large pool of warm water. A few women bathed in the water, including the white-haired ‘Bite’ Samira.

Aisha turns to look at Lena only to find the wolf-simping Amazoness out of her tiny outfit. Her charm didn’t compete with Aisha based on shapely assets since her delicate features and cute smirks made many fall for her until she marked herself to a wolf’s scent.

Cases like this aren’t strange in their culture. And Aisha has yet to hear any man ‘nature-less’ enough to win over a marked Amazoness.

“Hey, Samira! What the heck?!” Lena shouts as she enters the shower while Samira hums back lazily. “Who let you in? I thought you were happy under Ishtar.”

“Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t enter Loki’s Familia in a heartbeat, you bitch! How else can I get close to him?”

Samira shrugs in the water as Aisha speaks. “Did Ishtar send someone to contact us again?”

“Not after you beat Tammuz to a bloody pulp.”

“I- I’m so sorry,” a soft voice apologizes as the chatter in the bathroom ends. Aisha gets out of the shower with soap on her body, looking at the nervous blonde renard with a smile.

“Nothing to feel sorry for. Ishtar says we should express ourselves but makes that stupidly cute and confused expression when we DO express ourselves! Hah, I’m the one who should apologize since I pulled the rest into my mess. Especially you, Samira. I know you were looking forward to earning some brownie points from Ishtar.”

Samira thins her lips before shaking her head. “Ishtar isn’t the one who led us to battle with monsters! You had our backs in the worst situation, so a significant portion of Berbera following you out shouldn’t come as a surprise. Although, I don’t care about this one.” Samira gestures toward the blonde renard, who sinks half her face into the water. Her eyebrows dip in apology as Aisha chuckles and shakes her head. She never expected others to share her empathy, but seeing them follow her regardless is a warm, if not an enthralling gesture.

“And you will omit the obvious, right? I heard you aren’t out seeking someone to your fancy these days like the rest of Berbera.”

Samira smirks before spreading her arms around the pool and enjoying the bath.

“So?” Lena enters the water as Aisha washes herself quickly and follows in. “Why not go after him? He’s rough around the edges but looked valiant when he pounded Aisha. Of course, she would have liked the other kind of treatment~!”

Samira speaks before Aisha can reply, “It’s because of her and the collar.”

The renard’s furry ears twitch as she averts her gaze.

“Ohh!” Lena nods in understanding. “But you pulled a sneaky one on Ishtar for sure. She wouldn’t have imagined your sudden departure the second she leveled you up to Level 4!”

Lena is correct. Aisha has her reasons not to pursue her blatant interests. The Level 4 Amazoness crawls toward the renard with a smirk before firmly groping her fair and malleable breasts under the water. “Lena is right~! How will you ever compensate, sweetheart? I could be rocking my man’s world, but here I am, bound to you!”

“I- I’m so sorry!” Tears flicker in the fox girl's eyes as Aisha rolls her purple orbs with a huff.

“Don’t cry so easily, geez!”

“B-But I don’t know what to feel!” The girl looks at the water as tears start dripping down her chin. “I feel so happy at your kindness, but,” she touches her collar. “I don’t think I deserve such kindness. If only you left me, you could have—”

“Hey,” Aisha pulls the sobbing girl’s chin and stares deep into her eyes. “You deserve to live the way you want.”

“I could argue that it’s strong people like us who deserve such luxuries,” Samira pouts from the sideline as Aisha tosses an unamused look in the former’s direction. “Enough of that, Samira! We’re going to live the way we want from now on! It’ll have consequences, but we made up our minds, right?! I don’t want to be under Ishtar’s thumb when all she does is whine and bitch about Freya! Fuck that hypocritical cunt! Phryne wouldn’t be the bitch she was if not for Ishtar, and we would have a lot more Level 4, if not Level 5 adventurers!”

“So,” Lena smirks, “You could say we are Picking a Fight? How adorable~!”

Aisha works her jaw as Lena’s words pull a rush of heat to her cheeks as she slumps down beside Renard, causing her to yelp. “Cheer up,” Aisha whispers to Renard fondly. “I don’t care about sins and righteousness. So, this isn’t some half-assed redemption. I just don’t want you to die. You’re cute, and you don’t want to whore yourself out. So, let’s find a way to get your freedom, and we’ll find a cutie for you, too. Hey!” Aisha laughs, “Maybe we could share the father of my future daughters!”

“She?” Samira smirks as other Amazoness start laughing. “It’ll be a wonder if she can keep her eyes open!”

Aisha smirks as the renard tilts her head.

“What?”

---

“WHAT?”

Ishtar’s shriek fills the spacious marbled halls of Belit Babili!

She sits on a wide red hybrid of a couch and throne, bejeweled with different stones beneath a glimmering chandelier. But her beautiful face contorts into a mixture of shock and anger as the dark-skinned human male kneeling ahead replies without thinking too much. Ishtar DID ask ‘what,’ right?

“Lena Tally left her quarters, leaving a note that reads—Sorry to leave you, Ishtar. But Aisha is more fun, and she saved my life many times. Oh, and don’t mind Aisha’s actions too much. We like you, but let us have our vacation, ‘kay~?.”

The startling accent in which her Familia’s official vice-captain adopts Lena’s tone leaves the corner of Ishtar’s lips trembling!

“How many does it make?” Ishtar slowly leans back on her throne as the youth lowers his head.

“69th.”

“Hmm,” Ishtar grits her teeth. She underestimated Aisha by a grave margin!

Aisha departed the Familia the second Ishtar crystalized the Amazoness’ excelia into her Falna. Ishtar may not have understood Aisha’s goal if not for the receiver from the collar of a particular Renard of interest. And the Berbera left the Familia promptly after. While her Familia has many members, the Berbera is her true fighting force, and most of them have left except for the new additions, who didn’t get enough time to communicate with Aisha.

Aisha is an accomplished leader—Ishtar knows this. It’s why Ishtar let Aisha lead HER Berbera!

But what Aisha wants is not possible, and she is astute enough to leave the premise lest Ishtar charms her! Right now, the Entertainment District is divided into two portions. No, Ishtar has yet to pull the trigger on Renard’s collar. That’s the only thing keeping Aisha in check.

The recent events forced Ishtar to keep a low profile, and Aisha is using her pseudo-rebellion over her head. Ishtar has many enemies who will come for her the second they get a whiff of Aisha’s actions! Phryne’s death is a grave matter, and the Guild is hounding her, too! After all, she lost! So, as Ishtar hangs the life of Renard on Aisha’s head, the latter hangs the information of her silent rebellion over Ishtar. That is why the Berbera floods the street of the outer circle of the Entertainment District. While Aisha’s ‘submission’ may cause her followers to find their fated ones, the remaining Berbera under Ishtar’s command looks for their usual prey in the night to keep consistency!

‘Aisha’s situation is concerning but not a priority. I can’t use that girl unless I have other powerhouses. And Phryne’s death took away my ‘right’ to negotiate with Kali’s Familia for now. I need to cultivate stronger adventurers. But why isn’t SHE moving?’ Ishtar thinks with frustration. ‘She must know I’m weak, yet she refuses to show herself and end her greatest rival!’

Recollection of a silver-eyed mistress occupies Ishtar as the Goddess of Fertility seethes!

‘Does she look down on me so much!’

Ishtar grits her jaw!

Hateful!

Damnable!

Cunt!

‘Olal, Jackal, Freya, and Aisha! I will take vengeance upon you! I will! It is your fault! I let you revel in fertility, and this is how you respond to my kindness, Aisha? Olal, I lost Phryne because of you! Jackal, even if you are rumored to be part of THAT familia, I will end you! Nay, I will charm and destroy you in body and soul! And Freya! Just give me a few years! I will drag you by your hair and humiliate you in every mortal way possible!’

She looks at the youth in front of her.

“Tammuz! You will lead a new group of warriors down the Dungeon! Your group of warriors and the remaining Berbera will have my attention! Fight ferociously,” she leans forward, her enticing brown pupils flickering a vague pink glow, “and I will reward you with just as much passion!”

The youth’s expression flinches before he nods with clear desire in his gaze.

***

Alternate Title: Jackal Really Has That Abusive Rizz; Jackal Needs a White Wife Beater; Aisha’s Marked!; Jackal Marking Territories Like Nobody’s Business; Careful, Samira Bites~!; The Renard Situation; Lena Appears; Lena Is After That Beta Loga Energy *Badum-Tsss*; Ishtar Loses To 69; Surprising Honor In Hoes; Aisha’s Big Brain Time; Aisha Planning A Harem Within The Harem; Aisha On Top Of a Roof: Give It Up Jackal, I Have The High Ground! Jackal: You Underestimate Me *Jumps and Gets Fucked In 40 Different Ways*; Aisha Loves The Pounding; The Floor of Horni Amazoness; The Internal Conflict; Ishtar’s Anger; Olal, Jackal, and Freya: How Cute; Ishtar Getting Fucked In Ways She Never Imagined!; The Desperate Goddess; A Rebellion That May Take Years? *Jackal*: Bonjour