Dungeon.
I arrived on the seventeenth floor and stood at the exit to the next floor, then waited for the guests. Griselda, Bell, and Liliruca also came with me, but I hid them a little to the side with magic, ordering them to watch everything silently and do nothing, no matter what happened. There were several reasons for these actions, but perhaps the main one was to get on with the business for which we had come to this world.
I knew almost everything about the Beast, but one key detail was still missing. The concept of love, to which the Beast was attached, remained unknown to me, as did how to act after it matured.
After a brief reflection, I came to the conclusion that the question she asked me was meaningless at the moment. The biblical God and Zelretch were obviously playing a game in which I was a pawn, but... so what?
As disgusting and contradictory as it was, neither one nor the other would harm me or my Servants. Plus, to some extent, they could still be called friends, I suppose. They wanted something from me, were preparing for something, and so I preferred to just go with the flow. And by my own choice.
After all, the choice of worlds made by Zelretch... He never did anything completely randomly or pointlessly.
And for this reason alone, I decided to give in to the moment and just have fun, since I hadn't been able to do so earlier. This also included the fact that I wanted to help Griselda a little.
Now she was "empty" for a pseudo-understandable reason, and I wanted to know what would happen in the end when Griselda ceased to be so. After all, when there is emptiness inside, it can be filled with absolutely anything. And...
My thoughts stopped there, because a familiar group appeared in front of me, following Loki and Hestia, where only the latter did not carry Loki's divinity. This included those who had fallen for Morgan's trick during my last visit, but there were also a couple of new faces, and quite capable ones, judging by the power emanating from them.
I smirked.
Well, it's time to begin...
-0-
Hestia didn't know how it happened that now she, along with Loki and the main members of the Familia, except for that girl, found themselves in the Dungeon looking for Romani.
As soon as she came to their mansion and mentioned Romani and that girl, Loki immediately changed. She grabbed Hestia and, in a tone she had never heard before, demanded that she hand over Romani and Morgan. Loki did not answer Hestia's questions, but she was clearly angry with this person and wanted to find out something from them.
Hestia couldn't understand what Romani and Morgan could have done to make Loki so angry. The entire Tiamat Familia seemed strange to her, strong but good people. And even so, she didn't know what to do.
Hestia was torn between her duty to protect her children and the Tiamat Familia, who had done her no harm. And the whole journey she had taken with Loki's Familia was literally tearing her apart inside, because when they found the group, she would have to choose sides.
At one point, Hestia was suddenly stopped by Loki's hand, and when she looked up, she saw Romani standing calmly right in front of the entrance to the next floor. He was looking somewhere at the ceiling, as if not noticing them, but for some reason Loki was in no hurry to approach him.
- "What's wrong?" Hestia asked, confused. "It's Romani. We were looking for him, weren't we?"
- "Yes, but you said he left to catch up with the others. And considering his strength, he's here alone," Loki replied, narrowing her eyes even more. "Could he have found out about our visit?" Or did he plan this?"
- "Maybe he's also waiting for Bell and the others, and we somehow missed them?" Hestia tried to defend him.
- "That's impossible," said the green-haired elf from Loki Familia. "And that's not the point, Lady Hestia."
- "Then what is it?" Hestia continued to ask questions. "Why can't we just go up and talk to him?"
- "Because it looks like this place was specially prepared as a battlefield," said the captain of the Loki Familia.
- "The ground is too smooth, and the stones around it form almost perfect barriers for an arena," the dwarf added softly. "And that only happens in the cases Finn mentioned."
- "So he wants to fight?" asked the zoo-morph wolf. "But, remembering the War Game, we..."
- "That's why we're being cautious, Bete," said Loki and clicked her tongue. "What should we do?"
- "Ais' health depends on him," said the long-haired Amazon.
- "Yes!" nodded the short-haired one. "Whatever it takes, we won't back down!"
- "We'll save Ais!" the younger elf agreed.
And at that moment, Romani suddenly lowered his head and turned his eyes toward us, a cheerful grin on his face.
- "It seems you have brought guests, Lady Hestia," he said with malice in his voice, causing Hestia to lower her head in shame. "Ah, don't lower your head. Your reasons are more than understandable and even commendable. And for this reason, the relationship between us will not change in any way."
Then he turned his gaze to Loki.
- "And you, Lady Loki? You came here looking for me, bringing your strongest children with you," he continued. "But someone is missing. I wonder why?"
- "What did Morgan do to Ais, Romani?" Loki asked in a tone Hestia had never heard before.
- "Hmm..." he muttered thoughtfully, scratching his chin. "I don't know. And that's why I asked Lady Hestia to find out from you."
Mortals could not lie to the gods, and Hestia could say with certainty that Romani was telling the truth. For this reason, she could not understand the complaint against this man. However, this did not stop the other goddess.
- "Don't play dumb," Loki continued. "I don't know how, but your entire Familia and Tiamat herself are somehow deceiving us all. I can sense it."
- "Interesting," Romani said, putting his hands in his pockets and pacing back and forth, breaking eye contact with Loki. "Then why didn't you do anything last time?"
- "Because you weren't a threat then. Or rather, that's what I thought before."
- "And now?" Romani smirked.
- "And now your wife has done something to Ais, who is under MY protection. And that smirk of yours suggests that you are involved in this," Loki said. "I want answers and to cure my child, Romani. And I won't skimp on the methods to get them."
- "For a goddess of deception, you are extremely precise and straightforward in your words," Romani chuckled, which really began to annoy Loki. "Now I'm really curious to know what my wife did to this girl."
- "So you're not going to say anything?" Loki asked defiantly.
- "Only because I have nothing to say," Romani shrugged, and at that moment, Loki's entire Familia prepared for battle, drawing their weapons and extending their magic staffs.
Hestia, unaware of her own actions, quickly stepped between Romani and Loki to act as a barrier between them and avoid a fight. As the goddess of the hearth, peace, love, and mutual understanding were her unshakable doctrines. Any physical violence or bloodshed was taboo, because in the end, everyone would lose in one way or another, both emotionally and materially. And Hestia understood this perfectly well.
- "Stop! We can solve this with words!" she shouted. "Just... Just talk to each other a little longer! I'm sure it's just a simple misunderstanding between you, and a little sincerity and patience will help us all!"
At that moment, Loki quickly approached Hestia and, suddenly, opened her eyes, revealing the color of a scarlet cold flame.
- "If Bell suddenly pointed his dagger at you, what would you do?" Loki asked, causing Hestia's heart to skip a beat. "If he looked at you with such intense hatred that he was willing to die just to end your life right now? What would you do, Hestia?"
Each of Loki's words pierced Hestia's mind like a red-hot piece of iron. She couldn't imagine Bell, her dear Bell, wanting to kill her the way Loki described. But the phantom pain and betrayal from the hypothetical situation hit her even harder...
...and at that very moment, she felt something foreign move inside her.
-0-
- "So that's what happened," I whistled, drawing attention back to myself, then smiled, which obviously caused a stormy reaction. "However, can this be called karma, m, Lady Loki? The desire to have fun responded to another, similar to this, didn't it?"
At that moment, a huge amount of divine power began to burst out of Loki's body, to which the walls of the Dungeon, which I had covered with a barrier in advance, responded instantly.
Loki's power filled the entire floor, and now I could appreciate the actual power of the gods. The closest analogue would be Quetzalcoatl from the Grand Order: Babylonia. More or less the same level. Of course, I expected more, but...
- "Now you don't seem like a complete disappointment," I smiled and released my mana, which entered into battle with Loki's power, knocked back the members of her Familia, and caused the present magicians to lose consciousness. "Well, let's begin, Lady Loki."
-0-
A/N: How's the chapter? Give us your opinion. You may well be able to influence future chapters.
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