Just as Loki's teasing voice settled into the air, another voice followed immediately—louder, sharper, brimming with a childlike fire.
"Lucifer! Help me beat Apollo up!!!" Hestia shouted, her arms flailing with exaggerated fervor.
The sudden declaration stunned the gods present. All eyes snapped toward Hestia, who had remained quiet until now, lounging with her eyes closed like she had been taking a nap.
But now?
Now she was practically glowing with excitement, bouncing in her seat as she waved her arms toward Lucifer with unfiltered glee.
"That guy was super arrogant earlier! He even threatened Leon." She huffed, puffing her cheeks in indignation. "Said the Lucifer Familia wasn't allowed to interfere! Hmph! Beat him! Beat him senseless!"
Despite the serious setting, the other gods couldn't help but show amused expressions. A few chuckled, while others outright smirked.
They were here for a meeting, sure but nobody said they couldn't enjoy the entertainment.
Apollo, the subject of this ridicule, had turned a deep, unnatural shade of red—his expression shifting from indignation to horror. His lips trembled, trying to form words, but nothing coherent came out.
Leon, meanwhile, narrowed his eyes as Hestia's words echoed in the hall. "Oh?"
He mused, a gleam in his eyes. "So he threatened me, did he?"
He hadn't heard about that earlier but now that Hestia had said it, well, it was practically a free pass.
If Apollo wanted to die, who was Leon to deny him?
And then—he moved.
Or rather, Lucifer moved.
None of the gods could see it.
Just like before, the Gods' Eyes failed to catch the transition. In an instant, Leon's thought projection—Lucifer—appeared directly in front of Apollo.
And then came the sound.
SLAP!!
A crisp, clean, echoing slap reverberated throughout the grand hall. The force of it twisted Apollo's head violently to one side. A red mark formed instantly across his cheek.
The gods erupted.
"Yooo! A direct hit!"
"Apollo, don't just stand there like an idiot! Hit back!"
"C'mon, you call yourself a man?! Don't be spineless!"
"Lucifer, go for another one!!!"
Cheers. Booing. Laughter. Shouts of encouragement. The entire chamber devolved into gleeful chaos as the gods embraced the spectacle.
Apollo, frozen for a heartbeat, looked utterly humiliated.
"You…! You bastard—!!"
He turned, ready to scream at Leon.
SLAP!
A second slap struck the opposite side of his face, cutting off his words.
Apollo's expression froze again.
The gods cheered louder.
"You're just going to take that?!"
"This is a war of pride now!"
"Apollo! Don't embarrass yourself more than you already have!"
His pride hanging by a thread, Apollo's anger finally burst forth.
"You…! You're going too far—!"
SLAP!
SLAP!!
SLAP!!!
SLAP SLAP SLAP SLAP SLAP—!!!
A whirlwind of rapid, heavy-handed slaps fell upon Apollo's face. Within mere seconds, his once-handsome visage had ballooned into something grotesque—swollen, red, and undeniably pig-like.
The gods practically roared with laughter.
But Apollo had snapped.
The humiliation boiled over, and with a scream, he unleashed his divinity, flooding the entire chamber in a wave of golden radiance.
The air buzzed with tension.
He had broken the unspoken rule—releasing divinity here, now.
But that only made the gods more excited.
"Oho?! He's actually serious now?!"
"Apollo's about to pop!"
"Divinity clash! We're witnessing it firsthand!"
"You're dead, Lucifer! He's gonna smite you!"
Apollo, face puffed and eyes wide with fury, growled out, "I'll make you pay for this humiliation!!!"
But before he could even draw breath—
BOOOOOM—!!!
A new divinity exploded from Lucifer. It was heavier. Denser. Crushing.
The divinity radiating from Leon's thought projection surged through the room like a tidal wave.
Apollo's energy was swallowed instantly—repressed, suppressed, snuffed out like a candle in a storm.
Apollo staggered back, eyes filled with disbelief and terror.
He wasn't the only one. One by one, the other gods stood up unconsciously. Their eyes were wide, their breaths shallow.
This power—it was beyond divine.
"Th-This pressure…!" one muttered.
"How…? This isn't just divinity. It's something else…"
Normally, all gods were equal in divine strength. Their powers could cancel each other out. Divine wars were forbidden not just by law, but by balance. No god could overpower another so overwhelmingly.
But this divine might—Lucifer's presence—shattered that law.
It was as if the very essence of what made a god was being redefined in real time.
"Lucifer…" Loki narrowed her eyes, fingers resting on her lips. "Just how far above us are you?"
"Charm resistance, unshakable will, and now this?" Freya's amethyst eyes gleamed with intensity. "I can't move Leon by seduction… I can't crush Lucifer with pressure… There's nothing I can do to make Leon fall. I'll have to go slow. Strategically."
"Where did this monster even come from…?" Hermes adjusted his feathered hat, trying to hide his gaze as he studied Lucifer. "He's not just some wandering god. He's something more."
Hestia, on the other hand, pumped her fist with both hands.
"Yesss!! That's my guy! That's Leon's god!!" She yelled proudly, bouncing with excitement.
The stronger Lucifer showed himself to be, the safer Leon would be.
If even the gods had to fear him… then no one would dare scheme in the shadows again.
Back in the Guild's underground altar, Ouranos opened his ancient eyes. His voice, deep and gravelly, echoed in the empty stone chamber.
"Lucifer… What a terrifying existence you are."
The gods had no idea that this divine pressure didn't stem from a normal divine source. This was the power of the King of Gods. Leon's true power was in a realm they could never hope to reach.
To them, it was incomprehensible.
Back in the Assembly—
Leon or rather Lucifer opened his eyes, his gaze sharp and threatening. He looked directly at Apollo.
"Well? What now? Want to start a divine war?" His voice was low, calm, and terrifying.
Apollo, his face now fully resembling a roast pig, quivered with rage but he couldn't speak.
He knew he couldn't win.
And divine war was strictly forbidden.
"Tch…" He bit his tongue, turned his head away, and stomped back to his seat in silence.
The moment Apollo sat down and shut his eyes, Leon withdrew his divinity.
The suffocating pressure vanished instantly. But the chamber remained silent, the memory of that power still heavy in the air.
"…Ahem." Loki cleared her throat awkwardly, trying to reset the room's mood. "So, back to the meeting…"
"Y-Yes, let's proceed with that…" one god agreed hastily, wiping sweat from his brow.
"Y-Yeah, yeah, carry on!"
With murmurs of agreement, the gods one by one returned to their seats.
Loki, never one to let things go quietly, turned to Lucifer with a glint in her eye.
"Lucifer, what do you think about this war game, then?"
She grinned, arms crossed. "Leon's asked Hestia for the right to use foreign aid. You have any thoughts?"
She leaned forward playfully. "I mean, Leon's never left Orario, right? But you said before you've wandered the lower world for centuries. Did you meet these foreign adventurers back then?"
"Wait, wait, we're supposed to be discussing the form of the war game first, not his backstory," another god cut in quickly.
"Ahh, sorry, sorry. I just got curious." Loki laughed it off.
"But seriously—Lucifer. What kind of war game do you think we should hold?"