A tense standoff unfolded directly in front of the Twilight Manor. Loki and her core executives locked eyes with Freya, who emerged from a nearby intersection backed by a massive, terrifying army.
"Freya..." Loki muttered, her voice dripping with irritation.
"Loki. I certainly did not expect us to cross paths under these circumstances," Freya said smoothly.
"Don't give me that absolute garbage! If you take one more step forward, I wi-"
"You will what?" Freya interrupted. On cue, Ottar took a step forward, his towering presence casting a shadow heavier than the combined pressure of every adventurer present.
Loki bared her teeth like a cornered dog.
"My dear Loki, there is no need for that look. Aren't we friends? Don't you remember our good old days back in Tenkai?" Freya mocked.
"Don't speak as if we're close! I could never stand you in the heavens, and I certainly can't stand you now in Genkai!"
"True," Freya replied, her smile widening. "I never really liked you either. Having to look down all the time gives me a terrible neck ache."
A prominent vein bulged on Loki's forehead.
Noticing his goddess's emotional slip, Finn stepped forward, looking directly into Freya's eyes while protected by Loki's divine presence.
"Freya-sama, may we know why you are interrupting us?"
"Oh, Finn-kun. Do not ask questions you already know the answer to," Freya sighed. "It is obvious that I came for my Luki-kun. I've had my eyes on him since the beginning, you know? It was a shame Hestia took the lead, but their bond was so sweet I chose not to destroy it."
Suddenly, her expression shifted. She inhaled deeply, a manic flush rising to her cheeks as her hands began to tremble. "But now that she is gone, I can have him all to myself! That determined gaze... shooting stars cutting through a dark void... So bright! Ahhh, I just want to hold him so close!"
The Loki Familia wore deeply uncomfortable expressions at the outburst, while the Freya Familia remained entirely stoic, used to their goddess's eccentricities.
"Keep your filthy hands off him, you bitch! He belongs to Hestia! I won't let you hurt him!" Loki snapped.
"Hurt him? Quite the contrary," Freya reasoned, opening her arms wide. "He will only reach his maximum potential with me. Only within my Familia will his stars shine. I will mold him into a true hero of ancient times."
"Only over my dead body!" Loki screamed, stamping her foot. An iron spike shot up from the pavement, reshaping into a sharp spear. Loki grabbed it, pointing it at Freya. "Take one more step, and even if my entire Familia dies, I am taking you down with me!"
Her adventurers widened their eyes but raised their weapons in unison, fiercely supporting her cause.
"Oh, Loki... I thought you had changed," Freya mused, her obsession cooling into amusement. "It seems the Goddess of Mischief remains as reckless as ever."
Loki didn't answer, her divine momentum swelling by the second. Ottar slowly reached for his massive sword, and his executives followed suit. However, they all froze when Freya raised a single hand.
"Let us not be reckless. I did not come here to fight. Such a barbaric thing is simply not my style," Freya said smoothly.
Everyone remained incredibly tense, braced for whatever trick she might play next.
"How about I do this instead..." Freya slowly pressed her fingers against her throat, a divine glow emanating from her touch.
"HESTIA'S LOVER IS HERE."
Her amplified voice echoed through every corner of Orario, snapping everyone to attention.
"Damn it..." Loki cursed, casting a panicked glance around as her group instinctively formed a defensive circle.
WHOOSH!
The entire city mobilized, rushing toward the source of the voice. Tiona and Tione skittered to a halt ahead, all the remaining executives abandoned their decoy routes, using their superior stats to converge back at Loki's side.
Simultaneously, secondary members poured out from the Twilight Manor. Yet, despite surrounding the Freya Familia from both sides, it was Loki's group that felt cornered.
Within minutes, every rooftop, alley, and street was packed with rival Familias staring greedily down at them, or more specifically, at the cloaked figure hidden in their midst.
Then, with a casual flick of Freya's wrist, a violent gust of wind tore away the heavy hood concealing the targets.
The disguise stripped away, revealing Ryuu Lion—one of Orario's most notorious fugitives—with Luki Bryan strapped tightly to her back. His blue hair, three eyes, and small wings completely exposed to the ravenous crowd.
"So..." Freya murmured triumphantly. "What are you going to do now, Loki?"
"Damn it..." Loki muttered once more, fully realizing just how utterly screwed they were.
A suffocating silence stretched over the square.
Everyone stared at one another. The Loki Familia members glared back at the countless adventurers surrounding them, highly alert and ready for anything.
Meanwhile, the various rival Familias stared intently at the final obstacle hiding their key to success—and at the golden boy they all so greedily lusted after.
The heavy, suffocating silence stretched on for long moments. No one dared to attack, and no one even dared to take a wrong breath. What was going through everyone's minds remained uncertain, but for now, they had reached an incredibly fragile balance. Nobody wanted to be the first one to break it.
"What do we do now...?" Tsubaki whispered to her goddess.
Both of them, alongside the strongest members of their Familia, were currently perched in the courtyard of a nearby residence.
"I don't know..." Hephaestus whispered back apprehensively, her grip tightening around her massive war hammer. "But I think... we are going to have to fight. Remember to help Loki's Familia."
"...To think all of this is happening just because of one guy."
"The reasons stopped mattering a long time ago. What everyone wants now is just an opportunity to cut loose. If they happen to win a talented servant out of it, that's just a bonus."
Countless similar murmurs were echoed simultaneously across all sides, with gods and their Familias orchestrating their next moves depending on how the situation would unfold.
In the midst of this, Freya was growing increasingly impatient. Naturally, she didn't let any of it show on her face, but things... were not going as she had anticipated. The original idea was for these idiot gods to start slaughtering one another the moment they arrived.
Yet, for some reason, they had all chosen to stand still and watch, as if they were waiting for a cue.
Since when did her perfectly crafted plans become a source of entertainment?
'Wait a second... everyone is just observing? That... doesn't seem likely. With those underdeveloped morons in the crowd, a chaotic brawl should have broken out by now. So how is everyone staying so... Loki.'
SNAP!
A sudden ripple of force erupted from Freya's fingers. Everyone snapped their heads toward her in surprise, but the wave caught them off guard, leaving no time to evade it. However, the strange part was that... absolutely nothing happened.
But before anyone could even begin to question what that was, Freya took great pleasure in explaining it herself.
"My word, Loki... did you happen to grow stronger while I wasn't looking? I almost didn't notice you subtly pulling everyone's strings," Freya said, her voice dripping with mock admiration as she exposed the hidden trick.
"Argh!" Loki groaned in pure agony.
She clutched the side of her head tightly, feeling as though her mortal brain was violently rattling inside her skull.
Eyes widened across the square. Turning their glares toward the Goddess of Trickery, the gathered gods finally noticed her failing tracks. Loki had been stealthily using a fraction of her divine power to plant a subconscious suggestion, keeping the crowd stagnant by making them think that waiting was the smartest move.
The realization brought a wave of scorching rage. To prideful gods, having their minds toyed with was an intolerable insult.
"You deceitful hag!" a minor god screamed from a rooftop. "How dare you try to hypnotize us?!"
"Is this how the great Loki Familia operates? Through cheap mind tricks?!" another shouted, drawing his sword.
The fragile peace shattered. Hundreds of adventurers unleashed their killing intent at once, surging forward for blood and retribution.
"Defensive formation! Shield the goddess! Riveria, start chanting!" Finn barked.
Gareth and Riveria stepped in front of the kneeling Loki, while the rest of the executives locked a tight circle around Ryuu and Luki.
Freya watched the chaos with a satisfied purr. 'Yes... destroy each other. And when the dust settles, you will run straight into my arms.'
The crowd surged forward, a tidal wave of steel and shouting, ready to crush the Loki Familia through sheer numbers-
BOOM!
Out of nowhere, a colossal bolt of lightning ripped through the bright, cloudless daylight, striking the center of the avenue with a deafening roar. The advancing crowd froze dead in their tracks.
"Step back."
The words were not shouted, yet they resonated through the bones of everyone present.
Every head snapped toward the far end of the street. Approaching the divine blockade was a new army of adventurers marching in flawless, ironclad unison. At the front of their ranks, a standard-bearer held a flag displaying an emblem no one ever expected to see on a battlefield: a winged mirror reflecting the sky.
The Ouranos Familia had arrived.
"No way... the Ouranos Familia? They actually exist as a combat force?!"
"This is impossible! Ouranos gave up his right to form a Familia long ago!"
"Look at those armor sets... they seem to be of the same quality as the elite ranks of Zeus and Hera!"
Ouranos advanced slowly, flanked by warriors clad in gleaming plate armor. The packed crowd instinctively scrambled to open a path, pressing themselves against the brick walls just to stay out of his way. One look at the old god's stern, uncompromising expression was enough to know that anyone caught in his sights right now would be utterly wasted.
THUD!
Ouranos came to a sudden halt, slamming the heavy iron butt of his staff onto the pavement. Behind him, his entire Familia froze in perfect, disciplined formation.
The broken balance had returned stronger than ever, painted clearly in the relieved smirks of Loki and her allies.
Now that Ouranos had revealed himself, none of these mobs mattered. No one wanted to find themselves blacklisted by the Guild. One could say that Orario now had three kings—and two of them were very clearly standing on the same side.
"Ouranos... what a surprise," Freya drawled, her tone smooth but laced with venom. "It seems you finally decided to step out of that miserable hole you call a life."
"And it seems you have finally decided to bare your fangs, Freya," Ouranos countered.
The two ancient deities locked eyes. Both were deeply annoyed, yet decades of practice allowed them to conceal it perfectly—one hiding behind a flawless smile, the other behind a perpetual scowl.
"Hermes!" Ouranos called out.
SWOOSH!
Hermes detached himself from the mass, leaping high into the air and landing gracefully beside Ouranos. "Lord Ouranos! It looks like our original plans have completely gone up in smoke."
"Not necessarily. Fill me in on the situation."
Hermes lowered his voice, quickly recounting every event that had transpired since the Denatus regarding Hestia's banishment—precise details Ouranos could not have overseen from Babel.
When Hermes finished, Ouranos slowly shifted his gaze over Luki, Ryuu, the Loki Familia, Freya, and finally, the massive crowd.
"I must admit... it is an absolute disgrace that I had to break my seclusion for a reason like this," Ouranos declared, his voice heavy with disappointment. "Pathetic."
He narrowed his eyes at the surrounding deities, who offered bitter, resentful grimaces in return.
"You scramble like starving rats over a single boy," Ouranos spoke, his deep voice carrying a biting cold. "Look at what you have reduced the sacred ground of Orario to in a matter of hours. Have you forgotten why we descended to Genkai? We came here to guide humanity, and to watch over the Lower World with dignity—not to tear this city apart to satisfy your own insatiable, pathetic greed!"
He paused, his eyes piercing through the crowd as the terrifying pressure in the street continued to rise.
"Hestia's banishment was a matter of divine judgment, yet you turned her departure into an excuse for a barbaric manhunt. You have brought chaos to the streets, disrupted the peace of the citizens, and turned your weapons against your own peers. If this is how you behave the moment a drop of talent is left unguarded, then you are no better than the monsters caged beneath Babel. You all are a disgrace to our kin."
"Oh, come off it, Ouranos!" a god shouted from the second floor of a nearby building, trying to mask his trembling voice with bravado. "We aren't breaking any divine laws here! Hestia was banished and her Familia is dissolved! By the rules of Orario, that boy is a free agent. Anyone has the right to claim him, and we have the right to fight for him! You can't just change the system whenever it suits you!"
Ouranos turned his head, locking his eyes onto the speaking deity like an apex predator anchoring its prey.
"The rules were established to maintain order, not to justify your collective madness," Ouranos rumbled, taking a single, heavy step forward. His divine presence flared enough to make the very air vibrate with suffocating pressure. "Do not lecture me on the laws of this city, boy. I am the law here. Every stone you stand on, every guild law you hide behind, exists because I willed it. If you truly believe your rights outweigh my command, step down into this street right now and prove it."
The minor god choked on his breath, his face turning completely pale as cold sweat broke out across his skin. He instinctively took three steps back into the shadows, unable to hold the old god's gaze for another second. The rest of the crowd went dead silent.
"This farce ends today," Ouranos declared. "The boy stays under the protection of the Guild. Anyone who objects will find their Familia permanently exiled from Orario by sunset."
"I object."
Ouranos turned his head toward Freya, who calmly raised her hand in defiance.
"What? Don't make that surprised face. Did you honestly think I would bow down to an old fossil like you?" Freya purred, a dangerous glint in her eyes.
"If you know what is best for you, I would strongly advise it," Ouranos warned.
"Oh, I know exactly what is best for me," Freya replied, her smile widening obsessively. "And I will be much happier once I have that boy by my side. Just imagining the possibilities... makes my heart race."
"Then I take pleasure in informing you, Freya, that your affairs in Orario end today."
"Is that so? Ottar..." Freya's tone sharpened. The towering giant stepped forward, his massive shadow looming over the street. "Teach this crippled old man who truly rules this city."
Finn and the Loki executives went rigid, raising their weapons. But they weren't the targets.
With a violent blast of wind, Ottar launched himself into the air, soaring completely over the Loki Familia's line. He descended from above, bringing one of his massive greatsword down like a guillotine aimed straight at Ouranos's head. The old god didn't even flinch.
CLANG!
Ottar's eyes widened in genuine shock. Another blade had intercepted his strike, halting his overwhelming momentum for a split second.
"Quick! Get down!" Finn screamed, throwing himself over Loki as the other executives dove for cover.
SWOOSH!
With a deafening sonic boom, Ottar was violently repelled by a superior force. He dragged his feet across the pavement, slamming his greatsword into the ground to anchor himself back at Freya's side, a flash of irritation crossing his face.
"If you wish to lay a finger on Ouranos-sama, you will have to go through me first," a booming voice declared.
Standing firmly in front of the old god was Captain Cid, clad in a majestic suit of gleaming white plate armor.
"He repelled Ottar... just like that?!" an adventurer shrieked. "Another Level 7?! Where the hell did this guy come from?!"
Ouranos let out a low, mocking chuckle, sending a chill through the crowd. Across the street, Freya's beautiful face contorted into a dark scowl.
"Did you truly believe I would dissolve my Familia and leave myself defenseless?" Ouranos mused with dry amusement. "No. I am no fool."
"Decades ago, when Ouranos-sama secluded himself in the Prayer Chamber, he did not cast his children aside," Cid explained, keeping his eyes locked on the stunned Boar. "We were quietly sent outside of Orario and adopted into allied Familias. We had one mission: to continue developing our power in secret, so we could serve as our Lord's sword once more."
The knight threw his chest out, his voice booming over the avenue. "I am Cid Argento Von Reinhardt, son of Sterling Reinhardt, former captain of the Ouranos Familia! Known to the world as Aetós! I am the current Captain of the Ouranos Familia, Level 7!"
A wave of terrified murmurs rippled through the crowd. But the nightmare was far from over.
"Men! Declare your names!" Cid roared, slamming his shield.
"I am Kaelen Drake, Vice-Captain! Level 6!"
"I am Lyra Vance! Level 6!"
"I am Thorin Stonefist! Level 6!"
With every name declared, the shock suffocating the street grew heavier. When the roll call ceased, the reality crushed the ambition out of every rival deity present.
One Level 7. Nine Level 6 executives. Dozens of Level 5 and Level 4 veterans, with absolutely no one below Level 3. Ouranos had violently shattered all doubt, consolidating his presence as the indisputable, terrifying Third King of Orario.
"I had no idea old Ouranos was hiding a force like this," Finn said, pushing himself up from the pavement and brushing off the dust. "It seems things in Orario are about to get a whole lot more complicated."
"Just be glad we are on the same side... for now," Loki muttered, her expression still haggard from the severe mental backlash she had just endured.
Meanwhile, the cold war between the two ancient deities raged on.
"I believe I was not clear before, so I shall repeat myself," Ouranos spoke, his voice cutting through the heavy air. "Luki Bryan, the Lover of Hestia, is under the official protection of the Guild. Anyone who wishes to settle matters with him will have to answer to me."
Freya remained dead silent. Her face was completely apathetic, far too irritated to maintain her usual, flawless mask. Her mind raced, desperately calculating a way to flip the board back in her favor.
"My dear Loki, are you hearing this?" Freya suddenly purred, her eyes shifting to the Goddess of Trickery. "It sounds to me like old Ouranos is trying to steal the boy right out from under you."
"Ha! Trying to sew discord between us? That cheap trick won't work on me, you hag," Loki snapped back, though she kept a cautious distance. "Luki is coming with us."
"Is that so...?" Freya paused, a dangerous smirk creeping onto her lips. "And what exactly does he think about all this?"
Confusion rippled through the surrounding crowd at her words, but Freya took immense pleasure in clearing it up.
"I feel we are all being a bit too hasty about this matter," she reasoned, her voice smooth and maternal. "Look at what happens when we rush. We shouldn't be fighting like this; after all, we are all divine siblings, aren't we?"
'This crazy bitch realized she's at a disadvantage and is completely changing her tune without a shred of shame,' several gods and executives thought simultaneously, completely dumbfounded by her sheer audacity.
"So, how about we let my dear Luki choose who he wishes to go with?" Freya suggested, opening her arms wide. "After all, we shouldn't force our divine desires onto helpless mortals, right?"
SNAP!
"Oh, no you don't!" Loki yelled, throwing her hand forward.
The very air between the two goddesses began to distort, warping the light as they clashed in an invisible struggle. Yet, bit by bit, Freya began to gain the upper hand, aggressively pushing past Loki's weakened influence.
Strangely, Ouranos chose to stand down, watching the exchange with a passive, unreadable expression.
Before anyone could intervene, Freya's divine wavelength reached the target. Ryuu felt her muscles seize up instantly, completely paralyzed and unable to pull away from the expanding aura. And then, Luki began to glow.
Every single eye in the avenue snapped back to him. For the first time since the crisis began, the center of the world was about to enter the conversation.
GASP!
Luki's body suddenly convulsed, his spine arching violently backward as if a powerful electric shock had just ripped through his nervous system. His chest thrust outward, straining away from Ryuu's back as he sucked in a massive, ragged breath that echoed loudly across the silent street.
"Cough! Cough...!"
Luki collapsed onto the hard stone pavement, completely helpless. His consciousness had finally returned, but his body felt utterly wretched, burning from the inside out.
"What... happened?" he wheezed, his three eyes blinking open, blurred and disoriented.