When the battlefield advanced to the outside of the Familia's residence, Apollo found it difficult to continue sitting calmly in the conference hall. He stood up and walked to the window to witness the battle with his own eyes.
To be precise, it should be called a one-sided sweep by Ron.
Although he very much did not want to admit it, the result was that this War Game—which, in the eyes of himself and countless gods in Orario, had absolutely no suspense—indeed had no suspense.
With only three adventurer members dispatched, they completed the sweeping defeat of the Apollo Familia!
This was not a problem with the tactical arrangements of his own Familia; it was purely the enormous gap in strength and quality between adventurers, something that numbers simply could not make up.
An ordinary Lv2 adventurer could easily fight against nearly ten Lv1 adventurers; the same principle applied to other levels as well.
And the strength Ron had displayed was such that he could easily defeat even the Familia's strongest member, Hyakinthos. Continuing the stalemate had no meaning whatsoever.
When the boy's spear was aimed at Hyakinthos's heart, for this follower who had once received so much of his favor, Apollo ultimately could not bear it. After pushing open the door, his eyes were filled with a look of utter dejection.
"…"
"We surrender."
At worst, it only meant discarding that pride—pride that Ron had already personally shattered. The War Game had already been lost, so they might as well leave themselves a final shred of dignity.
That was what Apollo thought.
During a War Game, casualties were unavoidable; but once it ended, this completely meaningless slaughter should be brought to a complete stop.
"Lord Apollo…"
"…"
The members of the Apollo Familia, who had long since lost the will to fight and even had their spirit completely worn away, all raised their heads and looked toward their god.
An emotion called guilt enveloped their hearts.
Knowing clearly that the outcome would be expulsion from Orario, Apollo instead felt no psychological burden. Looking at the now-empty Familia residence, he walked toward Ron.
A loser must be prepared to be humiliated.
No emotion could be seen on his face as he looked at the black-haired boy not far away and said, "As the loser of the War Game, the Apollo Familia… will accept whatever you decide."
Even when his gaze fell upon the Hyakinthos whose life and death were uncertain, Apollo's voice carried a thick note of pleading: "Please spare that child."
"…"
Carrying out a 'Familia massacre' during a War Game—even if one ultimately wins completely—would make it difficult to maintain good relations with other Familias after having such a precedent.
Especially after hearing such a request from Apollo.
Ron withdrew the spear that had been pressed against Hyakinthos's chest, shrugged lightly, and stated the final objective of the War Game: "All the property of your Familia."
"Will belong to the Hestia Familia."
"As for the members of your Familia—disband them."
These uneven adventurers—setting aside that male-lover tendency—would be nothing more than roadside corpses kicked to death by the Soulslike dungeon even if they were kept in the Hestia Familia.
It was better to simply disband them.
His extremely calm gaze paused on Daphne and Cassandra. These were among the few adventurer members who interested Ron.
"No problem."
"When the time comes, let the Guild's finance department come to audit the accounts."
This was the last thing he could do for his followers. After receiving Ron's consent, Apollo only felt the burden on his shoulders gradually disappearing.
Winning the War Game almost entirely by relying on his own strength.
Unfortunately…
This kind of miracle had happened to the Hestia Familia. The result was already decided, and now Apollo wanted to obtain the real answer from Ron even more.
"This War Game—was it a trap you set from the very beginning?"
"That's not the case."
"Mainly because you were the ones looking for trouble." If it had not been the Apollo Familia, they would probably still be in the dungeon at this moment, fighting monsters with both wit and courage.
Ron shook his head lightly.
He stated calmly, "It's precisely because of this war that our Familia had to prepare in the dungeon day and night for so long, so I must win."
"?"
He had received the final answer.
But hearing it was almost worse than hearing nothing at all. What did it mean to prepare day and night in the dungeon because of the War Game? And Ron's words contained no falsehood.
They directly confirmed Apollo's suspicion.
'From the moment Ron registered as an adventurer until now, when he possesses the strength to sweep aside the Apollo Familia, he accomplished this feat in only one month.'
'What a monster.'
"Why are you so resistant to the Apollo Familia… With your talent, you deserve a better stage. The entire Familia would become your support."
Jealousy.
Naked jealousy surged in Apollo's heart. Yet when he looked at Ron at this moment, his eyes no longer held the greed from the beginning—only regret.
"…"
"Heh."
Apollo's straightforward surrender at least retained a bit of a god's dignity.
But when faced with that extremely complicated gaze, the victorious smile on Ron's face gradually cooled. This guy had definitely coveted his backside more than a few times.
"I don't care what tastes you or the members of your Familia have, but I don't like men."
After a god loses a War Game, the choices are to return to the heavens or be permanently expelled from Orario. No matter which option Apollo ultimately chose, Ron had already decided to give him an experience he would never forget for the rest of his life.
Thus, under the gaze of all the former "Apollo" Familia adventurer members present, his figure vanished from where he stood. When he appeared again, he was already behind the god.
Combat Art: Hunting Giants!
"AAARGH!!!"
...
Top floor of Babel Tower.
Through Hermes's magic, countless gods gathered on the scene personally witnessed how the greatly outmatched Hestia Familia achieved a comeback.
The adventurer who created the miracle was—
"Ron."
As a newcomer, facing the encirclement of the Apollo Familia, he displayed strength far beyond the expectations of all the gods, crushed Hyakinthos, and seized victory.
The moods of the gods present were particularly complicated.
Pursuing "the so-called impossible" was the reason they had come to Orario. Now that a miracle had occurred right before their eyes, they were unable to feel even a trace of joy.
"I announce."
"The final victor of this War Game is the Hestia Familia!"
The most enthusiastic among them was the elephant god Ganesha, who was serving as the commentator for the War Game. Perhaps feeling that such a dull atmosphere could not properly highlight the victory of the Hestia Familia, he stepped onto the commentary platform and shouted: "Additionally, here is an extra piece of news—Ron, the adventurer who swept through several Apollo Familia adventurer teams and defeated Hyakinthos while facing an encirclement."
"The miracle he created does not stop there."
"He has broken the fastest breakthrough record previously set by the Familia led by the god Loki—Ais Wallenstein—and has ultimately shortened that record."
"To just sixteen days!!"
"And Ron's title will be decided at the Denatus in three days!"
Sweeping the Apollo Familia was already a feat that countless gods believed impossible to accomplish. Yet when they heard clearly that this rising new star had broken the fastest breakthrough record, creating a feat that would shock Orario and the entire world—the gods who had lost money in the betting began, from the depths of their hearts, to give their own evaluations of Ron. Various discussions gradually rose until they nearly drowned out the entire venue.
'Apparently the joys and sorrows of gods are not the same—I only find them noisy.'
Slumped in a stone chair, Loki looked at the heroic young figure in the magical projection and at the brilliant smile on the face of her close friend Hephaestus beside her.
Thinking of the enormous debt she had incurred from the bet, cold sweat streamed down her back: 'It's all over…'
'Finn, I think I've really messed up…'
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