Chapter 776

Freya's mindset was somewhat shattered, while Apollo completely failed to notice this; this deity stood at the front of the venue, the Magic Stone Spotlight focused on his body.

"I, Apollo, welcome everyone present for gracing us with your presence tonight, yet I wonder if I have allowed everyone to enjoy themselves?"

"Allowing us to bring our children to participate in the banquet, this banquet is quite excellent."

The deities' agreement was like a needle, piercing Freya's heart.

"Lady Freya?"

Broly looked doubtfully at the goddess who was gripping his hand tightly, exerting force desperately, somewhat confused.

"Sorry, Broly, did I hurt you by gripping you?"

Freya reacted to her loss of composure, hurriedly adjusted her mindset, and showed the youth a somewhat fake smile.

"It doesn't hurt, just a bit regretful that I couldn't dance with you, Lady Freya; I hope there will be an opportunity next time……"

Broly spoke polite words, then indicated to Freya that he had to return to Hestia's side.

"Then next time for sure, I've made a reservation."

Freya said this, then reluctantly released the youth's hand.

And at this time, Apollo at the front also arrived at the meat portion of tonight's drama.

"I am very happy to host so many guests, but as the host, I now also want to lodge an accusation against a certain deity here; that's right, it's Hestia — her child, a few days ago, actually beat my child severely!"

When Broly returned to Hestia's side, another Magic Stone Spotlight also shone towards them, just illuminating his, Hestia's, and Bell's figures in the venue where the surrounding lights had been dimmed.

"Wait, Apollo, my child also returned injured, and regarding the matter of injury, shouldn't it be mutual?"

Hestia stepped forward to refute.

"Indeed."

Apollo agreed with Hestia's statement.

"If it were just a normal fight, a bit of roughhousing, then I wouldn't need to speak an accusation here, but what if your child became like this?!"

Apollo pointed behind him; a beam of Magic Stone Spotlight also followed his statement and shone down again, clearly illuminating a Pallum wrapped in bandages and leaning on a cane.

"After seeing this, can you still say such words?"

Seeing this scene, the surrounding deities and their children immediately began discussing heatedly.

"My child merely had some quarrel with Hestia's child in a restaurant, and was cruelly beaten into this state by the other party; I intend to demand an explanation from Hestia, propose some reasonable compensation demands; I think this is a perfectly reasonable matter!"

Apollo spoke to the surrounding guests; such a thing as snatching another's child requires a trumped-up pretext.

If there isn't even a passable reason, and one directly moves to snatch another's child, one might be treated as a Dark Faction, and then be jointly dealt with, suppressed, and expelled by other Familias.

"Lady Hestia, this is naked slander; I did move, but I absolutely did not beat him that severely — at most, just minor injuries."

Bell froze in place; Broly swept him with his tail, and the white-haired youth then reacted; he hurriedly began defending himself.

"Apollo, my child says this."

Hestia stood at the very front, confronting Apollo.

"We need to verify the injuries."

Broly, from behind, added a sentence in a tone carrying the Gambling God of France's inflection.

"Regardless of my child's injury severity, the one who moved first was your child, isn't that right?"

Apollo dodged the important and clung to the trivial.

"That's because they provoked me first……"

Bell immediately loudly recounted the events before the conflict occurred in the restaurant that day.

"Reason becomes clearer the more it's debated; whether there's reason or not, everyone listening can tell clearly."

Hestia addressed the other deities.

"Ah, my child merely spoke some rumors long circulating in the outside world, and had to suffer such a cruel beating — is this not a bit too unfair?"

However, Apollo also loudly solicited sympathy from the surrounding guests; Orario has no substantive ruler; although the major Familias differ in strength, the Main Gods of the major Familias are basically equal, like lords great and small.

Therefore, the so-called just cause is a relatively important matter.

"Uh, speaking ill of others' rumors is indeed bad, but beating someone severely over this kind of thing is also bad."

"What are you saying, Apollo doesn't even dare let anyone verify his child's injuries."

The surrounding deities whispered privately, some sympathizing with Apollo, some questioning Apollo.

Deities are diverse; because of differing values, they gradually split into two factions, producing some disputes.

"I believe this is undeniable; even Apollo wouldn't let his child use fake injuries to frame someone; if anyone has objections, I have a proposal here — why not let my child go verify his child's injuries?"

Freya's words stopped the disputes among the surrounding deities; a deity with influence, and who counts as uninvolved, willing to help verify injuries — this is indeed a good choice.

The Gods agreed with Freya's words, and turned their gazes toward Apollo.

"Ah, Freya, having your child verify my child's injuries — no need to trouble yourself."

Apollo, watched by the Gods, showed a stiff expression, and wanted to refuse.

"Heh, this is no trouble at all; of course, if you won't allow verification, then I'll take it as you mocking me; and anyone who dares mock me, I will show no mercy."

Freya said this with a beaming smile, yet hidden beneath the beautiful smile was retaliation against this bastard Apollo who dared ruin her good deed.

Apollo's complexion turned panicked; he had guarded against Loki, but never expected Freya to intervene.

Just when he didn't know what to do, the pig-man youth standing beside Freya took a large stride forward.

Ottar walked straight to the injured Pallum; his tall, robust frame brought immense pressure.

"Ah, no……"

Ruan, feigning a severe injury, tried to retreat, but was grabbed by the Mighty One Ottar like a chick and lifted up.

Ottar pulled out the arm of the person wrapped in bandages; the surrounding guests only heard a crisp crack, and the other's bone was forcibly snapped.

Hands, feet, sternum, ribs…… Ottar meticulously examined the body of the person in his hands; after ensuring he had broken all the other's bones, he only silently turned his head and reported to the Goddess: "Lady Freya, the injuries, no problem."

The surrounding guests: "……"

Are their ears not working?

Such an obvious sound of cracking bones—those injuries were clearly made fresh.

The guy who had all his bones broken has already passed out.

The Apollo Familia members who knew Ruan was faking his injuries all broke out in cold sweat, fearfully watching the Mighty One who calmly did such a thing.

"Since there's no problem, Apollo seeking an explanation from Hestia is perfectly reasonable."

Freya didn't look at the severely injured members who had already passed out, but said this calmly.

Apollo: "……"

Although he didn't know why Freya was helping him.

Well, if he had truly made his own child a severely injured member, he didn't know if the other side was helping.

But without a doubt, regarding the situation before him, he could only go along with it.

"That's right, Hestia, you owe me an explanation."

"What explanation do you want?"

"Hand over the culprit from your family who made my child a severely injured member, and let me deal with them."

"Hah, do you think that's possible?"

Hestia glanced at Freya; openly, the other seemed to be helping Apollo, but it was unexpectedly beneficial to her own plan.

"If you refuse, then I can only wage a War Game against your Hestia Familia!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the surrounding gods cheered; for gods, War Games were quite good entertainment.

"A War Game requires all participants to agree, but if I disagree, I imagine you, this guy, will definitely pester me and my Familia endlessly."

"Exactly."

"Then, what are the game contents and the stakes?"

"For fairness, we can decide the game contents by drawing lots; as for the stakes, if you Hestia win, your child's severe injury will be treated as if it never happened, but if you lose, you must hand over Bell Cranel to me, transferring him to my Familia."

"Hah, I knew your target was my child, Apollo; you're truly a disgusting guy."

"Say what you will; what's your answer, Hestia?"

"I can agree to this War Game, but I want to add a stake."

"Hmm?"

"I'll stake my entire Familia, including myself; if I lose, whether it's disbanding the Familia or bringing my child to merge into your Familia, I'll obey your every command, but if you lose, you must pay an equal price. How about it, Apollo—do you dare to bet?"

"If you don't dare to bet, then get lost right now, and stop causing trouble for my child and pestering my child endlessly!"

"Bet, bet……"

Teasing voices came from around; the gods were all people who loved to watch a spectacle.

"Apollo, don't you have any balls?"

From time to time, some vulgar words were mixed in.

Apollo hesitated a bit and subconsciously looked toward Loki's direction.

If it weren't for the Loki Familia, he would definitely agree without hesitation.

But with the Loki Familia involved, things had to be made clear.

"I can bet, but no other Familia is allowed to interfere in our War Game."

"Huh?"

Hestia's eyes widened, seeming very surprised; if acting were scored out of ten, Broly could give his goddess's current expression a high score of eight.

"I heard your child gets along well with Loki's child, and I have no confidence in letting my child beat a guy who's good at living off others."

Seeing Hestia's shocked expression, Apollo showed a look of understanding and said in a slightly sarcastic tone.

"What's wrong with my child living off others? Being able to live off others is a skill in itself, and it's not like they're eating your rice—why do you care so much?!"

Hestia looked flustered, as if her trump card had been seen through.

"Apollo, you can rest assured about that; I have no intention of letting my child interfere in other Familias' War Games."

At this time, the important supporting character, the Clown Goddess, stepped forward and directly guaranteed this to Apollo.

"Lady Loki……"

Ais shouted in a hurry, and she was also someone who couldn't act; her recitation tone was extremely stiff. Even though she made the gesture of grabbing Loki's hand, she didn't look anxious at all.

"Shut up. That brat Broly is stringing you along with his decent swordsmanship; I've long found this guy unpleasant. And tonight, this bastard Hestia has been snapping at me. No matter what you say, I won't allow you to help him."

Loki loudly scolded Ais once, then waved her hand and shoved the Sword Princess girl to the ground; the scene was exaggerated as if performing a stage play.

But there was no way around it, because performances in this era were more or less like this. Of course, correspondingly, the audience's acceptance level was also high.

Although Apollo felt a bit strange, if Loki didn't let her Familia's children interfere, then he seemed to have no reason to fear Hestia.

In the crowd, Daphne stared with her mouth wide open. The reason she had informed was because she had the backing of the Loki Familia helping the Hestia Familia, but under these circumstances, could the Hestia Familia still win?

"Don't worry, Daphne. Last night I dreamed again. Although the sun has left us, the hearth has appeared by our side. The future has already changed, and the win or loss was destined long ago."

As for Cassandra, she looked completely unworried. Compared to her anxious and pessimistic posture before informing yesterday, she had quite an appetite tonight.

She had eaten several pieces of veal steak from the buffet and was now a bit full from eating.

"Hmph, even without that guy Loki's help, I still have other trump cards. My Broly is a very powerful Adventurer. With him, we definitely won't lose the War Game. If you don't believe it, Apollo, just try it."

"Apollo, if no one interferes in your War Game with Hestia and you still don't dare to go, then you're truly a guy without balls!"

The other gods then added fuel to the fire. Apollo did want to wage a War Game, but Hestia's strong attitude made him a bit unsure.

But he soon saw a fleeting guilty expression on Hestia's face across from him: "Wait, Hestia, you bastard, you're not trying to bluff and scare me off, are you?"

"Ah, no, no I'm not."

Hearing this, the Loli Goddess timely showed a flustered expression, followed by a posture of feigning calm.

"I see, so this is your scheme."

Apollo felt he had seen through everything.

"Then do you dare to sign a Divine Contract for the War Game with me right now?"

Hestia felt the timing was about right, so she proposed.

"Of course."

"Then let's sign it, sign it right now. Under the witness of the Gods attending the banquet, sign the Divine Contract of the War Game. The losing side shall be disposed of however the winning side wishes."

Hestia said loudly. Apollo hesitated a bit, and the Loli Goddess immediately added: "Hmph, if you're afraid, it's not too late to back out now."

"I won't be scared away by a blustering fellow. However, since this is a War Game betting the entire Familia, we must naturally go all out."

"So, I will designate the content of the War Game. Regardless of how many people my Familia and your Familia have specifically, everyone can choose to participate in the War Game."

"Ah, but my Familia only has two children."

Hestia exclaimed in surprise.

"I don't care about that. And if you don't agree, I'll have my people continuously harass you."

"Fine. Under the witness of the Gods, I, Hestia, agree to participate in this all-out War Game!"

Hestia no longer hesitated and directly swore an oath.

"We Gods witness!"

The teasing Gods became serious at this time, and the voices of these Gods sounded together.

And their will was soon transmitted to the Guild Headquarters, to Uranus at the Basement Altar.

Divine Power circulated, the Divine Contract was condensed, and Uranus's voice sounded in the void along with it.

"Gods witness. Hestia Familia and Apollo Familia are about to begin an all-out War Game. The game content is as follows..."

【1. Both sides attack each other on the Plain. Defeat the opponent without causing death, causing all members of the opponent's participating members to lose all combat ability. This is the Victory Condition of the War Game.

2. There is no restriction on the number of participants from both sides, but the existing member lists of both Familias are locked. No new members can be added. Participants must be selected from the existing member list.

3. The winner of the War Game has the right to dispose of the losing side's God and Familia as they wish, including but not limited to demanding the other side disband their Familia, demanding the losing God return to Heaven. However, excessive demands directly commanding the death of the children will not be adopted.

Currently, those declaring participation in the War Game: Hestia, and her Familia.】

"Apollo, do you acknowledge the terms to participate in the War Game? If you acknowledge and are willing to participate, please swear an oath."

Apollo looked at the terms formed by Divine Power in the air and didn't see any problem with them. Everything seemed to be proceeding very smoothly.

He just didn't know why, but he suddenly felt as if he had been set up by someone. But after thinking carefully, Apollo felt he couldn't possibly be set up.

"Apollo, I swear by my God's name that I absolutely will not participate in your affairs."

Loki said with a smiling face.

"Apollo, what are you still waiting for?"

Freya urged him somewhat impatiently.

"If you're afraid, you can still refuse now."

Hestia then made a posture that vaguely hoped he would refuse.

Things had come to this; how could he be allowed to refuse?

Moreover, upon careful thought, the whole thing was entirely a scheme of his side, resulting in this!

And his Familia's children numbered over a hundred, while Hestia's side had only two.

【Over a hundred against two people, the advantage is mine!】

Thinking this, Apollo made his oath: "I, Apollo, swear to participate!"

(Chapter End)