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Outside the grand entrance of the Tower of Babel in Orario.
"Ahhh! Those jerks!!"
Hestia stomped her feet, fuming with rage. She couldn't believe her divine peers had branded her precious Familia child with a terrible moniker.
Today was the Denatus, the divine council where the Gods officially gave new aliases to Adventurers who leveled up. Hestia hadn't planned on going, but she wanted August to get an impressive title. So, she forced herself to attend and ended up in a loud, heated argunt.
Unfortunately, August was currently the hottest commodity in Orario.
The other Gods were jealous. Hestia had a child who could jump between universes, and they would have taken him if they could. Out of spite, so of the Gods tried to give August the most embarrassing alias they could think of.
After hours of heated argunts...
"Honestly, walking away with a minor title is a massive victory," Hephaestus sighed, walking beside the furious Goddess.
The debate over August's alias almost turned into a fight. The Gods shouted until their faces turned red. Hestia was so angry that she yelled at her peers to defend August's honor.
[The First Ember]
"That was the best we could negotiate," Hephaestus added.
"To be fair, Hestia, your suggestions were unhinged," Miach chid in, shaking his head. He still couldn't fathom the terrifying titles Hestia had proposed.
The Last Savior of Humanity.
The Destroyer of Worlds.
Born to be King.
Miach genuinely wanted to crack Hestia's skull open and study her brain. How could she even suggest those nas with a straight face?
The Last Savior of Humanity. The weight of that title scread "ssiah." Even the Gods hesitated to throw around a title that arrogant.
The Destroyer of Worlds. It sounded powerful, sure, but surrounded by rival Gods? It sounded like the ultimate supervillain title, practically begging for a holy crusade to be launched against him.
And Born to be King??
If they actually slapped this title on a [Level 2] rookie, every major Familia in Orario would target him imdiately just on principle.
Faced with Hestia's grandiose, impossibly arrogant suggestions, the rest of the pantheon violently vetoed them.
They united to assign him sothing far more grounded.
The title might have sounded a little plain and old-fashioned, but compared with other options like the Juggernaut or the Warmonger—it was pretty elegant and subtle.
"This is my child's very first alias! He deserves a title that commands respect!" Hestia crossed her arms, tilting her nose high into the air.
Her child was exceptional. He deserved a title that reflected his majesty!!
"Right, right, whatever you say," Hephaestus and Miach said together, not really listening to her anymore.
But as the group of Gods walked away from Babel...
"Hey, did you hear about Ishtar, the ruler of the Pleasure Quarter? Turns out, that's her actual backstory!"
"Yeah, I can't believe she died a pathetic death in the myths!"
"Stripped completely naked, impaled on at hooks, and she only managed to escape by sacrificing her own husband to the Underworld? Brutal!"
A group of Adventurers was casually chatting and laughing by the roadside. They were loudly gossiping about Ishtar.
The Gods, blessed with exceptional hearing, froze in their tracks.
"Why is there sudden gossip about Ishtar?"
"Stripped naked and impaled by her own sister, Ereshkigal?"
"Who the hell is spreading that mythological lore down here?"
Hephaestus, Miach, and Takemikazuchi exchanged baffled looks. They stopped walking and leaned in, fully invested.
Wait... Divine drama? Hell yeah, we're listening.
"That's weird. Why is Ishtar suddenly the talk of the town?" Hestia scratched her head, genuinely confused.
She had just spent hours locked in a screaming match at the Denatus. How did Ishtar's dirty laundry hit the streets while she was gone? From what Hestia recalled, the Goddess of the Pleasure Quarter was essentially one of her enemies—a major antagonist in the original plotline.
"Hestia."
A quiet voice called out from behind.
"Oh, Soma."
"Wait, you're outside?" Hestia and the other Gods turned around, surprised to see the reclusive God of Wine standing in the plaza. The guy usually spent his entire existence locked in his brewery, ignoring his Familia.
"About Lili... thank you for taking her in."
Soma slowly pushed his ssy bangs out of his eyes. His expression was as stoic as ever, but as he locked eyes with Hestia, he offered a solemn bow.
Soma recognized that his own negligence had driven his Familia down a dark, twisted path. Lili had relied on her willpower to break free from the nightmare he inadvertently created. Because of that, Soma knew he had no right to ask her to return.
But he was deeply grateful that Hestia had given the child a safe haven.
"As long as you understand your mistakes, we're good," Hestia waved it off casually.
The trial she had set for Lili was designed to prove the girl's determination to climb out of the abyss. The fact that Soma ca to thank her proved he finally felt a shred of guilt for what he had put Lili through.
"By the way, Hestia. Did you hear the rumors they were just discussing?" Soma asked, shifting the topic. He realized Hestia had been locked in the Denatus and was completely out of the loop regarding the street-level gossip.
"Yeah, the gossip about Ishtar, right?" Hestia nodded. It was just another deity's drama. She was more than happy to eat the popcorn.
"That gossip originated from your child, August," Soma dropped the bomb.
"Huh??"
"..." Hephaestus, Miach, and Takemikazuchi stared at Hestia in shock.
Wait, what? How did August trigger this?
"My Familia mbers were loitering near the Dungeon entrance this morning. They saw August and Lili getting heavily propositioned by the Combat Prostitutes of the Ishtar Familia before they headed into the Labyrinth," Soma explained his intel network.
The Soma Familia might be useless in the Dungeon, but they were a syndicate of hustlers and street rats. They spent their days loitering in Babel Square, soaking up every scrap of intelligence. They always had the first scoop on city-wide drama.
Since the incident involved the Hestia Familia, Soma felt obligated to deliver the warning personally.
"Ugh. Those Amazon girls," Hestia groaned, rubbing her temples.
She knew exactly how Amazonesses operated. The mont they spotted a powerful male, they sward him like sharks, desperately trying to drag him to bed.
"Because of their aggressive approach, August loudly recounted the myth of Ishtar's humiliating death in the Underworld. And he explicitly stated that the Ishtar Familia wouldn't dare cause trouble for him," Soma added.
Soma was curious where August found the confidence to publicly humiliate Ishtar and declare himself untouchable.
Ishtar was notoriously vain and petty. She maintained a facade of glamorous power to rule the Pleasure Quarter. Having her most humiliating defeat broadcast to the entire city was a massive insult. The normal response would be an imdiate order to assassinate.
"Oh, thanks for the heads-up, Soma," Hestia nodded.
Knowing the ani lore, Hestia understood exactly where August's confidence ca from.
If there was one entity in Orario that consud Ishtar's absolute focus, it was Freya.
"Wow, Hestia. You aren't panicking?" Takemikazuchi asked, raising an eyebrow. He expected her to freak out. Given Ishtar's vindictive nature, shouldn't she be worried?
"Why should I be?" Hestia shrugged. "Ishtar's primary target is, and always will be, Freya."
"I only have a small Familia. If Ishtar wastes her combat forces trying to kill August—which would result in heavy casualties on her end—she won't have the manpower left to fight Freya. It's a massive loss for her."
"Plus, August has a natural resistance to divine charm. Unless Ishtar breaks the rules and uses her full Divine Power, August could easily defeat her," Hestia said confidently.
She wasn't afraid of Ishtar picking a fight.
Even without considering August's strength, Ishtar's focus on Freya was her biggest weakness. She wouldn't waste her forces on a small grudge. And if she did, August would defeat them easily.
"Oh? Look at you using your brain," Hephaestus chuckled, really impressed.
Hestia's analysis was spot on. She had perfectly calculated Ishtar's political constraints.
Moreover, August's reputation was well known. Every God and Adventurer knew that if you cornered him, he wouldn't just win—he would destroy everything nearby. No one wanted to risk total defeat just to satisfy a Goddess's ego. Most Adventurers would rather fight Ottar than face August.
"It's true. Given Ishtar's obsessive hatred for Freya, she won't risk antagonizing a volatile wildcard like your child unless it's necessary," Miach agreed.
A Goddess of Beauty vs. a Goddess of Beauty—a virgin Goddess like Hestia wasn't even on the radar. Ishtar wasn't going to burn her forces fighting a heavily ard rookie.
"Still... August has zero filter. I need to go ho and lecture him," Hestia grumbled, crossing her arms.
She loved him, but casually roasting a major Goddess in public was asking for trouble. Ishtar might be distracted now, but if the Freya Familia was ever gone, Ishtar would definitely go after August for the insult. Hestia needed to talk to him before he caused even bigger problems.
—•——•——•——•——•——•—
While the Gods laughed it off, the target of the gossip was currently losing her mind.
Ishtar sat on her lavish throne in the Pleasure Quarter's tower, furious. She wore very little, but her anger ruined any sense of charm.
She violently hurled her golden smoking pipe across the room.
"THAT ARROGANT LITTLE BRAT!"
Ishtar's face showed pure anger. Her worst humiliation was now being talked about like common gossip.
Sure, she loved the titles August had used to describe her: Goddess of Venus, Darling of Heaven, Goddess of Beauty. Those monikers alone made her preen with arrogance.
But having her most agonizing defeat dragged into the spotlight? Absolutely unforgivable.
He had crossed a massive line. Stripped naked? Impaled on at hooks? Sacrificing her own husband to escape the Underworld?
August hadn't lied. Those events actually happened in the ancient era when her sister Ereshkigal humiliated her. But that didn't an she wanted the entire mortal realm gossiping about it! At this rate, the bards would be singing mocking ballads about her by sunset!
"He needs to be punished! I'll make him suffer!" Ishtar scread.
But despite her furious declarations, she quickly arrived at the exact sa conclusion August and Hestia had predicted.
"If I deploy my Amazons to capture him... he might actually wipe them out."
Ishtar rubbed her temples, a headache forming.
Her fighters had told her about August's confidence. If she sent her best warriors to stop him and he really was that strong, her whole plan to defeat Freya would fall apart.
"Lady Ishtar. If we manage to ambush him inside the Dungeon..."
Phryne Jamil, the towering Captain of the Ishtar Familia, offered her strategy. She wanted to crush the arrogant man and drag him back to her bed. Conquering a man with that much rumored power would be the ultimate high.
But the mont Phryne suggested an ambush, Ishtar's eyes turned ice-cold.
Petty insults could be ignored, but her grand strategy to destroy Freya was absolute. She wasn't going to let an idiot captain ruin years of ticulous planning over a bruised ego.
"Are you planning to lead my girls to their deaths??" Ishtar snapped.
"That boy is ruthless!"
"He slaughters entire legions of monsters by trapping them in kill zones! Are you hoping to add my girls to his pile of corpses??"
Ishtar glared at her captain. Phryne was her best fighter, but if she put the plan at risk, Ishtar would take away her power and lock her up without hesitation.
The surrounding executives of the Ishtar Familia flinched in surprise. They fully expected Ishtar to approve the hit squad. They didn't realize she was this wary of a rookie.
"Do not underestimate that boy."
"He operates in this city with absolute autonomy. He possesses terrifying intellect and firepower."
"If you attempt to capture him, he will not hesitate to slaughter every single one of you." Ishtar leaned back into her throne, her gaze sweeping over her executives.
"I spent years building this Familia. I spent years crafting my master plan."
"If any of you ruin my assets... I will make you beg for death."
Ishtar didn't look at Phryne, but the threat was aid squarely at her. If the captain marched out and got the Amazons killed, she would suffer a fate worse than hell.
"However..." Ishtar's tone suddenly shifted, a sultry smirk creeping onto her lips.
"If any of you can seduce him and drag him into your bed... that is a different story entirely."
She wasn't going to suppress her Amazons' natural instincts. If her girls could ntally break the monster rookie using their bodies and charm, it would bring imnse glory to the Ishtar Familia.
A man that powerful was the ultimate prize for an Amazon. Overwhelming strength, interdinsional autonomy, and absolute ruthlessness. Sleeping with a predator like that was an Amazon's dream. Bearing his child would guarantee a prodigy.
"Really??"
"As expected of Lady Ishtar!"
"Oh, my blood is pumping!"
The executives' eyes lit up with ravenous lust. Since Ishtar wasn't forbidding the hunt, it was open season.
Ishtar leaned her chin on her hand, fully embracing the honey-trap strategy.
"That's right, my lovely girls. GO."
"Hunt down that infuriating brat."
"Make him submit to your charm. Let's see how long his confidence lasts when he's begging on his knees. Hahaha!"
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~ Every 200 Power Stones = Bonus chapter
~ 15 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon
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