By the ti Apollo paused from his speech, the reaction had already spread through the hall.
So gods leaned back, arms crossed, expressions openly unimpressed. Others whispered among themselves, curiosity sharpened rather than alard. A few sat forward, interest flickering behind careful neutrality.
The silence was uneven, which ant the ssage had landed—but not everyone understood it the sa way.
Apollo smiled anyway, as if he had already won half the battle.
Before he could continue, a chair scraped loudly against stone.
Hephaestus stood.
The sound cut through the murmurs instantly.
She looked around the hall, expression flat and visibly tired.
"Enough," she Said.
The word carried.
"This is pointless," Hephaestus continued, arms folding across her chest. "You're all listening to speculation dressed up as concern."
A ripple moved through the room.
Apollo turned toward her, still smiling.
"It's not just speculation," he replied smoothly. "It's concern about a lack of oversight."
"The only thing I see," Hephaestus shot back, "is that oversight exists to keep idiots from getting themselves killed—and to stop people like you from ddling in work you don't understand."
That earned a few sharp looks from several gods. She didn't care.
"Regardless of the weapons or the thod," she continued, "I am the one who decides how this is handled. Not you."
Instead of backing down, Apollo seized the opening.
"Then that suggests you aren't doing your job properly," he said calmly. "A Familia captain is missing. Another was killed. By a gun that didn't exist a month ago."
That drew attention.
"People are dying," Apollo went on. "And we can't even identify the culprit."
He spread his hands.
"I'm not accusing," he said. "I'm just stating the facts."
Hephaestus didn't respond imdiately. She hadn't expected Apollo to have investigated this much.
"Then let give you better facts," she said.
"Nobody here cared about the deaths of two mbers of Soma's Familia before this."
She shifted her stance, no longer speaking to Apollo alone, but to the room.
"Luthar didn't invent violence. People were dying in this city long before he opened his shop."
She let the implication breathe.
"Let be absolutely clear."
Her gaze lifted, hard and unyielding.
"If any god here decides to support this farce—if you move against a creator simply because you don't like how effective their work has beco—then my Familia will cease supplying you."
The room stiffened.
"No contracts. No repairs. No replacents."
A pause.
"And I will encourage every independent smith in this city to consider doing the sa."
Hephaestus's threat echoed through the hall, letting everyone know the consequences of supporting Apollo.
For the first ti since he had begun planning this gathering, Apollo felt sothing twist uncomfortably in his chest.
This was not how he had imagined the Denatus would go. He had expected resistance, even hostility, and had prepared counterargunts, calculated concessions, and anticipated outcos.
What he had not expected was for Hephaestus to draw a line and threaten everyone.
So she was willing to scorch everyone for a single person.
That ant Luthar's value was far higher than he had anticipated.
As he thought this, he let out a slow breath, careful not to let it show.
If he pushed directly against her, most of the gods would support her. So out of principle. Others out of fear.
This wasn't the mont to win.
It was the mont to survive the round.
He inclined his head slightly, acknowledging her words without conceding them.
"If that is your position," Apollo said smoothly, his voice carrying just enough to reclaim the floor, "then it would be inappropriate for to question your handling."
A careful phrasing. Neutral. Polite.
Several gods relaxed, sensing the shift.
"This gathering was never about assigning fault," Apollo continued. "So let us proceed to the main event."
He gestured lightly, palms open.
"Reports. Updates. Formal notices. The usual—titles granted to adventurers, minor disputes acknowledged, problems deferred to committees that would never truly resolve them."
The Denatus moved on.
Alliances were suggested through silence, tested through indifference, and asured by who spoke—and who didn't. Positions were noted, then set aside like pieces on a board, waiting for a mont when moving them would actually matter.
Apollo participated when required. Listened when it benefited him. Spoke only when necessary.
And when it was over, he left with the rest.
Back in his chamber, the door closed softly behind him.
Only then did the smile finally fall.
He sat down, movents controlled to the point of stiffness. His fingers interlaced, tightened, knuckles whitening before he forced them to relax.
Knowing anger would solve nothing, he waited as minutes stretched into hours, remaining seated and still—until the door opened without ceremony.
Ishtar stepped inside, silk brushing the floor, expression relaxed as ever.
Watching her enter the room, he spoke.
"You missed quite a performance," he continued. "Hephaestus wrecked the plan before it could even start."
She took a seat across from him, unbothered.
"Can't be in multiple places at once," she said lightly. "Soone has to keep Freya's children glaring at each other instead of getting comfortable."
Apollo glanced at her. "Did that even work?"
"Of course," Ishtar replied. "You should be thanking . If I hadn't kept Freya busy, Hephaestus wouldn't have been tearing your plan apart."
She smiled.
"It would have been Freya tearing your plan apart—along with you."
She crossed her legs, then added casually,
"And I was also letting people track those weapons."
Apollo's fingers stilled.
"So you're splitting your attention," he said.
"I have to," Ishtar replied. "Since you still haven't understood the situation."
Apollo looked away again, jaw tight.
"I guess we have to start without extra support," he said quietly. "Fast enough that no one has ti to react."
Ishtar's smile didn't fade.
"Then we'd better have enough weapons," she said lightly. "Before Luthar cos back and complicates things."
Apollo's fingers curled once at his side.
"I already do," he replied. "More than enough to start. After that, there will be no stopping."
Ishtar studied him for a mont, then nodded, satisfied.
"No need to stop," she said. "We just need to kill enough. Once we remove Freya, others will naturally stop interfering."
She turned toward the door without another word.
Apollo followed a mont later.
His plan had lost subtlety, but not its efficiency.
Author’s Note : I really hate it when my writing drifts away from what I originally planned. Hephaestus was never supposed to directly interfere with Apollo. The idea was for him to show how dangerous the situation was, then work quietly in the background, using the MC’s weapons to remove people and slowly prove that he was right, while still acting like one of the “good” ones.
But doing it properly would have dragged the arc way too long. So I ended up making him a bit more reckless than intended just to move things forward.
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