Chapter 136: [BONUS] - The War Game Denatus

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An emergency Denatus.

These meetings had become common lately. There were interrogations, the usual three-month gatherings, and now a session to approve a War Game. Almost all of them involved Hestia. She barely had a break.

But this time, Apollo was the one causing trouble.

The other Gods entered with excitement. They were looking forward to a good show, and nothing was better than a close fight.

Hestia and Apollo sat facing each other.

"When I win, those two sisters are mine."

Apollo had his usual confident smile, and for good reason. The rules were strict: only swords and magic, fought in a closed arena, with no modern artillery or heavy weapons allowed. Everything worked in his favor.

"And if we win..." Hestia prompted.

"Then I'll agree to any demand you make." Apollo said.

"DEAL."

This was the second time Apollo had made an open promise like that. It was exactly what Hestia wanted. She smiled to herself. 'If I don't take full advantage, I won't be doing this War Game justice.'

"And the battle format?" She looked toward the scribe representing the Adventurer's Guild.

"As I said, an all-out group battle," Apollo declared.

The Gods saw through his plan. With the rules set, his bigger Familia had the clear advantage. It was a bit unfair, but they were here for entertainment, so they wrote down their battlefield ideas without arguing.

Hermes was asked to draw the lot. As long as there was no big story at stake, he always stayed neutral. He wouldn't cheat in a draw like this.

"You're sure you want me doing this?" he asked with a helpless shrug.

"Even Lord Ouranos trusts you to oversee things. I trust his judgment," Apollo said.

No one disagreed. Everyone remembered that Ouranos had sent Hermes to help the Hestia Familia during the Antares subjugation. Nobody doubted his fairness.

"Draw it."

The theme choices were limited, but Hestia didn't care. Nothing was going to stop August.

"Alright, if you insist."

Hermes picked up the lottery box, shook it, and drew a slip of paper. There were no tricks. When he opened it, his neutral look disappeared.

"It's an urban siege!"

He stared at the slip. Urban combat? Fighting with swords and magic in tight alleys sounded like a nightmare.

"Brilliant, isn't it?" one of the male Gods said, crossing his arms and laughing loudly, clearly pleased with himself.

"Urban warfare?"

Hestia hadn't expected a simple siege. Narrow streets, choke points, and magical defenses made this a real surprise.

"A city brawl comes down to numbers. With heavy artillery banned, that's terrible news for Hestia."

They were right. With only swords and magic allowed in such tight spaces, Apollo Familia's numbers would make a big difference.

"Hahaha! Well done, Hermes. Looks like luck is on my side," Apollo cheered. "This is a sacred draw. Don't go back on your word, Hestia."

He could already imagine winning. In close combat, having more people almost guaranteed victory.

"Hmph," Hestia said nothing. She still had the advantage.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt." Hermes raised his hand, and the Gods turned. "I'm not protesting the result. But if it's an urban siege, we need to define the battlefield's exact boundaries. A few blocks? An entire city? We need hard parameters."

He was right. If they didn't set clear limits, the match could turn into a full-city battle, and the rules would get confusing. The Gods agreed, even the one who suggested the idea. A hundred meters would be a small fight, but a square kilometer would be a real war.

And that was the problem. August was still a rookie, while Apollo Familia was an experienced mid-tier group. If the map was too big, Apollo's numbers would overwhelm him.

"We need to make this fair. If the area is too small, Apollo wins. If it's too big, his numbers win anyway. Why does Apollo get all the advantages?"

The Gods frowned. A one-sided slaughter was boring, and they hadn't gathered for boring.

"Set a clear boundary," Loki called from her seat. Then she turned to the God of Blacksmithing. "Goibniu, this is your area."

The arena had to be the right size to balance both sides, and Goibniu was the best one to design it.

Goibniu thought about it. "I can create a controlled perimeter. But building an urban layout from scratch will need materials..."

He expected to be paid...

"I'll pay for it," Hestia said with a smile. Money wasn't an issue for her anymore. Compared to fixing up a mansion, paying for a temporary battlefield was nothing.

"Wait, Hestia. If you pay for it, it will be built the way you want. I can't let that happen," Apollo interrupted.

Of course he couldn't let that happen. There were lots of abandoned ruins outside the city, but if Goibniu built a custom arena with Hestia's money, he would follow her design. That would ruin Apollo's advantage.

"Then what do you propose?" Hestia glared at him. He refused to pay, but he wanted to keep every advantage.

"We use an abandoned town that's already there. It won't take up much space," Apollo said, his tone serious. "A sacred War Game shouldn't depend on a specially built divine arena. We have to trust the wisdom of the lower world's children."

It was a front, and everyone knew it.

"..."

Takemikazuchi and Miach saw right through him. Towns like that were hard to find. Apollo wouldn't give an inch or spend any money, and he made it sound so noble that no one could object. It was frustrating.

"Fine." Hestia gave up arguing with the miser. Apollo hadn't changed a bit. "We'll pick an abandoned town and use it as the stage."

She could let this go. She would win anyway. The important thing was making sure he couldn't back out later.

Goibniu watched his chance at extra pay disappear and sighed. Still, he nodded. He would handle the site selection using regular Guild funds.

"Then we shall see." Apollo smiled, almost certain he would win. No one would ever call him generous. He was always scheming.

Hestia's lingering annoyance faded.

'Sorry, Apollo. But I'm going to take everything you have.' With his weapons and property off the board, her victory was certain.

—•——•——•——•——•——•—

Just as the Denatus concluded, deep inside the Dungeon, August and the Siren reached the seventeenth floor.

The Siren watched August carve a path through the labyrinth.

"Lord August, you've worked hard."

She had never seen a human fight like this. From the second floor to the seventeenth, he cut down the red-eyed Dungeon monsters without hesitation, breaking creatures she would have struggled with as if they were nothing. Even with all his strength, the monsters kept coming.

"It's fine," August said.

His new anti-adventurer skill made him much stronger against other falna-users, so fighting tougher opponents was easy. It was ironic that this skill was meant for fighting his own kind.

"What I didn't expect was how aggressive this power would make the Dungeon monsters toward me. They used to at least try to run. Now they don't even hesitate."

He picked up the Magic Stones. Instead of running from his attacks, the monsters now rushed at him in waves, as if they had become even more aggressive.

"Is that so?" The Siren didn't fully grasp the mechanics. As an older generation of Xenos, she thought in her own terms.

"Let's go. The eighteenth floor is next. We rested there last time, but today we're searching."

August knew that bringing a Xenos here would draw attention. Fels would come looking for him. He planned to use the Siren to start talks with the Xenos and bring them to the surface.

"Yes." The Siren followed obediently.

—•——•——•——•——•——•—

While August and the Siren made their way to the eighteenth floor, Ouranos's top agent was already there. Fels didn't need to fight his way down. As a Level 4 mage, he could skip the upper floors easily. He arrived early, went to the hidden areas of the twentieth floor, and called Lyd and the other Xenos together to talk.

"Oh, Fels."

The Xenos broke off their sparring to call out greetings as the mage appeared.

They were divided into two groups. The friendly ones wanted to reach the surface and hoped humans would accept them someday. The hostile ones, after suffering at the hands of humans, saw people from the surface as liars and thought they should take territory by force. Even with these differences, both groups lived together peacefully.

Lyd, leader of the friendly faction, stepped forward.

"Lyd. August, Captain of the Hestia Familia, is descending to the eighteenth floor with one of your comrades. It's time to make contact," Fels explained.

"Oh? That Familia?" Lyd's eyes lit up.

He hadn't thought August would really bring their kin back. He figured the man was keeping them as hostages, but now it looked like he wanted to negotiate. Still, Lyd knew August's story. He was from another world, and he didn't think like the humans of Orario. That made it even more important to meet him in person.

"Who's coming with me?" Lyd asked the group.

"I'll go." Ray the Siren stepped forward. She was the calm center of the group.

"Gros. What about you?" Lyd glanced at the gargoyle.

"Hmph. I'm going too."

Gros sneered. He wanted to see what kind of human this really was.

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