"Well, well. If it isn't our esteemed investor. Welcome to our humble establishment... is what I'd like to say, but you really make things difficult when you just drop by without warning, Ishtar."
They stood inside a large hall. All sorts of sinister-looking weapons lined the corners, while numerous robed figures moved constantly through the entrance, carrying various objects in and out.
If one looked closely beneath their hoods, they would notice the same emotion burning in every pair of eyes.
Fanatic devotion.
Each person moved with the solemnity of a pilgrim visiting holy ground.
The scene looked almost exactly like some secret ceremony being conducted by a fanatical cult.
"I heard from my children that your Familia and Kali Familia got completely thrashed by Loki's kids not long ago. Why did you even bother provoking that bunch of lunatics?"
There were almost no Magic Stone lamps inside the hall, leaving the room steeped in darkness. Only a faint blue glow illuminated the two people speaking.
The man had long hair that could easily be mistaken for a woman's, while his features seemed almost carved from the surrounding darkness. His entire presence radiated a gloomy, listless air.
"Hmph. Blame that idiot Kali. She became obsessed with those Amazon twins in Loki Familia and insisted on dragging them back to her country."
The woman he called Ishtar wore a revealing outfit that left much of her wheat-colored skin exposed. Beautiful black braids cascaded down her back, while gold and silver ornaments covered her body from head to toe.
At a glance, only one word came to mind.
Queen.
She held a smoking pipe in one hand and took deep drags from it, clearly using the smoke to vent her frustration.
Yet even though such behavior would normally seem crude, not a single person in the hall complained or dared criticize her for filling an enclosed room with smoke.
There was only one reason.
Ishtar was simply too [Beautiful].
Words like naturally gorgeous or devastatingly attractive were nowhere near enough to describe her.
Anyone who laid eyes on Ishtar, man or woman, would likely spend the night unable to sleep.
With nothing more than a curl of her finger, she could probably persuade countless people enthralled by her beauty to risk their lives for her.
In the enormous hall, the only person apparently unaffected was the man standing across from her.
"Seriously, do you really have to keep picking fights with Freya? As long as that Boaz is around, there's no way you can win."
Instead of calming Ishtar down, his attempt at persuasion immediately ignited her temper.
The moment Freya's name entered the conversation, Ishtar's beautiful features twisted before settling into a fierce smile.
"Why do you think I've poured so much money into you people over the last five years?"
Ishtar removed the pipe from her lips and deliberately exhaled smoke directly into the gloomy man's face.
"Ever since Evilus was founded, you've spent your time filling Orario with screams and death. It's about time you showed me what all that investment bought me."
Her smile sharpened.
"God of Death, Thanatos."
"Hey, hey. Don't make it sound so ugly."
Thanatos took the smoke directly in the face without caring in the slightest.
"I'm loving the children of the Lower World in my own way, you know."
He grinned as he spoke words completely incompatible with the values of ordinary mortals.
Had a proud elf been standing nearby, they probably would have pointed at his face and called him insane.
How could anyone possibly describe [Death] as a form of love?
Yet there was not the slightest trace of insincerity in Thanatos's expression.
Only a completely genuine smile.
He was not lying.
To Thanatos, loving someone meant allowing them to die.
Even killing children against their desperate wishes was simply another way for him to express that love.
Concepts like good and evil did not truly exist within him.
Just as Freya and Ishtar embodied [Beauty], Thanatos's very nature was [Death] itself.
"I didn't come all the way here to listen to the same nonsense I already got tired of hearing in Heaven."
Ishtar frowned impatiently.
"How is the thing I asked for coming along?"
She certainly had not left the Entertainment District and traveled all the way to this gloomy place just to hear Thanatos repeat views that even other gods considered unusual.
"Hm?"
Thanatos caught something in her tone and raised an eyebrow.
"You're planning to move against Freya already?"
"I'm running out of time."
Ishtar's expression darkened.
"You remember the earthquake that shook Orario two weeks ago? It came from that woman's headquarters."
"I have a feeling she's been doing something behind everyone's backs. If she suddenly manages to acquire some top-level combat power from somewhere, things are going to become troublesome."
Then, as though remembering something, the impatience on Ishtar's face faded and was replaced by a confident smile.
"Besides, I already tested my trump card against Loki Familia."
"This time, I'll drag that woman straight into the abyss."
Thanatos immediately picked out what he considered the most important part of that statement.
His voice rose in genuine shock.
"You've actually become perverted enough to have people secretly watch Freya's headquarters every single day?!"
"..."
Predictably, Thanatos was beaten.
The smoking pipe that usually served as little more than one of Ishtar's decorations suddenly seemed to come alive, giving Thanatos a thorough lesson in what a goddess's wrath felt like.
"Ugh... The truth is, that thing is still a little unstable."
Now covered in bruises, Thanatos lay sprawled on the floor and spoke evasively.
"If you want to actually use it properly, we'll still need some more time."
He was feeling rather guilty.
Even Evilus needed money to survive.
A small portion of their funding came from smuggling and selling monsters, but for the last five years, the overwhelming majority of their resources had been provided by Ishtar.
And as the ruler of the entire Entertainment District, Ishtar had been extremely generous.
Whatever they asked for, she usually provided.
In other words, the goddess standing in front of him was their biggest financial backer.
Why did anyone think Thanatos had taken that beating without fighting back?
Did they honestly believe a god had no pride?
Of course not.
She simply paid far too well.
And now, the one request made by their angel investor was something Evilus still had not managed to complete.
If Ishtar lost patience, who knew what she might do?
Thinking quickly, Thanatos immediately slapped his chest and added,
"But if we remove the requirement that it has to obey orders, then it should be ready for immediate deployment!"
"...The night of the full moon."
Ishtar's mouth twitched as she stared down at the thoroughly unreliable god.
"That's when I'll make my move against that woman's Familia."
"Before the battle begins, I want to personally confirm what that thing is capable of."
She narrowed her eyes.
"So I'm giving you three more days."
If the thing she wanted still was not finished by then, Thanatos would have no right to complain about what came next.
The goddess who governed [Beauty] seemed to imagine something particularly unpleasant.
A brutal smile, completely at odds with her Authority, slowly appeared across Ishtar's beautiful face.
…