— — — — — —
Inside an exquisite palace built of white marble, a tea party was underway.
Scáthach, dressed smartly in a butler's uniform and looking sharp as ever, tucked a thin stack of documents under her arm. After quickly checking her appearance, she stepped into the tea party with light, graceful strides.
Beautiful nature spirits filled the venue. Some carried trays of delicate pastries, others held sweet fruit wine, and still others offered warm towels for wiping hands, all ready to serve the host and honored guests.
Scáthach moved briskly through the spirits, casually took a glass of fruit wine and drank it down, passed the empty glass to another spirit, and then headed straight toward the center.
As she approached the elegant stone table at the center, she slowed her steps. At a respectful distance, she bowed slightly to the goddess seated at the head of the table, a woman with white hair, red eyes, and a gentle smile.
"Lady Hestia, please allow me to report a minor matter to my lord."
Hestia, the oldest goddess among the Twelve Olympians and Zeus's elder sister.
She was the one who had organized this tea party. As a subordinate of one of the invited guests, Scáthach naturally needed to inform this goddess before making her report.
Hearing Scáthach's words, Hestia turned her head, looking mildly surprised. Then she glanced toward the queen seated opposite her and smiled.
"The oracle from the central authority tells me this matter seems to involve my nephews."
She sighed, her tone tinged with helplessness. "Looks like they've caused trouble again."
'So she guessed it already…' Scáthach thought silently.
Anything involving Hestia's nephews and also important enough to catch the queen's attention was obviously not good news. More likely than not, it meant they had offended the queen.
In Little Garden, there weren't many who dared offend Queen Halloween. Zeus certainly wouldn't. Greece certainly wouldn't.
Scáthach felt a quiet sense of pride at that.
While she was thinking, Hestia chuckled and said to the queen, "At this rate, I might end up leaving the Greek pantheon sooner or later."
"That sounds great," Queen Halloween replied with a bright laugh. "You could come over to my side and be a free chief god. No need to deal with Zeus and his lot anymore."
"The Celtic Pantheon I manage is actually short on people. Want to change jobs?"
"Let's not," Hestia said with a wave of her hand, smiling. "Just joking. And even if I really did go over to your side, I doubt I'd escape those troublesome relatives. You know how good they are at stirring up messes."
A joke was answered with a joke, and the topic ended just as lightly.
Seeing this, Queen Halloween didn't dwell on it. She beckoned to Scáthach and took the documents from her.
"Hm?" After skimming the contents, the Queen raised an eyebrow slightly, then smiled and handed the papers to Hestia. "Congratulations. Your nephews have messed up again."
Hestia opened her mouth, took the documents, and read them. After finishing, she pressed her lips together and sighed.
"They barged into the debut battle of Arcadia's new leader and got defeated and captured?"
"This is really…"
She shook her head, half amused and half exasperated, then handed the documents back to Scáthach.
After Scáthach accepted them, Hestia looked at Queen Halloween.
"Do you know this young man named Ryo Yagami?"
"Yes," Queen Halloween replied with a simple nod.
Hestia said nothing more. She turned instead to a spirit serving nearby and spoke softly.
"Go tell Zeus that the Hearth Festival is approaching. I don't want any armed conflict during this time."
"Yes!" The lightly dressed spirit bowed and departed gracefully.
"No one's going to thank you for this," Queen Halloween said with a light laugh.
It was true. Even if Hestia stepped in to mediate, gratitude was the last thing she would receive.
"Ah…" Hestia sighed, sounding tired. "I just hope they can be a bit more sensible."
---
Mount Olympus.
At the palace on the summit, red-haired, blue-eyed Ares and the youthful-looking, blond Hermes stood below, heads lowered.
At the highest point of the hall stood a throne carved from stone, inlaid with gold and jewels. An eagle perched atop it, oak branches winding around its base.
Seated there was a middle-aged man with wavy white hair and eyes as blue as the sky, glaring down at the two with barely contained anger.
Rumble—
Lightning flashed across the sky above Mount Olympus.
The lesser gods and spirits on the mountain hurriedly knelt and prayed, begging Zeus for forgiveness and hoping his wrath would subside.
Hermes lowered his head even further.
Ares turned his face aside, as if about to whistle, then stopped himself, his expression awkward.
"So…" Zeus said coldly, "you lost?"
"And after losing, you need your father to ransom you back?"
"From a Community that's rising to five digits? From a human who just stepped onto the stage?"
Ares thumped his chest and shouted, "Zeus, let's go to war! If I hadn't invoked my divine name and switched places with an incarnation, maybe—"
Boom!
A bolt of lightning flashed from the sky.
Ares opened his mouth, black smoke pouring out. He immediately shut up, lowered his head, and didn't dare meet Zeus's furious gaze.
"War?" Zeus snorted and roared, "The Greek pantheon declaring war on a five-digit Community?"
"Use that brain of yours that only thinks below the waist. Is that something a god would suggest? You may have no shame, but Greece still does!"
"Do we really have shame…" Ares muttered.
The next instant, lightning flashed again. Ares collapsed to the ground, his presence rapidly fading.
Not long after, inside the Temple of the War God, a son of Ares lost his life. Ares opened his eyes once more, muttered something under his breath, and stood silently to the side.
Zeus shot him a cold glance, then turned his gaze to Hermes.
Hermes trembled, opened his mouth, and looked like he wanted to speak but didn't dare.
"Speak," Zeus said, narrowing his eyes.
"Before I acted, I took out your divine decree," Hermes said quietly, then fell silent.
Rumble—
A deep roll of thunder echoed through the sky.
Zeus stared at Hermes, his expression darkening as his anger flared.
"Insolent."
He cursed and reached out, grabbing a pure white bolt of lightning from the void.
His nearly three-meter-tall body rose from the throne, arm drawing back in a throwing stance.
The sign that the Judgment was about to be unleashed.
With Zeus's power, the entire lower layers of Little Garden would fall within his strike range.
Seeing this, Hermes lowered his head, a faint smile appearing on his face.
And then, suddenly, flames burst forth.
Fire flared up in front of Zeus, rapidly expanding into a blazing mass. From within it, a spirit knelt on both knees and respectfully presented a letter.
Zeus dispersed the lightning, took the letter, glanced at it, then folded it back up in silence and returned it.
"Tell her I understand."
The fire spirit nodded respectfully and vanished.
Hermes couldn't help but look up, meeting Zeus's deep, unreadable gaze.
"Go," Zeus said. "Tell Ryo Yagami."
A sense of dread welled up in Hermes's chest.
Moments later, a cold laugh echoed through the hall.
"Tell him to kill the hostages."
.
.
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