At that moment, atop the highest floor of a building in Orario, two gods stood in confrontation.
"Ikelos, do you understand what aiding Evilus will ultimately lead to?"
Hermes spoke in a low voice, the weight of his words making it clear this was no trivial matter.
But Ikelos looked utterly indifferent, lying on the ground with a carefree smile.
"Once caught, I'll just be forcibly sent back. That's how the Guild has been handling things lately, isn't it?"
A rare flicker of pity crossed Hermes' gaze as he looked at him. Poor fool—he didn't even realize whose hands he was about to fall into.
"You know that, and you still dare to do it?"
"What's there to be afraid of?"
Ikelos truly didn't care. He had done enough already. If the Guild caught him, he would be banished without question.
In the past, perhaps it might have been mere exile. But now, with Orario's atmosphere of relentless hostility toward Evilus, banishment was the only outcome left for him.
If he was destined for banishment, why bother worrying?
Being sent back to the Tenkai might be the worst torment a god could suffer—it would be painful for him too.
But at most, it would only hurt for a while.
At the very least, before he was made to suffer, he wanted the Guild to taste some suffering too.
"Though, I admit, I slipped up."
For once, his usually amused expression carried a trace of bitterness and resignation.
"I didn't expect the war between the Guild and Evilus to break out so soon, without even a sliver of room to maneuver. Otherwise, my support would've only earned me permanent exile from Orario at most."
To Ikelos, his actions were nothing more than a pursuit of pleasure and amusement. He had never thought they would bring about immediate banishment. After all, in the past, only that Evil God's direct assault on Orario had warranted such a sentence.
As Familia God, he had always been aware of Dix's deeds. But he never interfered, only watched from the sidelines.
As for Dix's dealings with Evilus, Ikelos never got directly involved. He simply stood by, tacitly allowing it all, smiling as though watching a performance.
He had always been careful, keeping his actions just beneath the line that would trigger banishment.
But who could've predicted that the conflict between the Guild and Evilus would erupt so soon, ruining all of his careful plans?
Just then, as he lay on the ground, he noticed the light above him suddenly blotted out by a shadow.
Looking up, he saw a foot.
His gaze flicked higher—and met a pair of blood-red eyes brimming with killing intent.
Loki?
Thud!
His face was stomped down hard, the pain so sharp he could barely keep his eyes open.
"Ikelos, I never knew you could run your mouth like that."
"Hah, and here I thought you were always a coward. Why the sudden bravado now? I almost thought you'd grown a spine—but turns out you've just given up."
Panicking, Ikelos grabbed hold of the foot that was about to stomp his face again.
"Loki, why are you here?"
"What do you think?"
"You… you've gotten yourself mixed up with the Guild?"
His pupils shrank violently. He'd known Loki had been frequenting the Guild lately, but he hadn't realized her ties with them ran so deep.
Hermes being here today was clearly as a representative of the Guild.
But for Loki to appear at this exact moment? That could only mean she had an even tighter connection with them.
Loki grinned. Her teeth gleamed white, but to Ikelos, there was nothing cute about it—in his eyes, it was downright terrifying.
"You guessed right—but a little too late."
Hermes wasn't especially ruffled by Loki's interference; instead, his eyes shifted to Bell standing behind her.
"Bell-kun, why is Loki involved in this?"
"...Hermes-sama, please don't ask me that."
When Bell turned his head away after answering, Hermes understood at once—this was Loki acting on her own.
"So, is the Dungeon side taken care of?"
"Yes. The Xenos are being treated by the Ganesha Familia, and the Ikelos Familia members in the Dungeon have all been wiped out by the Loki Familia."
"As expected of the Loki Familia—their ability to handle matters is truly outstanding."
Hearing that everything in the Dungeon was settled, Hermes gave his praise.
But while commending Loki Familia, he couldn't help but marvel inwardly...
For Loki Familia to finish the extermination mission this quickly, Bell must have made extensive preparations in advance.
That had been Ikelos Familia's base—their traps and hidden passages couldn't be mapped out easily.
For an outsider to break in and so quickly grasp the layout, then coordinate two Familia so cleanly—one to rescue the Xenos, the other to annihilate the Ikelos Familia—would have been impossible without deep knowledge of that hidden space.
Loki and Ganesha's children executed the plan swiftly, but the one who arranged everything was the true key to the operation.
"And here?"
Hermes gestured to the surroundings, but Bell had already prepared his answer.
"Rest assured. To anyone nearby, it looks like only Hermes-sama and Ikelos are speaking. They can't gather any information from here, nor intercept anything Ikelos tries to send out."
A sly glint passed through Hermes's eyes as he glanced at Ikelos, pinned under Loki's foot, his tone edged with mockery.
"So, you were planning to leave intel for those guys? Are you really that close to them? Still trying to help them at the last moment?"
Realizing his little trick had been seen through, Ikelos shot Bell a fierce glare. This child of Genkai was someone he'd never encountered before—yet this "nobody" had still managed to unravel his ploy.
When Ikelos stayed silent, Hermes only chuckled.
"So that's it. Acting on the idea that 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'? Even knowing you'd be banished, you still want to spit in the Guild's face. Ikelos, that won't do at all."
"Che, bitch really can't mind her own business."
Annoyed, Loki drove her foot hard into Ikelos's gut.
Thud!
The blow landed with such force it nearly made his eyes bulge from their sockets.
Watching his sorry state, Loki crouched down and gave his cheek a light pat.
"Don't worry—you won't be banished. But I think you'll soon realize banishment would've been the kinder fate."