The next day, the Denatus convened once again, and this time the subject was Ikelos's death.
Because the matter was so serious, even gods who rarely attended showed up.
By the appointed hour, the tiered seats were already filled with Orario's deities.
As the presiding god for this session, Loki stood at the front.
"Alright, I'm presiding today. Quiet down."
"???"
Seeing Loki in a red ceremonial gown standing at the podium, many gods looked confused.
A few curious ones spoke up:
"Loki, why are you the one presiding today?"
In response, Loki only rolled her eyes with open disdain.
"Are you idiots? With Ikelos's situation today, do you really think the Guild would dare ask Ganesha to preside? If he did, wouldn't you lot just pin the blame on him?"
That made many of the nosy gods grin awkwardly.
Truth be told, if the Guild had really done that, they might have tried it.
That loudmouth Ganesha caused enough antics at Denatus meetings as it was. If given the chance, they'd definitely love to see him embarrassed.
But if Loki was the one presiding, none of them dared to stir trouble.
As for messing with Loki... well, those who had tried in the past never met a good end. The gods who'd been on the receiving end remembered that all too well.
Seeing them fall silent, Loki let out a small huff through her nose and went straight to the point.
"Alright, we'll begin with the report on Ikelos's death."
"I received word from the Guild last night. Ikelos wasn't sent back to the Tenkai—he was killed."
"!?"
That single sentence instantly set the room abuzz.
Teasing Ikelos had been one thing, but him actually being dead was another matter entirely.
"Loki, are you sure? Ikelos was murdered?"
"Could it really have been Hermes? Because of some grudge between them?"
"...Hey, hey! Cut the chatter for a moment!"
Hearing the noisy speculation from below, Loki only needed to catch a few words before realizing how far off they were. She had to set these idiots straight.
"Speculating whether Hermes did it is fine, but have you forgotten? Gods can't kill other gods."
At that, the chatter died instantly, and awkward looks spread across the faces of the gathered deities.
Right. Based on timing, Hermes looked suspicious—but in truth, as a god, he was the least likely.
Loki shook her head in exasperation. She knew they were only here to gossip.
"Don't just dump everything on Hermes without thinking. This is far more serious than you realize."
Her voice grew sharper, urging the assembly to take things seriously.
"Whether Ikelos is dead or not isn't what matters most. What matters is how he died."
At those words, the atmosphere shifted, and the gods' expressions grew solemn.
They all understood the weight of what Loki was saying.
The key wasn't simply that Ikelos was dead—it was, as Loki made clear, the question of how he had been killed.
"As gods, we possess a self-imposed seal. If our lives are ever in danger, or if we unleash our sealed divine power, we are forcibly returned to Tenkai. Even without a threat to our lives, simply releasing our power is enough to trigger banishment.
Ikelos also had this safeguard, yet he still died.
That's the first problem.
Why couldn't he even release his divine power? If he could, he wouldn't have been killed—he would've been forced back to the Tenkai."
The gathered gods pondered this and nodded in agreement.
Suddenly, one male god stood up.
"Could it be... our divine seals were tampered with?"
"For real!?"
The suggestion immediately stirred the assembly.
This was no trivial matter. If their self-seals had been altered, then as long as someone could tamper with them, none of the gods' lives would be secure.
Loki glanced at the god who had spoken—Dionysus—before voicing her own thoughts.
"My first thought was the same as yours. If a god's self-seal was altered, then they'd lose the ability to consciously unleash their divine power, which means they couldn't be banished to the Tenkai.
But that raises another problem."
Dionysus furrowed his brow, catching Loki's implication, and continued her thought.
"A god cannot kill another god."
"Exactly."
Loki snapped her fingers.
"No matter how ruthless we are, we can't kill one another."
"The Guild... Ouranos is a god too. He's bound by the same restriction. That's why I initially suspected the Guild might be behind it. But considering gods can't kill each other, I don't believe it was their doing."
Dionysus frowned and thought it over before nodding.
"You're right. The Guild may have the power to alter our self-seals, but they'd have no reason to do something so pointless.
For us gods, banishment is far easier than killing. In fact, whether such a method even exists is doubtful."
From a cost-benefit standpoint, the chances of the Guild doing this were vanishingly low, bordering on impossible.
Dionysus still suspected the Guild, but he knew that while they might orchestrate a god's banishment, killing one outright was unrealistic.
"Loki, I have a question."
"What is it?"
"Is Ikelos really dead?"
All eyes in the room turned to Loki, their curiosity sharp.
"Better to show you."
Loki didn't answer directly. She knew unless these fools saw it for themselves, they'd never accept it.
"Ganesha, have your children bring in Ikelos's body."
Soon, Ganesha's Familia members, already waiting outside, carried in a corpse.
The body was bound to a cross. Its features were intact, but a massive gash split open its chest where the heart should be.
And the identity of the corpse? Every god present recognized it instantly.
It was Ikelos.
...
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