Their carriage reached the venue shortly, stopping right at the gates of Apollo Manor.
Many carriages were parked nearby, they were a bit late to the party... it seemed.
Bell walked out of the carriage first, then helped Goddess Astraea down with care. Goddess Hestia followed by jumping straight at him from above.
He had superb reflexes and caught her with his free hand; otherwise, she would've face-planted straight onto the tiled floor beneath them.
"Why do you keep jumping around, Goddess Hestia? Aren't you scared of hurting yourself?" His voice was slightly exasperated as he set her down gently, making sure her heels didn't break accidentally.
"Won't my Bell catch me before I fall?" She spoke without doubt, adjusting her dress mid-talk.
I appreciate the trust... But Goddess Hestia, everything has a time and place, and this ain't it, chief.
Bell grumbled inwardly while looking back at Goddess Astraea's expression. She had a gentle smile on her face as she spoke.
"You'll catch her before she falls, right?" Her voice was composed... but every instinct inside his gut screamed bloody murder.
The only thing he could do was nod mechanically while taking both of them deeper inside the venue.
They were welcomed inside by people of the Apollo Familia and guided to the banquet location personally.
Bell walked hand in hand with Goddess Astraea and Hestia as they finally walked inside a large banquet hall.
Countless famous adventurers and gods were socialising inside. Their entrance created quite a stir because Goddess Astraea and Hestia were famous as is, along with both being Virgin Goddesses coming in with a male.
Goddess Astraea and Hestia let go of his hand and walked towards a group of gossipy Goddesses heading towards them.
Bell, meanwhile, took in the whole banquet and felt countless gazes on him. Some from jealous gods, some from curious Goddesses, and some from certain familiar people.
For all of them... Bell put on his most charming smile and walked forward, his steps echoing across the area as he promptly ignored them, his gaze resting on the lavish spread ahead of him in craving.
As for greeting other women or Goddesses?
Please... he didn't have a death wish. Just earlier today, Goddess Astraea had warned she'd cut it off if he dared to play around with other women.
Though he was sure she wouldn't destroy her own future happiness, who knew? It was better to be safe than sorry.
Bell concluded as he started to taste a mouthful each of different delicacies spread over the large table.
Mid-feast... his gaze landed on Ais Wallenstein for a moment. She wore an open-cleavage long dress in light green, which emphasized her athletic and curvaceous figure. Her light blonde hair was done in an elaborate hairstyle with a dark pink bow. An emerald necklace connected to a dark green choker accompanied her look. Dark green gloves reached above her elbows.
She looked like royalty from a kingdom. For a moment, he even mistook her for Artoria Pendragon.
Only her glowing golden eyes differentiated her from Artoria.
Bell acknowledged her with a nod and pulled his gaze back, not wanting to portray himself as rude by blatantly staring.
The next person his gaze landed on was Goddess Hephaestus and her Familia captain, Tsubaki.
His eyes passed over them and landed on Ouka standing at a corner, talking with other adventurers similar to him.
Bell swept his gaze over the whole gathering.
Apollo. Hyakinthos Clio. Daphne Lauros. Cassandra Ilion.
Loki. Ais Wallenstein.
Hephaestus. Tsubaki Collbrande.
Ishtar. Aisha Belka.
Artemis. Rethusa.
Ganesha. Shakti Verma.
Takemikazuchi. Kashima Ouka.
Miach. Naaza Erisuis.
Hermes. Asfi Al Andromeda.
And finally, his gaze landed on...
Freya. Ottar. Allen Formel.
Freya was looking at him with the same infatuated expression as always.
Damn! You really won't give up, huh?
Freya was like the dirt stuck under his boot, which kept sticking to him stubbornly.
His gaze moved from her to land on Allen Formel. That cat person was looking at him like he'd committed a capital crime and had to be put on a guillotine.
He ignored him and looked at Ottar standing at the other side of the banquet. Their stares collided in midair.
He still remembered the image of Ryuu being impaled by that boar's sword.
Just like him, Ottar still remembered the feeling of having his ass impaled by an arrow.
Both of them were like white phosphorus and oxygen; the moment they met, a blast was inevitable.
Ottar started to walk towards Bell from his corner. People made way for the strongest adventurer with reverent fear.
Bell rolled up his sleeves and took a step towards him.
[Ittou Shura] reverberated to life at his first step.
A familiar tidal pressure assailed him.
Yet... this time.
Clunk
It couldn't stop him.
[Instinct] stirred awake at his second step. Countless golden paths unfolded within his pupils.
The pressure weighing on him climbed upwards without end.
How could it?
Clunk
Stop him.
[Ittou Rasetsu] arose with feral intensity at his third step.
Level 3— Level 4— Low Level 4— Mid Level 4.
Ottar unsheathed his giant sword. [Vana Arganture] activated. Boar ears appeared above his head.
The pressure Ottar released skyrocketed even further.
However...
Clunk
He... would not stop.
[Gusgam] exceeded limits. A compressed elliptical ring of flames loomed into existence above him.
The pressure assaulting him multiplied exponentially as...
Allen Formel started to walk towards him from the right.
A Level 6, along with a Level 7.
Vs
A lone Level 2 Bell.
But...
Who said he was alone?
Bell smiled, his smile turning wild in an instant.
Clunk
His steps did not stop.
His reservations melted away as carefree words rumbled out of his mouth.
"With this treasure, I summon..."
The instinct of every adventurer present went haywire. Warning bells blared in their minds.
Bell extended both arms forward at a slight upward angle, fists clenched tight.
"Eight-Handled Sword Divergen—"
His chant was forcefully stopped as... At some point, Goddess Astraea had hugged him tightly from the right.
His left shoulder was being hugged firmly by Ais, stopping his movements.
Goddess Hestia was holding onto his left leg, forcing his steps to stop.
Goddess Artemis was hugging him from behind, preventing him from physically moving forward.
He looked ahead at Ottar.
The boaz was being held back by Goddess Freya, meanwhile... Tsubaki, Aisha, and Shakti surrounded him from all sides.
Simultaneously,
Allen Formel was surrounded by God Apollo, Ganesha, Takemikazuchi, and Miach... preventing his movement as he would need to attack a god to keep moving.
The cat person especially backed down when he saw Goddess Freya stopping Ottar frantically.
Bell's focus snapped back as Goddess Astraea spoke.
"Not right now, Bell. This is an official banquet, we can't crash it without offending everyone here." She spoke, her words acting as a voice of reason.
"Don't... He's not worth it." Ais continued where Astraea left off, her blank voice filled with a hint of imperceptible worry.
"Calm, Bell... You're better than this." Goddess Artemis spoke while tightening her hold over him in reassurance.
"Bell... You can't crash the banquet yet. I haven't even shown off in front of Loki till now. Don't fight... for me, pretty please?" Goddess Hestia spoke while rubbing her cheek against his leg affectionately.
Bell heard all of their voices in silence and... relaxed his stiff muscles imperceptibly. His guard was still raised for any surprise or sneak attacks though.
He watched as Ottar started to walk back with Goddess Freya and spoke.
"Hey, Ottar..."
The barely relaxed atmosphere froze once again.
Bell didn't give a single fuck and continued.
"I heard you went to the Dea Saint to get your buttocks treated? Hope you're not having any problems with sitting—you know—since you've been standing since the start of the banquet."
Ottar nearly slipped while walking away, clutching his buttocks unconsciously.
Pin-drop silence descended as people started to look at Ottar with new eyes.
The boaz's steps quickened as he scrambled along with Goddess Freya and Allen in tow.
The whole banquet erupted into a mad laughter after he was gone.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA..."
...
..
.
***
[300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[8 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
...
[Author's Thoughts]
How fun would it be? Divine General vs whole Orario?
It'll surely be a blast.
...
Come on bros, it wouldn't be a fun chapter if Ottar didn't socially die.