Bell walked back from Knossos with Ishtar trailing behind, consciously maintaining a considerable distance from him. He didn't care. His mind was fixated on the intel Barca had coughed up.
Countless disjointed points snapped into place, their connections suddenly clear.
Evilus was planning something significant deep inside the Dungeon—apparently to trap one of Orario's two top Familias.
As for which one? Barca hadn't known. Yet, based on his deductions, the likelihood of it being the Freya Familia was high.
Why?
Because just a week ago, Freya had taken the lead, rallying every Familia in Orario to conduct a witch hunt of unprecedented scale. Ishtar had even informed him that Orario hadn't seen such a crackdown on Evilus since the Dark Era.
In truth, knowing Evilus... these mad dogs had both the Loki and Freya Familias in their crosshairs. They wouldn't hesitate to tear into either if given a chance.
But the most critical factor was the timing.
Why target Freya's Familia now? Right after he had decimated Hermes' Familia?
Evilus certainly couldn't compare to that mad Goddess's Familia in terms of strength, so eliminating them was out of the question.
Bell's steps fell into an eerie rhythm even as his mind raced. The path surrounding them narrowed further.
If not elimination, then... holding them down in the Dungeon?
Once again... why? To weaken Orario? No. To hunt Freya down? Possible.
Bell reached the vault's exit and walked out, ignoring Ishtar behind him.
Or is it something else entirely?
His steps carried him through countless Amazons and other women, leaving the Belit Babili far behind.
He was deep in thought when his ears perked up suddenly—at a casual conversation between two women.
"Hey... Layla. I heard the Rakia invasion is happening soon?" A scantily clad Amazon with underwhelming specs asked, a hint of worry in her voice.
"Ah! Yes... It's that time of year already. I nearly forgot." Another Amazon, this one built like a fortress, placed her hands behind her head in a casual motion.
"Layla... aren't you worried about a potential war?" Underwhelming specs asked, her brows furrowed.
"Girl... you're new to Orario, that's why you're scared. Look around, does anyone look panicked?" Layla gestured to the surrounding Amazons, who were eyeing other adventurers like starved wolves watching a stray lamb.
"That's what worries me, Layla. Has everyone gone mad? We're about to go to war, for heaven's sake!" Underwhelming specs dragged her hands through her hair, like she was the only sane person surrounded by lunatics.
"Sigh... No brains, no build. Truly pitiful." Layla glanced at her and shook her head.
"Bitch! What is that supposed to mean!?" Underwhelming specs jumped up as if a lifelong wound had been brutally reopened.
Bell tuned out their conversation from there.
The final puzzle piece clicked into place in his mind.
Rakia invasion? Ares? That dumb oaf?
Evilus holding Freya back... Something else holding Loki back.
So Hermes and Ouranos are playing at it from this angle, huh?
Bell finally understood the bigger picture—or rather, the general direction in which these gods wanted to lead him.
War was... coming.
...
..
.
A man with orange hair and red eyes, clad in crimson armour, sat among a contingent of soldiers.
It was the God... Ares.
"Hahaha... Marius, do you know what happened after that!?" Ares asked, patting the back of another man with honey-blonde hair.
Marius Victrix Rakia. Crown Prince of Rakia.
A goofy smile stretched across Ares' face as he continued to slap Marius on the back.
"Please enlighten me." Marius clenched his teeth, feeling a little annoyed at his god's antics.
"I knew you were listening with focus even while acting like it didn't interest you." Ares stopped patting his back and wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
The soldiers beside them offered Marius pitying looks before pointedly looking away.
"So... I went there, no armour, no sword. Even without them, I saved a beautiful far-eastern woman who fell in love with me and went, 'Ares-sama, I can't live without youu~'."
Marius clenched his fist beneath the table, wishing he could bash Ares' smug face in.
Ares seemed utterly oblivious. He continued to drone on about his adventures from eras past.
"Then... I wrestled with an orc, defeating it in—" He suddenly went silent.
Marius and the surrounding soldiers snapped their gazes toward him. One soldier rubbed his eyes, another pinched his own knee, Marius even patted his cheek.
A single question echoed through every mind.
Ares went quiet? In the name of Rakia! Is someone impersonating him!?
The god of war had fallen silent mid-sentence. His eyes flashed with something unreadable before his goofy smile stretched even wider.
"Marius. Everyone else. I'll be back in a moment. I was just reminded that I forgot about that bottle of mermaid blood I told you all about, remember?" Ares said.
Marius and the others nodded unconsciously.
"If I don't show it off to my own Familia... Won't my prestige as a god take a hit?"
Everyone felt their faces twitch. Yes... this was the Ares they knew.
Ares got up from the table and walked away from his soldiers, his steps a little hurried, nearly making him slip on his way.
The other soldiers snickered behind his back.
One of them wore a slightly confused expression as he whispered to the soldier beside him.
"Hey, why is god Ares going in the opposite direction of his tent?"
The other soldier glanced over and replied.
"It's our god Ares, what do you expect? He'll probably reach his tent in an hour or two."
...
..
.
Ares walked toward an abandoned area, his steps as clumsy as usual.
However...
When no one else was nearby, he kept walking.
His uneven breathing synchronised in a second.
His earlier footfalls had left marks in the soil. Now they grew fainter, vanishing entirely within seconds.
Within six seconds... every micro-twitch of his muscles moved like a well-calibrated machine.
His goofy smile dissolved into an impassive mask.
He stopped in a secluded clearing, his hand rising at a precise ninety-degree angle.
An eagle shrieked from above, descending to perch on his arm.
Ares' other hand came up, untying a note bound to the eagle's leg.
It flew away with a sharp cry.
He didn't watch it go. Instead, he unrolled the note.
Time has come, Ares.
- Ouranos.
His impassive expression twitched slightly upward.
That note crumpled in his grip.
He turned on his heel. With a deliberate thought, his even breathing fractured into loud, uneven pants.
His perfectly timed footsteps shifted into a heavy, clumsy pace.
The rigid tension in his shoulders melted into a slouch.
Ares shuffled back, a goofy smile plastered back onto his face.
His voice thundered across his encampment after he reached it and planted himself at its centre.
"Let's go everyone! Onward toward another conquest! Onward toward Orario!"
Countless soldiers rose. Armour clanked against the ground.
Behind Ares' encampment stretched more camps—hundreds of them.
Approximately 100,000 soldiers in total.
Cavalry. Knights. Scouts. Level 1 adventurers. Level 2 adventurers. Level 3 adventurers.
"Glory to Rakia!"
Clang.
A soldier banged his spear on the floor.
Others followed.
"Glory to Rakia!" "Glory to Rakia!" "Glory to Rakia!"
Clang. Clang. Clang.
The ground quaked. Trees shook, animals fled, ripples spread to a nearby river.
Voices layered over one another, shaking the very air.
"Glory to Rakia!" "Glory to Rakia!" "Glory to Rakia!"
Beneath that symphony... was Ares' goofy laugh.
"Hahahahaha!"
...
..
.
***
[300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[8 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
...
[Authors Thoughts]
Another day, another chapter. Here ya go.
A good day to you all.
...
Alright everyone. We've reached 40 chapters on my other story. I won't say much, but if you're a fan of action and high stakes fights then you'll have a blast reading it. The action I've written there, you'll seldom find anywhere else. Honestly, I've burned so many brain cells in those fights that just thinking about it leaves me light headed XD.