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Chapter 122: The Goddess of Beauty Arrives
A Familia's headquarters was their final fortress, housing their wealth, equipment, records, and all their core secrets. Hosting a banquet there meant inviting a chaotic crowd; if someone with ulterior motives managed to scout out their defenses, the losses would be catastrophic.
"There sure are a lot of gods here today. It must be because this banquet is a bit special," Hephaestus remarked, swirling her wine as she scanned the room. She spotted several divine faces she hadn't seen at previous gatherings.
"Yeah, Apollo really knows how to come up with a gimmick." Miach had to admit that Apollo's mandate for the gods to bring their children made this banquet unprecedentedly lively.
"Say, Aiden my boy, how much do you know about Apollo?"
Hermes, who had just peeled himself off the floor and dusted off his clothes, sidled up to Aiden with a wicked smirk. He threw an arm around Aiden's shoulders with practiced familiarity, acting like they were lifelong blood brothers.
"I've heard a few things," Aiden replied flatly, casually swirling the blood-red liquid in his glass.
"Hehe, good to know." Hermes grinned like a fox that had just raided a henhouse. "That guy might not be an adventurer, but us gods gave him an alias anyway. We call him 'Tragic Love'."
He paused dramatically before continuing in a drawn-out, highly suggestive tone. "He's constantly drowning in romantic scandals. The guy is an ultimate love-struck fool and the undisputed king of players. And he swings both ways, by the way. The worst part is, once he locks onto a target, he's clingier than superglue. He'll stalk you relentlessly and absolutely will not stop until he gets his hands on you."
Aiden was just about to respond when a highly unusual commotion erupted near the entrance of the hall.
"Oho... a big shot has arrived." Hermes stared toward the source of the noise, his voice brimming with the excitement of someone who thrived on drama.
Aiden followed his gaze to the far end of the crowd—and instantly understood the cause of the uproar.
Like Moses parting the Red Sea, the dense crowd instinctively stepped back, carving out a wide, unobstructed path. Every single pair of eyes, mortal and divine, male and female, was drawn to the same focal point like iron filings to a magnet.
It was a silver-haired goddess, escorted by a massive, imposing Boarman.
"That's the Goddess Freya. You've heard of the Freya Familia, right, Aiden?" Hermes whispered in his ear, a teasing lilt in his voice.
"Of course. The strongest in the city. It'd be weirder if I hadn't." Aiden nodded. He had done more than just hear about them. He had already clashed with the goddess's golden boy, and had even interacted with the goddess herself up close—though, of course, that was when she was hiding her identity as Syr, the waitress at the Hostess of Fertility.
The Freya Familia. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Loki Familia, they ruled the absolute pinnacle of Orario, reigning as the undisputed 'Two Kings' of the labyrinth city. Even the greenest rookies had heard the terrifying tales of their martial prowess and unmatched reputation.
The moment Goddess Freya made her entrance, the atmosphere in the hall boiled over.
She was simply that breathtaking.
With silver hair and eyes as luminous as moonlight, every contour of her face looked as though it had been meticulously sculpted by the finest divine craftsmen. The luxurious gown she wore draped over her like celestial raiment, perfectly hugging her ample curves and slender waist, radiating an intoxicating, ultimate expression of feminine allure.
Even a casual glance or a slight wave of her hand was enough to capture the hearts of nearly every male in the room. An invisible, sweet, and mesmerizing wave of Charm swept through the banquet hall like a tidal wave.
Yet, this peerlessly beautiful goddess—a literal walking aphrodisiac—couldn't draw a single ounce of Aiden's attention.
This wasn't just because his broken [Descender] skill granted him supreme anomaly resistance, rendering him completely immune to mental Charm. It was mostly because he fundamentally had zero interest in the "Goddess of Beauty" archetype.
Her looks are definitely God-tier, an easy S++ class presence, Aiden evaluated objectively in his head, but that was where it ended.
In his eyes, all the beauty in the world couldn't overwrite the reality of her chaotic private life. Back in Heaven, this goddess of beauty had lived a life of total depravity and luxury. Her romantic scandals could wrap around the divine realm three times over. She was Heaven's number one player, eating anything and everything without a shred of discrimination.
That kind of woman was absolutely not Aiden's type.
Even if he had a slight weakness for goddesses, he vastly preferred his own Focalors, or someone aloof and pure like Artemis, one of the three virgin goddesses. Freya offered a love so suffocatingly heavy it could crush a soul; he was more than happy to let that future white rabbit deal with it.
He had exactly zero interest in trying to put a lock on the town bicycle.
Naturally, he kept these highly disrespectful thoughts strictly to himself. If they ever leaked out, Freya's fanatical followers wouldn't be the only ones to tear him to shreds—her army of divine simps would gladly join in.
His gaze swept right past Freya without lingering for a second, treating her like just another face in the crowd.
Goddesses of Beauty. Whether it was the gods of Heaven or the mortals of the lower world, no one could escape the influence of their Charm. They were transcendent beings, the very incarnation of aesthetics.
Aside from Aiden, nearly every Familia member in the hall stood with their mouths slightly agape, completely entranced by Freya. The power didn't discriminate by gender. Some people stood frozen in place, their eyes glassy and hollow, looking as though their very souls had been sucked away.
Aiden's immediate vicinity was a designated disaster zone.
Naaza was vigorously shaking her head, muttering, "No, no, I can't hold on," as if trying to physically exorcise the Charm from her brain. Mikoto was flushed bright red, letting out quiet, nonsensical whimpers as she swayed on her feet. The usually intellectual Asfi had instantly snapped her head away, staring intently at the floorboards as if they held the secrets of the universe.
Even the gods, Miach and Takemikazuchi, had unnatural blushes spreading across their cheeks. They were relying entirely on their immense willpower to force their eyes away.
The only ones in the immediate area who remained completely composed were Focalors and Hephaestus, both goddesses themselves.
"Huh?"
Catching sight of Aiden's incredibly placid expression—the guy was literally just sipping his wine—Hephaestus blinked in surprise.
He isn't Charmed? That was absolute, irresistible allure that even women like Mikoto and Naaza couldn't fend off. What was going on with this kid?
Hermes sharply picked up on the anomaly as well. A brilliant light flashed in his eyes, and his gaze toward Aiden grew significantly more intrigued.
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