"In the Hestia Familia villa, Aston, who had just finished bathing, heard about a conflict with the Apollo Familia. "Hey, are you saying that you had a conflict with people from the Apollo Familia?" Aston asked.
Eina nodded and simply explained, "To be precise, it was the people from the Apollo Familia who came looking for trouble. Last night, a few of our Familia members were beaten up by them."
Hestia, standing with her arms crossed and a furious expression, exclaimed, "What on earth does Apollo want to do!"
Airel, leaning against a nearby wall, added, "It's mostly because Apollo has his eye on someone in our Familia. This is a common tactic of the Apollo Familia."
Eina agLyd, "Yes, I've heard of several such cases where Apollo coveted members of other Familias and resorted to unscrupulous methods to get them, just like what happened yesterday."
As she spoke, everyone's gaze turned to Aston. Among the Hestia Familia, Aston was the only one who had recently gained fame and could be a target of Apollo; the others were relatively unknown.
"Let me go and destroy the Apollo Familia,' suggested Gros, full of anger. They had finally found a peaceful life on the surface, and the Hestia Familia was their sanctuary. He couldn't allow anyone to threaten it.
"Wait, Gros, things are different now. Don't bring your aggressive approach here," Lyd quickly interjected. Orario wasn't like the Dungeon. In the Dungeon, they could retaliate directly and eliminate the enemy without issue. But here, they had to abide by Orario's rules. Gros's strength could single-handedly wipe out the entire Apollo Familia, but it would bring significant trouble to the Hestia Familia.
Lyd then turned to Aston and asked, "Aston-san, how do you think we should deal with the Apollo Familia?'
"For such matters, isn't the answer obvious? Just destroy the Apollo Familia," Aston responded to Lyd's inquiry nonchalantly while drying his hair with a towel.
"That's exactly what we should do, just like Aston-san said!" Gros excitedly agreed with Aston's approach.
"Hey, Gros, what are you excited about? My idea of destruction is not the brute force method you're thinking of," Aston said mockingly, glancing at Gros.
At Aston's words, Gros, the burly man, awkwardly scratched his head, realizing he had misunderstood.
"So, Aston-san, what should we do next?" Gros asked, having calmed down and seeking further guidance from Aston.
"Hestia, let's rent a palace from the Guild and hold a Denatus," Aston suggested, turning to Hestia, who was still visibly upset.
"A Denatus? Weren't we discussing how to deal with the Apollo Familia? Why suddenly bring up hosting a Denatus?" Hestia was clearly taken aback and confused.
"We'll draw the gods here and declare war on the Apollo Familia in front of everyone, initiating a War Game," Aston explained with a slight smile.
At this, Hestia's eyes lit up with realization. "Of course, we can initiate a War Game!"
A War Game involves setting rules for factional combat, where Familia members are used like pieces in a board game. It's a grand battle orchestrated by opposing deities to fulfill their divine will, effectively serving as a proxy war between the gods.
The victorious deity gains control over the life and death of the defeated deity, with the ability to take everything from them and issue any command. Typically, this involves seizing all assets of the defeated faction, including its members.
However, that's in normal circumstances. There are instances where the discord between gods reaches an irreconcilable point, leading to an actual fight to the death. In such cases, the defeated side will be forced by the victor to return to heaven, never to descend again.
Hestia evidently realized this point.
"Aston, you're planning to use the War Game to resolve this conflict, intending to send Apollo back to heaven," Hestia said, her eyes shining brighter as she spoke.
The Hestia Familia, except for the Freya Familia and Loki Familia, is unafraid of anyone else at the moment. If the Apollo Familia knew the true strength of the Hestia Familia, they would never agree to a War Game.
But does the Apollo Familia know the true capabilities of the Hestia Familia? No, they don't. They only know that the Hestia Familia was established just over a month ago, with its first member being a charming individual who rose from Level 1 to Level 2 in just half a month. Beyond that, the Familia is just filled with new adventurers who recently joined, posing no threat to the D-rank Apollo Familia and appearing like easy targets.
In such a scenario, initiating a War Game with the Apollo Familia would corner them into a situation they can't escape. The more Hestia thought about it, the more excited she became.
She had always found Apollo disagreeable, not only because of their past conflicts in heaven but also because of his character, which she found repulsive. To her, Apollo was even more detestable than Dionysus. While Dionysus was odd and not someone she liked to interact with, he was at least a deity she could communicate with. But Apollo was someone she preferred not to talk to unless absolutely necessary.
"Eina, let's go! We're heading to the Guild right now to apply for a convention hall. The Hestia Familia will host a Denatus tomorrow."
"Right away!"
***
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