Alex sat on the couch, deep in thought about how well the villains had played their cards. The atmosphere in the room, already tense, grew even more oppressive. Alex realized that the group of failures was now aiming to infect not just one monster but the entire dungeon, causing chaos on a massive scale. His thoughts were dark, and he struggled to resist the urge to smoke, but Hestia had strictly forbidden smoking in the house.
Alex sighed again and looked around at the people in the room, who were watching him warily. But one gaze stood out among the rest. Hermes' eyes were full of interest—he clearly wanted to know all the details of what was happening. Hestia, noticing that Alex was deep in thought, tried to calm him down.
"Alex, the girls will be fine. You said yourself that you trained them well," Hestia said, taking his hand.
"I'm not worried about them. I'm worried about Bell. She only trained under me for a week," Alex replied with a wry smile, looking at her.
"She'll be fine too. Knowing your paranoia, I'm sure you armed her to the teeth," Hestia reassured him, recalling how Alex had prepared her for self-defense.
"Ugh... But I have to give credit to those idiots. They made a very smart move. I didn't expect them to go this far," Alex admitted, starting to reach for a cigarette.
"I told you, not in the house," Hestia sternly reminded him, slapping his hand. Alex grimaced and thought about going to the workshop, the only place in the house where he was allowed to smoke.
"What will you do now?" Hephaestus asked, sitting down next to Alex and taking his hand. Everyone in the room was shocked at how these two goddesses treated him. A sly smile flickered across Hermes' face, but it quickly disappeared when Hestia shot him a look, as if ready to punish him for it.
"We're waiting for Freya and Loki. I'll explain what to do, and then I'll head to the dungeon to pull the girls out and check on that wall that appeared," Alex replied, squeezing Hephaestus' hand.
"Alex, who are these girls?" Hestia finally noticed the Amazons that Alex had brought. The whole room suddenly turned their attention to the three newcomers, whom no one had noticed before.
"This is Aisha and her friends. They took care of Haruhime when she was with Ishtar. We made a deal, and in exchange for my help, they managed to escape," Alex explained, introducing the girls.
"Aisha, you don't have to stand here. You can go to Haruhime's room and talk to her," Alex suggested, and Aisha and her friends nodded and went off to catch up with Haruhime, eager to find out how she had been doing since leaving the Ishtar Familia.
While Alex was talking with the goddesses, the others in the room watched their conversation with interest, eager to learn more. But not everyone was equally curious. One girl with turquoise hair and blue eyes clearly didn't want to stay here. All she could think about was getting her god out of there before he said something that would anger Alex, who she thought was already on the edge. This girl was named Asfi, and she was a member of Hermes' Familia, effectively serving as his babysitter, given all his troubles. However, Hermes paid no attention to Asfi's irritation; his only interest was in finding out more about the mysterious Alex and the group of failures who had somehow harmed the Hestia Familia. He could hardly sit still in his eagerness.
"Sorry to interrupt your romantic moment, but could you tell us who these failures are?" Hermes suddenly asked, drawing the attention of the entire group.
"Are you serious right now?" Alex gave him a blank stare, while Hermes merely smiled.
"Well, you're speaking in riddles and not sharing information with the others," Hermes replied casually, ignoring Alex's irritation.
"Has anyone ever told you that it's not a good idea to stick your nose into other people's business?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Many times, but it doesn't stop him," Asfi chimed in, and Alex looked at her with a curious expression, causing her to blush slightly.
"How can you say that, Asfi? You're breaking my heart," Hermes said dramatically, clutching his chest theatrically.
"I don't think you need to know this information," Alex said curtly, refusing to divulge anything.
"And why not?" Hermes continued to insist, in a whining tone.
"Because in the time I've been watching you, I've developed not only a desire to hit you with a stick," Alex replied, causing Asfi to laugh, while Hermes fell silent, clearly surprised by the straightforwardness.
"But I also realized that you won't be able to keep your mouth shut, and within five minutes, the entire Orario will know what I'm about to tell you," Alex continued, making Asfi laugh even louder and Hermes's face sour.
"I promise I won't tell anyone. Cross my heart!" Hermes assured, trying to earn even a shred of trust.
"Takemikazuchi, are you also interested in knowing what's going on?" Alex suddenly addressed the other god who had been silently observing their conversation.
"If you don't mind sharing, I'd be happy to listen. It's important for me to understand why my children are in such danger," Takemikazuchi replied calmly with a kind smile.
"See, that's how it's done? You have to ask politely, not beg, hoping that everything will be revealed to you," Alex said, using Takemikazuchi as an example, which made Hermes scowl again.
"If you want to know, give me your hands," Alex offered, extending his hand toward the gods.
"Why?" Hermes asked suspiciously.
"Just so you know, I like girls. Sure, you're handsome, but still…" Hermes started to joke, but stopped when he saw the dark lines appear on Alex's forehead.
"I think it might be worth hitting you with a stick a couple of times to make you stop spouting nonsense," Alex said with a dark expression, pulling out the stick.
"Stop! Stop! I was joking! I won't do it again!" Hermes shouted, trying to stop Alex.
"Give me your hand, and I'll give you an answer," Alex repeated, putting the stick away but keeping it in sight, in case Hermes decided to joke again. Realizing that jokes were not appropriate at the moment, Hermes extended his hand. Takemikazuchi simply smiled and also extended his hand.
"Now relax," Alex said, touching Hermes's and Takemikazuchi's hands in turn to check their memories.
"Has anyone ever told you that you're disgusting?" Alex asked, looking at Hermes with a blank expression, causing him to look bewildered.
"Takemikazuchi, thank you for taking care of Haruhime and going after her when she was sold to a merchant," Alex thanked the god, who had a tender smile on his face.
"There's no need to thank me. Even though Haruhime was not part of my familia, she was like a daughter to me," Takemikazuchi replied, brushing off the thanks.
"I think we'll get along," Alex said, appreciating Takemikazuchi's care for his family.
"Ha-ha, of course, I don't mind having such an interesting friend," Takemikazuchi replied with a smile, realizing that Alex wasn't as bad as the rumors suggested. He understood that Alex was just very protective of his family.
"What are you talking about? And why were you touching our hands?" Hermes asked, not understanding what had happened.
Alex decided to explain that he had checked their memories but not deeply, just enough to ensure they weren't connected to the group of failures. Hermes was about to ask what this group was, but he had another question: how could a mortal read the memories of gods? The more Hermes observed Alex, the more his curiosity grew. Alex clearly possessed a power that no mortal had before, and this knowledge drove Hermes mad with curiosity. Asfi also began to study Alex closely after hearing about reading divine memories, which greatly surprised her. Takemikazuchi just smiled, not giving it much thought since he had nothing to hide and was happy to gain an interesting new friend.
Just as Alex was about to briefly explain who these failures were, Freya and Loki burst into the house, gasping for breath. Loki was breathing so heavily it seemed like her soul might leave her body at any moment.
"Darling, are you alright? What happened?" Freya asked in panic, rushing to Alex and inspecting him, trying to understand what was wrong. Hermes gaped, unable to comprehend why Freya was behaving this way.
"I'm fine, just that group of failures made another move," Alex said, not objecting to Freya's concerned touches.
"Oh, darling, you scared me. Allen told me something happened, and I rushed over to you," Freya sighed with relief.
"So, why did you call us here? I'm so tired from running, I feel like I might return to the realm of gods soon," Loki complained in a weary voice, trying to catch her breath.
"Well, I've brought another one," Alex said, making the goddesses' eyes widen.
"Who?" Freya asked.
"You'll find out soon, but first, we need to deal with these two," Alex said, pointing to the two gods who had been ignored until now.
"Hmmm... What are you doing here, Hermes?" Freya frowned, looking at him, and he immediately felt uncomfortable under her intense gaze.
"I just dropped by and happened to witness something interesting," Hermes tried to justify himself, trying to hide his nervousness.
"And anyway, I didn't know you had a lover. Didn't you reject all your suitors?" Hermes asked with interest, his eyes lighting up with the desire to hear fresh gossip.
"It's not Alex chasing me, but me chasing him," Freya replied, wrapping her arms around Alex's neck from behind and resting her head on top of his.
"What? How?" Hermes asked, unable to understand how it was possible for Freya to be chasing a guy rather than the other way around.
"And not only am I in a relationship with him, but also Hestia and Hephaestus. Maybe even Loki. And that's not counting the other girls who have romantic feelings for him," Freya continued, resting her chin on Alex's head. Freya's words caused instant shock for Hermes, and all the newcomers who heard this began to look at Alex differently, realizing he had managed to enter relationships with four goddesses at once.
"What do you mean 'maybe Loki'? Alex and I have a serious love!" Loki interrupted, jumping onto Alex's lap. Alex sighed wearily, realizing that the conversation had gone off-track again.
"Alright, enough. We have other issues to address. First, we'll check our guest to find out all the details, and then we'll start taking action," Alex said, gently removing Loki from his lap and standing up.
"You three can go to Haruhime. She'll heal you, and you'll be able to talk to her since you're old friends," Alex suggested, pointing to Takemikazuchi's familia members. They nodded in agreement, wanting to visit their old friend.
"And the rest, follow me," Alex added, heading to his workshop.
Alex led the group to his workshop to share information about the mysterious group of failures. He considered that it would be good to recruit a few more allies in case the monsters broke free to the surface. As they descended the stairs to the basement, Hermes looked around with childlike curiosity, eager to learn everything. Asfi, observing her god, sighed heavily, realizing she couldn't stop his quest for knowledge.
When the group entered the workshop, the first thing they noticed was a man tied to a chair. Since he was sitting with his back to them, no one could tell who it was. Hermes, always full of curiosity, immediately rushed over to find out who it was. As he got closer, Hermes froze in surprise: it was Indra, tied up and badly beaten. He cast a questioning glance at Alex, who was clearly responsible. Alex merely shrugged and took a chair to sit across from Indra and ask him a few questions.
Meanwhile, Asfi began to examine the workshop, studying weapons and items that looked extremely dangerous. She worried about what might happen if these things fell into the wrong hands, not realizing that these were just trinkets made by Alex. The truly dangerous items were locked away by Alex, knowing that one anxious goddess was constantly poking her nose where it didn't belong.
"Why is Indra here? And why is he in such a terrible state?" Hermes asked, glancing at the beaten Indra.
"Briefly..." Alex began to explain the group of failures who sought to spread chaos for amusement and to achieve their so-called "great goals."
"So that's how it is," Hermes said seriously.
"So, they're something like 'Evilus'?" Hermes asked for clarification.
"I don't think so. These idiots are much more dangerous than 'Evilus,' and besides, 'Evilus' didn't have a behind-the-scenes puppeteer," Alex replied, shaking his head.
"What do they want to achieve?" Takemikazuchi asked, listening intently.
"Good question. I have a few theories," Alex said, giving a thumbs-up, and Takemikazuchi smiled in response.
"The first possibility is that they want to prove that gods are above everyone else and make mortals know their place," Alex suggested.
"The second, and more likely, is that they've all united under different pretenses, with Erebus manipulating them, who himself is a puppet of a more dangerous villain," Alex continued.
"You're saying someone is pulling the strings behind the scenes and wants to spread chaos?" Hermes asked.
"That's right. This someone is far more dangerous than all the gods of this world. Probably Erebus is craving more power and gathered his group to achieve this goal, not realizing they themselves are being manipulated," Alex answered, lighting a cigarette. Hestia noticed this but remained silent, as they had an agreement that he could smoke in his workshop.
"And what are you going to do with Indra?" Hermes inquired, wanting to know more.
"This," Alex replied calmly, getting up from his chair and preparing for further actions.
Alex approached Indra and slapped him a few times, trying to bring him to his senses. However, Indra remained unconscious. Seeing that the gentle approach wasn't working, Alex decided to use a more radical method and shocked Indra several times with a stun device, which usually had an immediate effect. Those who didn't know Alex were shocked by his methods, unable to understand how he could treat a god this way. Asfi was frightened to see Alex first trying to wake Indra with slaps and then hitting him with a strange object emitting electricity.
When Indra finally came to, Alex decided to start with a peaceful conversation to avoid scaring off the new allies.
"Good morning, Indra. How did you sleep? Do you like the hospitality I've provided?" Alex asked, sitting in a chair opposite him.
Indra did not respond, glaring at Alex with hostility and ignoring everyone else in the room.
"Oh, right! I forgot that I cast a 'Silence' spell on you," Alex said, slapping his forehead as if just remembering. The goddesses familiar with Alex sighed wearily, understanding that he was deliberately provoking Indra. Those seeing him in action for the first time looked at Alex with confusion.
"Before I lift the spell, let me warn you: if you make a noise, your stay here will become very unpleasant. So be obedient and answer my questions," Alex smiled, but there was nothing kind about the smile. It only fueled Indra's anger.
"How dare you..." Indra began to shout, but was cut off when Alex punched him in the mouth.
"I asked you not to shout. Are you a child who doesn't understand words?" Alex asked coldly, watching blood flow from Indra's mouth after the punch.
"Now let's start over. I'll ask you a few questions, and if you keep shouting, I'll tear your memories out myself," Alex said, staring intently at Indra.
"Wait! What will happen to him if you do it by force?" Hermes interjected, curious about what would happen. He didn't care about Indra; he was more interested in Alex's abilities.
"Let's just say he'll end up like Thanatos — a drooling idiot," Alex replied calmly. Hearing this, Indra began to struggle and tried to activate his Arcanum.
"But when you checked our memories, it didn't harm us," Hermes noted, recalling how Alex read their memories.
"It was easier with you because you didn't resist, and I didn't want to harm you," Alex shrugged.
"To put it in perspective, it's like pulling a tree out of the ground by its roots. In your case, I just carefully examined the tree without wanting to damage it," Alex explained.
"Hm, I see. That's very interesting. So you saw everything I did?" Hermes asked, his eyes gleaming with curiosity.
"That's why I said you're disgusting," Alex replied with distaste, looking at Hermes. Hermes just smiled sheepishly, realizing his secrets were exposed.
Indra was keenly watching the conversation between Alex and Hermes, trying to find a way to escape. He continued his fruitless attempts to free himself while noticing other gods he hadn't seen before watching him. Freya and Loki stared at him intently, never breaking their gaze. But what frightened him the most were Freya's eyes, which seemed like black holes ready to devour him entirely. Never in his life had Indra felt such fear. He wasn't afraid of Alex's threats or his fate, but Freya's stare filled him with terror. Indra didn't understand why Freya was looking at him that way and didn't want to know. All he wished at that moment was to escape as quickly as possible.
While Alex explained the workings of some of his abilities, Hermes and Asfi listened attentively. Hermes was interested in gathering information, while Asfi was simply fascinated by Alex's unusual powers. Loki approached Alex and unceremoniously reached into his pocket for a cigarette, wanting to smoke. Alex only glanced at her briefly and returned to his conversation with Hermes.
"Well, that's roughly how it works," Alex said, piquing Hermes's interest even further. His eyes sparkled with curiosity.
"How do you know so much, and how did you get such powers?" Hermes asked, eager to learn more.
"That's a secret," Alex replied, turning his gaze to Indra, who was still futilely trying to free himself, drenched in sweat and fear. Alex noticed the terror on Indra's face and followed his gaze, seeing Freya smiling sweetly. He realized that Freya was once again frightening people with her gaze.
"Now, back to the matter at hand," Alex said, refocusing on Indra.
"Will you tell us why you joined the group of misfits, or will I have to drag it out of you myself?" Alex asked calmly.
"I wanted to avenge Rudra," Indra replied, calming down slightly but still continuing to struggle.
"Rudra? Who's that? Your lover?" Alex asked, and everyone around barely contained their laughter.
"He's my friend and brother, who was expelled from Orario," Indra answered through gritted teeth, angered by the group's attempts not to laugh.
"You do realize that Rudra was part of 'Evilus' and committed many atrocities, right?" Hermes asked, looking at the enraged Indra.
"I don't care what he did. So what if a few miserable mortals died? What do I care about them?" Indra answered with disdain.
"I see. Well then, let's talk in a couple of minutes and see if your opinion changes after that," Alex said, activating the chair mechanism.
Indra instantly felt such intense pain that it seemed like he was going insane.
The group watched attentively as Indra writhed in unbearable agony, his face contorted and veins bulging on his forehead. Those who didn't know what the chair was gasped in horror at his suffering, not understanding what was happening, and then looked at Alex, realizing that it was his doing. Alex, noticing their stares, calmly explained how the chair worked, which caused a cold sweat to break out on the two gods. However, Hermes became even more intrigued, as such power couldn't be wielded by an ordinary mortal.
After a few minutes, similar to what he did with Thanatos, Alex turned off the chair to check Indra's condition.
"Well, have you lost your arrogance?" Alex asked, looking at the silent Indra.
"Ah, it seems this one is broken too. How regrettable," Alex said, shaking his head with feigned disappointment.
"Perhaps I should reduce the chair's power a bit for the next god so that it doesn't break those who need to correct their behavior," he added, making notes in a notebook.
"Are you going to put someone else in that chair?" Hermes asked anxiously, feeling sweat trickle down his forehead.
"Of course," Alex replied, not looking up from his notes. "There are still three more idiots to correct."
Shifting his gaze to Hermes, who was growing more nervous, thinking he might be next, Alex continued:
"Don't worry, I won't do anything to you as long as you keep quiet."
"And what if I accidentally blurt something out?" Hermes asked warily.
"For that, I have a special item that can help erase memories," Alex said, approaching one of the cabinets and pulling out an object to show.
"That's just an ordinary hammer," Asfi said doubtfully, looking at the item in Alex's hands.
"No, my dear Asfi, this is a memory-erasing device. See, it even has a label explaining what it does," Alex said, pointing to the inscription on the hammer's handle. "If Hermes starts talking too much, I won't mind giving his memories a little 'adjustment.'"
"You're joking, right? Really?" Hermes asked, hiding behind Asfi.
"Maybe," Alex replied with a smile, putting the hammer back. Hearing this, Hermes began to sweat even more, swearing to himself to keep quiet.
"Since our 'unruly boy' can no longer speak, I'll have to do everything myself," Alex said, approaching Indra and placing a hand on his head.
Alex delved into Indra's memories, trying to extract useful information or at least clues for planning in case of unforeseen circumstances. Hermes shuddered at what had happened to Indra after his memories were extracted, vowing never to anger Alex again. Takemikazuchi simply turned away, unwilling to watch his fellow god's suffering but not interfering with Alex, understanding that despite the cruelty of the methods, there was no other choice—the villains could cause more suffering than imaginable. Asfi frowned and looked away, disapproving of Alex's cruelty, while the goddesses, accustomed to his actions, paid no attention.
"Did you find anything useful?" Hestia asked.
"Basically, as I suspected. They learned that Ishtar wants to kidnap Haruhime and decided to help her to distract me," Alex replied, causing Hestia to frown.
"What else?" Loki asked.
"Apparently, Ereb is starting to lose patience and is taking more radical actions. He has stopped sharing his plans," Alex said.
"Each of them is playing their own game. Indra was supposed to help Ishtar, Dionysus is plotting something on Daedalus Street, and no memories about Nyx," he continued.
"And what are you going to do?" Freya asked, frowning slightly.
"First, I'll go to the dungeon to check the wall that Takemikazuchi's family mentioned. I'll also pick up the girls from the dungeon and check on them," Alex replied, considering his next steps.
"I'll go with you," Hestia declared, approaching Alex.
"Maybe that's not necessary?" Alex asked, worried about a repeat of events from the anime.
"I'm going with you, and that's non-negotiable," Hestia said firmly, leaving Alex no choice. At that moment, Hermes's eyes lit up, and a plan began to form in his mind. Asfi, noticing this, sighed wearily, understanding that her god was planning something foolish again.
"If the shrimp's going, I'm going too," Loki interjected.
"No. You definitely won't be coming," Alex said, rejecting her request.
"But why?" Loki began to cry, tugging at Alex's arm.
"I need you to stay here with Freya. While I'm in the dungeon, I want you to keep an eye on the city in case these idiots do something while I'm occupied. I have a feeling that something is going to happen both in the dungeon and in the city," Alex said. His intuition told him that this group of misfits was planning something big.
"Are you sure?" Freya asked.
"Yes. I think they've planned something grand to distract everyone," Alex replied. Freya paused for a moment and understood what he meant.
"Alright, I'll contact Uranus and prepare my family just in case," Freya said, looking into Alex's eyes.
"Now we can head upstairs and prepare for the dungeon trip, but first, I'll grab a few things," Alex said, approaching a cabinet covered in runes and opening it. Everyone was curious about what was inside this heavily guarded cabinet. When Loki saw Alex pulling out one of the black boxes, her eyes sparkled.
"Is it what I think it is?" Loki asked eagerly.
"Yep, it's not for emergencies. Freya, take this; it might come in handy if things get out of control," Alex said, handing one of the boxes to Freya.
"And what about me?" Loki extended her hands.
"Not for you. I know you. Your impatience might ruin everything, so you get nothing," Alex said, poking Loki on the forehead, making her pout and head towards the exit.
Alex laughed at Loki and told everyone it was time to go upstairs. Takemikazuchi asked what would happen to Indra and why he was left there. Alex simply said he would deal with it later since he had other plans for now. He didn't want the others to see him killing a god—it could be a horrific trauma that, like a shadow, would forever haunt their hearts.
When Alex's group went upstairs, he noticed two unexpected guests. Alex hadn't anticipated seeing them in this situation and wondered why they had come.
To be continued...