CRASH—!!!!!
"!?"
The moment the followers were charging to force open the castle gates.
THWACK—!!!!!!!!
White-haired adventurers appeared, blowing them away in a single strike.
"W-Who are you...!?"
THUD-THUD-THUD—!!!!!!!
"""""Gwaaargh!!"""""
White blurs streaked across the battlefield. Wherever they passed, soldiers fell like autumn leaves under a downpour of strikes.
Rat-tat-tat—!!!
"Where did she even scrape all these people together!?"
'She really went overboard with the [Charm]...!'
CLANG—!!!
"Brother!!"
"I'm only incapacitating them, so don't worry!"
Suppressing the masses who had been subjected to a [Charm] bordering on brainwashing by Aphrodite, Akumo and Bell swiftly brought the skirmish to a close.
"Hmm? Wait, what's going on? Why are my adorable followers being beaten!?"
Aphrodite watched the battlefield with a shocked expression as she received reports from her remaining followers.
"Yes, Lady Aphrodite! It's because those vicious white-haired Humans are pummeling us into the dirt!"
"They're fast and strong! We can't handle them! We were instant-killed in five seconds flat☆"
"That's not something to talk about so proudly!!!"
Perhaps influenced by Aphrodite, her followers reported the situation using a peculiar manner of speech.
"It's strange in the first place. My [Charm] isn't working...?"
Hearing the report, Aphrodite realized that since there were individuals moving freely across the battlefield, her [Charm] must be ineffective against them.
"Could it be...!?"
BOOM—!!!!!!!
"!!!!"
"The playtime is over, Lady Aphrodite."
The moment she tried to reach a conclusion, Akumo appeared before her, having blown away the followers who were just reporting to her.
'I suppose it's a relief she's so simple... They really are just a ragtag bunch gathered solely through [Charm].'
Having witnessed firsthand how massive a faction could become when a Goddess of Beauty used her powers in earnest—from Freya, who built the strongest Familia using her eyes and [Charm], to Ishtar, who greedily climbed to the top of Orario—Aphrodite's forces were mere child's play to Akumo.
"I see! You simply lack the eyes to comprehend my [Beauty]! I understand completely now!"
"...Pardon?"
However, Aphrodite lacked the capacity to think that far ahead.
Rumble—!!!
"Your thought process is as simplistic as ever... You certainly are an optimist, Aphrodite."
As Akumo stood there, dumbfounded by her response, the castle gates ground open. Hestia and Hermes approached them.
"H-Hestia!? Hermes, too!? What!? Why are you two here?"
"What do you mean 'why'... Prometheus called for us."
"...!! Did they call a Virgin Goddess who's immune to [Charm] just to deal with me!?"
"I'm begging you, just listen for a second..."
Even with the arrival of the other gods, Aphrodite's overwhelming overconfidence remained entirely unshaken.
"Don't get ahead of yourselves! Since it's come to this, my adorable followers! Grab that big-chested Loli Goddess and—"
The moment Aphrodite tried to command her followers to harm Hestia.
Click, clack—
"Grab her and do what, exactly?"
"....!"
"Aphrodite."
Hephaestus appeared, radiating an incredibly frigid aura.
RUMBLE—!!!!!
"W-W-W-What...!!!? He-He-Hephaestus...!!!!?"
Her earlier confidence vanished instantly. Upon seeing Hephaestus, Aphrodite turned deathly pale, her composure crumbling.
"Y-Y-Y-You, why are you here!?!? Gasp...! This is a dream, an illusion! I just have dust in my eyes!!"
Aphrodite went as far as to deny reality, squeezing her eyes shut and refusing to acknowledge the other goddess's presence.
"....What is this?"
'Why is she reacting like that the moment she sees Lady Hephaestus...?'
Bewildered by the sudden shift in the situation, Akumo looked toward Hephaestus.
"..."
Hephaestus kept her gaze averted, radiating nothing but pure, unadulterated fury toward Aphrodite.
"Inhale... and exhale...!!"
Ssssp—!
Haaa—!
"Alright! Once I pull myself together and reach out, the illusion will vanish—"
However, what her hand brushed against was the unmistakably soft skin of a goddess.
Squish—!
"Eeeek!!! This sensation...! It's real!!?"
The realization that this was reality, not a fabrication, sent Aphrodite into a deeper spiral of panic.
"I didn't expect to run into you in a place like this."
Finally, the cold voice of the Goddess of the Forge rang out, posing a question that sounded more like a sentence.
"What. Were. You. Planning. To. Do. To. My. Dear. Friend?"
Her usual warm yet stubborn demeanor was gone. The presence Hephaestus projected now was one of absolute, terrifying frigidity.
Shiver—
"This... feels like a sensation I've experienced before..."
The sight sent a chill down Akumo's spine as he recalled a few months ago when he had slipped up with his words in front of her and was dragged off to forge weapons all day long.
"Ababababababa....!!!!!!!"
Aphrodite was trembling violently, her mind seemingly short-circuiting.
Step, step—
"She seems so terrified that she can't even maintain her [Charm] anymore since Lady Hephaestus appeared... What on earth happened?"
'And why is Akumo-san trembling...?'
Meanwhile, Lilliluka and Welf emerged from the gates, sensing the situation had settled now that the [Charm] on the people had broken.
They asked Hermes what exactly was going on.
"Ah, a lot happened back in the Heavens... Actually, those two used to be in a relationship."
"....Pardon? They dated...?"
"Yes. But then Aphrodite cheated... and Hephaestus was absolutely enraged..."
"Wait! Tell me more... give me the details...!!"
Hestia chimed in, briefly reminiscing about the past, but for Welf, this wasn't a story to be told in brief.
""Hephaestus was terrifying back then~""
"No, explain it!! What do you mean!? They're both women..!! They dated!? Hey!! Excuse me!!!?"
Step, step—
"What... what's going on now...?"
"Akumo-san...!!!!!!"
Amidst the chaos, Akumo returned to them, still visibly cowed by the chilling aura.
Grab—!!!
"What the hell is this all about!!!!!!?"
"Why are you suddenly throwing a fit!!?"
He was forced to bear the brunt of Welf's frantic agitation, feeling a headache coming on from the mounting confusion.
"Welf-sama...!! Please calm down! You're way too excited!?"
"Please, calm down, Welf!!!!!!"
Bell and Lili rushed over to restrain him as well.
In the end, the situation concluded with Aphrodite fleeing, utterly terrified of Hephaestus.
That night.
"So, to summarize..."
Once they regrouped, Akumo had no choice but to reveal that he and his companions had followed them to Olympia, now that their identities were out in the open.
"Are you out of your mind, Akumo-kun!!!!!!"
"I'm sorry..."
"Hestia, don't be so hard on him~"
"Lady Freya, please stay out of this for now..."
Hestia naturally gave him a harsh scolding, and even Hermes looked troubled, pondering how to handle their unauthorized presence.
"Anyway, to think such a Goddess of Beauty existed... it was quite an ordeal."
"Tell me about it! I have no idea why she keeps invading Olympia over and over..."
After the initial confusion subsided and the situation was somewhat settled.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, even if you didn't enter through official channels..."
Slide—
"It is an undeniable fact that you are the benefactors who helped us this time. You have my thanks."
Rhea expressed her gratitude to Akumo's group, despite being taken aback by their sudden intrusion.
"Not at all. We're grateful just to be treated this well despite being uninvited guests."
Grasp—!
"My name is Akumo. I'm just an ordinary adventurer from Orario."
Akumo took Rhea's outstretched hand.
He introduced himself as an ordinary adventurer, but the moment Rhea grasped his hand, she saw it.
WHOOSH—!!!
An ominously dark flame burning fiercely within him.
"..."
"Rhea-san?"
"Ah... it's nothing."
Slide—
'I definitely... saw it...'
Akumo asked if something was wrong when Rhea froze, but she quietly released his hand and hid her agitation, acting as if nothing had happened.
"..."
—'A massive, filthy flame. That is precisely why it is so necessary.'
'Is this... also destiny...?'
Rhea recalled a determined voice she had heard in the past.
While she was lost in thought regarding the black flame within Akumo.
"I don't care about any of that...!"
"Welf? Suddenly—"
SLAM—!!!!!!!
"More importantly, what exactly is the relationship between that goddess Aphrodite and Lady Hephaestus!!?"
Welf didn't care about anything else.
He simply wanted to hear the details of what had transpired between Aphrodite and Hephaestus.
"Welf-sama! That again!? Who cares about that right now?"
"What matters now is how we're going to solve the current problem."
Lili chided Welf, emphasizing their priorities, and Ryu agreed that they should focus on finding a way to deal with Aphrodite permanently.
"You think this doesn't matter!!!!? Hypothetically speaking, imagine if Bell or Akumo-san had an ex-girlfriend!!"
""!!""
'B-Bell-sama has an ex-girlfriend...!?'
'To Akumo-san...'
Welf countered fiercely, expressing his absolute determination to get an answer.
"You crazy bastard!! Shut up already!!?"
"What happened, Lady Hephaestus...!? Is it because she's a Goddess of Beauty!? Is that why it was okay even between women!!?"
"Just shut the hell up, man!!!!!!"
Welf continued to pester Hephaestus for the story while Akumo tried to restrain him, and the room quickly devolved into noisy chaos once again.