The group left without much more happening and the streets had become even more desolate. While the normal citizens were nervous, the Adventurers were with each of their own Familia, waiting for their God to come back from the Denatus and figure out what to do next.
When they reached their place, all of them gathered in the living room, except for Claire, who already went to sleep because she was tired from their journey and new environment, and Ophis who accompanied her.
"What happened back there?" asked Sona.
"Something a bit unexpected," replied Kisuke with a sigh, "The Syr from earlier was not Syr."
The moment Kisuke said that, Hestia and Artemis' faces crumpled.
"Hmm? What do you mean? The Syr from earlier was an impostor?" asked Aika.
Kisuke shook his head, "From the start, there was no 'Syr'. The 'Syr' that we knew was a fake persona."
Everyone who didn't have any idea of what was going on was surprised, "So the real Syr Flova never existed in the first place?" asked Kuroka.
However, Kisuke shook his head again, "Syr Flova might have or may still be existing. If not, the nature of this 'Syr' persona wouldn't have been possible."
"I noticed that you stopped Yoruichi-chan from doing something," wondered Serafall.
"Kisuke stopped me from looking further into her. The moment Ophis-chan spoke up, I instinctively wanted to see through her, but if I were successful, 'Syr' would have noticed it too. Kisuke stopped me to diffuse the situation," answered Yoruichi.
Finally, Hestia spoke up, "Do you have any idea who she really is?"
Kisuke and Yoruichi looked at each other before the former spoke up, "Out of everyone here, only Yoruichi, Kuroka, and I knew of this particular information. The Hostess of Fertility is in fact, under the Freya Familia's control. It's true that Mia Grand was a former Adventurer of the Freya Familia and never contacted them again ever since her retirement. However, although they tried their best to hide it, we found traces that the establishment was being protected by them, in which we can assume that there's still a deep connection between the two despite the noncontact."
Although everyone else was shocked, except for the newcomers, Hestia, Artemis and Sona were the only ones who figured out the underlying meaning behind it, "If it was a normal disguise magic, you could have seen through it...," muttered Sona.
Hearing this, Kuroka and Medusa also got it, "So chances are, it's really a complicated and sophisticated magic, or magic that's not meant for those who are from the Lower World, nyaa," added Kuroka.
"Then that means..." muttered Aika in concern.
"It's either a mage with very high attainment in magic and has some basic understanding regarding the soul, or a Deity that used a mortal's 'fate' as cover."
They then all immediately recalled Ophis's words at that time and had an idea who she really was, "...Freya," mumbled Koneko.
A wave of concern washed through almost everyone, until Kisuke clapped his hands to get them out of their own worrying minds, "Well, let's not mind this for now and continue interacting with her as before. After, nothing has really changed."
Artemis then furrowed her brows, "You're making too light of this situation. The fact that Ophis was able to scratch her cover won't get out of her mind, and the little girl would surely be targeted."
Kisuke nodded, "It sure is a concern, but Ophis-chan would be fine."
"Aren't you underestimating her too much!? Aside from having one of the strongest Familia within the Lower World and having spanning influence, Freya is also a God who dared to use magic like this! Aside from that, I doubt any child could resist her charm as the Goddess of Beauty which is, although in a grey area, allowed to be used!"
Artemis ended up yelling at Kisuke's 'who cares' attitude but she immediately shook her head, "I'm sorry. I'm just concerned with everyone's safety, especially that innocent child that would be targeted."
Kisuke and some ended up smiling when Artemis referred to Ophis as an 'innocent child'. True, Ophis is innocent, but even though she lost a part of herself, only the Gods with their Arcanum activated have the actual chance of hurting her. However, even then, their first few attacks may only just barely scratch her.
"I know where you are coming from, Artemis-sama," Kisuke then looked into her eyes and continued with a straight face, "But it's just a God."
Hearing that, Kisuke's companions' eyes widened but immediately soon after, they smiled wryly and also felt relieved.
On the other hand, Artemis was shocked to her core, "Wh-what!?"
But before she could confront Kisuke, Hestia stopped her, "He didn't say that because he wanted to disrespect, discredit or underestimate the Gods, right, Kisuke-kun?"
"...Hestia?" Artemis became confused.
"That wasn't my intention at all," replied Kisuke.
Hestia sighed, "Then that means the Freya Familia and Freya herself isn't that much of a threat to you."
"What do you mean?" asked Artemis.
"Have you forgotten? These guys are just level 2 and Kisuke-kun was still able to fight Antares and defeat it without even the help of your Divine Weapon. And concerning that Divine Weapon, even if it was incomplete, he still was able to pull enough power from it to destroy your Arcanum."
"So the Freya Familia who are still within the constraint of common sense, don't you think they'd have something else in their sleeves seeing how out of this world their abilities are?"
"T-that's..."
Hestia then faced Kisuke, "I couldn't ask earlier due to the arrival of new people, but isn't it about time you tell us more about yourself and your group, since I have a feeling that you're not that much concerned about hiding your secrets and all? And how is it possible that the red Dragon became your ride?"
"Wait! Are you saying that you don't know much about these people and accepted them into your Familia!?" reacted Artemis.
With an idiotic laugh, Hestia responded, "Hehehe, I was really desperate to have someone in my Familia so I just..."
Artemis was about to say something but Hestia interrupted her, "Nonetheless, Kisuke-kun already warned me and told me that he's just using me. Despite that, I never regretted my decision to accept them back then and I don't have any plans to do so now."
Artemis saw Hestia's clear eyes and could only sigh as she recalled her time with the members of the Hestia Familia. Within that, not a single time she took note of any fake concern for her best friend, and also during that time, she realized that Kisuke only saved her because that's what Hestia wanted.
Although she was very thankful for his actions back then, she can't help but feel a little bitter, especially after being invested in him. Artemis then looked towards Kisuke and asked, "Is it fine if I listen too?"
Kisuke responded with a nod, "Of course. In fact, I'll ask you to stay if you chose to leave to respect our secrecy."
"Thank you. I also wanted to share even a little bit of Hestia's burden."
Editors:
28th00: Ah, fate manipulation is something that Kisuke is decidedly ‘not’ good at. Phis-chama is incredibly good at it though, cause she exceeds it. But yeah “Just a God” is really put in perspective when you remember that Kisuke fought Ares with full hax and Hades with who he hard countered. And they’re top 10. The really esoteric ones and the ones with unlimited brute force (Like Ophis and Great Red) are his only ‘true’ threats here. And the Ares here is just… an idiot that somehow nobody has killed yet. Rakia is a shithole from what I remember.
Goyya: It’s led by a God with a singular mindset and those around him trying to benefit from it.
"Please keep in mind that I can't tell you everything, for now."
Hestia nodded, "I'm fine with that."
"Ehem... Well then, you might have already suspected this, but the place we came from is beyond the Lower World and is not within Heaven's influence in any way."
Artemis's eyes widened in surprise, but on the contrary, Hestia kept her serious face since as Kisuke said, she already expected this was the case, but couldn't really believe her guess without his confirmation. Because of this, Artemis was even more shocked at her nonchalant reaction, and since Hestia didn't say anything, she did not speak out.
"And since it isn't connected to the Higher World in any way, you're not aware of that place. Hence why you probably felt that we're very foreign. This also makes it so the Deities couldn't possibly have any information about its citizens and their capabilities."
It was then that Kisuke dropped the 'bomb', "When I said that it's just a God, I said it because I knew full well the capabilities of one. And believe it or not, I have a few ways to deal with one."
Like Artemis, Hestia furrowed her brows, "If you're basing that on Artemis' Arcanum from before, then you're sorely wrong. A God's capabilities, if Arcanum was activated, is way beyond that."
But Kisuke just smiled, "However, I'm not just basing it on that. One of the unique things about our place are people who achieved Godhood by themselves."
It was finally something Hestia wasn't expecting, "A-achieved Godhood!?"
"Yep~ A non-Divine generating their own Divinity and were able to accept worship."
"H-how is that possible!?" asked Artemis. Out of everything she'd heard today, this is the most unbelievable. Although it's indeed possible in theory, no one has ever achieved this despite the help of the Deities.
Aside from those born into Godhood, no God has ever come from a mortal. Over time, the Deities thought that it was impossible in the first place and no one tried to nurture one anymore. There might be some Gods who are still trying, but the closest who came to Godhood were Zeus, Hera, and Poseidon's children, but even then, they were still quite far.
Kisuke, meanwhile, thought that Artemis' Arcanum was really the reason for how he was able to estimate the power level of the Gods in this world, and he estimated it was around the same level of the Gods from the other side.
Although fundamentally different, their source of power was the same, which was 'Faith'.
However, even for Kisuke, the concept of 'Faith' is still a bit blurry since he also discovered that the 'Faith' the Gods needed doesn't merely come from those who believe in them. After all, even those nondescript and unknown Gods still retained their Divinities, even if they were mostly forgotten. Though it's indeed true that their strength correlates to the amount of trust and belief people have in them.
It's a complicated topic that Kisuke wanted to study, not just for himself, but also for Medusa.
With Artemis's question, Kisuke just shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know how that was possible since I'm not a God myself. Only those who attained Godhood could possibly describe the experience. The point is, multiple Gods walk the Earth without the weird restrictions you have. So it's only normal to have some means of defense against one in case they attacked. Though it's not like they would attack, it's just that we have to prepare if it were to happen."
Both Artemis and Hestia were silenced as they tried to comprehend his words. As much as they wanted to believe Kisuke's claims, it was too hard for them. After all, they never knew that there's another realm that Heaven couldn't reach, and on top of that a mortal turned God.
Seeing their difficulties, Kisuke grinned, "However, Hestia-sama, I do have to remind you of my words the first time we met."
Hestia thought for a moment and sighed, "It's just ramblings of a mad man, huh?"
"Correct~!"
Silence then ensued throughout the whole room, but a few minutes later, Hestia just gave a defeated sighed, "Whatever. So I take it that you have a way to defend yourselves even if Freya came after you, right?"
"H-Hestia!?" Artemis was shocked that Hestia just disregarded the things he just said.
Ignoring Artemis, however, Hestia continued and forcibly moved the topic, "What about that Dragon?"
"As you can probably tell, it's neither a monster nor a God. It's a being entirely different, but it's a Dragon for sure," replied Kisuke.
Hestia waited for a few moments after Kisuke stopped before speaking, "Is that all?"
Kisuke nodded, "That's all I know about it."
"How about it being your 'ride'?"
For that question, Kisuke just shrugged his shoulders, "It's something that does what it wants and I don't really have any idea what's on his mind. Since he offered his assistance, I can't really disagree. For the most part, I think it just wanted to roam around since it was probably feeling bored."
Hestia sighed yet again, "Fine, but is it going to come back?"
"I don't know, but probably not."
"That's good. I don't want to imagine what kind of chaos it would bring for it to go back," Hestia smiled in satisfaction before changing the topic yet again, "Now let's move to our next agenda. I assume they don't have Falna yet, right? And it's about time I update everyone's status."
Artemis was utterly shocked at how Hestia just shrugged off the things she'd heard. She wanted to interject, but she had a feeling that Hestia wanted to end it here, not because she gave up, but because she had already heard enough and accepted it as it is.
Kisuke gladly clapped his hands and was thankful for Hestia's thoughtfulness, "Of course~!"
"Alright! Line up! We'll do it here!"
Artemis couldn't keep up with them and almost couldn't understand her best friend, Hestia. However, she went through it again and thought, 'In hindsight, maybe that's how Hestia would really do it... For her Familia... For her family.'
Artemis could only smile wryly after some contemplation and watched them update their status, 'I'm really no match to her.'
After everyone got their status update, they all directly went up to Level 3. But they didn't level up without giving Hestia a good scare.
Sona Sitri
Level 2
Basic Abilities:
STR: SSS-1105
VIT: SSS-1326
DEX: SSS-1113
AGI: SSS-1101
Extra Abilities:
DEM-POW: EX-1500+
Aika Kiryuu
Level 2
Basic Abilities:
STR: SSS-1445
VIT: EX-1500
DEX: SSS-1446
AGI: SSS-1357
MANA: SSS-1216
Extra Abilities:
REI-KI: EX-1500
DRACONIC AURA: EX-1500+
Shirone Toujou
Level 2
Basic Abilities:
STR: EX-1500
VIT: EX-1500
DEX: SSS-1418
AGI: SSS-1354
MANA: SSS-1112
KI: EX-1500
Kuroka Toujou
Level 2
Basic Abilities:
STR: EX-1500
VIT: EX-1500
DEX: EX-1500
AGI: SSS-1480
MANA: SSS-1323
KI: EX-1500+
Medusa
Level 2
Basic Abilities:
STR: SSS-1309
VIT: SSS-1212
DEX: EX-1500
AGI: EX-1500+
MANA: EX-1500+
Editors:
28th00: I kinda expected Medusa to have a “Faith” or “Divinity” stat. I kinda expected Hestia or Artemis to ask about Ophis and for Kisuke to go “Oh her? She’s the Dragon God. Great Red is the True Dragon though. It’s really complicated, Ophis wants to beat him up though.” Ophis, the bringer of chaos. Seemingly decided on a female form since her best friend is her size and sex. The ‘Enthusiastic Walk ‘Through’ Orario’ is gonna be great though. IT WILL BE GLORIOUS! In before Ophis becomes the God of the Xenos, since they have Dragon Xenos, and she is the Dragon God. Don’t argue with her flawless logic!
Goyya: Divinity is the basis of Falna. Although they’re from different worlds, Divinity follows similar rules of Authority. In this case, Falna would be able to read almost anything except for itself.
Staz Irvine