89 Chapter 77 A secret meeting. BOY!!!

Orario had now gone to rest as its inhabitants had now tucked in from the busy yet exciting day they had.

Yet there was a place that even in the depths of night, was still bustling with people from the populace, with adventurers and civilians alike walking and mingling in the streets.

That place is the red light district, a place where the scums of the city go to have a good time, where the city police -Ganesha Familia- had very little presence or none at all.

Shady familias had taken root in this part of the city, it was an unlawful place, filled with drugs, prostitution, and illegal activities such as murder and mortal trafficking.

It was the dark side of the city. And at the center of it, the one who is in control of the whole area is Ishtar and her familia.

She ruled the place using her seductive charm which could ensnare mortals, and her children who did the dirtier deeds such as eliminating those who stood in her way.

And right now, Ishtar was having a drink, along with a guess.

"Ishtar, I've got to say... You really do have impeccable taste." a man spoke with a smile as he twirled the red wine, swirling it inside an ornament glass. "And for someone who is still under suspicion of being a part of Evilus, you seem to be living well."

"Erebus... What the hell are you doing here?!" Ishtar glared at Erebus and spoke with venom in her voice. She felt threatened, if anyone saw the crazed god who was an open member of Evilus under her roof, she would lose everything. Hades would stop at nothing to hunt her down. "Are you trying to blow my cover?!"

"Relax dearie, loosen up a little. I'm just paying a little visit, I do miss the city you know." Erebus smiled as he took a sip of wine. "And don't you worry, I was careful when I entered this city."

"Don't play your games with me! A little visit? You must think I'm an idiot then?"

"On the contrary, I think you're quite smart. Establishing this little empire inside Orario, gaining power and riches, as well as a foothold as one of the more prominent gods in this city. Color me impressed." Erebus then flashed Ishtar a meaningful smile. "It would be a shame if it all turned into dust, don't you think?"

"Are you threatening me?" Ishtar's voice became dangerously low, her godly aura oozed out her body, making the air dense with her malicious intent.

"Of course not." Erebus chuckles and shakes his hand playfully. "Why would I threaten a comrade?"

Ishtar could feel her blood boiling, she hates being toyed with, especially in her own home. She was about to say something but two hooded figures landed behind Erebus and kneeled.

Erebus smile deepens as one of them scotches over to his side and whispers something in his ears.

Ishtar became curious, how did those two bypass her security, what did they whisper to make Erebus smile like that. 'What the hell is he planning?' she thought to herself.

Erebus nodded, he handed something to one of the hooded figures as he smiled playfully in Ishtar's direction. The two figures slowly moved back and vanished, leaving the two gods alone inside the room.

"What the hell was that?" Ishtar asked.

"Business dearie... Something that may interest you as well."

"Hahaha you must be crazy if you think that I'll join in on whatever crazy schemes you are planning."

"Oh... But it's gonna be glorious." Erebus smiled crazily, sending chills up Ishtar's spine. She knew that smile, and it only meant that something big was running up inside the crazy god's head.

"I told you, I can't risk my cover. If Hades gets a whiff of me being involved in Evilus, I'm as good as dead. Especially now with a Theïko óplo on the loo-" she paused as she saw Erebus's smile became even more crazed at the mention of the weapon. "No... It all makes sense... Tomorrow, the prince and the butcher's dog will be fighting... You crazy bastard!"

"See... I told you you're smart." Erebus started laughing as he stared at the look of horror that was slowly morphing in Ishtar's face.

"No no no... EVERY GOD IN ORARIO WOULD BE THERE ALONG WITH THEIR FAMILIAS!!! ARE YOU SANE?!!" Ishtar wailed as she stood up on her feet.

"Of course I am. Relax dearie... Everything is going according to my design."

"I will not be a part of this! If you fail, and trust me you will. Everything I have would be gone, every god in Orario will hunt me down."

"And that's the beauty of it, Ishtar. You have no say in this matter." His voice became cold as he also stood up and walked closer towards the goddess. "As we speak, one of my toys holds a message. A message that would tie you up with whatever would transpire tomorrow, and it will inevitably reach the hands of Hades..." a look of horror appeared on Ishtar's face as Erebus slowly ran his fingers on it. "You wouldn't want that now, don't you?"

Ishtar glared at Erebus, her face was cold as she bit her lower lip. She then smirks as she realizes that Hades wouldn't be entertaining an anonymous message from anyone. "You're bluffing. We all know Hades wouldn't move without any evidence. And as of right now, you don't have anything on me... Hahaha! I'm clean you fucking bastard!" she slapped the hand of Erebus that was touching her face.

"Right again dearie... Look how smart you are." Erebus clapped sarcastically. "But what if the message came from someone he trusts."

"Then you really are bluffing." Ishtar smirked as she turned around. Giving Erebus on last glance before continuing. "I assume you know where the door is. Leave."

"Anna Drayer." Erebus spoke which made Ishtar stop on her tracks. "Oh... You know her? Of course you do. You're smart after all."

"...." Ishtar didn't answer, she turned around slowly, her eyes glared at the crazed god.

"Do you still think I'm bluffing dearie?" Erebus mockingly asked as he sat back down, pouring another glass of wine for himself.

"What did you do?" Ishtar asked, her voice nervous at what may come out of Erebus's mouth.

"I've got myself a new toy." Erebus's answer made Ishtar shake in her place. She clenched her hands tightly whilst glaring daggers towards the crazed god.

Anna Drayer is a prominent member of Hades's hunting party, a group of mortals whose main job was to investigate and hunt down gods and their familia who is under suspicion as being part of Evilus. She knew Anna because she was the one who investigated her, fortunately the mortal didn't find anything that may link her to the organization.

But a few weeks back, news of her disappearance was made known to the gods by Hades, she was assumed dead as she was last seen going home for a vacation back in her hometown in Rakia. A village which was now destroyed by monsters by what Hades revealed to them.

Everyone came to the conclusion that the village was attacked by Evilus, it was their M.O. After all. The knowledge of this was not shared with the common public, but every god knew of the event. With that said, Erebus had made it clear that Anna was now a puppet for him.

This made Ishtar shudder, one word from Anna under the orders of Erebus, saying that she's part of Evilus, would mean death for her. Permanent death...

"What do you want?" Ishtar said, giving up. Erebus has her on the neck.

"Oh don't give me that look." Erebus smiled while sipping from his glass. "We still need you in Orario so your cover will not be blown."

Ishtar breathes a huge sigh of relief from Erebus's words.

"Now, all I want from you is a place for my pets to stay, some grub for them to eat and to... Entertain themselves." Erebus continued, his words made Ishtar frown. "You can do that, can you?"

"Pets?" Ishtar asked.

"Yes dearie... Pets." Erebus snapped his fingers and multiple eyes shone all around the dark spaces inside the room. "We wouldn't want them to be hungry now. They need to be at full strength for tomorrow after all."

'What a sick bastard.' Ishtar thought to herself as her eyes roamed around the room. She could see multiple beings that were not supposed to exist. Beings outside the laws of nature. Chimeras. 'How many mortals did he kill?' she asked herself. She didn't care for mortal life, but this... this is too much.

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-The next day

The street of Orario was filled with excitement as morning came, the final day of the tournament had arrived.

The locals of the city flock and rush to the amphitheater, trying to get one of the limited seats. Pubs saw this as business opportunities and hired mages to broadcast the fight inside their establishment using their magic. Of course the price for such a mage would be high, but pub owners such as Mia Grand value the business that would naturally flock inside.

It was an eventful day for Orario, a once in a lifetime event is now coming to a close, but not before one final hurrah.

August is sitting inside the waiting room, his mind was in a gutter right now, he was preoccupied by the event last night. Froke's face was stuck inside his mind.

He and Denki planned on assaulting Apollo's mansion last night, consequences be damned, but his god Heracles put a stop to it, forcefully if he might add, his body was still aching from the beating the god of strength gave him last night.

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*flashback*

August and Denki prepared themselves to launch an attack at Apollo's mansion, yet the moment they stepped out of the house, they felt a huge aura pushing them down to the ground.

"And where do the two of you think you're going?" A deep voice almost growling sounded behind them, as their neck mechanically turned only to see Heracles leaning at the wall.

"L-lord Heracles!" Denki jumped back in shock, his hands moving towards the hilt of his katana.

"Tsk!" August clicked his tongue, his hand naturally moved to his spear as he got on his stance. "You can't stop us old man. We're getting our supporter back!"

"Oho? And how do y'all plan on doing that?" Herecles sighed and shook his head disappointingly. "Let me guess? By going all gung-ho and charging headfirst? I thought I trained the two of you to be better than this! Get back inside!" Heracles spoke with a cold voice.

"With all due respect my lord, we can't do that." Denki spoke with a determined voice, he started sweating bullets as Heracles gave him a look filled with violent intentions.

"Denki... And I thought you were the smart one here." Heracles let some of his godly aura leak as he now stood straight.

August walked in front of Denki, covering him as much as he could from Heracles aura. "what's up old man? Don't tell me you're scared of Apollo." August questioned, smirking at Heracles.

Suddenly Heracles vanished from where he stood, August's eyes went wide, he then felt a hand grasping him at the back of his head, his body snapped down, the ground seemingly appearing in front of his eyes.

*BOOM!!!*

Heracles slammed August headfirst at the ground, his head digging deep inside the cold hard soil. "You seem to have forgotten who I am... BOY!!!" Heracles' voice was dangerously low. He then looked at Denki who was glued to where he stood.

Denki could feel his body shudder at the amount of aura Heracles unleashed towards his direction. His knees buckled as he fell to the ground. He couldn't breathe, he felt his throat being clogged up by some unknown pressure.

With a quick move, Heracles placed his hand in front of the young samurai's head, he loaded his middle finger with his godly strength and with a snap he flicked Denki in his forehead, sending him flying and crashing into the trees.

August slowly got up. 'I-I didn't even see him move!' he thought to himself. He felt a hot liquid trickling down from his forehead, he wiped it off and saw blood cling to his fingers. He stared wide eyes at Heracles, he thought he was getting close towards the limit of his god's strength. Oh how wrong he was.

August moved, straining his muscles to the limit he twist his body, delivering a forward slash.

Heracles didn't move from his spot, he raised his right hand up, and caught the spear head with his fingers.

August eyes went wide, he couldn't believe it, and before he could process what happened, Heracles pulled the spear towards him, yanking August along with it. And in one smooth movement, he delivered a devastating lariat straight at the adventurers abdomen.

August plunged deep into the ground, the wind was knocked out of him, his vision became blurry. He lay sprawled on the ground, his body aching all over.

"Back inside boy." Heracles glanced at August, the young adventurer felt a cold chill inside his body. "This is your final warning."

"W-why? Why?! WHY?!!" August glared at Heracles, his voice filled with anger towards his god. "They are weak! Me and Denki would demolish them! Why the fuck are you stopping us?! Hell even me alone would be enough in demolishing that fucking familia filled with trash!"

Heracles closed his eyes, his face filled with disappointment. "And then what?" he asked as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Huh August? And then what? Let's say you got that child back, what happens next?"

"...." August didn't answer, more like he can't.

"I thought so..." Heracles walked back towards their house passing by August, stopping in front of the door. Without looking back towards August he continues "That's the problem with you August... Your strength has blinded you, and with it, you fail to see the big picture." Heracles let out another disappointed sigh as he opened the door, sparing one last glance towards August. "Clean this mess up before you enter. I don't want your blood and dirt coming inside my house."

*end of flashback*

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August sat as he contemplated the event of last night, he shook his head, right now his focus should be on the fight ahead, but doing so was hard for him, not with the bubbling rage that was inside of his system right now.

He took a deep breath and concentrated, closing his eyes, he moved his mana inside his body, circulating it to reach every crevice.

Moments later, a knock sounded, August slowly opened his eyes. "You ready?" A voice outside said.

August stood up and grabbed his spear, he focused his anger on the match, at the prince, a far cry from the teaching of Heracles. But he didn't care, he was angry.

"Yeah." August answered and opened the door, there waiting for him was Asfi, the female adventurer gulped at the pressure being released by August.

Asfi moved out of the way and August passed her, not even giving her a glance of attention, his eyes staring straight at the light at the end of the tunnel. 'My apologies to the royal cunt.' he thought to himself as he marched to the stage. 'I'm gonna use you to vent some of my anger!' his mana boomed shaking the very space that surrounds him.

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Chapter 77 is done now, how do you guys like the story so far?

Please leave a comment, a review and feedback so I can improve on writing this fanfic. every little thing helps as it allows me to see your preference on things and would help me write a better fanfic for you all to enjoy.

thanks for picking up this fanfic. hope you guys like it.