37 Ch. 37 Hellas’ Heroes pt.2

While the Greek gods gathered their heroes, myself, Sera and Mana were to be guests of Hera.

Athena, Zeus and Ares, after he was woken up, weren't exactly pleased about this, while Aphrodite now feared me enough to not even think about wanting to be in the same room as myself, but too bad for them the rest were either fine with our presence or supportive of it. Hera, Hephaestus and Hermes were the most vocal about our stay, with Apollon and Artemis being fine with it, Poseidon and Dionysus not caring much, and Demeter only really wanting to stop any more hostilities.

But they all knew they couldn't really do anything to me anyway.

One punch.

That's all it took for me to shake the stability of this entire realm and knock out a god.

Now, Ares wasn't remotely prepared for the attack nor was he fully dressed like he usually would be in his true godly armor, only wearing a more decorative one, but the fact remains that my fist knocked him out.

Plus I wasn't alone. Serafall could likely take on Zeus and Mana could equal second generations like Ares if she pushed herself.

It just wasn't worth it to antagonize the entirety of the Underworld for two borderline pranks and self-defense. I wasn't even technically the one that was a threat to Zeus or Aphrodite due to Hephaestus and Hera holding the actual tools of their torment. But they did realize that I had access to things capable of bringing both of them to their knees and cared so little that I gifted them, hence I was very dangerous.

During our stay in Olympus, we've had many interesting chats with some of the Olympians.

Hera started to regularly come over to talk over wine. More with myself than my girls, as she appreciated the gift even if it won't actually be seeing much use unless she becomes aware of Zeus targeting someone again or maybe when one of his many, many, many bastards appear. She also respected my show of strength and confessed to having felt the strong bond between Serafall, Yasaka and myself and finding it endearing. She might be a goddess of marriage, but that doesn't exactly mean she was against polygamy as long as all partners knew of cared for each other in the truest sense. Hera hated infidelity and her divinity let her know that my situation wasn't like that. In fact she liked me for having never technically having been unfaithful.

So the two of us talked about our experiences as rulers and some interesting events in our lives. Herself being quite surprised about the existence of other worlds, realities and timelines, while I got to hear about her struggles on being one of the only gods actively trying to unify their pantheon properly. I also got to hear that Athena was more of a manipulative bitch than she come off as, wanting to gain the throne of Olympus once Zeus retires and willing to go to great lengths to obtain it.

Our little drinking sessions might have also involved me breaking out a bottle of Satan's Fall and having her properly pour her grievances out like only a drunk person can. I somehow ended up convincing her to come to my lands for some R&R away from all the idiots.

I think Hera would become good friends with Scáthach and Elsa.

Serafall on the other hand somehow found Hestia and became BFF's with her. Let's say that the goddess can cook, even after a century of Liora's sinfully delicious cooking, Hestia's was somehow a nostalgic breath of fresh air as she made me remember my mother's cooking from my past life. Serafall became a bit clingy due to the emotions of longing and sadness which came with those memories, also making the goddess panic because she didn't want to make someone sad, but I thanked her sincerely for her food.

I invited her to visit Azura and experience its food culture shortly after, thinking Liora would appreciate the challenge and maybe learn from Hestia in the field of home cooking.

Our next most frequent visitor was Artemis surprisingly, but she came for Mana.

The goddess of the hunt really wanted to recruit Mana due to her strength and the fact that she was still a maiden while technically falling in some definitions of huntress. Too bad she was politely rejected every time.

It didn't help that she kept saying anti-men, anti-Devil and anti-me things like all men are beasts, all devils will betray you and I would rape her or something. Even Mana nearly hit the goddess when she said those and the lightning she emitted would have impressed Zeus until I calmed her down and asked Artemis to leave and not return.

She wasn't happy, but the cold look in Mana's eyes barely hiding her anger told her exactly she now felt towards her or any of her offers.

Artemis was not the most eloquent of gods.

The other Olympian who visited me was Hephaestus after he had spent some time looking over the cage he had received.

He was a man of few words, but thanked me for the gift nonetheless. The two of us got to talking and eventually we discussed his expertise in blacksmithing and automatons. I was mostly curious about the later as living metallic constructs were fascinating to me. So vastly different than golems which had preprogrammed parameters or the robots of my past life, but something closer to actual AI's built through craftsmanship and magic.

Hephaestus admitted to feeling curious about High Skaro once I began speaking about it and of the thriving smithing society I had going in my lands. He even said he would like to visit and in response I offered a type of competition for all smiths to come and have their blades judged by himself. The god was actually excited by the idea due to it having never actually occurred before. A massive competition of the art he loved, filled with smiths of dozens of cultures and styles, it made his heart pump and his spirit as a blacksmith blaze.

This began a nice friendship as the god and I discussed the format and requirements of said competition. We enjoyed some drinks and shared some hearty stories. Good times.

Most of the other gods who weren't opposed to us also visited, mainly out of curiosity or boredom.

Apollon came due to finding my showing interesting and to feel me out, while I gauged the god who is to be Zeus' successor in canon. I might not like Zeus for hitting/perving on my wife, but I at least know he would support peace and had enough courage and morals to seal himself with Trihexa. That's why I stoped at the Voodoo dildo and didn't castrate him.

Poseidon came by to say hello mostly and to ask to never send his wife a voodoo dildo.

Hermes came to say a quick hello and thank you for the great laugh. But he was busy gathering the heroes and information.

And Dionysus came by once he heard I had booze strong enough to get Hera plastered and begged for a bottle. He was later found in the fountain outside his house, being cussed out by his wife Ariadne.

So not a terrible stay as long as I put aside getting on the bad sides of Ares and Athena, possible fear or dislike list for Zeus and earning the fear of Aphrodite. I got a nice friendship developing with Hera and Hephaestus, then got them and Hestia to agree to come down for a visit, I think Dionysus likes me now, and the rest are rather neutral with only Artemis probably being salty over Mana.

Sera had a decent time as well, enjoying not being sexually harassed even if she did scold me for being heavy handed. She made a friend and one of the issues we were to look into was on track, while the other would wait until later, and we basically got to spend some time abroad as we explored Olympus and enjoyed ourselves.

Mana was 'on the job' as she stayed professional in her role as 'bodyguard/guide'. She did however hold a grudge against Artemis for insulting me so much however and found Athena a threat.

We did all welcome the announcement that the chosen heroes had arrived.

Returning to the Grand Temple, I noticed that the hole I had made using Ares's head was gone and so were the cracks in the floor and walls, but my focus was taken by the chosen heroes as I analyzed them all.

The two most powerful ones were without a doubt the Hercules and Amazon, while the hooded witch gave off a threat level slightly behind them, the masked Perseus was next on the totem pole, but it was the Jason which perplexed me most of all.

'He can't be that weak right? He's barely mid-class in strength. The others are either strong high-class or ultimates, but this guy looks like he can barely take on a normal Devil guardsman.' I thought incredulously as I looked at Hera for any signs of some kind of mix-up.

The slight frown on her face as she looked at the blonde man told me it was indeed the right person, but the strength level was not what she expected.

A few more things I noticed were that both ladies in the group seemed to have hostile feelings towards a man in this room.

The hooded one oozed hostility towards the blonde weakling titled Jason and the Amazon princess openly glared at a fidgeting Zeus as he avoided her eyes for some reason.

'Please tell me he didn't hit on his own daughter and pissed her off.' I thought at the sight since even Zeus shouldn't have stooped that low. 'Hopefully it's just because of how she was born and her mother's words.'

The reason I think so is because Hera doesn't actually hate the girl like pretty much all of Zeus' bastards, but hates that the god raped the Queen of the Amazons, one of Hera's most favored champions as she, Athena and Artemis are the patron Goddesses of the female race. Therefor the Amazon Queen, and by extension the amazons, grew rather hateful of Zeus for doing such a things. She divulged that little bit during a drunken rant when I asked her what she felt about the heroes and this Quest.

While everyone was looking at the 'heroes', Zeus stood up and gave an energetic smile.

"Welcome chosen heroes of Hellas! I am Zeus and each of you has been chosen by us to accomplish the first Quest in over two centuries. A momentous honor." The god said as he spoke grandly.

The reaction was rather subdued as he looked at the 'mortals' and slightly paused awkwardly.

The Amazon was still glaring, but her body told me she was at least a bit excited. Hercules was almost oozing battle intent, but he was the only one. The Witch seemed to ignore most things and was actually looking over to us. Perseus felt like he didn't want to be here. And Jason was sweating as he tried to look calm.

"Just tell me what needs killing." Hercules said as he punched his palm with a bloodthirsty grin.

"Athena." Zeus simply said as he delegated.

"You five will be given the task to hunt down a dangerous monster reborn in this era. It is powerful, fast and cunning." Athena began as she stood in front of the heroes. "During the last few months it has targeted humans, demi-humans, even devils and monsters in order to gain strength."

"Devils? Is that why there are three here?" The hooded witch questioned as she casually interrupted with a rather alluring voice.

"…Yes." Athena answered with a small scowl and distaste at the interruption and our presence. "They will be accompanying you as part of their investigation of the murder of some influential noble family members and as back up. Each are powerful as that is Lady Leviathan and her Husband Lord Azaroth, while the other is their guard."

"Hmph. Just devils." Hercules stupidly responded.

"What an idiot." The witch said in response as she scoffed.

"What did you say?" An angered Hercules said as he tried to intimidate the girl.

*shing*

"You shall not touch this sister." Diana righteously stated as now had her blade at Hercules' throat.

"Woah, woah. No need for the violence. Let's all take a moment and calm down." The masked Perseus said as he stood between the Amazon and the large man.

"I do not trust the words of a man who hides behind a mask." Diana replied as she glared at the two.

"I am sure we can come to an understanding without hurting each other. We are supposed to be a team after all." Perseus calmly replied as he stayed between the two.

"Why insult such a lovely lady sir Heracles? Surely one can at least appreciate her beauty on this perilous journey we are to embark upon." Jason suddenly said as he approached us with a dazzling aura and a suave smile. He then lowered himself and reached for Sera's hand saying, "Hello my beautiful lady, what is your name?"

But the response was a Serafall pulling back as the gods felt like something bad was going to happen.

"Eww." Was all Sera said as she hid behind me, causing him to falter.

"Hera… can I kill this pathetic insect?" I coldly asked as I released a small amount of power, which immediately caused the bickering 'heroes' to focus on me and Jason to crash into the floor.

She flinched a bit at the emotionless eyes I was giving her.

"*sigh* Unfortunately, I would prefer you don't. As disappointing as he is, he still has his uses." She answered with reluctance over the shame the descendant of her favorite hero behaved and how weak he was.

"I will expect recompense for this." I simply replied as I lifted the pressure of the bug and he scurried away under the cold gazes of most present.

Diana and the witch looked at him with disgust.

"I will send you some Chrysomallos. Think of it as a thank you for your own gift to me as well." Hera replied with a serious tone as she gave Jason a quick glare and the heroes gasped at her compensation.

(For those too lazy to look this up, Chrysomallos is a mythical kind of fabulous, flying, golden-fleeced ram. Its fleece is the Golden Fleece.)

"That is very generous Lady Hera. I shall endeavor to repay your sincerity." I told her honestly as this was a precious thing to give.

Their Golden Fleece is the basis for all the clothes of the Greek gods after all and offer great benefits. It can negate a certain level of attack naturally and even absorb magic up to a degree, while also offering the wearer its healing and detoxifying properties. (Mix of some abilities given in fiction)

'That reminds me, I should start gathering some mundane and supernatural beasts to both conserve and rear them. Some materials might also have unexpected uses in the hands of all the craftsmen and researchers I have.' I thought as I laid down some preliminary plans. 'Probably all kinds of fauna as well. Maybe recruit some zoologists and botanists as well.'

"These devils are all on par with gods, do not insult them again." Hera then warned the heroes.

"Then what is the purpose of us going?" The witch asked.

"Because this is a matter for the Greeks to handle and they are simply here to investigate the deaths and disappearances of devils, while maybe keeping some of you alive." Hera answered a bit sternly.

"The direct involvement of the devils would be both humiliating and troublesome. You five have been chosen as heroes to kill the monster in place of us gods due to having our hands tied. Succeed and not only yourselves, but your families shall receive boons fitting for the deed." Athena coldly told the the group.

"Mighty gods, what is it we are to face that would require such a force?" Perseus respectfully asked.

"The Gorgon has returned. Each of you has been deemed necessary one way or another for the task of killing it." Athena answered without a hint of emotion.

'Now that would explain a lot of things regarding the evidence and why Artemis said it was a problem caused by Poseidon and Athena. Only a few situations only involved those two.' I thought at the revelation. 'But it is odd that Medusa didn't petrify her victims or at least the Devil ones.'

Medusa, as a being, has many different mythological stories, but the most known in this world would be the version with Poseidon and Athena over the one mainly about Athena.

In this world Medusa was one of three sisters who were actually slowly becoming natural born goddesses. The three were deemed a threat as they had the potential to become either conceptual beings or at least reach the power level of God from the Bible thanks to developing from the beliefs of people and the Earth itself. Unfortunately things went very wrong as Poseidon fell for the strongest and most beautiful (by more modern standards) sister, Medusa. Medusa was a great follower of the gods even as a burgeoning goddess herself and during her time in a temple of Athena, Poseidon could no longer take it and violated her then and there. Feeling angered and insulted over seeing Medusa 'seduce' Poseidon and fucking him in her temple, Athena cursed her and altered her budding divinity forcefully, becoming a bane of man as she became the monster called Gorgon, later devouring her sisters while lost in her madness and only stopped by the original Perseus with the help of Athena.

It really highlighted the despicable character gods can have when I thought about Athena's behavior and the Greeks in general.

If they had carefully nurtured the three sisters then they may have received three top tier goddesses and possibly a trio which could reach beings like Ophis and Great Red. But no, they decided to prove that Greek gods fit the phrase 'more human than humans' as they ruined everything through their egos and actions.

'But this can actually align with what Hera told me about Athena's ambitious character. She might have actually thought of the three as threats to more than the position of Olympians in Greece, but to her desire to lead said Olympians.' I thought as I looked at the goddess of 'wisdom' because who said one always used wisdom for good. 'And now that the Gorgon has returned, it is likely that her budding divinity might have as well, but this time as a monster, thus an obvious 'threat' which can be easily targeted and eliminated without any kind of fallout.'

"I am sorry, but I cannot take part of this Quest." Perseus said to the gods, shocking many present.

"This is not a request Perseus." Athena replied as she narrowed her eyes.

"Then kill me. Just like you do to those who do not obey you. But my ancestor died with great regrets over his killing of Medusa and I shall not repeat the act and spit on his last words." The masked hero stubbornly stated as he stood unyieldingly in front of the now affronted goddess.

"You dare-"

"I like you kid. You've got a spine and morals." I said with a wide grin over this scene. "Now come over here before she decides to kill you."

Everyone was rather surprised over my sudden interruption and the fact that Perseus did appear beside my little group the next moment.

"What do you think you are doing?" The angered Athena asked as her eyes glowed with golden light.

"Saving the life of a talented young man with a good heart, someone with the qualities of a true hero, from another egotistical bitch who has no respect for those rare qualities." I calmly answered as my own eyes flashed a deep purple and completely suppressed her.

"Ugh." She quietly grunted as her balance shifted and knees almost bent from that little clash.

"Thank you for the assistance sir devil, but I cannot allow you to trouble yourself over my own decisions." Perseus humbly said with a small bow of gratitude.

"Don't worry about it kid, but how about you and your family come work for me? I quite treasure good seedlings like you and I'm sure we can find a way for you to be happy. I've already got a bunch of different races in my lands so some Demi-gods/hero descendants won't be out of place." I happily responded as everyone just gaped at me trying to recruit someone and his entire family, while Mana and Serafall had amused smiles.

"I am sorry, what?" The masked hero asked out of pure confusion.

"Wait! Wait! You can't just take my son!" Poseidon hurriedly yelled as he stood from his seat.

"You are my father!?" A stunned Perseus replied as he now intensely focused on the sea god, just like almost everyone else at the revelation.

"Ooh! That's fantastic! What kind of abilities are you aware of? Water manipulation? Earthquakes? Affinity for horses or creatures of the sea?" I immediately asked as I went into a much deeper analysis of the young man.

"W-what? I don't have any of those. Maybe I'm a bit skilled on a horse, but it's nothing special." Perseus replied as he seemed rather overwhelmed.

"Hmm. That's because your divine blood hasn't been stimulated properly, same problem for the Amazon over there." I spoke as I shifted my eyes to the powerful young woman, "My offer extends to yourself as well princess. Or maybe some form of trade agreement would be more suitable? I have plenty of very capable women who can act as a liaison should that be preferable."

"You are speaking to me?" Diana asked with a slightly dumbfounded expression.

"Yeah. I am rather curious about what the Amazons have achieved and their prowess. Heck, we can even organize some kind of war game between our armies as training. I'm sure my men would enjoy challenging other people for once." I answered with an excited smile.

The possibility of recruiting these talented individuals was too tempting. And bringing people into the fold does not have to be done quickly either. One can build a solid foundation based on mutual interests, slowly accumulate trust while showing the benefits of full assimilation, then you start influencing the people and push the ruling powers into either a full alliance or submission. The Amazons basically being a race of partially divine warrior women makes them very attractive to me as well. Hell, the Perseus kid being Poseidon's son on top of the originals reincarnation already means he has a ton of potential, especially if he's about high-class already.

'My greed is acting up a bit.' I thought as I calmed myself a bit.

"We welcome any challengers!" Diana proudly declared as her fighting spirit ignited. "I shall speak to my mother regarding your proposals."

"Let's hope for a positive response then." I told her with a grin as she nodded.

"Hey." A female voice called out.

Turns out it was the hooded witch which called for my attention. She had also approached my little group while I was talking to the two Demi-gods present.

"Yes?" I asked with a curious look.

"You said you like to recruit talents right?" She asked in return.

"Indeed I do." I admitted with any hesitation.

"What would it take to be recruited into yours or the Satan's peerage?" She then asked seriously as she looked between myself and Serafall.

"Why would we want you in our peerages and what makes you think we would simply recruit a titled witch we have only met and know nothing about?" I replied as I became deadly serious, dropped my happy attitude and pressured the girl. "And most importantly, why would you want to become a Devil?"

My true gaze made the witch almost kneel as she felt the presence of Devil far surpassing the original Satans.

"Lith." Serafall suddenly said as she drew my attention to witness her glare. "Don't pressure girls like that. It's not nice."

"Then why haven't you said anything when I said stuff about Athena?" I asked out of curiosity as I released the girl who asked a rather rude question.

She then kneeled as she gasped for air, clutching her chest as her heart was no doubt beating rather quickly.

"Because she's mean and cold hearted. She also constantly looked down on me." Sera honestly answered as Athena now glared at Serafall.

"Did she now?" I said with a bit of a dangerous tone as I looked at the goddess, immediately making her look away.

"Not the time. I let you do as you pleased but take it down a notch ok." My wife said with a clear gaze.

"Alright. Sorry love." I replied with a quick kiss before turning to the witch. "Sorry about that, but peerages for us are rather sensitive. Joining ours means becoming family, hence not to be lightly offered nor accepted."

"*gulp* It was my fault and it was a rather… spontaneous decision." The witch replied as she stood up.

"If you wish to gain a chance at our peerages, we can consider you a candidate while you become our contracted magician. That way we all get to know each other properly." I offered the girl.

I wasn't going to say no to a talented person with a good level of strength, but I wasn't going to bring her too close until I learnt more about her. She wished to join the peerage of a Satan and Devil she had just met, not something most humans should be willing to do, hence I doubt her intentions. At the same time however, I do not wish to use my 'persuasion' on any of my peerage members, and as a potential member I would avoid it as well. So a contracted magician was a good step.

Receiving a nod of approval to my offer was a good step.

"Now, we shall form a contract later, but we should probably return to the matter at hand." I told her, to which she nodded understandingly.

"Are you done trying to recruit our heroes yet?" Hera questioned with an almost amused look on her face.

"Pretty much. The meathead doesn't interest me since I have a better one at home and the blonde one is an insect." I answered with a shrug.

"Hey-" Hercules tried to protest but was cut off.

"Wait a minute! I can't just let you take my son." Poseidon announced as he looked rather intense.

"You mean the son that, like all Demi-gods, had to live without one of his parents being present for a single day in his life? Or the one who you never claimed or unleashed his true powers? Or the one you didn't even acknowledge until I offered him a way out of being killed right in front of you while you did nothing?" I critically asked as I shut him down real quick.

"I would have saved him." Poseidon weakly countered as he gave Perseus an imploring gaze.

"And I haven't agreed to anything yet." Perseus said as he caught up to the conversation.

"What if I offered you a way to help your family, grow stronger, give you the opportunity to find the life you want to live or have you become a liaison between my lands and your so-called father's precious Atlantis?" I asked as my devil's temptation was coming out.

That stymied the young man as I could see his jaw open and close from the side of his mask.

"You don't have to make your decision right now. Just think about it ok?" Serafall gently said to him as she handed him a card with both of our symbols. "If you accept or want to talk, just channel some energy into one of the cards."

"Eh? Ah, yes! Thank you Lady Leviathan!" Perseus politely said as I could feel him blushing under his mask.

The majority of the gods couldn't exactly believe what was happening, but also didn't really dare stop it either.

While… unorthodox, I wasn't doing anything bad or damaging to their pantheon. At most I was hampering their Quest a bit, but some concessions here and there while we handle the Gorgon/Medusa would likely appease their egos. I might even be technically doing something good for them even as I was opening a new trade avenue with never before seen or experienced products or services, likely boosting their overall wealth and living experience.

"If you are all quite finished, Apollon shall send you all towards the area the Gorgon has last been sighted." Hera declared as she seemed mildly smug about taking charge from Athena.

'To think I get to experience one of the sun chariots. How interesting.' I thought as everyone followed the handsome god as he signaled them.

Even Perseus was absentmindedly following mine and Serafall's gentle guidance as he was completely lost in his own head right now.

He had been asked/basically ordered to do apparently the one thing his ancestor deeply regretted and told his descendants not to do, was almost sentenced to death for refusing, got saved by devils, received a job offer for himself and his family, found out who his father is and now has to deal with a sort of identity crisis. So a bit of confusion was understandable.

Jason was keeping as far away from me as possible, Heracles was glaring hatefully, Diana looked rather curious and the Witch we still haven't gotten the name of looked like she wanted to approach us but was hesitating after earlier.

This was going to be a weird trip.

-Enkidu's tour of the Underworld

To start my observation of other territories in the Underworld, I decided to see those which rose to prominence after the civil war a century ago alongside Lith Azaroth.

Thus I focused my attention on five Houses: Gremory, Sitri, Astaroth, Glasya-Labolas and Bael.

I can easily say that I was rather shocked at the utter disparity between every level in comparison to Lith Azaroth's lands, but I could understand them better.

Unlike the culture shock I received from visiting the extremely developed Azaroth territory, these lands were much more in vain with what I knew, but with at least some level of development.

The most well developed lands amongst these five houses were the Gremory ones.

House Gremory had large cities in close proximity to each other, acting as industrial and administrative heartlands. These places either took in the large amount of raw materials procured from across their lands and processed them all there or served as trading hubs.

Each city seemed geared towards one specific type of material. One was for stone, either for buildings, art, infrastructure or magic. Another was for wood, much in the same vain. Next were things like metals, cloths, food and glass.

The Gremory were known as benevolent rulers as well, caring for their people and doing their best to properly manage everything happening to ensure the best. However I could tell that all of this enriched the Gremory family over improving the lives of the people working for them, as they mostly acted in a benevolent manner to secure the loyalty of the devils under them.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the ex-heir/current Satan Sirzechs, had built numerous orphanages under his own name within Gremory territory. They did not come close to the Azaroth ones however, but the children seemed happy.

Next came the nearby Astaroth lands.

They were not impressive.

The governance was oppressive, but not like Gil's where he desired to challenge and stimulate the people into growing stronger. This way chocked the people as they were kept low on purpose.

All which redeemed this place was a singular area under the current Satan Beelzebub, Ajuka.

This area was purely focused on research, Ajuka Beelzebub's playground if you will. And although it was much more advanced than anywhere I had seen outside Azaroth lands, it was still far behind the near miracles of magic and ingenuity I had witnessed there. My guess was that it is the difference between geniuses clashing endlessly vs a singular genius doing as he pleased.

House Sitri was one of my favorite territories due to its vast expanses of nature and the effort put in place by the family to maintain and help it prosper.

The gathering of healers and researchers was also surprisingly refreshing as recent memories of a very similar place came to mind, only the others were more advanced. It would even seem many of these devils were studying things from Azaroth lands as they desperately devoured the knowledge in front of them while experimenting with it.

The rest of these lands were governed a bit strictly, but very fair as well.

And the presence of the grand healing center built by the current Satan Leviathan and Lith Azaroth's wife, Serafall Leviathan, was very impressive as it took the style of old and new to create a calming and reassuring place of healing.

The fourth Satan family, the Glasya-Labolas, were rather average in how they handled their people.

Nothing particularly impressive, but they also showed no obviously negative qualities either. I would call it remarkably stable even.

No major crimes, banditry near nonexistent, citizenry capable of making decent livings while safely working, and those in charge manage things carefully.

The only ridiculous things I had witnessed was supposedly named the Palace of Sloth. An entire building dedicated to offering the best sleep in the Underworld, something they are so driven by that they had commissioned everything here to be made from materials related to sleep and dreams, crafted in Azaroth lands, and carefully arranged by Satan Asmodeus, Falbium himself.

It was surprisingly popular.

But my last stop made me rather…upset.

The Bael lands were incredibly efficient, producing and harvesting great amounts of goods, but it was all under an extreme amount of control.

The entire territory was tightly held by the Bael family, or more accurately Zekram Bael.

Harsh punishments given to dissenters, criminals and even sometimes just to set an example. But what differed from most tyranny was that should an enforcer be found abusing his/her authority, they would suffer an even worst punishment.

The entire system was built on fear and control as the devils were used for the most efficient method, as if they weren't truly seen as living beings but golems.

It was drab and depressing to walk the dark grey streets, where curfews were in place and freedoms were severely limited.

The lands outside the city walls were also 'controlled' as little to no true nature could be found as I explored, making the very land itself feel collared.

My entire time there felt suffocating.

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EXTRA AUTHOR NOTES:

This chapter was more for establishing relationships and having Lith go a bit overboard with his greed than anything else. I kinda wanted to make things a bit different than most situations with Olympus where Hera's the bitch and Athena is the Waifu alongside Artemis, making Hera basically an overly stressed queen who has to deal with her husband's constant infidelity as a goddess of marriage, ambitious gods, all the stupidity they do and has to deal with other pantheons on top of that since most others will either act completely arrogant or try to fuck them.

There was actually a minor change as I was writing, which kinda led to me thinking of having Perseus join Serafall's peerage as her knight. He is young, has his own weapon, now is revealed to be a true Demi-god of Poseidon and I made him rather humble and determined, so I thought he could be a good fit especially since he could deal with water based communities and gods thanks to his divine half. (Basically a much better Percy Jackson)

Aside from that, the reason he isn't interested in Hercules is because Lith doesn't actually like pure meatheads, Lomr being more of a pure-hearted guy who got bullied, thus appreciates his power over someone like Hercules who always had power and reached his max potential.

Then we have Lith basically starting a friendship with three gods, which is rather in line with both himself and them I think. Hestia would like to try some good food and make more people happy, I have actually never heard of what is basically going to be a large scale blacksmithing festival with a godly smith judge either and thought it would be a good way to befriend Hephaestus, and Hera finds someone who can understand her and a drinking buddy.

I might even have Hera somehow become the goddess of divorces too later on just for laughs, then have her move in with Lith. Would be a good excuse for why she was never mentioned in DxD.

I also thought it would kinda be funny to get the god of wine plastered. So I did that.

Next up the heroes.

Fuck Jason. Meh to Hercules.

For the witch I decided that building a relationship as contractors would be a solid way to go. There are reasons for why she wants to join their peerages too, some of which are the standard magician desire of gaining more magic and becoming stronger, while other reasons are secrets for now.

Diana is the trickier one due to Amazons generally not liking men, but I thought poking the warrior side would be a good in as they can develop relationships slowly. They live for a long time anyway and like i said, not all things need to be rushed when you live for thousands of years at minimum.

The Quest will happen during the next chapter, I'll see how it turns out.

Hope this was at least enjoyable.