35 Denatus

Bar the Freya Familia, Loki Familia is the most respected Familia in Orario. Their top members, including a few high-rankers that are not yet executives, are well-known and usually become the center of attraction wherever they go. Riveria is just one extreme example due to her background amongst many elves. Tiona and Tione are charming amazons capable of beguiling about just any starry-eyed fool. Gareth and Finn are THAT men in their respective cultures. Bete… was an all-rounder asshole. Lefiya is surely picking fame with Riveria glued to her sides most of the time in an effort to teach the young elf. And Ais is another all-rounder murder machine with the social capabilities of a well-fed pet, usually an aimless goldfish.

Blondes, right?

So, a commotion occurs on a small scale when all these top hitters enter the Guild building instead of continuing on their way to Twilight Mansion like they used to. At this moment, they look far from perfect. Dirtied and grimy, the collective group smells hard. The women's hair mat on their foreheads and the back of their exposed arms. Gareth's beard could do with a good wash to get the dried blood out. Riveria looks prim and proper, but other spectating Elf 'experts' can practically sniff the differences.

Pulling ahead from the rest of the group while trying to keep the pretense that it's her usual pace, Ais stares at the awe-struck pinkette behind the Adventurer-Assistance counter.

"Bring me Eina." Ais punctuates her words slowly, afraid she wouldn't get her point across.

"Uh… Ais-san. Eina-san is standing beside Misha-san."

Ais blinks and looks back to nod at Lefiya. While the two are the same age, the latter usually take a passive role in their relationship. The Blonde monster buster turns to look at the curious brown-haired, green-eyed half-elf. Ais' golden eyes observe the woman until her waist before the counter impedes her vision.

"Hey, Eina." Riveria lets out a tired sigh as she gestures to Finn to handle this herself while patting Ais' shoulder unusually firmly.

"Riveria-san, it's nice to see you again." Eina smiles and nods at the woman. The two let the silence sink between them under everyone's gazes as Riveria holds organizes her thoughts.

"Are ya going to do it or not? We're busy people, Nine Hags!" Bete's scoff resounds in the building as Riveria exhales heavily and squeezes a smile. A smile that makes Eina's lips twitch as haunting memories resurface in her mind.

"Jackal sends a message. You remember your former colleague, right?"

"Pfft!"

Misha covers her mouth and looks away, attracting such focus from the rest she forgets about laughing and stammers.

"Ah, no… it's just the fourth message in a single day…"

Eina works her jaw as a dusting of red freckles on her cheeks, and she glances to her right for some support. But Rose is seen organizing the magic stones for the fourth time this day.

"Anyway, he says he will take some time before returning, and Jackal seems to be in high spirits. You should rest assured."

Eina quivers in her boots and takes a deep breath.

If Jackal doesn't die in the dungeon, she'll complete the Dungeon's job herself!

Hesitating for a second, Riveria wisely closes her mouth and turns around while patting Ais on the back to follow along.

The surrounding group's interest wanes as the Loki Familia goes their way. After all, Jackal has done a lot more than send Eina messages. He single-handedly increased Dian Cecht Familia's revenue with the number of hands he took from the adventurers of Apollo Familia and others for trying to steal his magic stones.

---

Days come and go. Hours fly by. Just because Jackal decided to retreat to the 12th floor did not mean the world stopped for him.

The Adventurers who wanted to explore the 12th Floor ultimately descended into the Dungeon again and convinced Jackal to not hoard the floor. Then again, between him fighting another monster party, this time without using the secondary effect of his excretion, and others wearing his ears thin with things he did not even state explicitly aside from warning others from keeping off his loot, he allowed others on the floor… when they were the ones who were unusually scared of him.

While he is still far from attaining the Infant Dragon's strength, he could deal with one without weapons if he follows the Threads of Death and a Dragon's strength phantom.

As for multiple dragons?

Dealing with them singlehandedly was not possible.

Not without a weapon.

But matching his fist and nails with an Infant Dragon's claws also holds a notable spot in his heart.

Others continued to train, too.

The Takemikazuchi Familia practiced with the orphanage, with Maria joining some classes. Ouka definitely won loads of fresh diapers to change, which will continue for the coming month. Lili threw herself in training, her growth surprising a few keen eyes.

Finally, the first quarter of the year came to an end.

The end of quarters holds a special meaning to many Gods and Goddesses. Some take time to get dressed, and others send gifts to specific deities for 'Good Luck' in the coming event.

Two individuals travel within the hustle and bustle of the city.

A fine gentleman whose divinity exposes his true identity in the eyes of other mortals despite his gentle expression and a blue-haired bespectacled woman who follows her patron Deity.

A feathered hat covers his hair, a good portion of his green tunic is covered by the red-rustic scarf, and sleeves are tucked into brown leather gloves, similar to his breeches tucked into his boots.

The bespectacled, wavy blue-haired woman has a streak of white on the lock of her short hair combed to the left side of her face. Her cyan eyes are framed by sharp-edged glasses with whitish rims similar to the white cloak collared on her neck that hides the tanned skirt top with leather belts on her waist, strapping various pouches on her being.

"Ah! Here we are!" The God smirks to himself as the two pull themselves away from the hustle and bustle of the city before standing in front of an immense wooden namesake—Blue Pharmacy.

He pushes the door open but…

"Eh? It's locked?"

He looks back at the woman, who shrugs calmly and keeps to herself.

"Asfi, why can't you create an item that can let others talk from a large distance? Would have solved so many of my problems."

"You're the God of Messenger, Hermes. You tell me," Asfi responds while adjusting her glasses.

"Ssss… it's something about Orario, right? Something that makes my dear Asfi sarcastic the moment we enter the City."

"Or it could be something about the man we helped enter." Asfi scowls a bit.

"It's fine. He promised he'll stick to Ishtar's place."

"As if you ever believed his words. We both know the kind of man he is."

Hermes presents a thin smile as the sound of locks being undone echoes from the other side. The light-brown-haired chienthrope looks at the couple and informs calmly, "Miach isn't here. And if you're out here sniffing for the new goods that I'm sure you're already aware of… they are sold out."

The smile on the divine's face stiffens as he clears his throat and chuckles.

"Where is Miach?"

"Why?" Naaza questions calmly.

"A good friend of his asking about him." Hermes flashes a smirk.

"Who?"

"Me."

"I'm busy. Find your fun elsewhere."

Just before Naaza could close the door, Hermes sets his foot between the edge and forces a grin. "Come on, help out an old friend. I bring good news."

"I don't believe you."

"For good reasons, I assure you." Asfi, Hermes Familia's Captain, nods with appreciation in her tone as Hermes almost stumbles forward and rolls his eyes.

"Asfi, whose familia are you part of?"

"Please refrain from talking to me as much as possible. I'm not in the mood for your antics."

"Look!" Hermes' smile broadens as he adds, "Do you have a reason for distrust in me? I just want to confirm a few things I have already heard. For one, I wanted to congratulate Miach for diversifying his taste. I hear this Jackal is quite the… killer."

Naaza stares at Hermes as the Deity takes the chance and supplants further.

"I can even steer Miach in the right direction for my dear friend. Say, Miach can come to adore Chienthropes a bit more."

Naaza purses her lips while Asfi lets out a muted sigh.

"I'm sure Miach will appreciate your concerns. Now, I'm rather busy and don't intend to divert my attention to entertain you for any good reason. Absolute neutrality, that's your motto, right? Neither ally nor enemy."

"Hmm? That doesn't sound like me- Ow!"

Hermes pulls his foot away as Naaza forces her door shut.

"Well, that was a bust. I wonder what changed?" Hermes cups his chin and looks at Asfi. "What do you think?"

"I think a Chienthrope will be able to hear us from this distance. You either speak all questionable things in whispers or ideally: move."

"Ever so vigilante~! No wonder I feel so safe with you, my dearest child!" He flashes a grin and walks away as the two begin walking in the direction of the tallest tower in the city, Babel.

---

While known to have fifty stories, Babel is built with layers in thoughts instead of actual floors, much like the Dungeon.

Each floor of the building consists of multiple layers accessible by stairs, hosting a labyrinth of shops in its spiral confines! The first 20 stories of the tallest tower cater spaces for shops and services. Personal quarters for gods and goddesses begin from the 21st floor, where they like conducting personal business and meetings with other deities, some more scandalous than the rest.

Influential Deities may even occupy an entire layer of the tower, something the likes of Loki and the most powerful Familia's deity, Freya, have done. While Loki eventually resolves to settle in Twilight Manor to live her life her way, it is public knowledge that the peak of Babel is occupied by Freya.

And it's from the 30th Floor where one may start viewing the city accompanied by a curtain of clouds that gives the illusion of overviewing things from Tenkai like the good old days.

It's on the 30th Floor that a special quarterly meeting between the deities takes place.

A 'small' but certainly not tame meeting that exchanges information between Deities and gets everyone on speed. Of course, this meeting is between the gods invited, and the condition of the invitation is one adventurer leveling up.

This condition seems simple at a glance, but once one account for the mortality rate of adventurers and how hard it's for Level 1 Adventurers to level up, they will realize that the strength of this meeting fluctuates every meeting.

Glass panels surrounds thick white pillars carved uniformly that allows the gods to view the City in every direction with a large round table set in the middle. Of course, small chambers, corner furnishing, and various snacks are given if some Deities decide to exchange more than information once the meeting ends.

Many deities are simply free-spirited that way.

"Well, I appreciate getting honored to host 993rd Denatus!" Hermes tips his hat to the group of Gods and Goddesses around the round table. Familiar faces return grins and nods, while the Deities truly familiar with Hermes huff in dissatisfaction and a cautious look.

"All of you know my specialty. Poor old me can only survive one way, so how about I greet this meeting with a bit of grease? Hmm?" Hermes winks and sets his eye on one particular individual.

Crimson hair and matching left pupil, a dress as black as her eyepatch adorns her body and contrasts with her creamy skin—Hephaestus.

"I have come to understand that our friendly blacksmith nerd has enamored not one but two hunks!" Winking in her direction as she scowls, Hermes cheers, "How about you give us some details? Did you enjoy Soma's drunken nights, and hmm, Jackal, was it? Jackal's beastly passion?"

"Passion, him?" Another deity cuts in with a sneer. Apollo presents a dirty sneer. "That mortal is incapable of compassion. He dares take my children's hand! If it wasn't for assured mutual destruction, I would have ordered my Familia to take wherever he has!"

"And get Old Ouranos on your ass. He lives in the street domesticated by the Guild, you lightheaded dumbass!"

Hermes instantly adopts a commentator's duty and cheers!

"Woah, harsh damage from Set! How will Apollo respond?"

"We aren't going to fall for your schemes, Hermes." A soft-spoken, mature goddess cups her left cheek as she shakes her head.

"But I bring no schemes! I'm merely a messenger. The best there can be!"

"A messenger who decides what messages others should receive." Another heckles the poor Deity, who slumps his shoulder before glancing at another Goddess.

"What about you, Loki? I also hear you're fond of the mortal. Don't tell me you've been his goddess secretly all along?"

While it's unusual for her to not dress for the occasion, Loki likes to take it easy sometimes, so she is in a baggy blue shirt with plain brown pants that makes her look like a malnourished tomboyish worker waiting to find his princess.

As many gazes fall on her, Loki simply smirks and cocks her head high.

"So what if I'm that punk's Goddess? Got any complaints? I'd be happy to raze your asses to the ground."

"Well, you wouldn't be so heartbroken with Soma forming a contract with Jackal if he was indeed your child."

A charming giggle stills the crowd as others look at the silver-haired beauty they've been trying to avoid. Why?

If they get enamored now, their Familia might suffer for it. The fact that the Goddess of Beauty isn't using her charm already brings others great relief.

"And how did ya hear that, you dick-for-brains?" Loki calmly crosses her arms and sets her feet on the table.

"Who else but a member of your familia?" Freya tilts her head and blinks innocently.

"Nice try. I've got full trust in my kids, unlike yours parentally screwed ones. At least, have some kids with parents instead of gunning at orphans!"

"What can I say?" Freya smiles without taking any offense to the insults. Her assuredly significant half abuses the Trickster Goddess daily, so it's acceptable. "Orphans tend to shine brighter than the children brought under the care of parents."

"I recall we were chatting about the impudent youth." Another voice cuts into their banter. "Hephaestus, you ever met him? The rumors did talk about you."

"Once," Hephaestus admits. "He has interesting goods, so that's that."

"Ah, the story of every smitten maiden ever. Interesting goods." Leave it to Hermes to make every sexual pun in existence.

"Are you done?" Hephaestus rolls her lone eye.

"Besides, one look at her and that mortal will lose all his interest." Another Goddess scoffs under her breath before adopting a dreamy look. "What I wouldn't give a mortal to pound me so good~!"

Hephaestus expression freezes as she stares at the offending Goddess before looking away. Her hand covers her right portion.

"Not to ruin the orgies you've all planned… but who is this new deity? Ganesha, you told us he beat Soma's level 2 Captain, right? Jackal's Deity should be present for the naming ceremony, or we'll be forced to take their slack." He ends with a wicked grin.

"I am Ganesha!"

"We know."

"I am surprised the Guild didn't take any concrete action yet."

"I hear that mortal was part of the Guild… maybe he's Ouranos' boy."

"Nah, not possible. He stopped."

"Hey… are we sure none of the Gods from No God's Land showed up? Hey, Hermes, you didn't smuggle anyone in, right?"

Hermes scoffs in reply and replies seriously, "And get sent to Tenkai? No."

"His actions do feel like those lawless… deities."

"Come on, not all of them were bad."

"Dude! Shiva and Thor almost released their Arcanum because someone snuck their drinks away!"

"Yeah, well, WHO tries to take their drinks!"

A flurry of commotion rises around the roundtable as another seductive voice interjects.

"I have some interesting news."

The group of deities looks at the scantily clad purple-haired, dark-skinned goddess—The Queen of Entertainment District, Ishtar.

"I hear Freya's child, King, is showing more open interest in his kind." The self-proclaimed rival of Freya licks her lips. "Why, Freya? Does Ottar find a female body so demoralizing? You should lend him to me for a night. He will eagerly switch Familias."

"What else can I even expect from someone like you. An entire night to get one man off? Mortal women have better organs that milk their men dry quicker." Freya sighs in disappointment. "And to bring up such a disappointing rumor after we got engaged in such an interesting topic… your mouth is just as disappointing, Ishtar."

Ishtar quivers in rage as Hermes quickly interjects.

"Alright! To summarize, Jackal, unknown Deity, the speediest Level up in history, fear of No God's Land, and uh… playful banters!"

"Wait! Speediest level up?" Apollo exclaims in shock as Loki puffs her cheeks with a sour expression.

"Wake up, Sunshine. He became an adventurer less than a month ago and beat a Level 2 lawless Captain AFTER going through the entire Familia… as much as I hate that Turd Face… yeah, he should be Level 2."

"Oooh~ Quicker than your precious Sword Princess!"

"Fuck you!"

"Well, I am sure we all are very interested in the next part of our friendly meet!" Hermes claps his hands and attracts everyone's attention. The eyes of many gods and goddesses glint with an evil light as Hermes adopts a similarly wolfish expression and winks.

"Let the naming ceremony begin!"

All deities finally touch the stacks of paper set in front of them as they flip over the first page simultaneously! It is no secret that Gods want entertainment. This motive started the first Denatus that slowly grew into a moderately independent decision-making body for Adventurers without the Guild breathing down their necks.

And Denatus is famous for one thing aside from its information exchange—Naming Ceremony!

Every adventurer who levels up once has a right to an alias, but how can Gods allow their rivals to grant better names to their children. The tradition of putting the new alias of the adventurers to a vote became a common affair in Denatus and the high point of the meeting.

"Oh, the first one is quite cute, eh~? Demeter, your boy is quite the looker. How about we call him Reaper?"

The Goddess's lips twitch.

Giving Adventurers an alias can be quite tricky. Deities tend to choose the names that will affect their colleagues, while their children wear the same name as a badge of honor.

"Heh, no! I got it! Autumn's Spring!"

"Pffft! Fuck, I forgot all about that! That's amazing!"

"How about Little Farmer!" Demeter asserts and protests in her characteristically soft voice.

"Little Farmer sounds nice," Another god, a blonde one—Dionysus, smiles quietly.

"No! Autumn's Spring! She even has another child named Persephone! It's perfect! Maybe this Persephone will get mad at Demeter for overfeeding her and run off away until the end of winter!"

And just like that name was set as Hermes wrote the name on his sheet of paper, which will be later delivered to the Guild, who will announce the results.

"Alright, next! Oooh, Apollo's Captain reached Level 3, huh. Hyakinthos Chlio. I say we grant him the former Captain's alias now that he advanced to the same level—Pheobus Apollo."

"Just as well."

Apollo smirks as he sees this. The few other gods have no doubt that Apollo bribed many Gods for this moment, and it pays off spectacularly well.

"Damn, another Level 3. From Ishtar this time!"

Ishtar sticks her chest out that almost drops the thin fabric on her chest, not that she or anyone around her would care for a second.

"I say we keep Samira's alias, Bite."

Freya smirks and giggles softly, much to Ishtar's frustration.

"For someone trained in ways of womanhood and fertility, Samira surely raised a ruckus that time by biting her first important customer." Hermes speaks in a reminiscent tone, "Ah, the good old days."

"She's a spunkier one! I'd love to get bitten by her." There is always a weird one.

Ishtar watches the scene unfold with a gloomy expression. Sometimes bribes don't work.

"Hmm, a newbie from Set. You're really recovering from your losses, eh? I vote her alias to be Magnamious!"

"What?" Set cries in shock. "No!"

"No, no, Hermes has a point. You were quite Magnanimous back in the day, right? I'm sure your children will love it!"

The dark-skinned god looks around, his lips and shoulders shuddering with despair as he faces the mocking glance of his past 'friends.'

Then again, Set would do the same to each one of them in a heartbeat!

Other Gods face a similar situation, including popular Goddesses like Hephaestus, whose Captain bears an intimidating name—Cyclops, for their godly reasoning.

Soon, they reached the end of the list as the last face smiles back carefreely.

"The Butcher." Apollo asserts with a scowl.

"Now, now," Hermes coughs, "If what I heard about this child is true then he will truly bear such a name with pride and give it a bloodier meaning. Let's not beat around the bush. Soma inadvertently had quite the name in the darker corner of our proud city because of his Captain… but how did all of it end? Who among us knows the boy's deity? A better question is, who among us can say with absolute certainty that he won't beat the living shit out of us just because of our own ideas?"

Loki smirks at this. She already knows the answer, and like others, Loki glances at two particular goddesses.

While Ishtar finds Freya an eyesore, she believes in hers and Freya's beauty (reluctantly). So she licks her lips seductively and remarks with an odd twinkle in her eyes.

"How would that poor soul bear to harm me? But a few whips behind the curtains doesn't harm anyone, right?"

Ishtar glances at Freya, who keeps her silence. Her silver-lilac eyes proclaim an odd luster as she stares at Jackal's inked portrait.

What love doesn't claim when the chance presents itself?

"Oh, he will resist me," Freya smirks, finding herself lost in the mere portrait without any beautiful soul of his in her sight. "How about we name him Vanadis Odr?"

Hermes narrows his gaze, but the deity doesn't stop smiling, while other Deities react differently. Ishtar frowns seriously and looks at the picture once again. Hermes and other mischievous cannot help but reconsider their approach, too. Even Apollo chews his lips in frustration.

If there is one thing one can consider the truth in Orario, it's—Freya gets what she likes.

"Nuts to that. If we're playing like that, let's call him Svadilfari."

Her words make others cringe a bit. Broken out of her fantasies, Freya's smile doesn't faze. As if growing overnight, the woman remarks plainly.

"Hmm, Svadilfari, Loki's Beguiled Mate. Has a tempting ring to it. He is your tenant, yes?"

The Trickster Goddess tenses up. Her narrowed eyes open barely as her vermilion gaze falls on the unusually eerie Goddess of Beauty.

"You may call him Gilgamesh."

Ishtar's brows twitch.

"Or Adonis."

"Whatever name you shall call him, I know deep down that my fellow deities know better than to commit certain actions. But then again, I'm the Goddess nobody could exile to the No God's Land."

Their brows twitch.

"So, his alias is meaningless for all purposes. Besides, these are just my idle musings."

'Yeah, right!' Others scowl.

After a short silence, a motherly giggle echoes.

"I heard from one of my children that Jackal fought for a woman and injustice against her. He even fought a God… no, Jackal compelled the recluse Soma to show his emotions. He only killed one mortal that night… someone who puts children on the front line. Honestly, when I heard Soma was back to his right mind… I felt quite happy."

Demeter leans forward with pure interest as she holds the paper.

"It's not every day you see humans and gods communicate so honestly. Leaving their hearts open to each other. It's nothing short of magic when you think of it. And we don't even know what Deity can control this man and has the fortune of handling his excelia."

"A mystery." Demeter whispers with a captivated look, already lost in her fantasies, as she builds her words.

"A Miracle. Our age is that of Falna, but such feats are extraordinary in hundreds of years. A Fearless Miracle."

Others fall silent and chew on Demeter's words.

"So… Svadilfari. Yay, or nay?"

Hermes smirks, and so do others.

Fearless Miracle?

The Butcher of Orario?

They'd rather get kicked a thousand times before bestowing such a grand title!

"YAY!"

Almost all of them cheer as Loki's grin broadens. Demeter shakes her head with a fond smirk and adds a 'yay,' too. Freya finds no reason to respond to Loki's challenging smirk, while Ishtar is the only one who still keeps her scowl and walks away the second the meeting ends with a huff.

---

"Svadilfari?"

A figure caked in blood from head to toe stares at his face on the Guild's board before muttering, "So, Loki's Stallion? What a lame name. That bitch must have had her hand in it…"

He shrugs.

'Oh, well, I'll just call myself the Butcher. Sounds edgier and cooler~! Let's just meet Eina and Rose before washing up. I've got a lot of things to sort.'

The figure valiantly walks into the Guild Pantheon to hear the harshest verbal lashing of both his lifetimes.

As it turns out, sending more than 59 messages from the dungeon in four days… is a bit over the top.

But does Jackal care?

Not one bit.

***

Alternate Title: Bring Me Eina! *Demands the Munchkin*; Observing the Busty Competition; The Social Ability of a Pet; Misha's Day Only Gets Better; Eina is Happy and Angry!; Rose's First Betrayal—Huh, These Magic Stones Need Tending; The God of Messengers; Based Naaza; Based Asfi; Among the Heaven; Smuggling Someone; Mysterious No Gods' Land; Now There's a Miracle Keeper; Gods Have One Motive—Chaos!; 993rd Denatus; Quickest Level Up!; Vanadis Odr; Gilgamesh; Adonis; The Being of Many Talents; Will Beat the Absolute Shit out of Everyone!; Ominous Ishtar; A Biter?; Hephaestus Gets Shade From the Sidelines; Kinky Gods; Loki's Stallion; Trickster V Beauty; Freya is the Storm that is Approaching; Maturing Overnight; The Goddess who Persists in Orario, not the No God's Land

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Hermes

Asfi Al Andromeda

{Other Gods aren't described in too much detail, so their pics come later.}

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