Chapter 92 Cause and Effect

Orario, the once vibrant city was laid in ruins, as building and corpses lay waste in the streets. This was a moment in history, a dark moment, where countless lives had been lost due to the chaos that had been brought up by Evilus.

The gods all but their lips in anger, their home had been attacked, innocent blood had been sheed, adventurers killed left and right, some of their kind even sent back to heaven.

They had received a massive blow, both in their city, and in their pride. There was very little fanfare when they won, due to the cost of victory. Every gods and their familia had suffered a hit, one that would send them back years to mend.

For now, all that they could do is to pick up what's left and try to rebuild their city and home.

The gods are all present inside the room of prayer, Ouranus had call them all here to discuss what have happened.

"They have caught us off guard." Ouranus opened as his eyes, he scanned the gods and took a deep breathe as he continued. "Never did I imagine that Evilus would attack, especially after their defeat 15 years ago..."

"This wasn't a on the spot plan." Hades jumped in. "They were planning this for who knows how long now. And I think we all know why they did it."

"Yes." Ouranus nods and looked at Heracles, the other gods followed his gaze, as the god of strength stood his ground and kept his eyes peeled to Ouranus, meeting his gaze.

Ouranus sighed and took his eyes off Heracles, he then turned towards Ganesha and spoke. "I have received the reports of the previous Denatus. And I have to say, I am really disappointed Ganesha."

Ganesha bowed, keeping his eyes on the ground, he opened his mouth and answered. "It was not my secret to tell, Lord Ouranus." Ganesha answered firmly.

"And yet you told Heracles this secret, even swearing-in an oath with him." Ouranus answered, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Well, to be fair, it was August who held the Theïkó óplo, and seeing that he is Heracles' child, Ganesha telling him is the best move." Buddha shrugs as his voice cuts through the tension in the room. His eyes then turned a bit cold as he looked at Ouranus and smirked. "Don't you think so?"

"Buddha... You really need to learn when to shut up." Hades spoke coldly, he was still quite pissed about earlier, when Buddha and Thor sided with Heracles and fought his familia.

"Oh... I really want you to make me." Buddha smirked at Hades direction, his right hand moved towards his bo-staff.

"That's quiet enough!" Baldr stepped in the middle. "We have more pressing matters to discuss than this pointless squabble."

Hades and Buddha still glared at one another but the two understood that Baldr is right. Seeing this, the headmaster of the school district nods in appreciation as he too looked at Ganesha and continued on the earlier discussion.

"I have to agree with Buddha on this one." Baldr opened. "Letting Heracles know that his child possesses a theïkó óplo was the best move possible."

"I disagree!" Apollo joined in, he has an ugly snarl on his face as he looked at the gods. "If Ganesha only told everyone, then we could have prepared better in case of an attack!" he then scoffs as he looked at Ganesha with contempt in his eyes. "If he hadn't been selfish and told us from this start, non of this would have had happened."

The gods murmured to themselves, majority of them seemed to agree with what Apollo had said. But as the whisper started to grow louder, a chuckle cuts through the noise.

The gods followed who the voice had come from and saw Anubis, holding his mouth, trying to suppress a laughter that was threatening to burst. "Oh I'm sorry, hahaha.. It's just so funny to me."

"Anubis!" Ouranus voice was cold. "This is no laughing matter!"

"Oh I know Ouranus, this shouldn't be funny, but the fact that one of the greediest and narcissistic gods is talking about unselfishness is really grinding my nerves... So much so that I find it funny." Anubis voice may have sound playful and lighthearted, but his eyes held a cold chill. Eyes that are fit to his domain in death.

"Don't get me wrong, the weasel right there is right." Anubis said as he points at Apollo. "but you have forgotten one major factor in play here..." he's voice suddenly turned cold as his eyes scanned the entire room. "The majority of the gods in Orario are greedy, narcissistic assholes."

"All of you lots are salivating in taking the young August into your familia, and this was before you all knew that he's a theïkó óplo user. What do you think would happened if Ganesha had made that knowledge public? Hell, if Evilus didn't attack, I reckon many of you would have challenge Heracles in a war game for August after the tournament concluded."

Anubis words earned a smirk from Heracles and Buddha, Ganesha nods in his way... Even Thor let out a soft chuckle as the faces of the gods turned a bit ugly due to Anubis' blunt remarks.

Hades sigh, messaging the bridge of his nose. "As much as I hate to admit it. Anubis is right. To be completely honest, I don't trust any if you. Especially with the stunt Ares pulled when he gave his child a theïkó óplo without our knowledge... And now another user has been spotted. Not only is the primal spear, and demonic sword active, the holy sword has also found a master."

"I think we can all agree that our first priority should be finding whoever that child is. That would be a challenge since I couldn't feel any falna coming from him. So it safe to assume that even without a familia, a theïkó óplo users can use a large portion of mana and the mana within the weapon itself." Hades continued, his eyes linger into Heracles' direction for conformation of his theory. As the god of strength is the only one here who has experience in using such a weapon.

Heracles nods and explained. "Yes. As far as I know, that is true. At least when I was still mortal I was able to use mana without the need for falna because of Epirus." he paused and think, did he really want to reveal the secrets of the weapon. The answer was simple... It was a no.

Those words made Thor clenched his fist. He hated every theïkó óplo, but there's a smoldering anger in him when the Holy sword is mentioned. He did not get a good look of who the user was, as everything happened to fast. But he knew that whoever that mortal was, he will find them, and he will kill them.

Buddha took a quick glance at one of his blood-brother and thought to himself. 'Oh boy. The fat man is angry.' he took a deep sigh. 'Welp... Not really much I can do now.' he coughed and got the attention of everyone inside the room. "By the way... Arthur, the one who used the holy sword... He's now officially a member of my familia."

Everyone inside the room all stopped, a look of shock apparent on their face, all eyes looked towards Buddha who was smiling nonchalant as he scratch the back of his head.

A violent surged of godly aura filled the room as Thor let go of his anger. His eyes are glued towards Buddha. A look of betrayal plastered on his face.

The gods besides Thor was pushed to the ground due to the pressure he was releasing. He clenched his hammer, Mjolnir hard, and made a mad dash towards Buddha.

Buddha stood his ground, his stance relax as he gripped his bo-staff loosely, but before Thor can reach Buddha, Heracles moved and put the angry god in a full nelson hold.

"BUDDHA!!! YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!!!" Thor pushed his body to the limit as he flailed around, trying to break-out of Heracles' hold. The veins in his neck are popping as his face is tinged with red. "THAT FUCKING MORTAL IS MINE TO KILL!!!"

Heracles looked at Buddha with a "what the fuck?" look on his face, while he forcefully pulled Thor back. He might be stronger than the god of lightning when it comes to natural strength, but it doesn't mean Thor was weak.

"ENOUGH!!!" Ouranus screamed with his voice laced with his godly aura. "This is no place for violence!" Ouranus stood up on his throne as he looked at Buddha and Thor.

"Buddha, your decision to bring Arthur into your familia was unwise considering the circumstances," Ouranus said, his tone stern, and authoritative. "We cannot afford internal conflicts now. Our enemy is out there, and we must stand united if we are to have any hope of defeating Evilus."

Buddha sighed while he picked his ears with his pinky finger. ""You don't see the big picture do you?" Buddha then turned to everyone, his face becoming serious. "Evilus as bad as they are, they aren't the threat we should be focusing on. Or did you forget the prophecy Athena had presented to us? These mortals might be our only chance at fighting the threat that is coming."

"And Thor here would undoubtedly kill whoever wielded the Holy sword. And you lots wouldn't be able to stop him." Buddha smirked at Ouranus which pissed the old god off.

"AND YOU THINK YOU CAN?!!" Thor struggled as he used every ounce of his strength to no avail. Heracles put more pressure into his hold, trying to keep the god of thunder in place.

Heracles was a bit torn, Buddha and Thor are both extremely close to him, he started at Buddha with a serious look, trying to gauge what he was thinking.

Buddha looked at Thor apologeticly, his eyes are genuine and sympathetic. He know what he did was something akin to betrayal in the eyes of Thor, but he know that what he was right. Arthur was innocent, he may wield the weapon that killed Thor's family, but he isn't the one who did the deed.

"Well as much fun as this is, I'm afraid I have to take my leave now." A voice cut through the tension as Ares nonchalantly spoke without a care in what was happening.

"Ares, we are still not done." Hades interjected, he looked at the god of war coldly as his eyes are telling him to stay.

Ares scoffed and turned to the exit. "You seem to forget, I am not of Orario. My business here is done."

A tense silence settled over the room as Ares's words hung in the air. The gods, still caught in the whirlwind of emotions and disputes, watched as the god of war made his way toward the exit, his footsteps echoing through the chamber.

Hades, never one to let things go easily, stepped forward, his expression a mixture of annoyance and suspicion. "You can't just walk away, Ares. You're involved in this whether you like it or not."

Ares turned to face Hades, a sardonic smile playing on his lips. "Oh, I'm involved, but my involvement ends where my interests do. Orario's squabbles are not my concern."

"You're a god of war. This is a battle for our realm," Athena chimed in, her voice steady. "Evilus poses a threat to all of us, including you."

Ares chuckled darkly, his gaze flickering with amusement. "Let me make something clear, Athena. I thrive in chaos, in conflict. But this..." He gestured around the room, indicating the gods and their internal strife. "This is petty politics, not war."

Despite the tension, Buddha couldn't help but grin at Ares's audacity. "Well, you might have a point there, Ares. Our infighting is a distraction from the real threat we face." as he said that, he made sure to leave a subtle glance towards Thor.

Ares smirked back at Buddha, acknowledging the unspoken truth in his words. "Exactly. You gods can bicker all you want. Just know that when the real battle begins, I won't hesitate to join the fray." 'And conquer everything for my gain he did not say the last part out loud as he chuckled to himself while he walked out on the gods if Orario.

With that, Ares turned on his heel and strode out of the room, leaving the gods in a state of uneasy silence. "Bastard." Miach muttered under his breath. He looked around and found the gods already starting to follow along Ares' steps.

The gods exchanged glances, a sense of reluctant understanding passing between them. The time for internal discord had passed; now, they needed to focus on rebuilding their city, strengthening their forces, and preparing for the inevitable clash with Evilus.

"As much as I hate to admit, the arrogant bastard is right." Loki also made her way towards the exit. "You can engage in this petty politics all you want. I'll be tending on my children." her voice carried a tone that she would not be stopped. Out of all the familia in Orario, her familia had suffered the most amount of damage.

Freya followed suit, not even saying a word, she walked out, cascading with the other gods also leaving to tend to their losses.

Athena clenched her first. 'How could they not understand? We need to strategies about our next move' she thought to herself.

Heracles sighed, this meeting had achieved nothing but put a strain in the already tense relationship of the gods. His mind wandered off to his child, August. Who is still being tended to and unconscious. 'This is going to be complicated.' his head hurts just imagining what would happen next.

"I'm gonna let you go now." Heracles muttered tiredly towards Thor's ear. "Don't do something stupid."

Thor did not answer, his eyes are glued at Buddha, but Heracles can feel that his muscles are already relaxing. The god of strength slowly ease up, and Thor forcefully pulled his arms out.

He gave a glare towards Heracles and marched out the room, bumping shoulders with Buddha along the way.

Buddha clicked his tongue and closed his eyes, letting the god of thunder walk. He sighed when he opened his eyes, meeting with Heracles' serious look.

"So... What the fuck was that?" Heracles asked as he walked towards Buddha. His face scrunged up.

"I know what I'm doing Heracles." Buddha answered, his tone, drained because of today's event.

"From where I stand, it looks like you don't." Heracles said, his voice a bit annoyed.

"It was the only way to keep Arthur alive." Buddha shrugs as he answered.

"And why do you care about this mortal?" Heracles asked. Curious on why Buddha wants to keep the child alive.

"I don't know... I-I can't put my finger on it, but he feels different..." Buddha paused, he took a deep breath and look back towards Thor's leaving figure.

"I sure hope that you know what your doing old friend." Heracles sighed as he too made his way out of the room. His every step felt force, as he limped towards the exit. The wound on his left leg still giving him trouble as it was still not properly healed.

A good distance away from Heracles, Buddha muttered to himself. "I hope so too." as he also made his way towards the exit.

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Chapter 92 is done now, how do you guys like the story so far?

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