Chapter 1040 Prelude

"No one...? You found no one?" Zeus asked again. He and the others just had a bad premonition.

"No one." Yoruichi repeated, "These last three days, we went around the world to do something. Their strange case of disappearances was kept in the back of our heads so when we got a chance, we tried looking for them again 'cause we figured that if they were going to turn up, now was the time. Even then, no one showed up. Not a single one."

Zeus hurriedly turned to Ouranous and asked, "Ouranous, do you think they were..."

But the latter immediately interrupted him, "We can't be sure but we have to take action while taking that possibility into account. Let's go back for now. We don't have time to just casually chat here. We have to make sure that no one is going to take his side."

Without waiting, Ouranos flew off toward the direction of the temporary base where everyone was. Odin also soon followed him and the last was Zeus. But before the latter could go, Yoruichi spoke again, "You of all people should know how impossible it is to unite everyone under a single banner."

Zeus stopped but didn't turn around, "But we still have to do it or else, this will be a bloody war that would spell the end of both Lower and Upper World."

The girls watched Zeus fly off and Serafall offered Riveria and Loki a seat.

Riveria and Loki quietly sat down and the former commented, "You people really do like speaking in a cryptic manner. Couldn't you have added more context to your conversation? I want to know more too."

Yoruichi picked up her cup again and answered, "Those old men couldn't answer specifically so we could only gather information while feeling them out. Since they couldn't answer straight, I also couldn't ask straight."

"...What are you going to do next?" The formerly silent Loki finally asked.

Yoruichi briefly looked at her before looking up to the now clear sky, "It depends. Depending on how that guy will fulfill his side of the deal, we'll just retreat or it could be messy."

Thanks to her silence, Loki was able to figure out a few things just from the clues that she got from the earlier conversation. And with the conclusion she came up with, she couldn't help but smile wryly, "So there's a chance that you'll just abandon this world?"

"It's not that unreasonable, is it? In the first place, we only care about a few people here. You might think that we're apathetic, but we're also no heroes. We have no reason to save everyone while risking ourselves."

Loki went quiet once again. But instead of Yoruichi or Serafall, it was Riveria who continued, "But that also means that they'll go to any lengths just to save any one of theirs."

Loki's eyes widened and she was shocked not because of Riveria's words, but how she forgot this very simple fact, 'If Hestia and Artemis were involved... then...' She looked at Riveria and asked, "What about you?"

Riveria smiled and was confident enough to give an answer, "If they are willing to go that far, the least I could do is the same."

Loki grinned and stood up, "Is that so? Then I have to go back and prepare everyone. Mentally at least."

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Yoruichi and Serafall followed Riveria and Loki back to the temporary camp. The moment they arrived Yoruichi and Serafall immediately disguised themselves and saw that all the inhabitants of the Lower World were celebrating. However, there's a very obvious lack of Deities on the streets as every one of them was called in once again.

Unbeknownst to this celebratory mood, the Deities are trying to come up with a consensus of uniting together in case someone turns hostile.

Riveria, Loki, Yoruichi, and Serafall discreetly moved towards where the Loki Familia was camping, and when they got near, they saw that it wasn't just the Loki Familia, but also the Freya, Hephaestus, Takemikazuchi, and Miach Familias were also gathered together. Since this group usually moves as a single faction, it wasn't strange for them to be together.

When they saw Loki and Riveria arrive, they immediately gathered to greet them but immediately halted when they saw their serious expression.

"Loki? What's wrong?" Finn asked.

"Gather everyone and get inside. We need to talk about something important."

Everyone was taken aback and took notice of the two hooded figures behind them. However, no one asked why and did what she asked.

A few minutes later, everyone is cramped inside a tent. Although it was a very large tent, it was still not enough to comfortably accommodate everyone.

As soon as the curtains of the tent dropped down, Riveria immediately erected a barrier that would fake sound and light to avoid arousing the attention and suspicion of those who were outside.

Yoruichi then removed her hood and revealed herself before calling out to someone, "Line. Please help Serafall to recover."

Line immediately came forward and asked, "What about you? I saw you take not just a few hits."

"I'm fine. It's still not enough to affect my combat effectiveness. Serafall, however, was drained significantly."

When Line and the others heard Yoruichi worrying about combat effectiveness, a cold wind brushed everyone's back. Although they still don't know how to react to the earlier battle and how to approach Yoruichi and Serafall after what they've just seen, the fact that she's insinuating that the battle is still not over made them not worry about this small thing.

"Understood." Line immediately ran towards Serafall to start her special treatment.

"Don't tire yourself too much. Kisuke will still need you later." Yoruichi added while sitting down beside Loki and Riveria, "You may proceed, Loki. We can't say anything but if it's you, you should have some idea what you should warn them about."

"Are you sure you don't want me to wait for Hestia and Artemis?"

"They are in another location and they also have some idea of what's going to happen next."