1064. The Goddesses' Argument / 1065. Illya's Plan Comes Together ...

"In short! With my Hephaestus and the guild's guarantee, the payment for this contract has already been deposited into the guild's dedicated account, so you can rest assured. In addition, Shirou has agreed to provide one billion falies as military expenses for purchasing necessary supplies for the expedition, and the guild has also agreed to contribute a portion of the funds."

"Oh, oh, oh, oh!" the gods exclaimed in admiration.

"In that case, I have no objection. My clan can help provide the provisions for the march," the God of Commerce said, sitting down.

"Alright, this expedition is unprecedented in scale and requires a huge amount of food and supplies. Afterwards, I'll go with you to see Shirou, and then we'll go to the guild to complete the formalities. I can give you an order of 300 million."

"No problem, no problem," the business magnate rubbed his hands together and agreed with a smile.

"One hundred million, two hundred million, three hundred million... Waaaaaa..." Hestia also looked shocked, pointing her fingers and calculating the numbers. Did she really know so many rich people? Actually, she could sell potato balls too.

The surrounding deities, who were more focused on business, were heartbroken. They had been too slow and missed a chance to make money. They knew that war was always a time to make a fortune.

Once a country goes to war, the entire population enters a state of war preparedness, with everyone working 996 shifts. Even if a pound of pork sells for 100 fares, it will be snapped up and there will be no market for it.

"In that case, let's go all out!" the gods said, rubbing their hands together, eager to try their luck.

Freya stood up, and her action immediately drew the attention of all the male gods. The surroundings fell silent, and the silver-haired goddess finally spoke:

"I object!"

Chapter 1064 The Goddesses Quarrel

Freya's words instantly turned the lively atmosphere of the meeting completely cold.

The male gods all looked at Freya, who, as the most popular goddess, always enjoyed such privileges.

Loki squinted and quietly retreated to the side. She felt that today's divine gathering was truly turbulent and unpredictable, so she decided to stay out of the way and watch the show.

"Wait! Everyone thinks it's necessary to deal with this, what do you mean by suddenly coming out to oppose it?" Ishtar said unhappily.

"Oh dear, I'm not saying we shouldn't deal with Surtr, if he really exists... Ishtar, don't forget my origins. Of all those present, besides a god, I'm the one who has had the most dealings with that giant."

Freya, holding up her long dress, walked slowly towards the stage, glanced at the wine-red-haired goddess huddled to the side, and said with a smile.

"Right, Loki ~!"

"Well... that happened over a hundred million years ago, there's no need for everyone to remember it so clearly," Loki replied awkwardly, his eyes narrowed and cold sweat dripping down his face.

"Loki, if it were the Surtr you know, he would do this if he were resurrected."

"They'll probably just burn everything they see, no matter what..." Loki said helplessly.

"Yes, the giant I know isn't one to hide somewhere and lie dormant. Ultimately, he's a weapon of destruction, unable to suppress his destructive urges. So whether it's Surtr or not remains to be confirmed. I think it's unwise to mobilize Orario's forces just for speculation," Freya said.

"Are you going to ignore the mutations happening in the dungeons right now, those monsters that are flaming and leveling up?"

"But that doesn't mean it's because of Surtr. Nobody has actually seen it with their own eyes, has anyone?" Freya retorted.

"Loki Familia and Shirou both discovered a secret passage in an unusual lava region on the fiftieth floor. The children all saw the figure of a mutated fire giant, right, Loki?" Ishtar said, looking at the master of ceremonies.

Freya glared at Loki, putting pressure on her.

"Ah... yes, my child did mention it," Loki replied, his voice choked with emotion.

She was actually one of the first to discover the problem, and even imprisoned Shirou because of it. If the guild hadn't intervened later, she would have definitely gotten to the bottom of things. Although, in the end, it turned out that Shirou had run away with one of her clan's girls, and she was furious about it.

If there's no way to resolve the situation with Surtr, she's actually inclined to take the initiative and eliminate the danger herself.

The most difficult thing is that she is now caught between Freya and Ishtar, and it seems that no matter what she says, she will be glared at.

"Flames don't necessarily mean Surtr. We've already discussed having the guild reassess the difficulty of the dungeons regarding mutated monsters," Freya argued.

"Isn't the existence of dangers in the dungeons that can mutate monsters enough to explain the problem?" Ishtar glared at Freya and said.

"That's why we should be even more careful! Nobody wants the tragedy that happened to Zeus and Hera's Familia to happen to them again," Freya said, looking at everyone.

"What if Surtr really crawls out from underground?!" Ishtar demanded angrily, waving her hands in frustration.

"Then we gods will join forces to suppress him!" Freya said.

The meeting fell silent; Freya's words had been far too impactful.

"This..."

"But! That was an agreement made by all the gods a thousand years ago. Gods cannot use their Divine Power to interfere with the human world," a god said, frowning.

The gods are actually inhabitants of a higher-dimensional world. They descended to this world because they became interested in humanity. In exchange for bestowing gifts upon humanity, the gods formed their own clans and gained the faith of these clans.

But in essence, they are outsiders. If extraterrestrials of Gawain, or even Earthlings from the 21st century, came here, they might have the same effect.

They are, after all, outsiders, and we must respect the will of the native people. We cannot allow this innocent world to be turned into a battlefield because of disputes between foreign forces, where wars are arbitrarily waged and mushroom bombs are randomly dropped.

Therefore, measures were implemented to limit the power of various factions, prohibiting the use of mushroom bombs to prevent them from acting recklessly.

Therefore, in this world, the clans are able to maintain a balance and harmony with the gods and live together.

"This is an exception, a special case. No one wants this world to be destroyed, right? Since the rules are decided by the gods, why not hold another meeting to change them? Then we can agree on a unified approach and propose a solution for Surtr."

"But... it takes time to summon all the gods."

"By the time we summoned all the gods, it was already too late! Why did we have to wait for Surtr to crawl out from underground? We should have dealt with him now, before he was at his peak! Are the clans we've chosen so incapable of shouldering this responsibility?"

"What if they die? The children are very strong, but they only have one life!"

The famous "families" such as the "Hephaestus Familia", "Astraea Familia", and "Ishtar Familia" all advocated sending troops to subdue them.

Some business gurus with vested interests also said that since the commission was reliable and the reward was generous, there was no reason not to do it.

However, the gods, led by Freya Familia, stated that they lacked sufficient information and could not act rashly. They suggested that if necessary, they could use their Divine Power to gather the strength of all the gods and suppress Surtr in one fell swoop.

There are also some neutral deities who do not express their opinions but simply observe.

"The gods around us are arguing endlessly," Hermes said with a wry smile.

"Enough!! Let's vote! That's the fairest way, the majority must obey the minority!" Astraea suggested loudly.

"Yes, then let's vote," Freya said.

Upon hearing about the vote, Hestia, Apollo, and the others all smiled. Everything was proceeding according to plan; if it were a vote, they wouldn't lose!

When the gods began to act, the results were quite different from what they had expected.

"What!!!" Hestia exclaimed in surprise.

Chapter 1065 Illya's Plan

At the meeting, the voting began, and the seats were divided in two: one side supported Hephaestus's faction, which supported accepting Shirou's request, and the other side supported Freya's faction, which supported rejecting Shirou's request.

There were exactly two hundred gods participating in this divine assembly. The gods first Cause, walked to the high platform, and then went to the seats of the side they supported in turn.

The large screen created by Divine Power will automatically display the corresponding vote counts in red and blue divine characters. The side with fewer votes will unconditionally support the side with more votes, which is the so-called winner-takes-all.

Freya and Ishtar, as the initiators, now stand on opposite sides of the seats, waiting for their supporters to take their places.

Freya has a group of die-hard male fans, and they all sat together on Freya's side of the blue team.

Freya, as the goddess of beauty, is an idol-like figure in the divine realm, so even without thinking, male gods can sit next to her.

However, Shirou had done his homework beforehand for this vote, winning over the gods and making them a community of shared interests. For example, the gods who had signed exclusive supply contracts with Shirou for over a hundred years would not benefit if Shirou's business ran into trouble.

At this time, even the gods of the clans that could profit from this large-scale expedition and manage the supplies needed for the war would all vote for Shirou.

This was necessary because the gods had different ideas and different attitudes toward Surtr.

It is precisely because of this prior planning that many gods are now able to stand on Ishtar's red side.

Of the two hundred gods attending this gathering, 50 goddesses, who had been bribed and persuaded by Ishtar, had already agreed to help, while more than 50 male gods had signed long-term contracts with Shirou. In addition, there were Hestia and the others, as well as several business gods who had previously reached an agreement.

The Red Faction has already surpassed 100, so this vote is practically a sure thing.

Just when Hestia and her companions thought they had victory in their grasp, what happened next took them completely by surprise.

The dozens of male gods who were supposed to stand behind them and had signed a century-long contract with Shirou somehow ended up supporting Shanks.

"Hey! What's going on with you guys? You should be standing over here!" Apollo looked at his drinking buddies with surprise.

"Sorry, Apollo."

"After careful consideration, we've decided to support Freya's side."

The male celebrities laughed awkwardly as they spoke.

"How could such a stupid thing happen? Have you been won over by that goddess?" Apollo said angrily.

"Sorry, Apollo, but I really couldn't refuse Freya," the boys said to their drinking buddies from the previous night, with whom they had been having a great time.

"You guys need to think this through. You're allies who signed a contract with Shirou. Aren't you afraid of having to pay a huge amount of breach of contract fees?" Hephaestus asked, looking at these male gods.

"Oh dear, threats aren't good, Hephaestus. It's just money; my clan will cover it for them," Freya said with a smile, seated in the blue side's seat. For her, money was truly no problem; if she needed it, countless super-rich people in the mortal realm would vie to offer their entire fortunes to her.

"That's basically it!" When it was the male god's turn, he went out and sat down next to Freya.

"Damn it, they actually pulled this trick!" Apollo looked at Freya, who was sitting high in the center of the blue team, and bit his lower lip in frustration.

"How many gods are still willing to support us?" Hestia asked anxiously.

The gods who would never betray Shirou include Hestia, Hephaestus, Hermes, Take Mikazuchi, Miher, Ishtar, Ereshkigal, Astraea, and Soma, totaling nine votes.

More than 20 male gods have been swayed, so the key now lies with the goddess side that Ishtar has won over, as well as the neutral gods. If things go smoothly for the goddess side, and a few more neutral gods join their side, then the vote count might be reversed.

At that moment, Freya made her move.

She smiled and looked at a splash of blue in the crowd of gods.

"Aqua, I heard you recently got an 80-pearl necklace from the deep sea. Why don't you come sit here? I happen to have an 88-pearl necklace here, I can give it to you," Freya said with a smile.

"Really?!" The blue-haired goddess was immediately tempted and wanted to side with Freya!

"Hey! Wait! Aqua! Don't go back on your word!" Ishtar shouted in a frenzy.

"Sorry, Ishtar, I'll return the necklace to you later. But 88 is bigger than 80, so I can only go over there." The blue-haired goddess, true to her desires, happily trotted towards the blue side.

Just then, a figure wearing a cloak blocked her way.

"Wait a minute, you idiot." A seductive queen's voice came from inside the cloak.

"Who are you?!" Aqua looked at the person blocking her way with surprise.

A fair hand emerged from within the cloak, lifting the veil to reveal long, glossy, silver-pink hair. As the cloak was lifted, a slender and voluptuous figure was also revealed.

The goddess radiated a crystalline, iridescent light and exuded a pleasant fragrance—an alluring power unique to the goddess of love.

"This beautiful goddess is..."

"How strange! There's no reason I haven't heard of such beauty."

The male gods on Freya's side also showed expressions of infatuation and asked in confusion.

"Wait, don't block my way!"

"Ganesha, hold her down," Kama instructed the white elephant statue behind him.

"I know!" A chubby girl jumped out of the statue and pinned Aqua to the ground.

"Listen up, you idiot! Don't you know what kind of goddess Freya is? Once she achieves her goal, you'll be abandoned. Not only will she give you the necklace, but she'll also take away all the members of your familia!"

"What?!" Aqua exclaimed, looking at Freya from the blue team.

"Hehe, you're joking." Freya looked at Kama and gave him a sweet smile.

"Whether it's a joke or not is hard to say. But the way you stole your idol from Ishtar wasn't exactly honorable, was it?" Kama replied with a smile.

"Hehehe."

"Hehehe."

The two goddesses gazed at each other across the distance, smiling sweetly.

Both sides were stunningly beautiful women, but as they locked eyes, the atmosphere became tense and fraught with anxiety, as if gunpowder had been ignited in the space.

"Wow, that's amazing! Her aura is just as strong as Freya's. Who is she anyway?"

"Ganesha was with her, that was... Kama!"

Finally, a god revealed the goddess's identity.

Chapter 1066 Shirou's Deadly Attack

"What! Isn't Kama the little loli who's even younger Hestia?"

"I've heard that Kama is Formless God who can freely control the age of her body."

"Wow! Wouldn't that be the ultimate in being both cute and mature?"

"I might be a little tempted and want to switch my support to her, who knows?"

The boys were excitedly whispering and commenting on the stunning appearance of the Kama.