The Assembled Gods, Council of Gods

A meeting of the gods began on the middle floor of Babel.

"Bang."

A flat-chested, red-haired woman slammed her hand onto the tabletop, leaning forward with a face full of rage as she glared at the person sitting across from her.

The others seated around her, who had initially been wearing expressions of indignation, were caught off guard by her sudden movement and looked on with startled, bewildered faces.

A wide, circular table sat in the center of the room, surrounded by men and women with exquisite features.

In this spacious chamber, aside from the large round table, the only other features were rows of stone pillars supporting the structure.

The pillars were carved with intricate patterns and lines, and the ceiling was exceptionally high; the vast vertical space evoked a sense of melancholy at one's own insignificance.

With the architectural lines of dragons and phoenixes carved into the pillars and walls, the clean, white room resembled a solemn and grave temple hall.

This was a specially renovated room, created by opening up an entire floor of Babel.

It was a place reserved exclusively for the gods, never open to mortals.

The gods of the major familias of Orario sat here, whispering among themselves as they collectively watched the furious Loki.

The goddess sitting opposite Loki wore a form-fitting dress of light gauze covered by a loose, flowing robe, her waist-length hair draped smoothly and brightly behind her.

She was idly examining her palms and fingernails, only lifting her head slightly to look at Loki once she sensed the commotion across from her.

"Hmm?"

It was merely a questioning nasal sound, yet it carried the naive charm of a young girl, her voice sweet and alluring.

The male god listening nearby was already losing his soul to her, his eyes fixed intently upon her.

Seeing her look of confusion and witnessing the lecherous expression of the god opposite her, Loki's anger only flared higher.

She slammed the table again and spoke to her with dissatisfaction.

"Don't you 'hmm' me! You've caused such a massive mess, do you not intend to say anything for yourself! Freya!"

Upon hearing Loki's words, the goddess opposite remained composed.

She placed her palms on the table, slowly sat upright, and said with a touch of indifference.

"I have already stated my reasons; what else is there to account for?"

Freya, as her name suggests, is the main deity of the Freya Familia.

Her familia and the Loki Familia are known together as the strongest familias in Orario.

Compared to the Loki Familia, which boasts a large number of members and excels in coordinated team combat, the Freya Familia has fewer members and maintains an incredibly tense atmosphere, where opposition and infighting among members are common occurrences.

However, the individual strength of the members in this familia surpasses that of the Loki Familia, even at the top tier; Ottar, the Level 7 adventurer and strongest in Orario, is the captain of this familia.

The cause of the internal strife within their familia is the favor of the goddess Freya.

It is simply because Freya is so beautiful that she has deeply captivated their hearts, regardless of gender.

As gods from the heavens, they naturally possess perfect bodies, and even after descending to the lower world and having their powers sealed, their appearances remain beyond the reach of mortals.

Even the gods who intentionally take the form of old men or children possess features that are upright, solemn, or exquisitely cute, and there are countless other gods with beauty capable of toppling kingdoms.

Yet, the beauty of the goddess Freya is supreme even among such gods; all who behold her are immersed in that world-shaking visage.

As previously mentioned regarding the smithing god Goibniu and Hephaestus, gods possess their own specialized and most renowned abilities, such as smithing, fire, wisdom, and so on.

"Beauty" is both the defining characteristic of the goddess Freya and the ability she herself governs.

Even with her powers sealed in the lower world, her beauty is enough to be used as a weapon, effortlessly causing all living beings in the mortal realm to fall intoxicated before her.

Within the Freya Familia, in order to keep the goddess's gaze lingering on them for even a moment, even companions of the same familia are filled with hostility, and they will stop at nothing to accomplish anything related to the goddess.

"Ha? What kind of reason is that!"

Loki shouted loudly upon hearing her words.

"Talking about husbands and destiny—that's completely unacceptable, you jerk!"

Thinking of the reason Freya had given earlier about pursuing destiny, Loki was so angry her eyes widened.

"My children have suffered quite a bit because of you, so you need to apologize! A-pol-o-gize!"

Loki said through gritted teeth at Freya's indifferent demeanor.

"That's right, apologize!"

"Our children were scared half to death because of this incident."

"My children didn't get hurt, but their shop was smashed to pieces, and it looks like they'll need to close for a while."

The familias of the gods present had been affected to varying degrees by this chaos, and upon hearing Loki's denunciation of Freya, many gods expressed their own dissatisfaction.

Of course, there were also many gods who joined the chorus of condemnation with a laugh, purely for the sake of entertainment.

"I haven't done anything wrong, so an apology is impossible~"

Freya watched the gods denounce her, her voice drawn out as she smiled at them, exuding an astonishing charm as if she were acting coquettishly.

"That's right, Freya is innocent!"

"Beauty is truth!"

"Why should she apologize when she did nothing wrong!"

Many male gods, hearing her sweet, coaxing voice and gazing at her smiling face with intoxicated expressions, suddenly began to defend her actions.

"Ah, beautiful Freya, may I become your husband?"

"Ignore him, would you like to visit my Familia next?"

Others, rather than defending her, hovered around her obsequiously, grasping her hands and offering all sorts of invitations.

The many goddesses present looked on with disdain as this group of lecherous men defended Freya and fawned over her.

Loki glared unkindly at Freya and the gods surrounding her.

"Having someone barge right into our home, I've lost all face. If that's how you're going to play it, I won't let this go. Prepare for war!"

"Huh! Again!"

The gods nearby, hearing Loki's declaration, wore expressions of astonishment and spoke in unison.

Hearing the harsh words Loki threw down, Freya smiled and swept her gaze across the surrounding male gods, pulling her hand back from the one beside her.

Her smile remained unchanged as she stared at Loki and spoke unhurriedly.

"Don't be so impatient, I haven't finished speaking yet."

"First of all, an apology is impossible, but~"

Watching Loki's expression grow increasingly gloomy, the smile on Freya's face deepened, her drawn-out tone serving as a provocation.

Seeing that the fury on Loki's face was about to boil over, she said slowly.

"Compensation, however, is possible."

"How much?"

Hearing Freya suddenly shift the conversation toward compensation, the expression on Loki's face changed, the previous look of anger appearing as if it had been a mere act.

She stared craftily at Freya, a glint of shrewdness in her narrowed eyes, and quickly seized upon Freya's words to ask.

"Your face changed too fast!"

The crowd present looked at the transformed Loki and collectively retorted.

"Shut up! Apologies are of no practical use to me; compensation is a much better deal."

Loki bared her fangs and claws, snapping back at the others' remarks.

Freya watched the boisterous scene before her, the curve of her lips rising even higher.