In the Infirmary, the group looked at Adam, who looked like he had just gotten out of a fight and was completely lost. "My son, are you being bullied at school? Should I speak to the principal?" Maya asked 'worriedly' as she looked at Adam with a big smile on her face. "..." Veins bulged on Adam's head. "Mother-." He tried to say something, but Maya interrupted, saying. "Yes, I know, you don't have to say anything. Do not worry about a thing! Mommy Maya will solve any problem for you!" "Listen to me!" "Yes, I'm listening to you. I know what you're gonna say; they were mean to you, right? Mommy will take care of everything!" "You're not listening!" "Pfft... D?D?D?D?D?D?D?D?D?!" Adam looked at Maria, Bruna, Roberta, and Eve who, despite having neutral expressions, had their lips twitching, proving that they were holding back from laughing. To add to his torment, he saw Anderson, Thomas, and even the Wolf staff trying not to laugh. The rest of Victor's group were laughing outright. "You were perfect, Vic!" Leona laughed as she hugged him. "Obviously." He laughed gently. Leona kissed him passionately on his lips, sending a shock wave through the surrounding Wolves. "Oyy! I am not-." When Adam was going to say something, Maya's playful face disappeared, and she spoke with extreme seriousness: "You lost, Adam." The message was unmistakable. 'You lost in a duel you asked for. To dwell on the matter would only be dishonorable.' Adam lost. And the losers had no right to say anything against the winner; that was how the Supernatural World worked. The strongest was always right. A few seconds later, Leona stopped kissing him and jumped onto his back, effectively climbing him. "Whoaa, everyone got smaller!" "You're playing around too much, Leona." Kaguya scolded. "It's okay, Kaguya, we have to celebrate my 'official' wedding." She spoke the last word dismissively, clearly telling everyone that no matter the battle's outcome, she wouldn't have changed her mind about staying with Victor. Deciding he didn't want to touch that hornet's nest right now, Volk looked at Victor: "... Alucard, that last attack, you could've killed him if you wanted to, right?" Victor lightly smiled, "... You seem to be getting something wrong, Volk Fenrir." "Huh?" "I could have killed him at any moment since the start of the duel if it weren't for the limitations I'd placed on myself." "... Is he that weak for you?" "Yes." Victor nodded. Adam felt like he was slapped in the face now. 'I need to train more. I refuse to be so helpless against an opponent again! That, indeed, was his complete loss. Even if he had used his Full Werewolf Form and used up all his Energy, Adam still felt it wouldn't have made a difference. For starters he couldn't even harm Victor's body! The King of Hell was on a completely different level. "..." Volk looked closely at Alucard's casual expression as several thoughts crossed his mind, thoughts that only he knew. "To answer your first question, the attack I performed directed most of the damage toward his armor. If I had intentionally targeted Adam's body..." "... Wait a sec..." Tasha, who had been silently observing everything, suddenly intruded on the conversation. "Are you really saying you hit the pressure point of an inanimate OBJECT in mid-air?" Just like the human body, an object also had 'pressure points', which could also be called 'flaws' in its construction or 'imperfections' in its structure. It didn't matter the given name, but the fact that with Victor's current eyes, he could see these imperfections, and because of that, he could create this kind of Technique. "Yeah." "Fucking monster." She grumbled. Long ago, she lost all her majesty in the face of such irrationality. "Now that everyone knows this, stop being a crybaby, Boy. Your body will recover soon, BOY." "Stop calling me that, Bastard!" ... Some hours later. The personal residence of Adam William Lykos. "Now that you've fought him, tell me, what do you think?" Maya asked. "... Honestly, I never thought that the boy I watched grow up would become such a monster in such a short time." Adam sighed. "I didn't have a chance to do anything, and no matter what weapons in my arsenal I had, everything seemed meaningless when I thought about using it against Victor. This feeling increased when he demonstrated learning the first steps of a Technique that took me years to learn in a matter of minutes." "Oppressive... That's how he felt." Adam had never felt like this before. Even when he looked at Volk, he could still see a way to win, but when the opponent was Victor, all his options disappeared, like he was a mountain he could never overcome. ... I see... Looks like my prodigal son finally hit a hurdle in his development, huh!" Maya smiled, not looking the least bit sad about Adam's problem. "Mother..." "At some point in a warrior's development, this barrier you're feeling will appear. It's a normal process, and it's up to you to overcome it or stop your own development now. The choice is completely yours." "..." Adam's expression was neutral, but Maya could see from his eyes that Adam met his resolve. Maya smiled. 'I must say that Victor is indeed a good motivator to get stronger... For strong-minded people like my son, that is.' She could see someone weak-minded giving up entirely after knowing Victor's background. The monstrous talent that eclipsed everyone and everything could be a very good thing, but it could also be disastrous. "Did you notice, my son?" "What...?" "At some point, the duel became more about you than your own daughter." "...Oh." Adam's eyes widened when he realized that his mother was correct. Maya laughed even harder when she saw her own son's goofy expression. "Think about your duel; learn from your mistakes and inabilities. Defeat is just another process to achieve something better." "... I know. You always say that when you beat me up." "I'm glad you didn't forget my teachings." Maya smiled briefly before turning her body and walking towards the exit. "Where are you going?" "I am going to visit my granddaughter and her prodigy Husband." "They must be practicing making babies now... Maybe I should go do other things for now! Maya thought. ... Earth. Violet, Sasha, Ruby, Scathach, Aphrodite, Hestia, Morgana, and Jeanne were looking at two women with neutral gazes. Several thoughts were going through the women's heads. 'So this is the Primordial Goddess of The Night...' Ruby thought curiously as she leaned against the wall. 'Hmm, so this is the most betrayed woman in Greek history.' Sasha, who was sitting on the sofa, thought. "Two more bitches, great.' Violet, who was next to Sasha, thought in disdain, but that was just her surface thoughts. Underneath those thoughts, she was thinking about what the two Goddesses wanted and why they were here. "... Hestia, why are there so many women here?" Hera asked politely. "That's a question that has many answers... After all, everyone is here for their own reasons. Right, Aphrodite?" Hestia replied. "Indeed." Aphrodite nodded naturally. While Hera seemed oblivious to the current situation, the same did not apply to Nyx. The Primordial Goddess knew full well that all the women present here were the 'Leaders' of Victor's Faction, Especially those three younger women who seemed to just be here, watching everyone else. They were the ones with the most decision-making power here. 'Four on security, huh...! Nyx thought when she felt someone was watching her from afar. She could feel two women's gaze, one that was burning like flames and another that was sharp as a blade. 'Probably Sasha's mother and Violet's mother. The last security guard was hiding in the shadows, presumably someone from Clan Blank. The worst of all the gazes was someone who was above the clouds. The gaze was wild and arrogant. That was the most obvious gaze of all. 'A damned Dragon... They took a lot of precautions, huh.' "Now that we are all here, please state your purpose, Hera." Aphrodite gently pointed out, acting as the negotiator. After all, she was the most knowledgeable about the negotiation among individuals. Rather, Aphrodite wanted Rhea to negotiate, but she could ruin the entire negotiation with her 'sentimentality'. A similar situation could happen with Hestia, but in Hestia's case, Aphrodite would know how to handle her if necessary. Rhea was much harder to convince. "...So? Are you not even going to introduce who these women are?" Hera asked. "It is not necessary. Just say what you want." Aphrodite was blunt and effective. It was her group that had the power in this negotiation, not Hera. "....." Hera was speechless when she heard Aphrodite's tone, she narrowed her eyes a little, and annoyance took over her entire body language. It was at that moment that Nyx decided to intervene. "The reason Hera is here is simple." "Zeus has gone mad." "..." A silence fell around the area, but it wasn't a silence of disbelief but indifference. "And? Hasn't that always been the case? What is the difference?" Aphrodite pointed out that she really couldn't see the problem in the situation. "You don't understand, Aphrodite. He tried to kill Hera." "...What...?" Hestia looked at her sister in disbelief. Seeing the younger sister nodding her head, the feeling of disbelief only increased. Her brother was the worst of bastards, that was an absolute fact, but he never tried to kill Hera. In his twisted form, he still 'liked' Hera, or at least, Hestia thought he did. "... What exactly happened?" Aphrodite asked with a more serious tone. "That's the problem; we don't know." Nyx pointed. "Oh? Even you don't know that?" Aphrodite raised an eyebrow. "Indeed. This fact annoys me greatly; no matter how often I observe Zeus, he still looks the same. Still, on several occasions, he has demonstrated various mental instabilities that I have never seen before." "...The other day, he just put several Lesser Gods to death just because someone crossed paths with him," Hera spoke softly. "Eternal death with his Authority, or just sleep?" Aphrodite spoke. "The coma... Fortunately." Hera spoke. "..." Aphrodite and Hestia narrowed their eyes. "I'm sorry to say this; after all, I'm an outsider who doesn't know anything about Gods, but... Isn't he just being the Zeus that was portrayed in Mythology?" Ruby pointed: "What was his nickname again...? Oh, yes. The child who became a God-King? He's an unstable bastard who does whatever he wants, no matter who he harms along the way, right?" "You are correct, Ruby. But that is not why Hestia and I are silent." Aphrodite spoke. "What do you mean?" "Zeus is killing his own subordinates. That's the problem." "... How? Don't be offended, but the Gods aren't exactly known for being sane, especially Zeus." Ruby continued. "If any other God suddenly went mad, I wouldn't be surprised. After all, eternity can be boring." "But Zeus? This is weird." "Why?" Ruby asked. "Metis is still in his head Ruby. All this time, she's been helping him, and although he doesn't listen to her advice most of the time, her existence still keeps Zeus's mental faculties intact. She's like a shield that protects his psyche from any kind of trouble" "...Metis... By Metis, you mean that Titan, who was his First. Wife? The woman who has the womb of gold, the woman who was prophesied to bear sons more powerful than Zeus, where the first child would be a daughter who would be wiser than her mother, and the second child, a son more powerful than his father, who would eventually overthrow Zeus and become the next King?" "Yes, that's her." "... A God became a fly and was swallowed by another God, and this God who was swallowed is living in his head..." Sasha had never heard so much bullshit in her life. "Don't ask. Just accept it. The Gods are strange like that." Ruby wisely pointed out. "You haven't even heard the part about Zeus turning into the rain to rape a woman," Violet told Sasha. "...What the hell..." "That was exactly my reaction when I read about Greek Mythology." Violet nodded. "Hey, you can say what you want about the Mythology, but one thing's for sure, the stories are interesting," Ruby said. "That's true." Violet nodded, "Although most of the time, I simply want to purge the Greek Pantheon from existence." "I can agree with that sentiment." Ruby nodded. "..." The Greek Goddesses really couldn't say much about the three girls' conversation. It was a fact that the reputation of the Greek Pantheon was terrible in the international community of Supernatural Beings. "Moving on... You said that Zeus couldn't go mad because his First wife, Metis, is still in his head, right?" Violet spoke. "Then why did he try to kill his Second Wife?" "I am not the Second Wife, Mortal!" "Correct, you are the Fiftieth Wife. How many women has he slept with in the last week anyway? Knowing his Myth, he must be sticking his loathsome instrument into anything with a hole." "You-" Hera was going to explode in rage, but Violet stopped her. "But we're not here to talk about the failed love life of the Goddess of Marriage. Why are you here asking for our help?" "Can you please sum up the request in 20 words or less? We don't have all the time in the world, you know? Nobody cares if Zeus has gone crazy, if he's kicking ass, or if he's going to die tomorrow." "..." A silence fell around. ... In a distant location, Agnes and Natashia listened to the conversation through a communication device. "Violet..." Agnes facepalmed. "Hahaha~, she's just like you, Agnes!" Natashia laughed loudly. "She's not! I'm not that rude!" "Indeed, you are worse!" "That isn't true!" "Yes, you are." "No, I'm not!" ... "...I apologize for Violet, Hestia. She has no tact for feelings." Sasha spoke kindly to Hestia as she glared daggers at Violet. Violet opened her eyes wide, realizing that what she said could have hurt Hestia. Sasha completely agreed with everything Violet said but thought Violet should have chosen more 'polite' words. After all, even though the two didn't care about the Greek Pantheon, they still cared about this Goddess of The Home who Blessed their life and their Family. And said Goddess of The Home still cared about her siblings. Hestia smiled lightly at Sasha and said, "It's okay, Sasha. My feelings towards my younger brothers are complicated, but... Haah... It's complicated." "..." Violet looked neutrally at Hestia and sighed a little: "Well, family issues are always complicated, no matter if you are Mortal or Divine." She spoke in a gentle tone. Hestia laughed gently and said, "Indeed... Problems related to family are always tricky to resolve." As the Goddess of The Home, she was exceptionally knowledgeable about this specific matter. ... Although Violet has no language filter..." Scathach began to speak. "She is correct." Scathach looked seriously at Hera: "Cut the bullshit, objectively specify the problem, and explain what you need our help for. Trying to appeal to our feelings is futile since most women here couldn't care less what happens to the Greek Pantheon and its inhabitants." Hera's face showed several feelings, from revolt, shame, and anger, until finally ending in acceptance and resignation. The thing is, she had no one else to turn to for help. She was a Goddess of Marriage, and the civil war state of the Greek Pantheon now made her completely useless. She was a 'Queen' but was far from being like her mother... In other words, she was not competent. "... Very well. I will explain what happened and the reason for our visit." "In 20 words or less, please. We don't have time for 24 minutes of flashbacks. This is not Naruto." Violet pointed. "...huh...?" Hera didn't understand anything. "Don't bother. It's just an inside joke. Please continue." Sasha spoke. "Okay..." ... Supremacy!