Now then—why was Ishtar so confident about the idea of "seducing several Genshin into joining her familia"?
The reason was simple…
Because in the Lower World, where all gods were forbidden from using divine power, the Charm authority possessed by a Goddess of Beauty was something even the vast majority of gods themselves could not withstand.
Yes—this was precisely the greatest crutch Ishtar had always relied on, the reason she had so often courted death without restraint in the past.
Most likely, her current train of thought was something along the lines of: "If even true gods can't resist my charm, then mere Genshin are obviously no match for me."
A mysterious, self-assured line of reasoning—one that existed purely inside her own head.
The actual facts were these: along the future trajectory of this world, Ishtar would not experience her first failure in using Charm until she attempted it on the rabbit boy who possessed the Liaris Freese skill.
And, unfortunately…
Misfortune never came alone.
On that very same day, she would be utterly crushed by Freya in the very domain where she prided herself most—Charm.
Yes. Acting on the supremely cool-headed principle of "You dare steal my rabbit? Then I'll kill your godhood and crush your heart," the senior Goddess of Beauty, on the very night she annihilated the Ishtar Familia, merely tilted her head and cast a single sideways glance.
That was all it took to charm Ishtar's once fiercely loyal vice-captain—Tammuz Belili, a Lv.4 adventurer—into a traitorous mutt who willingly stood by and watched as his own goddess was driven into a corner.
Only after that did Freya personally shove Ishtar off the top of the tower, sending her plunging to her death and forcibly returning her to the heavens.
In short—just as "people cannot be judged by the same standard," the gap between one Goddess of Beauty and another was also vast.
The Ishtar of today… to put it bluntly, simply hadn't been beaten down by reality yet.
Otherwise, she'd have at least a basic sense of her own limits.
But even if the dark-skinned goddess were to suddenly awaken to the truth right now—it was already too late.
Because her past actions had already trampled upon the bottom line of every core executive within the Freya Familia.
She was destined not to live long—at least in the Lower World.
Perhaps…
If she continued stirring up trouble, she wouldn't even be granted the mercy of returning to the heavens.
========
Time advanced to the day the War Game was held.
On this day, Orario presented a scene of extraordinary excitement.
Because whenever a War Game was held in years past, it wasn't just the gods—even the vast majority of adventurers would tacitly "close shop" for the day, gathering in taverns to chat, joke around, gamble… and watch the match.
The atmosphere inside every establishment on this day was practically identical to watching the World Cup back on Earth in earlier times.
In short, at present, it wasn't just Orario—one could say that the entire continent was swept up in this feverish excitement.
Just look—
Even early in the morning, every tavern was already open, busily preparing huge quantities of food and alcohol. No one was about to miss the best business opportunity of the year.
At the same time, parchment posters were plastered all over the streets and alleys.
On them were clearly drawn a goblet surrounded by a crescent moon, crest of the Soma Familia, and the Water-Reflected Swan Key emblem of the Frigg Familia.
Oh, right—there was something important that almost went unsaid:
In fact, every familia's emblem had to be carefully designed to match their patron god, then submitted to the Guild for approval before it could be officially used.
For example, the Loki Familia used a Jester Playing Card motif.
The Freya Familia's emblem was the Pegasus Valkyrie.
As for the Frigg Familia's Water-Reflected Swan Key…
It was obvious at a glance that Syr had rushed it out over the past few days.
Broadly speaking, it depicted a white swan with a gracefully curved neck gliding across the water's surface, bending its head to gaze at a golden key resting beneath the water.
There was no doubt about it—
The swan was a symbol of the goddess Frigg herself.
And the golden key symbolized… someone in particular.
"Ahem~"
The location was the outskirts of District Seven.
At this moment, Syr (Frigg) was in no hurry to head for the 30th Floor, where the gods were gathering. Instead, she stood at the entrance of the Hostess of Fertility, carefully straightening the collar of today's main participant—Renjiro.
Next, Renjiro, Bell, and Liliruca would all enter to stand by.
At exactly twelve noon, they would be pursued by nearly two hundred members of the Soma Familia.
Then, before three in the afternoon, as long as any Soma Familia member directly touched one of them—or if they violated the rules by leaving the pre-designated ruins zone within the Old City—it would count as a defeat.
At this moment—
"According to the plan we agreed on earlier, Bell and Lili, you two just hide near the outskirts. The moment you're discovered, immediately 'exit the field.'"
After Syr stepped away, Renjiro looked toward the two newcomers in the familia. "After that, the commotion on my side will be huge. Do not head toward the center… or you'll get caught in the crossfire."
He deliberately said this without bothering to lower his voice. Chances were high that, before the match even officially began at noon, these words would already reach the ears of certain people in the Soma Familia.
And that was exactly the effect Renjiro wanted.
In short—
"You must cooperate with my arrangements. Remember that."
"Yes! Captain!"
=======
Eight o'clock in the morning, in front of the Guild Headquarters…
"Hello… hello… um, everyone can hear me, right?"
On a grandly constructed temporary hosting platform, a dark-skinned young man held a magic-stone amplification device—a microphone—and shouted loudly. "Hello everyone! I'm a member of the Ganesha Familia in charge of broadcasting this War Game live!
"My god-given title is [Fire Inferno Flame], and I hope you'll all take good care of me!"
Clearly, this was the hype-man host.
Looking beside him—
"The commentator for this War Game will be our patron god—Ganesha-sama!"
The dark-skinned youth turned toward the burly man wearing an elephant-nosed mask. "Come on, Ganesha-sama, please share a few words with everyone…"
"Ore wa Ganesha da~!"
"Alright! Thank you very much!"
...
At this moment, the area around the temporary stage in front of the Guild Headquarters was already packed to the brim.
Among them were quite a few people who had traveled in from outside the city.
For example—residents from Melen…
"So it's the Ganesha Familia handling this again."
"Well, they are the City Guard. Not surprising."
"That Lv.5 kid… Shakti Varma—where'd she go?"
"Seems like she went to the main gate for security checks… you know, spies are most likely to sneak in at times like this."
...
The two gods chatting in a nearby corner were the patrons of the Poseidon Familia and the Njord Familia, both of whom were long responsible for clearing monsters from water routes.
Just as their conversation ended—
"HAHAHAHA~! Prepare yourselves, foolish gods of Orario! Friendly diplomacy is just a sham! Once I thoroughly scout your internal intelligence today, in a few months the great army of the Rakia Kingdom will be at your gates! The strongest Valkyrie shall surely become my kingdom's supreme general—!"
"You're too loud!"
Beside that brainless war god, a blond youth yearning for the adventurer's life—Prince Marius—hurriedly covered his mouth.
Uh… well…
There really might be spies mixed in today.
Only—
"That guy (Ares) just shouted his entire plan out loud."
"Well, he is an idiot (Ares)."
"Right~ Why am I even surprised? Isn't this completely normal?"
...
Some gods whose familias lacked any adventurers of Lv.2 or above—and thus were unable to attend the gathering on 30th Floor looked from afar at the red-armored genius, their faces filled with utter speechless disdain.
Among them were the currently dirt-poor Hestia and Artemis, both without a single familia member to their names.
Only to see—
"Please don't destroy my home. Please don't destroy my home."
A certain blue-ribbon goddess clasped her hands together, praying silently without end.
Hey—you're a god yourself. Who exactly are you praying to?!
"Ahh…"
Beside her, Artemis could only helplessly rub her forehead at her best friend's loss of composure.
…..
Completed version available on [P]atreon.[c]om/Veltoria [remove brackets]