Chapter 376: "Lord Seito, You Wouldn't Want Zeus to Find Out You Came to Orario Without Permission, Right?"
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To the side, a yellow-haired god wearing a hat slowly opened his squinted eyes.
"So this is the outside god?"
Hermes studied Seito from a distance. As one of the Twelve Olympians, he held a matching share of the Main God Authority. He didn't see anything wrong with a foreign deity like Seito visiting Orario.
"I just wonder if this outside god named Seito will disrupt Zeus's master plan," Hermes muttered to himself.
Zeus's plan was actually very simple: he wanted to birth the world's final, ultimate hero! And his chosen candidate for that title was none other than his own grandson, Bell Cranel!
While Bell was meant to be a hero, he was also an pre-selected candidate for future godhood. In this universe, if a God-King from Floor 71 wanted to build a powerful faction, training their own people from scratch was the absolute best method.
Furthermore, the DanMachi world had one major advantage that beat the standard God Domain system: Development Abilities and Unique Skills! These two system features could manifest based entirely on a mortal's inner desires and heart. To put it bluntly, if used correctly, they were basically customized cheat codes!
Hermes decided to keep this matter a secret from Zeus. He felt that Seito's presence wouldn't ruin Zeus's plan at all. In fact, it might even speed it up! After all, the existence of Level 10 adventurers meant that the power ceiling of the world had just been raised. With that thought in mind, Hermes maintained a polite smile and sat back quietly.
On the other side of the room, Freya, the Goddess of Beauty, had also arrived. She stared at Seito, who was currently the center of attention, and fell into deep thought. Even though Seito's soul looked completely ruined and dripping with yellow oil in her vision, she still wanted to test her charms on him. He was exceptionally handsome, after all, and a foreign god to boot.
Back in the center of the hall, Seito looked around.
"Are there really this many gods down here?" Seito smiled faintly.
It looked like Apollo had invited every single deity with a powerful background in the lower world. But it made sense. After all, the main focus of this divine assembly was the three outside gods and the interdimensional travelers.
"Good afternoon, everyone!"
Tap, tap, tap!
Right on cue, a loud voice rang out. The gods turned toward the sound and saw Apollo walking out from the back with a grand, theatrical smile.
"I believe everyone knows the purpose of today's banquet! We are here to welcome the outside gods who arrived in Orario just yesterday—Seito, the Empress Kirukiru, and Maple!"
With those words, Apollo brought his hands together and began to clap enthusiastically. The other deities and guests followed suit, filling the hall with applause.
Seeing such a massive welcoming ceremony, the corners of Seito's mouth curled up slightly. He didn't know exactly what Apollo was plotting yet. For now, the old god was playing the part of a polite host well enough. He just wondered when the guy would finally cut to the chase.
With a playful look in his eyes, Seito watched Apollo approach.
Cough, cough.
Apollo cleared his throat twice and walked straight toward Seito. Two minutes later, he stopped just half a meter away. He studied Seito up and down with a greasy, confident smile, opening his mouth to speak:
"Lord Seito, you wouldn't want Zeus to find out you came to Orario without permission, right?"
Seito: "..."
Kirukiru, Maple, and Hestia: "..."
Kitahara Iori and the guild members: "..."
The surrounding gods: "..."
The entire hall fell into a stunned silence.
What kind of shameless, threatening line was that?!
Seito was completely dumbfounded. He never could have guessed that Apollo was aiming for this. The old creep had actually set his sights on him! This was absolutely disgusting.
Furthermore... he never expected that a classic line from adult videos in his past life would one day be used against him! Seito complained bitterly in his head, entirely caught off guard by the sheer absurdity of the situation.
Looking at the greasy smile on Apollo's face, a wave of intense revulsion washed over Seito. He felt a sudden, powerful urge to delete this guy from existence right then and there. A mere peak God-rank deity actually had the nerve to threaten a late-stage God-King? Who gave him the courage?!
Apollo kept his smug grin, waiting for a submissive answer. He was completely confident in his threat. After all, no matter how strong Seito was, there was no way an outside god could openly ignore the supreme ruler Zeus! That was why he dared to openly blackmail him.
"Are you threatening me?" Seito was so angry he actually laughed.
"Not at all," Apollo replied smoothly, his eyes crinkling. "I simply want to experience what an outside god tastes like."
The gods were already well-aware of Apollo's notorious reputation, so no one was surprised to hear him speak so boldly. As for his dignity? His shameless behavior had been fully exposed to the entire heavens long ago; what dignity did he have left to protect?
The surrounding gods all leaned forward, fully preparing to enjoy a spectacular piece of drama.
But right at that moment, Hestia bravely stepped out.
"Hey! Apollo, aren't you completely disgusting?! How dare you threaten my friend?!" Hestia pointed her finger straight at Apollo's nose, shouting at the top of her lungs.
Apollo cast a calm, mocking glance at her. If they were up in the heavens, he would definitely give Hestia some respect since she was one of the primary primary deities. But they were in the lower world now! Gods were strictly banned from using divine power here; every single conflict had to be settled through the strength of their Familias. To Apollo, a god like Hestia—who didn't even have a single adventurer under her name—was completely beneath his notice.
"You...!"
Hestia was furious. Her chest heaved heavily up and down as pure anger consumed her. She never expected a lesser god like Apollo to openly treat her with such blatant disrespect!
"So, what is your choice?" Apollo turned back to Seito, wearing a triumphant smile. He felt as though the handsome foreign god was already trapped inside his palm.
"Choice my ass!"
SLAP!
Seito didn't even need to say a word. Kitahara Iori suddenly lunged forward like a striking predator, throwing his weight into a massive, swinging palm that slapped Apollo straight across the face!
The sound was incredibly crisp and loud!
The entire assembly of gods instantly went stiff, their jaws dropping to the floor. The adventurers who had tagged along were completely paralyzed with shock.
A god... just got physically slapped by a mortal?!
In this world, deities always stood at the absolute top of the food chain, looking down on humanity like supreme beings. Yet today, a prominent god had been backhanded right in front of everyone! These people from another world were way too wild!
The crowd's understanding of Kitahara Iori was instantly rewritten, but not a single person stepped forward to help Apollo. After all, what could possibly be better than watching the drama unfold?
Apollo froze entirely, his mind going completely blank as his hand subconsciously moved to touch his burning cheek. He had actually just been struck by a human?!
When he finally snapped out of his daze, pure, unadulterated rage flooded his face. He glared at Kitahara Iori, his voice shaking.
"You insignificant mortal! You dare—!"
"Shut the hell up!"
SLAP~~!
Hidenori Tabata charged out from the vanguard line, mirroring Iori's movement perfectly as he delivered a second, devastating slap right to the other side of Apollo's face!
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Thank you for reading.