Several minutes before Aka Manah had pierced William’s chest with his clawed hands…
“What’s this?” a hideous demonic creature with bat-like wings asked the Gods that were blocking the path to the World Gate in a teasing tone. “Are you guys here for a festival or something?”
The demonic-like creature chuckled as he gazed at the faces of the Gods that were standing in their way.
“Shut up, Chernobog!” Lily shouted as she raised her adorable fists at the Demonic God. “None of you are getting past us.”
“Ah… Lily, sweet little Lily, why are you doing this?” Chernobog inquired in a voice that was similar to an adult coaxing a child. “We’re not going to do anything bad. We’re just going to take a stroll in Ahriman’s world. Isn’t that right, guys?”
“Right. We’re just going to take a stroll,” a Goddess replied with a smile. “Nothing wrong with that, right?”
“Hmph! Do you think I’m a gullible child that will believe your words, Loviatar?” Lily glared at the blind Goddess who had the power to bring all sorts of diseases and pestilence to the world. “You’re not taking a step through the World Gate period!”
“Hah? Why must it be like that?” a God that looked like a centaur with black wings on its back asked. “Gavin, Adephagia, Eros, and Astrid went there to have fun. Why can’t we join as well?”
“Nergal, you don’t have to go down there to have fun,” Issei rested his hand on Lily’s shoulder before stepping forward to become the main vanguard of the Gods protecting the World Gate. “If you are itching for a brawl, we can do it right here, right now.”
< Boost! >
Issei cracked his knuckles as the word Boost! Repeated several times in the background.
“A brawl here? Why not?” a God that went by the name Adro replied. “Brawls are our favorite pastime, so let’s get it on, shall we?”
Hundreds of Evil Gods laughed as they joined their comrades’ side. Clearly, they were itching for a fight, and they were just using Ahriman as an excuse to instigate the other Gods into having a brawl with them.
Several Gods of Hell stood on the Evil Faction’s side, however, there were quite a few who stood among Lily and the others.
“Aamon, Beleth, Purson, and Asmodeus, why are you standing there?” Beleth, one of the Kings of Hell, asked in confusion. He was a God that rode on a horse, “Aren’t you supposed to be on our side?”
Aamon smiled and gave his acquaintance a wink. “Let’s just say we owe a mortal from that world a favor, and now is a good time to return it.”
“Um, I guess that works as well. I’ve always wanted to give you a good beating until that handsome face of yours becomes swollen like a pig.”
“Perfect. Now you have a perfect excuse to do that. But, we’ll see who among us will get beaten like a pig first.”
“Oi! I’d appreciate it if you don’t involve my brethren in your squabbles.” the God of Boars, Moccus, commented. He was a Neutral God, who sat on the side of the peanut gallery who were planning to watch the skirmish for their amusement.
“Shut up, Pig!” Beleth shouted. “If you’ve got guts, come here and make my day.”
“Bastard, you really think you’re so tough, huh?” Moccus glared at Beleth as he walked towards the side of the Gods protecting the World Gate. “Since you want to get your ass handed to you, I’ll grant your wish, and make sure that you apologize to all the pigs in the world!”
Sitri, and Yomyael, who together with Beleth formed the Evil Trinity of Demons, chuckled after hearing the Boar’s threats.
Just like most of the bored Gods of the Evil Faction, they decided to join the fun and clash with the other Gods due to boredom.
“Dim! Dim!” a New Generation God rolled towards Lily before facing the Evil Gods with an adorable glare.
“No you can’t join this fight Dim Dim,” Lily picked up the little Dimsum God who was born a few years ago. “You’re still too young. You can just watch from the side for now and join when you become stronger.”
“Dim!” the Dimsum God nodded and allowed itself to be returned to the peanut gallery, where the Popcorn God was taking everyone’s orders.
“Make sure to deal with Issei as soon as you can,” Chernobog whispered to one of his comrades. “If you allow him to become active for long, his strength will gradually increase until it surpasses that of a Primordial God.”
Moros, the God of Doom, nodded his head in understanding. “Got it.”
Surprisingly, the Faction of Light didn’t join the battle and simply stood beside the peanut gallery. They were the staunch opponents of the Evil Gods, but this time, they were sitting this one out.
Lugh, who had a beef with William, chuckled internally as he looked at the small number of Gods standing to protect the red portal, which led towards the World of Hestia.
Right now, the number of Evil Gods that wanted to pass through the gate outnumbered the defenders three to one.
The Goddess of the Heavenly Virtues stood alongside Lily and the others. Clearly, they decided to join this fight even though they weren’t supposed to because of their daughters back in Hestia.
Lyssa, the Goddess of Wrath glared at the Evil Gods as she hovered in the air. Since William was the father of Celine’s child, she decided to protect him just this once, in order to not make her daughter sad.
The other Goddesses of the Deadly Sins also stood at the World Gate, looking at the Evil Gods with contempt.
Usually, the Deadly Sins should be in the Evil Faction, but due to conflicts of interests, they decided to take a stand.
“Fight!” Beleth roared as he took the initiative to charge towards Issei and the others.
“Get them!” Moccus, the Boar God, squealed before it charged at the Evil Gods with the intention of screwing them three times over.
Immediately explosions reverberated in the surroundings as the Gods clashed against each other.
Aamon laughed as he transformed into a black wolf with a serpent’s tale and unleashed a breath of hellish flames at the other Gods of Hell whom he wanted to crush long ago.
“Luvly! Merry go Round!” Lily shouted as she activated her Divinity.
Several stuffed bears, horses, and candy canes sent the Gods that targeted her flying.
“Got you, little girl!” a God who resembled a giant bear reached out his paw to grab the pink-haired Loli Goddess, but his paw was swatted away by a Human God wearing glasses, and had a pink bandana on his head.
“I’ll protect you, Lily!” the Lolicon God shouted. “Get away, Pedobear God! Lolita no touch!”
“Shut up weeb!” the Pedobear God replied. “Go back to your room and watch your 2D Waifus!”
Lily made sure to move as far away from the two New Generation Gods, who were slapping each other silly, as she could. Although they belonged to the same faction, Lily wasn’t too fond of either of them because they always stalked her whenever she walked around the Temple of the Ten Thousand Gods.
Moros, the God of Doom, was supposed to fight Issei, but several other Gods had already targeted the Harem God due to old grudges. The God of Male Virgins, as well as the No-Harem God, attacked Issei with a vengeance, as if they couldn’t exist under the same sky.
Moros then smashed the other lesser Gods who had joined to defend the World Gate with ease and sent them flying.
He then charged towards the World Gate with the intention of passing through it. He didn’t care about the repercussions he would receive after descending to the world. He simply wanted to run amok and destroy everything in his path.
However, before he could reach the gate, a Black Obsidian Throne materialized out of nowhere.
Sitting on it was an otherworldly who was busy filing her nails with a nail filer. As if sensing Moros’ gaze on her, the black-haired Goddess raised her head and looked at the God of Doom with one of her eyebrows raised.
“Yes?” the Primordial Goddess of Darkness asked. “How can I help you?”
“Um, hello, Mother,” Moros said before smacking an Evil God who was about to run past him, sending him back into the massive brawl that had started to become chaotic. “Nice weather we’re having today, eh?”
The Primordial Goddess smiled and nodded her head. “Yes. A perfect day for a brawl.”
“Hahaha! Indeed. Well, um, I’ll go back and beat some Gods back there.”
“Have fun.”
As if being given a royal pardon for a crime that he had committed, Moros returned to the battle. However, this time, he switched sides and started smacking the Evil Gods who were trying to enter the World Gate, which was now being blocked by the Primordial Goddess, who was also his mother.
The other Evil Gods also saw that their path had been blocked by the Primordial Goddess of Darkness, so they decided to just focus on just fighting against the opposing faction, and no longer venturing near the World Gate.
Primordial Gods weren’t pushovers, especially the Primordial Goddess of Darkness, who had been born before any other Gods came into existence.
As long as she sat on the Obsidian Throne, blocking the entrance to the World Gate, no other Gods, even the Primordial Gods of Light, dared to challenge her might.
Several minutes later, the Primordial Goddess paused from filing her nails as she gazed down on the World of Hestia.
The corner of her lips curled up into a sneer as Aka Manah pierced William’s chest with his clawed hands with the intention of corrupting the Half-Elf’s will, forcing him to become one of Ahriman’s subordinates.
“Fools rush in where angels fear to tread,” the Primordial Goddess said softly. “You’re playing with Pandora’s box. Sometimes it’s better not to open it. Sometimes, it’s better not to know.”
The Primordial Goddess laughed silently as her precious Prince discovered the secret that Amalthea had kept hidden from everyone, except her, for thousands of years.
‘I guess I’ll descend on my Avatar later and help him with the cleanup,’ the Primordial Goddess mused as she gazed at the constellation in the sky, whose stars were shining in a threatening manner.
‘Fine, I’ll seal his memories for now,’ the Primordial Goddess compromised. ‘But, don’t blame me if it doesn’t work, okay? After all, I am not the one that forced it open.’
The Primordial Goddess really didn’t care if William kept his memories of his past or not. However, just to make a certain Tender Goddess not do anything stupid, she decided to pacify her for the time being and descend into Hestia after the scuffle was over.
That way, she could manipulate William’s memories, and make him temporarily forget about his real origin, which might make him take the path of destruction that Amalthea was hell bent on preventing.
