Chapter 1049 Start
As the news of the two Goddesses' disappearance spread, there was a heavy atmosphere that could be felt.
Not minding this, Kisuke stepped out of his tent and stretched out his arms, 'I've given the Deities a way to use their powers and went through three rounds of interviews with them. It's about time we move.'
In the end, it was decided not to invite any Deities to their camp due to the risk not being worth it. Instead, Kisuke took the methods for the Deities to bring down their Divine Avatars and broadcasted it all over the world. He didn't care if the one who received it was an enemy or an ally, but the condition of the activation was to converge in Orario.
'How is this possible?' The Deities asked, but Kisuke never revealed it to them. Yoruichi and Serafall on the other hand could guess it had something to do with what they distributed across the world almost a week ago, before they fought Tiamat.
But before he lit the bomb of conflict, Kisuke first approached Hestia who was in the center of the barrier, silently strengthening and expanding it, "Hestia-sama, how are you doing?"
Hestia turned to him with a wry smile and said, "...To be honest, it's very tough. The moment I let up, it'll all crumble down."
Kisuke then sat beside her, "I think you're just very nervous."
Hestia rested her head on Kisuke's shoulder and replied, "Who wouldn't be? You never did or said anything to reassure us of our chances of winning. Everything is staked on your supposed plan that no one else knows."
"You know why that's the case."
Hestia became silent for a moment before continuing, "...I know... But you also know that feelings can't be commanded like logic. I trust you, but you won't be able to remove my worries. And the fact that if I fail here, everyone's sanctuary will disappear and that scares me.
"I also know that my 'home' is not invulnerable and can be taken down with enough force and time, that scares me.
"And if all of it comes crashing down, I'll be watching everyone get slaughtered, that scares me.
"Everything happening right now scares me... It's horrifying. I don't like it. I hate this conflict!
"Yet I know this couldn't be stopped! It's impossible to stop! It'll be us or them!... And I hate it. Why does it have to be this way!?"
Kisuke silently listened to her cries while also realizing that it was her that was the most affected by all of this. As a peace-loving Goddess who hated confronting anyone, with her most precious people's lives on the line, and the one with the most power to 'protect', the pressure on her was the highest and Kisuke had neglected that, thinking that she'd be fine.
Kisuke knew that his apology wouldn't be accepted and it was not an apology that she wanted. But even while knowing that, he couldn't grant her the assurances that she needed as it went against his own ideology that nothing is certain until the results are grasped.
As such, the only thing he could give back was silence.
Thankfully, Hestia knew him very well and was actually relieved that he didn't do anything fake just to comfort her, "...Just promise me one thing."
"...I'm listening."
"Please do not destroy this world in your attempt for freedom."
Kisuke didn't know what Hestia considered the 'world'. Is it its people? Way of life? Culture? The differing societies? The existence of Deities? But after he's done here, most of what makes this world unique might be destroyed. Would Hestia still consider this as the world in her mind?
"...I trust you."
Kisuke then looked down at her and saw a small smile on her face, "...I see. Then I promise."
Hestia trusted that the world Kisuke was imagining isn't too bad.
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From afar, Zeus and Bell are watching Kisuke and Hestia while having a conversation of their own, "Grandpa... Was I able to become a hero?"
"What do you think?"
Bell shook his head, "I don't know. I know what a hero looks like, but whenever I look back at my actions, I can't seem to give any judgment."
"That's great."
Bell's eyes widened at the unexpected answer and Zeus soon clarified his words, "The only ones who can judge whether you've become a hero or not are those who you saved and saw your heroic deeds. After all, one doesn't just become a hero from self-recognition. And without a doubt, you've become a hero in the eyes of many. A splendid one at that."
Bell smiled, thinking that all of his efforts are worth it.
It was then a rugged hand landed on his head, "But beware. Becoming a hero is just the start of the long journey and if you're not careful, you might just see yourself become the world's greatest evil."
"Huh?" A chill went through Bell's spine and he hurriedly looked up at Zeus' serious face, "W-what do you mean?"
"You'll naturally understand it when the right time comes and you'll realize that a hero and a villain aren't so different." Zeus then took his hand off his head and started walking in a certain direction, "Go back to your Familia and get ready. We will be moving out soon."
Bell silently watches Zeus' back as he goes away and the words he left behind kept ringing in his mind.
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"Alright... Looks like everyone is ready." Kisuke commented after looking at everyone gathered and lined up, "Here's the plan. Yoruichi will be creating a path directly leading to the vicinity of the former Orario. The Deities then will lead the charge and using the element of surprise, they'll be taking out the enemy Deities one by one.
"Although weak, their children could still pose a danger by giving the God or Goddess an opening to exploit so everyone else will be dealing with them. They are essentially undying but once their Deity is killed, they'll disappear along with them so all you need to do is to stall them. Riveria will be dealing with large-scale attacks from them and will assist whenever there's a need. I'll leave the command to your respective leaders but when it's time to retreat, you all have to follow that.
"These past few days, I was able to confirm that Chaos is busy in the depths of the Dungeon so we can be rest assured that as long as it's not a total annihilation of his camp, he won't come out."
"Our goal is to cause as much damage as possible before they can consolidate their entire strength and attack us. And after the appropriate time, we'll retreat back to Hestia-sama's barrier to plan our next moves."
"What about Yoruichi, Serafall, and you?" asked Loki.
"We'll assist on all fronts. But because Yoruichi and Serafall haven't recovered fully from the last battle, they'll be saving their energy for more dangerous things."
"Wait... They haven't recovered? It sure didn't look that way..." Loki and the other Deities couldn't believe it, especially when Yoruichi just instantly killed two Deities herself.
Kisuke didn't explain any further and just said, "The battle against the protector of the Dungeon might have been short, but it wasn't easy on us."
After receiving the cue from Kisuke, Yoruichi pulled out her kodachi and swung it widely. The tip of her blade drew a line in the air before it opened up and revealed the dreary scenery of the former Orario and the Deities with black veins gathered.
"Let's go! Hit them hard and fast!" Kisuke led the charge and the Deities immediately followed.
And while watching the unprepared Deities scramble among themselves, Kisuke thought, 'Though I said we'll retreat to plan our next step, this will be the first and last clash. I hope he comes out soon.'
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