Chapter 418: Visiting Hephaestus, and Hera, the Queen of the Western Mythos?
....
Clearly, those bored gods let their imaginations run wild instantly.
They looked at Seito and Hestia with knowing, teasing smiles. Some of them even walked over to greet Seito. After all, the status of Seito's Familia in Orario was extremely powerful, so most of them recognized him as a respected god.
Compared to Seito's calm expression, Hestia currently looked deeply troubled.
"What's wrong?"
Noticing her strange demeanor, Seito asked.
"Do you think Hephaestus will actually be willing to give up her Main God Authority?"
Hestia voiced her core worry.
"This is something we can only find out by asking her directly."
Seito shook his head. How could he possibly know in advance whether she'd be willing to hand over her Authority?
"If it were you, would you give it up?" Seito turned the question back on her.
"Depends on the situation, I guess."
Normally, she would never give her Main God Authority to another god. But if her life was actively on the line, she'd have no other choice. Hestia wasn't stupid—between her own life and an Authority, the former was obviously way more important.
"That's pretty much my thought too."
Seito smiled gently.
Without another word, the two quickened their pace, walking straight toward Hephaestus's armor shop. Before long, they reached their destination.
"Lord Seito, Lady Hestia, hello."
The clerk at the counter greeted them upon seeing the two walk in.
"Where is your god?"
Seito asked directly. The clerk was also a member of Hephaestus's Familia.
"Lord Hephaestus is in the back," the clerk paused, then answered.
"We're going in to see her about something, no need to show us the way."
With that, Seito led Hestia straight past the front desk and toward the inner quarters.
The clerk's cheek twitched slightly. These gods are so impolite. Shouldn't they at least ask him to go announce their arrival first?
The clerk complained internally, but didn't press the issue. Besides, these two gods weren't known for causing trouble.
Actually, Seito had a good reason for bringing Hestia straight in—he wanted to keep their upcoming conversation strictly private, away from prying ears.
Tap, tap, tap~~
Cutting through the back of the shop, Seito and Hestia stepped into a quiet inner courtyard. The moment they entered, they spotted Hephaestus lying back on a rocking chair, taking a quiet rest.
"Oh? What brings you two here?"
Hephaestus opened her left eye, looking over at them with curious interest.
"Hephaestus~"
Hestia flashed a warm smile and pounced straight toward her friend.
Thud!
"Hestia, stop messing around!"
"I haven't seen you in forever, I missed you!"
The two goddesses started wrestling playfully right there on the rocking chair.
Watching this scene from the side, Seito felt a subtle wave of heat rise in his chest. After all, Hestia's chest was massive, and Hephaestus's assets weren't small either. With all that bouncing around, things were quite lively!
After roughhousing for a bit, the two goddesses finally settled down. Hestia quickly hopped off the rocking chair, standing up straight as she looked at Hephaestus with a solemn expression.
"Hephaestus, there's something I need to tell you."
As she spoke, Hestia's tone turned unusually heavy.
"What is it?"
Hephaestus's eyes locked onto her. Her expression remained neutral, but seeing Hestia act this serious gave her a vague sense of unease.
"A while ago, Seito led his faction and successfully unified the Central Region of the God-King Star Sector," Hestia said straight to the point.
"For real?"
Hephaestus made a strange face. The moment she laid eyes on Seito earlier, she could already tell he had reached the peak God-King stage. But unifying the entire Central Region? Surely it couldn't be that easy!
"For real!" Hestia confirmed.
Hearing that, Hephaestus lowered her head into deep thought. Seito and Hestia had been missing for quite some time lately; heading straight for the Central Region made total sense. Unifying the region during that stretch wasn't completely impossible, either! It looked like Seito's faction was terrifyingly powerful.
Thinking up to this point, Hephaestus looked back at Seito, her eyes flashing with complex emotions. If Seito had unified the Central Region, his next logical move would be targeting one of the four outer sectors! Who knows... it might even be her own Western Mythos Faction!
Hephaestus had no idea Seito already possessed complete Main God Authority, which naturally led her to this worried assumption.
"Don't worry, Seito isn't going to attack our Western Mythos Faction. After all, he already holds complete Main God Authority," seeing her worried expression, Hestia offered a reassuring explanation.
"Huh?"
Hephaestus froze. Complete Main God Authority?!
Scratching her head awkwardly, she muttered, "Well... looks like the God-King Star Sector is finally about to enter an era of peaceful development."
All five major sectors held Main God Authority now, so massive wars shouldn't break out anytime soon. That was why Hephaestus assumed things would quiet down.
"That's where you're wrong," Seito smiled lightly.
"Huh? Are you planning to start a war after all?" Hephaestus asked, startled.
"Not me," Seito shook his head, turning his gaze toward Hestia. "Why don't you tell her?"
"Okay," Hestia agreed. Without holding back, she laid out the entire conversation that had just taken place between Zeus and Seito.
Listening to the details, Hephaestus's face turned as dark as a storm cloud. She reacted with the exact same fury Hestia had shown earlier! Zeus had clearly benefited massively from all of them, yet he was actually planning to turn around and slaughter them all! It made Hephaestus's blood boil.
"What about the Queen's stance on this?" Hephaestus asked after a brief silence.
"Who knows? But she'll probably be targeted too, since her Main God Authority has always stayed in her own hands," Hestia replied.
The Queen of the Western Mythos Faction—Hera! One of the Twelve Main Gods!
Furthermore, she was Zeus's legal wife and his older sister. Hera had always kept her Main God Authority locked firmly in her own possession, flatly refusing to hand it over to Zeus, even when he demanded it in the past. After all, with Zeus acting as a predatory playboy, could Hera possibly have any genuine affection for him? Obviously not!
....
Thank you for reading.