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At this very moment, the eyes of every god in the hall were locked onto the pair; Hestia and her cherished Familia member, Yuto. Apollo's gaze bore into them, his handsome features twisting into something grotesque and unsettling.
"If I win, I don't want anything else… Just your Familia member; Yuto." Apollo declared, his voice dripping with intent.
With that, the sun god descended from the viewing platform, his eyes blazing with desire as he fixed them on the stoic young man standing before him.
"How unfair, Hestia. A child as lovely as this, how could you possibly keep him all to yourself? You should hand him over to me!" Apollo's tone was mocking, his stare so repulsive it sent a shiver down Yuto's spine.
There was something deeply disturbing about facing a male god with such blatant interest in men.
"You…You've gone too far, Apollo!" Hestia snapped, her chest rising and falling with fury. Like a protective mother bear, she stepped in front of Yuto, shielding him with her small frame. But her defiance only drew a scornful chuckle from Apollo, as if her efforts were meaningless.
"There's no way I'd ever hand Yuto over to you!" Hestia's voice trembled with rage as she glared at Apollo, her eyes burning with the intensity of a sworn enemy.
The tension in the air was palpable, the scene teetering on the edge of chaos. But before it could erupt, Yuto gently grabbed Hestia's wrist and pulled her behind him. He knew Apollo's twisted obsession wouldn't be swayed by mere refusal. The sun god would never back down and Yuto wasn't the type to let such arrogance go unchecked.
"Apollo," Yuto began, his voice calm but firm, "I'll agree to your War Game. But facing a handful of high-level adventurers puts me at too great a disadvantage."
The gods around them murmured, some smirking, assuming Yuto was about to back down. But then his tone shifted, his gaze sharpening like a blade drawn from its sheath, cutting straight into Apollo's eyes.
"So, I propose we stake our lives on it. What do you say, do you have the guts to bet?"
"Of course I do! I'd do anything to have you!" Apollo's face flushed with excitement, his eyes practically glued to Yuto. For a god like him, nothing could be more thrilling.
The words hung in the air, and the once-noisy hall fell so silent you could hear a pin drop. A mortal betting his life against a god? In all their countless years, the gods had never seen anything so outrageous. Yuto's resolve, his sheer audacity, left them stunned.
"What a daring boy," Freya, the goddess of beauty, purred, her greedy eyes devouring Yuto as she swallowed hard. "To challenge a god's life with such boldness… It's simply magnificent."
"I approve of this wager," she added.
"I agree," chimed in Hermes, the youthful trickster god with a feathered hat, flashing a mischievous grin.
"Then we're in too."
"Hahaha, why not?"
"Exactly. We've been itching for some fun anyway."
Swayed by Freya and Hermes, the other gods swore by their true names, sealing the bet between Yuto and Apollo as an unbreakable divine pact.
"Hahaha! It'd be a shame for only us gods to enjoy this spectacle," Hermes laughed. "Let me use my power so all of Orario can watch. Doesn't that sound perfect?"
The gods who'd descended from the heavens were, at their core, lovers of chaos and excitement. An event this earth-shattering? They couldn't resist sharing it with the world.
In an instant, shimmering magical screens sprang up across Orario; in taverns, on street corners, even floating in the air. The sudden display sparked a frenzy among the city's residents.
When word spread that Yuto planned to face a god alone, people gaped in disbelief, as if a wild legend had leapt off the page into reality.
"Is this kid out of his mind?"
"That's a real god! Apollo's Familia is no joke."
"Wait, I know him. He's that 'Ghost Slayer.' They say he hit Level 3 in just seven days. No wonder he's cocky enough to gamble with a god."
"Madman. Fool. He's so full of himself after a little success. Doesn't he get it? You only have one life; how can he possibly outmatch a god?"
It was clear that neither the gods nor the people of Orario believed Yuto stood a chance.
Inside the "Hostess of Fertility," Ryuu Lion and others close to Yuto stared at the screen, their faces pale with shock.
"Has Yuto gone insane?" Chloe muttered, her cup slipping from her hand and shattering on the floor, her eyes wide with disbelief.
"Yuto-kun, please be safe," Syr whispered, her expression heavy with worry. She didn't understand why he'd suddenly challenged a god, but all she could do was pray.
"That idiot! What's he thinking? Doesn't he realize who he's up against?" Ryuu Lion's heart raced with fear and frustration. If she could, she'd rush to the scene and take his place.
Meanwhile, Riveria, Tione, Tiona, and even Ais Wallenstein watched the screens with furrowed brows, silently wishing for Yuto's victory.
At the Apollo's throne room in Apollo's Temple, flanked by rows of stunningly beautiful men and women, Hyakinthos Clio, known as "The Sun's Favored Emperor" stood with over a hundred of the Familia's elite, gazing down at Yuto with cold disdain.
"Hmph. What a delusional fool," Hyakinthos sneered. "When did Lord Apollo's tastes sink so low?"
He had every reason to be smug. A top-tier Level 3 adventurer himself, he commanded two full legions of mages, plus several other Level 3 fighters as strong as he was, all poised on the high ground. With such an overwhelming force, how could he possibly lose?
Below the walls, hundreds of Apollo Familia soldiers charged at Yuto, their weapons gleaming. The sheer weight of their unified advance earned nods of approval from the watching gods.
"Well, well," one god remarked. "Apollo's soldiers really do shine like the sun itself."
Apollo was the god of arts, light, and the sun, but his forces were far from weak. They could crush most Familias in Orario without breaking a sweat.
For a moment, it seemed like Yuto's defeat was inevitable. The gods erupted into mocking laughter.
"Hey, Hestia, you really think that kid's got a shot?"
"He's facing a whole army!"
Hephaestus, standing beside Hestia, frowned at the sight of the imposing forces, her heart sinking for the boy.
"I… I believe in Yuto," Hestia said, though her voice wavered. She knew his strength better than anyone, but as his goddess and more, she couldn't help but fear for him.
'Yuto, please come back safe,' she thought. 'If you do, I'll give you anything you want.'
"Hah, he's a sharp one," Loki mused, her sly eyes narrowing. She admired how Yuto had turned the gods' love of entertainment against them, a cunning move that spoke to her own dark nature. Once a chaotic force in the heavens, she'd mellowed in the mortal world but that spark of mischief never faded.
'Let's see what you've got, kid,' she thought. 'Was that aura I got from you in the tavern real?'
In a shadowed corner, Hermes leaned against the wall, his hat tipped low. Watching Yuto stand alone against an army, he smirked.
"Show me what you're made of," he murmured. "Maybe it's time I stopped playing the bystander."
As the enemy surged toward him like a tidal wave, Yuto stood unshaken at the center. Then, his killing intent flared.
In the next heartbeat, a sea of blood erupted across the battlefield, shocking everyone. It was pure, primal, laced with an evil so potent even the gods felt a chill.
"What is that?" they whispered.
Before anyone could grasp it, a deafening roar, like a million thunderclaps, shook the blood-soaked field. From the crimson waves rose a 60-meter dragon, its presence overwhelming.
It was one of the Seven Evils of Humanity, the Beast of Regression, brimming with malice toward mankind, striking terror into every onlooker.
"Let the world bear witness to my decision!" Yuto roared, his draconic form towering. Long, curved horns crowned his head, and his scythe-like claws tore the earth apart, sending shockwaves of cracked soil outward.
His massive frame radiated raw power, his fangs sharper than any blade, like a storm cloud crashing to the ground.
"ARRRR!!"
The roar alone shattered Apollo Familia's castle walls. Defenses crumbled like paper, and over a hundred elites perished instantly. The mage legions disintegrated into ash without a sound. Even Hyakinthos, defiant to the end, was swatted into a smear of gore.
In mere seconds, Apollo's entire force was wiped out, every last adventurer gone.
Orario fell into a deathly hush.
"How…?"
"A Level 3 adventurer… How did he do that?"
The city's adventurers stood speechless, struck dumb by the display of power. Some trembled, collapsing to their knees, faces drained of color. This wasn't mortal strength, it rivaled the divine.
The gods who'd scoffed at Yuto now burned with humiliation and dread, staring at the boy who could kill a god.
Freya, transfixed, shivered with delight. "Beautiful… This is beauty incarnate," she whispered. "I must have him."
Inside, Apollo's calm facade shattered. His prized army, his elite Familia was gone, crushed so easily by that boy?
The sound of heavy footsteps echoed closer. Servants dropped their instruments in terror, the clatter ringing out.
At the throne's base, Cassandra coughed blood and crumpled.
"Cassandra!" Daphne cried, rushing to her side, only to be gripped tightly by her friend.
"I saw it," Cassandra rasped. "The sun falling… worlds colliding… Orario's about to change!"
…..
Yuto stepped into the temple, his dragon form shrinking to human size but retaining its menacing traits. His golden dragon eyes glinted like cold steel.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
His claws slashed in a blur, striking from every angle, like threads sealing space or steel flowers blooming in the void cutting down Apollo's last guards.
Blood sprayed, whistling through the air as it fell.
Step, step…
His steady tread reverberated through the ruins, each echo a hammer to the heart, forcing all to look at the figure entering the temple.
"Is he really going to kill a god?"
The gods watched, faces grim, a primal fear stirring within them.
"It's over, Apollo. No one's left to save you."
The sun god's arrogance dissolved into panic.
"No! You can't kill me!" Apollo shrieked, his beauty warping into something hideous. "I'm Apollo! The greatest sun god!"
"How dare a mortal slay a god? How dare you strike down the sun?!"
Yuto smirked. "Is there anything I wouldn't dare?"
He leapt onto the platform and drove his hand through Apollo's chest.
Splurt!
Divine blood splashed across the floor.
"Ahhhh!"
Apollo's scream faded as his lifeless eyes stared upward, his body slumping.
Boom!
Yuto crushed the god's head underfoot, blood coating him as he raised his gaze, a figure of mythic terror.
At that moment, a god died upon his throne.
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