Ren Isana had sensed Apollo the moment he entered, including his myriad of reactions. It sent a chill of disgust down Ren's spine. This guy, who swung both ways, was truly nauseating.
*It's decided. I have to chop him to pieces. I can't allow such a disgusting person to exist in this world.*
Apollo stared at Ren with burning eyes. He walked straight up to him and said, "Well hello there, handsome. I wonder..."
"Get lost!" A bone-chilling voice rang out, cutting the man off before he could even finish his sentence. If possible, Ren didn't even want to exchange a single word with this guy!
"Apollo, what are you trying to do to my Ren?!" Hearing Ren's voice, Hestia quickly turned her head. Upon seeing that disgusting guy, she immediately rushed forward and shielded Ren behind her.
*What does this damn bastard want? He targeted my Ren the moment he walked in? Get the hell away from him!*
Hephaestus and Loki couldn't help but frown. Both stepped forward to stand beside Hestia. Although Loki usually didn't get along with Hestia, she was more than willing to stand united with her at a time like this.
"You itching for a beating, kid?" Loki gave him a sidelong glance, her tone incredibly hostile. She knew exactly what kind of scum this guy was—he never refused anyone and would use the most despicable methods to snatch whatever caught his eye.
Apollo looked at the scene, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes. Loki, in particular—she was actually standing on Hestia's side? Didn't those two hate each other? Why were they teaming up now?
"My dear Hestia, I believe this is a misunderstanding. I merely wanted to say hello to this young man!" Apollo explained, plastering what he thought was a gentle, fake smile on his face.
"Who's your 'dear'? Stop grossing me out!!" Hearing Apollo's words, Hestia instantly felt a wave of revulsion. This bastard was just too sickening. *Who are you calling dear? Are we even close?!*
Now it was Apollo's turn to be embarrassed. He truly hadn't expected Hestia to show him so little respect. A flash of irritation crossed his eyes, but he quickly adjusted and simply dropped the act.
Apollo spoke directly to Hestia, "How about you give this young man to me? I'll trade you everything in the Apollo Familia for him."
As he said this, his gaze toward Ren was filled with burning desire. But in the next second, Ren drew his blade and said, "It's fine if I chop him down right here, right?"
As soon as those words left his mouth, Hestia and the others instantly changed their expressions. Even Apollo hadn't expected Ren to say something like that. Seeing this, Riveria hurriedly intervened, "Don't do anything rash."
The commotion here had already attracted the attention of the gods in the hall. None of them minded watching a good show, and seeing Ren's bold move, they immediately started whistling.
Those who didn't get along with Apollo even voiced their support directly, "I support you, kid! Chop him down!"
The atmosphere instantly grew tense. Apollo completely hadn't expected things to develop this way. Especially seeing that Ren had actually drawn his sword, his face darkened.
At this moment, he felt his divine majesty had been offended. He glared at Ren with an equally icy gaze and said, "Mortal, do you know what you are doing? Pointing a blade at a god?"
This was the first time he had seen such a bold human. But he had personality, which only made Apollo want to possess Ren even more.
"So what? It just so happens that this weapon of mine needs the blood of a god to become even stronger. If possible, I wouldn't mind chopping your head off right here and now." Ren's words instantly caused the expressions of the gods in the hall to change drastically.
Beside him, Hephaestus looked at Ren with a face full of question marks. *Wait, I didn't tell him about that, did I? How does he know?* Hephaestus was completely dumbfounded.
When Ais heard Ren say this, her gaze also fell onto his weapon. *The blood of a god can make a weapon stronger? Is that how it works?*
If that was the case, then she wanted in too. Thinking this, Ais silently prepared to draw her sword. Loki caught sight of this and hurriedly stopped her. *Mother of god, what are you doing?!*
Loki grabbed Ais directly, telling her not to be impulsive. Riveria, who was beside them, also hurriedly held her down. At this moment, Riveria understood that the moment Ren uttered those words, this situation could no longer end peacefully.
Apollo's face completely darkened. Use his blood to upgrade a weapon? What did this mortal take him for? Upgrade material? Thinking of this, Apollo's tone turned entirely frigid.
"Hestia, you need to give me an explanation. Hand him over to me, and we'll let this matter drop!" Apollo glared coldly at Hestia, while inwardly feeling a surge of wild joy.
The heavens were truly helping him. Even if he used whatever means necessary to get his hands on this person, no one present would be able to say a word, right? Thinking of this, Apollo's mood instantly soared with excitement.
Hestia's face had also become incredibly ugly, but she still spoke without hesitation, "Impossible! Keep dreaming!"
*Are you kidding me? Give Ren to him? You must be dreaming! Don't even think about it. You're the dog who started this in the first place, what kind of pipe dream are you having?!*
Ren had his [Perception Magic] active right now. He took in the entire situation of the venue; many people were secretly watching the show. Besides them, there was also a burning gaze staring at him from upstairs.
Freya's gaze as she looked at Ren was filled with possessiveness, wishing she could snatch him away immediately. In addition, Yor Forger was also hiding in the shadows, keeping an eye on him.
Upon discovering this, Ren was completely certain. Everything that happened today was orchestrated by Freya. She had deliberately hosted this banquet for Apollo, just to make Apollo notice Ren.
Just as the two sides were locked in a stalemate, Freya finally made her move. After adjusting her emotions, she walked out acting as if nothing was wrong and said, "Do me a favor and let this matter drop."
As one of the largest factions in Orario, Freya's words carried quite a bit of weight. Apollo coldly snorted, then said, "For Freya's sake, we'll leave it at this for today. But if there's a next time, don't blame me for not showing mercy."
After saying that, Apollo cast another burning glance at Ren. But Ren wasn't about to give him any face. Hearing his words, Ren couldn't help but mock, "I've seen thick-skinned people, but never anyone as thick-skinned as you. I've never met a god as disgusting as you. If a guy like you can become a god, then I guess the Heaven of this world isn't all that great anyway!"
Ren's words were basically an area-of-effect attack, directly cursing out quite a few gods while thoroughly despising Apollo. *To be gods alongside a guy like this, you guys are really pathetic.*
His words instantly infuriated Apollo half to death. Just as he was about to say something, Freya spoke up, "I apologize for making you see such a joke, boy from another world. Allow me to make amends here."
Freya hadn't expected Ren's temper to be so bad either. And what was this dog Apollo trying to act all tough for? He just had to thoroughly piss the guy off, didn't he?
Apollo's face was incredibly ugly right now. He wanted to say something else, but he noticed Freya's icy glare. He could only swallow the words that had reached his lips. With a cold snort, Apollo left the area without looking back.
Seeing him leave, Freya gave Ren a gentle smile and said, "Rest assured, not all gods are like this. That guy Apollo is an exception!"
As her words fell, quite a few gods hurriedly nodded. That's right, that's exactly how it is. That bastard Apollo didn't even deserve a seat at the table, so there was no need to take these things to heart.
Loki and Riveria, who were standing to the side, felt a bit strange. Ren was acting a bit out of character today. Was he usually like this? It didn't seem like it. From their few interactions, Ren would never talk to people like this.
Both of them felt it was odd, but they didn't overthink it. That disgusting guy had run off, so this matter was considered settled.
Ren's goal had already been achieved, so there was no need to keep up the act. He gave Freya a faint nod and didn't say anything more.
Seeing this, Freya didn't mind. She smiled, then excused herself and left. The banquet continued, and it wasn't long before the scene returned to its original lively state.
Hestia instantly breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness, a full-blown conflict hadn't broken out. However, she also understood that this time, her feud with Apollo was thoroughly cemented.
*That disgusting guy... sooner or later, I'm going to teach him a harsh lesson.* Thinking of this, Hestia made up her mind to definitely do so when she found the chance.
For the rest of the time, Hestia kept a close eye on Ren, terrified that he might get into another conflict with someone. After all, there were quite a few bad apples here.
Ren didn't mind Hestia's actions. After all, his goal had been achieved. If nothing unexpected happened, Apollo wouldn't just swallow this insult. His perception had been locked onto the other party the entire time.
When Apollo had just left, he had already said something to his people. If nothing unexpected happened, the other party would probably bring people to ambush him later, right? This was truly something worth celebrating.
"You were a bit rash." Right at this moment, Riveria came to Ren's side. She couldn't help but sigh. Getting into a conflict with that guy wasn't exactly a wise thing to do.
After all, Apollo's disgusting tactics were well-known. Heaven knew how the other party would retaliate against Ren and the others next.
"It doesn't matter. I just find him annoying. That guy is a pervert. Let me tell you, when dealing with a guy like that, you can't show him any courtesy." Ren said this with extreme calm.
Hearing this, Riveria felt a bit helpless in her heart. *Forget it, pretend I didn't say anything.* She tactfully didn't continue discussing this topic, and instead started chatting with Ren about other things.
At this time, Ais asked Ren with a blank, adorable expression, "Earlier you said that god's blood can improve the quality of a weapon. Is that true?"
She was actually quite looking forward to this. If god's blood could truly strengthen a weapon, Ais was very interested. *Maybe I can get Loki to give me some blood later?*
Hearing the question Ais asked, Riveria was instantly startled. She hurriedly looked at her and said:
"Ais, why are you asking that?!"
At this moment, Riveria only felt her scalp go numb. Ais had remembered all those words Ren had just said? And what exactly was she planning to do?
"I want to upgrade my weapon. If god's blood can really upgrade weapons, I want to ask Loki to give me a little blood." Ais didn't hide her thoughts.
Hearing this, Riveria instantly breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness Ais wasn't thinking of anything terrifying. She just wanted a little of Loki's blood? If that was the case, then it was fine.
If Ais had also thought about running off to become a God Slayer, then things would be a huge mess. At the same time, Riveria also thought of a terrible scenario. If the words Ren had said earlier were to spread, it would probably cause a massive uproar in Orario, right?
Riveria could already imagine whether some greedy fools would start treating gods as prey. But on second thought, there was no need to worry too much about this.
Some words might not necessarily spread. The gods here wouldn't allow such things to circulate in Orario. After all, this concerned their safety. If someone really tried to pull an assassination on them...
They would probably unleash their Divine Power without hesitation. But if they did that, they would be sent back to Heaven. Because of this, this matter absolutely could not be allowed to spread.
The rest of the banquet was dull and tasteless. Ren even felt a bit bored. After all, it was just watching a bunch of gods gather together to brag and shoot the breeze. He had absolutely no interest in these things.
Hestia also noticed this, so when she felt it was about time, she bid farewell to her friend, "I think it's about time. The road back to our Familia is a bit far, so we'll be heading off first!"
Her words made Hephaestus nod, while not forgetting to warn her, "Be careful. That guy Apollo definitely won't give up so easily!"
Hephaestus knew that bastard's personality very well. If nothing unexpected happened, Hestia was going to have trouble next.
"I'll be careful!" Hearing her friend's words, Hestia nodded, indicating that she understood. Next, she would notify the others and tell everyone to pay attention to their safety.
Fortunately, everyone didn't go out much normally, otherwise it really might be troublesome. After all, the members of the Hestia Familia basically only had a few places of activity: the Familia headquarters, and then the Dungeon.
After saying goodbye to Hephaestus, Hestia took Ren and left directly. The two walked out of the banquet hall and prepared to find a carriage to return together. However, after searching around, they found that there were no carriages at all, not even a single person in sight.
"What's going on? Why are there no carriages?" Hestia was very frustrated. What was the deal with not seeing a single carriage right now? There were usually carriages, but today there were none?
Ren knew exactly what the reason was. The people from the Apollo Familia had long since chased those people away. The goal was to force Ren and Hestia to walk back, so they could teach Ren a lesson halfway.
This actually suited Ren's intentions. Thinking this, Ren said, "Forget it if there are no carriages. We'll just walk back slowly. Let's go!"
Ren said this and strode forward. Hearing this, Hestia could only hurriedly follow. After all, what could they do if there were no carriages? She'd just treat it as taking a stroll with Ren.
Catching up to Ren, Hestia started chattering away with him. The two quickly walked into the darkness and disappeared from the area. After they left, Apollo also took the opportunity to leave the venue.
He then had his people chase after them. Ren had made him lose so much face; how could he possibly swallow this anger? It was perfect—tonight he would enjoy Ren, and that damn Hestia too.
She actually dared to reject him in Heaven? This time, he'd see how Hestia escaped. Either Hestia would unleash her Divine Power herself, or she would obediently submit. If she unleashed her Divine Power...
Hestia would be instantly sent back to Heaven. When that happened, he could crush the Hestia Familia however he wanted. And if she didn't unleash her Divine Power? Then he, Apollo, wouldn't hold back.
With a twisted expression, Apollo led his Familia and carefully chased after them. He wasn't in a hurry to make a move. If he acted here, the other gods would quickly react, and his plan would be ruined.
So he would wait until they were further away, in a deserted place. Apollo wasn't anxious. Besides, he didn't care about Ren's strength. Supposedly a Lv.4? Although his subordinates were only Lv.3, he had more people. Ren's side only had two people. The advantage was his.
As for the other members of the Hestia Familia? Lv.8? What a joke. Once he succeeded, would the other party really dare to start a war with him? He was a god; so what if they were Lv.8?
Because of this, Apollo didn't care about these things at all. Right now, he only wanted to obtain that dazzling soul and thoroughly brand it with his mark. Just thinking about it felt absolutely wonderful.
While thinking this, Apollo quietly caught up to Hestia and Ren. What he didn't know was that a few people were following behind him. It was none other than the members of the Freya Familia, and Freya herself.
How could Freya miss out on such a thing? The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. If she made her grand entrance at a critical moment, Ren would definitely be endlessly grateful!
Apollo? Just a fool. Thinking about the upcoming plot development, Freya was beyond excited. However, she couldn't look in Ren's direction right now, because she was afraid of startling him.
His [Perception Magic] was incredibly powerful. The first time she had gazed at Ren, she had been noticed. Therefore, Freya was extra careful. With their own ulterior motives, the two gods trailed behind Ren as he left the Orario city district.