The Castle in the middle of nowhere.

"I think this is a very good moment to ask questions." I sighed and put away my baseball bat.

Irene, still giggling, pointed towards the empty chair. Gloria was still absentminded, which indicated she was occupied with the World System pop-up. I sat down and let her calm down, but in the meantime, I formulated a few questions in my head.

"Sorry, Theon. What did you want to ask?" Irene asked me, still amused by the recent situation.

"Can you tell me about the pantheon of gods of this world?"

"You know Zephyr, and you just briefly met Hestia." I nodded without interrupting her. "You have heard before about Nalau, the god of the southern sea, but in fact, he is the god of water. The most prominent god in our region is Zeus."

"Zeus? The so-called king of gods? God of thunder and lightning?" I looked at her, surprised.

"Yes? Why do you ask if you know?"

"No, no... Please, continue." I facepalmed. Zeus. In that case, I prefer Zephyr.

"The third most popular god around is Heimdal... Hmmm, Cridians don't worship other major gods. Maybe somewhere in the kingdom, there are some lesser gods, like Artemis or Hera. But in my homeland, we had other gods." Irene pouted and sighed. "Odin, Heimdal, Fryea, Loki... What's wrong, Theon?"

"I know everyone except Zephyr and Nalau..."

"Oh, you know us very well! We simply decided to change... something? Ouch! That hurt!" Zephyr was massaging his head after receiving a tap from my bat.

"What do you mean by that?" I looked at him, unfazed by his sudden manifestation on the seat in front of me. I also had no intention of apologizing to him.

"I am Hermes! In my name, that hurts like hell, Theon!" He conjured an ice compress and put it on the top of his head.

"Hermes? Then Nalau is Poseidon." I stated the phrase rather than asking it, as I put away the Stick of Doom.

"Or Neptune. Call him as you want."

"How did you end up here?" I asked, looking at Irene, who tapped her cheek. She was thinking about something else at the moment, but she paid attention to what Zephyr was talking about.

"Long story short, we moved to this world." Zephyr fixed himself on his chair, suddenly uncomfortable, but I could already tell that he was lying.

"Zephyr, I don't have any lie detection skills, but even I know you are lying." Irene leaned in her chair, looking at the god of winds inquisitively.

"But it’s true... Well... Maybe ‘moved’ is a bit inaccurate." He protested with feigned dignity. "Listen, I can't give you any details, but we lost. People stopped believing in us back there, so we came here..."

"What do you mean, you lost?" I asked, looking at the tips of my fingers.

"It's not important..."

"On the contrary."

"OK! FINE! I'm going home. I won't and can't tell you much more." Zephyr stood up and tried to leave, but suddenly looked at me, terrified. "What have you done?"

"The moment I heard that Zeus is in this world, I used a special trap I prepared to imprison Lord Dickhead in Avalon. As you can see, it works perfectly to stop you from leaving. Lucky for you, we are more or less friends. So my friend... I have some questions." I asked, smiling coldly.

"What does Zeus have to do with employing such formidable magic?" Zephyr slowly sat in the chair once again, looking very shocked.

"I remember the myths about him. You, compared to him, are an ascetic. Especially with him having the balls to pretend to be someone else to screw someone else's wives."

"I... Ohhhh... Damn it." Zephyr rubbed his chin and nodded slowly. "I don't think he still does that, but I can't blame you..."

"Zeus did what?!" A very angry woman's voice sounded in the air.

"Oh, no... She's here..." Zephyr covered his head under his arms.

The tall and beautiful woman, with dark hair and big brown eyes, manifested inside the office. She was wearing a classic toga and on her head was a crown adorned with stars. I looked at her without much awe since after meeting Eriar, Angels, Zephyr and Hestia, I really got used to them. With a flip of my fingers, I summoned a chair that slowly but firmly made for her to sit and moved to the big conference table. She looked at me, surprised, but before she could say anything, I welcomed her.

"Welcome to Avalon, Miss Hera, I assume."

"I... *ekhem* Good afternoon? And I would prefer you title me Goddess. Thank you very much."

"Is anyone else coming?" I asked sarcastically, moving closer to Irene.

Zephyr relaxed a bit, sitting with more dignity near the table. Hera was still shocked; why did both of us not even bat an eye when she appeared? Then the doors of the office opened, letting in Amber with Luna. My Queens sat near me, looking at the Zephyr and Hera with a slight interest. A sudden gasp of shock mixed with excitement made everyone at the table look at Gloria. She was paralyzed by the presence of two gods as well as the full attention of the Avalon Royal Family when suddenly a soft touch gave her the courage to at least look at those gathered near a large oval table. Yawning, Hestia sat near Gloria and brightly smiled. She put some books and a staff on the table in front of her Archpriestess, which explains why she disappeared so suddenly before.

"Anyone else? No?" I rested my head heavily on my arm and frowned at the gathered entities. "You do this on purpose and you complicate things for me."

"Theon... They are gods!" Amber frowned at me. "Show at least some respect."

"No, Amber. Theon is right." Irene hissed angrily. "We have no obligation towards them. They are failures!"

Hera's face turned red, but Zephyr and Hestia just ostentatiously looked elsewhere. Irene pierced the goddess with her relentless gaze until she sighed and looked down, defeated.

"Saintess Irene is right. We are failures..." A deep and proud voice boomed in the room and a flash of lightning momentarily blinded everyone for a second. "Welcome, mort... Oh..."

"You realized that the only mortal here is Gloria? Sit down Zeus. ANYONE ELSE?!" This was not funny anymore. "How many of you are going to interrupt any meeting?? No matter. Before we start..." I looked coldly at Zeus, who sat near Hera and pretended to not look at Amber, Irene or Luna.

"Theon... Please. Do you really have to cast geas on a god?!" Zeus looked at me, amused.

"Oh, I'm as serious as a heart attack." I crossed my arms and smirked coldly.

Zeus' facial expression changed from amused to concerned and then from concerned to terrified. He looked at me, shocked at first, but then looked begrudgingly at Hera. I was surprised at first that she was even able to reinforce my geas, but I guess that's proof she was one of the most powerful beings. She was now smirking victoriously and winked at me. What can I say? The best two million mana ever spent.

"The fact you couldn't resist my geas tells me volumes about your current powers. Thank you, Lady Hera, for aiding me." I bowed my head towards her.

"Now you address me as Lady?" She chuckled, amused, but bowed back. "I guess I have to thank you, hero of Eriar. With this geas, he will have to be a faithful husband forever, and maybe one day I'll forgive him for all of his transgressions."

"Wait... Zeus is your husband?!" Irene looked at them nervously.

"Well... yes. We should have mentioned that in this world, Saintess, but when you arrived in this world..." Hera ruffled her hair with one hand and fell silent for a moment, looking for proper words. "I was very angry at him for his constant betrayal."

"We were in separation." Zeus sighed heavily and shrugged. "But I guess it's over now. You are a terrible person, Theon Avalon..."

"I am terrible?!" I looked at his misery with unhidden satisfaction. This was very amusing.

"Tsk..." Zeus fixed his white toga and crossed his arms in anger. "Fine! Maybe I was somewhat frivolous!"

"But it's over, Zeus." I think Hera was much happier than I was when the geas worked. "Thanks to this charming gentleman, you have to be loyal to me forever."

"Okay... So if we have this sorted out..." I clapped my hands loudly two times. The doors to Irene's office opened one more time and four slime maids entered, pushing carts with drinks and food. "We can talk."

"Thank you." Zeus looked at me, surprised, probably expecting to be kicked out.

Zephyr and Hestia, who were silently giggling all this time seeing the totally deserved fate of their king, thanked for the tea served by the maids. In the meantime, Lanka, wearing Archbishop robes, entered the room followed by Knys and Sigismund, who paled and knelt before the gods. The Orc and Dwarf looked in shock at the godly beings sitting in one room with their King and Queens.

"Stand up, brave mortals!" Zephyr blew air towards them, but when it hit them, it was more like a strong gust than a delicate blow. Nonetheless, they were able to stand up and sit down near Gloria and Lanka. "It's my Blessing for you guys. Don't worry, you do not have to thank me."

The tea and snacks were served and after a moment to take a few sips, I looked once more at three entities that wish to be called gods. They look a little uncomfortable, suffering my gaze, except for Zephyr, but I had an opportunity to finally learn something new, and I was not going to pass over it. Zephyr was the most relaxed out of the four and he was sipping his tea, leaning in the chair, while Hestia somehow managed to look as if she was hiding behind Gloria while still sitting next to her.

"Please tell me, godlings, what exactly brought you to Avalon?" I asked in the most neutral and calm way possible.

"As you already know, three thousand years ago, a great war broke out and consumed this world. For the time being, we lost against the gods of the void. It was back then when the champion of one of the gods of order somehow reverted the tragedy and ensured the survival of this world. Until you showed up, we all thought it was Eriar's chosen. No one dared to claim credit for saving the world back then and we still don't know who did it. But more than a few gods perished back then, and some are still sealed." Zeus looked as if he finished the story. He even looked proud of himself. "We came to give you some information about the dark empire."

"What? That's it? That's the most half-ass explanation I have ever heard! Try harder, Zeus!" I yelled at him. "The three of you come to my home uninvited, clearly having some nefarious intention, like asking me or my people to fix your mess, and what? You offer this as an explanation!? I am offended."

"I can't provide you with more details!"

"Of course you can't! You were back then, and let me emphasise that: the whole time on some island 'saving' some girls!" Hera hissed angrily.

"Well... Yes! In fact, I was!"

"I wonder what you saved them from? Probably from their virginity." Hera sighed and looked at me. "Back then, we were hit hard. Because of my stupid husband being himself, we lost the war against the lesser dark gods. Some of the gods of the order were sealed, and most of us had to go into hiding, but some had died back then. Zephyr, as you already know, was sealed by his own summoned hero. I had to flee and hide, to not be killed. Hestia..." Hera looked at Hestia, who suddenly started admiring the ceiling. "What exactly were you doing back then?"

"I... *sigh* Slept all this time after I summoned my heroine a few hundred years before." Hestia finally replied, ashamed. "But that was not on purpose!"

"You overextended yourself that much?!" Zephyr looked at her in shock, but Hestia just slowly nodded.

"Yes... I'm still weak... Sorry." I actually pitied her.

"Anyway... We did not lose, but it was not a win as well. Zeus never made any effort to learn what had happened back then. I can tell you what I know and managed to learn later." Hera took a sip of tea and looked straight into my eyes. "We did not expect such violence and evil. The invasion fleet that befallen the Aderon was like an unstoppable wave. With them arrived the dark nameless horrors. An eldritch and primordial evil gods that ravaged the heavens; we had no other choice but to fight back. And we fought for five long years. They almost got us, but they knew that they would take a blow too big to continue the war. In the last desperate attempt, Ares gathered all the heroes and led them into the battle. While they fought on the surface, Ares, Thor and Vishnu fought against the eldritch horrors of the void. Their attack surprised our enemies, who couldn't fight back against our valiant kin. They killed so many dark gods and they chased the rest off, but..." Hera hid her face in her hands for a moment. "But they died themselves. When our heroes broke the Dark Empire reinforcement fleet with the help of Nalau, the remaining soldiers had no other choice but to flee. They were afraid because they must have known that the most powerful, the silent guardian- Eriar, had not summoned his hero yet. But here you are."

"That gives me something more..." I nodded my head. "So, what exactly are we fighting?"

"The primordial horror. His name is cursed, not to be spoken or heard in the lands of the living." Zephyr shivered and his shining eyes dimmed. "Sorry, Theon. We can't say his name and we forbid it to be spoken! A single utterance of it powers him and he always replies to calls!"

"Fine. So we have a big, ugly bad one. I'm supposed to kill him?" I looked at them, feeling anger boiling inside of me.

"What?! No! That's impossible! Only The One could fight him... Ah, snap..." Zeus covered his mouth after receiving hits from Hera, Hestia and a kick under the table from Zephyr. "Anyway... You must take care of his champion. This time, we will be prepared for the war."

"Why do I have a feeling you are not telling me everything?" I sighed with a sour face. This is a bit too much for me.

"For example... Why are Cridians preparing for war when they are all supposed to be your devotees, Zeus?" Amber looked at him with her piercing gaze. Whatever respect she held for the gods of this world, Zeus had cleared her of all illusions.

"Hehehe... You see, funny thing..." Zeus nervously scratched his neck.