Asfi Al Andromeda took off her glasses and smiled at herself in the mirror.

  'Who said I can't smile?'

  Her serious temperament didn't mean she was incapable of giving a smile or two. It shouldn't make her a boring woman. After all, her father always had this intense look in his eyes. He was the king of a nation surrounded by the great seas from all sides. Yet, he never smiled even when nobles complimented him for being a great king.

  Like all kings, his reign too came to an end. It wasn't from old age, nor was it because someone poisoned his food. A deity, calling himself the Great Ruler of the Sea, seized their nation by force. A single man and his sword cut through the royal guards. He crippled everyone who could fight and spared the rest. Her father was forced to leave the throne, so a self-conceited deity could sit on it.

  That day, the king and queen became commoners. The name 'Andromeda' became a symbol of hate among the citizens.

  That's why she was eternally grateful to Hermes. Without him, she wouldn't have fled 'Atlas Island' and become an adventurer.

  "Asfi-chan, are you there?"

  "Lord Hermes?"

  She never thought the day would come where Hermes woke up before seven.

  Asfi threw her cape over her shoulders and opened the door. Hermes greeted her with a wide, creepy smile; the same smile he had when he came to borrow Hades Head. He was up to no good.

  "Come with me," Hermes said. "Take your cap."

  "Where are we going?"

  "To the Denatus."

  "Didn't Denatus just happen?"

  Hermes grinned. "Freya is going to war. I'll need a hero to protect me if things go south."

  Asfi frowned. Freya didn't have any recent dispute against any deity. This War Game came out of nowhere.

  "Who is Freya fighting?"

  "We don't know yet. Just come with me."

  "Will my cap be enough?"

  Her confidence had taken a dive after a certain man from Astraea Familia had discovered her in the invisible state. He did so without using any extra equipment, frustrating her even more.

  "Yes, it will be. The gods are idiots. Most of them at least."

  Asfi opened the drawer and picked up her prized invention. No mortal had stepped foot in the Denatus. It has always been like this, but she'll be the first to break that tradition.

  ***

  The Denatus was unannounced so as to not cause any chaos. Without proper information on Freya's opponents, the Guild couldn't make any announcement.

  The deities were gathered in Babel. Groups were formed with everyone discussing the sudden War Game.

  "Who is it?" Apollo asked Loki. "You must know."

  "Astraea knows?" Demeter chimed in, her eyes drooping like she didn't have a wink of sleep. "Tell us please."

  Who could be Freya's opponent? Which Familia had the guts to question Ottar, the King's authority? Every deity in the room was dying to know the answers to two questions.

  A small gesture from Loki brought silence to the room. "Look over there."

  Everyone followed her finger and saw someone who should not be here. In the corner of the room, Hermes and Asfi also stopped and stared at Astraea, Hephaestus, and the man beside the two.

  "Why is he here?" Asfi whispered. "Is Lady Astraea responsible?"

  "Astraea won't do something like that," Hermes responded. He had seen Asahi in the last Denatus, but he was concealed from everyone's eyes. "Let's wait and see."

  Hermes pushed his way through the crowd and arrived at the front row.

  "Astraea's lover. What was his alias again?" Demeter tilted her head back and forth, somehow the childish gesture didn't look odd on her mature appearance. "Lux Lanceam?"

  As the deities flocked over to question Astraea, Asahi stepped forward with a calm expression.

  "Stay back."

  It wasn't a warning. A simple order for gods to stay away from their lover. Suffice to say, most of the gods weren't pleased to be ordered around by a 'mortal.'

  "You have guts, boy," shouted Dian Cecht, the old man known as the god of healing. "Astraea, I had nothing but admiration for your passion. What has love made you? A weak and disappointing—"

  A spear flew past him, narrowly dodging his face. Dian Cecht froze, his unblinking staring into Asahi's cold eyes.

  "I won't miss next time."

  Dian Cecht hung his head and nodded obediently. The move didn't sit well with other gods as they started cursing Asahi's brazen attitude. Some called for him to be arrested for threatening a god in broad daylight. Demeter, Apollo, Miach, and Ganesha—the gods acquainted with Astraea—worked together to diffuse the tension.

  Asfi saw Asahi's act as a way of protecting Astraea from the noisy gods. Then again, she wasn't a big fan of arrogant gods who saw humans as an inferior race.

  Asahi, unbothered with the situation, took a seat at the grand table. Astraea sighed and took Asahi's right seat. Hephaestus pondered a bit before plopping down on the chair beside Asahi. She wasn't here for Astraea. She was here to support Asahi. The situation will spiral out of control once Asahi reveals his race.

  'We can pull through.'

  She kept a straight face under all the pressure from her fellow gods.

  Meanwhile Loki approached Asahi with a foolish grin. She shoved a chair between him and Hephaestus and settled down on it.

  "Asahi~, gimme pats."

  She leaned on his shoulder, swaying her ponytail in Asahi's peripheral vision. Her intimate act was a slap in the face of fuming deities. Even if everyone in the room hated Asahi, she was going to support him. Everyone heard Loki's statement loud and clear.

  Asahi smiled wryly and patted her head. "Stop acting coy."

  The prankster goddess rested her head on his lap and stretched like a cat. "Hehe."

  Hephaestus slid her chair aside as though pretending that she wasn't acquainted with Asahi and Loki.

  Astraea couldn't help but smile. She mentally added Loki to her list of women sharing an ambiguous relationship with Asahi.

  Their relieving moment was nothing but arrogance in deities' eyes.

  "He's gone crazy," Hermes muttered. "Drunk on power and fame."

  Hermes' already bad impression of Asahi turned even worse. Asahi seemed unafraid of the consequences of sitting at the grand table as if he was assured the three goddesses would let no one harm him.

  'Why did you challenge Freya?'

  He clearly remembered Loki's hint at Freya's opponent. It was Astraea Familia.

  The commotion grew to a boiling point. The gods called to halt the Denatus until Asahi got his punishment.

  "You guys are so annoying." Asahi snapped under the noise and released the seal on his aura.

  The same, or perhaps even more impressive than a deity's 'divine' aura surrounded Asahi. Silence filled the massive room to the point Loki's snickers were heard loudly. A never-seen-before chaos was coming, and Loki will be in the center of it all with the culprit Asahi. She was going to get her fill of thrills this time around.

  'What a day to be alive.'