The following day—
Lady Astraea left the Stardust Garden early in the morning to attend an emergency convocation of the Assembly of the Gods.
The so-called Assembly of the Gods had originally been nothing more than a gathering planned by a handful of gods at regular intervals to relieve their boredom.
Over time, however, more and more gods began to participate. The scale of the event expanded, and its purpose gradually shifted—from idle chatter to the sharing of the latest information and the exchange of opinions. Eventually, in cooperation with the Guild, it became an event capable of influencing the entire city.
During the assembly, the gods would also bestow titles upon newly promoted Lv.2 adventurers. A title was essentially another name—receiving one meant that the gods acknowledged an adventurer's achievements, an honor of the highest order.
And this particular Assembly of the Gods was unlike any before it.
More than eighty percent of the gods in Orario were in attendance—an astonishing number.
On the thirtieth floor of Babel, a massive number of gods gathered together, making even the spacious hall feel crowded.
"Lady Freya!"
At a single cry, countless heads snapped toward the entrance almost simultaneously. Their gazes converged on a figure of breathtaking beauty, and for a brief instant, hearts seemed to stop beating.
Freya possessed smooth, porcelain-white skin and a flawless, devilishly perfect figure—as though the very concept of the golden ratio had been born from her body. Her long lashes lent her an air of delicate vulnerability, her phoenix-like eyes were ethereal and transcendent, and her exquisitely radiant face ensnared the soul with every movement.
Many male gods practically had pink hearts popping out of their eyes.
The goddesses, meanwhile, gnashed their teeth as they stared at Freya. To them, she was a natural enemy.
"Please, make some room."
Freya strolled gracefully toward the front rows. Her peerless figure left the gods utterly entranced, and her voice alone seemed capable of stealing one's soul.
"Lady Freya, please!"
The male gods immediately cleared out a large area for her, squeezing themselves together with the others.
"Thank you."
Freya offered a faint smile and took her seat.
"To think this matter would draw Lady Freya herself… This definitely isn't an ordinary adventurer!"
"Oh no, now I'm fired up!"
"That wicked woman is going to steal someone else's child again! Little Roy, you have to hold out!"
...
The hall erupted into noisy chatter, verging on chaos.
Freya spoke calmly,
"The protagonist of this assembly shouldn't be me. It should be a child of the Astraea Familia."
"Yes, yes, Lady Freya is absolutely right!"
The moment Freya spoke, the gods' attention was instantly redirected toward Lady Astraea and her Familia.
Countless gazes focused on Astraea—some filled with envy, some with jealousy, others with doubt. Advancing from Lv.1 to Lv.2 in seventeen days was simply too shocking.
Yet no matter how thoroughly they questioned it from every possible angle, they confirmed again and again that neither Astraea nor Roy had spoken a single lie.
The Ganesha Familia could also attest that when Roy first entered Orario, he had possessed no divine blessing whatsoever.
Even the neighbors Roy had met while living in a tent outside the city could corroborate the story. After arriving in Orario, he had done only two things: search for a Familia to join, and offer business advice to shopkeepers to earn a living.
All evidence pointed to the same conclusion—Roy possessed an ultra-rare skill, one capable of influencing growth speed itself!
In thousands of years, the gods had never witnessed anything like this. A green glint flickered deep within their eyes.
Fortunately, Lady Astraea didn't mention that Roy had come to her of his own accord. Had she done so, the gods might have vomited blood in sheer frustration over their lack of such fortune.
As for bestowing a title upon the fastest-leveling adventurer in history, the gods were positively brimming with enthusiasm.
"I shall present little Roy with a title I pondered for an entire week—Swiftest Justice!"
"Get lost! What a trash name! Mine—Super Invincible Ultra-Cool Lightning Boy—is way better!"
"No, no, no! Sword of the King of Justice is superior! Or maybe Shatter the Darkness with Thunder!"
"Lady Freya is speaking!"
"What? The head coach is warming up?!"
...
While the gods bickered endlessly over Roy's title, Roy and Ryuu had already left the Garden of the Stars.
Roy didn't particularly care about titles. They were nothing more than superficial honors—unable to increase his strength and unlikely to bring any tangible benefit.
He understood the gods' mischievous tastes all too well. They loved to toy with rookie adventurers for their own amusement.
As long as the title wasn't too outrageous, it would suffice.
Their destination was the Hermes Familia.
The moment they stepped onto Hermes Familia territory, they were met by a handsome god with a refreshing smile and an elegant air. He had yellow-orange hair, orange eyes, wore casual clothing, and sported a feathered hat.
Behind him stood a blue-haired young woman of about seventeen or eighteen years, her appearance refined and graceful, with a streak of white dyed into the front of her hair.
The god was Hermes.
And beside him was Asfi Al Andromeda, captain of the Hermes Familia—an adventurer at Lv.4, bearing the title The Universal One, though her publicly declared level was Lv.2.
"Little Ryuu, it's been a long time!"
Hermes greeted her with a cheerful smile.
Ryuu's expression remained calm.
"Lord Hermes, we apologize for visiting so abruptly."
"Ryuu…"
Asfi's gaze was complicated. She already knew about the destruction of the Astraea Familia.
Her own patron deity loved to travel endlessly, never staying in one place for more than half a month. As a result, Asfi had no choice but to follow him around, cleaning up his messes wherever they went.
The two Familias had once fought side by side during the Great Feud. Who would have thought that a single journey would end in eternal separation?
Hermes, upon hearing of the destruction of both the Astraea Familia and the Rudra Familia, felt deep regret that such an interesting event had occurred while he was absent.
Sensing that major upheavals were still to come in Orario, Hermes hurried back with great excitement.
The two had returned to Orario two days earlier.
Ryuu asked,
"Lord Hermes, are you not attending the Assembly of the Gods?"
"I'm not particularly interested in naming people."
Hermes waved his hand indifferently, then turned his gaze to Roy.
"Besides, I wanted to meet him in person—the adventurer who reached Lv.2 at the fastest pace in history."
"Greetings, Lord Hermes."
Though Hermes' gaze seemed filled with goodwill, Roy remained outwardly composed while raising his guard to the highest level internally. Among all the gods, Hermes was one of the few he feared as much as Freya.
Freya's charm was overwhelmingly direct—you at least knew who killed you.
Hermes' schemes, on the other hand, could leave you sold off while you happily counted the money for him.
"No need to be so formal. Astraea and I are practically old neighbors back in Heaven. Her children are my children, and mine are hers as well."
Hermes' handsome face bore a warm, open smile.
Roy was speechless inside.
That didn't stop you from finding a way to wipe out the Rudra Familia for her. Empty pleasantries like that were unnecessary.
"So then…" Hermes continued, his gaze seeming to peer straight into Roy's heart.
"Little brother Roy, could you perhaps share with me what you're planning to do next?"
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