Chapter 630: Are the Goddesses of Olympus cheat codes?
Territory of the Snow Clan, in an isolated location set apart only for the Goddesses.
Before letting the Goddesses meet with the other groups, they had to learn to treat everyone respectfully. Unfortunately, because of their Status as 'Deities', they were very arrogant with Mortals.
This setup was planned by Aphrodite and Hestia, who understood what their compatriots were like.
Victor, along with Violet, Sasha, and Ruby, were looking at a group of Goddesses after he had just finished explaining what had happened.
The group consisted of Aphrodite, Hestia, Rhea, Demeter, and Nike. The other Goddesses were still in the process of being advised and documented.
"What do you think?" Victor asked.
"We will help," Hestia spoke.
"That land is under our protection, and we will not ignore it, even if our situation is unfavorable..." Demeter spoke.
'I wonder why we didn't get any distress calls. It must be because we're on another planet? If so... The probability of Athena and Artemis being in that place is high.'
"Not to mention that having the Amazons as allies is a big plus," Aphrodite added.
"..." Victor squirmed visibly.
Aphrodite looked at Victor and felt his emotions:
"Darling… I understand what you're feeling, but they're not that bad… Probably."
"... How long has it been since you interacted with them?" Victor asked.
"A long time ago, the last time I visited them was on my travels."
"And what were they like?"
"....."
Aphrodite's silence was all Victor needed to confirm his thoughts:
"Probably, the first generations of women you helped wouldn't be so extremist, and after a while, we could even rehabilitate them, but those women don't exist anymore. As time passed, the 'hatred' that the first generation had was passed on to future generations."
"Hate for 'men' has become 'normal'. Hate is deeply rooted in their culture, and this hate has turned into prejudice, leading them to see men only as cattle or slaves."
"Ugh." Aphrodite couldn't deny Victor's words.
Victor looked at Hestia and said, "Hestia, are you strong?"
"Even Zeus would have trouble fighting me seriously, and since it's Demons we're going to be dealing with, my Fire is a countermeasure to their Corruption," Hestia spoke.
Victor nodded again, "According to what you said, of the Goddesses present here, only you, Nike, Aphrodite, and Thetis would be a military 'power'."
"So, will you be the ones to go with Scathach?"
"Hmm, it's up to them. Even though I'm the 'Leader' of this group, I won't force anyone to make a decision."
It was decided internally that Aphrodite would be the representative of the Goddesses, she would represent the Goddesses in the Faction, and Hestia would be the 'Leader' of the Goddesses working together with Aphrodite.
An arrangement that the Goddesses readily accepted. Many Goddesses had some personal grudges towards Aphrodite, but these grudges stemmed from Aphrodite being more 'beautiful' than them.
And they had no words to refuse someone who got them out of that 'annoying' situation they were in. It was better to obey Hestia and Aphrodite than to die pointlessly in a civil war they really didn't want to get involved in.
The fact that Rhea, the Mother Goddess, accepted this arrangement also made it easier for the other Goddesses to decide. Because of that, there were no real problems with adding Goddesses to the group.
"Hey, I can fight too! I fought in the Titan War, you know!" Demeter defended herself.
"..." Violet squirmed visibly when she heard the voice of Demeter, and the room began to heat up a little more as the white-haired woman looked at the plump Goddess with a look that promised to barbecue her like a steak.
Ruby and Sasha just lightly tapped Violet on the shoulder.
Violet looks at her friends.
"Violet…" Sasha murmured with a serious look.
"I know, Sasha… I know… But she's her mother, right? That bitch."
"Yes, she is, but even Aphrodite confirmed that Demeter had nothing to do with Adonis' situation. That was all done by Persephone. She assured us of it. You and Agnes were close when it happened; even our Husband confirmed it, and you know no one can lie to him."
"What you are thinking of doing now is just unjustified violence."
"..." Violet gritted her teeth.
'Haah, this is why I didn't want to bring her here.' Sasha thought while tightly gripping Violet's shoulder, a thought that was shared by Ruby now.
Demeter looked at the white-haired Vampire with complicated eyes. She could clearly feel Violet's hostility from the moment she arrived. This girl and her mother always looked at her as if they would kill her for any little reason if she weren't careful.
Despite that, Demeter could understand the feelings of the two; her daughter hurt these two a lot.
Usually, she wouldn't care about a Mortal's grudge, but it was hard not to when that Mortal was of the same Faction and had the power to drive her from this place. Demeter wasn't foolish enough to believe that she would be safe if she went to Earth. After all, a war was going on on that planet.
Victor looked at the plump Goddess and spoke to change the subject and improve the situation; he couldn't afford to have them fight each other now:
"Hmm, when was your last fight?"
"... In the Titan War," Demeter replied slowly until she returned to her usual tone as she turned her gaze to Victor:
"I was quite revered at the time, you know?" She humphed proudly.
"Hmm, but that also means that you haven't known what it's like to fight for thousands of years."
"Ugh." She couldn't deny it.
"I will too."
Victor turned his gaze to the elegant-looking Goddess and realized who she was:
"Nike..."
"Oh? Do you remember?"
"It's hard to forget the Goddess of Victory. My first name has the same meaning, after all."
"... Victor, huh..."
"Indeed, from the word Victorious."
"Fumu, in that case." Nike faced Victor and reached out to him; soon after, Victor's body glowed softly.
"Oh…?" Victor started to feel that feeling again.
"May your path be laden with Invicta Victoria."
Hearing those words, Victor felt something rising inside him, a strange feeling of confidence and courage?
Make no mistake, Victor was already confident and courageous, but it looked like that feeling had been boosted even further.
"..." Victor looked at Aphrodite, wondering why the Goddess didn't protect him, but the Goddess of Beauty just laughed and shrugged.
'It seems that Aphrodite planned it, huh.'
"A Blessing, huh... Not that I'm complaining; it's nice to have the Goddess of Victory as an ally, but why so sudden?"
"You are the Leader. Therefore you are the pillar that supports everything. If you lose, we will lose, and that is a big no for us, whose situation is very delicate."
"... A logical thought."
'But it's a shame it's a lie, at least until the last part, which states that their situation is quite delicate.' Victor thought.
"The Blessing I have given you is my Complete Blessing, a Blessing which increases your Courage, Determination, and Confidence... And at certain times, the Blessing will change an inevitable 'defeat' into something positive, like an escape, or even Victory."
Victor opened his eyes wide when he understood what that meant.
"Isn't that Causality Manipulation...?" Sasha asked in shock.
"On a small scale, but yes. You are right." Nike did not deny Sasha's words.
"That's one of the reasons why Nike doesn't give her Blessing easily and why the male Gods fawn over her so much. If you have the Goddess of Victory on your side, you're unlikely to find a situation where you 'lose'." Aphrodite smiled proudly.
"This is a whole new level of bullshit…." Violet muttered as Ruby just nodded.
'How do you fight someone who can 'win' every time?' Ruby thought.
Victor looked at the pink-haired Goddess and narrowed his eyes a little; then, he understood something.
"Indeed, indeed, I convinced the Goddess of Victory to give her Blessing to you. Otherwise, Nike wouldn't give you her Blessing. So treat it as payment for keeping them all 'safe'."
'I wanted Tyche, the Goddess of Luck, also to give her Blessing, but that would make a bad impression on the Goddesses… Perhaps, I should convince her another time… Although just the presence of the Goddess here will guarantee that 'luck' will be on our side, and I don't want to anger the Goddess of Luck either... Hmm.' Aphrodite was making plans for her fellow Goddesses.
"...." Nike was silent because there were no words to refute Aphrodite, the Goddess of Beauty, was correct. So, essentially speaking, Nike was 'sacrificed' by the group.
Victor just nodded, having guessed that was it.
"Oh, a warning. Beings misunderstand my Divinity and Concept. This Power does not bring perfect victory; it is limited by the scope of reality I find myself in."
"For example, if I face Ares, what do you think will happen?"
"You will lose," Demeter spoke without hesitation.
"Correct. He is stronger than me, and he will defeat me, but... If he makes a mistake, lets his guard down, or thinks I am weak, my Divinity will act and allow me to achieve Victory."
"......"
"The key word here is 'Victory'. Victory can be achieved in many ways, winning a contest, winning a debate, beating someone just by touching the blade to them, etc."
"If I fight Ares now, my Divinity will affect him and guarantee 'Victory', but I will hardly kill him or harm him due to our strength differences."
"... I see... As he is much stronger than you, the very act of touching his flesh with your blade can be 'considered' a victory." Ruby explained.
"Correct."
"That is an outrageous power," Ruby muttered.
"What do you mean, Ruby?" Violet asked.
"Just think about it. What if Nike was stronger? For example, if she had Vlad's strength?"
"Nobody could fight her, nobody could touch her, because her Divinity would guarantee her Victory in any situation. She literally has a cheat code that allows her to always win, as long as the condition that she is 'superior' to the opponent is fulfilled."
"..." Sasha and Violet were even more shocked by this prospect, and they couldn't help but look at Nike.
"That is correct, but this Power cannot be given to someone through a Blessing; it is exclusive to me… And higher Concepts of Existences like 'END', 'DEATH', and 'DESTRUCTION' can nullify the effects of my Divinity."
"And unlike the Divinities I mentioned, my Divinity does not protect me from Aphrodite's Charm, for example, or negative influences from the evil Gods and their hellspawn. My Divinity is not invincible."
"Nike, Beings who possess the aforementioned Divinities can be counted on one's fingers, and most Gods outside of light-related Gods are weak against the Miasma of Hell… Don't underestimate yourself too much." Tyche, the Goddess of Luck, spoke in a neutral tone.
"..." Nike was going to say something but just closed her mouth and nodded.
"…What is your reason for telling us this? After all, I presume this is something secret, right?" Victor asked as he felt Demeter, Hestia, and Aphrodite's shocked feelings, proving they didn't know that.
"So that you don't unreasonably send me to the battlefield in hopes of gaining something or force me to give more Blessings. I may be a warrior, but I learned to fight only to defend myself, not to harm other beings." Nike was completely honest as she looked at Victor.
'The Goddess of Victory is a pacifist...' Everyone thought at the same time.
In some ironic way, it suited her quite well.
"..." Victor stared at Nike for a few seconds until his smile grew wider:
"Hahaha."
Nike and the Goddesses looked at Victor strangely. What was so funny?
Slowly his laughter began to die, and he spoke with the same smile on his face, "... Nike, I guarantee you, that situation will never happen."
"So you can put your caution aside and be honest with me. I prefer people like that."
"...." Subconsciously, Nike sighed, feeling a little relieved. She hadn't even realized that she had become so tense. To be honest, she didn't like making a deal with Aphrodite to pay the 'rent' when that rent was the Blessing she gave Victor.
It's okay that she had to give something; after all, they were protecting her, but giving someone a Blessing was very personal for a God. Because of that, she was very nervous and thought that she would be exploited in this place.
She feared she would be forced to fight. She was not against killing or anything like that; she was a warrior, after all, but she wouldn't intentionally harm anyone. She considered herself a pacifist.
She only learned to fight so that the Gods who looked down on her did not attack her for her body. Although such a situation never happened. Everyone feared the 'curse' that the Goddess of Victory could cast.
What is the curse of the Goddess of Victory? The curse of never again achieving 'victory'. A curse that makes all the efforts of the Gods, no matter what, fail.
A curse she cast on a God who tried to rape her, and thanks to that curse, he 'failed' to achieve his goal.
But all those concerns died with Victor's words.
"I won't force you to do anything, but I also won't let you get weak and be a leech."
"... Huh?"
Victor's face became serious: "If, in the likely future, someone attacks us, I want you to defend us. What do you think about that?"
"... Well..." She was silent for a few seconds thinking about her following words. "I can accept that, but I will not initiate conflict with anyone."
"Fine by me." Victor smiled gently.
And that smile caught the Goddess of Victory off guard as she became completely lost in his smile.
"I look forward to our future training."
Nike gasped as Victor's words registered in her brain:
"... Eh? What do you mean train!?"
"Exactly what I mean. I won't let you be a leech, and you've agreed to that, which means you're going to train with me, right?"
"Huh!? Where did you get that twisted logic!? I did not agree to this!"
"Ehh? But you said you weren't going to be a leech."
"Yes, but that doesn't mean I'm going to train!"
"So, how do you plan on getting stronger?"
"…Tending the garden?"
"..." Everyone didn't know how to react to those words.
"Isn't that Demeter's job?" Sasha spoke.
"Oyy! I am the Goddess of Agriculture! FARMING! Not the Goddess of Gardening!"
Sasha put her hand to her ear, "Okay, okay, I get it! No need to scream, ugh."
"It's good that you understand. This misunderstanding always happens, and it's annoying." Demeter snarled as memories from the past began to appear in her head.
"…She seems to have a past about it," Violet muttered.
"Back to the point, I would be happy to train with you, Nike," Victor spoke.
"Huh!? Won't you just forget about it!? Just forget it! I will not train!"
"...." Victor just smiled at her.
"So you plan on being a leech? You said you wouldn't be one."
"Ugh."
.....
