Let the War Game Begin

The first soft light of dawn and the voices of people beginning to set up goods on the street provided a backdrop for the girl sleeping peacefully on the bed, with her long golden-tipped raven hair splayed out on the bed.

But her sleep did not last long, as her eyelids began to twitch, due to the light coming in, eventually, she was forced to open her tired eyes, revealing her heterochromatic eyes, one aquamarine, while the other dark purple, where it seemed you could get lost.

"!... Haaaaa."

It was only when she realized she was awake that she quickly rose from the bed, before releasing a sigh.

The reason behind Zoe's sigh was not due to negative feelings, it was more an acceptance of her theory. She managed to dream something again, but as always because of all the shadows, it was hard to tell what was going on. Still, it confirmed completely that Mark was the trigger for her dreams, and although on the one hand, she was happy about the discovery, there was something more important at the moment.

"Better get ready."

She began to get ready, organizing her equipment, and when she was sure she had everything she needed, she went downstairs to the guild lobby, where the others had begun to gather.

"Good morning?"

"...Morning." (all)

Sitting on the waiting couches were Welf, Hestia, and Yamato who looked like they had had a sleepless night from the dark circles under their eyes.

"You couldn't sleep?" -Zoe asked.

"Even with the plan that Lili came up with, last night I couldn't calm down for what we will face today." -Welf said, getting tired nods from both Hestia and Yamato.

"Guys!"

Hearing a familiar shout, we all turned toward the entrance, where Bell greeted them vigorously.

"BELL!"

Hestia seemed to regain all her energy seeing him, so she ran at full power, and then launched herself at him.

"I am back my goddess." -Bell said smiling while taking Hestia on the fly, he then shifted his gaze to us.

"I'm glad to see you, but why are you all here?.... Wait, where is Lili, don't tell me she is still in the Soma Familia!"

"Don't worry, Lili is fine. I will explain everything to you on the way to the destination where the War Game will take place."

Before Bell could panic, Zoe managed to pacify him with her words, causing him to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Well, let's not waste time Bell, it's time to update your status!" -Without Bell being able to resist, he was dragged into a room by Hestia.

"Do you think Bell-dono has grown enough for the role he is to assume?" -Yamato asked.

"Well, I believe that-"

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

"I think we got our answer." -Welf sighed, hearing Hestia's laugh.

(Shortly after .)

"Well my goddess, we're off." -Bell said inside the carriage.

"Have a safe journey and make sure to prove that my Familia is the best." -Hestia said, raising her fist vigorously.

"Oh!" (all)

When all the items were put into the carriage, the latter began to be pulled by horses, gradually moving away from Hestia, who kept waving her hand toward them.

Once through the gates of Orario, several hours of travel awaited them, so it was time for Bell to start asking for the information he needed.

"My goddess told me that you are now part of the Familia." -He said happily.

"That's right." -Welf and Yamato nodded.

"Before I start talking about the plan, are you aware of the kind of War Game we will have?" -Zoe asked.

"Hmm, I heard that it will be a full battle between our Families."

"Perfect, so as you can tell, we are at a distinct disadvantage in this factor." -At Zoe's words, Bell nodded.

"So let me explain the plan devised by Lili and the reason why she is not here."

Zoe began to explain the plan, which had three main characters: Lili, Bell, and Zoe. The first part of the plan consisted of Lili infiltrating the members of Apollo Familia through her ability, which allowed her to change her appearance, and the identity she assumed was that of Luan Espel, a level 1 pallum.

"Wait a minute, wasn't that the same person who provoked us at the tavern, causing the beginning of the fight with the Apollo Familia?" -Bell asked, remembering the name.

"You guessed it." -Nodded Zoe.

"But if Lili took his place, where is he?"

"Ptff." -Remembering last night's scene, Yamato and Welf couldn't keep from laughing, though they soon stopped when they heard Zoe's 'kind' smile addressed to them.

"He's fine, don't worry." -Zoe said, still maintaining her smile.

(Meanwhile in the house of the god Miach).

"MHHHH! MHH!"

Lying on the floor of the building was a poor pallum, wriggling like a worm because of the rope blocking his every limb, with a piece of cloth denying him the ability to speak and a black eye, which made him strangely pitiful.

"Don't you think we can free him? By now he can't return to his Familia." -Miach asked Naaza, who stood beside him.

"You too saw the look Zoe and Lili had when they handed him over." -Countered Naaza.

Chills ran down the god's back, remembering the smiles Zoe and Lili had when they mercilessly threw the poor pallum on the floor.

"I'm sorry young pallum, it seems that my hands are tied too." -Miach said, looking at him pitifully.

"HMMMM!"

To Miach and Naaza's ears, the pallum's cry of despair was nothing more than a strange muffled sound.

(Return to the carriage)

"...I trust you then." -Bell said stiffly.

"Good, then I'll continue where I left off."

The second part of the plan consisted of Lili, disguised as Luan, getting the members of the Apollo Familia to ingest the potion Zoe had given to her. The potion was a strong odorless and tasteless narcotic capable of making affect on Levels 1 after a few hours.

"Considering there are about 80 levels 1, there will be only 19 levels 2 left to deal with and their captain who is level 3. At that point it will be my turn." -Explained Zoe.

Once only level 2s remained, Zoe would cast a magic to cause as much confusion as possible so that the others could launch a full attack.

"Your task will be important Bell because you will have to be the one to handle their captain, while we fight against levels 2. Besides, we only have one possibility, if we fail, the chances will decrease abysmally." -Zoe said seriously.

There were some problems with the plan, but the bottom line was that if Apollo Familia decided to be more active rather than remain on the defensive their plan would fail. However, the chances of such an event happening were slim, because from their point of view they already had victory in hand.

"Even if it was not part of the plan, I would have asked for a fight against Hyakinthos."

In Bell's ruby-red eyes, there seemed to burn a flame full of confidence in his abilities, which made the others smile.

"Let's go win this War Game." -Welf said, smiling.

"Yes!"(all)

---Changing perspective---

"Hello citizens of Orario, my name is GANESHA!"

As the sun set, when the sky began to be colored by its orange-red color, in various parts of Orario, several circles began to appear in the air where the figure of Ganesha was shown flexing his muscles, with the gods in the background shaking their tired heads.

"As you know, starting today for the next three days, there will be combat between the Apollo Familia and the Hestia Familia. Uranos has allowed us to use our powers so that you all can see the event, but let me show you the battlefield."

The scene in the various circles changed, showing a mostly rocky mountainous area traversed by dense forest.

"What you see is the base of the Beol Mountains to the north of Orario, which is about a day's journey from here, and this is where the battle will take place. The winner will be the one who after three days has the most members able to fight or the Familia who can take down all the opposing members.

Then who will be the winner? Will be the Apollo Familia who is most likely to win or will the Hestia Familia be able to surprise us? I GANESHA, I don't know, but I can't wait to find out together with all of you!"

In every corner of the city, people were discussing who would win, the betting continued to increase, and it seemed that everyone was interested in the outcome, even the members of the Freya and Loki Familia were watching in their respective bases the clash that would take place. Even Mark, who was in his room, was watching the screen showing the mountain scene, interested in how events would unfold.

"Are you ready? Let the War Game begin!"