Wish Fulfillment System - Volume 1 Chapter 99 Eight Deities Round Table

In a glamorous and massive temple in the middle of a seemingly endless desert, an olive-skinned, scantily-clad woman sitting on a golden throne suddenly opened her eyes. Just moments prior, she had been completely still, then a golden light had illuminated the entire room. It had taken a few seconds, but eventually, everything had returned to normal.

Hatred filled the woman’s eyes and she snarled in rage, not even able to properly vocalize the feelings rattling her entire being. If Isaac had been here, then he would have instantly recognized her to be Petbe, the goddess that he had slain today.

It took her close to an hour, but she eventually managed to calm down. That didn’t mean that she would let bygones be bygones, however – her Divinity was Vengeance, so such a thing was completely out of the question. With an icy glare, she methodically analyzed what had happened earlier, before coming to a decision.

‘I have to update the others about this. Although that bastard is just a mortal, he could eventually grow into an actual threat to us. It’s no wonder Vli told us to take care of him, he is too smart and dangerous for his own good.’

Right when she had made her decision and was about to leave in a hurry, she suddenly felt a minor sting in her heart that she hadn’t noticed before due to her previous outburst. It was like something was missing. She couldn’t properly explain what she was feeling, as this was completely foreign to her. The closest she could get after some thought was the term ‘phantom pain’. It felt like a limb or a part of hers that had been with her for literally ever was simply gone. Where it should be was a void, but she could still feel ‘something’. She just had no idea what it was. Maybe it was the absence itself?

‘Wait, what’s going on!?’

Confused, she searched every nook and cranny of her body, but soon found nothing to be amiss. This only served to further bewilder her. Then finally, it was as if she had just realized something terrifying and she grew extremely pale. She closed her eyes and began to sense her Divinity, and then following that, she mentally inspected all of her Arcanums. Finally, she realized what it was that she was missing.

‘My ‘Wails of Judgement’ is gone!!’

A high-pitched shriek escaped her mouth, reinforced by her out-of-control Divinity. The entire temple, her haven here in Heaven, was trembling heavily. If she hadn’t built it exceptionally sturdily, and if it hadn’t also been reinforced by her Divinity, then it would surely have collapsed then and there.

—–

By the time that the sun had started to set, all relevant gods and goddesses had been invited to a conference room in Babel tomorrow, at 10 a.m.. There were only ten of them, and not all of them had the time or the nerve to attend – still, notifying them had been a necessary formality. Ultimately, they would only have themselves to blame if they didn’t make time to take part and a decision that went against their wishes was made.

This night was a rather quiet one, especially for Isaac. Usually, he would be down in the dungeon slaying monsters, or at least sleeping next to Ais. For the first time in a long while, however, he did neither of those things. The reason for this was simple. He didn’t know whether or not anyone would check up on him during the night or the early morning, so he didn’t want to risk them encountering an empty holding cell. This problem should only be temporary, at least if his plans panned out, but for tonight, he had to restrain himself and sit tight.

That didn’t mean that he just wasted his time, though – of course he didn’t. He did sleep for a more-than-sufficient four hours, but aside from that, he did the best that he could. While chatting with Ais, who was in a slightly sour mood because of having to be separated for this period of time, he added more and more drops of mana to the mental layer’s flow. He had gotten many times faster at doing this by now, but it still took him until shortly before 9 a.m. to arrive at yet another bottleneck – the 20,000th drop.

After overcoming it and basking in the resulting refreshing comfort for a while, he glanced at the system notification that had sprung up.

[ Mana Cultivation – Foundation Establishment (F): Enables one to interact with their surroundings by using mana. Reduction in mana expenditure: 5% ]

‘I wonder if Development Abilities cap at S-grade, or whether they are actually the same as stats and can go past that point Either way, I doubt any significant changes will happen until I get there.’

For now, the only thing that he could do was to continually increase his stats and forge ahead. At some point, the sheer quantity of mana would inevitably lead to a qualitative change – or at least he hoped so.

As he was worried that he would run out of important things to occupy himself with, Isaac consciously slowed down his speed of progression a little – he only had a bit more than 3,000 more drops to add, and he didn’t want to finish before the deities’ meeting ended. With that in mind, he glanced in the direction of Babel and narrowed his eyes a little, before smirking to himself.

‘Even though I can only influence it a little, that much should be more than enough.’

—–

Freya had arrived before anyone else, excluding Ouranos’ hologram. The elusive primordial god never attended any of the deities’ gatherings personally, as he needed to be in a specific location to keep the seal constraining the dungeon stable.

With an enchanting but also polite smile, the goddess nodded at her senior before taking a seat at the round white marble table at the center of the room, to his left. She didn’t say a word and only calmly waited for the others to arrive.

As there were still plenty of minutes left, her thoughts drifted a bit until something that had happened yesterday came to mind.

After Ryuu had returned from her temporary leave and started to help out Syr and the others at the Hostess of Fertility yet again, she had given her a sealed letter. The wax seal showed an ‘I’ with an ornate crown on top, which first confused its recipient a little, as she had never seen this symbol before. This was only momentary, however, as it didn’t take a genius to figure out that this represented Isaac. It was painfully obvious.

A bit intrigued, Syr, or rather, Freya, used her next short break to read the letter, only to start giggling in amus.e.m.e.nt. It contained a request, but at the same time, it didn’t.

Isaac knew that he didn’t really have much grounds to stand on when it came to requesting anything of her, unless he wanted to become her enemy. So instead, he informed her of the meeting that was sure to happen, at least if his predictions would turn out to be correct, and of what his desired outcome would be. He didn’t specifically ask her to support his goal, instead, he only told her to please consider helping him should the evidence that would be presented convince her to do so – or should she feel like it. The letter also clearly stated that he wouldn’t be offended at all if she chose to not do any of this.

How could Freya, a goddess who had borne witness to a plethora of schemes in her life, not realize what he was doing? To be fair, he didn’t even attempt to hide it. But all he did, this entire letter it was nothing more than a formality. He was already certain of what she would choose to do, of which side she would support, so it was only a failsafe to make doubly sure that she knew what needed to happen for his plans to proceed.

Back when Ryuu had taken her leave, Freya had already been aware that this matter undoubtedly involved Evilus, and she only had to put two and two together after seeing a deity getting returned to Heaven earlier.

‘At least he has manners. If he hadn’t even contacted me and simply expected my support because ‘the enemy of one’s enemy is one’s friend’, then I might have decided to mess with him a little. Still, why did he request something this weird?’

What snapped Freya out of her thoughts was the arrival of a pair of red-haired goddesses that couldn’t be any more different. One had a short ponytail and seemingly closed eyes. A mischievous grin played across her lips constantly. The other had short but wavy hair and a black eyepatch over the right one of her ruby-red eyes. Both of them wore more casual clothing – the former’s was somewhat reminiscent of an adventurer’s, while the latter’s consisted of a white shirt, black gloves and pants, as well as brown boots. But if both were so similar, where did the aforementioned huge difference lie? It lay in their body shape. While they both were exactly the same height, the former was flat as a board and the latter was quite well-endowed. They were Loki and Hephaestus, respectively.

Hephaestus’ familia was fully composed of smiths, and she was as close to the authority in this field as possible. While many other deities could rival her abilities in the forge, her familia was the largest and most influential, by far. As this was anything but the first meeting of the three goddesses – in fact, most deities that lived in Orario encountered each other quite frequently – they simply exchanged a few light-hearted greetings before the two new arrivals took their seats.

Loki sat down on Ouranos’ right, while Hephaestus took her place next to the trickster goddess. Freya’s eyes rested on Loki for a bit longer than usual, then she turned away and slightly smiled to herself.

Shortly after, a god and a goddess arrived together, seemingly on quite friendly terms. They were old acquaintances and while the former was a little unusual, he was good-natured, which was exactly the reason as to why they got along so well.

The god was easily more than a head taller than the goddess, and remarkably muscular. He had tanned skin and wore an orange sash over his right shoulder, which was wrapped around his waist. Under this sash, he wore white pants, which were stuffed into his gold-rimmed dark brown knee-high boots. He wore gauntlets and a leather plate over his stomach, both were of the same design as the boots.To appear more extravagant, he wore golden arm bands around his upper arms and a thick golden necklace. His long shaggy black hair spilled down all the way to his shoulders, while his eyes couldn’t be made out behind the red and yellow elephant mask that covered the entire top half of his face. He was the host of the Monster Feria, Ganesha.

Smiling ever so calmly and reassuringly was Demeter, the goddess accompanying him. She was a stunningly beautiful mature woman with long and flowing golden honey coloured hair, and orange eyes. She was clad in a light pink dress that was long enough to drag along the floor when it wasn’t lifted up a little. Besides a golden belt around her waist, she was free from any other embellishments. Her familia was agricultural in nature and almost single-handedly fed the entire city. As almost all of its members were non-combatants, it was quite weak, but it sported the – by far – highest member count.

Upon seeing her, Freya’s eyes lit up a little, and the two goddesses’ mood markedly improved. They had been friends – close friends, even – for a long time, but usually, they didn’t have too many chances to interact. So even though they were to take part in an official matter, they were still joyful at having the opportunity to spend time together again.

“I hope you all know that I’ll do my absolute best today. And why’s that? Because I’m Ganesha! AHAHAHAHA!!”

Roaring with unabashed and annoying laughter, the elephant-masked god took his seat next to Freya, while Demeter sat next to Hephaestus. Tacitly, they all decided to ignore the boisterous Ganesha and paid more attention to the entrance of the room, as there were still two deities who had announced that they would participate but hadn’t shown up yet.

About seven minutes before the meeting was scheduled to begin, an olive-skinned white haired god hurried into the room and hastily took a seat right next to Ganesha. His attire was actually quite similar to his neighbour’s, as he wore various jewelry made of gemstones and gold – a massive necklace and various arm bands – and his upper body was completely bare aside from those. His light pants were white in colour as well, but he was barefoot. His black eyes had small dots of yellow within their irises, making observers think of grains of sand.

“Phew, looks like I’m not the last to arrive. Sorry for almost being late, I overslept.”

Slightly apologetic, he bowed towards the others, who assured him that it wasn’t a problem. He, Set, was one of the old guard. He had been in the Lower World for close to a millennium now, and his familia had once contended for the spot of the most powerful with the Zeus and Hera Familias. It went pretty badly, and Set’s familia never again recovered to its peak state, but they still had enough influence in the city and the godly community to be invited to a meeting like this. If his desire for glory hadn’t been entirely shattered back during his loss against Zeus and Hera, then he wouldn’t get along with the current stars of Orario’s godly community, Freya and Loki, nearly as well.

Finally, the last deity arrived a minute before the start of the meeting. It was a goddess that was slightly taller than Demeter. She had brown skin and belonged to the more well-endowed category. Even compared to regular Amazonesses, she wore extremely revealing clothing. There was only a single, thin red-orange piece of cloth loosely hung around her neck. It barely covered the most important bits of her b.r.e.a.s.ts. She also wore a pareo of the same colour around her waist that reached all the way down to her ankles. Just like Set, she was barefoot, and – like Ganesha – she was also covered in golden jewelry aplenty. There were bracelets, anklets and multiple necklaces, but she even sported a jewelled crown on top of her long purple hair that was styled to have a ponytail at the back. When her brown eyes fell upon Freya, they were instantly filled with anger and jealousy.

“Oh, so you finally decided to bless us with your presence as well, Ishtar.”

Adding fuel to the fire that had never really extinguished for all these years, Freya mocked the latest arrival slightly, as the look in her eyes was a bit of an annoyance to her.

With a smile that was anything but a smile, Ishtar sat down at her seat – in between Set and Demeter – and stared daggers at the woman that she had always called her rival.

“Not all of us can have the privilege of living just a few floors from the meeting room. I had to come all the way here from the Entertainment District, dear Freya~”

What she had brought up was correct – Freya practically lived next door, so it made sense for her to be able to easily make it on time. Still, that didn’t excuse Ishtar for cutting it so close. It was considered to be good manners to arrive about ten and at least five minutes early to their meetings. Set had at least apologized for his almost-transgression and been dishevelled from having run all the way here, but the ‘Queen of the Entertainment District’ hadn’t even bothered to accelerate her steps.

“Ahem. Now that we’re all assembled, let us begin.”

Before their arguing could continue and potentially grow out of hand, Ouranos cleared his throat and, right on time, kicked off what they were actually here for.

“As I hope all of you are aware of, our fellow deity, Petbe, was unlawfully sent back up to Heaven yesterday. We have gathered here today to inspect the circ.u.mstances of this crime and to determine the fate of the criminal.”

Without further ado, Ouranos’ hologram waved its hand, and the memory crystal that had previously been resting at the center of the table rose into the air.

“Yesterday, the killer himself supplied the Guild with this recording of his deed. He also turned himself in without any resistance whatsoever. The secret as to why he did this lies within this memory crystal.”

Ouranos’ words served to garner the curiosity of the assembled deities, and he succeeded. They all made their own speculations in their hearts, then they motioned at the old man to finally stop leaving them hanging.

Only a moment later, mana got injected into the crystal, and they all got a good look at the recording.

Exclamations of surprise and shock echoed through the room, and by the time it had finished, most of those assembled had thoughtful expressions on their faces.

The first to speak up was Hephaestus, who was rubbing her chin with her glove-clad hand.

“So Petbe and her familia were a part of Evilus too, huh? That certainly comes as a surprise. While she has always been a bit shady, I didn’t think she’d be a part of that crowd.”

Most of those present nodded. Petbe had never given away a single clue when they met for official matters. Although none of them had been too close to her, they had all thought that they had at least had a vague grasp on her personality and overall alignment.

“That aside, who is that man? I’ve never seen him before, and I think we should get to know more about him if we are to decide his fate.”

Although Petbe’s secret was stunning, Set didn’t forget about what they had come here to do. Sure, a god being a part of Evilus would have inevitably led to them being sent back to Heaven – but for a mortal to take that into their own hands wasn’t acceptable. According to the laws and rules that the godly community had decided upon, it was illegal.

With a glance at Loki, Ouranos nodded and finally revealed this part of the information.

“His name is Isaac Blackshaw, and he is a member of the Loki Familia.” Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #%E2%80%99-round-table_51076461179754597 for visiting.

Taken aback by this, it took a while for the first deity to speak up again. Just like before, it was Hephaestus. She looked directly at her old friend and business partner, with surprise written all over her face.

“You’re involved in this!?”

A helpless sigh escaped the trickster goddess’ lips and she shook her head.

“I’m not. I had no idea that he was going to do something like that.”

At her denial, an unamused snort sounded from the other side of the table.

“Oh please, I call bullshit. How could you possibly not be aware of this matter? He’s a part of your own familia, after all. With your personality, you would never let something like this happen behind your back.”

Ishtar’s words were very confrontational, but most of the others had to admit that she had made a good point. Loki was well-known for her schemes, so nobody would believe her if she said that she had had no clue about this before it finally happened.

But instead of admitting it, Loki shook her head exasperatedly and sneered at the brown-skinned goddess of beauty.

“I really question your brain sometimes. If I had truly had something to do with this, then I never would have let him kill Petbe. After all, I could have just done it myself. I would never let my children bear negative consequences for something that I could easily get away with scot-free if I did it myself. You should know this about me by now, right? So tell me, why would I let him commit such a crime if I knew about it?”

By the end of her explanation, Ishtar’s expression had markedly worsened, but she wasn’t yet ready to throw in the towel.

“How would I know!? Maybe you have some other plan. The fact is that he is a member of your familia, and you definitely knew about this. The fact that you didn’t do anything to stop this makes you complicit.”

This time, it was Demeter who responded to her, in her usual, calming way.

“Now, now. Even if that were to be the case, Loki is a goddess, so killing another goddess would be perfectly legal. Still, there also is no proof for this, it’s only speculation. Let’s end it here and return back to the topic at hand, shall we?”

Nodding at her gratefully, Ouranos ignored the unhappy frown upon Ishtar’s face and continued with the script.

“The only facts that we have at hand are that this man, Mr. Blackshaw, has rid the city of Remnants of Evilus. As you undoubtedly noticed, the two in the lead were a Level 6 and Level 5 respectively, while the rest were Level 4’s. None of them were registered with the Guild. Such an act would usually result in public eulogies and ample rewards, but the method by which Mr. Blackshaw achieved this was to destroy the mortal vessel of one of our own. Under normal circ.u.mstances, this would lead to either execution or life-long imprisonment. Now, what do you all propose?”

After a bit of thought, Ganesha was the first one to speak up.

“I think that due to his heroic act, we should be more lenient. But how exactly!? I haven’t the faintest idea. I just know that I am Ganesha!!”

Because they were used to ignoring about half of what he usually said, the deities didn’t even blink at his borderline-insane need of introducing himself over and over again.

“I agree. Maybe we could even make an exception for him? After all, he didn’t hunt down an innocent deity, but judged a guilty one instead. While that isn’t okay, I think we can let him get away with a warning this time. Don’t forget, he turned himself in and didn’t make any trouble. There is no doubt that he only did what he thought to be best, with no intention of evading the consequences of his actions. In my eyes, that’s brave and admirable. It deserves at least a little bit of respect and mercy.”

With a gentle, motherly smile, Demeter was looking at her old acquaintances, hoping to find agreement amongst their numbers. What greeted her first, however, was the opposite.

“We can’t do that. If we are too lenient, then many of us will follow in Petbe’s footsteps. Don’t forget, we are mostly powerless here in the Lower World.”

Set shook his head with a heavy sigh. Personally, he didn’t really want to condemn the young man to such a fate, but all of their mortal lives were at stake here – he couldn’t play favourites.

His words quickly got followed up with by Ishtar, who nodded in approval.

“We should just execute him to send a message. Look, I’m sorry about this, Loki, but your child has got to go.”

Contrary to what she had expected, Loki didn’t antagonize her immediately, instead, she simply smiled regretfully and sighed.

“You aren’t entirely wrong. Even I agree that we can’t let him off completely, as that would set a dangerous precedent. He has also betrayed my trust by going behind my back like this. But I think that our previous sentences, execution or life-long imprisonment, are both too harsh to be applicable in this case.”

Before Ishtar could retort, Freya joined the conversation for the first time since the meeting began.

“I agree with Loki, and I also have a proposal. Instead of going with all or nothing, why don’t we go with something that’s in the middle? That way, if we also publicize how he has contributed to the safety of the city, we can still send a message to all those unstable elements. They would know that only in such exceptional circ.u.mstances would we ever be a bit lenient. At the same time, it would make them horrified of what they themselves would have to face should they ever get caught.”

After a quick pause to give everyone some time to think about it, Freya continued.

“The sentence that I propose is a short-term imprisonment, maybe for a few weeks – but in harsh conditions. What is the worst part about being locked away? The loneliness, the solitude, the absence of human contact. By putting him in solitary confinement and only giving him the bare necessities to survive, this sentence will both evoke fear in others and will also teach him a much-needed lesson.”