While Renjiro and his small squad were grinding monsters day and night in the Dungeon, on the surface of Orario, more precisely, within the Assembly Hall on the 30th floor of Babel Tower, the Divine Assembly was being convened as scheduled.
It was held once every three months.
Originally, these assemblies were nothing more than some bored gods gathering with their old friends, fooling around, throwing parties, and killing time with trivial chatter.
Back then, the Age of the Gods' Descent had just begun. Orario didn't even exist yet.
The handful of deities who descended found themselves, once their Familias had grown and carved out territory, slipping back into the same lazy complacency as in Heaven.
To fight this stagnation, they occasionally stirred things up.
Among the worst offenders: Zeus and Hera, legendary troublemakers.
A thousand years later, with more and more gods descending in orderly queues, the meetings became more formal.
What was once a small-time gathering evolved, under the Guild led by Ouranos, into an official intelligence agency, tasked with:
Reporting and discussing recent developments among the Familias.
Conferring the title of Upper-Class Adventurer to those who had earned it.
Still, even though officially recognized, with gods being gods, most of them billions of years old and easily bored, the Assembly remained anything but serious.
Today…
"Hiahiahiahiahia! At last, it's our time to shine again!"
"Quite a few children leveled up this time."
"I didn't sleep at all last night, just waiting for today."
"Takehaya Susanoo, you pretty boy, drop dead~!"
The 30th floor of Babel, remodeled for this very purpose, was a vast, pillar-studded hall without partitions.
The ceiling soared high overhead.
Aside from massive, ornately carved support columns, the only furnishing was a grand round table in the center.
Around it, tiered seating formed a basin-like arena, and beyond the walls, crafted from glass-like crystal, the drifting clouds of the sky were visible.
It was less a hall, more an aerial temple.
Over thirty gods had already gathered. Men and women, in wildly different fashions, some daring, some downright ridiculous.
Between the seats:
"The Assembly should start soon. Who's still missing?"
"I heard Hermes will attend. He just got back to Orario though, so he's cutting it close."
"What about Soma?"
"Apparently he got chewed out by Eina from the Guild again. Word is, he spent all of yesterday sitting in the corner of his room, knees hugged to his chest."
"So pitiful."
"I want to see it, cough, I mean, I just want to comfort him."
"Sure you do. You're not trying to rub salt in his wounds?"
"No, of course not!"
The gods bantered freely, their words dripping with mischief, some clearly eager to sow chaos.
At that moment, another radiant figure entered.
"Oh! It's Freya."
"Damn, I can't take my eyes off her again."
"No wonder she's the Goddess of Beauty."
"So terrifyingly beautiful"
The comments weren't even whispered, and carried easily to the ears of several nearby goddesses.
Some, like Hephaestus and Demeter, ignored them entirely.
But not all.
"Tch. Pretentious bitch."
The speaker was Ishtar, the brown-skinned Goddess of Beauty, clad in clothing so revealing it was practically nonexistent, a pipe in her hand.
Her eyes never left Freya, burning with hostility.
But Freya didn't so much as glance her way. She greeted familiar faces warmly, then, with measured grace, took her seat at the head of the round table, the place reserved for the god of the strongest Familia.
Once, it had belonged to Hera. Now, it belonged to Freya.
Ishtar seethed, teeth grinding.
Just wait, you bitch. Once I get my hands on the Killing Stone, I'll drag you down from that throne. I'll strip you bare and toss you onto the streets. Then we'll see how long you keep your 'queenly' dignity.
Her heart churned with venom, or perhaps, with envy.
Freya, used to such petty malice, merely found it amusing.
Watching Ishtar throw tantrums was a small source of entertainment, even if she forgot about it by the next day.
But today, Freya had more important matters. So she dismissed Ishtar from her thoughts entirely.
She had even volunteered to officiate this Assembly, something she hadn't done in a long while.
"Is everyone here?"
Her voice was soft, her smile radiant.
The hall fell silent.
A male god replied, "Looks like only Loki and Hermes aren't here yet."
"Oi! I'm here."
The Kansai-accented drawl came from the door. A red-haired, fox-eyed goddess stepped in: Loki.
She glanced back over her shoulder.
"Oi, Hermes. You travel all the time, right? Why're you panting so hard after a short jog?"
"Because… my cute Asfi couldn't come along, and she usually carries me around… pffft!"
The blond man in a feathered traveler's hat collapsed dramatically at the entrance, gasping like he was reenacting a tragic death scene.
The gods stared.
"Oi, Hermes? The hell are you doing?"
"He didn't just… get sent back to Heaven, did he?"
"That'd be hilarious, cough, I mean, humiliating."
Yes, today's gods were as chaotic as ever. It made one wonder if the Lower World was doomed.
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Footnotes
Divine Assembly – A quarterly meeting of gods in Orario, sanctioned by the Guild to share intelligence and award titles.
Zeus & Hera – Former heads of the strongest Familias; infamous for bold and reckless acts.
Ouranos – God who leads the Guild, overseeing Dungeon regulation and divine order.
Babel Tower – A towering structure built over the Dungeon entrance, serving as both a landmark and divine facility.
Killing Stone – A dangerous artifact tied to one of Ishtar's plots in DanMachi.
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