*August PoV*

I exited that alleyway with the knowledge that someone is targeting me. Unfortunately that guy didn't know shit, all he knew was that he received a job from an anonymous client and accepted since the pay was good.

But knowing someone is after me made me confused. As far as I knew I didn't make any enemies here or even outside of Orario. Should I tell the old man about this? Either way I'm pretty sure after tonight is all said and done they'll understand that going against me isn't gonna be easy.

I already made my way back home and was greeted by Denki at the front yard, he was swinging his sword as sweat came pouring out his body. 

He saw me going in and stopped mid swing. He wiped the sweat off his face and called me.

"Yow captain! How'd it go with the idiots?" he asked as he took his stance once again.

"Well practically what we expected. The adventurers of Ganesha familia took them for their crimes. Pretty standard stuff." I answered back. "Hey is the old man around?"

"Oh he's in his office with someone. A small petite girl came here earlier looking for him. The two of them are still talking there." He said as he started swinging his sword again.

"Hmmm..." I nod as I watch him swing his katana. He's dragging, I'm not an expert in katana combat but I know for a fact that he is dragging his left as he swing making his strike predictable.

As he swung I dive at his space brandishing my spear to block his sword and in the same motion I sent a low kick targeting his heel. The kick sent him off balance making it easier for me to grab his arm and throw him over my shoulder slaming him in the ground.

"ARGHH!" He groaned as his back bounced off the pavement, I then stab my spear at the side of his head narrowly missing it. His eyes went wide as he looked at me, both confused and angry. "What the fuck was that?" he asked.

"You have a tell." I said as I smiled at him, his face winced and cringe at that.

"Well fuck, thank you for beating me up instead of just telling me like what a normal person would do!" He answered, his voice filled with sarcasm.

"Well fuck you too, I was just trying to help." I offer my hand which he took and I pulled him up. "And the best way to help you is to let you experience first hand what would happen if you didn't fix that tell of yours."

"Yeah yeah, so what's the tell?" he asked as he wiped the dirt off his arse.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out." I answered as I made my way into the old man's office.

I can feel his eyes staring holes in the back of my head as I walked away from him. I'm pretty sure I can feel he was holding himself from releasing his mana. I chuckle softly as I can hear him yelling profanities at me while swinging his sword again.

I could tell him that he's dragging his left foot forward whenever he seeing for an overhead slash but I want him to realise that himself. He needs to learn from his mistakes much like I did when the old man taught me how to fight. 

I made my way in front of my god's office and made sure to knock first. Denki did say that it was a girl who lord Heracles took in his office. I didn't want to barge in and see something that may end up with his mace up my ass.

"Come in." he said and I opened the door only to find the old man sitting at the table with his hands folded in his chest looking down at what appears to be a small petite lady in a dogeza pose. "Oh it's just you August. Denki said you went to Ganesha. How did it go?"

I can't even answer his question right now, I mean how can I? Is that lady Hestia? Why in the name of all the gods in heaven and earth is she in the position right now? A dogeza? What the fuck is going on?

"Oh you must be wondering what this is?" the old man said as he looked at my confused face. "Well to tell the long story short, Hephaestus was sick of the free loading loli and kicked her out, she is here right now because she wants me to take her free loading self in." he said as he looked at lady Hestia dryly. 

"It's only for a couple of weeks, three weeks tops, I promise I'll pay you back once I get a familia of my own. Come on lord Heracles. Aren't we friends." Lady Hestia said as tears flooded out of her eyes. I swear I saw snot and tears mix as she bowed over and over again.

The old man faced palm as the sound of his hand slamming in his face echoes all throughout the room. He slid his hand across his face pulling it down forcefully in a look of pure frustration. This is the first time I saw lord Heracles like this. "You're a fucking god, why don't you act like one you fucking big breasted loli!"

"Should I get ou-"

"STAY!!!" The old man cut me off before I could even finish. I really don't want to be here right now.

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Minutes passed which for me felt like hours before the two deities were done with their conversation. In the end the old man let her stay under the condition that she cleans this place everyday and did all the choirs in the house which she gleefully agreed to. The old man then told her to go out since he wants to talk to me privately.

With that out of the way, the old man returned his focus on me. "So August... How did it go with Ganesha? Denki did tell me that you went to his place earlier." he asked.

"It was fine, I ran into Shakti and we talked for a minute." I answered, I'm still contemplating telling him of the attack earlier. 

"Hmmm... So you've talked with Gamesha's captain." he took a piece of paper and slid it to me. "I assume she talked about you joining them." 

I received the paper and saw that it was a contract to be signed by me and the old man. It states that if I lose to any member of Ganesha familia this upcoming tournament then I would have no choice but to join them.

"What the fuck is this?" I asked, my hand was shaking as anger seemed to rise up from me.

"Calm down August." Lord Heracles spoke firmly, my eyes snapped at him only to see that he was looking at me directly.

I took a deep breath trying to calm my anger down. "So care to explain this?" I again asked, this time in a much more calm manner.

"This is a compromise I had with Ganesha." Lord Heracles spoke and he then started to explain what happened at Denatus. About how lord Ganesha proposed this compromise in order to give me a fair chance instead of me fighting a war game alone against everyone in his familia. How Shakti wanted me to join Ganesha familia no matter what. How Ganesha failed to talk Shakti out of it. 

Honestly this information pissed me off, but I sure gained a lot of respect for lord Ganesha. Shakti on the other hand is someone who I've lost trust in, some part of me wants to understand her side of things, but right now I'm pretty pissed. In this tournament I'll make her understand that I am not the same 6 year old boy who needs her protection. 

"hey old man, if I agree to this then they can no longer do anything right? After this is over they can no longer pull shit like this?" 

"Yes that was the deal I had." he nodded. "But if you don't want to-"

"it's ok. I'm good with these terms." I cut him off. "Tell lord Ganesha that I agree with the terms. If I lose one match against any of his familia I'll join him, but tell him that I'll be going for the kill against his familia." 

Lord Heracles looked at me, it was like he was reading me, like he was staring straight at my soul. "Very well." he answered.

We stayed silent after that, the two of us know the consequences of killing an adventurer, especially in the public. But the two of us don't care.

This is a chance for us to deliver a message to everyone, I guess after this Shakti would be heartbroken by what I'm about to do. But as of right now I don't fucking care. She reaps what she sows.

After the talk with lord Heracles I head to my room and try to get some sleep. My mind was tired after the day that I had so it only took a few minutes for my body to fall deep into slumber.

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*Narration.*

It was early in the morning when the city of Orario was awakened by a scream. A body has been found in an alley. 

The body was mutilated, dismembered, and beheaded. All the limbs were cut and shoved inside the decapitated head. Whoever had done this made sure that he died in the most painful way imaginable.

The city security closed the area off as they started their own investigation. Sure people die in the alley of Orario, it is still a city that has criminals running around its street. But not like this. They feel sick just by looking at the state of the body.

They couldn't even identify who it was since the face had been so beaten up that it looked more like a slab of grinded meat rather than a mortal face.

News of this spread all throughout Orario making the locals fear for their life. Many view this as an act of evil, but for a group of people watching the events unfold they knew this was a message.

"the spear of mortal death eh... He really does live up to his name." a hooded man spoke as he watched the security team scrape the ground for the victims innards.

"We expected this much when we hired that mercenary." another hooded man spoke.

"still, who knew that the owner of the spear Theïkó Óplo would be this brutal?" the hooded man chuckle. "It makes me want to invite him to join us."

"Our orders were to eliminate him." the other one spoke stoically.

"Yeah yeah. I get it. Our priority is the weapon. You don't have to be so uptight about it." he shrugs playfully.

"Might I remind you two that lord Erebus expects us to get rid of the spear's master in a timely manner." another hooded figure joined in their conversation. This time it was a female. And she was the one who was leading the two of them.

"Jeez even you? You're no fun Anna." the playful one spoke as he sighed. 

"Hmmm..." the other hooded man just grunts.

Anna watches as the security scrapes the last piece of the elf out of the pavement, she winced at the sight of it but did her best to hide it. 

After what happened to the village Anna became a loyal lapdog for Eberus, as the crazed god watched as Anna was continually violated by the monsters that they had tamed and as her mind broke so did Eberus manipulate her into his own personal puppet. 

"let's head out. There's no more point in staying here." Anna said as she turned her back and walked away from the crime scene. The two hooded figures are not far behind her.

Evilus is now making their move and has now once again entered Orario.

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***

Chapter 38 is done now, how do you guys like the story so far?

Please leave a comment, a review and feedback so I can improve on writing this fanfic. every little thing helps as it allows me to see your preference on things and would help me write a better fanfic for you all to enjoy.

thanks for picking up this fanfic. hope you guys like it.

good day, love y'all.