The Loki Familia was currently in the thick of preparing for a War Game against the Tyr Familia.
The Loki Familia was a newly formed Familia with one Level 2 and the rest at Level 1, while the Tyr Familia was an established Familia whose captain was Level 5.
Because the Zeus and Hera Familias were so overwhelmingly powerful and well-established, people often got the wrong idea, but a Level 5 could easily take on hundreds of Level 1 or 2 adventurers.
In other words, a Familia with a Level 5 was by no means a weak Familia.
Ian pulled the magic stone from Goliath’s corpse and tossed the object, far larger than those from other monsters, to Finn.
"What do you think? Think you can rank up?"
"I don’t know about Riveria or Gareth, but it’ll be difficult for me. It took me two years and six months to reach Level 2."
"It’s only been about a year now."
"I’ll need two more years."
Finn said it would be difficult for him to rank up, but he was certain that Riveria, Gareth, and Ian would rank up.
They had conquered every floor up to the seventeenth, and had even defeated Goliath, the floor boss, once.
They had more than fulfilled the achievements a Level 1 needed to rank up.
Even Ian, who found it difficult to accumulate the achievements required for a rank-up because of his Skill, would surely rank up after defeating a floor boss twice.
"The battle against the Tyr Familia will take the form of a bloody clash involving four Level 2 adventurers, a Level 5 adventurer, and the rest."
"What are the odds Tyr’s side proposes an all-out battle?"
"The Tyr I know isn’t that petty. He’s a war god with a fierce love of battle. He’ll probably propose one-on-one duels."
And the duels would probably be held four times.
Given Tyr’s nature as a war god, he would want to crush every fighter Loki chose.
Planting his spear into the ground, Finn shouted bravely.
"But I declare it here: the ones who will be crushed are the Tyr Familia! It will never be us!"
It was the sort of speech that seemed capable of drawing thunderous cheers.
Ian saw in Finn the image of a commander bolstering his soldiers’ morale before a war.
It suited him rather well. Not only Ian, but everyone would surely think so.
*
On the day of the War Game, the venue was an amphitheater located in eastern Orario.
Every god who pursued nothing but entertainment and luxury attended, and the arena was more boisterous than ever with their Familias and ordinary citizens filling it.
Since their days in heaven, Loki and Tyr’s quarrels had always been a topic of conversation, and Loki had won every one of those disputes.
The gods would unanimously say that it was only natural for Loki, who used her head and did whatever she could to defeat her opponent, to win over Tyr, who was inclined to simply overwhelm others with force.
But things were different now.
No matter how much Loki racked her brains, a small Familia whose members had only just all reached Level 2 could not possibly stand against the established Tyr Familia.
"This time, I’ll finally wipe that smug look off your face, Loki."
"What, you were here?"
A male god with waist-length black hair and green eyes approached Loki.
Standing beside her, Ian immediately recognized the man as Tyr. It was not merely that he could sense divinity from him.
Even with his Arcanum sealed, Tyr could not restrain the savage fighting spirit radiating from him. Threatened by the presence of a true martial warrior, Ian nearly reached for his sword without realizing it.
"You’ve picked up a fairly seasoned child. Though if he caught your eye, he must be some worthless nobody."
"You’ve gotten quite a bit dumber since I last saw you. You know the side that runs its mouth like that is the one that loses, right?"
The exchange of barbs between the gods ended there.
There was no need for any more words.
And so, the War Game began.
*
Once it had taken the form of one-on-one duels, the Loki Familia had only one possible strategy.
Send Ian and Gareth, who would take the vanguard, out first, then have Finn claim victory at the end and secure the War Game.
It was a simple, clean strategy: finish the match before it came time for Riveria, a mage, to fight in this unusual format of one-on-one duels.
Of course, the Tyr Familia would anticipate as much, so they would send out their captain in the very first round.
It was the sort of thought anyone with the sense to formulate tactics would have.
"Ian, go win."
"I will not forgive you if you lose, so go win."
"Let’s have a drink later."
"...Thanks."
Which was why Finn’s chosen strategy was to send Ian out in the first round.
They could also send Riveria out first to eliminate the variable of the Level 5 captain, but that would mean enduring the backlash of the entire elven race. A Familia like the Loki Familia had no resources to withstand that.
That was why they were sending Ian, whose skill was such that he had defeated a floor boss alone not long after receiving Falna.
It was the best possible move, and Finn was certain of Ian’s victory.
He had already claimed victory against a Level 4-class monster while still Level 1, and Ian’s specialty was not monsters, but humans.
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