Had this been another day, they would have directly used this excuse to invade the Elves and purge them. Oh, you can be sure that the Gods had been looking for an excuse to do so, but those damn Elves were always minding their own business, never causing any trouble.
Even if this lone Elf had no affiliation to the rest of his/her race, who cared?
The Gods would just declare that the Elves were lying, and it would simply become a matter of word of mouth.
This was how they, the Gods of Faust, operated!
They would identify a possible interest or problem. Then, they would find a morally justified reason to attack/invade the location of the item of interest/problem through their army of believers.
After that, a slaughter would occur if necessary. Once the Gods had claimed the item of interest/problem, they would then share the spoils of everything among themselves.
If you had a dissenting opinion, that was not an issue.
The Gods take on things was pretty much 'Just pray your people never give us a reason to turn you into history.'
After all, it would be the winners/survivors who would dictate what the 'truth' of the matter had been.
Back to the topic at hand, the Gods were not in the mood to use this 'free chance' due to the gravity of the situation. To fight the Insects, literally all hands on deck were needed.
They would definitely pursue this issue after the current problem was resolved, and with the giants too. For the time being though, they would wear a smile when visiting their races to request their services to help resolve this matter that revolved around Faust's entire survival.
"So, what is the consensus in dealing with this new issue?" Zeus asked the group calmly.
Hades' thin finger drummed the table repeatedly before he spoke. "We lack too much information about what the Insects themselves are doing. These 'Guardians' they seem to have contracted could be an obvious misdirection to have us focus on those three 'traitors' rather whatever they themselves might be doing."
Many heads nodded subtly in agreement. Hel gazed at Hades appreciatively and chipped in her own opinion. "With the current nature of the situation, it would be unwise to send only mortals to investigate what's happening. The likelihood of them ending up killed or worse eaten by our foes is too high."
Hel slumped into her seat lazily and continued. "This is not really a problem since mortals are like cabbage, but the urgency of the matter demands that we acquire solid information quickly. We cannot afford to play games by sending mortal operatives repeatedly only to turn up nothing."
"Oh? And who do you feel should partake in such a mission? Mind you, there might be a trap hidden in such a place. We've all abstained from going to the underground directly all these years precisely because of this. We only send mortals, because as you said, they are like cabbage." Loki pointed out with a smile.
Hel simply shrugged. She had said her part, if they followed it, great. If not, it was also up to them. Like Hades, she was a Goddess of Death with her own unique hell that could capture many souls for the afterlife.
She and Hades, as well as other Death/Life-related Gods had cut a deal on how souls would be distributed upon death. This also came with the hidden benefit of being safe within their Divine Kingdoms.
Unlike other gods who created their Divine Kingdoms traditionally using Faith Energy, Hel, Tartarus, Folkvangr, Valhalla, Olympus, and other such places had existed before they were even born.
It had been one of the greatest mysteries to the Gods, making them wonder if they truly were not the creators and owners of Faust. Recent discoveries had enforced that sentiment more and more, so their actions were being less and less unscrupulous as they couldn't help but worry.
In other words, they did not fear death as long as they could hole up in those worlds, for no power could break into them forcefully. As such, despite being worried about the Insects too, for some it was like having a huge bunker in the advent of nuclear war.
You were certainly anxious like an ant in a hot pan, but it was nothing compared to the civilians who had no alternative. All the Main Gods here had a path of retreat, which was why they were unwilling to invest so much effort into the extermination.
Especially after meeting the True Lords during that war. It had been a great wake-up call for them to see such power, power that could even end their lives with ease if they so wished.
Greatly chilled, they had mostly stayed in Olympus, in their Divine Kingdoms. Heck, in the past few centuries, only Thor's recent descent was unique.
Krona would descend occasionally because as a True Lord, he only feared Vena.
"Hm, Loki's concerns are valid. It would be best to not send only mortals, but some with a smidgen of Divine Power if anything. They could certainly guarantee their safety to some extent." Freyja suggested with a smile.
Many of the Gods here nodded, but the Lesser Gods paled. If they were to be chosen as scapegoats, this would be terrible!
Many became restless. Even though they respected and revered their leaders, no one with power wanted to walk into a dead-end willingly.
Seemingly noticing their subordinates' restlessness, the Main Gods frowned. However, Thor spoke at this moment to alleviate the tension.
"Hahaha, who best to send then, than the Demi-gods?" He laughed amiably to relax the Lesser Gods and give the main ones a way out.
Hearing this, the Main Gods looked to each other with surprise, wondering how they could forget about this. The Lesser Gods also shared audible sighs of relief, their panic calming down.
Like any civilian who was cowardly or timid, they feared being 'drafted' to go and fight.
They had such good lives, why should they throw them away for such a meaningless thing? Especially to pave the way for someone else?
"Well then, that's a fine idea. Those fellows have been cropping up like weeds recently, so who best to designate for the job than them?" Odin remarked with a hearty laugh.
The Gods arranged in today's meeting all wore a soft, knowing smile. They understood the game and would not call each other out on it.
"And so, the meeting will be adjourned until we can acquire some useful information about the situation. Hermes, you are in charge of information gathering this time. You are free to choose the Demi-gods for the mission." Zeus instructed slowly.
Hearing the verdict of the Chief God, all rose to their feet and disappeared from the room one by one. Obviously, they were not present with their true bodies. They had stopped doing that centuries ago.
Now, they just sent avatars with some Divine Consciousness over, so that they would never have to leave the safety of their Divine Kingdoms.
Hah, for the so-called Gods of Faust were so terrified of the world they 'created' that they chose to hide in their dens without daring to come out.
If the rest of Faust were to learn of this, the entire faith network that their divinity was based on would probably collapse.
However, what was interesting was that some Gods had not disappeared, namely the Main Gods. They had come here with their true bodies, so confident in their power that they refused to hide like rats.
Whether this made them respectable idiots or ignorant fools was yet to be seen. Whatever the case they eyed each other silently before Elven physically, teleporting themselves using their various powers.
Thor and Zeus disappeared in a flash of thunder while Hel, Loki, and Hades disappeared with a blackish, bone-chilling glow. Freyja jumped onto a carriage pulled by her two Divine Tigers and rode off.
Odin simply chuckled and summoned Sleipnir, the Horse of Legends. He then rode on it with ease, the two chatting about minor things telepathically as they went.
Baldur manifested holy wings and flew to the sky, while Skaoi created a path of ice that she rode on with two wooden skis, disappearing into nothingness as he teleported. Soon, the room was left in utter silence, not a single soul remaining.
However, from the folds of one of the shadows, a form removed itself and inspected the room. When the light flashed upon the visage of the intruder who had likely remained hidden all the while, it showed the face of a handsome man that was quite tall.
It was God Krona!
He raised a hand and stroked his stubble with a cryptic smile. "I see that they never change. Always doing things the same way for centuries on end makes you all predictable. Well, I now have a choice to make."
Krona folded his arms behind him as he returned to the shadows slowly.
"Shall I tip-off that fellow or act ignorant and watch the show... hmm."
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