Chapter 877: Let there be war.
At the moment Victor disappeared with the other gods, the sweet smile on Aphrodite's face vanished.
She looked at the pantheon and at the controlled gods, her eyes glowing in neon pink, her dragon wings spreading wide, and an even stronger pink power than before was unleashed throughout the pantheon.
"Let's make this place more hospitable for my family."
She raised her hand and with a hand gesture, the wave of power engulfed all the gods present in that pantheon.
"Come to me, all of you."
With the command given, the gods began to appear in the throne room.
"Lady Aphrodite..."
"Aphrodite..."
"Aphrodite..."
"Lady Aphrodite..."
They all started murmuring with eyes filled with desire, they were no longer themselves.
Aphrodite sat on the throne, and the moment she did, the throne began to change to shades of white and light pink.
Aphrodite's wings grew wide, casting a shadow over all the present gods. She crossed her legs and smiled lightly; this feeling was very intoxicating.
"No wonder Victor is so dominant; this is incredible." Having all the gods of a pantheon in your hand to do as you please was a euphoric feeling.
"Lady Aphrodite, your order!" They all said simultaneously.
And this sight couldn't help but make Aphrodite display a satisfied smile.
A characteristic portal of the Alioth Clan appeared behind Aphrodite, and soon Helena and Aline emerged from the portal.
Seeing the scene in front of them, the demonic women raised their eyebrows at Aphrodite.
"You've arrived."
"Yes," Aline and Helena said.
"What's happening here?"
"They are all under my control; this way, it will be easier to do our work."
Helena and Aline blinked a few times for a few seconds; both women's brains were processing this surprising information.
"As expected from the King's wife, she's incredible." The common thread among Victor's strongest wives was that they were always incredulous at how "broken" the strong characteristics of his wives were.
Instead of being envious of the excellence of their king's wives, his subordinates thought, "I can't lag behind."
Helena snapped her fingers, and the next moment, 10 red portals opened nearby, and from these portals, several female demons who worked directly for Helena emerged.
"General," the women knelt.
"To work, place the items in the designated location; let's make this place a good base of operations for our king's followers."
"Yes!"
A magical circle appeared in the hands of the women, and miniature towers, houses, mansions, and castles were seen in their hands.
The next moment, demonic wings sprouted from behind the women, and they spread out in all directions. Helena observed everything through a red screen that appeared in front of her, following the point of view of the demonic women connected to her.
30 seconds later, Helena heard, "General, the items are in position."
"Good. Now, step back."
"Yes!"
When the demonic women flew into the air and positioned themselves at a considerable distance, Helena clapped her hands lightly, and a red pulse began with Helena at the center, spreading everywhere.
"Grow."
The next instant, several futuristic-looking demonic structures appeared on the horizon.
Aphrodite raised an impressed eyebrow; she had to admit that Helena's ability was indeed very convenient. It was surreal how many resources they saved thanks to this ability.
The reason why all the important structures in Hell had Inferno metal, a very scarce material, was precisely because of Helena. With just a bit of material, she could create numerous gigantic structures with her power.
"Although they wouldn't run out of materials with Victor around, after all, he can create these materials." Victor's ability to manipulate creation was very similar to alchemy; he could turn a simple stone into a divine material that only grew in pantheons.
"Aline, it's your turn."
"Yes," Aline nodded, gesturing with her hand, and soon several infernal portals appeared inside some of the structures. Unlike before, these infernal portals did not release demons; instead, they emitted pure and dense miasma.
"... What are you doing?" Aphrodite raised an eyebrow.
"Places for our people to stay; the other structures will be used by our king's allies. The castle on the horizon is, of course, our king's castle."
"But there's already a castle here? Well, it's not a castle; it's a pyramid, but you get my point."
"We can't leave our king in this decrepit child's block! He deserves more!" Helena and Aline spoke with fervor that made Aphrodite retreat slightly in surprise.
"Oh... Okay, I guess."
Aphrodite looked around the room, which was pure gold and luxury, and then she looked at the structure that was the Demon King's castle.
Unlike the pyramid, which was made entirely of gold, the Demon King's castle was constructed from the rarest materials found in the pantheons. Divine material, Inferno material—each structure was designed to withstand attacks from higher-level gods, making the castle a luxurious fortress.
"They went overboard... This castle will make any god die of envy." Aphrodite thought.
"Mm." Helena and Aline nodded in satisfaction; it was good that Aphrodite understood their thoughts.
"To be honest, I'm dissatisfied with how small our king's mansion in his personal world is. Like a dragon, he should make it at least 10 kilometers of pure structure to fit his majestic body."
"Indeed, indeed," Aline agreed several times, nodding along with Helena.
Aphrodite couldn't help but sweat a little at the dedication of these women to want only the "best" for Victor.
"Darling doesn't care so much about these things; as long as he's close to his wives, he'll be happy... Although he also won't stop them from doing these things unless it's absolutely necessary. After all, he knows that by 'serving' him, he'll make these demonic women very happy, so he doesn't mind this indulgence," Aphrodite pondered.
"I think he didn't allow them to do this place because he didn't want them to get too busy." Aphrodite deduced.
"But unfortunately, he hasn't allowed us to do this yet..." Helena sighed.
"Yet... is the key word here. He will allow us to do this in the future. After all, the Dragon's Nest headquarters should be a place that reflects his new position as a Dragon Progenitor and, in the future, a God Emperor," Aline said.
"... God Emperor?" Aphrodite raised an eyebrow when she heard what Aline said.
"Of course, he is a god who stands above various gods from different pantheons, so calling him an Emperor is not wrong," Aline stated.
"... That's true..." Aphrodite replied after thinking for a moment. Now that she had taken a moment to assess her situation, she realized that her husband had truly become a very important figure.
It was not an exaggeration to say that he was one of the major players who could influence the world with every gesture, word, and action.
This realization filled Aphrodite's heart with pride, and a gentle smile appeared on her face. "Darling is amazing, isn't he?"
"You're just realizing that now?" Aline and Helena spoke at the same time.
"There is no better man than him, so we must protect him at all costs," Helena said.
"The best materials are necessary, the best minds, the best ideas—everything must be done in the name of our emperor," Aline spoke dreamily, as if she could already imagine the future where Victor was the Emperor.
Aphrodite's smile wavered when she heard what these two were saying. The level of fanaticism, devotion, love, and madness of these women was off the charts.
Although... she wasn't any different. Aphrodite's eyes turned into two neon pink black holes, and she smiled at the women.
"We must make our Nest the strongest of all so that our children can grow up safely."
"Indeed, indeed," Aline nodded.
"Umu," Helena agreed as well.
...
Nightingale, Adrasteia Clan.
Victor, Vlad, Rose, Eleanor, Haruna, Scathach, Morgana, and Jeanne were looking at the horizon.
When Victor arrived with the gods and angels at the Adrasteia Clan, the sight that these beings encountered was what they were now facing.
"So, these are the Elder Gods..." Victor said as he observed the colossal creatures easily passing through the clouds. He had no idea how many meters tall these creatures were, but they certainly exceeded 1000 meters in height easily.
"Their souls... are gigantic... It's as if they are a cluster of gods," Shiva, who was seated in the air at a distance, commented to himself, but since everyone here had heightened senses, they all heard him.
As promised, he had come to assist in the battle against the Elder Gods.
"The beings my ancestors always fought, huh..." Eleanor commented as they looked at those colossal beings. Despite being in the midst of her training, she stopped to come and observe the battle; this was a fight she couldn't afford to miss.
Currently, there were only five of these Elder Gods, and each one was different from the others. Some had eyes and mouths, while others had only mouths, and some didn't even have faces.
Each one's body was different too; some appeared to be made of pure white with spiky protrusions, while others were made of pure earth.
But one in particular caught everyone's attention. It was the Elder God with blue eyes with black sclera, white skin with black stripes, horn-like crown-shaped chifres, and a face without a mouth.
"This is the first time I've seen something so... Alien." Ariel, who was floating in the sky with the Angel of Death, commented as she looked at those five individuals.
"Which Elder God was responsible, Vlad?" Haruna asked.
"It was that white bastard... He's the one who killed her," Vlad's eyes gleamed with bloodlust.
Haruna looked at the Elder God that looked like a blank canvas with nothing visible, narrowing her eyes, and her tails swayed hypnotically.
"The murderer of my sister, huh."
"... Beloved by chaos..." The blue-eyed giant with horns glowed with power, his voice powerful and ancient echoed throughout the land.
"Why do you desire war?"
Victor crouched slightly and, with a leap, he ascended into the sky. Several sonic booms were heard, and soon he was at the same line of sight as the Elder Gods.
"War is inevitable; we are invaders, and you are defenders. Only when one side loses can there be peace."
"But the main reason for my declaration is... You attacked me first."
The blue eyes of the giant locked onto Victor's violet crimson eyes.
Victor narrowed his eyes; he tried to read this creature in front of him, but all he felt was... nothing.
It was as if he was looking at a ball of flesh.
'What is this? What is this feeling?' Victor thought as he focused on the creature's eyes, trying to understand what he was looking at, but even with his eyes, he couldn't see anything, just a gigantic thread on top of the head of these gods, threads that led to a location beyond their current planet.
"Ikor-Kar-VI... Just like you invaders, I have a name."
Ikor's hand began to rise, and with just that gesture, all the clouds around him were dispersed.
"At last, we can cleanse this cancer that invaded our planet millennia ago."
"Your desire for war has been answered, Victor Alucard."
Earthquakes were heard, and the next moment, hundreds of thousands of creatures began to emerge from the ground. Some even came out of the sea, while others emerged from the flesh of the other Elder Gods.
"Let there be war."
....