"Please Nyx be nicer with her… Arachne, you too." I sighed.
"Who's she?" Arachne asked, pointing at Nyx with a big spider leg protruding off her back.
"She's my dragon daughter, Nyx… Her father is Lucifer over there." I said, as Arachne glanced at Lucifer eating a sandwich.
"I am also daughter… No?" She asked, giving me puppy eyes.
"O-Of course you are!" I said with a giggle, giving her a head pat. "You're welcome to our family, thanks a lot for saving us yesterday as well…"
"Nn! Hel said I should help." Arachne nodded. "But I helped because I wanted to, not because she said so."
Oh, so she just did it because she learned we were in danger, not because it was Hel's orders? I suppose she's actually even nicer than I thought…
"Welcome to the family then, Arachne." Said Emeraldine. "The other Arachneia are getting along just fine with everyone else."
"I saw them digging around the walls…" Said Lucifer. "What were they doing?"
"They will make me a fitting nest to rest." Arachne said, with an aura of royalty. "Arachneia are family, but also servants. They do whatever I ask them."
"I guess a nest with them underground would be nice, so they can find their own place." I said with a smile. "O-Of course, we'll have to clean them so they don't end up giving out any infections."
"Yes, please." Syllis nodded.
"Arachneia…" Bellerine began to remember something. "Brother, weren't those the spiders that made us all sick with a disease-"
Syllis quickly covered her mouth and silenced her.
Arachne glared at the two with her expressionless face.
"Sorry about that." She suddenly apologized. "I was… not aware. That we were hurting mama's friends. We won't hurt you anymore."
"A-Ah, she apologized…" Syllis was surprised. "Don't worry! It's alright now."
Well, at least we've got that out of the way…
"Things have gotten much lively here, huh?" Tyr appeared at my side. "Though, I am guessing you're not going to take too long of a break, aren't you?"
"Of course not." I sighed. "But allow me to relax for a bit before we strike back…"
"Hmph, Odin is trying to watch over us as of now…" Tyr said.
"Huh?! You can tell?" I asked.
"For a while now…" Tyr's big red eye squinted. "But he can't directly glance at you nor your territory. To his eyes, it is as if a dark mist covered everything. This is the effect of Hel's Divine Protection. There are many here that hold it now, so the effects of concealment are much stronger than before. A descent like Thor did might not be possible anymore… for now."
"Phew, that's a relief then." I sighed. "Though I wouldn't mind having more of those Gods for breakfast… Especially as I am not, he can come any time." I smiled.
"You're being a bit too bold, but it's not like I dislike that." Tyr laughed. "My dear little brother is indeed someone that deserves such a fate… More importantly though, what do you plan on doing now?"
"I was going to ask the same…" Lucifer said.
"Me too." Partner nodded.
"And me as well." Emeraldine added.
"Ah, of course, I would gladly follow anything you said, so I was curious too." Jonathan added.
I guess all four of them were really concerned about my future plans.
"We'll take another day, or two to repair and reinforce the city's defenses, and also to unfreeze the people from the icicles around the city using Brunhild's flames. After that… We'll move straight to the Frost Queen's dungeon and end her little game. Afterwards, I was planning on striking the Empire of Light. Though, we might need to do a few other things beforehand, to grow stronger and also explore a few places I want to visit."
"Oh, the Albraun Kingdom's Meeting between Dukes and Royals is coming closer as well." I added. "I guess we'll be doing that beforehand as well…"
"T-That's… Striking the Empire of Light? Is that something we could even do?" Helga asked.
"I like it, I'm in." Partner smiled. "We'll crush them all! , Odin won't have any more mortals to ask for help."
"Yeah, and once we're done with that, we might travel the world and find the strength to kill him." I said with a smile. "And that's all my plan so far! Haha…"
"T-That was really brief for something that sounds like an incredibly insane feat…" Emeraldine sighed. "I am worried but… Hahh~ We've come very far already, I guess we might as well…"
"Hmm, we shall do that then, Maria." Lucifer agreed immediately. "That Empire will fall… And so the gods."
"I'm in as well, even if it sounds crazy… The sooner we do this, the better, to be honest. Like that, we could also… well, help save my family." Jonathan sighed. "Sorry for being selfish in that regard…"
"Your family?" Asked Partner.
"Yeah, Jonathan's family is being held hostage by the Empire of Light." I said. "It is the reason why he was being forced to serve them even after what they did to me."
"And even then, you still betrayed them…" Lucifer said. "Your family could get executed any time now…"
"I know…" Jonathan sighed; his face filled with frustration. "Yet, I cannot regret my decision. I did this for everyone here and Maria… I won't go back on my word anymore, even if… my family…"
"We won't let that happen." I said, glancing at his eyes. "They're most likely still alive, after all, because Odin can't learn what's happening here and nobody else of the church survived to go back, nobody knows if you won or lost, maybe the Frost Queen, but I doubt she'll tell this information to her own enemies. And she has no idea of your family either."
"Maria…" Jonathan looked at me as if he was given a slight amount of hope.
For a hero like him, even this was necessary. I didn't even know if what I was saying was really the truth but… I need to raise his morale; we'll need his strength.