Chapter 437

437. Gathering of the Powers #6

It is said that in this world, there exists something called the Star of Heroes.

Among the countless stars in the night sky, there’s one that stands out as unusually large and magnificent—this is it.

It is said that those born under this star are destined to lead extraordinary lives.

As the name Star of Heroes suggests, they are fated to live heroic lives.

And these individuals, regardless of gender or age, are said to lead lives that stand out like needles poking out of pockets.

Because of this, they don’t bow down to anyone or follow others’ orders easily. Instead, they forge their own independent paths.

Hippolyte explained, “These guys don’t generally follow others’ opinions. The fact that they wear gold necklaces means they all have leadership qualities in them.”

In short, these are the types of people who, if there were a class president election, would all run and likely vote for themselves.

I am now heading toward the large conference room of Mars Guild to meet such individuals.

I’m both excited and a little worried about who might be waiting for me there.

Would there be people like Shilaya, Hippolyte, and others? Would I be able to persuade them effectively?

“Hassan, I’m really looking forward to seeing who’s here!” Luna, for her part, seemed very excited about the situation.

“Adventurers of the Gold Tier have been gathered from all over the kingdom… it’s so impressive, like the crew of the Argo Expedition! I bet some of the actual expedition participants are here as well.”

To Luna, this situation felt like part of a heroic tale often sung by bards.

Her relaxed attitude eased my own tension a little.

If we got stuck here, we’d have no chance of breaking through the underworld.

Finally, I arrived at the grand conference hall of Mars Guild, forcefully pushing open its heavy double doors and stepping inside.

Creak-.

As I did so, the murmurs and movements inside immediately ceased, replaced by an eerie silence.

Swish-.

I entered the room, and my eyes immediately fell on a large round table, spacious enough to accommodate a good dozen people.

And seated around the table were people—some leaning back casually, arms crossed, chins rested on their hands, or legs propped up on the table itself.

Their appearances were varied, and their clothing lacked uniformity. They all looked rather peculiar.

As their gazes turned toward me, I decided to quickly take stock of who they were.

Flutter-.

There’s that thing—those wings on his back. Are they… wings?

Could that person be some kind of… angel?

Just as I was processing this with a sense of awe, Luna tapped me on the back and whispered quietly.

“Hassan, look—half-human, half-bird! He’s probably a hybrid of a human and Ddan.”

As I’ve noticed before, Luna likes to call winged beings “Ddan,” no matter what they are.

So this winged person is not an angel but rather a so-called “Ddan-human.”

At that moment, someone spoke up.

“Are you Hassan of Sodomora?”

I turned to look at the speaker.

He was male.

His hair was cropped short, nearly exposing his scalp, and it was brown.

His face wasn’t particularly handsome, but it wasn’t meant to be—it looked like a strong, healthy rock.

He had a well-built frame comparable to mine, though his slim, steel-like armor clung tightly to him.

He looked like a general from some city or province, but the gold necklace hanging around his neck revealed his identity.

He introduced himself first.

“I am Idas of Messene, one of the most powerful humans of this era and this moment, and also a man who opposed the God of Light.”

A man who opposed the God of Light…

This sentence reminded me of stories Hippolyte had mentioned before we came here.

She had given me a brief overview of the Gold Tier adventurers, and there was mention of someone named Idas, someone worth paying attention to.

Idas, the opponent of the God of Light.

This man has accomplished countless feats, but what stands out the most is his head-to-head combat record.

Idas once faced the God of Light in a one-on-one battle—and survived.

That’s why he can confidently call himself an opponent of the God of Light.

To have survived a battle against the Sun God… What an extraordinary man.

In response to his question, I nodded briefly.

“Yes, I’m Hassan of Sodomora.”

I stood with my shoulders back and chest out, projecting perhaps more confidence than necessary, given the situation.

“Everyone, thank you for making the long journey.”

My eyes quickly scanned the room.

There were five people seated at the round table, including Idas and the winged man. Among them was Atalante, who I had fought yesterday, and Shilaya, a Gold Tier adventurer active in Babel.

The number of people here was far from the twenty I had hoped for in the Gold Tier expedition, but I was grateful for even this many.

At that moment, Shilaya smoothly unrolled a scroll on the table.

“Hassan, I never expected that you would send such a letter.”

Unlike Atalante, who sat despondently by her side, Shilaya, the hero of the Amazons, remained relatively calm despite receiving such a provocative letter.

“Gathering us here with such provocation must mean you have something important to say. Of course, unlike Atalante, whose bl**d boils easily.”

She even seemed to have deduced the intent behind the provocation in the letter, truly showing the insight worthy of a capable adventurer.

Naturally, Atalante bristled at this.

“W-who says I get angry easily?”

“You do. You immediately flare up at such simple provocations. You’re still doing it now—you haven’t changed that habit.”

“I didn’t fall for the provocation. I actually knew the contents and intent of the letter. But, well, I just wanted to fight and see what would happen, that’s all.”

Atalante acted like she hadn’t been baited by my letter, even though I clearly remembered how she had been agitated yesterday.

At that point, Shilaya, narrowing her eyes, said, “So in the end, you lost, right? If it were me, I wouldn’t even dare to show my face here after losing.”

“What?! I didn’t lose! Before my ultimate skill activated, that guy cheated by attacking first and then suddenly lunged at me. So the fight itself should be considered invalid due to foul play.”

As Atalante rambled incoherently, Shilaya frowned openly and clicked her tongue.

“Stop offering such ugly excuses. If it were me, I wouldn’t have been disrupted before activating my ultimate skill.”

“But, Shilaya, are you saying you’re faster than me, Atalante? You only came in second at the Olympia sprint race. Pffh, and I won first! Turtle!”

“If I’m a turtle, then you’re a snail, you idiot.”

Whoosh!

Clash! Clash!

Before long, Shilaya and Atalante were glaring daggers at each other, sparks flying.

Crash!

The force of their glaring auras caused a vase sitting on the table to shatter.

Shilaya and Atalante don’t get along, do they?

On a closer look, Shilaya is also an Amazon renowned for her agility, likely around 15 in skill.

Atalante is quick-footed as well, so it seems these two share a similar type.

They might even be rivals among speed-oriented heroes. Organizing an expedition team with such characters will undoubtedly give me a massive headache.

Stories say even the Argo Expedition crew would frequently fight and cause accidents, with some members even abandoning the expedition.

Difficult.

Clap!

Someone then slapped the table.

“It’s so noisy.”

It was the winged man Luna had been eyeing.

He wore leather armor that clung to him tightly. His hair, which looked as if wax was applied, was neatly slicked back in an all-back style.

His sharp eyes and pointed chin suggested a thievery-like nimbleness. Several knives and throwing stars were strapped to his hips. A gold necklace hung around his neck, swaying slightly.

But his most distinctive feature was the beautiful white wings attached to his back.

How does a human have wings on their back? Is it a cash item? Or, like Luna said, is he really a hybrid of a human and a Ddan?

There are plenty of strange rumors in this world: women who love cattle, women who fall in love with swans, etc. So it wouldn’t be surprising if someone fell in love with a Ddan and bore a child.

Anyway, the winged man frowned deeply and growled.

“It’s noisy, everyone shut up. We aren’t making any progress with the conversation, ladies.”

His speech was crude.

Naturally, Atalante didn’t back down.

“Ladies? What did you say, moron!”

“Moron, you say? You dared to call me, me, a moron?”

“Moron! Ddan head!”

“Huh? Ddan head?! To call the son of the wind such obscenities! You ground-bound creatures without wings—.”

Son of the Wind, Zetas.

The name suddenly reminded me of something I vaguely read before from a guild magazine.

Among adventurers, there’s supposed to be the demigod, the son of the northern wind god.

I don’t remember his name, but I do remember his nickname: the Son of Wind.

He was said to be a master of aerial combat.

So this is Zetas.

Indeed, seeing him as a demigod, those wings on his back make sense now.

The Sun God opponent, Idas.

The Gold-legged Atalante.

The misty Shilaya.

The Son of the Wind, Zetas.

Now, I roughly understand the identities of the four people sitting at the table. But who is the last one, still sitting quietly?

He showed little interest in my arrival, keeping his wide-brimmed hat pulled low over his head and his legs propped up on the table.

Hmmm.

A soft snoring sound reached my ears, indicating he was asleep.

At that moment, Zetas, who was busy arguing with the women, clicked his tongue in annoyance.

“d*mn women. Hey, Old Man Nestor—wake up and at least give these rude women a word or two.”

Hmmm, cough—

At that, the man under the hat finally stirred.

“Huh, what? Is it lunchtime already?”

He hastily adjusted his hat, his posture, and only then could we see his wrinkled face, long beard, and silver eyebrows.

He seemed quite elderly.

He gave off the vibe of an aging Western gunslinger. The numerous medals and insignias hanging on him, along with the gold necklace around his neck, suggested he was a seasoned veteran who had seen many wars.

He glanced out the window and frowned.

“Huh, lunchtime passed already? Agamemnon, why didn’t you wake me? They said today’s lunch would be beef stew.”

What’s going on here?

Just as I was wondering, Zetas explained.

“Agamemnon? Old man, it’s been decades since the Trojan War ended. You’re still dreaming. Did you just have a vivid dream?”

“Tch, Jason. Do you even know how to respect elders? You don’t even give me time to dream.”

“Jason? I’m Zetas! And the Jason-led Argo Expedition ended years ago. I don’t even know what Jason is doing these days—”

“Zetas?! That good-for-nothing brat—Because of him, Gloria left the expedition team. I, the old fool, told you multiple times to tie that Zetas brat to the ship’s belly!”

“Ahh, I’m not Jason, but the good-for-nothing Zetas. Seriously, who brought this crazy old man? Was it you, Idas?”

In response to Zetas’ irritated question, the burly soldier Idas simply shrugged his shoulders.

The old man licked his lips and said,

“Anyway, I’m starving. Is it evening already? Did I already have lunch?”

It seemed like Nestor might be suffering from dementia.

Hmm, is it really okay for someone like this old man to wear the necklace of the Gold Tier?

While I was contemplating this, Hippolyte, who had silently observed from beside me, spoke.

“Nestor the Undying. Though he might look this way, he is an incredible old man. A living witness to countless battles from the Titan War, the Trojan War, the Calydonian Boar Hunt, and the Argo Expedition itself.”

As expected, the old man was a seasoned veteran.

The many medals around his neck and shoulders were testament to his numerous trials.

A survivor of numerous battlefields, his strength is truly beyond doubt.

Although his dementia-like behavior was a bit worrying.

But for me, who can treat through acupressure like I did on Paulos’ mother, something like dementia isn’t really a problem.

“Hmm…”

At that moment, Hippolyte cleared her throat.

“Anyway, it seems that everyone who needed to be here is present. Though we sent a hundred and more carrier pigeons, we’ve got about six people… well, this is a small miracle, I suppose.”

She then looked at me.

It was a sign to calm down the chaotic atmosphere and get to the main point.

Following that, I took a seat at the table.

“Everyone, please pay attention. As you’ve said, there’s a reason I’ve gathered you here with such cheap provocations.”

With that, the chaotic atmosphere seemed to focus everyone’s attention on me.

I decided to start reciting the words I had practiced over the past few days.

“To you all…”

And just as I was about to begin,

Creak-.

The door opened suddenly, and someone unexpected walked into the room.

[End of Chapter Notes]

Dear supporters – times-guni, sshg-ha, yarareta, Gaiuz, dokma-se, ㅇㄹㄴㄹ, geulida! Thank you so much for your encouragement…!

And thank you to everyone who sent in manuscript coupons…!

Because of your coupons and generous support, the debt I’ve been paying off to the foundation has finally decreased to a single digit!

With deep gratitude,

7-9 minutes

Gathering of the Powers

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