Mantle of the Gods [LitRPG / Slow Burn / FTB Harem]

Everyone stared at us as we walked into the conference room.

The shower had taken longer than I'd planned, but I was clean, and so were Oz and Ether. Aelin's eyes widened when she saw the women's wet hair, and her lips spread into a smile, but she didn't say anything.

Klix was back, and it looked like she'd been pacing in front of the table. Miel was sitting across from Trent beside the head of the table. Gesai was on Trent's left, followed by Justia, Aelin, and Jenne. To Miel's right, the group that was closer to us, were Shelly, Ren, Fray, and Astrid.

"You finally decided to join us?" The Goddess glared at me as I took the seat at the other end of the table. Oz sat to my left, and Ether took the last open chair on my right.

"Sorry, I didn't realize how tired I was." I scooted the chair in. "What did I miss?"

"The Vilou girl just finished telling us about your trip to this pocket dimension." Klix's red eyes glared at me. "We are debating on whether or not to let you go back."

"Which way are you leaning?" I put my elbows on the table and rested my chin on my steepled fingers.

"Not." Klix growled. "It was reckless to let you go in there in the first place. If it were up to me, I'd cordon off the pavilion and send in my best portal analysts to study it until they shut it down."

I glanced over at Trent before looking back at Klix. "Isn't it up to you?"

"I think shutting the portal down now that you have an inside contact would be a mistake." Miel was the one who spoke up. "While I don't like sending you in, this portal was made under our noses, and the Dispatcher scans haven't shown any sign of a Dungeon Break." She looked at her mother. "We need to figure out how this was done before more start popping up. Can you imagine what this could do if a God could walk through one of these?"

There was silence at the table as everyone considered just how dangerous it would be if a God could simply walk through a portal into another God's city. Desolations were already bad, but this would allow surprise ones that killed almost everyone.

Usually, when two Gods went to war, anyone who wanted to leave the besieged city was allowed to do so without being harassed. In the end, it was a fight between the Gods and their personal guards. Even Adventurers wouldn't last a whole minute against that kind of power.

Once a God was defeated, there was usually a warning to let everyone know that a Desolation was about to happen. This gave anyone who remained behind a little time to try to get out of the blast radius.

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When a God was killed, they released an energy wave that decimated buildings, flattened trees, and killed almost everyone. There were a few beings that could withstand the Desolation and those were the Godborn or Hunters. The energy wave wouldn't harm us, though I had never experienced one.

If a Desolation happened by surprise, tens if not hundreds of thousands of people would die. If there was a way to sneak in and sneak out without anyone else ever knowing who the culprit was, how many Gods would start annihilating their rivals because they could? I shuddered at the thought.

"Why shouldn't we go back?" I had a feeling I knew the answer, but I still wanted a chance to argue for my choice. "We've got a contact inside, and going to this auction might allow us to see who's running it."

Klix slammed both of her palms on the table. Considering it didn't break, I assumed it was made out of very high Tier material.

"It doesn't have to be you." There was fire in her red eyes. "We already lost half of you. I'm not going to lose another!" She wiped a tear off her face, then turned away from us.

Miel got out of her seat to comfort her mother.

"They're not dead." I put my right hand over my heart. "Their symbols are still part of my seal, which means that they're still alive wherever they are."

Trent cleared his throat. "Rix is a smart girl, and she'll guard Pixie with her life. If they've been taken, Rix will do everything in her power to get them free." The tired man looked at me. "We should be able to send a drone with you…"

"I don't think that will work." Jenne interrupted. "Our CBs were disconnected from the network while we were in there. If you use one tied to your mana, then it will die as soon as the portal closes. If you use one that runs off the network, same thing."

Trent tapped his fingers on the table as he thought.

Klix turned around. Her face was whiter, which I didn't think was possible. "Sending the boy back is too risky."

"I know Fooda would still work with the ladies, but if you send me..." My thoughts traied off as I ran through my interactions with the man. There was something that clicked.

"You sent Fooda in there." I looked at my fake father. "That's why you want us to go back in. You've lost communication with an asset!"

"I didn't send him, not directly." Trent turned to Klix. "One of my handlers saw an opportunity, and the man was up for it." He returned Klix's glare. "She didn't know where they were taking him or who was running the auction. It was labeled as low interest because these things happen out in the godless zones all the time. I've been unconscious for the last two weeks. It takes time to sort through all the messages I've received."

Klix closed her eyes as she thought. "Why does it have to be him?"

Trent looked over at me. "The boy has to take the lead eventually. This is a low-risk mission. And with Tophua there, they have a very powerful ally if anything goes wrong."

The Goddess sighed. "Fine. He's your kid. Let him do whatever you want." She stomped over to the door. "I'm going back out to look for mine. Let me know if you find something."

There was silence in the room as Miel returned to her seat.

"So…" Aelin leaned forward. "What do we do now?"