PHASE 44 - IT’S A YES WITHOUT A GOLDEN BUZZER

Our new recruit is actually a god, and he’s a cool one.

Standing with the height of two meters, weighing two hundred kilos, wearing Greek red robe on his lower body, with visible bulky abs, biceps, and triceps, long wavy hair that reaches on his back, and two dark horns that resemble a minotaur, presenting… in the red corner! Lord Hephaestus!

This macho god is wielding two flaming axes on his left and right arm. His humanoid face glared at the gigantic skeleton ghost Eidolon with determination to kill his target. The God of Smithing stepped forward, and a shockwave emerged.

“GAAAAOOOOOOH!!!” The Eidolon made a warcry, asserting its dominance. However, it is evident that the enemy itself is filled with fear due to the presence of a god.

“Hraaaaah!” Hephaestus roared as he surged forward, forming an X with his weapons. With a swift and efficient dash, he slashed the enemy ghost into four different pieces with its ax. Its left arm, right arm, spinal tail, and the skull was separated completely!

“GAAAAOH!!!” The gigantic skeleton shrieked as it felt a great pain of having its parts mutilated. However, after that cry, the blob of the mutilated parts connected into a single body, reassembling the enemy into a gargantuan ghost once again.

Seeing that the attack was not enough, Hephaestus dematerialized his axes and spread out his arm. A gigantic golden portal appeared from the crimson sky as he shouted out loud.

“!!!”

Hundreds of swords started to rain towards the enemy Eidolon. Inch by inch, the swords impaled the slimy body, the skeleton arms, ribs, skull, and spine of the enemy without mercy. Even the crimson eyes have been skewered by the swords.

“GAAAAOOOH!!!” The Eidolon cried. With thousands of weapons pinning its body, it is no longer able to move.

“And for the finishing blow!”

Hephaestus squatted and then jumped upwards in the air, five meters above the giant ghost. The God of Smithing reached out from the portal above, and the portal popped out a seemingly-humongous hilt of a sword. With his bulky arms, he pulled out the sword from the Gate, revealing a gigantic white sword that is as long as the size of a four-story building!

“!!!”

As the Greek God brought down his blade, a golden streak followed. The jumbo Excalibur swiftly sliced the Eidolon in half like a hot knife cutting a block of butter. The cut marks immediately glowed gold and it flashed a blinding light!

“GAAAAAAOOOOH…”

In just a matter of a split second, the Eidolon exploded. Its slimy skeleton was immediately converted to dust. Dark ashes waltzed around the atmosphere, and the only thing left on the location where the Eidolon was situated was a green orb of light, which is a Quintessence.

“You need some milk.” Hephaestus made his cheesy one-liner after the kill as soon as he landed on the ground. That dude’s body is so heavy that he made a crater as soon as he made contact on the floor.

Soon, Hephaestus disabled his God Core, revealing his base form which is a tall man with gray wavy hair. His fedora hat slowly descended above his head, and then he tipped it as he made a genuflect. It is as if he just bowed after a fabulous performance in an opera.

“Wooooow…” Helena was amazed.

“Are you entertained?” This new recruit is oozing with suave confidence.

“That’s good, but it’s just a little better than garbage. Try it again.” Jeanne said in a grumpy tone, still not impressed.

“Hey, shut up!” I shouted at the blonde runt. “Can’t you look at the time? It’s past midnight already! We can’t have another Eidolon hunt!”

“Still, we have to assess his battle capabilities more.” Jeanne crossed her arms as she chinned up. “My Aether Crusade members are still much better-”

“Screw it! That guy is stronger than you! You don’t even have a Goddess Core! You can’t even save your own universe! All you do is just whine and hide and sit like a f*cking princess!” I reasoned out loud. “I’m calling the shots here, you filthy bitc-kapwack!!!”

I was immediately cut by Tiara’s lightning-fast jab, and my nose was broken once again. Too bad my is already deactivated so I took that brutal fist head-on.

“Stop quarreling!” Tiara screamed.

“H-Hey, why am I the only one who got punched! Punch her too!” I cried.

“Rikkun, that’s enough! You don’t need to insult Jecchan to prove your point!”

“Fufufu…” Jeanne hid her smug with her sassy hand.

<>

“A-Anyway…” I stood up while holding my nose. I looked at Helena, to Jeanne, and then to Tiara who is seemingly charging her arm’s momentum; ready to punch me again in case I continue arguing with Jeanne. Finally, I shifted my gaze towards Francois Schopfer, the applicant who just made a splendid performance. “I already listed him as a new member of the Aether Crusade. It’s a yes for me.”

“It’s a yes for me too!” Helena put her hands behind her head and leaned on it. “The more members, the merrier!”

There was a little bit of silence as we all looked at Jeanne, who still has to pass her judgment. Well, even if she says no, the voting is overruled by two-is-to-one so we don’t need her to agree on this.

“F-Fine… It will be a yes for me too.” Jeanne groaned for having the feeling of having left out. She turned away with a blush. “But still, we have to measure the extent of your battle capabilities in the future.”

Everybody smiled when we finally got Jeanne’s approval. There’s a sign of relief in Francois Schopfer’s face as soon as he heard the blond runt’s words.

"Since you get three Yeses, you are now welcome to the grand finals- err, I mean the Aether Crusade!” I said as I offered my hand to the new member. “I look forward to working together as part of the investigation team.”

“Right,” Francois said as he accepted my hand and shook it. “Thank you, Sir Eisenhower!”

“Welcome to the Aether Crusade, Mister Franks Schoplifter!” Tiara greeted the new member with a handshake. “Your powers as Lord Hepatitis are superb! Really cool!”

“Thanks…” Francois has this disappointed look on his face. “My name is Francois Schopfer and I’m not a snatcher. Also, I don’t have hepatitis.”

“Ahahaha…” Tiara scratched her head. “Your name is hard to pronounce, so I’ll just call you Mister Shoplifter-kun.”

“Never mind Tiara, you will just waste your time in correcting her,” Helena said as it was her turn to shake hands with the new recruit. “It’s an honor to fight with you in the future, Mister Schopfer.”

“It’s an honor for me to be your comrade, Miss Efilion,” Francois said. “I can’t believe that a legend like you, who is able to control more than six God Cores, is now my ally.”

Helena ignored the praise. She just proceeded to move on and ask about self-interest topics such as magically creating various equipments.

“Hey, hey!” Helena’s eyes sparkled. “You can create anything, right? Can you create a frying pan? Can you create a set of kitchen knives? How about meat grinder, can you make it?”

Suddenly, Jeanne grabbed my hand and pulled me away from eavesdropping on the conversation. She started to talk to me as if it was a private and sensitive topic.

“He’s not enough,” Jeanne whispered.

“Stop being so grumpy, Jeanne.” I said, “He’s the only one we got. If you didn’t reject the cockroach man and the maggot boy, we should’ve been an army by now.”

“That’s not the point,” Jeanne said. “Our power is heavily lacking. It is not enough to stop Hades. If the God of Underworld attacks during the casting of the , we will have no means of defending Tiara. I suggest delaying the until we finally defeat Hades.”

“You’re just overreacting.” I sighed.

“No, I’m not.”

I want to say that everything will be alright, but it seems that I will never convince her. What’s with this Hades that she’s so scared about?