Urban Plundering: I Corrupted The System!
Chapter 474 - 474: The Knowing Ones

At the far edge of Olympus's great throne room, three figures stood in deliberate silence, watching the cosmic theater unfold with expressions that ranged from knowing amusement to careful neutrality.

Artemis maintained her usual stance—silver bow across her shoulder, hunter's leathers pristine despite the cosmic chaos, moon-pale hair caught in an eternal breeze that seemed to follow her everywhere. Her silver eyes tracked the Speaker's performance with the intensity of a predator evaluating prey, but there was something else there.

Relief? Satisfaction? It was hard to tell with the goddess of the hunt.

Aphrodite stood beside her, and even in the midst of cosmic crisis, she was impossible to ignore. Her hair fell in waves of rose-gold pink that seemed to shift between sunset and dawn, each strand catching light that had no source but somehow made everything around her more beautiful by comparison.

She wore a dress that looked like it had been woven from cherry blossoms and starlight—gossamer fabric that moved with her breathing, revealing and concealing in ways that made geometry jealous.

Her smile was slight but knowing, painted lips curved in an expression that suggested she found the entire situation deliciously amusing.

Nyx was a different matter entirely. The Primordial Goddess of Night was beautiful in the way that black holes were beautiful—vast, ancient, and absolutely terrifying.

Her form seemed to absorb light rather than reflect it, skin the deep blue-black of the space between stars, eyes that held the depth of eternal void. Her hair moved like liquid darkness, flowing around her shoulders as if it were made of the very concept of night itself. She wore shadows like other goddesses wore silk, darkness wrapping around her form in patterns that hurt to look at directly.

All three watched the Speaker continue his elaborate justification to the assembled pantheons, and none of them looked particularly impressed.

"...the natural order has been restored," the Speaker intoned with perfect cosmic authority. "The Prince of Existence assumed his rightful role as Earth's designated protector, a position that was always intended—"

Nyx's laugh was soft as midnight and twice as dangerous. "Listen to him," she murmured, her voice carrying harmonics that made shadows dance. "Spinning tales like a cosmic bard. 'Designated protector.' 'Rightful role.' Such creative terminology for 'we fucked up and the Prince of Existence had to clean up our mess.'"

Artemis shot her a sharp look. "You're saying the Council is lying?"

"I'm saying the Council is engaging in damage control," Aphrodite replied, her voice like honey poured over steel. "The truth is far more interesting than their sanitized version."

The Speaker continued his performance: "The temporary custodianship you enjoyed was always meant to conclude when the true guardian awakened to his full potential. This transition, while abrupt, represents the natural progression of cosmic authority—"

"Natural progression," Nyx snorted, darkness rippling around her form. "As if they planned for a being to own an entire realm outright. As if they expected someone to casually rewrite fundamental cosmic law because he was annoyed."

Artemis frowned, her hunter's instincts picking up on undercurrents she didn't fully understand. "I don't follow. What aren't they saying?"

Aphrodite's pink hair caught non-existent light as she tilted her head, studying the younger goddess with amused patience. "Sweet Artemis, always so focused on the immediate hunt that you miss the larger game. Tell me—why do you think the Council arrived so quickly after Parker's little demonstration?"

"To investigate the cosmic shift?" Artemis replied, though her tone suggested she suspected there was more to it.

"To prevent us from making any more catastrophically stupid decisions," Nyx corrected bluntly. "The Council isn't here to explain cosmic law—they're here to keep Zeus from doing something that would give Parker a reason to visit Olympus personally."

The implications hit Artemis like a silver arrow to the chest. "You mean..."

"The Council are the overseers who failed to keep the gods in check," Aphrodite explained, her beautiful features sharp with understanding. "They allowed us to interfere with Earth for millennia when we should have been hands-off from the beginning. Now that the actual owner has returned and demonstrated exactly how much power he wields..."

"They're terrified," Nyx finished. "If Parker decided to hold the Council accountable for their oversight failures, for allowing gods to meddle in his realm for eons..." She smiled, and nearby shadows seemed to smile with her. "Well, let's just say there are consequences for cosmic mismanagement that make divine irrelevance look pleasant."

Artemis stared at them both, pieces clicking into place with terrible clarity. "So the Speaker's speech about 'natural progression' and 'assigned guardianship'..."

"Complete bullshit designed to make our exile from Earth look like a planned transition rather than what it actually is—punishment for overreach that the Council should have prevented," Aphrodite said with delicate precision. "They're trying to save their own asses by making this look like cosmic bureaucracy rather than cosmic justice."

The Speaker's voice carried across the throne room: "The Council recognizes the... adjustment period this represents for affected pantheons. Resources will be provided to assist in finding new 'purposes' in our own realms that would benefit from divine oversight—"

"Listen to that," Nyx observed with dark amusement. "He's offering us consolation prizes. 'Here, go play god somewhere else while we pretend this was always the plan.'"

Artemis looked between the two goddesses who clearly knew far more about cosmic politics than she'd ever suspected. "But how do you both know all this? Even Zeus seems blindsided."

Aphrodite's smile was radiant and sharp as crystal. "Because some of us pay attention to forces beyond our immediate domains, darling. Love connects everything—including the cosmic power structures most gods ignore."

"And I am Night," Nyx added simply. "I was here before most of these cosmic laws existed. I've watched the Council make mistakes before, and I recognize the smell of divine panic when I sense it."

As if summoned by their conversation, the Speaker's gaze swept across the throne room and briefly settled on their small group. For just a moment, his cosmic composure flickered—a flash of something that might have been nervousness before the perfect authority mask settled back into place.

"Even he knows," Artemis realized.

"Oh, he absolutely knows," Aphrodite confirmed. "The question is whether he can sell this performance well enough to keep the other gods from realizing just how thoroughly we've all been played."

Artemis found herself thinking of Atalanta, her disciple who was now completely cut off from divine contact but safely ensconced with the most powerful being in existence. Despite the severed communications, despite the cosmic isolation, she felt... relieved.

Better Atalanta be with the Prince of Existence than caught in whatever storm was coming for the gods who'd tried to oppose him.

"So what happens now?" Artemis asked.

Nyx's smile was ancient and knowing. "Now? We watch the Council try to convince everyone that losing a war is actually a strategic withdrawal. And we hope Parker doesn't get bored and decide to audit their cosmic management records."

The Speaker continued his elaborate justifications to an audience of increasingly confused gods, weaving tales of cosmic destiny and natural transitions to mask the simple truth:

They'd picked a fight with someone who owned the game board for messing up and tainting one of the game board boxes.

And now they were learning what it meant to lose absolutely.