"Tsk!"
"Hey, how do you plan to take responsibility for this disaster, Erebus!?"
"This is nothing like what you promised us!"
The evil Gods gathered together, launching a vicious verbal assault on the deity lounging in his chair.
Erebus sat quietly, staring into space.
He didn't seem to hear their shouts. He appeared entirely lost in his own thoughts, contemplating a fascinating puzzle.
This dismissive attitude only served to further infuriate the surrounding gods.
"Hey!"
"Give us an answer, you bastard!"
"After talking such a big game, this is all you have to show for it?"
The evil Gods complained without pause.
They had suffered heavy losses in this joint operation, many of their Familias had been severely damaged, and some stood on the brink of annihilation.
Even as patrons of Evilus, they still cared for their beloved "children."
Villains who could empathize with one another were rare, the vast majority merely exploited each other for personal gain.
More importantly, Orario showed no signs of collapsing.
Instead, the city was regaining its footing and pushing their forces back.
Erebus remained seated, surrounded by his angry peers.
Vito looked annoyed by the noise.
Meanwhile, Zald and Alfia stood like statues behind Erebus's chair. They remained indifferent, looking as if none of this petty squabbling concerned them.
"What was all that bragging about the remnants of Zeus and Hera familia? They aren't as great as the old rumors made them out to be."
"They couldn't even deal with that Boarman from the Freya Familia—"
Clap!
Erebus seemed to snap out of his daze. Catching the tail end of the complaints, he brought his hands together and offered a dangerous smile.
"That is true. At this current rate, the plan will not proceed on schedule." He sighed, scratching the side of his head.
"Oh dear, what a headache. What should I do? The blood sacrifices are simply not enough."
Seeing him act like a clueless fool, the dark Gods grew even angrier.
"A headache?"
"We are the ones dealing with a headache here!"
"You guaranteed this plan would succeed! Take responsibility! Otherwise, we will take you out first!"
Facing the enraged gods, Erebus pretend to looked troubled.
But once their shouting died down, he laughed.
"You want me to take responsibility? Perfect, I had the exact same idea~." He leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands.
"Well then, everyone, as long as I can make the plan succeed, are you willing to cooperate with anything?"
"Cut the crap!"
"We have cooperated with you enough! Now it is your turn to show us some results!"
"Hehehekehahaha." Erebus let out a sinister laugh.
He looked at the Gods standing before him as if evaluating pigs waiting for the slaughterhouse.
"I've felt your strong resolve. In that case, please use yourselves as the foundation to complete the final piece of my puzzle!"
"Nani?"
Before the gods could process the threat, a massive shadow flashed through the crowd.
Zald arrived right in front of the loudest God as his pitch-black greatsword whistled through the air.
The God's head left its neck, flying several meters away before bouncing across the stone floor.
Even in death, the severed head still wore a mask of pure shock.
"GUWAAAAAHHH!!"
It took a few seconds for the decapitated God's vessel to react and let out a delayed, echoing scream.
A heartbeat later, the dying God transformed into a brilliant pillar of light and ascended to the heavens, forcefully returning to Tenkai.
Boom!
The remaining Gods jumped back, their faces twisted in abject terror.
"What the fuck!"
"Erebus, what's the meaning of this!?"
Erebus remained calm.
He acted as if the execution had nothing to do with him—which, in a literal sense, was true.
He had not lifted a finger.
After sending one God back to Tenkai with a single swing, Zald locked onto his next target.
His expression remained unreadable. He did not swing his blade. Instead, without turning his head, he asked a simple question.
"How many do I need to kill?"
Erebus tapped his chin, pretending to think.
He hesitated for a brief moment. "Let's kill five more."
"Wait a goddamn minute!"
"Erebus you bastard!!"
Swish!
The greatsword flashed and the God who had just roared was split clean in half.
Another brilliant pillar of light shot into the sky.
Then a third, a fourth, and a fifth.
...
When five massive pillars of light pierced the clouds at the same time, the spectacle halted the battles across the city.
It was not just the members of Evilus staring in shock, every Adventurer in Orario looked up at the sky.
"Pillars of light..."
"Gods are being sent back to Tenkai... so many of them!"
Loki watched the pillars with wide eyes.
Even a trickster like her had never witnessed such a brutal spectacle. Sending so many gods back to the Tenkai at once was an unprecedented event.
"How is that possible!? All the Gods should be secured at the Guild right now!" Riveria noted, her voice tight with alarm.
Finn maintained his composure.
After a brief moment of thought, he arrived at a grim possibility. "What if the ones being sent back are the patron Gods of Evilus?"
"Hah?" Loki asked, her tone dripping with disbelief. "Are you saying Evilus is having an internal feud in the middle of a war?"
She paused.
It was not impossible.
Those evil Gods were beyond redemption, betraying one another fit their nature.
Backstabbing was standard practice among villains.
It just made no sense to do it right now.
Losing so many patron gods at once would cut Evilus's active combat power by more than half.
Without their Falna, how could those cultists compete with Orario's elite? They might be deranged, but they were not stupid.
In truth, Evilus had always operated on a loose voting system.
Every evil God had a say, and they acted based on a collective, chaotic will.
But relying on the overwhelming combat power of Zald and Alfia, Erebus had twisted Evilus into his own personal domain.
Such a feat was extraordinary, manipulating a room full of arrogant Gods required an overwhelming charismatic presence.
"So, it has started."
Rayleigh watched the pillars of light pierce the sky.
He felt no surprise at Erebus's ruthless play.
The master plan had reached a critical bottleneck, but a true mastermind would never give up.
He had suitable pawns resting right at his fingertips. By discarding them, he could sacrifice their souls to force the Dungeon's doors open.
For Erebus, there was nothing to hesitate about.
He was a dedicated God to his cause!
"Tsubaki, is the item Finn requested finished?" Hephaestus asked, leading Rayleigh through the workshop to find her Captain.
In the forging area, Rayleigh spotted an unexpected guest.
"The Multi-talented," Asfi Al Andromeda.
"Goddess Hephaestus, and... Rayleigh?" Asfi greeted them.
Rayleigh blinked, offering her a polite nod. He noticed the two women working closely together over a specialized workbench.
"Oh, Rayleigh-boy, you are awake." Tsubaki paused her hammering.
Spotting Rayleigh standing behind their Goddess, she flashed a bright, relieved smile.
"Rayleigh-boy, you have a talent for getting injured. How many times have you collapsed on us now?"
Hearing her tease him, Rayleigh found himself speechless.
Ever since joining the Hephaestus Familia, he had fallen into a coma on multiple occasions due to severe injuries....