In the palace hall, King Pentheus looked down from above at the arrested young heretic in front of him and gave a disdainful, cold snort.
"Bacchus's apostle?"
In the "Holy Words" and "Theogony", Dionysus, Bacchus, and Phanes are all incarnations and aliases of the Wine God.
"We meet again, Your Majesty."
Lorne smiled and nodded, warmly taking the initiative to greet him.
"I have come at your invitation.
So, how do you plan to deal with me?"
"Want to know?"
Looking at the fearless young heretic before him, Pentheus raised an eyebrow, a sinister glint flashing in his eyes.
"Someone, put heavy shackles on him, lock him in that cave near the stables, and then seal the entrance!"
Hearing the king's order, the divine-blood guards beside him showed difficulty on their faces and hesitated to step forward.
After all, they had personally witnessed that miracle and inevitably felt some awe toward that god in their hearts.
Moreover, this apostle's action of willingly stepping forward to prevent the believers from suffering also earned their admiration.
"Do you have no ears? Hurry up and seize this audacious heretic!"
Under Pentheus's angry rebuke, the divine-blood guards picked up the shackles and hesitantly stepped forward.
"It's fine..."
Lorne smiled reassuringly, cooperatively extended his hands, and willingly let them put the shackles on him.
After all, these people were only carrying out orders.
So, there was no need to make things difficult for them.
Seeing that this esteemed apostle, even at this moment, did not forget to comfort them, the perpetrators, the divine-blood guards carrying out the order felt relieved and were filled with gratitude.
They knew very well that, with the opponent's mysterious strength and elusive speed, if he wanted to escape, probably no one present could stop him.
Seeing his major worry fall into his hands so easily, Pentheus completely relaxed, at the same time, a flash of jealousy crossed his eyes as he stepped forward and mocked the prisoner coldly.
"Bacchus? The spirit bred in wine?
A lowly thing of unknown origin.
What qualification does he have to act arrogantly on my land and share glory with the gods of Olympus?"
In fact, the reason this young king targeted the Dionysus cult so strongly was simply his pitiful vanity and anger at not being valued by the people.
There cannot be two suns in the sky, nor two masters on the earth.
Thebes needs only one object of worship.
Saying this, Pentheus looked at the prisoner before him, proudly puffed out his chest, and issued a victorious declaration.
"Only I, blood relative of the sea god Poseidon, descendant of the war god Ares, a true god-born, have the qualification to become a hero revered by the people of this land like my grandfather Cadmus, to give salvation to those foolish masses, and lead them to prosperity!"
"You seem to have misunderstood one thing."
Lorne shook his head, interrupting Pentheus's boasting, and spoke earnestly.
"Your grandfather Cadmus is remembered and crowned king on this land because he slew the venomous dragon, built the high walls of Thebes, freed the people from the ravages of magical beasts, and allowed them to live and work in peace.
The reason you have not received the people's respect and praise is that you have not yet accomplished similar great deeds or saved an equivalent number of lives."
Then the young apostle paused, raised his head, and looked meaningfully at the young king, speaking slowly.
"So it is not that heroes accomplish great deeds and save the people.
Rather, those who accomplish great deeds and save the people are the ones worthy of being called heroes."
Such a statement was deafening.
The divine-blood guards present remained expressionless on the surface, but in their hearts they all nodded in agreement.
That's right.
The reason they were willing to follow the old king Cadmus was because of his bravery and great achievements.
If not for the legacy of his ancestors, and if Thebes had no suitable heir, this irritable and conceited god-born would have no qualification to ascend the throne and order them around.
Sensing that the gazes on him had subtly changed, Pentheus's face flushed red and he became even more furious.
"Shut up! You and your god are just swindlers, only knowing how to bewitch people's hearts!
I will definitely uproot you from the land of Thebes!"
However, facing this murderous threat, Lorne sneered and shook his head.
"You want to be revered by the people, yet instead of accomplishing great deeds and governing the country, you blame the gods for taking away your glory. Isn't this putting the cart before the horse, Your Majesty?"
After all, this was just a spoiled child throwing a tantrum and flipping the table because he could not get love and praise.
'With this kind of character, no wonder your maternal grandfather Cadmus and your mother are unwilling to stand by your side.'
Truly pathetic...
Lorne looked up at this older cousin of his, a trace of mocking pity in his eyes.
Immediately, Pentheus was deeply stung by that gaze and roared in rage.
"Someone! Throw this swindler into the cave right now! Immediately!"
Facing the king's stern order, the divine-blood guards acted as if they had not heard and each averted their gaze.
Seeing that none of his subordinates were willing to act, the guard commander steeled himself under Pentheus's increasingly loud rebukes, stepped forward personally, grabbed the chains binding Lorne, and forced out a smile uglier than crying.
"Sorry..."
Lorne smiled and nodded, not making things difficult for the commander, and obediently followed.
Seeing the big figure behind him so easy to deal with, the guard commander was moved beyond words and even more glad about his earlier choice.
But things had come to this.
Under the king's strict order, he was powerless and could only try to give the meticulous person behind him some dignity and convenience.
Therefore, the guard commander walked slowly and even intentionally loosened the chains a little.
However, this action angered Pentheus, who was following behind.
This impatient king could no longer tolerate it.
He grabbed the chains and roughly shoved the heretic, who had caused him great loss of face, into the cave beside the stables.
"Build the wall! Quick, seal all the exits!"
Under Pentheus's order, although the divine-blood guards were dissatisfied in their hearts, burdened by their duties and the families they had in Thebes, they could only seal the cave entrance.
After finishing, the still-unreassured Pentheus personally checked every wall, confirming there was no careless work, before nodding in satisfaction.
This distrustful behavior further angered the divine-blood guards, and their evaluation and attitude toward this young king dropped to freezing point.
At this time, the oblivious Pentheus was examining the completely sealed prison before him with satisfaction.
A sinister smile appeared on his face as he reached out and picked up a burning torch.
"Aren't you very good at talking?
Let's see how long you can keep yelling!"
Saying this, the irritable king raised his hand and threw the torch into the cave.
The surrounding soldiers all changed color at once.
The cave not only held the apostle who had been thrown in, but also stored a large amount of horse fodder.
'If a fire broke out, it would be no small loss to the kingdom.
Had Pentheus gone mad?
The crowd wanted to stop him, but it was too late.
The burning torch was thrown high from Pentheus's hand, flying into the only air hole left above the cave.
"Boom!"
At the same time, an earth-shaking rumble came from inside the cave.
Accompanied by billowing smoke and dust, the sealed brick walls all around collapsed at once.
The heretic apostle walked out unharmed, holding a torch.
Under the firelight, that figure appeared taller and more handsome than before.
Under the gazes of the crowd, some relieved and some astonished, Lorne stepped forward, put the burning torch back into Pentheus's hand, smiled slightly, and spoke in a low voice.
"Second time..."
Feeling the burning pain in his hand, Pentheus cried out in alarm and hastily dropped the charred torch, at the same time, a trace of fear appeared in his gaze as he looked at the person before him.
Everything seemed to return to that fearful night in the palace.
"Catch him! Catch this believer of the false god!"