That night, the sky of Orario was torn asunder.
The residents of the Labyrinth City were used to miracles, monsters, and tragedies. However, the sight presented in the sky tonight was an anomaly that froze the blood of anyone who saw it. Two incredibly bright pillars of white light exploded simultaneously, shooting through the clouds and soaring until they touched the edge of the horizon.
The light was so holy, pure, and undeniable. It was the Hymn of Return, the absolute phenomenon of the lower world's system that forcibly pulled a god's soul back to Tenkai after their physical vessel was destroyed.
One pillar exploded from the southern district in the heart of Orario. The other pillar tore the sky far to the southwest, from the direction of the port city of Melen.
In one of the lush agricultural areas on the outskirts of the city, Demeter stood frozen in the middle of her flower garden. A woven basket filled with fresh fruits she had just picked slipped from her hands, scattering onto the grass.
Her orange eyes widened, reflecting the blinding white light from the pillar in the southern district. The Goddess of Harvest's heart seemed to stop beating. She knew exactly which direction that pillar came from.
"No..." whispered Demeter, her voice trembling violently. Tears instantly welled up in her eyes. "Impossible... Dionysus!"
As if answering her sorrow, agonizing screams began to break the silence of the night from a distance. It was the sound of despair from adventurers who suddenly felt an emptiness in their soul bonds. The Falna—the blessing carved on their backs—was instantly locked by force. The levels and statuses they had painstakingly accumulated were not lost, but the seal made it impossible for them to update their power or fully access their blessings until they found a new god to shelter under. It was an absolute sign that their god had returned to Tenkai.
Demeter fell to her knees on the cold grass. Tears immediately flowed down her cheeks. Her hands covered her mouth, trying to hold back the suffocating sobs.
In her memory, Dionysus was the perfect god. He was a friendly neighbor, a man who always smiled gently, and a god who always listened to her complaints with full empathy. Dionysus often sent the best wine to celebrate her Familia's harvest. Demeter had never felt the slightest bit of malicious intent from him.
"Who could have the heart to do this...?" sobbed Demeter, her body shaking from unbearable sadness and fear. "He was a good god... He never hurt anyone! Why Dionysus?!"
Demeter never knew that behind that friendly smile hid Enyo, the dark mastermind who intended to burn down the entire city. To Demeter, and to most of Orario in this era, they had just lost one of the most benevolent gods ever to set foot in the lower world.
While sorrow began to strike several parts of the city, a completely different atmosphere occurred on one of the luxurious balconies on the upper floors of the Tower of Babel.
Artemis, the Goddess of Chastity, stood tall near the balcony railing. Her sky-blue hair fluttered softly in the night wind, while her emerald-green eyes stared sharply at the two pillars of light slowly beginning to fade in the distance.
"Dionysus and Ikelos," murmured Artemis, instantly recognizing the identities of the two gods who had just left the Gekai. Her tone was stiff and full of vigilance. "On the same night, in distant locations. This is not just a coincidence or an accident."
From behind her, came the sound of a melodious and seductive soft laugh.
Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, laid herself very comfortably on a red velvet lounge sofa. She slowly twirled her wine glass, completely undisturbed by the phenomenon of the gods' repatriation that had just occurred. Her sheer silk dress exposed her curves, radiating the pure charm that was the essence of her domain.
"You're too tense, Artemis," teased Aphrodite, sipping her wine. "Gods come and go. The lower world always has a brutal way to entertain itself. Doesn't that double pillar of light look very dramatic?"
Artemis turned around, glaring at the blonde goddess. "Two of our colleagues have just been forcibly repatriated, Aphrodite. Do you not have the slightest respect for this incident?"
"Sympathy for gods careless enough to guard their own physical vessels is boring," replied Aphrodite lightly. She rested her chin on her hand, looking at Artemis with eyes sparkling playfully. "I heard you and your children will be leaving Orario tomorrow morning?"
Artemis nodded stiffly, ignoring Aphrodite's indifferent attitude. "Yes. My familia will depart tomorrow. There is a monster subjugation request outside the city limits. My duty is to guide my children to hone themselves and protect the weak out there."
Aphrodite let out a long sigh, shaking her head dramatically. "Hunting monsters again. Mud, dust, and bows. Dear Artemis, when will you revoke that rigid rule forbidding your children from dating? Don't you want them—or even yourself—to feel the beauty of love? A grand romance lasting for ten thousand years?"
"Love and romance are merely poisons that dull instincts," replied Artemis sharply. "My Familia's rules are absolute. Chastity is our vow. In the outside world filled with monsters, letting the mind be swayed by such emotions will only lead my children to their deaths. Keep your nonsense about a ten-thousand-year love to yourself, Aphrodite."
Aphrodite laughed softly, the sound of her laughter flowing like silver bells. "Ah, the poor and overly rigid Goddess of Chastity. But speaking of love and anomalies... I have just found a very interesting subject."
Artemis furrowed her brows. "Subject?"
"Yes," Aphrodite's eyes flashed with interest. "That god named Venti."
Artemis recalled the figure of the young man in the green cloak. "That God of Wind? I didn't pay much attention to him. As long as he doesn't break the rules and doesn't disturb my Familia's chastity, I don't care who he is."
"Oh, you must pay attention to him, Artemis," Aphrodite got up from her sofa, walking slowly toward the balcony railing. "Most gods who descend to the Gekai emit the same stench. The stench of boredom, ambition, or a lust for filthy entertainment. But that bard god... his aura is very empty, yet radiates absolute freedom. There is no filthy lust or political burden in his eyes."
Aphrodite looked down at the city lights below, a mysterious smile etched on her beautiful face. "You saw how he humiliated Hermes at the Denatus. Hermes tried to trap him with a net of logic, but Venti just laughed casually and tore the net without the slightest burden. A god who can break Hermes's cunning... truly a very seductive man."
Artemis merely shook her head, reluctant to respond to the Goddess of Love's strange interest.
"Whatever you say, Aphrodite," said Artemis, preparing to leave. "Focus on that new interest of yours. I have to prepare for my children's journey tomorrow. With the disappearance of Dionysus and Ikelos tonight, the city's atmosphere right now must be very chaotic."
That night, Orario lost its right to sleep.
Warning bells from the Guild's headquarters chimed back and forth, breaking the silence of the night. Hundreds of adventurers and Guild staff ran out, while Ganesha Familia patrols were immediately deployed to the main streets to quell mass panic and prevent potential riots.
In one of the secret VIP rooms illuminated by magic stone light on the upper floor of the Guild, a tense midnight emergency meeting was taking place.
Loki, still in her casual clothes, Hermes with a gloomy face, and Freya, staring coldly from her chair, sat around a round table. Fels—the immortal mage clad in a black cloak—stood before them as Ouranos's representative to deliver a direct report from the field.
"The Ganesha Familia forces are currently securing Dionysus's mansion in the southern district and Ikelos's headquarters in Melen," reported Fels, his voice sounding heavy and hoarse from under his hood. "As you all have felt, their divine essence has returned to Tenkai. The Guild confirms this is a murder."
Loki bit her thumb hard. "Ikelos I can still understand. That god was eccentric, liked to play around on the outskirts of the city and didn't interact much. Maybe he messed with the wrong bastards out there. But Dionysus? That wine god? Who would have a crazy reason to kill him in his own room?!"
Freya leaned back elegantly, propping her chin up. "The murder of Dionysus has no clear political motive. He never sought enemies."
In this current era, not a single god in the room knew of Dionysus and Ikelos's involvement with the Evilus organization. Both had seemingly normal track records that did not trigger high-level suspicion from the major Familias.
Hermes pulled his feathered hat down to cover half his eyes. His index finger tapped the table quickly.
"It's not just a matter of who attacked them, Loki, Freya," said Hermes slowly. "Think back to the time pattern. The pillars of light in Orario and in Melen exploded at the exact same second tonight. This is not a random murder. This is a coordinated execution from a very long distance."
Loki clicked her tongue. "That means there is a fairly large and strong organization targeting them. Could Evilus be targeting them?"
"Or maybe there's something much bigger than that," Hermes raised his face, looking at the two goddesses before him with a very serious gaze. "Let's count. Less than two weeks ago, we received a report of a god forcibly repatriated in the Far East territory. Now, two more gods follow on the same night."
Hermes straightened his posture, his tone turning somber. "Three gods forced back to Tenkai in less than two weeks. This is not normal. This goes beyond the bounds of an ordinary Familia dispute."
Freya smiled faintly, a smile holding a mystery. "Could it be that Evilus is starting to move more aggressively to eliminate neutral gods? Or perhaps... there is a new chess player entering this city's chessboard without our knowledge?"
Hearing Freya's words, Hermes's instincts suddenly twitched. The image of Venti—the bard god who had managed to escape his interrogation—flashed in his mind. However, Hermes's logic immediately rejected it. No matter how great Alfia was, she couldn't possibly be in Orario and Melen at the same time. Venti also didn't have enough elite members to divide his forces and execute two gods at once in one night.
"Whatever the motive," Fels broke the silence with his hoarse voice. "Ouranos messages that all major Familias must immediately establish a full alert status starting tonight. Based on initial reports from Dionysus's mansion, the assassin entered and exited without triggering the slightest sound of battle. God Dionysus was executed even before his familia members realized there was an intruder."
That fact made Loki and Hermes freeze. Executing a god in his own territory without causing the slightest commotion was a threat level worth being wary of.
Amidst the boisterous panic and paranoia burning through the Guild headquarters that night, none of those gods knew the true reality.
While the whole city couldn't close their eyes and remained on high alert searching for the ghost, the mastermind behind all the chaos was sitting casually in the courtyard of the Abandoned Church. Accompanied by the silence of the night and a glass of wine, Venti let the gust of wind carry the sound of emergency bells to his ears. The God of Wind only smiled faintly, ready to weave a new page in the history of Orario.
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