At the same time, not too far away.
In a dark forest on the outskirts of the city, a group was whispering among themselves.
And in a very suspicious way at that.
And in a pitiful way.
"How did I, Apollo, end up in such a state... sniff."
The identity of this miserable group sneaking out of the city in secret at this late hour, when everyone else was asleep, was none other than Apollo Familia.
More precisely, it was the last loyal members who had chosen to follow Apollo even after the Familia was disbanded as punishment for the [War Game], along with their god Apollo.
They were leaving Orario now in accordance with the penalty for losing the [War Game], while also slipping out late at night to avoid being tracked by those who bore them grudges.
"Lord Apollo, I understand how devastating this must be, but we really must hurry. If we delay any longer here..."
"Sniff, sniff! I know, Hyacinthus. Just you wait, Hestia. Just you wait, Bell Cranel. And... that damn mage. Just you wait. I'll definitely come back here someday, all right?"
At the comfort and advice of Hyacinthus, the most trusted of his remaining children, Apollo finally put aside the sorrow, misery, and regret that had yet to fade from his heart and decided it was time to move.
Just as they were about to do so.
"Hey, Apollo."
"W-Who's there!?"
Someone called out to them from behind in a friendly voice.
There should never have been anyone ordinary in a place like this at such a late hour.
As Apollo and the others hurriedly turned around to face the mysterious figure, their hearts pounding with alarm—
"Whoa, whoa. Calm down. It's me, me."
"D-Dionysus?"
The mysterious visitor revealed himself beneath the bright moonlight, along with his escort of children.
It was none other than the god Dionysus.
He was a god from the same homeland as Apollo, so they were not entirely unfamiliar with each other.
No, if anything, they were on the level of ordinary acquaintances?
At the very least, there was clearly no grudge between them serious enough to make them want each other dead.
Relieved by that fact, Apollo welcomed the sudden visit from his fellow homeland god.
Of course, given their current circumstances, he couldn't be especially warm in his words.
Even the most naive fool would be wary in a situation like this.
"What is it? Do you perhaps have some business with me?"
"Business, I suppose you could call it business. Here, take this."
"Hm? What is this?"
A heavy pouch was suddenly handed over.
With a faint hope, Hyacinthus carefully opened it on Apollo's behalf to check inside, and sure enough.
It was filled with a large number of magic stones, all of fairly high quality.
In other words, it was a money pouch.
"T-This is...?"
"You lost all your wealth as punishment, didn't you? Think of this as a consolation gift from me. At least use it to save face a little."
Perhaps because he had lost everything he owned in a single mistake.
Apollo, whose mind and body had been worn down terribly by the shock, felt a sudden surge of emotion at this unexpected kindness from a fellow homeland god.
It was only this much money.
To the Apollo of yesterday, it would have been nothing more than trivial kindness he wouldn't have spared a glance for.
And yet, Apollo was genuinely moved by this unexpected act of kindness.
And once again, he found the strength to move forward.
After all, he was Apollo, the noble god of the sun.
Though he had fallen so miserably because of one careless mistake, that did not mean he had truly lost everything.
Yes, there was still something left to him.
His loyal child Hyacinthus was right there, and he had just unexpectedly gained the minimum capital needed to rise again.
So all he had to do was start over from here.
From one... no, from zero, once more!
He truly believed that.
"T-Thank you, Dionysus. As expected, there's nothing better than a friend from the same homeland. You've got more generosity than that little goddess with the disgustingly huge chest, Hestia. I'm really... ngh, really grateful."
"Think nothing of it."
Dionysus smiled as brightly and kindly as ever.
At that smile, enough to make even another man fall for him, Apollo was just about to squeeze out tears of genuine gratitude when—
As the children were all about to be moved by this rare display of kindness and friendship among gods—
"If it's the last journey of a man from the same homeland, then at least handing him some 'travel money' is only proper, don't you think? It'll be good for Charon, that miserly ferryman, too."
"Sniff, I really am gratef... Hm? What did you say?"
Travel... money?
Apollo's sudden question was answered in a different way.
"Aaaagh!"
At last, the preordained tragedy arrived.
No, more precisely—
"Gah!"
"W-What the hell?!"
The final act of the hidden stage had finally begun.
"W-Who are you!?"
From the depths of the darkness.
A companion's horrific scream rang out from within it.
Between those intervals, a mysterious assailant appeared, cloaking himself from head to toe in a worn black robe to conceal his identity.
The only thing on his body that was not black was one thing alone.
Only the white skull mask hiding his concealed face.
Swishclangthud
"Ghk!"
"Keh!"
The mysterious attacker revealed himself and, at the same time, casually flicked his hand toward the remnants of Apollo Familia in front of him and shot something out.
Several of them hurriedly swung their swords to deflect it, and sure enough.
It was a short dagger painted pitch-black.
A weapon clearly not made for any good purpose.
In fact, these weapons, concealed and blended into the darkness, easily took the lives of several unlucky, incompetent remnants.
One blade went straight through the center of a throat.
Another pierced one eye and into the brain behind it.
In that way, two people were killed in an instant.
"Y-You bastard!"
Thud
Having lost two precious comrades in a single ambush when they were already so few in number, the remnants could not hide their rage or confusion.
One of the larger ones took up a huge shield and boldly threw himself to the front, taking on the role of vanguard as he charged forward.
In response, the assailant's hand moved in a sly, snake-like curve, slipping around the shield to lightly touch the brave man's head.
"[Jabaniya (Fantasy Brain)]."
Boom
With an incomprehensible, unexplainable phenomenon, his entire head exploded.
Of course, he died instantly.
His courage, born of rage, had become nothing more than recklessness.
However, fortunately—
That did not end with only his own foolishness and mistake.
"[Jabaniya (Delusion Poison)]."
"K-Kaaaah...!"
Hisssssplash
Several were exposed to the purple smoke spewed from the assailant's mouth and instantly melted into a puddle of liquid.
"[Jabaniya (Dream Slurry)]."
Beeeeeeep!
"Agh, aaaaaagh...!"
Several others clutched their heads at the unknown tone flowing from his mouth, writhing in terrible agony until they could no longer move.
"[Jabaniya (Delusion Heart Sound)]."
Thud, splurt
"Ghk, cough!"
Thump
Hyacinthus, who had endured until the very end while protecting Apollo, met a lonely end as the false heart projected by the assailant shattered and he coughed up a basinful of blood.
For a Level 3 and the captain of a mid-tier Familia, a man who had earned a fair amount of renown, it was an absurdly futile death.
And so, there was only one left.
Only the god Apollo remained.
"A, ah, aaaaaah...!"
Unable to string together a single word at the massacre that unfolded before his eyes in an instant, Apollo.
With a face so terrified it was almost ugly, he desperately tried to pull away from the cruel assailant before him by backing up as far as he could.
Blocking his retreat was none other than the god Dionysus.
"W-What is this? Di-Dionysus. W-Why are you... why are you doing this to me...?"
"My, it seems you've misunderstood something terribly."
Still wearing that kind, friendly smile, Dionysus lowered himself all the way to one knee to meet Apollo at eye level.
Then he told the fellow homeland god before him the truth he did not know.
"I'm just a passerby."
"A-passerby?"
"Yes. Just a passerby. I merely came here after a friend introduced me to the idea that I'd get to see something amusing if I visited this place. I haven't led or plotted anything myself. So, in other words, I have absolutely no connection to this matter."
"Th-That's ridiculous...!"
Step
"H-Hiiik!"
The mysterious assailant approached in silence.
At that silent terror, Apollo forgot even his anger and let out a short scream before he knew it.
And then, toward him—
Thud!
"Agh! Aaaagh! You damned bastard, how dare you...!"
Without warning, the assailant suddenly stabbed a dagger into Apollo's ankle.
At that vivid agony, Apollo's rage finally burst out after being suppressed for so long.
He completely forgot the fear he had felt just moments ago and unleashed the arrogance unique to a god in a full display of fury.
At the same time, his Arcanum surged and flowed out from his body.
"If it's come to this, then it's all or nothing! At the very least, I'll avenge my children...!"
However, he did not even get that chance.
Clatter, rattle-rattle!
"W-What is that...?"
As soon as the mysterious assailant noticed Apollo trying to use his Arcanum, he pulled something strange from the darkness of his robes.
A beautiful chain made of gold.
It was clearly a magnificent work of art, something that could be called a masterpiece of the ages.
From Apollo's perspective, a god who loved art more than anyone, it was the kind of object he would want to gaze at every day.
And yet, for some reason—
"D-Don't come near me...!"
Looking at that chain, Apollo felt an ominous premonition.
He did not know exactly what it was.
But it was clearly something dangerous that he must never allow near himself!
"N-No, let go of that! Let go of it! D-Don't bring that ominous thing near me!"
Clatter-rattle-rattle!
Apollo screamed in desperation.
But the mysterious assailant gave no reply.
He simply, as if carrying out some ordinary task in daily life, mechanically used the golden chain in his hand to carefully bind Apollo's body.
And by the time that work was done—
"W-What is this... m-my strength...?"
Apollo's struggling gradually slowed and grew quiet.
As though he had downed a great deal of strong liquor and become completely drunk.
The god of the sun grew utterly powerless.
And toward him—
Thud!
"Ghk, nghhh...!"
The assailant thrust the dagger forward once more.
If the earlier strike had been part of the work to prevent Apollo's escape, then this slash was more emotional.
In other words—
Thud! Thud! Thud!
"A, aah, gah... p-please stop...!"
This was, quite literally, a slash of pure venting.
He tore and shredded the skin of Apollo's face, cut off his nose and ears and stuffed them into his mouth to force him to chew and swallow them, and carefully hacked at the flesh between his legs until it was hanging by a thread.
It was a cruel act that avoided every vital point so as not to kill him outright, while brutally stabbing and tearing only the places that seemed likely to hurt the most.
"Ahh, gorgeous...!"
Dionysus, watching the horrific scene from the side, was still smiling.
Brighter than before.
More deeply than before.
More ecstatic than at any point in his life in the lower world!
Thud!
"K-Kill me... kill me...!"
In the midst of the intense pain, Apollo could not stop wondering.
Because even if he was not completely dead, if his body had been so badly damaged, his Arcanum should have automatically activated and returned him to the heavens.
So why was he still suffering in this pain?
Why? Why? Why? Why? Why...!?
"W-Why...! Whyyy...!"
The only one who could answer that question was the assailant before him.
But instead of answering Apollo's question, he did not say a single word throughout the entire mutilation.
He simply remained silent.
And continued his work—his revenge.
"Keh...! Kehk...!"
At last, once Apollo had been worn down by the severe pain to the point where he could not even manage a proper groan, the assailant finally stopped the brutal torture.
Behind him, Dionysus applauded with heartfelt admiration.
Clap, clap, clap
"Ahh, that was quite the spectacle. For a so-called god to scream so miserably, so pathetically, begging to be spared. Honestly, it was well worth taking a night stroll for this."
[No sense of kinship toward your own countryman. Gods really are rather pathetic.]
A rather candid, yet at the same time merciless, assessment.
At that evaluation, the assailant's voice finally emerged for the first time that day.
However, what came from beyond the white skull mask in the darkness was only a strange, rough voice grotesquely altered by some sort of trick.
"That's what we are. You know that too, don't you?"
[Well, that's true enough. But... does this answer serve as the result of the interview?]
"Of course. I'll welcome you sincerely, mage... no, Assassin. With you at my side, this plan can show me an even more ecstatic orgia of frenzy."
[I, too, will stake the magecraft path I have set foot upon and lend a hand to your plan, god of madness. It should be quite amusing.]
Heh heh heh...
Heh heh heh...
Hoo...
Late in the dead of night.
In a dark forest.
There, the two evils stared at each other and let out cold laughter, with the hoot of owls as their background music.
Watching that chilling scene, the fairy Firvis unconsciously turned her head away and looked elsewhere.
But what met her eyes instead were only the remains of horrific corpses.
So she closed her eyes and prayed here alone, with all her heart.
Ah, Mother of the Forest.
Please.
May the souls of those dead have safely risen to the heavens.
That was all she could do here now.
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