Heroes.
In that era, even the gods watching from the Tenkai acknowledged that "great achievement."
The chosen ones grew, made their leap forward, and attained evolution, just like the current familia that have achieved exaltation, they continually grew stronger, in order to fulfill their long-held wishes.
Thinking back on it now, that was truly an unbelievable "unknown and abnormality" in the Lower World.
It was the Heroic Age, the era before the Age of Gods.
...
And when she thought of the child belonging to her own familia, wasn't he also filled with "the unknown and the abnormal"?
Having witnessed Fron's adventure from zero all the way to now, Loki understood exactly how terrifying Fron's potential was.
Even as his deity, having personally engraved the falna on his back, she could not see how far he would eventually travel down that path.
Calling him "unknown" was more than fitting.
Loki even thought Fron surpassed the children of that bygone era.
This was her judgment based on environment and era: without the immense pressure for survival and racial continuation that existed during that chaotic age, yet living in the nearly peaceful Age of Gods, Fron still pushed forward step by steady step without any whip at his back, always bringing her new surprises.
That feeling… as though he had infinite strength, rising steadily, not the kind of potential wrung out by the brink of survival or the improvement born from killing, it proved that his talent was even deeper, even more unfathomable.
No one knew how strong he would ultimately become.
He might even, approach the gods!
...
Shaking off the mess of thoughts in her mind, Loki regained her composure.
"That is what a pure heroic myth is! It is the path of the children we should most revere! And that's exactly why!! There is no need for gods in the Lower World!"
Just as she returned from the majestic epic in her head, along with Fron's silhouette, Loki heard Dionysus, thrashing excitedly like he had taken drugs, dancing and raving.
As a god of the Tenkai, she knew all these things perfectly well.
But when Dionysus proclaimed that, to praise such people, he would destroy the Babel Tower, symbol of the gods' descent, and the labyrinth city Orario, she couldn't help but frown.
Just for that?
"Call me cruel, arrogant, or evil, whatever you like! Even if I must use everything at my disposal, I will open the Dungeon! I shall bring forth the realm of death that makes life shine even brighter! I will restore that beautiful age!"
Dionysus' goal was to reset this era, no, to put it nicely: to return, to revert the world to chaos.
"By my hand, I shall bring an end to the Age of Gods!!!!!"
"…"
Arrogant. Berserk. Lawless.
This was the perspective of one born as a god.
The people of the Lower World, who enjoyed the peace of the present, would never understand, nor should they be expected to.
But, this too was a form of godhood.
Because they are transcendent beings, they think for the Lower World and for the children, honoring a pure radiance, a divine love of sorts.
Rare, but still understood by some gods, for example, those evil deities of the [Evilus].
With clear eyes, almost noble, Dionysus declared so.
And then, Loki spoke with certainty.
"Are you kidding me?"
"You can dress it up all you want, but all you're after is watching the children scream and scatter, indulging in your sadistic fun!"
"The murals decorating this place say everything about your rotten personality!"
Looking around the hall, one could see ancient murals surrounding the walls.
They depicted people fleeing from monsters in terror, seas of flame, lives being devoured, destruction and slaughter, violation and chaos, a miserable banquet of death.
Scenes called hell, or the underworld.
All of it rooted in "mad uproar."
If one listened carefully, it was almost as if the cries could still be heard, the despairing screams of those running with no hope, the broken laughter that spilled beyond terror.
In a corner of the murals, a fountain of blood spread, people impaled by monstrous claws, and beside them, a group of worshippers clasped their hands together, dancing in crazed delight.
Losing their sanity, losing themselves, a hellish scroll of linked screams and howls.
It was like a violent, intoxicating ritual, held for the sake of meat and wine.
Pointing at these countless tragedies born from the people's "obsession," Loki rebuked him:
"You just want to see the children scattering, crying, gradually breaking down, you just want to witness 'A Banquet of Madness'!!"
A direct strike.
Her sharp gaze pierced straight into this already-cornered god.
Because she, too, was a god, she could perceive it clearly.
Considering Dionysus' divine nature and everything he had ever displayed before others, she cut apart his earlier claim of "thinking for the Lower World" without mercy.
"…"
Denied by Loki, Dionysus' expression suddenly calmed.
Lowering his head in eerie silence, he became a different person entirely from the impassioned zealot who had been preaching moments earlier.
But Loki wasn't surprised, she had expected this ever since realizing he used "divine wine" to place psychological suggestion on himself.
A mental illness, schizophrenia, split personality.
If you were going to play at being mentally broken, you needed the proper resolve and presentation.
And Dionysus' behavior perfectly matched Loki's standards.
"Heeheehee… heeheeheeheeheehee…"
Facing the sudden shift, Loki remained unmoved, eyes narrowed.
"What's this? Ahhh… So I've been exposed already."
With that eerie laughter, Dionysus slowly straightened up.
Once he raised his head, there was no trace of the elegant amn he had previously appeared to be.
Brushing his bangs aside, the eyes revealed beneath were twisted like a beast's, gleaming wildly.
The smile on his lips was too cruel, making his face now uglier than anything else.
Perhaps even the demons of hell would pale before him, that was the only way to describe what stood before her now.
With a trembling throat, he let out an uncanny laugh and revealed his true nature.
He laughed, trembling, and showed his real face.
"Don't be like that, Loki. At this point, I'm a little upset, you know? That someone as clueless as you saw through everything. But… but, yes, you're right. You're absolutely right! Heeheehee! I only seek one thing!"
This drastic transformation filled Loki with unprecedented disgust.
With twisted expression, Dionysus spread both arms wide and cried out toward the skies:
"Ahhhhhhh! My beloved banquet of frenzy and madness!!"
The hideously twisted face was deeply intoxicated.
Recalling the exaltation and joy he longed for, his body trembled excitedly without stopping.
"Back in the past, when so-called heroes were active! In the old days when the Lower World was ravaged by monsters!"
"No matter who it was, everyone scattered and fled from the monsters' hands, letting out screams that seemed enough to tear their eardrums!"
"Whenever I looked down at that scene from the Tenkai, my heart would always surge!"
Speaking as he went on, the god became so excited he couldn't control himself.
Mm… under Loki's strange, disgusted, repulsed gaze, his cheeks turned red, and his eyes blurred with happy tears.
"..."
The god clung to his disheveled upper garments and continued his "hymn." No, more like a chant.
"Do you know, Loki? When those fragile children let go of reason, they laugh!"
Loki lowered her eyes, expressionless.
Even as a cruel evil god of the Tenkai, she couldn't quite understand Dionysus.
You call that 'laughing'? What kind of brain circuit can say something like that? Divine compassion? How funny...
Loki only felt it was laughable, pathetic, worthless.
"Great terror transforms into a tremendous climax. In the instant when life is threatened by death under the rule of fear, mind and soul are both liberated!!!!!!"
"Ahhh, no matter how much I indulge in delicacies and fine divine wine, I know, I can never reach that best moment."
"But I never expected… that it would be achieved through the moment when flesh and organs are torn open by a monster's claws!"
"My beloved, beautiful devotees turned themselves into 'sacrifices,' offering 'tribute' to me!!"
"...."
Trash, filth, garbage, twisted, pervert, lunatic.
As the other revealed his true divine will, Loki unconsciously pressed her temple.
Wasn't this little guy supposed to be her neighbor?
And Hermes too, he knew this guy in the Tenkai, so why would someone like this appear in their circle?
Is this divine nature twisted, or… Her lips twitched uncontrollably. Loki wondered whether talking to a cruel madman like this was really a wise choice.
This guy, Dionysus, was originally a god who deviated from common sense, detached from reason.
At this moment, Loki finally understood.
From his words and actions, it was clear, he considered bursting out with resentment and madness, combined with a mysterious trance, and causing chaos in a kind world to be the greatest joy.
A solitary, incomprehensible god who had nothing to do with social order.
This guy was a monster who truly viewed the lives of the Lower World as livestock.
"The shrieking cries of the screaming children... the sweetest wine for me!!!!"
Dionysus clenched the right hand that covered half his face, producing a creaking sound, then laughed.
That laugh was far too eerie, something that didn't seem of this world.
"This Lower World, which the gods call Paradise, will also announce its end with the coming of the Age of Gods!"
His passionate emotions turned directly into dissatisfaction with the current state.
"It's all his fault, that's right. Ouranos! It's all Ouranos's fault!"
"Because that old god formed the Covenant and sealed this land, the ravaging of monsters, the original image like a true feast, was cut off! My 'supreme ecstasy' disappeared! This cannot be forgiven."
"I see… so that's why you always antagonize Ouranos. I didn't expect it to be for such a reason." Dionysus's hostility toward Ouranos was always out in the open. He had never once hidden it from Loki and the others...
Until now, Loki thought he hated Ouranos because Ouranos was hiding something, namely, the later-exposed Xenos. But it wasn't that at all. Tracing it back… it was simply because Ouranos blocked Dionysus's path.
A pure conflict of position.
"Exactly! That old plague, still praying somewhere…! Because of him, I am never satisfied! It was the same back in the Tenkai! Everything he did was in my way!"
His hair flew wildly as he cursed, the appearance of someone pouring out the resentment he'd held in his heart.
His words became more and more violent. The gentle-god smile he once showed to the children of the civilian district was now completely gone.
But at the same time, Loki understood something. This was Dionysus's true heart, his real self.
Even while drunk, Dionysus had repeatedly warned Loki and the others that he held hostility and vigilance toward Ouranos. This was undoubtedly the "darkness" within him.
Calling it "hostility" was too gentle. In truth, Dionysus harboured hatred, and nothing but killing intent for Ouranos.
"Ahh, speaking of the Tenkai, Hestia got in my way too. That ridiculous goddess. I even wanted to drag the other gods in, let them tear each other apart, to start 'chaos' even in the Tenkai…"
"...!"
"But… perhaps this was actually better. If she hadn't stopped me, I might not have discovered this new 'killing intent' stirring within me, nor created this opportunity."
He quietly looked into the distance, then suddenly changed again. This time, his eyes bulged with a new surge of rage.
"What kind of game is this, utterly ridiculous! No matter how you fight each other, you gods keep laughing until the very end, never feeling fear or despair! You gods could never bring about 'chaos'!"
The landscape seen by Dionysus had always been gray. To him, the scenes reflected in his eyes were nothing but ultimate evil.