Erebus, true to his name, the embodiment of darkness, a god worthy of being called the underworld itself. His presence was suffocating. His power, no less than that of the greatest gods in Orario, pressed down on mortals like an ocean's weight. Fear spread like wildfire. And yet Erebus did not pause.
His voice carried on, merciless. "The adventurers were brutally ravaged! Not by beasts or fate, but by the hand of a far greater 'power'!"
The warrior to his right sneered, gazing down on the city with disdain.
"Many gods have already returned to heaven! Their cries have transformed into little more than harsh noises!"
The witch at his left remained silent, eyes closed, but the aura of deathly stillness she radiated was enough to freeze blood.
"Since you wish to drive out chaos with justice, then we shall destroy order with evil."
The irony was sharp, cutting, impossible to ignore. And so, to the trembling Orario, the evil god offered his words, lifting one arm and pointing forward, lips curling into a mocking smile.
"A fragile thing called justice."
Every syllable was soaked with contempt.
Kaguya, Lyra, Shakti, Alise, Neze, and countless others, adventurers and captains, felt their anger boil, their faces twisting as Erebus spat on their very ideals.
Even the gods themselves, Astraea, Hermes, Loki, Freya, Ganesha, Hephaestus, stood silent, their gazes sharp as blades as they stared at the evil god with unmasked hostility.
"Destroy Orario! We are absolute evil!"
The thunderous declaration shook the sky itself.
Order was mocked. Chaos triumphed. Morale plummeted like a stone into the abyss.
"Eh? No way, they're all just getting depressed like that? Already?!" Akira's face contorted in disbelief. He flung his arms in frustration, as if scolding children.
Even though standing before them were two Level 7s, beings so powerful that not even all the adventurers combined (excluding Akira himself) could hope to win, it wasn't a reason to look this hopeless.
Then again… he scratched his cheek. To be fair, it really was despair-inducing. The enemy wasn't just overwhelming in strength, they had both mechanics and stats maxed out. Facing them was like staring up at an unscalable wall.
"Well, if it were me in their shoes, I'd probably surrender too."
But then Akira puffed up his chest, slapping it proudly.
"Still! Don't you all have me here?"
Of course, not that anyone else knew. With a mischievous grin, he added inwardly, 'Except for a few people, no one even knows about their so-called Dark Night Hero.'
Chuckling to himself, Akira suddenly paused, tilting his head.
"Wait. Am I possessed?!" He patted his head with both hands, groaning. "What's with this split personality act?! Am I putting on my own one-man show here?!"
He sighed heavily. "Yeah, definitely my fault for having too many perspectives at once."
But he couldn't afford to get carried away. Not now. Morale needed lifting. Desperately.
And then, he felt it.
Akira lowered his head, his sharp gaze seeming to pierce through layers of stone and earth, down into the deep abyss of the Dungeon. Behind the cries of Erebus's fanatics, something tugged at his instincts. Something… familiar.
That same feeling he had felt when the black wyvern appeared after Thanatos unleashed his divinity. That same pressure when the Juggernaut rose.
Dimension Walker's perception flared wide open. Akira's sight crossed distances, piercing the dungeon's depths, and then he saw it.
A dragon. A terrifying dragon species, born at the same time as the gods' return. And yet, this wasn't part of Alfia's original plan.
This meant that Erebus and his allies were not fully trusted by the other evil gods. The faction was splintered, fragmented.
Suppressing the urge to rush into the dungeon alone, Akira raised both hands to the night sky. And with the most unholy of grins, he fired.
Two blue explosions lit up the heavens. Fireworks burst, scattering sparks across the city. The glowing trails twisted and formed into unmistakable shapes: enormous middle fingers.
At the fingertips, fiery characters blazed.
[Evil God, Retreat!]
[Idiot Evilus!]
The night exploded.
"Oh my god, who made this?!"
"Pfft—hahaha! What kind of lunatic is this?! I need to buy some of those fireworks!"
"Ganesha!!!"
"Whoever it is, well done."
The gods roared with laughter, slamming tables and clapping hands. From the Tower of Babel to the Pantheon, their voices echoed.
In the streets of Orario, adventurers blinked in confusion at first. They didn't even understand the gestures. But seeing the gods howling with joy, they felt the mood shift. Whatever those signs meant, it was clearly a huge insult to Erebus.
And suddenly, everyone joined in. The sound of laughter and cheers rolled across the city like a crashing wave.
Morale, which had sunk to its lowest, erupted back into flames. Adventurers roared their defiance, their fighting spirit reignited.
"…Akira."
Astraea stood in the street, her face caught between exasperation and affection. Of course she knew who it was. She always knew. And though it was ridiculous, though it was vulgar, her lips curled into a soft smile.
"Child, you really do surprise me every single time…"
Beside her, Alise's fiery spirit returned. She thrust her finger at the glowing sky and shouted eagerly, "Astraea-sama! What does that gesture mean?!"
"I'm curious too." Neze added, eyes sparkling with curiosity.
Astraea's long hair swayed with the evening wind as she gazed at the fireworks. Her voice was gentle, calm, almost maternal. "Well… it is a gesture used to resist evil people. But it's not something you should casually use on others."
Her words were soft, but her smile was brighter than any flame. Vulgar though it may be, it was his way.
And the one setting off those fireworks, wasn't he the dearest person in her heart?
With that silent thought, Astraea allowed herself to indulge in his nonsense, just this once.
Just by glancing at the doting expression upon the goddess of justice's face, Hermes instantly pierced through the mystery. With a chuckle hidden beneath his sly demeanor, he saw through the mastermind behind that ridiculous yet uplifting firework stunt.
"No wonder you named him Morning Star, Astraea, the brightest light before dawn, the one who tears through the haze in the darkest hour."
Hermes reached up and casually adjusted the brim of his tilted hat. The frown that had creased his brow during Erebus's oppressive declaration loosened, and the corner of his lips curved upward into a teasing smile.
"Although it's a bit vulgar, I have to admit… he really does guide everyone when it matters most."
That was right. At the moment when the evil god's threat had pressed over the city like a suffocating shroud, that boy had answered not with divine power nor overwhelming might, but with two brazen fireworks. Simple, ridiculous, and yet, through that provocation, he had pointed the adventurers in the direction they needed most.
A goal clear as day: to expel the evil god.
With only his own will, he shattered the despair brought about by the "Return of the Gods." And he did it with just two mocking gestures written in fire across the night sky.
On the rooftop of the great temple, Erebus stood unmoving, his declaration concluded, his hands clasped behind his back. His long coat rippled in the cool night wind, his presence still as heavy as a mountain.
"Wow… what an amazing pattern. Does Orario truly have people who can craft fireworks like this?"
His voice carried a note of admiration, though faintly sardonic. As his crimson eyes lifted to the fading trails of light in the sky, he watched the city's adventurers recover their spirits, their morale surging anew.
"Oh my, does this mean my grand entrance ceremony has failed?"
Beside him, Zald stood with a deceptively calm expression. Yet the corners of his lips betrayed him, curving upward despite his efforts to hide it. Even his eyes gleamed with suppressed amusement.
"That's right… it seems you've been upstaged."
His words dripped with mockery. No matter how he tried to mask it, his gloating was obvious.
(End of Chapter)
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