Chapter 212: The God of Wine's Plan, the Goddess of Beauty's Sacrifice!
Night enveloped Orario, and inside the Loki Familia's office, the atmosphere was as heavy as lead.
Everyone's gaze was fixed on the freshly pieced-together map of the Daedalus Labyrinth on the table, the sense of urgency almost palpable.
On the map, six red-inked circles, connected by lines, formed a huge hollow pointing towards the city center.
Arthur stated with a serious expression, "This corroborates the murals we saw on the fourth floor. We can confirm that the altar is located on the tenth floor of the artificial labyrinth, its purpose unknown."
Finn rubbed his temples, "If these six rings represent maidens, and the black dragon in the center of the mural represents Orario… this is definitely not a good omen."
Arthur nodded in agreement, his peripheral vision catching Loki, who was looking utterly bewildered, and he didn't hold back his sarcasm.
"You're a god who's lived for billions of years. Don't you feel any familiarity when you see ancient murals like this?"
Loki seemed to choke on her own saliva, raising her hand to retort indignantly.
"What do you take me for? Huh? Some old geezer who peeks at the Lower World all day?"
"Only a ghost would know what kind of nonsense these incomplete murals are!"
"And!"
Loki slammed an empty wine bottle onto the table with a 'bang', her eyes filled with resentment.
"Didn't you say we were being led in circles by Dionysus all along? Just because of this bottle of wine in Pania's hand?"
Arthur's eyebrow twitched slightly, "You still haven't realized? This is a divine wine that far surpasses Soma's brewing skills."
"Divine wine?"
Loki and Finn exchanged glances, the former even bringing the empty bottle to her nose, sniffing hard like a puppy, trying to discern the lingering scent.
Arthur couldn't help but smile at the sight.
Though not his intention, having experienced several worlds, the top-tier fine wines he had tasted already far exceeded Loki's knowledge.
Soma's intoxicating wine, Gilgamesh's luxurious wine, Semiramis's venomous wine, and even Dionysus's divine authority.
Therefore, he could tell that the quality of this wine was enough to make even gods lose themselves in pleasure.
"I never trusted Dionysus, so I've always been trying to figure out his methods of obfuscation."
Arthur took two steps forward, taking the wine bottle from Loki's hand, his meaning clear.
"When people get drunk, they say nonsense that they themselves deeply believe. The same principle applies to gods."
Loki, hearing the hidden meaning, felt as if lightning had struck her brain, her face instantly turning so dark it could drip water.
"You mean…"
Arthur nodded slightly, cruelly completing the inference that was so hard for a god to believe.
"As long as he himself is completely drunk, then every word he says is the 'truth' he believes in his heart."
"No one, no god, can question a drunkard's 'true feelings'."
When a god completely succumbed, after stripping away the main personality of "evil," he would naturally firmly believe everything he said.
He said he was a companion of justice.
Through that exquisite disguise, standing closest to justice, he secretly rejoiced.
He said he wanted to join forces with Loki and Hermes to conquer evil.
Watching the two gods scratch their heads and act foolishly over this, he was immensely pleased.
At this moment, frustration burned like a fierce fire in Loki's heart. Finn, however, reacted first, asking urgently,
"Why didn't you counter immediately? There should have been enough time when returning from the artificial labyrinth."
Arthur remembered Filvis, who had used divine power in the labyrinth, and shrugged.
"There wasn't enough time."
"I originally thought Filvis was a messenger planted by a new faction, but the battle in the artificial labyrinth convinced me that she was Dionysus's person."
Loki, barely recovering from her defeat, looked suspiciously at the child who was now on the same level as her.
"Are you sure she used divine authority? Not some peculiar magic or skill?"
Arthur nodded calmly, "That was a defiled monster, nurtured by divine blood and twisted by multiple modifications. Even if it was only a half-finished product, it had already surpassed the realm of adventurers."
Finn frowned, glanced at Loki's face, which was etched with disgust and humiliation, and reminded her in a deep voice.
"I will immediately compile the information and notify the Guild. The gods' side is up to you."
Loki nodded wordlessly, then turned and strode away.
She was going to immediately share this utterly humiliating defeat with her "good ally" Hermes.
Finn sighed, then bent over his desk again, trying to find a glimmer of hope for Orario from the chaotic map.
…
The flickering lantern cut through the darkness, illuminating the path for Thanatos and Ishtar as they walked.
The masked man unhurriedly cleared away the obstructing boulders, leading the two gods to the open corridor on the fourth floor of the artificial labyrinth.
Due to the previous disturbance, the murals between the stone pillars were covered in cracks, and the details of humans wailing under the claws of monsters were now blurred.
This broken scene filled Thanatos, who was enamored with death, with regret.
He gazed distantly at the figure in the center of the corridor, his low, sinister laugh echoing.
"Because of the Loki Familia's wanton destruction, you, the [City Destroyer], finally couldn't sit still, could you?"
Enio turned around, revealing a deep purple cloak that reached the ground, adorned with several masks of varying expressions.
That eerie charm seemed to declare the complex and multifaceted nature inherent in gods.
"Follow me, what you asked for is ready."
The masked man raised his hand and pulled a torch on the wall, and a secret passage quietly opened. Enio stepped into it first.
Thanatos and Ishtar, each with their own ulterior motives, exchanged glances.
Although they couldn't fathom the other's true intentions, out of divine arrogance, they still followed closely, disappearing into the depths of the passage.
Phosphorescent light reflected their twisted figures. In silence, they quickly arrived at the true altar.
"La—ah!!!"
Beautiful yet twisted singing echoed throughout. Even though their bodies had fallen into degradation and filth, the Xians' voices still wove together a melodious tune.
Thanatos stroked his hair, his divine eyesight allowing him to notice the altar's abnormality, and he sneered mockingly.
"Oh my, isn't this a half-finished product that hasn't even completed its nurturing? What do you plan to do with something like this?"
Ishtar, on the other hand, looked impatient. With a guilty conscience, she only wanted to get away as quickly as possible, scolding him directly.
"Stop talking nonsense, quickly give me the Heavenly Bull! After that, whatever you do has nothing to do with me!"
Enio suddenly lowered his head, his entire body trembling violently from extreme excitement, and a suppressed, low, hoarse roar, like sandpaper rubbing against bone, came from beneath his mask.
"The plan… the fun… the suffering of humans… nothing is left! At least the frenzy (Orchia) I most looked forward to…"
The huge sense of loss from suddenly losing the qualification of a chess player caused the long-scheming god to almost lose control.
Before Thanatos and Ishtar could react, searing pain pierced through their divine bodies!
Two hands, stained crimson, had pierced through their chests from behind, tightly embracing the bodies of the god and goddess!
"Cough! Ho?"
Thanatos squeezed out a broken groan, feeling his divine power surge towards his back like a floodgate opening, and instead let out a frantic laugh like a broken music box.
"Ha… haha! A god who thought he understood everything, yet was used in the most inexplicable way… This truly is the most pathetic way to die…"
"Enio! You scoundrel! I'll wait for you in the Underworld…"
His final curse abruptly ceased, and the rage burning in Thanatos's eyes was completely extinguished.
Immediately after, Filvis dragged Ishtar to the center of the altar like a dead dog.
Amidst the goddess's desperate screams, her divine body was trampled into mud and fed to the hungry Xians!
They made ugly "gurgling" sounds, drawing new vitality from the mother body, and the entire altar swelled and pulsed with it!
Finally, a giant altar of evil, nurtured by the flesh, blood, and divine power of gods, was completely formed!
Defiled energy shot up into the sky, piercing through the layers of rock walls of the artificial labyrinth, pointing directly at the hero city of Orario!