"Gotta say, you’re rather pitiful, Thanatos."
Riezel spoke bluntly, shaking his head with a pitying expression.
"Out of your whole faction, you’re the only one, a god of Evilus, just running around in the open, while the other two haven’t even shown their faces."
"The real body of the Corrupted Spirit is still unknown, hiding on some floor of the Dungeon, and all that has appeared outside are her avatars and lackeys."
"Enyo has also never appeared in person—only their spokesperson has."
"Only you have been personally handling everything, doing all the dirty work yourself."
"Don’t you think you kinda look like a tool they’re using?"
When such brazen words came out of Riezel’s mouth, Thanatos very much wanted to laugh out loud, yet he realized that no matter what he did, he could not make a sound.
Even though he did not really want to admit it, once he thought it through carefully, he indeed seemed to be the one with the fewest secrets at present.
Enyo, needless to say, from beginning to end had never appeared, with an identity shrouded in mystery and even a mysterious gender. He had never even heard Enyo’s voice and had absolutely no idea what kind of existence Enyo actually was.
Meanwhile, the Corrupted Spirit had a fairly strong presence, yet the ones truly acting on her behalf were the so-called Creatures. At most, she merely provided her avatars and those colorful monsters for them to use. As for her true body, its whereabouts were still unknown.
Once he compared them this way, Thanatos suddenly realized that he himself—who had always hidden underground, rarely left Knossos, and believed himself to be extremely covert—had in fact been the one who showed his face the most, had the fewest secrets, and bore the greatest burden and cost among the three of them.
He had provided them all with Knossos as their base, personally stepped forward to negotiate cooperation with the Ishtar Familia or the Kali Familia, and even in every battle had to sacrifice large numbers of his believers to carry out suicidal self-detonation attacks against the enemy.
Needless to say, whether it was money, effort, or manpower, everything had come from him.
And what about Enyo and the Corrupted Spirit?
The latter had merely split off parts of herself, allowed the Creatures under her command to cultivate them, and then brought them here to hand them over to him for arrangement.
However, the former was even worse.
From beginning to end, they had only ever sent out a single servant to do the work, and the most they did was issue various instructions and handle communications. Aside from that, they had done nothing at all.
’No... had Enyo really done nothing?’
Thanatos suddenly came to a realization.
Had Enyo truly done nothing, or had they clearly done everything and simply never told him?
At this moment, Thanatos’s divine intuition finally came into play, causing a sudden chill to run down his spine.
Originally, Thanatos had intended to hold Riezel back, or even outright disrupt him—probing him, testing him, and preventing him from taking further actions that might influence the situation within Knossos.
Yet now, the one being disrupted and probed had instead become himself.
As Thanatos fell into silence because of this, the two goddesses standing beside him spoke up.
"Liberator Riezel Brynhart."
Kali was the one who spoke first, showing no concern whatsoever for Thanatos’s predicament as she looked at Riezel as though appraising some kind of treasure.
"Are you truly Level 6?"
"Argana and Bache on my side are both Level 6 as well, so why is there such a vast difference in power between them and you?"
"This makes me very curious about you."
Kali displayed exactly the same curiosity and keen interest as her words suggested.
However, the one who answered her was not Riezel, but Ishtar at her side.
"It seems your perspective is quite limited, Kali."
Ishtar remarked leisurely as she drew on her pipe.
"The Lower World is far broader than you imagine. Do not use the understanding you nurtured in Telskyura to judge this world, or you will lose one of the greatest pleasures of being a god."
"The Lower World is always like this. From time to time, individuals appear who shatter the understanding of mortals and even various gods."
"These people are what we would call heroes."
As she spoke, Ishtar’s gaze toward Riezel was no longer that of someone looking at a treasure, but rather that of someone eyeing her prey—her possession. As she stared at him, the more she looked, the more satisfied she became.
In terms of strength, Riezel had already proven that he would absolutely not be weaker than anyone in the Lower World, even if his opponent were Ottar.
In terms of potential, Riezel was universally acknowledged as a limit-breaking existence, to the point that various gods called him a monster, making it easy to imagine how dazzling his future would be.
In fact, she had to admit that even his appearance and temperament were first-rate.
’If I could take this child into my inner chambers...’
Ishtar’s heart suddenly burned with heat as she had only just realized that, compared to a hero like the young man before her, all the males she had taken in before were utterly insignificant.
If she had to choose someone to share her bed, then why not choose someone like this?
If that vixen had King, then she herself needed Liberator.
Otherwise, even if she defeated that vixen’s familia, in the eyes of others, she would still fall short of her, would she not?
Ishtar immediately smiled as she thought of this, but it was not her usual smile, but a smile that was bewitching and demonic. When it appeared, everything around her seemed to fade into dullness—no matter how strong their presence, none could compare to this smile.
Seeing Ishtar reveal such a smile, Thanatos was dumbfounded—even the interest on Kali’s face vanished, replaced by silence. Even Riezel, upon seeing the smile revealed by Ishtar, became absent-minded for a brief moment.
Evidently, this was the charm of a Goddess of Beauty as it began to pour out indiscriminately toward everything within this space, even crushing the aesthetic sense of all living beings in an almost violent manner.
Anyone tempted by such demonic charm—whether male or female, no matter how peculiar or twisted their original preferences might have been—would at this very moment be drawn to the Goddess of Beauty before them, with no room left in their heart for anything else.
Such was the charm of the Goddesses of Beauty, capable of ignoring everything, warping everyone’s mind, and making them obsess over her.
After releasing such seduction, Ishtar extended a slender, soft hand toward Riezel’s direction.
"Come, Riezel Brynhart."
Ishtar’s voice also became bewitching and sweet.
"Come to my side and become mine."
"I will give you the most exquisite affection."
"I will let you enjoy the most beautiful goddess in this world."
"I will make you a hero, admired by all and worshipped by all."
"Anything that goddess can give to King, I will give you twice over, making you someone stronger, more famous, and greater than him."
As she spoke these words of temptation—enough to shake the heart of any person in the Lower World—Ishtar slowly walked toward Riezel.
"You should possess everything, including me."
"Someone like you can only realize your greatest value by my side, not by being toyed with at Loki’s whim."
"The Loki Familia is not where you belong. My side is where you should truly stand."
"Come... become a hero who belongs only to me, who possesses me, and is possessed by me."
Perhaps because she had imagined such a future, Ishtar’s tone shifted from sweetly alluring to something scorching and fervent.
She had already formulated a plan.
After snatching Riezel away and indulging herself to her heart’s content, she would take him straight to Freya and flaunt him before her.
Knowing that Freya, aside from her charm, also possessed eyes that could see into the souls of others, she must have already seen Riezel’s uniqueness and realized that he was a new hero who could surpass Ottar and stand at the very pinnacle of Orario.
If such a hero were to fall into her hands, then even that carefree goddess, that vixen who looked down on everything, would surely feel vexed, wouldn’t she?
If she openly proposed a contest and had Riezel crush Ottar head-on, that vixen’s expression would certainly be quite interesting. Once the contest ended and Ottar had fallen at Riezel’s hands, she would launch a thunderous offensive and wipe out that vixen’s familia in one decisive strike.
With Riezel, who could easily defeat Gugalanna, along with Haruhime’s level-boosting magic and the assistance of the Kali Familia, she did not believe the Freya Familia could survive.
As her thoughts reached this delightful point, Ishtar felt a surge of heat rise in her lower abdomen, causing her to open her arms, unable to resist the urge to embrace Riezel.
Whether for mortals or even for gods, the embrace of a Goddess of Beauty, the favor of a Goddess of Beauty, was undoubtedly an extremely wonderful thing.
Gods were generally born with transcendent appearances. Aside from a few who deliberately chose to be worshipped in the forms of elders or children, the rest, male or female, all possessed looks that could be called peerless.
And among such gods, the Goddesses of Beauty stood out even more, as even various gods would be drawn to their appearance. If they chose to bestow their affection upon someone, it would surely make countless mortals or gods feel envy or even jealousy.
If this was not considered wonderful, then what was?
At least, that was how Ishtar felt.
Only Thanatos and Kali noticed that Riezel, who appeared absent-minded on the surface, actually had eyes that were exceptionally clear and calm.
Just then...
"Mass Hold Species."
Along with a faint chanting, a surge of magical energy descended upon Ishtar like invisible chains, abruptly binding her in place and locking her firmly where she stood.
"!!!"
Ishtar instantly stiffened, her body frozen and unable to move at all.
"You?!"
Only then did Ishtar see Riezel’s calm, almost cold face, and an expression of disbelief surfaced on her bewitching features.
Under such circumstances, Riezel cast a rather contemptuous glance at Ishtar.
"I’m sorry, but I don’t need the affection of a tasteless goddess, nor do I think you can make me a hero."
Riezel extended a hand toward Ishtar.
"If I were taken in by a tasteless goddess like you into an equally tasteless familia, I’d rather just die."
"And you say the Loki Familia isn’t where I belong?"
"In my eyes, your familia isn’t even qualified to carry shoes for my familia."
After saying this, Riezel ignored the drastic change in Ishtar’s expression and activated his magic with calm indifference.
"Sandman’s Sand."
In an instant, an intense drowsiness flooded Ishtar’s mind.
*Thud—*
In the next second, the Goddess of Beauty, whom everyone coveted, collapsed limply onto the ground like a fish stranded on shore—her posture was utterly ungraceful.
===
[A bonus Chapter for every 300 Power Stones.]
[Support me and read next Chapters early at: /VALRRR]