Man-Made Dungeon Knossos, 11th Floor.
At this moment, Riezel stood within a vast cavern located on the 11th Floor, though calling it a 'cavern' was not entirely accurate. More precisely, several enormous passageways and multiple chambers had all had their walls shattered apart before merging into a single immense expanse that was no smaller than the altars where the six Demi Spirits had once been—it was even somewhat larger.
*Tap—Tap—Tap—*
Riezel advanced with firm and powerful steps, walking steadily into the area and entering the ruined expanse, and the very moment he arrived, he noticed that presence.
It was impossible not to notice it, given that the pressure it emitted was simply overwhelming—anyone who entered this place would inevitably become aware of it immediately.
In short, it was a gigantic creature that resembled a dragon.
It possessed three pairs of wings.
Its claws were twisted like withered branches, grotesque and distorted in appearance.
Its massive body rivaled that of a Demi Spirit, and thick scales covered its entire form.
Combined with the draconic head that was unmistakably similar to that of a dragon, anyone who saw it would conclude at a single glance that it was a twisted and ominous black dragon.
Like the green flesh pillars of the Demi Spirits, the black dragon was fused into the walls of the Man-Made Dungeon itself, rooted within the deepest part of this immense space. It remained completely motionless, as though it had fallen into slumber, while its entire body radiated a strange crimson glow that caused the surrounding green flesh to pulse in an unnatural rhythm.
Beneath the dragon's head, around the chest area of its entirely pitch-black body—which was traced with unsettling red lines resembling blood vessels—a beautiful woman's upper body was embedded.
It was undoubtedly a Demi Spirit.
However, unlike the previous Demi Spirits, this one was neither chanting magic nor making any movements at all. Instead, like a witch about to be sacrificed, she was fixed in a cruciform posture, as though she had been swallowed by the dragon itself, with most of her body submerged within the dragon's chest.
At this point, it was impossible to tell whether the Demi Spirit was parasitizing the monster or whether the monster itself had absorbed the Demi Spirit.
Upon witnessing this scene, Riezel could not help but utter a single name.
"Nidhogg…"
Yes, the moment he saw this dragon, he immediately thought of the black dragon that had once been slain in ancient times by the six great spirits.
*Pa—Pa—Pa—Pa—!*
A round of applause suddenly echoed throughout the cavern, accompanied by a low chuckle.
"You think this is Nidhogg, too, don't you?"
As those words rang out, the voice sounded deep and manly, yet strangely high-pitched at the same time, carrying a trace of madness hidden beneath its rational tone.
"..."
Riezel showed no surprise whatsoever at the sudden voice and instead merely shifted his gaze calmly toward its source.
A figure stood at the center of the enormous space, directly beneath the black dragon monster.
Clad in a purple-indigo robe that covered his entire body, with a black shawl draped over his shoulders and several masks hanging from that shawl, this was an existence that exuded a sense of abnormality and complete dissonance with the world itself, while simultaneously carrying an extraordinary divine presence.
"So you've finally shown yourself... City Destroyer Enyo..."
Riezel spoke flatly, his gaze fixed firmly ahead without the slightest trace of surprise.
At those words, Enyo let out another low chuckle.
"Liberator Riezel Brynhart, I've long heard of your name."
Spreading both arms as though presenting himself—or perhaps presenting the massive being behind him—his voice gradually grew more animated.
"Well? Isn't this Nidhogg quite beautiful?"
At those words, Riezel did not react in the slightest.
"So, this is the final trump card you've prepared for this war?"
Evidently, this black dragon was the seventh Demi Spirit.
Even though this Demi Spirit had not participated in the chant of the Gate of Heaven, she faintly carried an aura even more dangerous and ominous than any Demi Spirit encountered so far.
From that alone, it was obvious that this Demi Spirit was the enemy's true trump card.
Of course, that was not the main point.
What mattered was that since the enemy had already revealed their trump card, this place was undoubtedly the final battlefield.
Hence, Riezel did not follow along with the topic at all—rather, he simply had no interest in doing so. He merely narrowed his eyes and directed an overwhelming, murderous aura toward the one responsible for everything.
Faced with that unmistakable killing intent, Enyo stiffened slightly.
"Dio Thyrsos!"
Only when a somewhat cold voice rang out did Riezel's murderous aura finally disperse.
*BOOM!*
Violent black lightning descended from above, striking the spot where Riezel had been standing and blasting the ground apart. Amid the erupting sand and debris, his figure lightly leapt into the air, completely unharmed—not even his expression had changed in the slightest.
In contrast, the enemy spoke with irritation for the first time.
"To show such disrespect toward my lord..."
Ein appeared once more, this time standing directly before Enyo.
Positioned before her god as protection, she gazed at Riezel through her mask with a colder stare than ever before.
Unfortunately, to Riezel, such anger was cheaper than anything else.
"Don't look at me like that. Something even more disrespectful is still coming afterward."
Riezel spoke calmly as he met Ein's gaze.
"You don't seriously think that at this point, we'd still have any respect for you people, do you?"
"Don't be ridiculous."
"Use your damn brain—the fact that I've come here only means one thing: either you kill me here, or that god you're protecting behind you will be sent back to Heaven today and completely disappear."
Tilting his head slightly, Riezel looked at Ein with chilling indifference.
"You included—you'll die here as well, so don't bother saying such laughable things, okay?"
Hearing that, Ein's breathing faltered for a moment, and then an astonishing, murderous aura burst forth from her.
Clearly, Riezel had touched her reverse scale.
As for Enyo, he instead calmed down.
"How direct..." Enyo said in a tone that sounded quietly amused. "I originally thought that before making a move, you'd have quite a few questions for me. For example, who I really am. Or why I've done all of this. Isn't that how these things usually start?"
It should be noted that the name Enyo did not exist in Heaven—there was no god in Heaven called Enyo, nor any god known as the city destroyer.
For that reason, it was obvious that Enyo was merely an epithet, meaning his true identity had yet to be revealed.
In fact, this was also something that the Loki Familia and the Guild had always sought to uncover. Just as he had said—who he really was, and what purpose lay behind everything he had done—whether it was the Loki Familia, the Guild, or anyone aware of these events, everyone wanted to know.
Only Riezel had no interest in any of it whatsoever.
"Whatever kinda god you are, what does that have to do with me?"
"As long as you're a god, there's no way people like us down in the Lower World could ever understand how you think."
"In this world, there are Gods of War like Kali, ruling over blood, war, and slaughter, treating killing like it's some basic law of survival while naturally pushing people to tear each other apart."
"There are also goddesses like Ishtar, who see beauty as everything and would break any taboo for it."
"So, if gods like you suddenly started a massacre because of whatever domain or beliefs you follow, turning the Lower World into a living hell, that honestly wouldn't be anything unusual at all."
Riezel spoke with a completely expressionless face.
"I've got no interest in what kinda god you are, nor do I give a damn why you've done all this. It's probably just some incomprehensible reason born from a warped worldview anyway, isn't it?"
Riezel's words first caused Enyo to fall silent, only for him to suddenly burst into laughter—not the low chuckle from before, but loud, unrestrained laughter that grew increasingly excessive.
"It seems you understand very well just how unreasonable beings like gods are, Liberator."
As though being praised, Enyo spread his arms wide and spoke with obvious delight.
"That's right. To you, the reasons why a god like me would do all this must seem utterly incomprehensible, wouldn't they?"
"But that's simply how gods are. We treat our own thoughts as absolute standards. After all, endless time has already worn away everything else, leaving behind only the personality and desires that even eternity cannot erase."
"Kali wants to witness slaughter."
"Ishtar wants to become more beautiful and more noticed than anyone else."
"Even Thanatos uses the work of a God of Death to paralyze himself, believing that the more people die in the Lower World, the more souls he has to process."
Clearly, to them, the things they did for those purposes were entirely natural, yet to the mortals of the Lower World, they were more terrifying than anything else.
Needless to say, this was the difference in common sense, values, modes of existence, and perspective. Mortals could never truly understand gods, because they were an entirely different species—existences fundamentally unlike themselves.
"You'd even send your own ally back to Heaven for your own sake, wouldn't you?" Riezel said without the slightest change in expression. "I mean, the one who returned Thanatos to Heaven here last time—that was you, right?"
"Yes, it was me."
Enyo admitted it without hesitation.
"At that point, the remnants of Evilus had already lost their usefulness. In that case, why should their god remain in the Lower World?"
"It was better to make use of him one last time. Sending him back to Heaven allowed the immense power released during his return to activate the magic circle, turning the entire tenth floor into the grand magic circle for the spirit ceremony."
"And don't think that's particularly excessive—after all, back in Heaven, your goddess did far worse things than I ever have."
Indeed, before descending to the Lower World, Loki had been a notoriously evil goddess in Heaven.
To relieve her boredom, she would laugh while manipulating various gods into slaughtering one another, and even the infamous Ragnarok had arisen because of her. If she had not mellowed after descending and found new forms of entertainment, then with her previous temperament, she would undoubtedly have continued acting as an evil goddess, turning the Lower World upside down purely for her own amusement.
From that perspective, Enyo was the same type of existence Loki once had been.
"You're doing all this just to entertain yourself, aren't you?"
Riezel stated it plainly.
"Hahaha..."
Enyo did not deny it in the slightest, merely laughing as he spoke.
"I just love watching people lose their minds."
"You should be able to understand, right? Even in the Lower World, there are people like that."
"Some people like seeing others smile. When they see others smiling, they end up smiling too, and they feel happiness from the bottom of their hearts."
"Some people like seeing others happy. When a story reaches a perfect happy ending, most people feel satisfied."
"And me? I just happen to enjoy watching people go insane."
Enyo's voice gradually became more heated.
"When people are driven into despair, when their minds and spirits spiral out of control beneath the pressure of the outside world, do they cry? Or do they laugh?"
"Yes, that's what I want to see—the reactions of the children of the Lower World when they finally break."
"It's like wine—sweet and rich, with a flavor that lingers endlessly."
Clearly, that was the reason why the god before him called itself the 'city destroyer.'
He sought to destroy Orario and return the Lower World to the ancient ages.
He wanted to witness monsters ravaging mortals, to hear countless lives crying out in misery and despair.
He was a god beyond reason, one who reveled in grief and madness, seeking to provoke the twisted behavior that surfaced when people lost themselves, bringing chaos to this otherwise peaceful world.
He was an existence disconnected from order and unrelated to peace—both solitary and insane.
A God of Madness—that was precisely what he was.
"Let me introduce myself, at least."
Enyo declared loudly, his voice echoing heavily throughout the surroundings.
"My true name is Dionysus—the God of Wine, and also the God of Madness!"
"As Dionysus, the wine I brew can intoxicate gods and plunge the mortal world into drunken delirium!"
"To me, the Lower World is nothing more than a vat for brewing wine—the flavor of that wine called madness is the ultimate intoxication that only I can savor!"
For that very purpose, he had meticulously plotted to destroy Orario, cooperating with the Corrupted Spirit to carry out everything.
After making that declaration, Dionysus turned his gaze toward Riezel, his expression instantly becoming violent and twisted.
"For this day, I originally intended to approach the Loki Familia, help 'Her' find Aria, and eliminate a threat along the way."
"Unfortunately, your appearance disrupted my plans."
"In just over half a year, you've already become someone capable of standing before me like this—someone capable of stopping me."
"Riezel Brynhart…"
"You truly deserve to die."
Recalling everything Riezel had interfered with up until now, Dionysus grew increasingly enraged.
"You will die here!"
"Mortal!"
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