The moment Arthur disappeared from Avalon, the ring he had personally crafted for Selene guided his spatial senses across the fabric of the world like a beacon. The energy emitted by the artifact became a coordinate engraved directly into his consciousness, allowing him to ignore mountains, oceans, and even the world's natural spatial barriers. In less than a heartbeat, his figure crossed thousands of kilometers before arriving at the destination indicated by the ring.
…
A few minutes ago, far away upon a quiet hill overlooking an endless sea of forests, four figures descended from the sky before an elegant manor built from white marble. The residence possessed none of the grandeur expected of an emperor's palace, yet an indescribable tranquility surrounded it.
Colorful flowers bloomed throughout the carefully maintained gardens while ancient trees gently swayed beneath the afternoon breeze. A narrow cobblestone path wound through vibrant flowerbeds toward a modest two-story mansion. The peaceful atmosphere seemed completely incompatible with the tense expressions worn by the four remaining gods.
Judas slowly surveyed the surroundings, his divine senses sweeping over every corner of the estate before his brows gradually furrowed. "...Are you certain Augustus is here?" he finally asked without taking his eyes off the manor. His tone remained calm, but everyone present could hear the caution hidden beneath it.
Ever since Ignis had been annihilated by the barrier protecting Avalon, none of them dared underestimate anything connected to Augustus. More importantly, the situation inside the manor before them felt... wrong. Apart from a single aura that was in the Transcended Realm, there was no one. Everything appeared almost disappointingly ordinary and this made them even more vigilant.
Standing beside him, Lunette slowly closed her eyes as silver divine energy gathered around her irises. Countless invisible karmic threads spread outward before converging upon the manor with absolute certainty. Several moments later she reopened her eyes and nodded firmly despite the confusion on her face.
"My authority has never guided me incorrectly," she answered quietly. "Every karmic thread connected to Augustus leads here. Even... even I don't understand why, but he is inside."
Judas remained silent for several long seconds before shifting his attention toward the estate once more. If Lunette's authority was correct, then the man they sought had somehow concealed himself beyond even divine perception. That realization alone made him increasingly uneasy.
After witnessing Arthur's barrier erase Ignis without resistance, Judas no longer believed mortals incapable of threatening gods. "Search for traps," he ordered. "Don't overlook anything, no matter how insignificant it seems." Lunette nodded immediately before extending both hands. Soft waves of silver light rippled across the surrounding land as her authority carefully examined every grain of sand, every tree root, every blade of grass, and every fluctuation of energy hidden throughout the estate.
Minutes quietly passed while the remaining gods waited in tense silence. Selene, still imprisoned within the transparent divine barrier floating behind them, remained unconscious, her hair gently drifting within the suspended prison.
Finally Lunette lowered her hands, visibly puzzled. "...Nothing." Judas frowned. "Nothing?" She slowly shook her head. "There are no formations or hidden barriers. I... I can't find a single trap."
Judas' instincts screamed that something was terribly wrong, but after several moments of consideration he finally nodded. "Stay alert," he said gravely. "Even if we can't detect danger, assume it exists. Nobody lowers their guard." Receiving unanimous nods from the others, Judas slowly stepped forward and pushed open the decorative gate.
The hinges produced only the faintest creak as the gate swung inward, revealing an immaculate stone pathway leading toward the manor's entrance. Fragrant flowers lined both sides of the path while birds continued singing among the nearby trees, seemingly oblivious to the arrival of four divine beings.
The serenity only heightened everyone's vigilance. Their footsteps remained measured as they advanced deeper into the estate. Then, before they had covered even half the distance, Judas suddenly halted. Two figures sat comfortably beside a small stone table beneath a flowering tree in the center of the garden.
One was an elegant woman with long hair, quietly sipping tea while occasionally smiling at the man sitting across from her. The other appeared to be an ordinary man dressed in simple clothes, his posture relaxed as though he were entertaining a lover rather than awaiting the arrival of hostile gods.
His face turned directly toward them long before they had made the slightest sound. Slowly placing his teacup onto the table, the man smiled warmly. "Welcome," he said, his voice carrying neither fear nor hostility. "I've been waiting for you." Hidden beneath that calm smile, however, his eyes briefly shifted toward the unconscious Selene floating behind the gods.
For only the briefest instant, an icy flash passed through his gaze before disappearing completely. Anyone less observant would have missed it entirely. Steve rose leisurely from his chair while the woman beside him, Eveline did the same, gracefully smoothing the folds of her dress before quietly standing at his side.
Neither displayed the slightest intention of attacking. They simply watched the approaching gods as though greeting expected guests. That calmness unsettled Judas far more than open hostility would have. Deep inside, an unfamiliar emotion quietly surfaced, fear. The realization enraged him. He was a god, how could he possibly fear a mere mortal? The thought filled him with shame, and that shame quickly transformed into irritation.
Just as he prepared to demand Augustus surrender himself, his divine senses suddenly perceived something that made his word die inside his throat. His pupils contracted violently. "...Y-You..." His voice cracked involuntarily. "...You've ascended."
Judas was confused as he was unable to sense Steve in the manor previously, and now he was able to sense his divinity. Either Steve deliberately chose to expose his divinity or seeing his granddaughter captured he lost his composure for a second thus leaking his aura.
Silence instantly enveloped the garden. The remaining gods instinctively focused their divine senses upon Steve once more. Now that Judas had spoken aloud what he sensed, they finally recognized the truth.
Hidden beneath Steve's perfectly restrained aura rested unmistakable divinity. It wasn't borrowed power, it was genuine godhood. The realization struck each of them like a bolt of lightning. Eveline merely smiled faintly at their expressions while Steve gave an almost apologetic shrug. "Yes," he admitted calmly. "It happened not too long ago."
Before anyone could react, another impossible event unfolded. The transparent divine prison floating behind the gods suddenly teleported before Steve, it started trembling without warning. Hairline fractures rapidly spread across its flawless surface before the entire construct exploded into countless fragments of golden light.
And before Selene's unconscious body could fall Steve stepped forward and caught her gently, lifting her into a princess carry. Eveline immediately approached, her warm smile fading the instant she noticed the dried blood hidden beneath Selene's hair. Carefully brushing several loose strands away from her forehead, she discovered the faint traces left behind by Judas' earlier attack.
Her expression darkened noticeably. "...They really hurt her," she murmured, unable to completely suppress the anger entering her voice. Steve remained silent while eying the gods, he carried Selene and gently laid her upon the sofa. Eveline covered her with a soft blanket before lightly patting her head, her gaze lingering upon the unconscious young woman with obvious affection.
Only after making certain Selene was comfortable did Steve face the four increasingly tense gods standing. His smile had disappeared entirely. "Now then," he said quietly, folding his hands behind his back. "Shall we continue this conversation?"
Judas stared at Steve in complete disbelief, the confidence that had sustained him since descending from the Divine Realm slowly crumbling beneath the weight of one impossible revelation after another. What truly unsettled him was how effortlessly Steve had shattered the divine prison restraining Selene.
That single display convinced Judas that the man before him was far stronger than someone who had only recently ascended. The silence lingering over the manor became suffocating as neither side moved.
Judas unconsciously tightened his fists. Despite possessing the advantage in numbers, an inexplicable uneasiness continued gnawing at his instincts and that was the reason he hadn't attacked him yet.
Refusing to allow fear to dictate his actions, he stepped forward, forcing authority back into his voice. "Regardless of your ascension, our purpose remains unchanged. We have orders from our Pantheon to bring you back, come with us peacefully."
"Oh... and what if I disagree?"
The words were neither loud nor threatening, yet the instant they reached everyone's ears, the entire atmosphere froze. Steve's smile widened almost imperceptibly and was going to joke about him not being able to take proper care of Selene and he had to step in but after seeing the cold fury in his eyes he stopped.
The four gods, however, reacted as though plunged into an endless abyss. Every hair on their bodies stood upright. Their divine senses, which had remained expanded every second since entering the estate, had detected absolutely nothing. Yet someone now stood directly behind them.
Their necks stiffened as they slowly turned around. Arthur stood only several meters away, dressed in the same clothes he had worn upon returning to Avalon, droplets of seawater still clinging to the dark fabric. His black hair remained slightly damp, and his expression was completely devoid of emotion.
Yet it was precisely that absence of expression and the oppressive aura he was emitting that filled the gods with overwhelming terror. Lunette's breathing instantly became ragged. The moment her eyes met Arthur's, countless karmic threads exploded into view through her authority.
Every thread connected to the mysterious existence she had been searching for... all converged upon the man standing before them. Her face instantly turned deathly pale. Trembling violently, she instinctively took several steps backward before stammering, "H-He... he's the one...! He's the creator of the barrier..." Her voice cracked halfway through the sentence.
Judas felt his heart leap at his chest. Every remaining hope that they might still complete their mission vanished. The creator of that barrier... had arrived before they could leave with Augustus.
Arthur never acknowledged the frightened gods. He walked forward with slow, measured steps, passing directly between them as though they were no more significant than statues lining the garden path. None of the four dared move to stop him. Their instincts screamed that even the slightest aggressive motion would invite instant death.
Arthur approached the sofa where Selene rested peacefully beneath the blanket Eveline had placed over her. For several long seconds, he simply stood there looking at her sleeping face. Then he quietly knelt beside her. With movements so gentle they contrasted painfully against rage in his heart, he reached forward and brushed several loose strands of hair away from her forehead before carefully tucking them behind her ear.
His fingertips paused when they reached the faint stain of dried blood hidden near her temple. Although the injury itself had already healed, the trace remained. Arthur's hand froze there, his eyes slowly closed for the briefest moment. The grief buried beneath his frozen exterior reignited instantly, merging with the memories of Lisa, Finn, Leon, Eva, Natalya, Sophia, and Kai lying lifeless upon Avalon's shore only minutes earlier.
When he finally stood again and turned toward the gods, the temperature throughout the garden seemed to drop several degrees. "So..." Arthur said quietly, his voice almost conversational. "...you thought it was a good idea to harm her."
No one answered immediately, Judas felt cold sweat trickling down his back. Countless explanations raced through his mind, each one discarded before reaching his lips. How could he explain something that even sounded absurd to himself? They had believed Arthur remained somewhere beyond this world and would not arrive so quickly.
Swallowing hard, Judas forced himself to bow respectfully despite every instinct screaming for him to flee. "Lord... there has been a misunderstanding," he said carefully. "Our Pantheon only instructed us to retrieve Augustus. We had no intention of provoking someone of your stature." Arthur remained silent, his gaze alone made Judas' words sound increasingly hollow.
"The injury..." Judas continued hurriedly, "...was never intended to be permanent. We merely needed leverage. Had we known…" He stopped abruptly, even speaking those words felt meaningless beneath Arthur's emotionless stare.
Arthur slowly clenched one hand. Instantly the surrounding space distorted, the four gods cried out simultaneously as an overwhelming invisible force seized every part of their bodies. Bones groaned beneath unbearable pressure while their divine barriers collapsed as though they had never existed. Their feet lifted from the ground one after another until all four hung helplessly several meters above the floor. J
Judas desperately struggled against the unseen grip, only to discover he couldn't move even a single finger. Terror unlike anything he had ever experienced overwhelmed him. "Y… You don't have to do this!" he shouted, his voice trembling uncontrollably. "If you interfere... you'll make enemies of the Major Gods! They'll never forgive this!"
Arthur didn't even glance at him. The pressure increased further and audible cracks echoed throughout the room as the gods collectively grunted in agony. Their divine physiques, once believed indestructible before mortals, now bent helplessly beneath Arthur's telekinetic hold.
Steve watched the scene unfold quietly before finally speaking from the side. "Don't kill them just yet." Arthur's eyes shifted toward him. Steve folded his arms and smiled faintly, though no warmth remained behind it. "If you kill them now, they'll simply resurrect in the Divine Realm. Minor Gods keep their divine cores there. As long as those remain intact, death here is only temporary."
Arthur gave a single nod, accepting the information without surprise. The four suspended gods, however, reacted as though struck by lightning. Every trace of composure vanished from Judas' face. His pupils shrank violently. "H…How...?" he croaked, genuine panic replacing every previous emotion. "How do you know that?"
It was one of the Divine Realm's greatest secrets, knowledge never shared with mortals under any circumstance. Countless lives had been erased simply for learning fragments of that truth. Yet Steve looked almost amused by the question. A small smile curved the corner of his lips as he met Judas' horrified gaze. "A dead man," he replied calmly, "has no need for that kind of information."
Judas' breathing became increasingly frantic. For the first time since obtaining godhood, he genuinely feared what awaited him. Arthur slowly turned and began walking toward the manor's entrance. The four imprisoned gods were dragged through the air behind him like helpless prisoners, unable to resist the invisible force binding them.
Steve exchanged a brief glance with Eveline before following quietly, his smile having long since disappeared. The peaceful hill overlooking the forests remained as tranquil as ever, yet for the four gods being pulled away from the manor, it felt as though they had just crossed the threshold into a place where even death would become a luxury forever beyond their reach.
***
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