"Focalors—!!" Apollo unleashed a beastly roar.
Even without the Divine Mirror, he could clearly sense that in that exact moment, several of his Falna connections had snapped.
Those were his children. His treasures. Their souls had returned to Heaven.
"You started this war, Apollo." Focalors' icy gaze swept over his twisted face, her tone devoid of even a shred of warmth.
Apollo might have been vile and disgusting, but he genuinely cherished the children in his Familia. Each and every one of them was a treasure he had painstakingly sought out.
But so what?
If he dared to target Aiden, he had to pay the price in blood. He needed to make an example out of someone, and the Apollo Familia was the perfect sacrificial lamb.
Apollo opened his mouth wide, only to find he couldn't utter a single word.
Hermes tipped his hat down, the brim casting a shadow over most of his face. Only his uncontrollably rising smirk gave away his absolute thrill at that moment.
He stared intently at the figure wrapped in flames inside the Divine Mirror, looking like a human torch.
Come on, Aiden... show me something even more interesting, he muttered under his breath, so softly that only he could hear.
As for the dead Apollo Familia members? Which War Game in the past hadn't resulted in deaths? The gods had long grown accustomed to it; only the Guild would jump up and down in a panic over it. For them, this sudden, bloody opening act only made the "game" that much more thrilling.
Just then, the scene in the Divine Mirror shifted once more.
Among the ruined debris, the surviving Apollo Familia members snapped out of their shock and terror. In their place, endless fury and hatred contorted their faces.
The Apollo Familia's counterattack had begun.
The gods watching the Divine Mirrors, along with everyone in Orario, couldn't help but widen their eyes.
The smoke and dust kicked up by the terrifying explosive shockwave hadn't even cleared yet. The Apollo Familia members—whether stationed on the walls or in the central area of the castle, including their Captain, Hyakinthos—had been scared out of their wits by the sudden, devastating strike.
After a brief moment of shock, they reacted, roaring as they charged toward the center of the explosion.
And then, they saw the hellish landscape of total devastation.
Scorched earth, collapsed buildings, and... their companions, buried under rubble, struggling in the flames, or already devoid of life.
"You bastard! How dare you—!!"
Seeing this, the survivors' eyes instantly turned bloodshot. Endless rage and hatred erupted in their hearts like a volcano, instantly washing away the dams of their rationality.
Apollo's order to "capture him alive"? Tossed completely out the window.
"Kill him!"
"Avenge our brothers!!"
Over a dozen mages stationed in the rear immediately began chanting, colorful magic circles lighting up at the tips of their staffs.
Fireballs, windstorms, lightning, ice blades, poison mist... Over ten magic bombardments dripping with killing intent formed a flawless, inescapable net of death, sweeping toward the lone figure standing in the ruins from all directions.
"My god, they're focusing fire to instantly kill him!"
"It's over, it's totally over. Even a Level 3 can't withstand that kind of saturation attack!"
Seeing this, everyone—from Eina and the others sweating bullets for Aiden in front of the Divine Mirrors, to the gamblers in the taverns who had just placed their bets—gasped in horror.
Even Apollo up in Babel Tower showed a look of panic. Aiden had indeed killed his Familia's children, but he still wanted Aiden alive.
However, facing this apocalyptic torrent of magic, Aiden, standing in the eye of the storm, didn't show a ripple of emotion on his face.
The blazing flames on his body receded like the tide as he deactivated the [Everlasting Flames] state.
Immediately after, under everyone's horrified gazes, he faced the devastating magical barrage, slowly raised his hand, and began another chant.
His voice wasn't loud, but it echoed clearly through the Divine Mirrors into the ears of every person in Orario.
"—Tranquility of the soul."
Enchantment magic [Silentium Eden] activated!
An invisible layer of magical currents instantly wrapped around his body.
The next moment, an unfathomable scene unfolded.
Every magical bombardment that entered within a one-meter radius around him—whether it was raging fireballs, piercing ice blades, or highly toxic smoke—seemed to slam into an invisible wall of sighs. Upon contact, they were silently deconstructed and nullified, ultimately turning into a sky full of brilliant magical motes that slowly faded into the air like fireflies on a summer night.
All of Orario plunged into a dead silence once again.
If the meteor strike from earlier was a physical shock, the scene before them was a conceptual subversion.
"T-This magic... doesn't it feel... a little familiar?" a deity on Babel Tower finally spoke up hesitantly, breaking the eerie silence.
"Immune to all magic... and that ridiculously short chant... Silence..." another god's voice trembled.
"Are you kidding me!? Why can he use that monster's magic!? Isn't that something that should've disappeared six years ago!?"
The gods weren't the only ones deeply shocked.
In the Twilight Manor, Riveria, who had been sitting upright, abruptly shot to her feet. Her emerald eyes were filled with disbelief as she blurted out a name that had been sealed away for years.
"...Alfia!"
At the Freya Familia Headquarters, the Combat Wilderness.
The Goddess of Beauty, Freya, who had been lounging lazily on the sofa, suddenly sharpened her gaze the moment she saw that magic.
She was far too familiar with that magic and that woman. After all, she had once been defeated by the Hera Familia—the Familia that woman belonged to, which had reigned supreme over Orario—and was ultimately bound to this city as a result.
Alfia was one of the highest-ranking executives of the Hera Familia, the very symbol of strength in that era. More importantly, she was the "Silence" Witch who had transformed into a "Necessary Evil" during the "Dark Period" six years ago, bringing endless despair to all of Orario.
Inside the Hostess of Fertility tavern.
Ryuu's eyes widened in sheer shock, and the plate in her hands hit the floor with a loud crash.
As one of the people entrusted with hope by Alfia in her final moments, and one of the extremely few who witnessed the Witch's final curtain call, how could she ever forget this magic?
This wasn't just similar magic. It was the exact magic belonging to the "Silence," Alfia, right down to the identical chant.
Who exactly is he? Why can he use this magic!?
Countless questions exploded like thunder in the minds of everyone who knew the truth.
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