"...No! How can you believe the words of a mere child of a Familia?!"
'It can't be...!'
"I am Enyo! I am the one called Enyo!"
'Please...!'
For the first time, Demeter's constant smile shattered, and tears streamed from her eyes. Seeing this, Hermes replied with a voice anchored in absolute certainty.
"'A mere child'? I didn't know you were capable of such words."
"...!!"
"To borrow a few words from Akumo..."
A being possessing cold-bloodedness and intellect enough to deceive even the Tricksters. An entity with the planning capacity to manipulate even Gods with Divine Wine, desiring nothing but chaos.
"Would such a being reveal themselves before their plan has even reached fruition?"
"..."
"To brew a liquor superior to Soma's, it would require the power of at least two Gods."
The combination of top-tier raw materials and the ability to brew top-tier alcohol.
"Abilities perfectly suited to Dionysus and Demeter."
The reason why an entity could continue to operate in the shadows even after being completely removed from the list of suspects. A presence whose identity remained unmasked even in this situation.
—'Loki, Hermes.'
The words of the Pioneer, who had spoken with a serious gaze, discarding all honorifics.
—'Shall I tell you the most perfect way to kill a person?'
"At first, I even wondered if Akumo was the traitor."
However, as he listened, the absurdity of Akumo's words began to feel like the only thing that made sense.
—'First, skillful speech.'
"Shedding sincere tears, maintaining a sterling reputation among everyone."
—'Second, a perfect alibi.'
"Looking like a victim to any observer, even having the Falna of one's own children vanish."
—'And the grand third is...'
Deceiving the Tricksters with genuine tears, deceiving even the Falna of his own children to construct a flawless alibi. Even at the cost of sacrificing himself?
"Disappearing completely."
Faking one's own death. Vanishing so utterly that one is treated as a non-existent entity.
"Did you drink the Divine Wine? If so, those tears wouldn't be visible."
Step, step—
"Were you blackmailed?"
Confronted with the conclusion reached by the Tricksters and the legendary adventurer, Demeter finally had no choice but to confess everything.
"I dug too deep into 'that God' who seemed so strange."
She had delved too far into Dionysus and discovered his true identity. She had ignored his inherent malice and met him alone.
—'Lady Demeter...'
Crunch—!
[Smile.] If she did not obey that command, he would simply kill a member of her Familia.
—'Aaaaaahhh!!!!'
—'This is a lie, right?!'
—'No!!!!!!!!!!'
—'Are they dead?! Were they murdered?!'
—'Save me!!!!'
Every time she tried to argue, every time her face showed a hint of resistance, he killed one of her children.
Crunch—!
—'Noooooo!!!!!'
—'Honey!'
—'Daddy!'
For Demeter, who knew that each of them was someone's family, someone's loved one, the sight was too horrific to bear.
Crunch—!
"I'll do anything!! I'll do anything!!!!"
Such cries were not what that man wanted.
Crunch—!
And so, she had no choice but to smile. The Goddess of Bounty, who cherished her children more than anything, could only remember the command to smile.
"Only after I proved I was sufficiently broken was I released."
"Carrying only the command to smile."
The man kept his contract perfectly. That was why Demeter could not resist further.
"As long as I stayed quiet, he killed no one. But the moment I did anything suspicious, he immediately took the lives of my children, stripping away my will to resist."
The Falna engraved on a child's back could be sensed no matter the distance.
The disappearance of Falna meant the death of a child. Painfully, she had felt every single one of them.
"A training method perfectly suited for Demeter."
That was how she was manipulated—the Goddess of Bounty, who loved her Familia more than anyone.
Step, step—
"The human sense of time... it's somethin' we Gods just can't ever seem to get used to."
The Goddess of Jesters walked alone into the hidden space.
"We tend to think there ain't much difference between ten years and ten days."
Shing—!
"'Course, that changed a bit after I met that lad."
No, she hadn't exactly entered this demonic territory alone.
"Ye feel the same, don't'cha? Mr. True Mastermind."
Loki smiled as usual, speaking to the figure as if everything had finally clicked.
"No intention of steppin' out? Then shall we see if I've got the 'answer' right?"
Clack—!
"First, hidin' yer face until the very last moment was to conceal yer true objective."
"It wasn't half-baked. It wasn't out of caution or cowardice either. Ye showed yer face boldly, just with yer inside and outside flipped."
Deceiving everyone with skillful speech, he had operated in the shadows until the final act.
"Second, that plan started six years ago, didn't it?"
"'Course, ye probably thought about smashin' the city before then, but the catalyst was the Nightmare of the 27th Floor. That's the one."
In that incident, something from the defiled Spirit had ascended to the surface.
"And the third point connected to that."
"Ye saw potential in the Corrupted Spirit and linked it to Evilus."
"In the process, ye used Revis and that masked figure to avoid movin' yerself."
However, the goals desired by Enyo, Evilus, and Revis were all vastly different.
"Revis had to find Aria, and Evilus just liked killin' folks."
"The first Man-eating Flower we met, the Monsterphilia incident... that was just a forced raid to set the stage, wasn't it?"
Loki had been bothered by the way Akumo had suddenly brought that iridescent Magic Stone and how he had abruptly involved them in the incident.
"Thanks to a certain lecherous idiot Goddess, Ganesha's lot and my own kids moved too fast."
"In that situation, ye didn't find Aria, but ye had a hunch, didn't'cha?"
A Spirit only reacts to another Spirit. Or to those with mixed blood, or those who remind them of something.
"As a result, Aria was found, but the Creature found her first."
"In the end, ye had to target Aiz in earnest, and ye dragged us in."
"That was the worst-case scenario ye envisioned."
The intervention of Finn Deimne, the city's greatest brain, and Akumo, its strongest force, was truly the worst of the worst.
"I'm right so far, ain't I?"
"..."
"Still keepin' mum? Then I'll just have to keep talkin'."
Glare—!
"What really happened to Dionysus?"
And Loki wasn't the only one telling this story.
"You appeared before us when we first entered Knossos."
"And you intentionally let us tail you, as if showing us the location of the gates... as if telling us to leave."
Grip—!!
"To be precise..."
To send only Lefiya outside.
"And finally..."
"The fact that you slaughtered someone precious right in front of me."
Her deduction was accurate. In truth, Ein had wanted to save her, and that thought was the only thing that mattered when they first invaded the labyrinth.
"..."
Yet Ein remained motionless, as if everything she said was the truth.
"Besides, even then, you could have killed me, but you didn't!"
Step—!
"You must have been stronger than anyone else there!"
"How were we able to evacuate right in front of the exit...!"
"And why the flesh walls stopped for even a moment!!"
Lefiya eventually spoke to the Ein before her through tears.
"Even if it meant breaking my heart... you were trying to separate me from Knossos."
"All along, you were..."
Drip—!
"You were protecting me."
"I suppose so."
Thud—!
"Miss Filvis!"
At Lefiya's cry, Ein finally removed her mask.
"Since when did you know?"
"...!!"
But Lefiya couldn't hide her surprise—no, it went beyond that to sheer horror.
"There were too many suspicious points to begin with."
Step, step—
"When you take actions not in the plan, the cracks just keep growin'..."
Her face held a hint of bitterness, but she wasn't shocked at being caught. It was as if she had expected this.
"Well, I guess it doesn't matter now."
Rumble—!!!!!!!
""""""!!""""""
"I simply decided to live for myself. And in that, there was a desire to save you, who cherished me."
As if no more words were needed, Filvis Challice stood composed even as the labyrinth trembled.
"The place Dionysus arrived at while chasing Enyo."
"The center of the altar awaiting its sacrifice. There stood a divine being clad in a mask and black robes..."
Finally, Loki's deduction was reaching its climax.
"Another God intoxicated by Divine Wine, 'Penia'."
She would have been standing there with a blade. The Gods who vanished after the first invasion were Demeter, Dionysus, and finally, Penia.
"The important thing here is the mechanism of Return."
"The punishment the Gods of Heaven inflict for violating the pact and usin' Arcanum."
"That's what a Return is."
A Return doesn't happen just because a God dies. When a God is mortally wounded, healing via Arcanum activates automatically. The pillar of light is what happens when the mechanism of Return merges with that.
"The Divine Wine, which shouldn't be able to intoxicate a God, wears off."
"Would the Gods of Heaven recognize that as a miracle?"
Loki finally knew Enyo's true identity.
She realized only now that because he had the most perfect alibi and the most perfect sincerity, she should have doubted him all the more.
"A God who has a survivor of the 27th Floor Nightmare as a member of his Familia."
"A God who could contact the Loki Familia and expose all their movements."
"A God who could manipulate Dionysus and Demeter, who can brew Divine Wine."
"A God who intoxicated Penia and sent her back to Heaven."
The only one who fits all those criteria is the God who vanished completely.
"Dionysus."
Finally, the end of this long farce was drawing near.
Crack—!
"Is it finally endin'~?"
It was news that someone waiting in the depths, bored to tears, would welcome.
Dash—!!!
"...It should be about time."
It was also news that the Pioneer, who was currently rescuing members and tackling the Spirits, would welcome.
"Brilliant, Loki."
"So I've been seen through~ I guess it really was impossible to keep playin' the fool in front of ye."
Dionysus had intoxicated himself with the wine he created.
So that he could forget his true nature and sincerely believe himself to be on the side of justice.
"No matter how cleverly ye try to hide it, Hermes and I can see through a lie."
Step—!
"But if it's the truth... if ye're a fool who's drunk and genuinely believes his own delusion..."
Then it could never have been seen through. However, the factors Dionysus overlooked had gathered to reveal the truth to them.
"Where did you realize that I was Enyo?"
Dionysus, unable to figure it out, asked Loki out of genuine curiosity.
"Right after ye were sent back, I really believed it was Demeter. I was the one played, more than anyone else."
"But Demeter couldn't have made that wine in the first place, could she?"
"It's a job that requires the power of at least two Gods."
That was the first reason. Dionysus, thinking that alone wouldn't have been enough for her to be certain, asked again.
"Perhaps Demeter was hiding it? Deceiving one another is what Gods do, isn't it?"
"So that remained a premise, but there was more."
The number of Gods sent back during the second invasion, and the Gods who completely vanished in that situation were four.
"You, who were thought to have been sent back."
"Thanatos, who was sent back in front of me."
"Demeter, who went into hiding."
"And... I said it before."
Penia, the Goddess of Poverty, was also inside that labyrinth.
"Ye even intoxicated Penia, turnin' her into a compliant puppet."
"And there was another reason for intoxicatin' her, wasn't there?"
If so, why did the Falna of the Dionysus Familia disappear when Penia was sent back?
"To convert all yer children into Penia's Familia."
By doing so, he could perfectly fake his own death, making everyone believe he was dead and gone, thereby removing himself from the list of suspects.
"'Course, none of them girls would've known."
He had manipulated everyone, even making his own Familia drink the Divine Wine.
The children who tasted the wine were intoxicated and toyed with by his words, never even thinkin' to look at their own Falna as they updated it under the hand of a manipulated Goddess.
"The member of yer Familia who ye said died at the very beginnin'."
"They were the ones who realized the truth when the intoxication wore thin, weren't they? That's why ye killed 'em."
At Loki's words, Dionysus broke into a wide grin.
"Impressive, Loki... You're right!! Absolutely right!!!"
That day, everything Dionysus said to Loki was the truth. At the same time, it was a lie.
"The one who killed wasn't me, but Ein. And the one who gave the command was the sober Dionysus."
There was no nemesis. Everyone had simply been deceived by the machinations of a liar who spoke only the truth.
"The nemesis was you..."
—'Let's go on an adventure for Lord Dionysus.'
Grip—!!!!
"The hearts of those children... the affection even Thanatos possessed..."
The bitterness that even the patron deity of Evilus had felt was nowhere to be found in the being before her.
"You absolute bastard."
It was infuriating beyond endurance.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
"Everything is correct, Loki."
Dionysus clapped repeatedly, genuinely impressed by her.
"This is why you were the one person I didn't want to make an enemy of."
However, one question still remained for Dionysus.
"How did you become certain that I was the true culprit?"
"Neither Demeter's disappearance nor Penia was the deciding factor in your deduction."
According to Loki's logic, since Dionysus had been sent back, there was still the possibility that Penia had intentionally intoxicated herself to avoid suspicion from Loki's group.
"Aye, ye're right. Until the very end, Enyo's identity was a mystery."
But then, a certain presence had approached her and Hermes.
"I've got a pretty smart lad among my children."
"...?"
"He said this."
Grin—!
"The most perfect way to kill a person."
That method was strikingly similar to Dionysus's own tactics.
"Deceivin' me and Hermes with perfect speech usin' even Divine Wine."
"Willin' to sacrifice even yer own children, and sendin' back a fellow God to create an alibi."
"And in the end, disappearin' completely by dyin'."
Because it made so much sense, and because those words connected suspicion into certainty, she felt conviction in his words.
"I didn't have evidence, but I did have testimony."
Loki recalled one specific testimony.
"Hestia, the Goddess of the Hearth."
"...!!"
"That shrimp said you were 'scary'."
'Not the usual "strange" that Gods use to describe each other.'
A primal fear that touched upon the fundamental nature of that God, whether intoxicated or not.
Hestia—only Hestia had sensed Dionysus's darkness, even if only subconsciously. Only the Goddess who presided over immortality and the sacred flame.
"I believed in my child and that shrimp."
Was it a record engraved in the soul? Faith in the Pioneer who spoke of a method he knew all too well, and in the Goddess of the Hearth who subconsciously read malice.
"...."
Step—
"Ah... ah~ I can understand Hestia, who's been a nuisance since our time in Heaven..."
"...But now I've been dismantled even by a child?"
A strategy created by pouring in all his abilities and even deploying an unexpected factor like the Spirits. It had been dismantled by a mere member of a Familia and a Goddess who happened to intervene.
Grit—!!
To him, those words might have been the most painful of all.