Akumo moved his feet and soon arrived before Babel.
"You're here?"
"You were the one who asked for the favor... isn't it a bit rude to keep us waiting?"
The entrance to the Dungeon stood tall as always.
In front of the monolith that was Babel, two girls stood waiting for him.
"Sorry, Shakti. Sorry, Ardee."
After offering his apologies to Ardee and Shakti, Akumo began to ascend Babel under their guidance.
Step, step—!
They led the way up the stairs.
"You both look quite exhausted."
Akumo spoke as he noticed the faint dark circles under their eyes.
"Of course we are!!"
"This incident was just so massive..."
Shakti and Ardee began to vent about the fatigue accumulated over the past few days as if they had been waiting for him to ask.
"Not only did we have to participate in the battle, but we've been managing the restoration of Daedalus Street."
"Dealing with the injured, controlling the citizens, and even enforcing a gag order...!"
"I-I see. You've really been through a lot."
Instead of resting after the battle, they had been swept up in the aftermath, forced to investigate the truth of that day. Their fatigue was bound to be deeper than anyone else's.
Hearing their circumstances, Akumo felt a pang of guilt for the request he had made.
"I'm sorry for bothering you when you're so tired..."
"There's no need to apologize."
"Who else would listen to a request like this if not us?"
Shakti and Ardee accepted his apology with nonchalant smiles.
They knew that he had suffered just as much—no, far more than they had.
Step, step—!
As they continued their ascent, the conversation naturally shifted toward the truth behind the incident.
"By the way... I never imagined Dionysus would be the culprit..."
Shakti had been profoundly shocked when she first heard that Dionysus, who appeared to be a benevolent god, was actually Enyo.
"I simply cannot understand how someone could treat life with such disregard."
Her eyes flashed with a cold light, her anger toward Dionysus boiling over to match her initial shock.
"It's a relief the incident ended safely. If we had failed..."
Ardee's face hardened as she imagined the sheer amount of blood that would have been spilled had Dionysus's plan succeeded.
Step—
They were furious at Dionysus for trying to bring back the Dark Age, a reminder of the god Erebus who had instigated the Great Feud seven years ago.
"I understand. I feel the same way."
However, Akumo held one thought that differed from theirs.
'At least Lord Erebus understood.'
He understood the results born from the countless contradictions and variables of the 'truth' he sought.
Akumo smiled at the thought.
It wasn't a smile of justice, nor was it particularly filled with rage.
"Ah... truly..."
But one thing was certain.
'It's just absurd.'
It was a mocking smile directed at the 'madness' Dionysus preached.
'To think that madness is found only in killing and being killed.'
How could such a claim be accepted?
'Madness must be, by definition, insane.'
"No matter what form it takes."
Yet he focused solely on slaughter and blood, stuffing it full of his own greed to witness the ugly side of human nature.
"That won't do."
That was the specific point of Dionysus's madness and chaos that the man known as Akumo rejected.
It was a foolishness his very soul refused to acknowledge.
Step, step—
Before long, they reached their destination.
"You have to go alone from here. You know that, right?"
"Of course, Shakti. Thanks for the guide."
"I'll be waiting downstairs!"
"Got it. I'll be down soon, Ardee."
This was a floor accessible to only a tiny fraction of existence in Orario.
The God's Garden, located at the absolute peak of Babel.
Creak—
As the door opened, warm sunlight and a gentle breeze greeted Akumo.
"Whoa..."
"Incredible..."
More surprising than the atmosphere was the scenery of the garden itself.
The flowers symbolizing the gods were in full bloom, shimmering like jewels under the warm sun.
Despite being at such a high altitude, the breeze wrapped around everything in the garden, filtering the heat so that only the pure warmth of the sun remained.
""....""
Shakti and Ardee stood dazed at the entrance, losing themselves in the sight for a brief moment.
"Ahaha, it certainly is... a magnificent view."
Smiling at them, Akumo figured this much was a fair reward for their hard work. He walked slowly into the heart of the garden.
"I'm here—"
He greeted the gods who were waiting for him.
The center of the garden.
There stood Hestia, Hermes, Hephaestus, Demeter, Loki, Freya, Ganesha, and Astraea.
"...."
They surrounded Dionysus, who was bound in their midst.
"No need for long speeches. Shall we begin?"
Just as Akumo was about to start the ritual he had prepared—
"Wait a minute!!!!"
Hestia's shout rang out, stopping him in his tracks.
"Lady Hestia? What is it?"
"Are you really asking because you don't know?! Akumo-kun!!!!"
Perhaps finding his genuine confusion frustrating, Hestia began pouring out words, demanding an explanation for why she was even here.
"I don't want to be involved in anything complicated anymore!!"
"Ah~"
"Don't 'Ah' me! You really are a piece of work...!!"
'I don't even know why he gathered all these other gods either...!!'
As Hestia said, gathering the gods had been Akumo's idea. His only stated reason was the repatriation of Dionysus.
"I'm of the same mind, aye."
"There was no need to call the runt and the others, was there?"
Loki expressed her dissatisfaction as well, but Freya immediately answered her.
"The reason and the necessity... you already know them, don't you?"
Akumo's intention in showing his Divine Artifacts before everyone, and his intention in not hiding his Skill information—this was no different.
"Akumo's power is no longer at a level that can be confined to a single Familia."
Freya explained Akumo's intent, agreeing that everyone needed to witness the extent of that power together.
"...."
As she said, Akumo wanted to ensure his power wasn't misused, and at the same time...
"No."
'If it were just that, I would've killed 'em long ago.'
The Goddess of Trickery realized what her child was truly intending.
"This is a 'Declaration.'"
"It's a ritual to show ye lot exactly what kind of existence this brat is, ain't it?"
He was showing his fangs, yet offering them a courtesy.
But there was another meaning behind it.
"Don't get shredded actin' a fool."
As Loki's chilling declaration landed, the gods, including Hestia and Freya, finally reacted.
"Loki...! That's going too far!"
"How spine-tingling."
"Even if that's the intent, there is no doubt that there is consideration within it."
"Isn't that a bit of an over-interpretation?"
Akumo immediately spoke up to restrain the gods' reactions.
"Everyone, please stop. We still have a guest, don't we?"
He then turned his head to look at Dionysus, who was kneeling on the ground.
Step, step—
"How do you feel?"
The first words of the ritual he had prepared flowed out.
Dionysus's mind was filled with nothing but questions.
The face of the man before him held no justice, no sense of good or evil, not even madness.
He had asked out of pure curiosity.
"You... what exactly are you...?"
Regardless of what convictions one held in battle, now they were simply the winner and the loser.
"What exactly was the problem...?"
This man truly thought that way.
That realization amplified Dionysus's confusion.
'I lived every moment with longing and obsession...'
'For a madness that would last forever...!'
So why did I lose to a mere creature of the lower world destined for mortality?
Why did I fail so miserably?
"I deceived myself, I felt the tragedy, I abandoned everyone for the sake of madness."
"I'm not curious about the reason for my defeat..."
'What I want to know is...'
He wanted to know what he had lacked, and the identity of this suffocating, unknown sensation.
"There was no problem."
That single sentence.
"....What?"
That was the only answer Akumo gave him.
"To be honest, your madness was pure, in its own way."
Only then could Dionysus look him straight in the eye.
"But... if that's the case, what makes madness so special?"
Regardless of good or evil, whether the opponent was light or dark, he simply devoured and swallowed everything that blocked him, turning it into nourishment.
The true image of a Pioneer.
"You know it wouldn't be fun even if the madness continued, don't you?"
'Dust would just settle, and it would become boring again.'
Dionysus understood those words and came to a realization.
Crash—!
Pure madness.
It was no different from the blind peace he so loathed.
As if something binding his entire body had shattered, Dionysus understood everything.
"What I wanted was...."
Distorted loyalty from an elf who wanted love.
An abyssal end for the outcasts who wished for their own adventure.
Was the reason for letting them enjoy madness truly pure?
"Power is merely a means."
He had exerted himself fully for the sake of what he wanted.
There was no way the conclusion he reached would simply be the result of everyone dying.
"In the fact that I used power for my purpose..."
'Because I wanted to save everyone, because I wanted to become strong, because I wanted to laugh.'
"There is no difference or denial between me and you."
The reason Akumo was angry, the reason he loathed him, was only one thing.
"Even if you call it madness, it's just your greed, isn't it?"
His own truth, which he had sworn while looking at the sky.
Akumo's unique truth.
"Whatever you do with the power you have, whatever reason or name you give it, that is your freedom."
Looking straight into Dionysus's eyes, Akumo spoke calmly.
"But the same goes for us, who received that power."
"Absolute evil? Madness? Anything is fine. No matter what you name it."
"Because that is the freedom of everyone in this world."
That was why the concept of 'strength' held meaning.
"Don't you forget it."
Whether a god, a human, or even a monster.
There is no difference in using power for the purpose of one's own greed.
It's just a matter of who is stronger, and whose will is more powerful.
"That is what's important."
"This time, I was stronger, and you were weaker."
Dionysus's darkness had been deep enough to deceive even himself.
—'The deeper the darkness, the stronger the light becomes.'
Because such darkness existed, the heroes who would willingly shine for justice and for themselves—the Loki Familia, Bell Cranel—became even brighter.
'I did not know that.'
"One must know they are a clown to realize they aren't the only one standing on the stage."
'I didn't know that obvious fact.'
The Pioneer smiled.
A refreshing smile without anger or hatred.
A smile of joy in victory.
"That's it...! That's the one...!"
"It's the basic rule any being acting on greed should know."
At his smile, the tricksters of the heavens smiled with delight and satisfaction.
"That is your true heart...♡"
Freya rejoiced at the brilliant light of Akumo's soul—not the 'Pioneer' within, but the soul of Akumo himself that enveloped it.
That light was by no means inferior to any other story.
"A-Akumo-kun...."
Hestia was slightly startled by Akumo's true feelings, which she was seeing and hearing for the first time.
It was a conviction that wouldn't seem out of place if someone were to call him a madman.
"Don't worry, Hestia."
"Hephaestus!?"
However, that was exactly why they trusted him.
"I'll guarantee it!"
"Because there is surely justice within that as well."
"Even Ganesha and Astraea...!"
Seeing this, the Goddess of the Hearth decided to trust him as well.
Just as she trusted Bell, she decided to trust the sincerity he had shown.
Clang—!
And finally, that sincerity was channeled into Akumo's hand.
To take the life of the god before him.
A single sword-dance shimmering in red and black manifested.