Twelve years.
That was how long it took Dionysus to lay his plans out.
From the initial planning up to the execution, he never made a fatal mistake.
Dionysus successfully created the Jewel Fetus back when he explored Gekai. All it needed were nutrients from the dungeon's pantries and a suitable vessel. It would be able to grow after absorbing enough nutrients in the pantries.
Once it grows up, it would be left alone until it becomes strong enough. If it encounters a perilous situation, it would 'protect' its Jewel Fetus while feigning death. The Evilus who visits the dungeon would then bring it back to the pantry and allow its 'reincarnation' to happen. This will continue until the Demi-spirit grows to an acceptable level.
It is a plan with the slightest rate of exposure. Dionysus made an agreement with the Demi-spirits' side to not act pompous until the promised time arrives.
Everything was supposed to go smoothly, or so he thought.
'How?! HOW?!'
As the one who orchestrated it, Dionysus kept his panic inwardly.
'What?! When did he—?!'
He couldn't understand it. From what Valletta said, Evilus' intersection with Sirius was during the twenty-seventh floor nightmare. How could it reach Dionysus with all his plans?
'I never left any traces—!'
Dionysus is going crazier than ever.
'HOW?! EVERYTHING WON'T END LIKE THIS!'
His frantic thoughts receded like a tide.
'Yes! There's still her!'
He thought of that woman. Her lifespan is exceedingly short even as a Creature, but she is powerful. She came from the chaotic age of the Great Feud. Her body is very strong to the point it was maintained despite falling from the surface to the forty-fourth floor straight.
The said woman is responsible for serving as the proper medium between Dionysus and the Demi-spirits. The role she played in his plans is huge, to say the least.
If not for the woman not cooperating in full with him, she could be Enyo's ultimate weapon. That, and the fact she wouldn't live long due to her situation.
"I don't understand! What are you saying?! Enyo?"
"You're a nutcase. Stop with your delusions."
Bam-!
He was sent flying once more by Nobu's kick. He fell to the floor powerlessly. Dionysus met gazes with Nobu on an equal level.
"Eek..!"
Frost started appearing in the corner of the hidden room.
For a moment, Dionysus saw the visage of a terrifying dragon. The pressure Nobu emitted is too heavy for a god whose arcanum is sealed. Breathing became laborious to him. His eyelids became extremely heavy—it won't be a surprise for him to fall unconscious at this moment.
"You might have misunderstood something." Nobu spoke. "The play's over. There's no need to maintain your role."
"..."
Many thoughts flew into Dionysus' mind. After being cornered to the extreme, his coping mechanism couldn't handle it anymore.
Dionysus started laughing. His stifled laughter from before continued. He was aware that it was over from the moment Nobu showed himself. His colorful delusions were nothing but fake.
"How did you get me, you bastard?"
Tap.
His figurative mask fell off. Nobu is seeing the Dionysus he knows.
"What did you think that I would reveal it? I would prefer seeing you suffer in frustration without your curiosity itched."
"You..!"
"You should see yourself in the mirror." He ridiculed. "Oh, that reminds me. That bull Demi-spirit was tough. I never expected something like that."
"A bull..?"
A memory clicked within Dionysus' mind.
"Ah, that one? Hah! She placed some tricks on that one! Too bad it didn't kill you..!"
He moved exactly as Nobu willed.
'She? A woman? Another Creature?'
He scrolled through his memories. He closed his eyes for a few seconds before finding nothing. He couldn't recall something about the Demi-spirits mentioning about a woman except for Levis.
'Wait…'
Nobu vaguely caught a memory. He thought they were referring to Levis at that time.
"She's like that!"
"Yeah! She's terrifying!"
It was a single phrase—a comment during Levis' outburst against Aiz. Nobu overlooked it as a mere reaction. Only when he sought for it specifically did he notice it.
"Woman?"
"Heh. Everything would happen as long as she's there."
'As expected… an unknown creature…' Nobu mulled over. 'She's not present in the future. There's a huge chance she disappeared… or she died.'
Dionysus continued spitting threats one after another. He wanted to disrupt Nobu's composure as his petty revenge.
"If you survived that nightmare, there's still more coming to you..!"
"You don't know everything! That woman said it all!"
Unfortunately, he did not expect for someone to intervene.
Bam-!
A palm covered his face. The back of his head was slammed to the solid wall, leaving marks of blood on it. Soon, a cloaked person appeared in his sight.
The hood hid more than half of that person's face. However, Dionysus happened to be familiar with her.
"Filvis?!"
"You bastard."
She is none other than his former familia member. Her previous elegance could no longer be seen. The pair of glasses worn by her further contrasted that.
"After all this time..!"
Filvis and Ein overheard Dionysus' words about the twenty-seventh-floor nightmare—he implied how he was involved in making it happen.
"Everyone trusted you! Yet! You killed them all!"
Her voice became filled with anger the more she continued.
"Everyone died because of you!"
That incident changed her life. She saw her trusted comrades die in front of her eyes. The entire Dionysus Familia dedicated themselves to their god—Dionysus. Never would they have thought that he could kill them off like trash.
That thought fueled Ein's anger towards her former god.
Ein gripped the neck of Dionysus. She began choking him due to sheer anger. The god's face started turning purple as a result.
"Ein."
Someone held her shoulder.
"He shouldn't die yet."
Hearing Nobu's words, Ein loosened her grip. Dionysus began catching air desperately.
"You should've heard enough." Nobu took out the orb in his pocket. "The criminal openly admitted to his crimes."
"Thanks for this one, Detective Nobu~!"
"It's enough, Sirius."
Two gods who had been listening from the beginning spoke their verdicts.
"To think Enyo was Dionysus… That's surprising and unsurprising at the same time."
"You… Hermes?!"
"Yo. It's been a long time."
Dionysus imagined Hermes tipping his hat off to him.
"There's finally a reason for your calmness." The latter said. "You haven't changed at all."
"Ho~? You know him or somethin'?"
"We're from the same pantheon. Back in Tenkai, Dionysus doesn't sit still. He often fought with the others. If Hestia hadn't given him the position of a Main God…"
Dionysus innately sought chaos. He will be viewed as someone psychotic in the mortal world, but he was the same as the other gods in Tenkai. In light of not having anything to do, he got bored.
Once, he started a fight due to the one of the twelve Main God positions. If not for Hestia voluntarily giving it up, he would have stirred up more trouble.
"Hear that? I'll hand you over to them. After that… it's certain you won't go back here. Ever."
Nobu showed a different look while he declared it.
Inwardly, he plans to completely kill Dionysus in Tenkai once he gains more power. Suimei directly fought against Alshuna, the strongest god of another world. She is someone with vast powers, yet Suimei matched her.
Nobu didn't see her fall as he died while Suimei fought her. That was the reason why he couldn't help much on Earth's side back when it was facing a crisis.
Nevertheless, it showed the possibility of killing a god.
'I'll come find you.' He swore to himself.
"He can't die, right?"
"Yeah."
"Got it."
Bam-!
Ein gave a right hook straight to Dionysus' face. The force was enough to knock him unconscious.
Thud-!
As his body fell to the ground, all that remained were unresolved resentment. In this matter, everything came to an end.
*****
Fifty-ninth floor.
It is an unexplored area for the current Orario. Only the joint Zeus and Hera Familia had reached this floor before.
Upon going deeper, the floors tend to become larger in scale. The fifty-first floor is roughly the size of several Orarios combined.
It is extremely difficult to pinpoint one person within this vast land which is why—
"Fallen?"
—someone had used it as her hiding spot.
"Three Demi-spirits… That one unexpectedly broke out."
The robed woman felt the tremors of the dungeon an hour ago. Coupled with her connection to the Demi-spirits as a creature, she confirmed several facts about what happened.
"A boy… Sirius."
The brightest star on Gekai.
The adventurer who acquired it as an epithet symbolized something grander in her eyes.
"Would he be able to—?"
Her charming appearance was illuminated by an igneous rock. Her silver hair reflected the light. Her heterochromatic eyes were exposed.
Astraea would have recognized her. She partook in the Great Feud four years ago in an attempt to induce an artificial crisis in Orario. She wanted the adventurers to become stronger at the cost of thousands of lives—including hers.
Upon seeing the One-eyed Black Dragon's overwhelming strength, she deemed it necessary—more so when it ushered in a surge of strength due to that crack while they are fighting it.
Alfia wanted Gekai to win against that terrifying opponent. The last embers of hope lay into this generation.
"He could lead this era…"
Nobu defeated the special-grade cursed spirit as a level three. It is an impossible feat to accomplish. Nobody could've done that as a level three—not her, Zald, Maxim, Empress, or nobody else.
For that reason, Alfia didn't fully help Enyo in his plans. The latter sought the destruction of the heroes—something she wouldn't want to see. It is enough for Enyo to become a formidable foe that will induce growth.
Dionysus never knew he was nothing but a chunk of experience.
"I shall see."
*****
"I knew this would happen…"
I kept Dionysus to the basement while waiting for the Loki and Ganesha Familia to arrive. To make the matter more credible, Loki-sama and Lord Ganesha came with their familia.
It took a while to enter the familia home. When Dionysus Familia saw Dionysus was the suspect, they never believed it. Their strong belief in him prompted them to defend him.
Unsurprisingly, it ended without suspense. Finn-san led the Loki Familia side while Varma-san led the Ganesha Familia.
"What are you planning to do?! Why are you framing Dionysus-sama like that?!"
Their remaining vice captain, Aura Challis, angrily yelled over the Ganesha Familia members who restrained her.
Varma-san, their captain, remained silent. When she saw the pieces of evidence brought out from the winery, she nodded to her familia members.
She was the only familia captain who never spoke fifteen minutes ago. She along with Loki, Hermes, and Ganesha Familia's Top Executives listened to Dionysus' confessions in the communication orb.
Coupled with Evilus' cursed dagger hidden in his possession and his Enyo outfit, it is enough to convict him.
"Sigh…"
I turned off [Composite]'s stealth and came forward. I took out a diagonal-shaped diamond pin from my coat. I tapped on it several times before finding the right duration.
Bam.
It made a light sound as it fell to the floor. No one paid attention to it except for Finn-san and Varma-san who saw it.
Buzz-!
A high-pitched sound came out of nowhere. It caused everyone to slightly wince, in turn taking their attention.
Before they could react, a familiar voice came out of it.
"Yes! If you died during that time..! That diversion would've killed you!"
"Diversion? The twenty-seventh floor nightmare?"
Dionysus' frantic voice continued.
"That's right! It was our grand plan that would've succeeded without you! That was supposed to be our biggest plan! Heh. You'll still die nevertheless. It will kill you all!"
"..."
It was met with silence.
That was when Dionysus' craziness reached its peak. He loosened up and divulged many things—all to make me feel uneasy.
Snap-!
Bzzt-!
I snapped my finger which signalled the record to proceed to another 'checkpoint'.
"Ah? My familia? They're collaterals. They died for my cause. They would be happy of it—!" His arrogant voice resounded.
It was cut off after that.
Another wave of silence ensued in the familia home. The Dionysus Familia members were frozen due to what they had heard just now.
I could guess their thoughts as of the moment.
I finished my job here. After sending a glance to the two captains, I left the familia home. Filvis and Ein waited for me in a dark alley two streets away. Their mood is definitely not the best right now.
I overheard their prior argument.
"I should've punched him more..!"
"...Stop it. Lord Diony—"
"What do you mean stop it?! Didn't you see it? That bastard planned everything! He killed our comrades..! He played with our trust! Can't you admit it?! That bastard is a scum!"
Ein's anger is not easily extinguishable, more so after hearing the reveal tonight.
"..."
Filvis seemingly wanted to say something but she did not continue.
"If Nobu didn't save us back then..!"
"..!"
'Sigh…'
This is for the best. Ein knew that one possibility—her being Dionysus' pawn. It was something that happened in the future I saw.
"Let's head home for now."
""...""
In this manner, we headed home.