As if time outside had passed in an instant, the divine power continuously flowing through the blade gradually pierced into Linley's body, almost reaching his heart. This divine power was purer than Linley's own, seemingly designed specifically for assassination. Due to his lack of deep understanding of divine power, Linley didn't know how to respond, so he took out a fallen angel's feather and unleashed the Desecration Aura.
The moment the Desecration Aura appeared, the influence of the divine power immediately disappeared, and the sword tip halted its advance. With a casual wave, Linley swept both the sword and the girl wielding it to the ground. Brutus let out a roar and stomped down, breaking the legs of the temple bride.
The temple bride screamed in agony, and the church was now a scene of blood and corpses. Under the illumination of the Desecration Aura, something seemed to be stirring beneath the ground. Linley quickly dispelled the Desecration Aura, allowing his own divine power to resume its effect. His wound healed rapidly, and the bleeding stopped.
The wound was mere inches from his heart; if the heart had been ruptured, it would not have been so easy to repair. Fortunately, he had just obtained two fallen angel feathers; otherwise, he might not have survived this ordeal.
This world is full of dangers, and a moment of carelessness can lead to a life-and-death crisis. The governor's guard seemed weak, but they almost brought Linley to the brink of death.
"Kill!" Linley commanded without mercy. The minotaurs swiftly charged, scattering the governor's guard instantly. They had no chance to form a shield wall before their defenses were breached. The governor's guard could neither retreat to reorganize nor display individual bravery, forcing them to flee in all directions.
However, they were no match for the minotaurs' speed, and they were soon caught. Several were killed, and the rest surrendered. Linley rounded up the captives, tied them up with ropes, and selected the higher-ranking ones for interrogation, quickly uncovering the whole story.
It turned out that the temple bride, named Sevilla, was indeed a member of the Hermes Temple, but trained as an assassin from a young age and had long been in collusion with Martini. Martini had numerous political enemies on Crete, all of whom were assassinated without leaving any evidence, actually by Sevilla.
Later, when Holiness arrived, he confiscated the temple and ordered the followers to convert. Martini then took Sevilla into the governor's mansion. Today, when the smoke of war suddenly rose, Martini had not yet assembled his army and took Sevilla with him just in case.
When he finally remembered to gather his troops, he found the minotaurs attacking the church, nearly causing him to flee. Sevilla held him back, analyzing that if he fled, Nero, the Senate, and Holiness would not spare him.
Thus, Martini mustered the courage to lead his troops out, only to find that the attackers were not rebellious minotaurs but the empire's nemesis—Dionysus Linley. He wanted to flee again but was held back by Sevilla, who suggested he feign holding Sevilla hostage to compel Linley to withdraw from the church, thereby gaining the credit for repelling Dionysus.
Next, Martini could gather Crete's soldiers to form a legion. Once Sevilla found an opportunity to secretly assassinate Linley, they could wipe out Linley's followers in one fell swoop, achieving a complete victory.
As a deity, Linley absolutely could not tolerate his bride being killed. Even though he had no special feelings for this bride, he had to rescue her; otherwise, it would affect his followers' faith in him. Thus, this scheme was bound to succeed. Linley had only recently become the God of Wine and was not yet skilled in using divine power. On the other hand, Sevilla, being a demigod, could utilize divine power to execute assassination skills, making success highly probable.
Unexpectedly, Linley took down Martini with his first strike. Sevilla decided to maintain her disguise and finally got close to Linley, launching a sneak attack that almost succeeded. Unfortunately, Linley wielded a fallen angel's feather, unleashing a desecration aura that nullified divine power, causing the assassination to fail.
Reflecting on all this, Linley couldn't help but feel a bit fearful. He looked at the fallen angel's feather in his hand, now turned to ashes, and wondered what Sevilla was thinking. She was the daughter of Hermes, and Holiness expelled all pagan deities. How could they possibly let her go? Was she hoping to marry Martini and become the governor's wife?
Linley walked up to the barely alive Sevilla, her legs broken and gravely wounded. Upon seeing Linley, Sevilla spat out blood-stained saliva in anger.
"Don't think I will surrender. Just kill me," Sevilla said.
"Why do you hate me so much?" Linley was confused.
"Of course I hate you. Since childhood, I was confined in the temple, unable to leave, unable to play, losing my sense of self, all to become your bride," Sevilla answered.
"That wasn't my doing," Linley retorted.
"I was supposed to marry Dionysus, but you became Dionysus. You're the one who made my life so miserable," Sevilla continued.
Linley was stunned; he had never expected things to be like this.
"Then Martini came to the temple, took a liking to me, and forcefully took me away…" Sevilla blushed faintly. "I finally left that cursed place, and since Martini was the governor, the temple couldn't touch him. Seeing the temple elders gnash their teeth in hatred but being powerless, I felt so satisfied."
Linley gradually understood that Sevilla was actually a victim of the Olympian gods' belief system. Although she was a demigod, the daughter of Hermes, it was clear she never experienced fatherly love. The temple became her cage, and Martini was the one who broke her out and saved her.
"The elders still wanted to cause trouble, forcing Martini to send me away, but it ended in disaster. The Holiness followers came and expelled all the Olympic faiths, forcibly converting all believers. All the priests, chief priests, and elders were arrested. I'm thrilled, the dawn has finally arrived, and the faith in the Olympic gods is finally over!" Sevilla said.
"The Holiness followers want to kill us all!" Brutus interjected.
"So what, what does that have to do with me?" Sevilla responded.
"It doesn't mean much, except that I'm still here, which means the faith in the Olympic gods isn't dead yet, at least the faith in Dionysus is still alive!" Brutus said righteously.
Linley was taken aback; he didn't expect the usually dim-witted minotaur to be so sharp at this moment. It seems that having a simple mind has its benefits, at least it means firm resolve and not easily swayed.
"He's just a newly appointed Dionysus, what's so great about that," Sevilla sneered, "You will soon face your doom!"