Every single person stood on high alert.

Even Annabelle was fully awake now, and the wary look in her eyes made it obvious just how cautious she was of the man standing before them.

If there was anyone who appeared calm, it was Adrian.

Not because he trusted Nytharos.

No.

That was impossible.

Not after everything he had done to his students, his friends, and... Ariana.

However, Adrian understood one thing clearly.

At his current strength, Nytharos could do nothing to them.

He could sense it.

This version of Nytharos was far weaker than the one Adrian had faced before. Far weaker than the strong figure who had once beheaded his own fragment which nearly claimed Adrian’s life during their battle.

Adrian didn’t know why the entity had grown weaker.

Or perhaps... he did.

Deep down, he already knew the reason behind Nytharos’s decline.

But for now, Adrian chose not to dwell on that.

"What do you mean you know why they targeted my homeland?" Evilyn asked, her voice low and faintly trembling.

Nytharos let out a slow sigh before answering.

"There are several reasons. However, the one I believe matters the most is your influence over your people."

Adrian’s brows lifted slightly as he began to understand where this conversation was heading, though he remained silent and allowed Nytharos to continue.

And just as he expected—

"Devotion and numbers. Those are the two fuels that drive divinity." Nytharos spoke calmly. "And in your world, you are gradually becoming something akin to a deity in the eyes of your people."

Evilyn frowned deeply. "What are you even talking about? That doesn’t make any sense."

Adrian finally intervened.

"Wait a second... are you saying those gods felt threatened by her existence even though she’s one of their Apostles?"

"Oh, but she isn’t," Nytharos replied instantly. "And that is precisely why only she is being targeted."

Adrian was genuinely taken aback.

Every person on the server possessed monstrous talent to the point that he had naturally assumed all of them were blessed by the Divine Ones.

And it wasn’t merely speculation either.

Valor and Scarlette themselves had confirmed that they were Apostles.

"The truth is, Apostles and deities merely take advantage of one another." Nytharos explained calmly. "In exchange for mastery over the powers they possess, the Apostles gather the one thing the Divine Ones crave above all else."

"Devotion."

His gaze slowly shifted toward Evilyn.

"But you... rejected that divinity."

Evilyn’s eyes widened in shock.

"What...?"

Adrian scratched the back of his head, visibly confused. "Wait a second. What do you mean she rejected the divinity?"

Nytharos gave a wry smile. "I was actually hoping you would help explain it. But then again... you still haven’t recovered your memories."

Letting out a faint sigh, the Fallen One continued,

"Tell me, Adrian. How exactly did you suppress my blessing within my Apostle over there?"

At those words, Annabelle instantly flushed red and quickly glanced toward Adrian.

Ariana, meanwhile, looked mildly displeased that such an intimate matter had been brought up so casually.

Yet the man at the center of the conversation remained completely calm.

"By sharing my essence with her..."

Then Adrian suddenly paused.

"...Oh. Damn."

His eyes widened slightly before he slowly turned toward Evilyn.

Forgelet blinked in confusion.

"W-What?"

Adrian slowly turned toward Nytharos. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"Tell me... was it Avirin?"

Nytharos merely shrugged. "Could be."

The moment those words fell, Adrian’s shoulders slumped.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a strained groan.

"Not again..."

Had he cursed another friend once more?

Had his existence once again dragged disaster toward someone he cherished?

First Raven... and now—

"Wait." Evilyn suddenly interrupted, trying to piece everything together. "So Avirin had some sort of connection with me, and because of that, I couldn’t become an Apostle?"

Her brows furrowed deeply as realization slowly dawned on her.

"And now that I’ve gained the trust and devotion of my people, the gods grew jealous and decided to target my homeland?"

For the first time, Nytharos looked genuinely surprised.

Despite receiving so little information, she had managed to understand the situation almost perfectly.

Still, he didn’t hesitate to nod.

"Yes," he admitted calmly. "You are correct."

Evilyn fell silent for a moment.

The atmosphere turned unbearably heavy.

Adrian was already preparing himself to apologize and take responsibility for everything that had happened.

Yes, he hadn’t directly caused the disaster.

But in the end, he was still the reason those beings had targeted her in the first place.

However, the moment Evilyn finally spoke, her question caught everyone completely off guard.

"Adrian... do you know how to kill a God?"

Silence.

Absolute silence descended over the surroundings.

Even Adrian froze.

"...What?"

"How do you kill a God, Adrian?" she repeated.

Her eyes had become hollow, stripped of warmth and life.

"You don’t understand what I went through yesterday."

Her voice trembled faintly, though not from fear.

"I watched my people burn alive right in front of me. My family... my home... everyone."

Her fingers clenched tightly.

"They cried. They begged to be saved."

A bitter laugh escaped her lips.

"And I couldn’t do anything."

The air around her grew colder with every word.

"All because those things decided I needed to be removed."

Evilyn slowly shook her head, her lifeless gaze lowering toward the ground.

"I can’t accept this."

Then she looked back at Adrian.

A quiet madness flickered behind her empty eyes.

"I want to erase them from existence."

Ariana and Annabelle were too shocked to even speak. The same girl who always remained cheerful and positive...she looked so dead right now that it terrified them.

Those deities has killed her soul. And they could all see that.

Adrian exhaled a sigh and said, "Nytharos, first tell me how do I extinguish that spreading flames? I feel this has something to do with you again." He would have a conversation with Evilyn later.

But for now, something else holds priority.

Nytharos remained silent for a moment before he spoke in a quieter voice, "...only my other fragment, the one caged in the Deep Sea Prison could tell you."

"!!!" This bastard!

°°°°°°°°

A/N:- Thanks for reading. Yeah, Nytharos played here.