When gods descended to the lower world, they all sealed their divine powers.
Aside from the specific skills they mastered—like Hephaestus' forging or Soma's brewing—their physique and strength became no different from mortals.
Yet in essence, gods were still fundamentally different from mortals. In addition to their unique divine aura, they also possessed a special ability:
Gods could see through the lies of mortals. No one could lie in front of them.
So when Apollo tried to frame Bell, it was almost laughable. As long as Hestia kept a cool head, she could easily expose the person pretending to have been injured by Bell.
And Icarus coming to confront Charles was no more than an attempt to use that divine ability to probe Wiene's status.
With a mocking smile on his face, Icarus said, "Dragon Forge of the Hephaestus Familia, it seems you've taken care of one of my children."
Charles raised an eyebrow. "So, is Lord Icarus here for revenge? If that's the case, wouldn't it have been better to bring the 'Mad Brute' along?"
Icarus shook his head. "I wouldn't overestimate myself like that. Even with Dix present, we wouldn't be able to do anything to the Dragon Forge.
I've come to talk reasonably. No matter what, snatching someone else's prey in the Dungeon isn't right, you know? Would you be so kind as to return that dragon girl to my child?"
As expected, gods should never be underestimated. Icarus' question was a clever one. The best response would be something like, "I already killed it."
But such a lie would give away too much. Icarus would instantly know that Charles hadn't killed Wiene.
He could then infer that Charles had discovered the existence of intelligent monsters—and more crucially, that he was sympathetic to the Xenos.
Icarus stared directly at Charles, awaiting his answer.
Charles sighed inwardly. Things were going exactly as he feared. Icarus had already come knocking much sooner than he had expected.
For a moment, Charles had the urge to send this god back to the heavens, just to spare himself future trouble.
Still, on the surface, he maintained a calm demeanor and said, "If Lord Icarus believes I've done something wrong and wishes to punish me, why not request a War Game?
I'll take on your entire Familia alone—you can choose the terms."
The more Charles spoke, the brighter his eyes became. In fact, it was a brilliant solution. He wouldn't even need to track down their poaching base—he could just crush the Icarus Familia outright.
But of course, Icarus wasn't stupid enough to agree.
His smile faltered for a moment, then he forced it back onto his face. "Just joking. No need to blow a small disagreement out of proportion."
Like hell he'd agree to a War Game. Aside from Dix, his Familia had no one worth mentioning. Even if all of them fought Charles at once, they wouldn't stand a chance.
He'd have to be insane to accept such a challenge.
Charles sneered, "Then I hope Lord Icarus truly intends to keep things from escalating."
With that, he walked right past Icarus, not caring at all about the other god's darkened expression.
Only after Charles had walked away did Icarus wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.
Just moments ago, while speaking, he had actually felt a powerful pressure. He was a god—yet standing before that mortal adventurer, he couldn't help but feel a trace of fear.
That fear was exactly why he had refused the War Game so decisively. Charles might be far more dangerous than Orario understood.
But once that fear faded, Icarus grinned again.
"You didn't answer my question. But sometimes, not answering is itself an answer…"
Meanwhile, Charles felt a wave of helplessness. Even in his most optimistic projections, he hadn't believed he could deceive Icarus entirely.
But for now, there was no better solution.
Clearly, he no longer had the luxury of taking things slowly. He needed to find the Icarus Familia's base as soon as possible.
Quickening his pace, Charles headed straight for his workshop. While his ring could hold a great number of items, he didn't carry useless things around.
The Daedalus Eye, a key to accessing the artificial labyrinth, was a tool that had no use outside that context—there was no need to keep it on him.
After retrieving the item from his workshop, Charles immediately set out to clear the "Icarus Familia dungeon instance."
He knew better than anyone: hesitation led to defeat. He had to resolve this before they could stir up more trouble.
Having done this before, Charles easily made his way down to the 18th floor—the entrance to the artificial labyrinth was there.
But as he moved through the forest toward the entrance, he suddenly sensed someone following him.
Charles stopped, turned his head, and said, "Hey there, friend. You've been trailing me this whole time. Why don't you come out and say hello?"
The person didn't bother hiding. They stepped out from behind a tree.
They wore a black robe that concealed their entire figure—but their frame was abnormally thin, enough to make one wonder how they were even alive.
Still, if this person was who Charles thought, such a physique was perfectly expected.
The robed figure spoke: "As expected of the Dragon Forge. Your perception is impressive. But I'm not your enemy.
Let me introduce myself. I am Fels, here on the orders of the god Uranus. And my purpose is the dragon girl you rescued."
Charles showed no surprise. "Fels—that's a name that sends chills down one's spine. The top-tier mage who created the Philosopher's Stone… you wouldn't happen to be the Fels, would you?"
Fels nodded. "Yes, I'm the one they call 'The Sage'—the one who greedily sought endless knowledge, brought upon himself a curse, and now calls himself a fool.
But judging by your reaction, you expected me. Seems Uranus underestimated you."
While Fels was musing aloud, he didn't notice Charles' expression shifting.
Charles had already predicted that Uranus would send Fels to approach him. But seeing Fels in person reminded him of something else—another plan.
That plan had stalled due to one major issue: Charles lacked the ability to conduct magical experiments.
But if he couldn't do it himself—he could find someone who could.
And the man standing before him was the perfect candidate.
In terms of ability, Fels was a top-tier figure who possessed both [Mystery] and [Mage] development abilities, and his level had to be high.
He bore an immortality curse and had centuries of accumulated knowledge and research—far beyond what Charles had.
The fact that he had managed to create a Philosopher's Stone was proof enough of his skill.
He also had resurrection magic—though he'd only succeeded once in hundreds of years, and it was unclear whether that had been due to Bell's [Luck].
But with Fels' help, Charles would gain a massive advantage.
More importantly, their goals aligned. Fels would have no reason to refuse helping Charles.
And as Fels himself said, he was a pure scholar. Even cursed, he couldn't abandon his thirst for knowledge. There was no way he could resist the temptation of knowledge from other worlds.
In that instant, Charles completely forgot about his current objective. Before Fels could even finish speaking, he leaned in.
"Let's set everything else aside for now, Fels. I have a plan—and I'd like to know if it interests you."
(End of Chapter)
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