On the flat grassland.
Apollo cradled Hyakinthos in his arms, his pristine robes now stained a vivid crimson. Gazing down at the youth in his embrace, Apollo's eyes brimmed with sorrow.
He'd never felt it before, but now…
Now, Apollo truly understood grief and despair.
"You've won, Alice," Apollo lifted his head towards the azure sky. "The Apollo Familia concedes defeat in this trial. So please, release Hyakinthos now. The Apollo Familia has a supply of Panaceas. He can still be saved if we act quickly."
A gentle breeze swept across the plains.
Apollo's words were carried away by the wind, but the breeze brought no reply from Alice.
The outcome was clear. Alice would not answer.
Faced with this silence, Apollo smiled bitterly. "So, it was all my own fault, then?"
He tenderly stroked Hyakinthos's deathly pale face, his own expression one of intoxicated devotion.
"I see now. So this is why I'm being sent back. This illusion… it was meticulously crafted by you, wasn't it? Even to my eyes, the sophistication of this realm is apparent. A maiden from another world."
Apollo shook his head. "I truly set my sights on a terrifying existence, didn't I? No wonder Loki never tried to force you into her Familia. Even though we're all divine friends, she kept such crucial information to herself."
"To use the knowledge of an entire world to deal with a single god… it does feel like overkill."
"A witch who tempts the human heart. When Hyakinthos first called you that, I paid it no mind. But now I see… you truly are a fearsome sorceress."
"Even the heart of a god cannot escape your manipulations."
"You made me feel love. Made me generate love. And then, you made me lose that love."
"And now, the choice of whether to abandon love… you place it in my hands. To make me discard the precious treasure I worked so hard to obtain… you are truly cruel, Alice."
A gentle smile graced Apollo's lips.
"However… such a rare treasure, once obtained… how could I ever cast it aside? It seems everything is unfolding exactly as you calculated."
Apollo continued his gentle caress of Hyakinthos's cheek.
"My dear, beloved Hyakinthos. Wait for me just a little longer. I will save you shortly. There's just one small matter I need to settle first."
Reluctantly, Apollo laid Hyakinthos down upon the grass.
Rising to his feet, he lifted his voice to the sky.
"This puppet show! I trust you've all found it entertaining! I, too, was delighted, for I discovered something truly precious."
"But what comes next… I imagine you can all guess."
"Therefore, I seize this moment to announce: The Apollo Familia is hereby dissolved. To all my children of the Apollo Familia… I am sorry. Sorry for being such a god."
"Though I will be sent back immediately, I have no regrets. Not even for my past actions. Because in the past, I genuinely gathered every precious treasure close to me. All of you were my most cherished treasures."
"There is only one small thing I regret… that it took me until now to realize you were those treasures."
"Gods of Orario… I entrust my precious treasures to your care from now on."
"My amusement in the lower world… it was truly fascinating. Only… the time was far too short."
A wry smile appeared on Apollo's face.
And then—
A pillar of white light instantly pierced the heavens.
In that same moment, Alice's illusion shattered completely.
The wisp of divine power Alice had managed to guide forth was utterly incomparable to the divine might Apollo now unleashed.
If Alice's guided power was a mere grain of sand, then the divine energy Apollo released now was a vast, boundless ocean.
The illusion shattered instantly.
Alice felt as if a massive hammer had slammed into her mind; the sensation was intensely disorienting.
As the illusion vanished, everyone—including Alice, all the gods—reappeared in the banquet hall of the Apollo Familia's estate.
Only Apollo was gone.
Hyakinthos, who had been on the verge of death, now lay unconscious in the center of the hall. The fatal wound from the discus that had nearly killed him had completely vanished.
At that moment, a pale golden pillar of light was clearly visible across the entirety of Orario.
Everyone looked on in astonishment towards the direction of the Apollo Familia estate. The gods who hadn't attended the Denatus had no idea which deity had just been sent back.
Still, a faint sense of loss lingered among them.
Regardless of which god it was, they were all friends from Heaven. Now that one had returned to the celestial realm, they would never see them again.
Outside the Apollo Estate, Lulune stared, shocked, at the pillar of light blazing from within the mansion.
"A god's been sent back? Could it be Lord Apollo? Did Asfi's friend actually manage to kill Lord Apollo?! This is huge!"
Unaware of the actual events inside the mansion, Lulune's mind conjured an image of a young woman brandishing a cleaver, charging at Apollo.
If such a scene were real, it would be a monumental event for all of Orario.
Of course, a mortal from the lower world forcing a god's return to Heaven was already a massive deal in itself.
Let alone the scenario playing out in Lulune's head.
The emergence of the golden pillar of light hadn't just shattered Alice's illusion; it had also obliterated the barrier she had erected around the Apollo Familia estate.
The Hourai doll, floating high above the estate, was not in good condition.
It drifted unsteadily towards Lili. When Lili caught Hourai, she could smell a faint, scorched odor coming from the doll.
The barrier's instantaneous destruction had caused Hourai's internal magic circuits to overload, resulting in overheating and some minor charring.
But seeing that Hourai could still float over, Lili breathed a sigh of relief.
The fact that Hourai hadn't been completely incapacitated meant that Alice herself was unharmed.
Back inside the banquet hall, all the gods and adventurers present were staring intently at Alice, their expressions grave.
Apollo had released his divine power of his own volition, shattered Alice's barrier, and healed Hyakinthos.
The amount of divine power Alice had guided forth earlier was minuscule, and with the barrier containing it, it hadn't been detected by the lower world.
But Apollo's self-initiated release was a different matter entirely.
Apollo was now back in Heaven, unable to ever return.
For a moment, the entire banquet hall fell into a heavy silence.
Finally, Hermes spoke.
"Hyakinthos. The purple hyacinth. Apollo has left behind something truly beautiful, hasn't he?"
The gods turned to Hermes, following his gaze which was directed outside the Apollo estate.
There, outside, surrounding the mansion, the grounds were blanketed in a sea of blooming purple hyacinths.
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