Apollo was sent back to heaven.
With the host of tonight's banquet gone, whatever its true purpose might have been, the party simply couldn't continue.
The gods glanced at each other.
By now, they were all ready to leave.
But Apollo had just been forcibly sent back, and Alice was still right there. Leaving now would make it seem as if they were afraid of her.
And inwardly, they were afraid—afraid of falling victim to Alice's schemes and ending up like Apollo, banished to the heavens.
Yet, in front of so many of their kind, none of them wanted to lose face.
What the gods desperately wanted now was for some brave soul to step forward and break this awkward silence.
As for Alice…
The burst of Apollo's divine power had shattered her illusion. On top of that, maintaining such an elaborate illusion in the first place had taken a tremendous toll.
So, she wasn't in great shape right now.
Crafting that illusion alone had drained her severely, not to mention the later effort of guiding a wisp of Apollo's own divine power. That had nearly emptied her reserves of magic.
If she hadn't, from her repository of memories, learned of those tales called [Greek Mythology]…
If she hadn't used the stories of Apollo from that mythology to construct the illusion, using tales of Apollo from another world to resonate with him, making him accept the narrative that was fundamentally his own…
Then Apollo would have remained the same Apollo as before. Even if Hyakinthos died, he wouldn't have cared.
Apollo sending himself back would have been absolutely impossible.
So, this "test" that Alice had initiated was actually an incredibly risky move. It would have been far simpler to let the Apollo Familia make the first move, and then for her to just wipe out all its members.
Heck, even littering the banquet hall with a bunch of self-destructing puppets and blowing the whole Apollo Familia to bits would have been easier than painstakingly setting up this elaborate trial.
However…
Though it was exhausting, troublesome, and hugely risky…
The results were quite effective. Now, every god present looked at Alice with caution in their eyes. If any deity ever thought of moving against her in the future, they would seriously stop and consider: would they end up like Apollo, manipulated by Alice into releasing their divine power, and then sent back to heaven?
The gods understood all too clearly that for Apollo, being sent back was actually the lesser evil.
Being tricked by Alice into falling in love with the very child he already adored, into discovering the treasure in his own heart—that should have been a beautiful thing.
But the ending was a tragedy. No matter what, he was forced to face separation from his beloved.
That was truly hard to accept.
Even though after Hyakinthos's death, Apollo could retrieve his soul and live with him in heaven…
For Hyakinthos to die a natural death, that would be sixty or seventy years from now.
For Apollo, idle and restless in heaven, those sixty or seventy years would undoubtedly be the most agonizing period of his existence.
Likely, those decades would feel longer than the millennia that had come before.
That was what the gods found truly terrifying.
If Alice were from this world, then even if she sent them back to heaven, they could eventually find her soul there after her death.
But, Alice was not from this world.
Every god at the banquet understood that now.
Loki had seen it from the start.
Apollo had realized it just moments ago.
While their perception might be slightly inferior, they weren't so foolish as to miss Alice's true identity after witnessing things that clearly didn't belong to this world.
While the other gods felt fear towards Alice, Loki remained as unflappable as ever. She felt a slight pang of sympathy for Apollo's plight, but that was about it.
And standing right beside Alice, Loki had already noticed her rather poor condition. So, she quietly instructed Lefiya, who was behind her.
She told Lefiya to help her look after Alice.
Alice's magic recovery rate was fast, but at the very least, they needed to take care of her until she could move on her own.
If some god right now ordered their children to shamelessly try and snatch Alice away, Loki, who only had Lefiya with her, wouldn't really be able to stop them.
For a moment, Loki regretted not bringing Riveria and Finn along. Even Ais would have been better.
As for Lefiya… her combat prowess was still a bit lacking.
Fortunately, the gods were still too stunned by Alice's identity and methods, and none of them seemed to be entertaining such ideas.
Loki let out a quiet sigh of relief.
But just then, a goddess approached, making Loki's heart tense up again.
"Hey there, Freya. Looking to have a chat with our little Alice-chan?" Loki positioned herself in front of Freya.
Seeing Loki's move, Freya gave a soft laugh and instructed the man beside her.
"Ottar, wait for me at the entrance. I'll just have a few words with Alice, and then we'll head back." Ottar obeyed, walking towards the main hall's doors.
"See? Feel a bit more at ease now?" Freya's face still wore that gentle smile.
"Ah, geez, you saw right through me, didn't you?" Loki scratched her head in frustration.
"Just as I said, I only wish to speak with Alice for a moment. May I?" Freya's tone was soft, her attitude exactly the same as when she'd spoken with Alice earlier. It seemed Alice's actions hadn't changed her demeanor one bit.
"Just a few words, huh…" Loki hesitated, remembering how exhausted Alice had looked, seemingly too tired to even speak. The fatigue was etched deep into her spirit; she needed a proper sleep to recover fully.
"I'll be fine." Just as Loki was wrestling with it, Alice's voice chimed in.
"Alice-chan…" Lefiya, who was supporting her, looked at Alice with concern.
"It's alright." Alice offered a faint smile.
The Boundary of Fantasy and Reality.
It was the first boundary Alice had mastered, initially just a simple ability to hide a house.
After expanding its effects, it had gained its current capabilities.
While she was surprised by its potent effects, she was also fully aware of the immense cost.
Therefore, how could she not have prepared for a situation like this?
If nothing else, if Alice wanted to flee, absolutely no one present could stop her—unless a god decided to release their Arcanum.
"Lady Freya, was there something you wished to speak to me about?" Alice lifted her head to look at Freya.
Seeing the calm expression on Alice's face, Freya's smile widened.
"I greatly enjoyed today's puppet show. I was wondering… is there perhaps a story about me as well?"
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