"I hear whispers," ca the voice of the dark god Erebus.
Vito furrowed his brow, glancing beside him.
"Whispers?"
The apostles of evil had gathered in a vast underground space, illuminated by torches that flickered against the stone walls.
A drainage canal ran through the center, supported by stone pillars.
Erebus rose from his throne, staring into the empty space before him.
"The whispers of desperation and struggle," he said, his lips curling into a twisted grin.
"The last dying gasps, like a wriggling cockroach after being stepped on."
Vito stared into the darkness of a tunnel nearby.
Squeezed into the tunnels like ants in a colony were the mad followers of evil.
Those who hated the world and had lost faith in their fellow mortals.
Those whose loved ones were stolen by death, and those led by sadistic pleasure.
Whatever their motive, all of them were gathered on this day, the fourth day since the war with Orario began.
They could barely contain their excitent, the victory and the words Erebus had given on the first day still fresh in their minds.
Now they were once again all gathered, staring at their leader, the god who had guided them to this point.
It was an euphoric mont.
"Aaaah, I love this mont. Those whispers of their struggle. Dying yet unbroken. Oh Orario, why do you struggle so, it would be much easier to just surrender to despair, for that I have nothing but praise," Erebus said, basking in euphoric pleasure at the status quo.
He wasn't angered by the tenacity of the adventurers; if anything, he was greatly amused.
"You are a weird one, aren't you?" Valletta said with a wide grin.
"You have a way to finish them for good, yet deliberately prolong their suffering."
Erebus had planned out the entire war, from the beginning to the mass exodus of so many gods. Yet there was more to his divine plan that was yet to be executed.
Valletta couldn't resist licking her lips in anticipation.
"Valletta Grede, or should I call you Arachnia?" Erebus said, noting her presence.
"Oh, I know, but I have to give credit where it is due. Even when this war is heavily tilted in our favour, heroes seem to be erging here and there amongst the adventurers, don't you find that comndable?" Erebus asked, his tone almost evangelical.
"Who cares?" Valletta spat out.
"No number of heroes hold a candle to your dark chanizations."
This wasn't just a complint; it was what she truly believed, as did many other mbers of the evilus.
Turning to the evilus followers fervently gazing at them from below, Valletta raised her hands and spread them wide as if in worship.
"Hail the dark god Erebus, may his reign be eternal," Valletta yelled.
"Glory to the evilus," the followers echoed.
"Destroy Orario," they chanted.
"Grant us our desperate wish," they pleaded.
"Deliver us with your dark grace," they prayed.
The underground space soon began trembling with various forms of praise and worship for Erebus.
Their eyes glazed over with fanatic zeal and madness, beseeching their god.
"Thank you, my children. Though your praise pales in comparison to the desperation of the erging heroes, I have heard it nevertheless," Erebus said, his tone as if casually dismissing their praise.
Even though he had spoken so dismissively, his charisma was like a virus, sending the followers below into a deeper maelstrom of mad praise for him.
"Yes, fan the flas within your heart, let it be like scorching magma, but tempered till the ti is ripe. Let us not be hasty or rash, but slow and deliberate as we squeeze Orario with a wall of hell while basking in their suffering," Erebus said.
The joyous voices erupted into cheers at the unveiling of the dark god's plans, so fell to their knees and began crying while others fainted from the high of the atmosphere.
Although he hadn't specifically given much detail, the knowledge of the end goal being Orario's destruction was enough.
However, not everyone was happy with the dark god's speech.
One particular executive lashed out in anger.
"What is the aning of this?" ca the voice of Olivas.
He strode over to Erebus, his fist clenched.
"What do you an by slow and deliberate? Orario is weak right now; we must strike while the iron is hot before they can finish licking their wounds," Olivas said.
However, it was Valletta who replied instead of Erebus.
"Are you perhaps retarded or just extrely slow? How many tis does he have to explain before it stays in that thick skull of yours?" Valletta said with a snarl.
"The longer we wait, the longer the civilians drain the city's limited resources. Plus phase two of the main plan is almost ready, so keep your balls afloat and wait."
"Grr," Olivas growled at the insult, his face twisted in rage, but still felt he needed to make his point heard.
"Need I remind you that Orario isn't our only enemy! The world expects this city to slay the black dragon; they will not stand idly by and watch its demise," Olivas explained.
Orario was known as the center of the world for a reason.
It was the seal that kept monsters trapped within the dungeon, so very few beside the evilus wished to see it destroyed.
"And even if the rchants right now feel sympathetic to our goals, not all of them would remain so for long when they realize the repercussions of it. If neighbouring countries send reinforcents, our siege will surely be broken," Olivas added.
"Well, why do you think we spent all that ti acquiring believers in many countries?" Vito said, joining the debate.
"Do you think they will have the ti and resources to spare when they are dealing with an outbreak of unprecedented riots all over their countries?" Vito said, making his point.
Seeing that Olivas didn't have an imdiate retort, Vito grinned and continued speaking.
"With the riots ongoing at the sa ti with our war with the city, we have more than enough ti to bring Orario's downfall in a slow, agonizing manner like we planned," he said.
This war was the culmination of years of hard work.
Much of which was the recruitnt of fanatical followers from the lands around Orario.
So were lured with false promises by Thanatos, a god of death, while others were coerced through taking hostages or promoting small-ti thugs into big syndicates.
On the night when the war began, these recruited followers were simultaneously spurred into action, committing local acts of terrorism even in far-off regions like the empire.
Though many followers boasted little combat ability, with the fire stone bombs in hand, they could deal devastating amounts of damage.
While these attacks were unlikely to fell the other countries, it would take them a long ti to restore public order, while also fearing an invasion from neighbouring countries too, thinking it's so kind of invasion plot.
"Hmm, everyone’s got to help themselves before they can help others," Valletta said, nodding in agreent.
"Even if one or two of them managed to send help, it's still no problem. At best they will send a level 2. So no need to piss yer pants,"
“Besides, we are all just ants standing on the shoulders of three giants, well except you. You are a just a fly buzzing around their ears” Valletta teased.
The three giants she was referring to were of course Zald, Alfia, and Mors.
Despite saying all this, Valletta internally remained humble.
Although things seed to be going extrely well for the evilus, anything could happen.
So she kept so cards close to her chest in the event that unforeseen variables did appear.
However, Olivas wasn't thrilled with being treated like an idiot, his rage boiling over.
"Valletta, if you continue to test , I will rip that insolent tongue right out of your mouth," Olivas threatened, even though he knew Valletta could defeat him with a single blow.
However, before the situation could escalate, Erebus intervened.
"Tell , Olivas, what do you think defines evil?" Erebus asked, catching Olivas off guard.
“What?” Olivas stuttered, bewildered by the sudden question.
The dark god stood tall, his piercing gaze sweeping briefly over his followers before landing on Olivas.
Erebus, as a god of darkness, divine domain wasn't necessarily centred on evil, but he had his own theories about its nature.
"Is it injustice? Savagery? Debauchery?"
"No, they are rely paths to evil, not its essence,"
Erebus turned away from him, his gaze settling on the worshippers below.
"To , to be evil is to be hated."
"To be hated," Olivas repeated, his body caked in cold sweat.
Even Vito and Valletta did not dare interrupt while Erebus was speaking.
The air was thick with tension, and the followers below were eerily quiet, creating an unsettling atmosphere.
With bated breath, they waited for Erebus' next words.
Erebus then turned to face his lieutenants.
"Yes, to hated, and absolute evil is to return all to nothingness."
Under Erebus' scrutiny, Olivas forgot to breathe.
"Lives, cities, empires, even ti itself. True evil is to undo all this universe has created. Extinction, extermination, what other word is there? To smash those scales is what I believe to be absolute evil."
Erebus continued preaching to his little lost lambs, their eyes and ears glued to his every word and action.
Initially, Olivas had been confused as to why Erebus suddenly started speaking about evil, but the reason soon beca apparent.
Erebus' goal had always been to bring true evil upon the world, the rest was secondary.
Erebus was simply reminding him of their true goal.
"So do not concern yourselves with the accumulation of petty evils, but with evils grandest execution. This is what I, your dark god, have proclaid."
Olivas, entranced by these words, didn't realize when Erebus had approached him.
Before he could react, Erebus was standing face to face with him.
"And for that, the ti is not yet right," Erebus said, before turning away from Olivas again, who was still dazed.
"So my children, I ask for your patience. Our mont is imminent," the dark god declared, leaving the crowd dazed and completely subrged in his presence.
The only two people left able to even react were Valletta and Vito, who could only manage a smile.
Finished with his speech to his followers, Erebus turned to Vito.
"Now co, my child, join for a walk, will you?"
"Sigh, you do the strangest things at tis, my lord. It is really taxing, serving as your follower," Vito said.
The whims of a god were as predictable as those of a cat.
Even before the war began, Erebus had a habit of running off by himself, much to the displeasure of his followers.
And at a ti like this when agents of Orario were trying to track them down, it didn't seem like a good idea.
Valletta, aware of this, tried to stop Erebus, but the dark god just shooed her away, saying, "No girls allowed, so run along now."
With Erebus and Vito gone, Valletta left too, leaving only Olivas on the balcony, much to his irritation.
A/N: Feel free to read ahead on pat3on and donate.
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