```
"Good!"
Seeing that the Divine Blood Guard around him was getting sowhat unmanageable, an angry and annoyed Pentheus hastily agreed after hearing the suggestion.
"If I can't deal with you, can't I deal with them?"
The young King sneered to himself, a touch of longing arising in his heart.
As long as he used his personal ability to capture all these criminals and send them back to prison, exposing the false god, it would be like creating a comndable feat for himself.
When that ti ca, who would dare defy his succession to the throne?
Seeing Pentheus agree without a second thought, Luo En sighed and changed his tone.
"However, if you are going, I suggest you put on this dress before you leave."
"Woman's clothing?"
Pentheus's face darkened as he felt humiliated upon seeing the pink dress passed to him by the heretical apostle.
Luo En nodded with a helpless expression and earnestly explained.
"They've just been a bit shocked and had so wine, their ntal state might be a bit unstable. If a man approaches, especially one who has not been initiated, those poor won and children will inevitably be scared."
"Nonsense!"
King Pentheus swatted the dress from Luo En's hands, angrily drew his bronze sword, and nacingly placed it at Luo En's lower back.
"Move it, now!"
"Okay, okay, I'll lead the way for you."
Luo En raised his hands in surrender, honestly mounted the horse with Pentheus, and took responsibility for guiding them.
The galloping warhorse dashed out of the palace, kicking up dust all the way to the outskirts of Thebes City.
Yet amidst the jostling ride, Pentheus inexplicably saw his vision blur as if the world had undergone a strange change.
Two suns hung in the sky, a doubly large Thebes City where each city gate was twice its original height, and the person sitting before him seed like a bull with a pair of huge horns on its head. Wherever he went, ripe grapes clustered bountifully, their thick wine aroma filling his nostrils and bringing a trace of intoxication.
"No tricks!"
Pentheus frowned, nudged the sharp point of his sword forward, and threatened in a cold voice.
"Even if you run, they won't be able to escape!"
Luo En glanced at the desolate mountain outside the city gate and muttered helplessly in his heart.
You've seen it.
I'm here diligently filling in the holes, but there are people crazily shoveling away.
So…
Luo En cracked his whip, lashing it hard against the horse's flanks, leaving the Divine Blood Guard behind, and taking his cousin toward Mount Cyllene.
At that mont, the eyes on his back had lost all warmth, his lips silently moving.
"The third ti..."
~~
Soon, they arrived at a deep mountain valley surrounded by pine trees.
"The Apostle has returned!"
"Thank heavens, he's unhard!"
"God of Wine bless us, thank you for your kindness..."
```
The believers who heard the noise gathered around, singing praises to their deities and offering fresh grapes and vegetables to the saint who had shielded them from disaster, to quench her thirst.
"What's that sound? Where are the people? Where are they?!"
Pentheus, staring at the "pine trees" before him, angrily brandished his sharp sword and demanded an answer.
Under the influence of [madness], his eyes had lost their focus, oblivious to the fervently gathering won and elders.
"Don't rush..."
Luo En spoke softly, his eyes showing a hint of endearing concern as he extended a hand forward and pressed down on the air.
Instantly, a huge pine tree sagged its crown as if it were a willow branch toyed with by the wind.
But Pentheus saw a wide road, and at the end of it, sinners huddled together in a valley, shivering.
"Found them!"
Pentheus exclaid in ecstatic joy. He leapt off his horse and onto the "road," with the tree crown snapping back up into the air.
As the ground beneath his feet shook and a strange sensation of suspension took hold, the young king was suddenly jolted back to so clarity, realizing he was about to be flung out by the tree branch.
In his panic, he instinctively threw away his sword and clung to the trunk, finally stabilizing his body.
However, at that mont, a deep voice rose in the valley.
"Look, here is the beast that will bring you death, I have brought him."
Not a single leaf in the forest stirred, no sound of any creature could be heard. The God of Wine's followers lifted their heads; they heard the call of the apostle and rushed over rapidly, as if dispatched by the gods themselves.
Beneath the surging intoxication, the reveling won crossed turbulent rivers and dense jungles to gather under the great pine tree, where they saw the harmful beast perched at the top.
—A lion clad in lavish clothes, donning a golden crown.
—Blinded by power, driven by violence.
The disciples couldn't help but recall the tornts they had suffered and the brethren who had died in the violent arrests, their anger surging uncontrollably.
"Kill him! Kill him!"
First, the crowd threw stones, broken branches, and divine staves. But none could reach the king in the tree crown.
Then, fueled by the alcohol in their bodies, feeling endless strength, they began digging into the soil around the pine tree with hard oak sticks, rooting out the tree's foundation.
With a thunderous crash, the tree fell, and Pentheus toppled to the ground along with it.
The crowd sward over him, their eyes gleaming red with hatred.
"Damn it, what are you doing? I am your king!"
Pentheus bellowed desperately, covered in mud, trying to awaken the plebeians' fear.
But to the believers, that was just a gravely wounded lion roaring impotently.
anwhile, Agave, who had been graced with honor and hailed as a priest, swung her divine staff wildly, fervently issuing commands.
"Quick, kill this beast! Don't let it get away!"
In no ti, farm won with stones, old n with canes, and youths with clumps of dirt joined together to punish the vicious wild lion.
And so nobles with Divine Blood grabbed the lion's shoulders and violently tore its limbs apart.
Soon, the frenzied won and elders tore into revenge with all limbs, each ripping a piece of flesh from his body.
In the end, atop that bloody mound of earth, only a head remained, with eyes wide open in endless terror, dying without closing them.
At that mont, dozens of dense hoofbeats echoed from outside the thick forest, the reflection of tal armor bringing a chilling nace.
The Divine Blood Guard of Thebes had arrived!
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