Charlie's blunt, razor-sharp declaration had stripped away every remaining layer of pretense. Consequently, Terry no longer felt the need to hide his savage nature behind the polished mask of a businessman.
"You two, seize this arrogant brat. Break his arms and legs, then throw him into the deepest cage we have!"
Responding to their master's command, the two elite bodyguards—the human and the Catperson—stepped forward in perfect sync. A feral aura began to emanate from them, radiating a physical pressure that only served to heighten the excitement of the wealthy guests, who leaned in to relish the impending spectacle of violence.
Meanwhile, Anna watched Charlie with eyes wide with anxiety, her fingers tightly interlaced against her chest, trembling for the safety of the young man who had just risked everything to defend her.
"...!!!"
Just as Charlie was about to unleash his power and begin the slaughter, a frantic alarm blared within his mind. His intuition shrieked with a sudden, visceral warning of death.
Strangely, the source of this omen didn't stem from the two guards before him, nor from any individual within the VIP lounge or the sprawling grounds of the El Dorado Resort.
(In other words, this threat isn't coming from a living being!)
Utilizing the capabilities of his Six Eyes, which allowed him to process a minute's worth of thought in a mere second of real-time, Charlie instantly deployed his Wind Spirit Arts to conduct a comprehensive structural scan of the entire resort.
The resulting perception brought a discovery that was utterly staggering.
(Damn it! No wonder my gut was screaming. Even with the Armor of Fafnir, if I'm caught in the blast of a hundred Fire stones detonating simultaneously, I won't survive!)
Charlie possessed the Noble Phantasm bestowed by Heracles: God Hand, granting him twelve lives. He had already recorded the loss of one life while parrying the strongest arrow in the Heavens. Although he had eleven remaining, Charlie was not the type to squander a single soul if it could be helped.
Through his sensory sweep, Charlie counted exactly one hundred Fire Stones strategically planted in various blind spots throughout the El Dorado Resort.
Fire Stones were crystals imbued with pure fire-attribute energy. In this world, they served as the primary energy source for the people of Orario—much like batteries or fuel in his previous life. While their intended purpose was domestic—cooking or lighting—a Fire Stone could transform into a lethal bomb if forced to overload or intentionally shattered.
Usually produced and distributed by the Guild, they were easily accessible and affordable, making them a favorite weapon for dark factions looking to ensnare adventurers with cheap yet devastating explosions. To put it simply: a public utility turned into a weapon of mass destruction.
On the other side of the room, the two guards flanking Charlie had a very different perspective. Seeing his expression suddenly tighten and freeze, they broke into wide, predatory grins, assuming the youth had finally succumbed to despair, paralyzed by fear under their weight.
"To hell with this!"
"Move! Out of my way!"
Refusing to waste even a microsecond, the usually composed Charlie exploded in a burst of urgent fury.
He lunged forward with speed that transcended the limits of human sight, swatting the two elite guards aside as if they were nothing more than bothersome gnats. Before anyone could blink, he had snatched Anna, pulling her firmly into his protective embrace.
"What the—"
Before Terry could even finish his sentence, the hundred Fire Stones planted throughout the El Dorado Resort detonated in unison.
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
The chain reaction erupted with terrifying force. The sound was so deafening that the tremors vibrated through the soil of Orario, a city spanning two to three times the size of a standard royal capital.
*RUMBLE!*
A localized earthquake shook the neighboring districts, rattling items off shelves and jolting thousands from their sleep. At the epicenter, the opulence of the El Dorado Resort vanished in a heartbeat. No debris remained; the magnificent structure was utterly leveled, transformed into a smoldering, fiery crater.
And what of those inside?
Everyone within—the gamblers, the guards, the servants, and Terry himself—was vaporized instantly, their mortal vessels reduced to ash before they could even register the sensation of pain.
Yet, amidst the dust and the inferno, a far more majestic phenomenon occurred. That night, several Gods who had been lost in their gambling were also caught in the jaws of death.
The physical death of a God triggers the most feared and magnificent event of all: a Divine Ascension.
This occurs when the physical vessel of a God in the lower world is destroyed. Since Gods cannot die in the manner of mortals, their pure essence is automatically yanked back toward the Heavens.
*SWISH!* *SWISH!* *SWISH!*
The pitch-black night sky above Orario was suddenly pierced by five blinding streaks of radiance. Five pillars of golden light soared upward, punching through the cloud layer and forming a bridge of brilliance connecting the earth directly to the thrones of the heavens.
In the center of these pillars, the forms of the five Gods slowly began to fade. Particles of light ate away at their physical shells, transmuting flesh and bone into pure divine essence. Their faces showed no physical agony, but rather a mix of suppressed rage and bitter laughter at having lost their "game" in the lower world in such a ridiculous fashion.
"Damn it! Who did this?! I'll have to wait in line for another ten thousand years before I can come back down!" one God bellowed, his voice thundering through the sky.
"Argh! What kind of lunacy is this? To kill a God so abruptly?!" another shouted in absolute fury.
"No! This is too soon! I haven't even finished tasting every vintage in this city!" cried a third, his voice thick with frustration.
A Goddess, adorned in jewelry that was now disintegrating into light, wailed in despair, "It can't be... I don't want to go back to that eternal boredom!"
Meanwhile, the fifth God could only manage a wry, bitter laugh as he looked down at the ruins below. "Hahaha! Quite the surprise... but I hate to admit my adventure ended at the hands of a coward with Fire Stones!"
The light intensified, exploding in one final pulse that illuminated the entire Orario horizon as if it were midday, before vanishing completely.
All that remained was an empty sky and an absolute rule fulfilled: the Gods had been "repatriated" to the tedious eternity of Heaven, leaving their Familia children in the dark, forever without their guidance.
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