The destruction caused by the battle between Leon and the corrupted spirit was simply overwhelming, far beyond what had occurred during the previous expedition of the Loki Familia.
This time, the devastation was on another level. So much so that the Dungeon's legendary regenerative capabilities could no longer keep up.
From the moment the clash between the two began until now, the entire 21st floor had been utterly ravaged. The environment was in ruins, and the Dungeon, usually quick to heal its wounds, hadn't been able to restore even a fraction of the damage.
Not a single sign of recovery had appeared. And in a place like the Dungeon, that was nothing short of alarming.
In such a situation, it was inevitable, the Dungeon would not sit back and do nothing. It would respond.
Sooner or later, it would birth new, powerful enforcers, beings even stronger than before, to eliminate both the corrupted spirit… and Leon.
And when that time came, Leon might find himself standing alone, forced to fight both the corrupted spirit and the Dungeon's newly-spawned destroyers simultaneously.
That was the scenario Ouranos feared the most.
After all, no matter how powerful Leon was, he remained an adventurer. A living mortal.
In contrast, both the corrupted spirit and the Juggernaut the Dungeon might spawn were, by nature, monsters—creatures born of the Dungeon itself. And while they might not work in perfect harmony, there was no telling whether the Dungeon's next creations would choose to cooperate with the corrupted spirit… or even merge with it.
Leon could become the common enemy of all. Still, despite his worries, there was little Ouranos could do.
After a long moment of silent contemplation, he finally moved. With a flicker of divine will, Ouranos activated a tool only he had the authority to use.
The Divine Mirror.
This mysterious artifact consumed only a trace of divine power, so little that even the Dungeon wouldn't detect it. It was the sole means by which the gods could observe the lower world without disturbing the Dungeon's balance. That said, strict rules governed its use.
Even among gods, using it without permission was forbidden. Any god who did so would face swift retribution. So while the mirror was technically usable, few gods dared to invoke it.
And more importantly, they didn't want to. The gods of Orario found excitement in uncertainty. Watching the world unfold blindly, with no knowledge of what came next, was part of the game. Peeking behind the curtain with this artifact robbed the experience of its thrill. At least, that was the consensus among the divine.
So when Ouranos suddenly chose to break this unspoken tradition and activate the Mirror, the entire divine realm noticed.
The ripple of divine power that spread across Orario didn't go unnoticed. Gods turned their eyes toward the Pantheon in shock.
Even with the chaos of the artificial dungeon, no one had expected Ouranos to act.
This ancient god, who had spent decades enforcing the divine contract that forbade the use of Arcanum, had never once used the God's Mirror publicly. He was known for restraint and suppression.
And now?
He was watching something in the depths.
The gods were bewildered.
"The artificial labyrinth is in crisis, isn't it?" They murmured among themselves. "So why isn't he observing that?"
Instead of focusing on the man-made Dungeon, Ouranos's gaze was locked on something even deeper, something far beneath the artificial floors.
"What's happening down there…?"
On top of Orario's towering city wall, Hermes narrowed his eyes, staring toward the Pantheon.
"Ouranos… what's happening that made you break your silence and use it?" His tone was low, murmured under his breath.
Then, without hesitation, he snapped his fingers. A faint shimmer of divine light appeared in front of him—a Divine Mirror, conjured by his will and linked to the divine frequency that Ouranos had awakened.
He wasn't alone. Dozens of other gods, all just as curious, reached out with their divine senses. Using the signal that Ouranos had inadvertently released, they linked their own Divine Mirrors into the connection. Since Ouranos had already activated it, they could now piggyback off it with little consequence.
The next moment, a horrifying image burst to life across the divine mirrors.
"What… is this?" one god gasped.
The lake-like surface of the mirror was filled with swirling dust and blinding shockwaves. At first, the gods couldn't make out anything. Just chaos.
But as their divine focus sharpened, they began to glimpse two figures darting through the storm, blurs of motion colliding with catastrophic force.
Each clash sent tremors through the Dungeon, with shockwaves so intense they even reached the mirrors themselves.
"The Divine Mirror is shaking."
"This… this pressure is leaking through."
One by one, the gods felt it.
The divine tool, which wasn't meant for combat or contact, was being distorted by the sheer force of the battle. And as realization dawned, they shivered.
"This level of power… It's no less than what the Empress of the Hera familia or the captain of the Zeus familia wielded back in their prime…"
Hermes' pupils narrowed, memories flashing in his mind.
The twin pillars of the past—Hera's strongest, the Empress, and Zeus' Maxim. Back then, they had stood atop the world. Their strength had nearly reached divinity. Their auras were strong enough to interfere with the Divine Mirror.
And now, more than ten years later… Hermes was feeling it again.
"Just how far has this battle escalated…?"
He gritted his teeth, then manipulated the mirror further, pushing its power to the limit.
As the swirling images cleared, he saw them. Two figures locked in deadly combat, light clashing against corruption.
Hermes' eyes widened.
"This is…!!!"
Meanwhile, in the lavish halls of Folkvangr, another god sat watching with gleaming eyes.
Freya.
The moment her mirror came to life, her lips curled in delight. She recognized one of the figures instantly.
"Leon… my beautiful Leon…"
Her voice was barely a whisper, a moan laced with rapture.
She caressed her neck slowly, her cheeks flushed. "Truly… you're magnificent…"
Unlike Hermes, she didn't need to zoom in to know. That radiance, that strength, that storm of controlled destruction, it could only be him.
Her Odr had grown again, taken another step closer to perfection.
Other gods, too, watched in reverent silence.
The gods who had descended before the fall of the Zeus and Hera Familias… those who had witnessed the golden era firsthand…
They understood exactly what they were seeing and understanding made it all the more shocking.
The Divine Mirror had always been unshakable, untouched by the tides of the mortal world but now it quaked. Just as it had when the strongest of the old generation shook the heavens.
The gods all drew in sharp breaths.