Ch.135135. Betrayer (1)

How long has it been since my contracted dragon, Ben Gaitonpeng, ascended to the administrative throne and enthusiastically transformed into an administrative-slave?

Time passed much faster than I perceived, and during that interval, several sporadic skirmishes occurred between the Evil Gods and the Pantheon.

In a few days, the 3rd Evil Gods’ Council was scheduled to begin.

There was much to discuss—from post-evaluation of the successfully completed declaration of war to preparations for conquering the Holy City in time for the upcoming birth of “Pleasure.” The importance of this council meeting needed no explanation.

And while I was running simulations for the Evil Gods’ Council…

By chance, pure chance.

A small yet deeply rooted question seeped into my mind.

It concerned the previous attack on Elandia for the declaration of war. Specifically, how the “Celestial Champion,” a high-ranking servant of the Pantheon (old) who descended from the celestial realm—the domain of the Pantheon—had managed to manifest on earth.

Summoning high-ranking servants by believers was an extremely difficult task.

Even in the game, perhaps for balance reasons, the difficulty of summoning high-rank or above was considerably high. At best, one could reduce the cost beforehand through expensive items or sacrifices.

Skills that could simply summon a high-ranking being without any cost were highly valued, and classes possessing such skills were prioritized over others.

There were legitimate reasons for these phenomena.

Anyway, summoning high-ranking monsters was difficult in Dungeon & Adventure, and in this world where game mechanics were actively reflected, high-ranking summons came with many restrictions.

For example, to summon my Avatar of Vengeance without the help of a high-ranking priest or myself, extremely complex preparations were essential.

A geometric magic circle ten meters in diameter had to be drawn with believers’ blood, and ten priests had to recite prayers continuously for ten hours without rest.

Additionally, someone of at least mid-rank had to be “consumed” as a sacrifice for the Avatar of Vengeance to descend through.

Other methods required similar levels of effort, and summoning other high-ranking servants would likely follow a similar pattern.

But here’s the thing.

During the last attack, when the Avatar of Vengeance was summoned, how was it possible for the Celestial Champion to descend from the sky in response?

The first hypothesis that came to mind was that some Pantheon deity directly sent it down by consuming faith, but this was immediately rejected.

First, those greedy political parasites wouldn’t take a loss for others, and summoning a high-ranking servant using only faith without assistance would be an insane burden.

That amount of faith could produce over a hundred high-ranking servants, and maintaining the summoned being would require another massive amount of faith.

So this hypothesis was rejected within seconds, and a second hypothesis formed in my mind… but…

The idea that some passing high-ranking priest directly summoned it also seemed strange.

After rejecting this hypothesis, I finally considered the last possibility I’d been avoiding.

The final hypothesis was… that preparations had been made in advance.

Instead of a ritual, they used various symbols and architectural structures to treat the city as a quasi-magic circle, with the sacrifices of the old Pantheon believers substituting for the offering.

This hypothesis could explain everything.

Both how the Celestial Champion was summoned to earth and why the summoning wasn’t immediate but took time.

It was just a hypothesis, but my divine intuition and superintelligence told me there was a peculiar certainty hidden within it.

But if that were the case, another unavoidable question arose:

For such a summoning… wouldn’t they need to know the invasion location in advance?

A technique to detect sacrifices and trigger the summoning would be absolutely essential, as would restructuring the internal layout and engraving patterns to create a magic circle.

Therefore, I could only reach one conclusion—

《There is a spy among us.》

So, as soon as the council began.

I dropped this bombshell statement, bringing silence to the entire bizarre meeting hall.

※ ※ ※

An icy silence and strange tension enveloped the entire council chamber.

The atmosphere was so intense that a mortal present would instantly die from shock. All the deities looked around, stimulated by the tension.

This atmosphere was partly fueled by the anger of the Evil Gods attending the meeting, those who had suffered massive losses from the recent declaration of war, but…

The fundamental cause of this tension was that skull-cross-god who had dropped the bombshell and was now staring in all directions.

Ma-Duk. Leader of the Evil Gods’ Council. The unelected chief. The strongest Evil God.

Following the Evil God society’s principle of survival of the fittest, he was the tacit leader, and his gaze now seemed ready to devour anyone at any moment.

Those who weren’t among the Seven Great Evil Gods—the ordinary Evil Gods—viewed Ma-Duk with complex feelings.

Most harbored jealousy and envy, characteristic traits of Evil Gods. Some feared or revered him, and a tiny minority even showed fervent support.

But despite their varied feelings, they all internally agreed on one thing: Ma-Duk was the best leader for this Evil Gods’ Council.

He clearly named the Pantheon as the enemy, at least for his own benefit, and moved with certainty toward the future goal of eradicating the Pantheon.

His leadership style—presenting clear objectives, using violent methods when necessary, while leaving unimportant details to individual discretion—was ideal.

For beings who despised being controlled even by the strong and considered betrayal a virtue, Ma-Duk’s leadership style was, if not the best, at least the second-best option.

And so, these Evil Gods who valued lies, betrayal, and deception accepted without doubt Ma-Duk’s claim that there was a spy.

They trusted that Ma-Duk wouldn’t lie in this situation, while simultaneously believing that someone would eventually stab them in the back.

If it was proven that a spy was hiding among them…

They couldn’t help but wonder:

How had this spy managed to relay information about the declaration of war to the Pantheon?

Everyone present had sworn on their souls, fearing betrayal, including the seven Evil Gods sitting at the top.

If someone had intentionally or unintentionally conveyed information about the declaration of war, their soul would undoubtedly have been ■■■, meeting a miserable end.

However, since the number of Evil Gods attending this third council was the same as the second, the conclusion was that somehow, the traitor had circumvented the oath.

Momentarily, all the Evil Gods present had the same thought:

Discover how to bypass the soul oath, then use it to backstab others gloriously and fulfill their own grand plans.

Such fantasies flashed through their minds, but they quickly abandoned these absurd delusions.

《In case anyone is getting foolish ideas, let me tell you in advance. If someone backstabs us, I’ll dismantle them and distribute the pieces to the rest.》

When Ma-Duk spoke, wrapped in an intimidating aura, they all remembered the Minotaur god who had once been reduced to beef for being impudent.

《Now then… you are the traitor.》

And so, while others concealed their ambitions, Ma-Duk somehow pinpointed one god and made this declaration.

Of course, most Evil Gods didn’t seriously believe this but saw it as scapegoating. However, their assessment reversed upon hearing Ma-Duk’s next words.

《Son of Marcus, the War God of the Pantheon. Deimos. Did you think I wouldn’t know?》

The targeted individual was a handsome humanoid male god from some divine race.

A god with a modest brown cloak, striking reddish-brown hair and eyes.

When it was revealed that he was actually the son of one of the 12 main deities of the Pantheon and their spy, Deimos—who had been using an alias—chose to flee rather than make excuses—

Clank—Thud!

This action was tantamount to admitting his guilt. Ultimately, Deimos was captured by Ma-Duk’s iron chains, restrained like a slave.