"What now?" Apollo growled, the look on Ishtar's face said it all; he now doesn't have power to go against them. All he could do now is to go along with their plans. He realized he had now become a pawn for them to use.

Yet his pride won't allow that. "Huh? What now? Do you really think I'll take this lying down?" He grabbed Ishtar by her hand, gripping it tightly enough for it to be painful. "If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me. I'm gonna tell everyone here that you're a member of Evilus."

Ishtar smirked; she then chuckled and pulled her hand out of Apollo's grasp. "Like I said, Apollo, we did what you asked. We gave Hyakinthos the power to rival, even surpass August... His death is necessary for him to achieve the full potential of Erebus' creation."

Apollo paused, his eyes asking a magnitude of questions. He opened his mouth to speak, yet Ishtar used her index finger to shush him up. "You don't want to miss this part."

Apollo gulped; he felt a sense of dread filling up his soul. "What is Evilus planning?" he asked.

"Well... Let's just say things are moving according to schedule." As soon as Ishtar uttered those words, the mirror which showed what was happening on the wargames suddenly cracked.

Slowly, the crack moved towards the edge of the mirror, filling the whole thing up. The gods all rose from their seats; confusion which turned to anger could be felt from them.

Their voices started to echo all throughout the room, voices of displeasure, confusion, and anger. The gods started to murmur amongst themselves, asking for an explanation on why the mirror cracked.

Hermes, who casted the spell, assured them that he didn't know anything about this, that this wasn't supposed to happen.

"HOW ABOUT THE OTHER MIRROR?!!" One of the gods quickly pointed out.

And then, like clockwork, the mirror shattered into pieces. Not just inside Babel; every mirror in the city that was used to watch the war games between Apollo familia and Heracles familia shattered, destroying the only device that allowed them to see what was happening.

Apollo gulped; just how much was he played by Evilus? How far is their reach? Questions started to form inside his head. He turned his attention towards Ishtar. "What did you do?"

Ishtar smirked; she then shrugged and took a large crystal ball out of her pocket. The crystal ball turned murky as it slowly showed the mountain where the wargames are taking place. "The plan."

Apollo's pride took a hit; he was not aware of the plan. All he knew is that the orb would give Hyakinthos power to rival... No, to downright kill August. He saw the stats when he updated Hyakinthos' status, and seeing it made him believe that was always the plan. Yet now, he learned that he was only a pawn to the real plan of Evilus.

He felt used; he wanted to scream in anger, yet he was afraid. Afraid because of the show of influence Evilus had demonstrated. The mirrors were but an example; how they did it he does not know. All he knows is that if they were able to reach Babel, then they could reach him as well.

He watched with bated breath as the crystal ball slowly became clearer, showing what is happening in the ongoing war games. And his eyes widened when he saw a black flame erupting out of Hyakinthos' severed neck.

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-Back at the wargames

August turned around, walking away from the lifeless body of Hyakinthos; he felt nothing when he killed him. Honestly, it was disappointing... He expected so much more, especially after the fact that he was able to catch his spear when he threw it at Apollo familia a few days ago.

He thought he could go all out, but expectations are often far from what reality truly is.

Suddenly, the spear in his hand started to vibrate; his instincts screamed at the same time, ringing alarm bells all over his head.

He quickly snapped into fight mode, gripping Beowulf with all his might, he jumped forward while turning his body mid-air, creating as much of a distance away from that sinister feeling he felt.

The air was filled with a powerful and violent magic, brimming with dark intention, hate, and killing intent. And he could feel it all, directed towards him and him alone.

It felt suffocating, like something was pushing him down to the ground, sending chills all over his body.

His eyes widened when he saw the corpse of Hyakinthos; it was the epicenter of the sinister magic. Black miasma-like flames erupted, and he could feel the heat emanating from his body.

The flames danced around, slowly forming a tendril of black, disgusting-looking flames that protruded from his neck and slowly attached itself to his head.

August watched with bated breath as the head was slowly pulled back towards the body, witnessing Hyakinthos' lifeless corpse rising up awkwardly, like a puppet being pulled up by strings.

He heard the crackling of the black flame as it enveloped Hyakinthos' body, his wounds closing until it looked like they weren't even there in the first place.

August wasn't sure how this was possible; he had made sure of Hyakinthos' death, and that strike was lethal no matter how you looked at it. His mind raced, forming countless theories until it landed on one. One he had suspected right from the start.

It explained how Hyakinthos was able to climb towards level 6 despite being a level three. And that magic, that sinister magic, the sensation it gave.

It felt familiar; he had sensed it before. Although weaker, it didn't change the fact that the magic was the same.

"As I thought," he muttered. He willed his mana to rise as red lightning started to coil all over his body. "Apollo, you fucking idiot."

His mind quickly jumped to one answer... And that answer is... Evilus.

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***

Chapter 137 is now complete. How are you all enjoying the story so far?

Would you look at that, I was able to upload one on time, hurray me.

Same deal as before, I may ne busy and won't be consistent with the upload at the moment but I'll do my best to try and put out chapters at intended time.

Btw, if you haven't yet, please check out my other work. *Avatar: the Journey of Kai* if you have any time. I really would appreciate it. (Webnovel only. If I have enough chapter for a mass release, I'll also be releasing it at Wattpad.)

Anyway...

Please leave a comment, review, and feedback to help me improve this fanfic. Every little thing helps me understand your preferences and will contribute to writing a better fanfic for you all to enjoy.

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Have a good day, everyone. Love y'all.

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