POINT OF VIEW: DYLAN
Monday, November 7, 2028.
Carlasco = Around 10.30 A.M
Greece = Around 07.30 P.M
Orkney Island = Around 05.30 P.M
When Dylan and Hera arrived at the front gate, the situation was already like an outdoor court hall. There was one long judge table occupied by Athena, Artemis, Apollo and Hephaestus, one wooden chair occupied by William, and one marble bench occupied by Nike. Hera went straight to the middle judge chair, while Dylan sat next to Nike. "Are we judging him?"
"Of course not. He's sitting there to elaborate the plea details."
"Ah, I see," Dylan responded. "When will he start?"
"We're still waiting for Heracles," Nike said as she looked over her shoulder. "Ah, speak of the devil, he's coming now."
Dylan looked over his shoulder too. Instantly he was bewildered, as Heracles was carrying a plinth and a torch. "Why is he bringing those?" he asked as he looked at Nike.
"It's the Plinth and Torch of Aletheia," Nike said. "It's some kind of ancient lie detector."
"Ancient lie detector?"
"Aletheia is the goddess of truth," Nike said. "She made this tool to figure out any type of lies."
"It can tell you someone's lying?" Dylan asked incredulously, at the same time he eyed Heracles who just arrived at the court.
"It can," Nike said, she also eyed Heracles who was setting up the plinth at William's right side. "But be noted, it cannot tell you the lies you make."
"It would be great already if it can tell someone's lying," Dylan said.
Heracles lit up the torch. Surprisingly, the flame color was white. William seemed to be surprised too, as his eyes were glued to the white flame. When it finally roared on the plinth, Heracles faced William and said, "You should not tell even a single lie."
William only nodded. After Heracles sat next to Dylan, Athena stood up and said, "You may start now."
"O ... okay," William said. He then cleared his throat. "So ... after I resign ... ,".
The flame suddenly turned pitch black, astonishing Dylan; most likely also astonishing William.
"Tell not even a single lie, William Phillips," Athena reminded. As the real plinths with the normal orange flame were not so close to the judge's table, Athena's darkened expression became more intimidating.
William quickly nodded. "After ... ," he paused momentarily. "I got kicked by Tiny Tech BOD ... ,".
The flame turned into the white flame again. It made Dylan realize that the rumor of William Phillips not resigning on his accord, but instead getting fired by his own company, was actually true.
"I was deeply humiliated and frustrated ... ," William continued. "But as the BOD has warned me not to let the public know about the truth, I can only express my frustration by drinking every night, in my own house."
"All I know is you enjoy your life after resignation," Heracles said. "Is everything a lie?"
"It is," William said as he dropped his head. After sighing deeply, he looked back at the front. "One day I no longer care about their warning. I decided to just drive out in the middle of the night and enjoy drinking in random bars. As a result, I experienced a terrible accident due to drunk driving."
"Terrible accident due to drunk driving?" Dylan responded. "What I knew from your accident was that your car got hit by a sleepy truck driver."
"Everything has been manipulated," William said as he looked over his shoulder. As the Flame of Aletheia did not turn black, he obviously spoke the truth about the manipulation. "Suddenly I was floating amongst the clouds," he continued as he shifted his focus to the front. "I felt peace at that moment. The humiliation and frustration no longer bothered me," he paused. "But then after what seemed to be an eternity, I heard a voice telling me to go back. While I was wondering who he was, a great force suddenly pulled me back. Before long, I was already awake on my hospital bed."
"The Near Death Experience," Nike muttered.
"I wanted to go to that place again," William said. "But I didn't want to die first, so I looked for another way. Weeks of searching then led me to a man named Tobias Martin. He's a scientist claiming to believe that our world consists of many realms. He promised that if I'm willing to fund his project, he will open the door to that place. I'm skeptical of his theory, but I ended up funding his project."
"This Tobias then accidentally opened the realm Kolaseos, and Echkarat came out from it," Apollo said. "Did I guess it correctly?"
"Yes, god Apollo."
"I came out two months before Athena and the others," Hephaestus said. "That means you have tried opening it two months before Echkarat appeared, haven't you?"
"Yes, Har... I mean... god Hephaestus," William said. "But... at that time... I have no idea if the world we found is Kolaseos," he paused momentarily. "I mean... I thought we've successfully located the realm I've been searching for. That's why I ordered Tobias to open it by all means."
"What happened after you told him to open it by all means?" Hephaestus asked.
"Tobias channeled more power to the locked world, as he believed it would crack open the realm," William said. "The result we got was nothing but a damaged machine."
Hephaestus nodded a few times; he also folded his arms before his chest. "So apparently Tobias managed to crack open Kolaseos in the parts that you didn't know."
"Yes, it would appear so."
"And on the next trial, you finally opened the portal in your place," Hephaestus said; he then looked toward Athena. "And the portal where Athena got out might also be the result of this next trial."
"For the first point, you guessed it right," William said. "But for the second point, I don't dare to say anything about it."
"What did Echkarat want?" Athena asked; she leaned forward with her left arm placed on the table.
"He wanted to exact his vengeance against humans," William said. "I didn't understand what he meant, but he said that it was humans who made him thrown into Kolaseos."
"The humans losing their faith was indeed the cause why most of us were dumped into Kolaseos," Hera said. "But I truly never heard the name Echkarat. Have any of you ever heard about this god?" she asked as she glanced at the left and right.
"Never," Athena and the rest responded as they shook their heads.
"How did he want to exact his vengeance?" Apollo asked.
"He wanted to make all humans wander in Kolaseos," William said, instantly surprising Dylan, and apparently the others too. "In order to achieve the goal, he needed the power of other gods and monsters. He ordered me to do anything to lure out more of them from Kolaseos. But because he later sensed there were a few gods and monsters wandering nearby, he also commanded me to find them. To aid me, he summoned some Draugrs from Kolaseos, and he handed me control over them."
"Hmm ... ," Hephaestus mumbled. "He summoned some Draugrs from Kolaseos?"
"Yes," William nodded. "He said he was their creator, hence he could command them as long as he's outside Kolaseos."
"Did he also create the monstrous dog and the other monster?" Hephaestus asked.
"The dog is Freybug from Medieval English Folklore, and the other monster is Spriggan from Cornish Mythology," William said. "Echkarat didn't create them, but it seems they were following the Draugrs when they were being summoned. After Echkarat managed to control the Freybugs and Spriggans, he then multiplied them, just like he did to the Draugrs."
"No wonder there were lots of these monsters," Athena said.
"How did you know about Medusa?" Hephaestus asked. "And whom have you taken beside her?"
"One of my men spotted Medusa petrifying a rabies dog," William said. "And besides her, I've taken goddess Lethe with me."
"So instead of instinctively going to an underworld, she was held captive by you," Athena said. "How did you find her?"
"She suddenly crossed the street and I ... ," William left his words hanging. "... accidentally hit her,".
Athena sighed. "If not because of Echkarat, I would have sentenced you to death."
"Did you kidnap Hermes too?" Hephaestus asked.
"No," William quickly shook his head.
"How was Talaria's severed wing in your possession?" Hephaestus asked.
"One of the Draugrs somehow carried the shoe," William said. "Echkarat told me it belonged to god Hermes, and I might be able to harness its power later."
Hephaestus nodded, but said nothing.
Athena suddenly rose to her feet. "We're going to prepare now," she said. "And William, you shall show the place and come with us. I know you're a sweet and smart talker, as you managed to establish a large company. If I see you have any tricks that put us in a disadvantageous position, I will kill you."
Artemis also got up. "And if you run away, I will shoot your head with my arrow," she said. "Be warned, I hardly ever miss my target."
William nodded repeatedly and quickly.
"Dylan," Athena called, at the same time she left the judge table and approached Dylan. "Things will surely get messy in the battle site. So you have to suit up for your own protection."
"I'll lend him my Nemean Lion suit," Heracles said. The suit then materialized in his hands, and he manipulated it into something like a navy rain jacket with pants. "You can wear it now," he said as he handed the suit. "And you can also pull the hoodie zipper to cover your entire face."
Dylan grabbed and unfurled the rain jacket. The suit that used to be the skin of a real lion had now resembled the common rain jacket sold in many supermarkets, including in Konishi Convenience Store. Even after wearing it, he did not feel any difference with the rain jacket he had. Heracles then asked him to jump, walk and run. After ensuring that the suit did not significantly limit his movement, everyone promptly gathered in front of the front post.
"We're going to deal with the human soldiers first," Athena said. "But we shouldn't kill them. So either we lightly punch or kick them, or we release our inner energy."
"I really miss the moment when we can simply lay waste to the heinous human soldiers," Artemis said.
"There will be plenty of monsters that can be their substitutes," Athena said. "Anyway, we also shouldn't forget to put the sphere piece into their head, and destroy their phones and all CCTV's. This way, we'll minimize the possibility that the public and law enforcement will spot us."
"I'll carve the sphere," Nike offered.
"Thank you," Athena said as she summoned the sphere and handed it to Nike. Everyone then walked back to William. "Show us the map of your place, where you assign your human guards, and the CCTV locations."
"CCTV locations?" William responded confusedly.
"We've got to remove all evidence."
"Ah, I see," William said. Taking out his tablet, he showed every map of the place and explained every detail, including the guards placement and the exact location of the CCTVs. What instantly bewildered Dylan was the fact that Echkarat and Kolaseos portal were accessible through the door with the label 'Maintenance'. Apparently Nike, Heracles and Hephaestus were also baffled. "This mysterious god and the portal are behind a storage room?" Heracles incredulously asked.
"You can go there through the maintenance room," William repeated his earlier instruction. "There's a lid that will lead you to the basement. It's a parking lot when the warehouse was still in operation."
"Operation?" Heracles responded.
"When it's still being used by Tiny Tech in the first few years," William clarified. "Eleven years ago I personally purchased the building, as my company no longer used it."
"I see," Heracles responded.
"Apollo, Artemis," Athena called. "While stopping the guards, could you also focus on destroying the CCTVs and phones?"
"We can," Apollo said.
"Heracles, Hephaestus," Athena called. "Could you focus more on punching or releasing inner energy?"
"Definitely we can," Heracles said.
"As for me and Nike, we will focus more on placing the sphere piece and destroying other evidence," Athena said. "I will also protect Dylan, from the very start to when he has to shut the portal."
William quickly raised his head and looked at Dylan. "This man can shut the portal?"
"This man is Dylan," Athena said. "And yes, he can shut the portal to Kolaseos."
"Unbelievable," William said, he looked in awe at Dylan. "Tobias always tried to shut the portals, but he kept failing," he then looked back at everyone. "In the end, Echkarat caught him red handed, and he was instantly obliterated."
"I won't let the same thing happen to you, Dylan," Athena assured Dylan. "I'll pro – ".
"I'll protect Dylan with you," Hera suddenly interrupted, instantly surprising everyone. "I reckon you'll need more hands to assist him during the shutting process."
"You don't have to, Hera," Athena said.
"It's my absolute order to let me protect him," Hera said. "Besides, don't you forget that in here, I'm the first goddess to ever join a war. Without me and the other five, Olympus will never exist."
Hephaestus, Heracles and Nike nodded a few times.
"I'll count on you then, Hera," Athena said. She then looked at everyone. "Now let's consume Ambrosia and Nectar first. After that, we'll prepare for the battle against Echkarat."