Capítulo 44: "Chapter 44: Interrogation of Thanatos and Names of the Accomplices"
After Alex disappeared, off to invite Thanatos to visit their cozy home, the group of goddesses were left unsure of what to do and curious about the chair Alex had mentioned. Hephaestus, noticing their confusion, rubbed her forehead, baffled at how these ancient goddesses could behave so carelessly. Sighing, she asked them to follow her to the workshop, and the goddesses, eager to learn about the chair that had Hephaestus so agitated, followed her.
Upon reaching the workshop, Loki entered as if it were her own room and immediately began examining everything, since she hadn't had the chance to do so last time. Freya, upon entering the workshop, noticed Alex's workbench and the chair he usually sat in, and headed straight towards it. Hestia, seeing Loki inspecting and touching everything like a curious child, couldn't help but remark:
"Have you never seen anything like this before?" she asked disdainfully, looking at Loki.
"What did you say, shorty? Aren't you curious about what Alex makes here?" Loki snapped back.
"Loki, Alex usually only allows people to touch the weapons here. Don't even think about touching anything in the black boxes," Hephaestus said, trying to remember where Alex had stashed the chair. Loki, who was reaching for a black box with strange runes on it, stopped after hearing Hephaestus's words and turned to her.
"Why not? Aren't you curious about what's inside?" Loki asked, trying to tempt Hephaestus into opening the box.
"I repeat, you can touch anything except the black boxes. Even I don't know what's in them, and I don't want to know," Hephaestus replied, opening another cupboard.
"Why not?" Loki asked petulantly.
"Because Alex said those boxes contain emergency weapons. If given to an idiot, they'd cause more harm than good," Hephaestus answered, indirectly calling Loki an idiot.
"What are you implying? Do you think I'm that irresponsible?" Loki retorted.
"YES!" the goddesses in the workshop replied in unison, causing Loki to fall to her knees and cry.
While Loki cried, no one paid her any attention. Hestia walked over to a drawer, opened it, and took out some snacks that Alex had specifically left for her to keep her entertained while she stayed in the workshop with him. Freya sat at Alex's workbench, flipping through his journal, which contained notes on rune combinations and their uses. As she turned the pages, she saw various notes on armor and weapons until she stumbled upon a page that detailed possible ways to leave this universe.
Meanwhile, Hephaestus finally found the necessary drawer and pulled out an ordinary-looking chair covered in various runes. When Hephaestus retrieved the chair, all the goddesses in the workshop turned their attention to it.
"Hephaestus, what's with this chair, and why does it scare me so much?" Hestia asked, stopping her snacking and looking at the chair with fear.
"Alex made this chair specifically to deal with the gods who cause trouble," Hephaestus sighed, understanding Hestia's feelings, as she had been frightened by the chair when Alex first showed it to her.
"But what's wrong with this chair?" Loki asked, stopping her crying and staring at the chair with wide eyes.
"Simply put, this chair can cause various effects, including killing a god. As Alex said, these idiots need to suffer a bit," Hephaestus explained, knowing that Alex's "a bit" meant something entirely different.
"What do you mean by 'a bit'? And what do you mean by 'killing a god'?" Freya asked, distracted from her reading and looking at the chair.
"Alex didn't say much, but this chair can completely kill a god," Hephaestus replied, causing the other goddesses to shudder.
Hephaestus didn't know where to place the chair and, not wanting to touch it more than necessary, decided it would be best to put it in the center of the workshop. She began dragging it there, and Loki, not wanting to be near the chair, moved away. Approaching Hestia, Loki snatched her snacks, but to her surprise, Hestia didn't get angry—instead, she simply took another pack from the drawer and looked at Loki with a contemptuous smile. Loki wanted to start arguing with Hestia, but then the door to the workshop opened, and Alex entered, dragging Thanatos by the hair. Freya, seeing how Alex was handling the god, could only smile, admiring his ruthlessness towards his enemies.
Alex noticed everyone gathered and saw that Hephaestus had already brought out the chair. He dragged Thanatos to the chair and tied him up. The goddesses finally noticed the state Thanatos was in: a black eye and blood dripping from his nose elicited wry smiles from them.
"Looks like you're all having fun," Alex said as he tied Thanatos to the chair.
"What's in the black boxes?" Loki immediately asked, eager to satisfy her curiosity.
"Weapons," Alex answered shortly, not giving Loki a chance to ask another question. She pouted arrogantly and took out her frustration on the pack of snacks.
"Why is Thanatos in such a state?" Hephaestus asked, looking at the god, who looked like he had been in a bar fight.
"This bastard was tougher than I thought, so I hit him a few more times until he passed out," Alex replied, shrugging. Hephaestus sighed again.
Noticing this, Alex approached her and took her hand.
"Why are you sighing so heavily?" he asked.
"Don't you know?" Hephaestus asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Nope," Alex replied with a smile. Hephaestus was about to sigh again, but Alex silenced her with a kiss. She was caught off guard but decided to enjoy the moment and let go of her worries. Alex stepped back, smiling. Hephaestus, feeling the mischievous looks from the other goddesses, blushed and covered her face with her hands.
"Alright, my dear ones, our guest should feel at home and understand that he is safe," Alex said, causing the goddesses to roll their eyes. They wondered how someone who had been kidnapped could feel safe, looking at the beaten and bound Thanatos.
"Wake up, sunshine, it's morning, and you need to get up for school," Alex said, gently slapping Thanatos's cheeks to wake him. Loki, seeing this, couldn't contain her laughter and started laughing wildly, while the other goddesses watched with twitching lips, unable to understand Alex's mindset.
"Well, if the gentle approach isn't working, then it's time for something more drastic," Alex said, preparing to wake Thanatos with brute force.
"Can I? Can I? Please!" Loki shouted, running up to Alex and tugging on his arm, eager to take this chance for some fun. Alex looked at her, contemplating whether to let her do it. Seeing her pleading face, he gave in.
"Hooray! Thanks, I love you!" Loki cheered, jumping up and kissing Alex on the cheek.
Alex just looked at Loki, thinking about how cheaply her love could be bought. Loki glanced back, feeling that Alex was thinking something rude about her, and just stuck her tongue out at him. The goddesses were curious about how Loki planned to wake up Thanatos, who was unconscious. Loki, at that moment, was rummaging through her bag, pulling out various junk accumulated there—most of it empty alcohol bottles. Alex's face twitched at the amount of trash, and he began to regret giving her that bag. Finally, Loki found what she was looking for and pulled out a stun gun Alex had given her for protection against perverts. Alex realized how she intended to wake Thanatos and could only smile wryly, understanding what might follow.
With a wide grin, Loki approached Thanatos, ready to revive him. Hephaestus and Hestia began to understand why Alex got along so well with Loki and allowed her to cause some mischief—they were very similar.
"Thanatos, wake up!" Loki shouted, trying to wake the god with her voice. Seeing that it wasn't working, her smile widened even more.
"If you don't want it nicely, you'll get it harshly," Loki said in a righteous tone, as if she were punishing evil. Alex facepalmed, realizing that Loki had picked this up from him when he did something similar.
"And now it's time to wake up!" Loki yelled and zapped Thanatos with the stun gun right in the stomach.
"AAAAAAHHHH!" Thanatos screamed, coming to his senses after the shock.
"How dare you kidnap me, pathetic mortals! I am a god!" Thanatos yelled, not understanding the situation he was in.
"I will punish you all, no one can escape my wrath, pathetic mortals!" Thanatos continued to scream.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, now shut up," Loki said irritably and zapped Thanatos again. Thanatos, getting another dose of energy and positivity, realized it was best to be quiet. Looking around, he noticed he was in some kind of workshop and, seeing the goddesses, tensed up.
"What are you doing here?" Thanatos asked nervously, looking at the goddesses, who looked at him with disdain.
"You were brought here to answer a few questions," Freya said, standing up from her chair.
"What do you mean 'brought'? How can kidnapping be called an invitation?" Thanatos asked with a scowl, causing Hestia and Hephaestus to look at Alex with smiles as he had already taken on the appearance of a child.
"'Brought' means 'brought'! Why are you yelling? If you're innocent, just answer a few questions," Alex said, clicking his tongue and looking at the irritated Thanatos.
"It's you! You're the kid who was staring at me in the guild," Thanatos said, focusing on the child who had spoken.
"Correct, you've won the grand prize," Alex said, giving Thanatos a thumbs up. Thanatos's irritation grew even more from the child's words, who dared to joke with him.
"Do you know who I am? I am a god! You pathetic mortal don't know who you're dealing with!" Thanatos shouted.
Noticing that no one was paying him any attention, Thanatos began to yell even louder. While Thanatos was ranting about how great a god he was, Alex simply watched him with a blank expression, not understanding why this idiot was still shouting. Didn't Thanatos realize the situation he was in? Alex began to get annoyed until he felt himself being lifted up. Looking around, he saw Freya, who was watching him with flushed cheeks. Freya placed Alex on her lap and continued to watch Thanatos, who didn't want to stop shouting.
"Alright, this is getting old. Loki, please bring our guest to his senses so he starts understanding the situation he's in," Alex said in an irritated tone, asking Loki to zap the bound idiot again. Loki laughed and zapped Thanatos once more, who immediately fell silent.
"I see you've stopped yelling," Alex said disdainfully, looking at Thanatos, who had snot running from his nose due to the shock. "Now that you're quiet, I'll give you two choices: you either tell us everything yourself, or I'll use a very unpleasant method to extract the information from you," Alex said seriously, holding up two fingers. Seeing how serious Alex was in his child form, Freya squealed and hugged him tighter. Her thoughts wandered, and she began to fantasize about the future children she might have with Alex.
"Who are you to give me choices? Pathetic mortal, I command you to release me," Thanatos said haughtily.
"Loki, our guest is getting annoyed again. Give him another dose of electricity," Alex said, watching as Loki shocked Thanatos again.
"And now you'd better shut up, because if you keep shouting, I'll take away your choice and rip all your memories from your head. I won't care what happens to you afterward," Alex said in a voice that made everyone shiver, especially the goddesses who knew Alex. Freya, lost in her fantasies, snapped out of it and looked at Alex, whose face was twisted with anger.
"Listen up, you piece of shit. I won't say this twice: either you tell us everything about your group of half-villains, or I'll tear it all out of your head, and you can forget about returning to the realm of the gods," Alex said threateningly.
"What group? I don't understand what you're talking about," Thanatos said, trying not to reveal himself. Alex, true to his word, didn't repeat himself and immediately punched Thanatos in the face, knocking out a tooth.
"You can deny it as much as you want. But your minions have already spilled everything. It's only you left, who is part of this group," Alex said, looking at Thanatos, from whose mouth blood had started to flow. Thanatos, after receiving the punch, wanted to remove his Arcanum but realized he couldn't, and his eyes widened as he understood the situation he was in. But when Alex mentioned the minions, Thanatos's eyes filled with rage.
"It's you, bastard, who's thwarting our plans!" Thanatos screamed, wanting to tear apart the person in front of him.
"It's hard to say that I'm interfering with your plans. It's you idiots who are disrupting my peaceful life and keep throwing shit at the fan blowing toward my lazy life," Alex said, not taking Thanatos's anger seriously. "Unlike you, Savina left this world with a peaceful smile, and you can suffer a lot before I'm done with you," Alex continued, making Thanatos feel as though a bucket of cold water had been poured over him, and he began to fear for the first time.
"What are you talking about?" Thanatos asked cautiously.
"Savina didn't want to talk either, but you know magic is such a versatile thing that it can be used for various purposes," Alex said, aiming to clarify the situation. After his words, Thanatos felt a sense of fear, afraid of the child sitting on Freya's lap.
"You'll tell me everything, whether you like it or not. Whether you tell it peacefully or suffer before you do is up to you," Alex said, starting to lose patience.
Alex watched Thanatos, who was unwilling to talk, and thought that this asshole needed some stimulation to start speaking. He looked at Hestia and Hephaestus, asking if they wanted to leave, as what was about to happen might not be to their liking. Hestia shook her head negatively, indicating that she would stay until the end. Hephaestus simply said she would stay. Alex sighed wearily, realizing that this might be mentally traumatic for them, and decided he would find a way to calm them down later if needed. He jumped down from Freya's lap and walked toward Thanatos, who felt that if he didn't break free now, his fate would be terrible, and it would be the child's fault.
Alex noticed Thanatos's desperate attempt to break free but ignored it, approached the chair, and began to look Thanatos in the eyes. Thanatos started putting in more effort, trying to escape, as his intuition warned him of something terrible coming.
"You knew that the girls in my family see me as a hero in the literal sense," Alex said, placing his hand on the chair. Thanatos stopped his attempts to break free and looked at the child who began speaking to him. He couldn't understand what this child was getting at.
"But the problem is, I'm not a hero. I'm very selfish and greedy. I have no desire to save everyone around me because I understand that it's impossible to save everyone. There will always be people in the world who want to cause harm to others. Gods are the same. Like you, for example, you do evil just because you see yourself as evil and all that. And I know there are many like you. Even if I kill all of you, people will still suffer from other things. And I've decided that it's better to deal with threats like you, who want only chaos and fun," Alex said, looking at Thanatos, who was lost in his thoughts.
"And so what, I see myself as a villain? Do you fancy yourself a hero? Want to save everyone? Pathetic mortal," Thanatos said, looking at Alex, who only shook his head.
"I've never considered myself a hero or a savior. I just want to live a peaceful life with my loved ones. A person like me can't be a hero," Alex said, looking at Thanatos, who continued to glare at him with malice.
"And do you know why?" Alex asked Thanatos, who couldn't understand why the child in front of him was asking such a question.
"It's because the Demon King can't be a hero. A hero is someone who brings the light of hope. I bring destruction and death to my enemies," Alex said, and his eyes turned malevolent, making Thanatos break out in a cold sweat.
"And you'll understand that you shouldn't have come down to the human world and done whatever you pleased," Alex said, activating the chair.
"AAAAA!" Thanatos began to scream, feeling a pain he had never experienced in his life. He felt as though he was being torn apart from the inside, the pain was such that it felt like his soul was being ripped apart piece by piece.
Alex immediately silenced Thanatos's screams and went back to sit on Freya's lap. The goddesses didn't understand why Thanatos was writhing in pain. If they had looked closer, they would have noticed that Thanatos's body was disintegrating into small pieces and then coming back together. Alex didn't want his kind goddess Hestia to suffer from the sounds of Thanatos's suffering, so he silenced them so she wouldn't hear him going through the cycle of disintegration and healing. Loki wanted to move closer to watch, but Alex stopped her.
"What's happening to him that he's writhing in such pain?" Loki asked, looking at Alex, who was fixedly watching Thanatos.
"His body and soul are going through an endless cycle of destruction and healing. The pain he's feeling now is beyond anything you can imagine," Alex replied, not taking his eyes off the suffering god.
"From what you've said, you could have just extracted the memories from Thanatos's mind. Why make him go through this experience?" Hephaestus asked, frowning and looking at Alex.
"He deserves it; it's the consequence of his choices," Alex answered.
"If I hadn't interfered with their plans, they would have already caused chaos. Think of how many innocent lives would be lost just because they want to have fun," Alex said, looking at Hephaestus, who didn't know what to say.
"This is just the beginning of his suffering. Soon his cronies will join him. Ereb will suffer the most, but I can't scare him off just yet. I want to find out who's pulling the strings in this situation and who this behind-the-scenes villain is, helping this group of assholes," Alex said, his eyes glowing with the desire to beat these gods to death.
Hestia could only frown but did not stop Alex. She understood that not always can a hero solve all problems; sometimes, an even greater evil is needed to deal with another evil. Hestia shook her head, pushing away thoughts that Alex might be a villain. She reassured herself that he was acting with good intentions, though his methods were more radical. She looked at Alex with worried eyes, afraid he might stray onto the wrong path, and vowed to herself to prevent it.
"I think that's enough for now. He's already tried the trial version of my product," Alex said, approaching the chair and deactivating it. Thanatos felt the pain recede and began to breathe heavily, trying to compose himself. The pain he had just experienced still echoed in his body and soul like an endless echo.
"Are you ready to talk now?" Alex asked, looking at Thanatos, who was breathing heavily and had vacant eyes.
"Seems like he's broken?" Freya said with a sweet smile. She had been silent all this time because she didn't care about these gods. She was already ready to kill them herself because these bastards were ruining her future life with Alex, which was supposed to be filled with adventures in other worlds.
"If he doesn't respond, will you just rip his memories out?" Hestia asked, trying not to look at Thanatos, who seemed to be dying countless times.
"Apparently, yes. This bastard has become completely useless," Alex said, showing no regret for what he had done to Thanatos. Placing his hand on Thanatos's head, Alex began reading his memories, and the more he saw, the more he frowned. The information Thanatos had was half useless, but one memory made Alex even more irritated, as it indirectly hinted that there was a being helping them. Finally, having learned the names of the accomplices, Alex began thinking about how to prevent them from scattering like rats.
"Did you find out anything useful?" Freya asked, looking at Alex, who was deep in thought after removing his hand from Thanatos's head, from which blood was now pouring from his eyes, ears, and nose.
"Firstly, there is indeed someone helping them, hiding behind the scenes, and I also learned the names of his accomplices," Alex said, turning to the goddesses.
"And who are these gods?" Hephaestus asked, frowning at Alex's words.
"They are Dionysus, Nyx, and Indra. And Thanatos doesn't know who is helping them. For that, we need to capture Erebus, but I'm afraid of scaring off the bigger fish," Alex said, listing the names of the gods, causing the goddesses to tense up.
"You're saying Dionysus is also part of this group?" Loki asked.
"Yeah. According to Thanatos's memories, Dionysus is quite the hypocritical creature," Alex said with a scowl.
"So what do we do next?" Hephaestus asked, wanting to know the plan.
"I'll create a couple of trinkets to give to Loki's family to place in the dungeon. This way, I can track the monsters that mutate due to these crystals. And just in case, I'll ask Allen to set up similar devices around the city. Erebus has become more irritable and unbalanced lately," Alex said, outlining his plan.
"You want to catch them one by one, so Erebus makes a mistake and reveals himself?" Freya asked, trying to guess Alex's plan. Hearing her words, he turned to her with a surprised look.
"You guessed it. I want to catch them one by one so that Erebus will rush his plans and make a mistake," Alex said, giving her a thumbs up. Freya only smiled sweetly, proudly looking at the other goddesses, who grimaced at her actions.
The group began discussing future plans regarding Erebus and the being pulling the strings.
To be continued...
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
GreedHunter
GreedHunter Yesterday, I was reading some random MTL where, as usual, they praised Chinese culture and their music, so I thought, why not listen to their popular songs? And when I started listening, it felt like goats were screaming in my ears, and I swore never to touch that crap again. As for the chapter, I think we’re starting to approach the final stretch in the Danmachi arc. Enjoy the read!
(And you shook me all night long
Yeah, you shook me all night long
And knocked me out, I said you shook me all night long
You had me shaking and you shook me all night long
Yeah, you shook me
Well, you took me)
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