RISE OF EROS

His words were sharp and disrespectful, which frightened many, for while they thought like him, it didn't change the fact that Crhono was still an existence they couldn't afford to offend. They were convinced that Sereda was only trying to save Crhono's reputation by saying that the beast's body in front of them wasn't the beast itself.

Some even ridiculed Crhono and Sereda for the shameless act, but they didn't dare say so out loud, for they were still afraid. It was true that Crhono hadn't been able to eliminate the beast like the Lightning Wielder and the other demigods had, but they didn't dare go against him.

Just because they had accomplished something Crhono couldn't, that didn't mean they were stronger than Crhono, so everyone paled when the Lightning Wielder said those words, for he was disrespecting them.

Surprisingly, Crhono wasn't angry, and neither was Sereda. To them, the reputation that everyone thought he was protecting was supposedly damaged, and it didn't really exist in the first place.

In fact, Crhono would be the first to reward the Lightning Wielder and the others if they had actually killed the beast, as he considered it a threat and didn't care who eliminated it, as long as it was erased from this world.

Ignoring everyone, Crhono approached Sereda and asked, "Are you sure? From what I see, it really does look like the beast," but Sereda replied, "That's why I said they managed to seriously injure it."

Pausing, Sereda let out a sigh and explained, "The beast used a strange technique to leave a clone, which is what this body is. However, this body is a piece of its flesh and life, which is why it's so convincing."

"Why do you think that?" Crhono continued, and Sereda replied, "Because this body proves it never had a soul. It's a piece of flesh torn from the main body, so it was always an inert object."

"However, she was so injured, she could only resort to this method. That means she was on the verge of death, or at least certain she would die if she didn't escape, right?" Crhono continued his questioning.

"That's correct. They really were close. I can only think they were careless for a second when they saw her on the brink of what seemed like death, and the beast escaped with its strange technique," ​​Sereda replied.

"Is this an act?" everyone present wondered, for it didn't seem like it. At first, they thought Crhono and Sereda were just pretending, but after hearing their conversation and expressions, they could no longer believe that.

Even the Lightning Wielder no longer dared to claim that this was a show to save face. Although hesitant, he gathered his courage and asked, "So you're saying it got away from us?"

Sereda looked at the Lightning Wielder and instead of answering, asked, "Was there a moment when you thought you'd won and took your eyes off the beast? Just a second would be enough. Did something like that happen?"

Not only the Lightning Wielder, but the other demigods who accompanied him on this expedition looked at each other and thought about the events of that night. Then, as if the same memory came to them all at once, they panicked. Although they weren't entirely convinced by Sereda's words, there was one thing she was right about that made them doubt.

When the beast seemed to be dying, they all took their eyes off it to cheer and briefly celebrate their victory. At that moment, the beast was dying, and the next second, it was dead.

While that didn't seem abnormal, it was strange that the beast had lost all its vitality in such a short time, so they immediately understood that Sereda might be right. Crhono also noticed that they seemed to have realized this and quickly asked, "Where did you fight? Maybe it's still nearby and weak; it would be good to finish the job."

Although reluctant, the demigods couldn't get the thought out of their heads that they might have failed. Not only was it the humiliation of being mocked after claiming to have slain the beast, but the destruction the beast could bring in the future was massive.

Although the Lightning Wielder and the other demigods seemed arrogant and proud, they weren't actually bad people. Like all demigods, they had their pride and egos, but that didn't cloud their judgment.

They preferred the beast to be eliminated and no more lives lost, so, without wasting time, they flew off at top speed, followed by Crhono and Sereda, to where they had fought the beast.

They soon arrived at the scene, but all they could see was a battle-ravaged area and nothing else. Since they had no way of detecting the beast, it was a difficult search that ended with no results. The Lightning Bearer and the other demigods now wore bitter expressions.

Although Sereda's theory hadn't been proven, they somehow knew it was true. That wasn't what bothered them; rather, they had already announced to the world that they had slain the beast, and if it appeared again in the future, they would be branded as liars, something they didn't deserve.

While it was true that they enjoyed the reputation of achieving something that not even Crhono could, they didn't want to be called wrong or be branded as liars in the future. In the end, they fought and won, but at the last moment, they got careless. Crhono could understand their thoughts and didn't intend to make things difficult for them.

Why reveal their failure to the world when they could make them allies? That was Crhono's thinking. Fortunately, the people who had been there before Sereda rendered his verdict were the demigods involved in the battle and their closest relatives.

That's why no one knew they had failed. Not even the kings and queens who had asked for their help knew, so there were ways to handle this situation without damaging anyone's reputation.

Crhono immediately proposed a solution. First, they would continue spreading the news that the beast had been killed, which Crhono had just confirmed and even thanked and rewarded them for the feat.

However, they would also spread the news, which, unfortunately, Crhono also told them was not the beast he had fought before, so, with regret, they had to say there was more than one beast, which was a catastrophe.

Certainly, many would not believe this, thinking it was just an excuse to spare Crhono's reputation, but the Lightning Bearer and the others must assure them that they believed Crhono's words.

The reason is simple. In the future, the beast will appear again, and at that moment, everyone will remember this and not call them liars. The Lightning Bearer and his companions were surprised by Crhono's proposal.

In fact, they were happy, as this would maintain their prestige, and although Crhono's reputation would be slightly negatively affected, it wouldn't be too much, and in the future, this would be corrected when the beast appeared.

Furthermore, only Sereda had the ability to see through the beast's body, even though it was a clone, so they could confidently expose the beast's body, proving that they had killed it. Thanks to this, Crhono recruited four other powerful demigods into his alliance, and they were grateful.

Furthermore, these demigods' feat wasn't entirely a failure. Since they forced the beast to use part of its body to create this clone, it is vital research material. What poses the greatest threat to the beast is its inability to be tracked.

However, now that they had a piece of it, Sereda and the arcanists of Naraeth could find a way to track it, or at least sense it, and if they succeeded, it would be very easy to deal with.

With this agreed upon, Crhono went out to the public and grandly congratulated the Lightning Bearer and the other demigods, but as they had planned, he said that the beast he had faced was different.

Just as they had expected, the people believed Crhono was justifying his failure to let it escape twice, but the Lightning Bearer and the other demigods who had "killed" the beast did their part.

They said they believed Crhono and even presented facts about the differences between the two beasts, creating the illusion that they were different beasts. All of this had been planned before, but not everyone believed it.

Still, things had already been done; they just had to wait for the future. With that, they showed the body of the beast clone to prove it was real and then left. Crhono and Sereda took the body of the beast clone, wanting to see if they could use it to track the real beast.

When the king and queen asked to see the dead beast, the Lightning Bearer and the others simply said that Crhono and Sereda had taken it. They explained that they wanted to use it to see if they could track the other beast, something that confused the kings.

They, like many who were present when the results were announced, didn't believe there was another beast. Even so, the Lightning Bearer and the others stuck to the plan and assured all the kings and queens they met that another beast was real.

They even lied, saying that they had discussed the characteristics and abilities of the beast Crhono had faced, and that they were very different from the one they had slain. Even though it was all made up, it seemed very real. Besides, the word of a demigod was trustworthy, and if it came from several, it was even more convincing.

Despite everything, the kings and queens still didn't trust it, but that didn't matter; the important thing was to convey that there was another beast, because when the beast reappeared, everyone would believe what they had previously dismissed as lies, and then the lies would become truth.