Chapter 510 - 513: The Cause of Everything Begins with a Dog

The old-fashioned hall carried a faint woody fragrance.

The fireplace built from stacked stone bricks crackled with bright flames, constantly spreading warmth throughout the entire room.

The thick fur carpet reflected a deep red glow under the firelight.

Following the soft light, the red candle flame danced on the brown leather sofa.

In the center of the hall, two women sat elegantly on the sofa.

Beside the sofa, a mysterious elf with pointed ears stood quietly.

The door gently opened, and a maid lightly stepped inside. Carrying a tray, she came to the wooden table in front of the two women.

She skillfully poured tea for the two of them and placed the steaming tea before them.

Then she picked up the tray and quietly turned to leave.

Liya sat to the side, feeling the warmth, but her gaze remained firmly fixed on Zora in front of her.

"Tell me everything you know."

Zora took a small sip of tea and set down the cup.

She let out a breath of warm air, and her expression became extremely serious.

"Although I call Leopold my father, there is no blood relation between us."

This could already be seen from the situation of the Lesser family.

Neither Jace Lesser nor the deceased Devon Lesser was Leopold's biological child.

Because gods could not mate with humans and give birth to children.

They could not truly come into contact with humans in the first place. There was no bond connecting them, so having children was even more impossible.

Hearing this, Liya crossed her arms, her brows tightly furrowed, her heart filled with confusion.

"So you're saying that your god established a family in the Empire, only to end up raising two children for someone else?"

How funny. Liya had never expected that after all this, Jace Lesser had actually become "someone else's child."

This gave Liya a sense of satisfaction, as though she had finally gotten revenge for a great grievance.

After all, she had almost become engaged to the First Prince, and everything had been connected to Jace Lesser.

And now, the two children of the Lesser family.

One was dead, while the other was staying on his own little patch of land in the south, already under the control of the iron cavalry sent by the Empire.

There was no news of the Lesser family left in the outside world.

"Stolen wealth and stolen honor are still stolen in the end."

Liya's voice was cold as she gave a disdainful laugh.

She comfortably picked up the tea on the table and slowly took a sip, moistening her throat.

Then Liya raised her head and continued looking at Zora, asking, "So what about you?"

Why did she call Leopold "father"?

Zora sat upright on the sofa, her hands elegantly folded over her fair knees.

A trace of bitterness appeared on her face as she slowly answered Liya's question, "Because if he wanted to legitimately obtain the Cassidra Chamber of Commerce and take control of the Nannad family's wealth, he had to become my 'father.'"

Zora Nannad was the only daughter of the Chamber of Commerce's president and the family's first heir.

Therefore, once the original president of the Chamber of Commerce stepped down, Zora could almost become the new president directly without any obstacles.

But...

During the period when Viktor visited the Kingdom of Kant.

It happened to be the time when the Cassidra Chamber of Commerce in the Kingdom of Kant was holding an auction.

After doing business abroad for a long time, Zora learned that Viktor had left the Empire, so she immediately planned to return home and ask her father to give her the authority to hold the auction.

But when Zora returned home, she saw that her father, who had been in the prime of his life, had become completely shriveled.

Only a layer of aged skin tightly wrapped around his emaciated body.

And she saw an extremely horrifying scene.

A disgusting monster was wrapped around her father.

It was like a mass of twisted, writhing rotten flesh piled together, dripping foul-smelling saliva. Its teeth were filthy, its tentacles wildly flailing, and its entire body was covered in flesh and bruises.

What made Zora tremble the most, something that still frightened her even now, was this...

That disgusting monster was burrowing into her father's body.

Where it burrowed in, her father's shriveled body gradually became full again, as though it were slowly returning to normal.

A powerful wave of dizziness and fear swept over Zora, but she steadied herself through sheer willpower.

She screamed at the top of her lungs, her panicked voice spreading throughout the enormous mansion, and all the guards were drawn over.

But no matter how the guards struggled with that mass of flesh, they could not get rid of it.

During the struggle, some of the guards were even suppressed by that hideous mass of flesh.

Just then, a man who looked exactly like her father appeared inside the room.

A holy light radiated from his body, its brilliance shining onto the revolting monster.

Immediately afterward, a powerful and scorching force burned the monster, together with the skin that had once belonged to Zora's father, into ashes.

After everything settled down, this man who looked exactly like President Nannad pointed at the charred corpse of the monster and the remains of Zora's father.

Under the gazes of countless servants and guards, he announced to everyone.

He was a monster.

'And I am Zora Nannad's true father.'

The many servants and guards believed him without a doubt.

However, there was no shortage of people with brains.

Almost none of the other branch presidents in the Chamber of Commerce believed Leopold's so-called truth.

Even though he looked exactly like President Nannad, they still demanded that Leopold provide more evidence.

But...

The ancestor of the Nannad family had been this god's first believer.

This god knew everything about the Nannad family like the back of his hand.

In other words, the Nannad family had been created by this god.

"The president of the Chamber of Commerce absolutely cannot be a monster."

Under such an argument, many people began to be forced to accept Leopold's explanation and believe that he was the true leader of the Nannad family.

Most importantly, even Zora "believed" him.

"Because I had no choice but to believe."

At some point, her fists had already been clenched tightly at her sides, revealing the struggle and pain in her heart.

Everything had happened too suddenly, as though it had already become an irreversible fate.

Her biological father had died at home, his body invaded by a monster, yet all she could do was watch her father's death with her own eyes, as well as...

'The coercion of a god.'

After witnessing her father's death with her own eyes, Leopold's coincidental appearance, along with his forceful method of destroying the flesh monster,

made Zora realize Leopold's true identity immediately.

'Hermes.'

She realized that this god had returned to the mortal world in order to take revenge on the Nannad family.

Because that god had once issued a harsh warning to the Nannad family.

'One day, I will steal all your money.'

Therefore, when the other branch presidents confronted Leopold and questioned his true identity, Zora had also considered stepping forward to expose his lies.

But in the end, she chose silence and 'accepted' Leopold's explanation.

Because she did not know how that monster had infiltrated the Chamber of Commerce, nor did she know the true cause of her father's death.

So she could only suspect that Leopold was the source of everything.

After all, Leopold's appearance had been far too coincidental.

He had happened to appear just as her father was being invaded by the monster, and had happened to deal with her biological father.

He used words of deception to make everyone believe in his identity.

Then, could he have brought the same kind of monster and replaced the other branch presidents as well?

And so, Zora chose to swallow her anger and hypocritically call Leopold "father."

This allowed Leopold to naturally become her father and become the head of the Nannad family.

During this period, she did not forget her original purpose. She went to the Kingdom of Kant and held the kingdom's auction.

And she came to know Viktor, as well as the power of this legendary mage.

His power, which was enough to bombard the entire commercial street of the Kingdom of Kant, made her firmly believe that the Chamber of Commerce had to rely closely on a powerful ally like Viktor.

"So, under the pretext of paying compensation and conducting a transaction with the Klevenna family, I successfully came to the Empire."

"And I sought Mr. Viktor's final assistance."

As she said this, a glimmer of hope appeared in Zora's eyes.

The corners of her mouth lifted slightly, and the fist she had been holding tightly in her hand gradually relaxed.

She still remembered what Viktor had looked like at the time.

His face was expressionless, yet he radiated an absolute confidence.

He said, "I went to the Gate of Hell once. There, I angered your god."

"The gods have been revered for too long. They cannot tolerate any provocation from humans."

The name of that god had clearly never appeared, yet he seemed to have absolute certainty about that god's identity.

"So he will definitely come to the Empire and find me personally."

"After I deal with it, I think I will return to that hell."

These words poured into Zora's ears, leaving her stunned for a moment.

"I will tell all the gods that my ability to defeat gods has never been a matter of luck."

The corners of Viktor's mouth lifted slightly, carrying a hint of provocation in his smile.

"But an inevitable outcome."

———

After hearing Zora's account, Liya, sitting on the sofa, was slightly stunned, seemingly lost in thought.

Suddenly, she seemed to think of something. She leaned forward slightly and hurriedly asked Zora, "So... what exactly did Viktor do to anger the god?"

This question also left Zora somewhat confused.

She touched her chin, furrowing her brows and slightly pursing her lips.

Because she remembered that she had also asked Viktor this question.

And this was what Viktor had told her.

"He said..."

"In front of those gods, he stole the..."

"A dog that was guarding the gate in hell?"