"For once… I am going to have some fun."

"...Fun?"

The sound of Van's breaths whispered through the air; the small hints of laughter that tried to escape from his mouth felt like a sort of drum to the fire giants that were surrounding them. They clearly outnumbered him; as the only companion he had left was the golden-haired man… but for some reason, their hearts were beating erratically, almost moving to the sound of Van's laugh.

However, the fire giants may have a sort of unexplainable fear, but for Dionysus, he knew full well what Van was capable of. Even though he was still far off from having truly defeated Athena the last time they met, and only won through a weird, almost nonsensical way.

But still, even though it had been thousands of years for him, for Van, it should have not even been a year. The only reason why he wasn't panicking too much was that Van's strength should not have gotten far from how it was when he last saw him.

"...I thought you did not want the Aesir as your enemy, King Vanny?" Dionysus let out a small snort as he struggled to stand up from his seat, "I am willing to let you go now, consider it as my last remaining attachment to my Olympian roots."

"You haven't only grown fat, Dionysus; you've also grown deaf. I told you if you were sure if the Aesir could afford another enemy, not me. I do not seek enemies, but if they come, I won't shy away from them, Dionysus. You are forgetting the role I play in this world."

Van said as he once again scanned the fire giants inside the hall. Since Gerald was here, then the first thing he should do was get Queen Nori and Vanya far away from this place as fast and safe as possible.

"The… role you play?" Dionysus furrowed his eyebrows, "As the Messenger of the Gods?"

"No," small trails and trickles of golden lightning once again emerged from Van's eyes, "5000 years have made you forget, Dionysus…

...I devour gods, and it just so happened that this place has an abundance of them."

And as soon as he said that, Van instantly disappeared from his spot. Gerald took this as a sign to wreak havoc, as the first thing he did was to smash his fist on the floor. It would seem that Van had made the right decision because as soon as the fight started, the entire perimeter of the tavern was quickly swallowed by the ripple created from Gerald's fist-- digging a crater that caused even the fire giant soldiers that were waiting outside to slide down on it.

"Hm," Van could not help but let out a short but deep breath as he stared at the ground that seemed to turn into a lake from afar. He then turned his head towards Queen Nori and Vanya, who he had already carefully and gently placed on the ground a few kilometers away from the battlefield. And after making sure that they were safe, a small smile escaped from his mouth as he rushed back to where all the action was.

Dionysus, who previously struggled to even stand up from his seat, was now effortlessly floating in the air. He may have been stripped of his godhood and most of his powers gone from Van absorbing his God Soul, but most of his abilities still remained-- one just happened to be flight, which all Olympians were capable of doing so.

And so, from afar, Dionysus looked like a balloon-- Van thought as a small hint of laughter once again escaped from his mouth. He was going to rush towards him first and pull him to the ground, but he decided not to do so.

With him having a bird's eye view of what was happening on the ground, then that should be enough for him to know how strong he had truly become. He meant what he said earlier-- this was a warning.

No…

"Let this serve as a message, Dionysus!" Van then let out a roar as he floated on top of Gerald, who had already started finishing off the fire giants one by one, "They may wage war against everyone, they may wage war against the whole world… but Vanya and the rest of the Forest Giants are off-limits!"

"..." Dionysus could only take in a long and deep breath as Van's almost cracking roar pierced his ears. Maybe because it has been 5000 years, but he truly does not remember Van being like this. He remembered him as being more docile, quiet even. Perhaps... the toxin he placed in their drinks…

...actually had an effect on him? He may have inherited Hermes's immunity against all poisons-- but was it possible he only inherited a part of it, causing the toxins to have a different effect on his physiology?

But Van should also be immune to any form of mind control.

"...What," Dionysus then could not help but mutter. Was it actually possible… that he is drunk? Although Dionysus told Van that he gave him grape juice, it was actually just a diluted form of what the others were having; there should still be a percent of alcohol left in it.

Olympians, no matter how strong, no matter how powerful they get, no matter their immunity against all sorts of elements, can still get drunk-- even Zeus, even Hermes. They were just made that way.

But still, there should only be a percent of alcohol in it. What kind of Olympian would get drunk from a single drop of alcohol?

"..." He didn't have to ask that question, as the answer was right in front of him. He had never seen Van drink a sip of alcohol even once… Was it possible that this was his first time having alcohol?

But would that be possible, if he supposedly grew up in the harshest of environments where even narcotics could be bought from any normal neighbor!?

With that thought, Dionysus once again took in a long and deep breath-- not even letting out the first one he had taken. If Van truly was drunk…

...then just what kind of monster did he unleash in this Realm?

And as soon as he thought of that, a circle of light suddenly flashed beneath him; followed by a loud thunderous roar that soon faded into a whistle. Although the light seemed tame, everything it touched turned to mist-- like a winged serpent swimming through an air of blood.

"What the…"

Gerald, who was leisurely taking his time smashing the fire giants one by one, could not help but click his tongue as the light flashed across his eyes.

"Don't you know what a warm up is!?"

"Hahaha!"

"Tch," With Van's laughter reaching his ears, Gerald's eyes twitched in agitation, "Is this bastard… looking down on me again!?"

With Gerald's sudden roar, he once again struck the ground beneath him, but this time with his foot. It was followed by a sort of silence, as some of the debris and dust that were near him slightly approached towards him like a lodestone, creating a sort of compressed ball that surrounded his body.

But after a few moments, a millisecond, a sharp thunder erupted-- almost as if it erupted right beside one's ears, threatening to deafen anything that would, unfortunately, hear it.

"!!!"

Van, who was running and circles and mowing everything in his path, almost stumbled as the sheer force of the shockwave of Gerald's kick was enough to push him a few meters away. But as soon as he recovered, the first thing he did was rush towards where he left Nori and Vanya, carefully dragging them farther away from the battle.

"Are you fucking crazy!?" Van then quickly roared as he instantly returned to the battlefield, which looked completely different than how it was before. There was supposed to be a city here, maybe even filled with innocent fire giants, but the only thing that Van could see now was a lake of lava, as well as the fiery boulders that surrounded it.

"Do you even need to ask!?" Gerald said as he dived in the lava, only to emerge holding a fire giant by its hair before proceeding to smash its head in. "Do we even need to keep count at this point, you beggar!? It's only a matter of time before I kill all the fire giants that are still left swimming in this pile of shit!"

However, as soon as Van heard Gerald's words, the little bit of concern he still held to the fire giants completely faded, replaced only by a sort of fiery joy that was slowly building up inside him.

His eyes then turned towards the far perimeter, looking at the fire giants that were lucky enough not to get caught on the volcano that Gerald created. And, with a smile, he focused all of his speed through his feet, trying to see how fast he could possibly go if he tried his best.

"..." Gerald quickly let go of the hair of the two fire giants he was holding. Quickly turning to look towards Van as soon as he sensed something growing in his direction.

"...Damn," he then said before Van instantly disappeared from his spot-- almost turning into a string as he left some sort of afterimage from his feet, "Technically, I still killed more."

It first started with a bang-- the sound that Van had created was not thunderous, it may not even be loud. But once again…

...Van had made a ripple that shook the entire 9 Realms.