One month before Rei encountered the dungeon outbreak notice, Hanna was in the Mystic Church training grounds. Four swordsmen attacked Hanna from all directions. However, Hanna, wielding her sentient weapon, the Mystic Sword, and employing her unique magic battle style, used Fire Magic with her sword. This fire slice, amplified by her sentient weapon, transformed into a raging inferno that engulfed the two swordsmen to her left and back, burning them severely. The other two swordsmen, approaching her, struck with their swords. Hanna swiftly jumped back, dodging their attacks, and unleashed another fire slice. This, too, turned into a raging fire, engulfing and burning them. Hanna's eyes held a dangerous shine, one that didn't seem entirely her own. The sentient weapon was clearly increasing her violent tendencies.
A Pope entered, clapping his hands. He paid no mind to the people writhing in pain on the ground. "Very well done, Hanna," he said, his voice smooth. "You are growing up faster than I thought. How about we give you your first mission?" Hanna didn't react to anything the Pope said, as the sentient weapon had taken hold of her mind. "Follow me," the Pope commanded.
As Hanna followed him into the discussion room, the Pope presented her with a parchment. "This is Rei Alenshade," he stated, pointing to a picture. "He has been spreading heretic messages among the citizens. You need to kill him and destroy all his work." Hanna was fighting a fierce battle within her own mind. When she heard Rei's name, her internal struggle intensified. Chained by the sentient weapon's grip, she struggled. "No, you can't do this! I will not let you kill my brother!" Hanna's resistance was visible externally; she had difficulty moving her hands and taking the paper. The Pope smiled. "Hanna, so you are still fighting. Let's see how long you can fight. Everyone, take out our most famous treasury, the Mystic Armor, and give it to Hanna. She might like it." Several individuals came forward with the Mystic Armor and placed it upon Hanna. Within her mind, Hanna felt even more chained, her power weakening under its influence. On the outside, Hanna finally took the paper from the Pope's hands.
"The carriage outside is ready," the Pope announced. "You will reach Zeno Town within a month, where Rei is. Kill him." Hanna, now seemingly fully controlled, walked into the carriage and departed for Zeno Town.
The clerk, observing Hanna's departure, commented, "It's so good Eugene encountered Rei."
"Yeah," the Pope agreed with a sinister smile. "Otherwise, we would have much difficulty in locating him. But now, he will die by his sister's hands."
Outside the world they were living in, in an entirely different realm covered by luscious forests, towering mountains, and winding rivers, lay a golden city where the gods and goddesses resided. Within this golden palace dwelled Goddess Suez, worshipped by the Mystic Church. She looked at Rei's picture, displayed on a glowing crystal ball, her anger clearly evident.
"Hermes! Come here!" she called out in a loud voice.
Hermes quickly appeared before her. "In your service, Goddess Suez," he said.
"Bring Ikol here," Suez commanded.
"Ikol has gone to deep sleep," Hermes replied. Ikol, the god of Mischief and Trickery, possessed the power to deceive anyone, and once he entered deep sleep, he could not be harmed. Suez's anger turned to fury. "Ikol has illegally brought another soul into our world! and it seems to be of a boy!"
Hermes's eyes widened. "But that is prohibited by the Council of Gods!"
"If something happens to the Fate String, then I might lose all of my power, not to mention the destruction of the entire realm!" Suez declared, her voice booming.
"We should call Athena to devise a plan to kill this boy," Hermes suggested.
"Yes, that's the right course of action. Call Athena," Suez commanded. Hermes disappeared and reappeared within minutes, bringing Athena with him.
Athena addressed Suez. "Hermes told me all about your worries, my goddess. Don't worry, I have a method to stop it."
"Don't use your power too much to cause imbalance," Suez cautioned her.
"Sure, my goddess," Athena replied. Athena first attempted to control Rei's mind. However, she noticed that since Rei's soul was foreign, he was immune to her control. Athena knew that if she wanted to kill Rei then she would have to use her strategic intelligence instead of her power.
Within that month, Athena used her power to control a human. That person brought many items that could make a dungeon monster more powerful and stealthily placed them inside the dungeon in the dead of night. To avoid the guards, she ensured a bull crushed a nearby wall, which the controlled man then used to discreetly enter the dungeon. With this, she orchestrated a dungeon outbreak. While doing this, she also delved into Tenko's Nyx Scepter's mind realm and found that it was only half-created. She used her divine power to complete its creation and brought the sentient being into existence within it. She then implanted the thought: "If you kill your owner, you will be able to take a human form." These words, imbued with her divine power, made the sentient weapon believe this was true.
She then controlled the mind of Hanna's carriage driver, ensuring Hanna would reach Zeno Town on time. When she heard that Levi, Arizona, and Alya were coming, she immediately went to their path and used her power to turn them into a Beast magnet, causing all wild beasts to target them and create problems in their journey. She also made sure Rei would discover the monster outbreak by sending the carts while he was awake, so that he would try to decelerate it. Her ultimate plan was that when these problems came to the surface, Rei would be so busy solving them that he wouldn't have time to save himself from Hanna, with no one to help him.
In the present, Rei, completely unaware of these elaborate schemes, stood atop a building, holding his Chaos Scepter, trying to decelerate the dungeon outbreak. He did not know that it was all a cunning plan devised by Athena.