Escaped
"You... you can't be Achilles!" Pride stammered, disbelief lacing her voice. "It's... impossible!"
She was aware of the ritual for reviving ancient heroes. Theoretically, it was achievable, but Pride had never witnessed a successful case aside from Daniel. While the groundwork existed, concrete proof remained elusive until now.
The critical detail in past tests was the lack of a true hero's soul. They used ordinary souls, or in the Vatican's case, Saint Joan of Arc, the most ancient figure the modern Curtained World could manage. Any hero older than that typically resided with the deceased gods.
However, Achilles' presence implied that whoever orchestrated her father's abduction and the Confederacy coup had at least one God of Death on their side. What did these godlings desire besides reclaiming their lost glory and world domination? Undoubtedly, they aimed to restore the world's mana and reassert their authority.