Spoilers: A Summary of the Ruthless Route (Chapter 2)
Ruthless chapter 2 starts with the words "One week earlier" and has a PoV switch to a character praying out to any of the Gods who will listen; a character who has been calling out for the entire evening and into the night to any god who would answer his pleas. It is Argos, living in moderate conditions if his first contract trick was not caught by the Master, or a base cave if he was (he did not have the powers to summon things until yesterday in that case - This split of how good he is at summoning/how often he remembers to summon things continues through this whole route and is a nice touch). And Argos is praying to the gods to come and serve justice upon the Master for his wrongs against them! He has been praying to each god in turn, and finally ends up calling out to one that answers. Not only has this god heard his pleas and responded to him, it is this god who is revealed to have been our Narrator all along! They are one of the 17 gods who provided the power to create this realm, and they have appeared before Argos to question his motives, but also to provide a way forward to justice against the Master. A path that this god cautions will not be without its own price - Argos has sworn an oath as the Foreman of the Labyrinth, which he would be breaking to see justice done. The role is to bring torture to the prisoner; it is the hubris of the Argoi to try and push the Master to do good by being so cartoonishly evil. Argos is the rebel digging for loopholes in this land's principles and laws, and not all of the gods are displeased at the Master's actions so far... yet "the wishes of the gods are many, [Argos], and there may be a place for your breed of justice." The Narrator will help Argos through this costly act, but on one condition: That Argos' Overseer must not be informed about any of this. Said price makes Argos pause, but he decides to accept anyway. In return, he secures the Narrator's guidance and a one-of-a-kind artifact that will be key to achieving his new goal.
In the morning, Argos sets out through the valley to a very hidden place mentioned to him by the Narrator. He skirts by some monsters and eventually starts reciting some lines to himself to focus his thoughts and distract from the exertion of the journey. These lines eventually prompt a flashback to his youth: He is Nikos (Dominikos), slowly waking up (at his mother's calls) for an important day after spending all night rehearsing his lines. Today is his big audition, and if Nikos can perform well enough, he might be chosen to participate in the Trials. He might get a chance to play the role of Argos Panoptes. His Mamà has made his favorite food for breakfast, and his Bampàs asks for a sneak preview of his audition, to which Nikos eagerly accepts. His parents dote on him, claiming that he'll make his Papouli proud, wishing that he was here to see this day. In turn, Nikos prepares himself to act out a monologue from Oedipus, getting ready to "Put on the costume. Speak the lines. Perform the role, and let the role become truth." He then delivers his lines excellently, and his parents continue to dote on him, until Nikos wakes out of the flashback to be Argos once more, nearly at his destination.
Said destination is a hidden cleft in one of the cliffs in the valley. He squeezes through to eventually find a shine to one of the gods hidden away deep inside the cliffside. While shocked to see this, he and the Narrator reflect how Argos' boss directed him to hint about the existence of these godmade shrines, which he did in the second meeting with the Master. This shrine holds a powerful Gift for Asterion, one that would provide him freedom from this realm, if they can retrieve it. However, the shrine is incomplete due to the way the realm cannot generate certain substances. This is what the artifact given by the Narrator to Argos is for, but it alone is not enough, the Gift is only supposed to be revealed to Asterion. However, Argos finds a loophole and is able to sacrifice the Asterion pelt he wears, giving up the heirloom and symbol of the Argoi and his Papouli. In return, the shrine gifts Argos with a glass sphere swirling with light, the key to Asterion's freedom if they can get it to him.
Once Argos leaves the hidden shrine, he is immediately attacked by the Effigy as it is seemingly trying to ram its way through the rock toward the sacrificed pelt. In Argos' panic and haste to get out of the way, the Effigy clips him and gores out his left eye. Pained and reeling, he limps away as the Effigy continues smashing at the rockface hiding the shrine, ignoring the snake entirely. He dresses his wound and, after a moment to collect himself, forces himself onward, asking the Narrator what's next in their plan. They respond that the Master must be tempted by some task that will separate the jailer from the prisoner, that Argos may deliver the Gift. However, the Narrator again cautions that it will come with great sacrifice to Argos if he truly wishes to continue. Argos hesitates, but thinks on how broken Asterion looked, how vile the Master has acted, and how his own actions pushed the Master to commit terrible things from playing the role of Argos too well. This steels his resolve and he commits once more to bring justice "no matter what". The scene fades out.
We rejoin Argos at the shrine plateau for Zeus and Athena (where Argos directs you for exploration day 2 to get the wine), a blade, a vial, and a bottle of Asterion's healing wine in hand after stashing the Gift back at his home. Rather than the statues, Argos actually stands in front of the cairn Asterion placed near the beginning of his sentence, whatever power it may have had long gone since its abandonment. However, the Narrator believes a ritual here may be enough to summon the one thing the Master may be baited with: an elixir of extended life. Not immortality, but something to stretch out his lifespan beyond a normal mortal's means. However, it will cost a sacrifice of time to create, one that Argos will have to pay. The Narrator questions Argos' commitment to this path, which he affirms before starting the ritual.
During the ritual, Argos out in prayer for an ancient goddess to come and answer his pleas for justice. When one responds and bids him speak, Argos explains how the Master is a defilement on the world, thumbing his nose at the gods and torturing Asterion, the cairn's old caretaker. He bids for an elixir of time to lure the man out to face divine justice. In return, the goddess responds, "AN EXCHANGE TIME FOR TIME LIFE FOR LIFE BLOOD FOR BLOOD". Accepting, Argos drives the blade into his side to make a large gash, and fills the vial half-full with his blood, placing it on the altar as his offering. In return, the goddess wills Argos' wound closed, and transforms the vial of blood into the elixir of extended life, then bids him to go.
Exhausted, the snake returns home and stashes the elixir with the Gift and the last bottle of healing wine that he knows of, and passes out into a dreamless sleep. In the morning, he heads to a specific tree in the valley to harvest its sap. It is a virulent poison, one exceedingly deadly for any who drink it. Argos carefully mixes this sap into the elixir, which has a presence overpowering enough to hide the poison inside. Next, he heads to where he will build a great pit, one that will hold the Effigy for the cruel Master to cast Asterion in to, but with a hidden tunnel that Argos may ferry Asterion away in secret. However, after his sacrifice of time, Argos is now easily exhausted and barely makes any progress. Frustrated, he asks how he will accomplish this when the Narrator again speaks up: using the Gift as a catalyst, another source of power could be channeled through Argos if he so wishes. Having no other options, he accepts, and returns the next morning with the Gift in hand. The Narrator warns that this will be unpleasant, then channels the power through the Gift into Argos. In an instant, day becomes night and Argos suddenly hunches over in pain and fatigue, yet the pit is suddenly one fathom deeper than before. It exacts a painful toll on Argos to be a conduit like this, but he commits to his work and they repeat this process over the next few days, each evening finding him exhausted and damaged as he wakes up from the work that was channeled through him.
Eventually, the pit is complete, secret tunnel and all. Next, Argos carries the Gift with him to find the Effigy. As he goes, the Gift's light pacifies and stupefies the monsters that he passes, until he finds the Effigy. Though at first he is concerned it won't work, the Gift's light also pacifies the Effigy, and it follows Argos, transfixed by its light. He tricks it to falling down into the pit, lamenting how the Gift's light was not enough before to save his eye from its fate, but soldiers on regardless. This work finally complete, he returns to his home to finally rest for a time.
Argos dreams this night, picking the flashback back up from where it stopped before, Nikos having just performed for his parents before breakfast. Nikos questions about trying to replicate his Papouli's approach to the Argos role, asking if it is the right way to go about it. His parents are convinced that it is: this time, the Fates will pick a kind and virtuous Master that the Argos can mold into being an exemplar of humanity, and Nikos can "Play the villain to make him into a hero." With breakfast ready, they ask Nikos to say grace before they eat, which he does.
As the family eats their breakfast, his mother and father continuing to give tips to Nikos about keeping the role on the stage natural and believable. 'What does Argoes want?', they posit, and Nikos replies "Argos wants, first and foremost, to fulfill the will of the Gods. [...] Argos will want to test [the Master's] character exhaustively, to make sure they're worthy of the role and responsibility they've been given. [...] But he will want to never lie, nor bring about harm himself. All that he does is in service to the Master, the Labyrinth, and the Gods." His parents are proud of his reply and reaffirm that Nikos will do wonderfully. Nikos closes his eyes...
And Argos opens his. For the first time since taking the role, he is homesick, missing the life he left behind for this demanding work and what it has turned into. He must soldier on, however, and he steels not just his resolve, but fully immerses himself in the role of Argos. He must feel the truth of Argos' every word and deed. "Put on the costume. Speak the lines. Perform the role, and let the role become truth." Then, with a little bit of ending narration from our Narrator, Chapter 2 comes to a close.