{Note: The Campoine arc hasn't ended, and the world's observation by the core isn't finished; it's still analyzing.}
— — — — — —
The towering, majestic Mount Olympus was dotted with countless temples.
Among them, the grandest and most sacred were the Twelve Palaces — the divine residences of the Twelve Olympians.
Starting from the three-layered Great Temple at the foot of the mountain, the sixth palace belonged to Athena: the Temple of Wisdom.
After healing Perseus and soothing Aishelia, Athena returned to Olympus. Under the silent approval of Zeus, Apollo, and Poseidon, she destroyed three temples at the foot of the mountain and shut herself away in her own palace, refusing to come out.
Officially, conflict between the Twelve Gods was forbidden.
In reality, the temples on Olympus were rebuilt several times every century. Sometimes it was Poseidon trying to destroy Zeus's temple of the King of Gods, only to have his own Sea Temple smashed instead.
Sometimes it was Hephaestus, the god of fire, blowing up Aphrodite's Temple of Love and Ares' War Temple in a fit of rage.
Other times, Ares and Hephaestus fought and ended up wrecking the Fire Temple itself.
And of course, more often than not, it was Hermes' temples that got wrecked the worst.
Aside from Zeus and Hestia, pretty much every Olympian had, at one time or another, flattened Hermes' three-layered Great Temple.
The reasons varied — sometimes Hermes would mouth off and flirt with Artemis, and Apollo would retaliate. Sometimes he'd try to sneak into the Temple of Love for the night, and Hephaestus would beat him for it.
In short, this chaotic Olympus was exactly the kind of environment Athena enjoyed.
Because here, she could watch all those annoying gods bash each other's faces in until they were black and blue. It was the best drama.
So on this mountain, only two places remained quiet: Athena's palace and Hestia's.
And since Hestia almost never stayed in the Hearth Temple — rarely even sending down an incarnation — the only truly peaceful place on Olympus was Athena's Temple of Wisdom.
Yet today, even this tranquil place was shaken by six terrifying divine wills descending upon it.
"Athena, come out!"
"I'm fighting you today, Athena!"
"Come out, you damn woman!"
Voices filled with wrath and divine pressure shook the air itself. The Temple of Wisdom, protected by complex divine sigils, trembled violently.
These were beings on the level of God-Kings, power at the three-digit ranking— venting their fury.
Hurricane winds howled. Lightning split the sky. Darkness blanketed the heavens. The earth rumbled. A pair of golden eyes gazed coldly from above.
Each phenomenon marked the presence of a God-King in anger.
Then, a golden sun-bird descended — a blazing divine phoenix radiating power like a miniature sun. Golden solar fire consumed the vegetation on Olympus, turning the forested mountain into a colossal torch.
Rumble—!
Poseidon had taken action.
Layer upon layer of ocean surged down from the sky like a falling sea, overflowing without end, drowning the entire mountain in moments.
The divine flames were extinguished, the forest saved, and a shimmering blue barrier was laid over Olympus.
High above, a massive blue face formed from the sky itself, frowning at the golden bird. "Neith. Shouldn't you be in your Egyptian domain? What are you doing setting fire to my Olympus?"
The golden bird raised its head. A cold female voice responded: "Poseidon. This has nothing to do with you. Tell Athena to come out NOW."
'Nothing to do with me? You almost burned my mountain?' Poseidon grumbled inwardly, but still stood his ground.
"Athena isn't here. Today, I'm handling matters."
Olympus might be endlessly chaotic with its internal fights, but to some extent, even the conflicts between the Twelve Gods had a performative element to them. After all, if Olympus — already overwhelmingly dominant in the lower layers of Little Garden — appeared too united, it would make the other pantheons uneasy.
But when it came to foreign threats, no matter how much they fought among themselves, none of the Twelve would ever back down.
That was why Poseidon stepped forward.
And at that moment, lightning flickered restlessly in the sky, gathering more and more. A will hovered there, ready to strike.
Zeus had arrived.
"But only his will." Neith understood why the Greeks had sent Poseidon incarnation instead of Zeus, who only sent a divine will.
If the ruling God-King personally clashed head-on with another pantheon's God-King, it could spark a full-blown divine war.
So Zeus restrained himself — a hidden threat, a silent deterrence.
After all, what appeared here was also their projection from the upper three-digit layer — not their true bodies.
Against the Twelve Olympians, who had all broken the normal ranking even at the four-digit level, such deterrence was normally enough.
But not today. No amount of freaks was going to stop the angry gods.
"Poseidon, I advise you to move aside. Either that, or Athena comes out and gives me an explanation."
Neith's avatar — the golden sun-bird — suddenly shifted shape. It became a winged serpent — a golden dragon.
Divine golden aura flooded the air. War drums echoed through the atmosphere.
The manifestation of the Godhead of War.
And not just any War Godhead — specifically, the Greek one.
Neith was the Egyptian goddess of creation, wisdom, and war. But Egyptian Godhead, not Greek.
"...Athena's Godhead?"
Poseidon stared at Neith in disbelief.
If he wasn't mistaken… the power emanating from Neith was Athena's. How could it be?
"Hmm?"
Even Zeus's thunderous voice carried confusion.
Did Athena plant an agent in the Egyptian Pantheon, rope in a God-King, and… what, convert them?
No, that wasn't right. That war divinity wasn't just influenced — it was declaring Neith as Athena's incarnation.
The Egyptian supreme goddess — the feminine aspect of Ra, Neith, a God-King… was Athena's avatar?
Had the world gone mad?
And just then, another sun rose in the sky.
Within that sun sat a figure on a golden throne — wearing a tall crown, shoulders burning with divine flame, face obscured.
The massive blue face in the sky — Poseidon's incarnation — frowned and said heavily: "Shamash… Why is he here?"
Shamash of the Babylonian pantheon. God of Sun and Justice.
That pantheon might have been nearly wiped out in Little Garden, but among the three-digit high-tier, several great beings still endured.
And Shamash was one of the strongest among them.
In the sky, Shamash spoke, his voice deep: "Have Athena come out."
"Zeus, you cannot protect her."
Lightning cracked. Zeus's voice, low and magnetic, sounded: "Shamash, are you declaring war?"
Shamash paused, then slowly shook his head with a sigh. "I only want to reclaim the divine seat left behind by my fallen daughter, Nanna. I do not seek a large-scale conflict. Otherwise, it's war."
Poseidon's expression turned strange. "Wasn't Goddess Nanna's divine seat always held by the Babylonian pantheon?"
In Little Garden, fallen gods would revive under the force of history.
But if someone seized their divine seat and rose as the new god, then the fallen god would truly die, erased forever.
That was one of the only ways to completely kill a god.
But how… how could Nanna's divine seat be in Athena's hands? There was no reason for it.
Athena had no reason to bother with those reclusive Babylonians.
"I do not know."
Shamash shook his head in the blazing sun, then continued: "But you Greeks should."
At that moment, Neith — still in the form of the golden war-dragon — spoke coldly: "Don't tell me you Greeks are going to pretend you know nothing about Athena seizing our divine seats?"
And right then, in the gloom of the stormy sky, a golden Eye of Horus slowly opened.
The Egyptian pantheon, Goddess of Life and Death — Isis — broke her silence.
"Divine seats are vital to us. If Athena had the courage to covet them, then she must be ready to face the consequences."
"Fuck. This is bad…" Poseidon glanced warily at the three united God-Kings.
And that wasn't even counting the three still hiding — none of whom would be easy to deal with.
To enrage six high-ranking three-digit beings at once… just what had Athena done? No — rather, when had she ever left a trace to be caught?
Maybe… she had been framed?
Uh...No, no, no! Who would dare to frame Athena?
. . .
Time ticked by.
Seeing no response, Isis let out a quiet sigh. "War or peace — give us an answer."
The moment her words fell—
A golden bolt of lightning pierced the heavens, tearing through the Eye of Horus.
The lightning struck the ground like a divine spear, exploding with a thunderous roar — and then revealed its true form.
A golden spear, exuding a constant cry for victory.
From the Temple of Wisdom, a cold voice echoed: "If it's war you want — then war it is."
The Goddess of War and Wisdom had issued her declaration.
.
.
.