— — — — — —
Athena —Campione Athena— slowly opened her eyes, flexing her fingers with an unfamiliar stiffness. She glanced around and asked quietly,
"This is the Little Garden?"
"How's it feel?"
Ryo smiled, picked up the kettle from the side table, and poured two cups of hot tea. He handed one to her.
"It's… too much power," Athena said, accepting the cup with careful precision. She took a small sip and then stared at her reflection in the glass, eyes narrowing slightly.
A cracking sound echoed from the cup—just a soft creak at first, then a jagged split—and it shattered completely, spilling warm tea across the floor.
Watching it, Athena let out a low sigh. "This feeling is… intoxicating."
Ryo finished his tea in one go and set his cup down. "How did the Garden's core classify your strength?"
"Oh, right. If you're not sure how to check, focus your thoughts between your brows. You'll see your godhead or divinity, and inside it should be a gift card. You can read the info from there."
Athena closed her eyes for a few seconds, then opened them again and spoke calmly,
"There's no card. It's a stone disc shaped like a serpent. A style I know very well."
"Really?"
Ryo looked surprised. "So not everyone's essence gets shown as a gift card. Interesting."
Curious, he leaned forward. "What's your rating?"
He was genuinely interested in just how high she'd climbed. Maybe she even broke into that rumored four-digit irregular rank?
"Spirit: Four-digit, Legendary."
"Body: Four-digit, Basic."
"Authority: Four-digit, Legendary," Athena recited. Then she added in a low mutter,
"Overall rating: Four-digit, 'Elite'. That's not quite the 'irregular freak' you described."
(Rating Scale: Basic → Elite → Legendary → Mythic)
Athena huffed, but then quickly added in case he misunderstood, "Though compared to my previous level, it's tens of hundreds—if not tens of thousands—stronger."
"And I can still feel growth potential in the body. Probably just needs time to adapt to the Divinity."
"Final stabilized level should be four-digit Legendary. But don't expect me to fully control that power in battle yet."
Sudden power surges on that scale were dangerous. Athena didn't have something like his cosmos—a root force that naturally scales with control—so her control issues were obvious.
"So your physical stats are lagging. Still, with a strong Divinity godhead, your body will catch up eventually."
Ryo sat back on the sofa, crossing one leg over the other, frowning slightly. "But that rating is a bit off from what I expected. What's your base essence? I mean your core race."
Athena's expression tightened a little. "Elf," she said, voice edged with irritation. "My divine status was severed. I only retain Metis's divinity and Spirit Rank."
"So that's the issue."
Ryo's face showed instant understanding. "You're not considered a born deity after all."
Born true gods start at the Four-Digit tier by default in Little Garden.
But the Athena from the Campione world lacked that innate origin, lowering her evaluation. The root cause likely traced back to how deities in that world were originally all earth spirits.
In other words—
This Athena was a post-born god holding only the name and seat of Metis.
And even that was only because the Little Garden's Metis had completely died, leaving the seat vacant. Otherwise, her rating might have dropped further.
Hearing his explanation, Athena shook her head with a soft smile.
"Even if I'm weaker than you expected, it's still far better than staying in the Campione world."
Ryo let out a quiet sigh. "What about Luo Hao and Lancelot?"
"They probably haven't seen your… letter," Athena said, her tone oddly flat. "I still don't understand why an official invitation had to take the form of a handwritten love letter, sealed with a heart-shaped stamp."
"That… wasn't intentional," Ryo blinked, face turning strange. "Maybe the forum thinks we're destined?"
"Corny response."
Athena gave him a long look up and down. "You don't seem to have changed."
"If I had changed here and now, that would make me an idiot," Ryo shot back dryly.
"Oh?" Athena watched him with interest, waiting for an explanation.
Ryo paused a moment, then spoke. "In essence, the Little Garden categorizes One to Three Digits as the Upper Gate, Four to Five Digits as the Middle Gate, and Six to Seven Digits as the Lower Gate."
"But the Four-Digit class—the so-called middle tier—is still referred to as 'Upper Gate' by the divine hierarchy. Do you know why?"
Athena frowned. "Why?"
"Because of divine rank. A divine seat."
"Below Five Digits, there's no such thing as an official position. But Four Digits? That's where seats start."
"Think of it like having a secured position versus being a freelancer. But worse."
"Those with a seat gain recognition, protection, and attention. Those without it are nobodies—like weeds."
He smirked, voice amused. "If I chose to rank up and take a Four-Digit seat right now, I'd probably have a Two-Digit waiting to block my door."
"My guess is that the first to show up will be someone from the Cross Pantheon. They'll suspect I'm the one responsible for the changes—after all, we specifically targeted the Cross Pantheon the most during Campione. And not just them—even Athena from Little Garden will see me as the primary target after."
"That sounds rough. No wonder you didn't send an invitation to Liliana and others." Athena fell silent for a moment, then reached out and patted his head with a surprisingly gentle hand.
"Thanks," Ryo replied softly, then narrowed his eyes—looking at the two new figures who had silently appeared in the room.
"Well well. Look who it is."
Dressed in elegant Hanfu, Luo Hao. And beside her, Lancelot in a wanderer's cloak.
Both of them turned. After recognizing Ryo, some of their tension faded.
Ryo spread his arms theatrically. "Do I need to say a welcome speech, ladies?"
Neither answered him.
Both Luo Hao and Lancelot were too busy testing their newfound power.
Seeing that, Ryo only shrugged. "Looks like the proper welcome party will have to wait."
— — —
Outer Gate 3345 — [Thousand Eyes] HQ
Shiroyasha, who had invited a famous girl group to perform a scandalously seductive dance for her amusement, turned to her subordinate with a blank face.
"What? The boss wants to see me?"
"Yes, Lady Shiroyasha," the attendant replied nervously.
"Tch… I've got a bad feeling about this."
Muttering, Shiroyasha shooed the half-dressed idol girls away and stepped into a sealed chamber in the rear courtyard.
The door shut instantly behind her.
Golden lines lit up one by one on the floor, forming a glowing sigil in the shape of an α. But anyone who looked closer would see its core was shaped like an egg, entwined by a twin-headed serpent—the two heads biting into the egg, the tails knotted together.
To most people, it would just look like a basketball-sized Greek Alpha.
As the sigil fully lit, Shiroyasha stepped into the center and closed her eyes.
The light surged upward, gathering in the air. When she opened her eyes again, a line of floating text hovered before her.
It was written in the universal language. Translated, it said only one thing:
{Investigate the 'True Name' of the King of End.]
As soon as she read it, the glowing words faded like chalk wiped clean.
Shiroyasha scratched her head in frustration.
"Looks like trouble again."
She sighed and turned to leave—only to stop when she sensed someone entering the community. Feathers began to drift down from above into the main hall.
Shiroyasha looked up.
There, riding Pegasus sidesaddle, was Athena.
Their gazes met. Silence. A few seconds of unreadable atmosphere.
Then Shiroyasha spoke with absolute certainty. "He conned you, didn't he?"
Athena froze, completely caught off guard.
.
.
.