— — — — — —
"Whoa, whoa—aren't we being a little reckless here?"
Ryo and Black Rabbit had already walked out of the [No Name] base.
"I mean, sure, if we go straight to Her Excellency Athena and confess, there's a decent chance she'll lighten the punishment… but is it really okay for just the two of us to go?"
Black Rabbit kept complaining. "And we didn't even notify the other person involved, right? You're not even giving her the basic right to know?"
"If you really plan to keep her in the dark, then this whole thing is just you being self-willed, Ryo."
At this moment, Athena was still listening to Leticia's little lecture, completely unaware that Ryo and Black Rabbit had slipped away.
Or rather, in her impression, Ryo sneaking off with a girl wasn't exactly a rare sight. So she didn't bother paying attention.
"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm doing," Ryo admitted shamelessly. He fully intended to make the decision for Athena on how to handle this mess.
Ryo, even with all the plans and preparations he had made, knew it still wasn't enough. Sooner or later, Athena of Little Garden—the golden-haired goddess of war and wisdom—would uncover the truth using the trinity godhead she had.
Once she did, she would scheme against him and the entire community, just as she had done to Algol.
And all she needed to do was spread the word that he was the cause behind it all—and every pantheon in Little Garden would turn him into their primary enemy.
"Bunny, that airheaded goddess is someone I brought into Little Garden in the first place. If she turns out to be petty and things go sideways, I'll die from the emotional trauma."
The truth was simple: Ryo didn't want to gamble. He also didn't want his silver-haired Athena to be killed by the golden-haired one.
If he got lucky, great. But if not? Game over... well, he still had back-ups.
But the goddess of war and wisdom, perched right on the edge of the four-digit tier and clearly eyeing the two-digit domain, wasn't someone Ryo could imagine going against right now.
Black Rabbit listened to this without the slightest hint of being moved. Instead, she let out a faint sigh. "You actually said that to my face. In a way, your nerve really is something, Ryo…"
Ryo kept smiling, but a bead of cold sweat slid down his temple.
Luckily, Black Rabbit didn't dwell on it. Her expression grew serious.
"So, the reason we're heading to [Thousand Eyes]'s outpost in Outer Gate 3345 is because you plan to ask Lady Shiroyasha to mediate?"
"This is my insurance against getting beaten to death." Ryo replied bluntly.
"Knew it," Black Rabbit sighed helplessly.
"That's exactly why I followed…" she grumbled internally.
Compared to Ryo, she actually had a better relationship with Shiroyasha.
Showing up alongside him would just add a bit of weight to their side of the scale—enough to tilt Shiroyasha's attitude, hopefully.
But still, some unease lingered.
"Even so… would Lady Shiroyasha really be willing to risk offending Athena over a subordinate god like you? That's a pretty serious concern."
Without hesitation, Ryo answered. "If that doesn't work, I'll just send you all back to the outside world and go defect to the Queen."
"…The Queen?" Black Rabbit's eye twitched.
Come to think of it, Leticia did mention that Queen Halloween had sent someone to invite Ryo before.
If things really came to that, Queen Halloween might actually accept him.
After all, it'd be a perfect chance to spite Shiroyasha. And knowing that queen—who'd been locked in a petty rivalry with her for who knows how many years—she'd probably take the risk of offending Athena just for that satisfaction.
"Of course, if even that fails, I still have a last-resort trump card."
Ryo's tone was light and carefree, as if he actually had a card that could pin Athena down.
And in fact, he did.
Right now, in his vision, the dimensional forum interface floated before him.
On it, only one exchange option was available: [Sasha's Half-Awakened Godblood (80,000 points)]
Athena—a goddess whose will was unified from the entire pantheon, and whose strength Ryo suspected was already equivalent to the three-digit domain.
She knew exactly what that godblood represented.
It meant cutting off her path to the two-digit forever—and possibly being devoured entirely.
After all, the Athena from Saint Seiya wasn't some acquired spirit—she was a goddess born from the divine will before the Big Bang.
A True Natural God, through and through.
Of course, this was his bottom-of-the-box threat. He most likely wouldn't need to use it.
Black Rabbit could only groan at his words. "Sometimes I feel like you have zero sense of security—you're always stacking backup plans on backup plans."
Hearing that, Ryo paused and stared straight at her for a long moment without speaking.
"…What?" Black Rabbit blinked, confused.
Ryo simply gave her a thumbs-up and grinned broadly. "No reason. I just thought someone as pure-hearted as you really is better suited to being a pet."
"—Huh?!"
Black Rabbit's voice jumped nearly an octave, and she immediately lunged after him.
"What's that supposed to mean?! You planning to put a collar on me, lock me in a basement, and whip me every day or something?!"
"Excellent—already making requests of your own. Such a good bunny~"
Ryo gave her a double thumbs-up this time, all smiles.
Before she could explode, he turned away and looked at the Gate ahead.
"Alright, enough messing around. We're here."
"You—!"
Black Rabbit's face flushed bright red. Seeing Ryo straighten his collar and put on a dignified expression like some serious official made her stomp her foot in frustration.
By then, Ryo was already stepping up to the Boundary Gate. Seeing this, Black Rabbit could only follow behind, looking deeply aggrieved.
— — —
Outer Gate 3345 — [Thousand Eyes]
The TeaRoom
Shiroyasha had just received the report. Staring down at the parchment scroll in her hand, the corner of her mouth twitched twice.
"…What's written there?" The uneasy feeling in Athena's chest only grew stronger.
Shiroyasha let out a dramatic sigh, tossed the scroll over to her, took a huge swig of tea, and said in a mock-annoyed tone: "Don't even get me started. The Athena you're looking for is currently in the City of the Edge—at Ryo's house."
Athena took the scroll and skimmed it. Her expression turned… complicated.
"How did he even pull that off?"
"That's impossible… Just how?"
Athena kept murmuring variations of "impossible" and "how could this be" under her breath.
Shiroyasha just sighed again. "That brat's ability to stir up chaos is honestly ridiculous. No wonder Boss told me not to back him too much."
"He's already this bold without our support. If we back him officially, what then—he'll go overturn Core itself?"
Athena read the scroll in silence. Her expression shifted through regret, disbelief, shock, and anger all at once.
And in Shiroyasha's complaints, Athena caught the real message.
Ryo had already drawn the attention of the Twin Goddesses. If Athena really tried to attack him… Shiroyasha would "have no choice" but to intervene.
Athena understood perfectly.
But more than that, something else weighed on her mind.
Back then, she had promised Ryo her divine protection. Now—should she take it back?
Sheltering heroes was something Athena did often. It was her long-standing way of drawing in followers.
The "Goddess who protects heroes." She had used that title for thousands of years.
If she suddenly went back on that now, wouldn't that just destroy her own reputation?
But if she didn't—and Ryo brought up this whole situation in front of a major figure from another pantheon… say, someone from the two-digit tier? Like the Cross pantheon?
Would she be the one taking the fall? Or not?
Thinking that far, Athena leaned against the tea table, covering her face with both hands, and let out a long, drawn-out sigh.
It was a sigh overflowing with bitter regret.
"How do you feel right now?" Shiroyasha asked, clearly enjoying herself a little.
Athena took a deep breath. Her fingers interlaced nervously in front of her.
"Regret. Just regret. I tried—really tried—to overestimate him, but still… still… ugh…"
She could only sigh again at the end.
"Why were you being so impulsive the other day?" Shiroyasha added fuel to the fire like a veteran backseat commentator. "Telling him to cause as much chaos as he could? I'm not even surprised this time."
"You could've talked to me first, you know? We wouldn't be in this mess."
Silently, Shiroyasha reached over and took Athena's hand, patting the back of it gently.
'Oooooh~'
Shiroyasha felt good, keeping Athena's hand firmly in place.
'Man, the hand of a virgin goddess really is soft~'
'I probably wouldn't wash my hands for the next thousand years~'
"...Sigh…" Athena was still drowning in regret.
At that moment, someone knocked on the door from outside.
"Lady Shiroyasha, Lord Ryo Yagami is here requesting an audience."
Shiroyasha blinked. "Oh-ho? Walking right into the trap, is he?"
.
.
.