— — — — — —
"You don't dare kill us."
Hermes said it like he was laughing at him. "You only dare trap our avatars here. You won't finish us off."
"Because you can't guarantee that once our avatars die and we lose our shot in the next lower-layer competition, the Greek pantheon won't respond with total retaliation."
"So no, you won't kill us. From the very beginning you never dared. All you can do is run your mouth, force us to ransom ourselves, and get a bit of compensation out of it."
"So stop circling around and just say it. Name your price. What do you want us to pay?"
"As long as it's something we can actually afford and it isn't too ridiculous, I'm willing to pay."
Ryo stared at him, face growing more and more amused. "With the Greek pantheon behind you, you're this confident?"
"You think I don't dare kill you? That's some weak reverse psychology."
"...Hmm... yes, why would I kill you? There's no benefit in that. But then, why should I make you ransom yourselves either?"
He smiled and tossed back. "If I sold you to the Cross pantheon, or to the Egyptian pantheon, or even to Ouroboros at a discount, I'd still make a killing. And it wouldn't trigger an all-out war with Greece."
"There are plenty of gods happy to pay a premium just to hold down the Greeks, and that includes blocking any Greek counterattack on my behalf."
"You think I'm scared of your retaliation? That I won't sell you because you're too strong?"
"Don't flatter yourself, Hermes. In my eyes you're just some trash I could crush without thinking."
"In fact, among the Twelve Olympians, the only ones worth taking seriously are Athena, Zeus, Hestia, and Hades."
"The rest of you? A bunch of overhyped lightweights. I didn't expect you'd be this weak when I made my move."
"This is what you call four-digit freaks? Three-digit avatars? This? Really?"
"You really think I don't dare kill you? No. I just like my profits. Even a piece of toilet paper has value if used right, let alone two major gods' avatars."
"You—!"
Hermes' voice tightened, and his eyelids twitched like he was about to tear them open.
"You can't! You can't sell me!"
"Why not? Because it's not dignified? Because it might make people think less of you?"
He snorted. "You think I care about the opinions of weaklings? The only ones who'll look bad are you."
"The Greeks are already a bunch of shameless trash. Lowering the bar a little more is only natural."
"The first three-digit avatar ever sold off. Honestly, it'd be a funny milestone. Might even get written into Little Garden's history."
Hermes froze.
If Ryo actually did that, their humiliation would go nuclear.
And humiliation wasn't the only issue. If he and Ares got bought by a hostile pantheon, they'd end up suppressed all their life. Their divine authorities—theft for Hermes, war and battle for Ares—wouldn't return to their main bodies. Their power would crater, and their standing within Greece would follow.
He wasn't just threatening them. He was aiming to ruin them.
Ares, equally shaken, suddenly spoke up. "You won't do that."
He stared at Ryo with absolute certainty.
Ryo raised a brow, annoyed. "Another idiot talking nonsense? Sorry, I'm not in the mood for banter."
"No." Ares narrowed his eyes, studying him. "What I mean is: you don't want to sell us to other pantheons. More specifically..."
He hesitated, face tightening with real caution. "You want to use us to boost your own power. And I'm starting to suspect you want to use that soul-severing trick from earlier to control us."
Ryo paused, then slowly smiled, amused. "Ara~ Ara~ Caught me, huh?"
He hadn't planned on using Sekishiki Kisōen (Praesepe Demonic Blue Flames) to crack their spirit rank and blackmail them like before, but Ares' suspicion was close enough.
He really did want to take control of two Olympians and reinforce Arcadia's currently fragile strength.
"What?" Hermes finally realized what was happening and yelped.
Ares glared at him. "Idiot, you still haven't noticed? Ever since he walked in, our power has been draining."
Hermes froze, then checked himself carefully. After a moment he blurted out. "Our authorities are suppressed? This is a domain? When did he—!"
"When I walked in."
Ryo paused for dramatic effect, then added with a nasty smile. "And for the record, this domain is called Athena's Sanctuary."
"Once you're inside it, anyone who isn't acknowledged as a Saint has all their power suppressed, including Authority."
His eyes narrowed with a peculiar grin.
Athena's Sanctuary.
In the Saint Seiya world, it was used to fight Hades' Specters, who were granted immortality by the Underworld King. Its purpose was to suppress every power not approved by Athena.
That included the immortality given by Hades himself. Even a Gift from a suspected two-digit being could be temporarily suppressed by that domain.
Ryo had deployed one in Arcadia City earlier, forcing Kalki and the others into the Game Field.
And now, between lines of conversation, he'd quietly used it again on Ares and Hermes, crushing their authorities and cutting off any contact with their true bodies.
"A domain that can suppress authorities... so Athena was hiding something like this."
Ares finally understood.
From the very beginning, Ryo's debut fight had been a setup. A trap aimed at him—
No. A trap aimed at Hermes.
It was a trap.
A trap Athena set together with Ryo Yagami.
.
.
.