The victim's anger must, naturally, be appeased in a way the victim can accept.
The problem children of the Savior Group never had much of a favorable impression of this world's highest authorities to begin with.
If sacrificing these rulers could earn the victim's forgiveness and resolve the current crisis, the Saviors wouldn't hesitate to offer up their lives.
They were Savior candidates, not Saint candidates; they had no pointless sympathy for sinners.
However, the Typhon Avatar was still in critical condition, relying on medical equipment to sustain his life. It was clearly not the time for a conversation.
A full day passed before the Typhon Avatar's condition finally stabilized, and he was cleared to receive outside visitors.
Upon hearing the news, Saigō Homura put his research on hold and hurried to the intensive care unit with the others.
"Yo, Homura. You're here earlier than I thought. Research going well today?"
Seeing the hastily arrived Saigō Homura, Izayoi, who was still wrapped in heavy bandages, raised an eyebrow in surprise and greeted him.
In his memory, Saigō Homura would typically forget to eat or sleep when faced with a difficult problem. Even if something urgent came up, he would drag his feet, his mind still on his research.
For him to arrive at the same time as everyone else today meant he had dropped his scientific pursuits without a second thought.
For a tech geek like him who loved a good challenge, he found it hard to walk away when he was stuck on a problem, but conversely, he found it boring when research went too smoothly, making it easier to interrupt.
"More or less!"
Saigō Homura nodded, proving that Izayoi did indeed know his younger brother well.
"I've finished collecting the basic data from the sample you used last time, Big Brother Izayoi. Everything is within expected parameters. The next step is just to replace the materials with a reinforced model for mass production of usable, single-use products. I've already handed that part of the project over to the team. We should have results by tomorrow."
As a research prodigy, he had a great number of researchers under him—the so-called "research grunts."
Once the core principles were sound and the implementation plan was set, he naturally didn't need to handle the remaining details himself. After providing the right direction, his team could complete all the repetitive experimental work.
"Besides your project, my own BDA research is also going smoothly. While verifying my previous hypothesis, I discovered that the sample Lady Leticia provided is simply perfect—"
At the mention of research, Saigō Homura's excitement flared up instinctively, but after a few words, he realized this wasn't the time or place.
"Ahem! Anyway, you don't need to worry about the research, Big Brother Izayoi. I'm moving even faster than I initially expected. But that's not what's important right now..."
With that, Saigō Homura looked toward the door of the intensive care unit, his expression turning serious and solemn.
"No matter how advanced a technology is, if it's not applied in the right way, it can create an even greater hell."
"So never mind not running into any problems—even if I had encountered a fascinating subject or a difficult challenge, I couldn't place it above the matter of the Typhon Avatar... Science is a tool to serve humanity. If we turn a blind eye to the plight of a victim, then there's no point in scientific advancement."
Remembering the brutal scenes he had witnessed, remembering the hell the Typhon Avatar had endured, Saigō Homura's voice grew heavy.
He was the type to value scientific ethics, and he was deeply concerned about Typhon's situation.
Clap, clap, clap!
Hearing this, Izayoi applauded.
"As expected of my little brother. Your eloquence is at least half as good as mine."
Izayoi never shied away from praising his younger brother.
However—
"Big Brother Izayoi, no matter how much you praise me, I'm not going to ignore your unreasonable behavior right now."
Saigō Homura turned his head, looking at his brother with an accusatory gaze.
"Even if your condition is a little better than the Typhon Avatar's, that's no reason for you to ignore the medical staff's orders and walk right out of the ICU, is it?"
"Even if this conversation is extremely important to you, you could have at least let the staff push you here in a wheelchair, right? You just walked over on your own, covered in bandages. Are you some kind of chuunibyou, or do you just have no regard for your own body? Don't you know this will prolong your recovery time?"
Though he was the younger brother, Saigō Homura adopted the tone of an older brother or a parent, unceremoniously laying into his sibling.
Izayoi's constitution was indeed robust, and his battle wounds alone wouldn't cause any lasting genetic instability. But to use that as an excuse to disregard his own well-being and run around when he should be resting was still a clear sign that he didn't value his own body.
Considering his personality and love for being in the thick of things, Saigō Homura would have tolerated it if he had at least shown up in a wheelchair.
But no, in his current state, he refused to use so much as a crutch, acting as if nothing was wrong. That, Saigō Homura could not tolerate.
Faced with his brother's accusations and dissatisfaction, Izayoi just scratched his head and replied dismissively.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Homura, why are you nagging like an old mom? Of course I know it would be safer to have a pretty nurse push me over in a wheelchair. But there's no way I'm gonna look useless in front of my rival. This Lord ain't having it."
He knew he was in the wrong, but he did it anyway.
Even if it meant a longer recovery, he couldn't show weakness in front of a rival he acknowledged.
"Simply put, it's about pride, isn't it?"
Kudō Asuka, standing to the side, summarized, then shook her head in disdain.
"How childish!"
"Indeed," Percher chimed in with a nod, asking in confusion, "Isn't the Typhon Avatar lying in bed, unable to move? In front of a severely injured person like him, there's no shame in using a wheelchair, is there?"
Was it really necessary to be standing?
"That's where you're wrong," Sakamaki Izayoi retorted with a serious expression, refuting the girls' assessment.
"Just 'not being embarrassing' isn't enough. It's at times like these that you have to do your utmost to project an air of effortlessness. On a small scale, this is about establishing an advantage for the coming conversation. On a grand scale, this is a duel of masculine grace and presence..."
"In a contest like this, you go all out. There's no such thing as 'good enough'!"
Izayoi spoke with conviction, but the more the girls listened, the more disgusted they became.
"I feel like you've got your priorities completely backward. And besides, this 'duel of masculine grace and presence' sounds more like you're just putting on a brave face, doesn't it?" Kudō Asuka shot back, exasperated.
"No, you don't understand. This is a man's world," Izayoi said, shaking his head gravely. "If you don't believe me, just watch. My rival is definitely thinking the exact same thing."
Hearing this, Kudō Asuka shook her head again.
"Instead of this male posturing, which is common in the animal kingdom, you should be thinking about how to find out what he truly needs, not doing stupid things that hurt your own body for no gain!"
Percher nodded as well. "He's a god, after all. He probably wouldn't deign to put up a front for something so trivial."
Even Saigō Homura completely agreed with the girls.
"If the Typhon Avatar is an idiot just like you, Big Brother Izayoi, and would strike a pose on his deathbed, then I can't say I have high hopes for the outcome of these negotiations."
You couldn't expect an idiot to clearly articulate his own needs, after all.
"Agreed," Kasukabe Yō nodded with a deadpan expression.
Just as this one-sided verdict was reached, the medical staff inside the room finished their checks and treatments and opened the door.
And then, the members of the Savior Group saw him: sitting up on the hospital bed, right fist pressed to his forehead, his near-dead body straining to hold the pose of "The Thinker"—the Typhon Avatar.
Looking at that classic pose, one that was difficult to strike unintentionally, and the troubled expressions on the faces of the medical staff, everyone in the Savior Group—except for Izayoi—was petrified.
This powerhouse of a Two-Digit Full-Authority Domain...
...was a real idiot!
Typhon, of course, was oblivious to the group's inner thoughts.
He had woken from his coma just a few minutes earlier and was gradually assessing his situation.
He had been saved.
It seemed that just as he had held back, his opponents had held back as well.
Realizing this, Typhon felt a sense of relief. At the very least, it meant they weren't deceived and considered him an ally.
He just didn't know what their stance was, or if they had truly identified their real enemy.
As he was pondering this, a member of the medical staff informed him that the Savior Group would be coming to speak with him shortly.
He immediately understood their purpose.
The conversation was for communication, to confirm stances, to establish cooperation. Just as he was unsure of their position, they were unsure of his. A discussion was necessary.
At this realization, a fierce, combative grin spread across his face.
Excellent!
The field of words is also a battlefield. As the last child of the Gaia, he had never shied away from war.
He would conquer them with his might, persuade them with his eloquence, and make them embrace his ambition to destroy the paradise of the gods together!
Just as he was grinning at the thought, the young nurse beside him instinctively frowned and scolded him.
"Don't move! Your oxygen tube fell out of your nose!"
As a Full-Authority Domain, being scolded by a mere mortal nurse didn't bring him any great shame. Instead, it made him realize something.
Wait! Am I going to negotiate with them in my current state?
It was said that a hero's worth is not judged by his origins, and no matter his appearance, nothing could conceal the magnanimity of a hero and a god. He was confident that his irrefutable eloquence would awe those young children.
In both wisdom and presence, he did not believe he would lose.
But... but, BUT.
Could anyone really deliver a heroic, eloquent speech while having a catheter inserted?
Even the prestige of a Full-Authority Domain would struggle to project its full might against the stark reality of a urinary catheter.
With this in mind, the Typhon Avatar instinctively looked at the young nurse beside him and, in a moment of humiliation, lowered his head.
"Excuse me, could you possibly do me a favor?"
"Please, I'm begging you! This is the request of a lifetime!"
Even if he couldn't get up, he couldn't lose his posture.
And thus, the scene the Savior Group witnessed upon opening the door came to be.