Chapter 922: Ch 921: Why Athena?

BOOOM!

Uesugi Kenshin flashed backward, retreating a full kilometer before she stopped. She looked at Shiroyasha, who was idly fiddling with her fingers, then at Mount Olympus in the distant sky, and frowned.

"Why are you stopping me, Lady Shiroyasha?" She paused, then went on, sounding genuinely confused. "Zeus used a full-power Another Cosmology in the lower layers without permission, and he aimed it at an entire Outer Gate. That gives the Heavenly Army every right to enforce the special rules and take him into custody. That shouldn't conflict with your duties, should it?"

Shiroyasha kept flexing her fingers, like she was warming up for something she planned to do in the bedroom, and answered offhandedly. "That old bastard used my Outer Gate, Gate 3345, as his personal shooting range. Of course he's getting punished."

"Then we agree. Why get in my way?" Kenshin tightened her grip on the splendid platinum spear in her hand.

It was the Heavenly Army's greatest trump card.

The Another Cosmology, the Brahmastra-Indra Spear. Once it was used, victory was guaranteed.

It was also what gave Kenshin the confidence to go after Zeus.

Unlike the Theogony that summons ancient gods to empower the user, or abilities that forcibly end a Gift Game or boost its wielder, the Brahmastra Spear had only one power.

Victory!

When this spear swung, its wielder ignored every condition and won. No exceptions.

That absolute power was enough to flatten any gap between Kenshin and Zeus and knock the god-king off his throne.

"Then let me ask you something. How exactly does the Heavenly Army plan to punish him?" Shiroyasha narrowed her eyes. "Strip the Greek pantheon of its reserve-army deities? Revoke Zeus's seat in the Pantheon Hall? Or can you people interfere in a pantheon's internal affairs and force Zeus to step down?"

"I..." Kenshin couldn't answer. The first two really were the Army's plans. The third was something they simply couldn't do.

A pantheon's internal affairs were off limits to outsiders unless they seriously endangered Little Garden. That rule was set down when Little Garden was founded.

As long as that rule stood, no outsider could force Zeus down by strength. Only a proper coup from within could do it.

It was a limit built into the rules themselves, and even the Heavenly Army couldn't change it.

Seeing Kenshin go quiet, Shiroyasha toyed with her fingers again and let out a mocking laugh. "Stripping some meaningless privileges, locking him up, don't bother pulling these petty tricks in front of me."

"Right now, all I want is Zeus dead, and Ryo's working hard to make that happen. I don't want any outsiders getting involved. Understood?"

Her icy gaze swept across the space around her. It split through layer after layer of dimension like lightning and locked onto the divinities hiding behind the scenes, one by one.

"If you understand, then back off! If anyone wants to interfere, tell them to bring a Two Digit!"

At her words, the gods all fell silent.

Especially now that a demon spirit rank had spread across all of Little Garden, and no deity dared to speak.

A few of the gods skilled in prophecy had already received premonitions. They knew that the "Another Cosmology, Theogony" had been unfolded in the lower layers.

Compared to Shiroyasha's tough talk, Algol, who was already acting, was clearly the greater deterrent.

Unseen, countless hands that had been about to reach out pulled back.

The profit from carving up the Greek pantheon in the chaos wasn't worth it, not against the threat of a star spirit, let alone two.

Shiroyasha realized the gods were backing down because Algol had unfolded Another Cosmology in the lower layer, and not because of her threat.

Her face was red with anger, and she quietly made a few decisions.

But right then, a radiance of the Big Bang rose from Mount Olympus in the upper layers.

"This is...!"

Shiroyasha whipped her head around. She froze for a moment, then her eyes went wide.

...

..

Lower Layers, Beneath Arcadia's headquarters—

Algol, bathed in pitch-black light, turned in confusion to look at Athena beside her, who raised an eyebrow.

"You've seen this move before?" Algol asked, sounding a little sour.

Even she hadn't known Ryo had a trump card like this, yet Athena had seen it. That annoyed her.

"No, I haven't." Athena shook her head slightly, lips parted, staring in disbelief at the scene in the upper layers.

"Quit lying to me!" Algol was clearly irritated that her defeated opponent was hiding things. "If you'd never seen it, why would it be called 'Athena Exclamation'? And look at your face right now. Isn't that awe?"

"You've got some nerve playing me for a fool. Are you itching for a beating or something?"

Athena was speechless.

She felt more wronged than a girl in a tragic opera.

The move might be called Athena Exclamation, but she had never actually seen it before, and she'd never been awed by it either!

'Why won't Algol believe me?! Have I outsmarted her so many times that she's started doubting even the obvious truth? How pitiful.'

Athena sighed inwardly, but with Algol accusing her, she had no choice but to brace herself and start explaining.

...

..

North District, Avalon community—

A sun-like girl with hair the color of golden wheat and eyes like rubies sat on a swing, dangling her flawless little feet. She grumbled, a bit put out.

"Why is it called Athena Exclamation? Wouldn't Halloween Exclamation sound so much better?"

Behind her, Scáthach, who had been standing there like a guard the whole time, couldn't help shooting her a sidelong look, fighting the urge to run.

Sure enough, a second later, the willful queen announced to no one in particular.

"Scáthach!"

"...Here." Scáthach stepped forward, reluctantly.

"In a bit, go to Arcadia and have Ryo change that name. I don't like it. He can pick whatever he wants, I don't really care."

Hearing that wonderfully dopey voice, Scáthach sighed helplessly.

"Understood!"

She bowed respectfully, then turned and bolted.

If she stayed any longer, she was afraid the queen would give her more nonsense orders, and she couldn't even object. It was a tragedy.

Noticing Scáthach's hasty escape, Queen Halloween huffed but said nothing. She just giggled under her breath.

"A rare, defensive Another Cosmology, a battle skill that destroys everything like the Big Bang. Looks like quite a few people up in the Upper Layers are about to get headaches~"

"Especially a certain snake..."

A delighted smile spread across Queen Halloween's face.

"You never saw this coming, did you, Krishna?"

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