— — — — — —
"Fake." Athena crushed Ryo's dangerous line of thinking without a moment's hesitation. "Even the positions of King and Queen of the Gods are just that: positions. They simply represent who holds authority within a divine pantheon. What you're imagining is an intimate relationship between a man and a woman. Your premise is wrong, so naturally your conclusion is wrong."
Ryo sucked in a sharp breath, "Wait... are you saying, Hera..."
If the King and Queen of the Gods were merely offices and not that kind of couple... Didn't that make Zeus and Hera basically...
Athena looked at him with utter exasperation, "As much as I'd like to call you an idiot, that's essentially correct."
She paused before continuing. "The children of Zeus and Hera are born from the union of their Authorities and their cosmology. They're born as true gods from the very beginning. If they reproduced the way humans do, the result would simply be a demigod carrying half of Zeus's bloodline and half of Hera's."
"Those are the rules imposed by Little Garden's Central Core upon Divinities. A pure God can only reproduce itself."
Athena sighed helplessly. "Now that I think about it, aside from Aphrodite and Zeus, I can't think of a single Greek god who's particularly obsessed with indulging in physical pleasures. Even Ares and Hermes used to spend most of their time fooling around in their own way. In the end, though, Aphrodite was the one who seduced them and led them astray..."
She let out another sigh, "Hermes, especially. He was a genius who pushed his Authority over theft to unimaginable heights. What a waste.... Sigh~ Is physical pleasure really that important to you people?"
Ryo looked away awkwardly. "Hey, don't lump me in with them. I'm not into the same weird hobbies as Indra."
Athena couldn't help but fire back.
"If you were, the one you'd be eyeing wouldn't be Zeus. It'd be Aphrodite."
Then she added matter-of-factly, "For what it's worth, knowing her personality, she probably wouldn't mind sleeping with you. Just be careful. It would likely be the best experience of your life, but that's exactly what makes it dangerous. Once you've had a taste, you might never be able to let it go."
"Ahem, I'll pass on the Goddess of Beauty and Pleasure." Ryo twitched at the corners of his mouth.
He was acquainted with Hephaestus, after all. There was no way he was going to fool around with the man's wife even if he wanted.
If he had to choose... He'd much rather spend time with Athena, Artemis, or even Hestia.
Shaking the thought from his head, Ryo asked, "Speaking of which, where's Artemis? After everything I did to her, she hasn't made a move?"
Athena gave him a peculiar look. "'Everything you did to her?'"
Ryo coughed, "I killed her Heretic God incarnation."
"What are you leaving out?" Athena narrowed her eyes suspiciously, her gaze growing sharper. "If that were your only conflict with her, then her recent actions make no sense."
"What do you mean?" Ryo asked, a feeling of unease settling in his chest.
"Artemis personally requested the reassignment," Athena explained calmly. "She's gone to the Divine War battlefield to take command of the Greek forces. Before leaving, she voluntarily restricted her Spirit Rank to the level of a four-digit Rule Breaker."
"..."
Ryo's jaw dropped. He hadn't expected Artemis to head for the Divine War battlefield.
...Hold on. She wasn't planning to copy his strategy, was she? Sneak into enemy territory and kidnap Leticia?
His expression changed immediately. "I thought four-digit rule-breakers and above weren't allowed to participate directly in Divine Wars."
"Leaving aside the fact that someone already broke that rule and still hasn't been punished..." Athena gave him a pointed look that made Ryo feel unexpectedly guilty, "...the restriction also includes a supplementary clause. If one side deploys a combatant beyond the standard limit, the opposing side may request an equivalent-level combatant in response."
She continued, "Divine Wars aren't limited to the lower layers. They take place in the upper layers as well. Soldiers fight soldiers. Kings fight kings. That's one of the basic principles. So according to the Central Core's rules, after Artemis requested deployment, Arcadia gained the right to deploy one combatant of equal standing. By treaty, both sides would enter the battlefield simultaneously."
"After all, the restriction on four-digit rule-breakers isn't an absolute prohibition. It's merely a limitation."
Ryo immediately relaxed.
So Artemis was still waiting for Arcadia to send its own equivalent representative before she could enter the battlefield. She wasn't anywhere near Mars yet, much less preparing a surprise attack.
Realizing that, Ryo shamelessly let out a sigh of relief.
"Wait a second. Then why didn't Zeus invoke that clause before?"
The moment the words left his mouth, he understood. Because the Greeks had never imagined Ryo would be shameless enough to exploit the mismatch between his actual combat strength and the official rank of his Spirit Rank.
He'd practically conned the system and ambushed Zeus's precious daughter.
Besides, according to Little Garden's Central Core, Ryo's Spirit Rank technically hadn't reached the level of a four-digit rule-breaker yet, so he didn't even qualify under the treaty...
"...Hang on. I remember the Pantheon Hall ruling that from now on, I'll compete under the Star Spirit regulations. And legendary four-digit Star Spirits are apparently treated as equivalent to rule-breaker combatants..."
He paused before rubbing his forehead, "...Damn it. That actually makes it an equal matchup."
Athena struggled to hold back a laugh. "You know, you're the first human in Little Garden's history who's managed to make the Pantheon Hall revise the Central Core's regulations with a supplementary clause."
She smiled, "On the bright side, you and Lady Shiroyasha have become quite the duo. After all, she's the reason the rule 'Star Spirits are automatically treated as one rank higher' exists in the first place."
Ryo instantly understood.
So Shiroyasha had abused the advantages of being a Star Spirit back in the day too.
In that case, he could absolutely shift all the blame onto her.
'The apple doesn't fall far from the tree,' he thought with a smile. 'This is all Senpai's bad influence.'
He chuckled. "So Artemis is just waiting for me to show up?"
"That's right." Athena's smile faded into a sigh. "It was also Zeus's idea, along with the other gods involved in the Godslayer War."
"They want to tie you down on the Divine War battlefield and eliminate a troublesome rival from the competition. And it was Artemis herself who proposed the plan."
Athena looked at him with an amused smile, "For someone to hold a grudge against you this much... 'I only killed her Heretic incarnation' doesn't quite explain it."
Ryo scratched his cheek, "Well... I might've run my mouth a little."
He quickly changed the subject. "But do those gods really think they'll be able to rest easy just because they've lured me away?"
Athena lifted her wine glass. "Never overestimate the wisdom of a crowd. But don't underestimate it either."
"I have no idea what you mean." Ryo sighed before smiling. "Anyway, I'll take this chance to hide out on the battlefield for a while. It'll let me avoid this whole 'Fourth Generation King of the Gods' mess. And while I'm there, I'll have a nice little chat with Artemis."
"As for other gods... I sincerely wish them the best of luck with their plan."
Athena caught the odd undertone in his words. Narrowing her eyes, she smiled, "When are you leaving?"
"Soon." Ryo let out another sigh. "Before going off to war... I've got a few things I need to prepare."
'He's plotting something again, isn't he?'
Athena saw straight through the innocent look on his face and silently shook her head.
Ryo definitely had something devious in mind.
But what did that have to do with her? She was just an ordinary teacher in Arcadia.
Raising her glass, Athena quietly began wondering what kind of homework she should assign Rias, Akeno, and the others.
Maybe... an entire truckload of exam papers.
After all, watching those girls cling to Ryo all day wasn't exactly good for loli Athena's mood.
Besides, it wasn't fair to keep letting Kurousagi look so pitiful.
That silly little bunny was someone Athena genuinely considered her little sister. And as the older sister... Athena believed it was only natural to help her little sister get a bit of revenge.
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