"Atalanta."
"!?"
"Leave this to me."
"Heracles...!?"
"I cannot allow the reputation of Greece to fall any lower into the mud."
"Isn't it a bit too late for that?"
"Silence, Achilles! Even so... I cannot help but struggle against it—!!"
My Room
"Ah, Rikka. Your mother is coming right now...! To execute... pure punishment—!"
The Goddess and Her Friend
The Temple of Artemis materialized through the overwritten Texture...
『The scenery rewritten there isn't a fake! It's the real temple created directly by Artemis's magical energy!』
Just as Roman said, this scenery was false, yet not a lie. Born from the thoughts and wishes packed into the dango... it was a moon-viewing venue created by Artemis, for Artemis, and for the sake of Rikka and her Darling.
Yes, this was an all-out venue setup engineered by Artemis solely for the purpose of enjoying a wonderful, lovely moon-viewing at her temple...!
"The moon... it's huge..."
The moon in the night sky usually faded in comparison. Floating directly before their eyes, overwhelming in presence, was a massive, gorgeous moon. Visible directly through the open-air temple, it was a fantastical, magnificent miracle of the stars. It was a special sight not to be witnessed in nature—a view saved exclusively for a god and their favorite mortal.
"Right, right?! It's huge, isn't it?! Beautiful, right?! The absolute best, right?!"
—To think it could be this bright without any lights...!
(I'm speechless... She stole all that dango just to do this...?)
The two stood utterly overwhelmed. And understandably so. In a sense, this was a sight that defied reality itself, constructed by Artemis altering the Texture just to show them a "super lovely moon."
Through and through, this was all for Rikka's sake. There wasn't a single shred of malice or hostility. It was simply a goddess's wish for a cherished friend.
"How is it, Rikka?! It's far from enough as a 'reward for saving the world,' but I did my absolute best! Look! Look at how pretty the moon is! Well, technically the moon is me, but... Eek♥! I said it! Darling, I actually said it out loud♥!"
"Wait, wait, explain yourself properly! How many times do I have to tell you?! Stop dragging everyone into your wild pacing as if it's the natural thing to do!!"
Prompted by Orion, who was being poked and prodded while squealing in pain, Artemis snapped back to her senses.
"Ah, that's right, that's right! Um... let's see..."
Artemis looked back in thought. The full scope of her grand scheme was...
~
Well, you see, Rikka saved the world, right? That made me super, super happy!
Yay! Rikka saved mine and Darling's planet! I was so happy! How wonderful! As expected of my friend! I love her! I love Rikka so much!
And then, I remembered. Rikka was the very first human to pray for my happiness after I lived as a god, and she's my friend! So I realized I had to give Rikka tons and tons of happiness in return! That's why... that's why...
I decided we just had to do a moon-viewing! (?)
While viewing the moon, I wanted to become the Goddess of Victory! Rikka's Goddess of Victory! From now on, forever and ever!
To seal that vow, I decided to work hard. But I figured Rikka needed a proper trial first, so I raided Chaldea's food pantry!
However, the King's defense was absolute perfection, and Darling ended up charred to a crisp 100 times, so it didn't go well at all...
Wondering what to do, I mustered all my strength and Rayshifted the dango over to France!
Originally, moon-viewing offerings are meant for me, Artemis—sacrifices dedicated to a god. The stronger the thoughts and wishes packed into those dango, the more amazing things you can pull off!
So, you see... I intentionally handed those dango out to the Servants who said, 'I want to do a moon-viewing!' I used the moonlight to drive them a tiny bit crazy! I wanted to turn those dango, forged from 'hatred' and 'passion,' into pure 'wishes' through everyone's feelings!
At the same time, this served as a 'trial'! Because only those who overcome trials can enter my temple! I wanted Rikka to be the cool hero who beats up the bad guys who stole the dango! I made her work hard so I could invite her to my temple! Great job, Rikka! You looked so cool! Almost as cool as Darling!
But then an accident happened... Unbelievable! The destroyer of civilization! Altera, the vanguard from ten thousand years ago, actually showed up!
I didn't hear about this! I didn't know! I didn't invite her! But since I wasn't sure if I could win without Rikka by my side... yeah! I decided to let Rikka beat her up instead!
Just as I planned, Rikka defeated everyone and reached Altera! And that's where the second part of my plan was fulfilled!
As the 'Goddess of Victory' bestowing power upon a Rikka in a pinch, I taught her my blessed ultimate move to make the cool Rikka even cooler~! Applause, please~!
My scheme was a massive success! With my blessing, Rikka totally wiped out the enemy! I became Rikka's Goddess of Victory! And Rikka became the 'Hero Recognized by Me'~!
A hero like that and her party are more than worthy to step foot into my temple! It's a little embarrassing, but... it's a sp-e-ci-al privilege♥!
And that's how I put the power of the dango and the wishes inside them to good use~!
The hatred that insisted they be made delicious, and the uncompromising passion! As vessels meant to be offered to a deity, those dango were top-notch! Thank you so much! Thanks to that, I managed to build such a wonderful space~!
Here, Rikka can heal all her fatigue from before! She can look back on her journey and say to me:
『Thank you, Artemis. You really are my Goddess of Victory.』
A lovely, wonderful moon-viewing for just the three of us: Darling, me, and Rikka! Named...
『Grand Victory! Operation Tri-Star Moon-Viewing!』 How about it? How is it?! Do you get it?! Did you understand?! I did so many things just for Rikka's sake!
Because if I didn't, it would be wrong, wouldn't it? To save the world and get no reward, no blessing at all? From a god's perspective, that's totally unacceptable!
So, me! I am going to make Rikka happy! That's only natural as friends, right?
After all, a girl will go to any length for her friend! I saw it on TV!
Rikka! Excellent work! Congrats on restoring Human History! Let's talk endlessly over drinks and dango!
This is my blessing! Did you receive it?! Did you embrace it?!
I love you so much, Rikka――――♥♥♥!!!
~
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