The moment she opened the door, Kurousagi saw the figure sitting on the bed and froze.
"Lady Athena, why are you sleeping in Ryo's bed? And... why are you wearing pajamas...?"
Athena was sitting against the headboard in a snow-white nightgown, calmly reading a book. Kurousagi's head was practically buzzing.
She had only wanted to teach Ryo a little lesson.
So why did it feel like she was the one who had ended up with a stain on her reputation?
At the same time, Leticia, who had also spotted Athena, opened her mouth slightly. Then, as the pieces fell into place, she murmured to herself, "No wonder Lady Algol insisted that I hurry back. And she deliberately brought up Ryo's situation in front of Kurousagi... So that's what this was about..."
That woman had actually wanted Kurousagi to walk in and catch them in the act.
That was seriously twisted.
Athena, meanwhile, lifted a hand and adjusted her glasses before glancing at Kurousagi. "We were discussing some matters yesterday. It was tiring, so I simply decided to rest here."
"Ah, so you were tired from discussing things. Right, right, that makes perfect sense..." Kurousagi answered somewhat dazedly. She pursed her lips, touched up her lip gloss, and then asked Athena, "So Ryo is currently..."
"He's taking a shower in the bathroom." Athena answered calmly while turning a page.
"Oh, so he's taking a shower..." Kurousagi suddenly understood.
She turned toward the fogged-up glass door beside her and, still looking completely out of it, walked over and pushed it open.
Then she walked straight in.
"Kurousagi?!" Ryo's startled voice came from inside. "What are you doing? Why did you suddenly come over and start sniffing me? Hey, you're way too close..."
Leticia looked at the glass door and inexplicably sighed. Then she turned toward Athena. "Don't you think this is a little..."
She trailed off, her expression conflicted.
Surely this goddess could have at least tried to hide it.
Sitting openly on the bed in her pajamas like this was practically an admission of guilt. Even an idiot could tell something was going on. Couldn't she at least have spared Kurousagi a little?
Athena glanced at her. "Once something has happened, if you don't intend to profit from concealing it, there is no reason to hide it."
To Athena, things were simple.
If she had done it, then she had done it. If she hadn't, then she hadn't.
Now that it had happened, there was nothing wrong with admitting it openly.
So what if she had stolen the Moon Rabbit's man?
If she had the ability, then the rabbit could always take him back.
When it came to war, Athena had never been afraid of anyone.
And it didn't matter what kind of war it was.
The moment she heard that, Leticia's face turned bright red. She opened her mouth to argue, but for a long while, she couldn't think of a single rebuttal.
She had a feeling Athena was talking about her.
Hadn't something happened between her and Ryo too, only for her to keep it hidden because of various circumstances?
In a way, part of the reason she had accepted the position of commander of the Divine War was because she wanted to avoid Kurousagi.
After all, if you counted their seniority, she was a close friend of Kurousagi's adoptive mother.
So fighting with Kurousagi over a man was, frankly, a little too embarrassing...
Just then, Athena suddenly asked, "You were called back by Algol, weren't you?"
"Yes," Leticia answered instinctively. She was somewhat stiff, with a trace of awe in her voice.
After all, the person standing before her was none other than Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and war.
Leticia had grown up hearing the legends about Athena.
During the Dawn Era, Athena had been far more forceful than she was now. She had first been known as the God of War of Greece, taking that title long before Ares.
In front of such a legendary figure, Leticia couldn't help but lower her posture.
Still... the thought of having to call this woman "sister" from now on was rather complicated...
Athena seemed to confirm something from Leticia's answer and murmured, "She have gone as far as calling you back. Looks like something really is about to happen on the Ouroboros side."
...
..
North Area—
At a temporary Ouroboros base, deep inside the hollow of a gigantic banyan tree standing a thousand meters tall, was a conference room.
An oppressive atmosphere hung over the entire room.
And the source of that pressure was the smiling young woman sitting at the head of the table, a straw hat resting on her head.
Krishna.
The eighth avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, the foremost figure among the Hindu gods, the Lord of the World.
She was also the reason so many of Ouroboros's high- and mid-level executives were sitting there in suffocating silence.
"We certainly got played."
Krishna flipped through the intelligence reports.
As she looked at the staggering losses listed on the pages, the smile on her face only grew wider.
The losses recorded there alone would have required Ouroboros another one thousand year to accumulate.
And that was without even counting the exposed bases, the missed opportunities, and all the other costs.
In other words, Ouroboros's ability to continue operating had been crippled by more than forty percent in one fell swoop.
Their actual combat strength hadn't suffered much, but the losses in morale and overall influence were simply astronomical.
"Where did Indra go to take shelter?" Krishna asked with a smile.
Not one of the gods or buddhas below dared answer.
Even the weakest among them were Four-Digit existences, and their spirit ranks were at least elite level. But in front of Krishna, the supreme leader of Ouroboros's First Union, they wisely kept their heads down and pretended to be ostriches.
After all, telling the truth could easily trigger a war between Two-Digit existences.
Just then, an elegant female voice rang out. "He ran to Sanzen."
The expressions of everyone changed.
They turned around and immediately saw a goddess dressed in a pure-black dress, her graceful figure bound with a simple grass cord.
Lakshmi.
Vishnu's wife, a female omnipotent being whose spirit rank was Three-Digit.
The moment they realized she was the one who had spoken, everyone quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ichinen Sanzen?"
Krishna pondered for a moment before ultimately abandoning the idea of going after Indra.
There was no other reason.
Until Kalki had fully taken shape, provoking a spirit-rank war on a whim simply wasn't in her interests.
As for Ouroboros's losses...
Krishna frowned and lightly tapped her fingers against the table.
Then she made a horizontal gesture with her hand. "Gather all the resources we have left and move them to the base outside Gate 7777. Lakshmi will be in charge."
"Yes!"
The gods and buddhas below answered respectfully in low voices.
Lakshmi herself had no objections. She simply sat there lazily, smoking a pipe.
Krishna smiled. "Lakshmi, once you're done, compile the losses and send the bill to the Cross Pantheon."
"Hmm?" Lakshmi paused, looking surprised. "You sure?"
Have the Cross pay for the losses?
Would their Lord really agree to it?
Krishna didn't answer. She merely smiled faintly. "Add another fifty percent to the losses. If they ask, just tell them, 'I'm doing you a favor this time.'"
'You just took a huge bite out of them and you're calling it doing them a favor? Are you sure I'll even make it out of Eden alive?'
Lakshmi complained silently to herself, but she still accepted the assignment.
There was only one reason.
The benefits were simply too great.
Krishna was just about to continue when she paused and added, "That little fellow from Arcadia deserves some credit too. He was the one who discovered the problem with Kalki. Once you get the funds from the Cross, you can allocate another Authority to him. Consider it his reward."
The problem with Kalki...
Demanding compensation from the Cross...
Don't tell me that Lord of Cross was really stupid enough to tamper with Kalki...
Lakshmi suddenly understood.
She nodded slightly.
After giving out these minor instructions, the smile on Krishna's face immediately brightened.
She narrowed her eyes and looked toward the gods and buddhas below. "Now then, go back and reorganize the intelligence. Why did we suffer losses on this scale? What was the original cause? Who is responsible?"
"I want an answer by this afternoon."
At that point, Krishna's tone became difficult to read. A hint of killing intent flickered in and out of her voice.
"I can afford to lose a game of chess. But I refuse to lose without knowing why. And I certainly won't accept losing without even knowing who my opponent is."
Hearing this, the gods and buddhas below hurriedly rose to their feet. They bowed deeply, trembling with both fear and solemn respect.
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