By the time Riku and Alice departed, Saori had fallen into a heavy silence. She had no idea what to say.
As it turned out, Alice was thoroughly satisfied.
Alice possessed a personality that disregarded seniority and status, but the issue was that her indifference was not shared by others. The only person capable of communicating with Alice on equal footing was Rhinedottir. However, given Rhinedottir's nature as a research fanatic, she rarely bothered to pay Alice any mind.
As for the others, everyone possessed a clear understanding of their own standing. Who would dare to trifle with Alice without reservation?
Well... Shizuka Marikawa was the exception. She spent her days acting like a total airhead.
"Alice, what did you ask for just now?" Riku asked, his curiosity piqued as they returned to the Longhuang Universe, his gaze falling upon the thick book in Alice's hands.
Alice giggled. "Saori gave this to me. It is a collection of all the alchemy records she has gathered."
A mischievous grin spread across Alice's face.
Alchemy records! Rhinedottir would surely be fascinated by these.
While Rhinedottir was undoubtedly a genius in the field of alchemy, her foundation remained shallow compared to the records Saori had collected. This was not because Rhinedottir was incompetent, but rather because the level of her world was too low.
It was no exaggeration to say that the peak combat power of Teyvat might only reach the level of the Seventh Sense, or perhaps even a weaker iteration. In the Sea of Trees Multiverse, the truly powerful entities resided in the neighboring worlds.
"Alright then, go play. Have fun, but do not cause too much trouble!" Riku warned.
When it came to his adorable Great Witch, Riku would naturally allow her to play as she pleased, provided she did not go too far.
"Hehe." The 'big cutie' gave a wicked little laugh and dashed off like a whirlwind.
Riku murmured to himself, "Saori, I wonder how far you can actually go?"
***
[Saint Seiya] Universe.
Sanctuary.
Riku's arrival and departure had occurred in a fleeting moment. Aside from a select few, no one knew exactly what had transpired, or rather, that anything had happened at all.
Goddess's Temple.
Saori returned to her divine throne. She gazed at the [Authority] and the [Cosmic Core] floating before her, seemingly lost in thought.
"Miss Saori!"
At that moment, accompanied by soft footsteps, Kyoko entered the Goddess's Temple and bowed.
With a wave of her hand, Saori made the items vanish. With a calm expression, she asked, "Is everything handled?"
"Pegasus has been dealt with," Kyoko replied, her eyes flashing with a cold light and her voice icy.
Essentially, each of the Twelve Olympians possessed their own subordinate gods. These subordinate gods almost never reincarnated.
Well, excluding Poseidon, who was the most miserable of them all. His divine body had been shattered, and his subordinate gods had all perished in battle. He was effectively out of the game.
Since the Mythological Age, Saori had only two subordinate gods: the God of Pegasus, Pegasus, and the Goddess of the Owl, Chi Xiao.
Both subordinate gods possessed unique powers.
Pegasus possessed the [God-Slaying Power], which allowed him to slay gods regardless of their strength. It was precisely because of this [God-Slaying Power] that Saori was able to secure her position among the Twelve Olympians and her current role as the Ruler of the Earth.
Chi Xiao's situation was quite special. She possessed an extremely unique [Power of Protection]. Its effect was simple: the power to protect.
However, compared to Kyoko, who was the reincarnation of Chi Xiao, Pegasus had made a different choice.
"Sigh," Saori murmured softly. "In the end, he walked the wrong path to a dead end."
"Hmph!" Kyoko merely snorted coldly, her voice freezing. "Miss Saori, why was Pegasus able to survive back then? Why was he able to master the [God-Slaying Power]? He has forgotten everything. Now, he is nothing more than a dog of Olympus!"
"Forget it."
Saori did not wish to say more. What was in the past was in the past; there was no point in dwelling on it.
"Give the [God-Slaying Power] to your sister," Saori said softly after a moment of deliberation.
"Shoko..." Mentioning her sister, Kyoko fell into thought, a hint of worry in her voice. "Miss Saori, can that child handle such a heavy responsibility?"
"There is no need to be nervous." Although Saori remained cold, her voice turned gentle. "Take it slow. We do not need that child to charge onto the front lines yet. But is she not the most suitable successor for the next [God-Slaying Power]?"
"This..." Kyoko thought about her sister's uniqueness and nodded in agreement.
In this life, Kyoko had not expected her reincarnated self to be so special. Or rather, her mother and her sister were both too extraordinary.
Shoko and Pegasus shared the same trait: they could perfectly accommodate the [God-Slaying Power]. This was simply absurd. From the Mythological Age until now, Kyoko had never seen anyone else like that.
Otherwise, if there had been a second person who could host it, Pegasus would never have been able to live so peacefully until now, even with Saori's protection.
As for Olivia?
Well, one could only say that the two daughters were more ridiculous than the last, and Olivia was not much better. To be precise, when the goddess Eris chose a human host, Shoko was the choice, and Kyoko was the second choice.
So... the question was, who was the first choice?
That is right: Olivia.
Olivia was Eris's first choice, and she was a perfect match—an absolutely perfect compatibility. This was equally absurd. Compatibility between a god and a human host was never supposed to be "perfect"!
Mother and daughters—all three of them were total anomalies.