"What the hell is going on!..."
Loki got so worked up that she accidentally bit her tongue.
"He got the better of us this time!"
Athena bit down hard on her lip, so hard that it started to bleed. For billions of years, she had always been victorious and unstoppable, yet this mortal seemed to be her nemesis, repeatedly thwarting her plans.
Athena was ready to curse out loud!
But before she could say anything, countless teleportation arrays suddenly lit up before her eyes.
On Ryou's command, the affected civilians were directly sent back to the ground.
Some of the gods were also thrown out. The reason was simple: two of the main fighters had gone on strike.
"I'm not interested in these weak opponents. They can serve as tools to hone your skills." — Scathach
"This goddess is tired." — by a certain young lady disguised as a goddess.
...
"It's hunting time! Atalanta, how about we see who can hunt more and better-quality prey?"
With a cold smile on his face, Ryou addressed Atalanta Alter.
Atalanta shot him a cold glance, and then—swoosh!—she dashed off like a nimble cat.
"I win. Make me an extra-large apple pie."
Her voice finally reached him just as her figure nearly vanished from sight.
Ryou shook his head with a smile, realizing that even in her berserk state, her love for food remained unchanged.
At that moment, Ryou's expression shifted.
Simultaneously, not far away, a surge of resentment almost materialized into something tangible. Before the person even arrived, a voice filled with intense malice echoed.
"Nguyen Ryou!!!"
The hatred in that voice was so overwhelming it seemed like killing him wouldn't be enough—it felt like they wanted to tear him apart and devour him to truly quench their anger.
Ryou quickly readied himself as a figure clad in bone armor rushed out from around a corner.
The moment he saw her, he felt like he was being targeted by a relentless wolf that would never give up.
The figure leaped high into the air, wielding a massive sword over two meters long, and brought it down directly on his head.
Ryou's face darkened, and he quickly clasped his hands together, summoning the power of Elemental Fury to defend himself.
Boom!
The giant bone sword smashed into his gauntlet, and a shockwave spread out in all directions. The terrifying force drove his feet deep into the ground.
"Go away!"
Ryou unhesitatingly unleashed Mana Burst, using the surge of magic to force her back.
She nimbly flipped through the air, landed on the ground, and revealed her appearance to Ryou.
Silver-white hair, dark red eyes, a delicate face—yet the deep-seated resentment twisted her features.
She was Berry, resurrected by Athena using Bell's ashes. The reason for her overwhelming resentment was obvious.
Being killed by someone she once deeply revered was enough to turn a normal person into a hate-filled lunatic.
Berry's dark red eyes locked onto him with unyielding focus.
Ryou frowned slightly.
"Who are you?"
But this question seemed to provoke Berry even further.
"I'll kill you!!!"
Berry screamed and charged at him again with her sword, while Ryou met her head-on.
The two clashed, attacking each other like wild beasts, using the most primitive methods.
Ryou quickly noticed that this mysterious girl who harbored such intense hatred toward him fought in a style almost identical to his own.
Both of them traded blows directly, exchanging injury for injury, life for life.
The slight difference was that Ryou relied on his superior endurance and regenerative abilities.
But every time he struck her, it felt like he was attacking a rotting tree, with no real impact, making it difficult to cause any damage.
This couldn't go on any longer.
Ryou's gaze instantly turned cold. Just as Berry leaped into the air for another downward strike—an attacking style she seemed to favor—Ryou slightly tilted his head, avoiding a direct hit to his vital areas.
Splat!
Blood splattered as the giant sword slashed into his shoulder. However, it only managed to cut a few centimeters deep before being tightly clamped by his muscles.
As Berry tried to pull her sword back, Ryou was quicker, seizing her wrist in a firm grip.
"Clench your teeth!"
Ryou smirked coldly as he formed a fist with his other hand and struck Berry repeatedly.
Whether it was just his imagination or not, he faintly heard a strange "Ora ora ora" sound as he kept punching.
With each close-range hit, combined with the elemental fury of his attacks, Berry's bone armor shattered, and her delicate face became bruised.
Berry tried several times to break free from his grasp, but she couldn't.
The relentless barrage of punches left Berry completely dazed, her resistance weakening with each blow.
"Die!"
Facing this cold-blooded, bloodthirsty girl, Ryou showed no mercy. He gathered magic in his eyes and, aiming at Belle's head, fired a point-blank shot of his Brahmastra beam.
At that moment, a sudden breeze blew by.
Ryou was momentarily distracted, and in that instant, Berry, whom he had been holding tightly, vanished without a trace. The solar beam from his eyes shot up into the sky instead.
He was shocked and quickly looked around.
Above him, at an angle, an elderly man with a stern face, who bore a resemblance to Zeus, was glaring at him coldly.
Berry, who had been beaten within an inch of her life, hung limply at the man's side, motionless.
Ryou was momentarily stunned as a name popped into his head.
"Ouranus?"
He blurted out.
"Hmph!"
Ouranus snorted coldly, a flicker of icy killing intent in his eyes. Without saying a word, he flew away with Berry in tow.
"This girl's soul has an aura almost identical to that of the white-haired boy you killed."
At that moment, Ryou heard Scathach's lazy voice from beside him.
"White-haired boy? You mean... Bell Cranel!?"
Ryou was so shocked that his jaw nearly dropped.
The poor original protagonist, not only Ryou killed him with his own hands, but he also burned the body to ashes.
He prided himself on being thorough.
And yet, Bell could still be resurrected!?
"Though I'm not sure what they did, that stench of death on her is unmistakable. They're violating the laws of reincarnation, draining her soul to the limit."
"What happens when the soul is drained?"
Ryou swallowed hard, already having a very grim suspicion.
"When a soul is completely depleted, what else can happen? It's total annihilation, not even a chance for reincarnation."
Scathach's expression remained cool, but he could sense a hint of anger beneath that indifferent exterior.
The ruthless actions of the Olympians were so vile that even the usually detached Scathach seemed somewhat displeased.
...
"Hah! Hah! If you two don't hurry up, I'll finish you off!"
Ishtar Rin exclaimed excitedly as she chased after the two figures ahead of her.
After giving Ryou a flimsy excuse that she was tired, Ishtar Rin began aimlessly flying around the floating garden. By this time, the entire floating garden had completely become Ryou's domain.
Semiramis had unprecedented control over the floating garden, even going so far as to forbid all forms of spatial teleportation.
The moment any gods or adventurers were gathering, she unleashed an EX-level magic cannon blast, which was the equivalent of a god-tier attack. Such power could easily injure or even kill a sealed god.
Scathach had no interest in slaughtering the gods, but the mischievous empress had no such qualms, bombarding any unlucky gods she came across. Many gods who were not adept at combat perished under her relentless magic cannon fire. As for the adventurers, the aftershock of the blasts was enough to snuff out their lives.
As a result, the surviving gods and adventurers still trapped in the floating garden—now as large as half a labyrinth city—fled desperately toward the edges, hoping to jump off. They figured that a high-altitude descent might offer a slim chance of survival while staying in the floating garden was certain death. The choice was a no-brainer.
And so, a grand and chaotic escape, involving some of the most prestigious beings, began in earnest.
Athena and Loki were among those fleeing.
Then, as if guided by fate, the two goddesses, having separated from the main group, rounded a corner and ran directly into Ishtar Rin, who was perched on her heavenly boat, Maanna.
To make matters worse, Ishtar Rin immediately recognized the two of them. Her eyes lit up with excitement.
These two were on Ryou's must-kill list, making them special targets. Just imagine the rewards she'd receive for killing them—a lavish dessert feast made by Ryou himself—made Ishtar Rin almost drool. She quickly reminded herself to remain calm and graceful, not wanting to tarnish her goddess image.
However, in the few seconds that Ishtar Rin was lost in thought, Athena and Loki turned and ran. The scene of Scathach and Ishtar Rin wreaking havoc was still fresh in their minds. Seeing Ishtar Rin freeze at the sight of them, they knew it was the perfect time to flee.
How dare they ignore the beauty and supreme dignity of this goddess!?
Ishtar Rin was instantly enraged and decided not to let them die so easily. With her mischievous nature, she didn't immediately finish them off but instead toyed with them, firing shots here and there as she pursued them.
Being treated like prey was too much for the proud Athena to bear. She was ready to turn and face Ishtar Rin in a fight to the death, but Loki stopped her and persuaded her to keep running.
So, the two goddesses had no choice but to swallow their pride and speed toward the edge of the floating garden.
However, their clothing didn't fare so well. Loki was somewhat fortunate since her boyish outfit didn't reveal much. But Athena wasn't as lucky—Ishtar Rin specifically targeted her clothes. Before long, Athena's white dress had been shredded into a tattered, ultra-short skirt with fashionable rips, revealing her long, perfectly shaped, pale legs.
Her once-elegant white dress was now in tatters, exposing large areas of her fair skin to the air. Athena's current appearance was not much different from that of a scantily clad courtesan, exuding a provocative aura.
Even as they fled, Loki couldn't help but steal frequent glances at Athena.
"Ara~ What a lovely beauty you are; no wonder the Master can't stop thinking about you~"
Ishtar Rin teased as she toyed with Athena.
Her eyes scrutinized Athena, lingering especially on her long legs and curvaceous figure. This seductive fox is so stunning that, with the Master's lecherous nature, he might just soften up and let her go. No way, this time I have to make sure she's dead for good!
With this resolve, Ishtar Rin's attacks became much more aggressive. In an instant, hundreds of golden star beams shot out from Maanna, aiming directly at the vital areas of the two goddesses, like their heads and hearts.
The sudden danger prompted a quick response from the goddesses. Loki turned sharply, summoning with a gesture a giant wolf made of blue ice flames from the void behind her, which charged at the golden star beams.
At the same time, Athena quickly raised her shield in front of them.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The highly compressed golden star energy easily pierced through the giant wolf of blue flames, dimming the light slightly, but continued to shoot toward the goddesses.
Gritting her teeth, Athena unleashed her golden divine power. The gold shield, originally forged from heavenly divine metal, radiated an even more dazzling brilliance under Athena's power, like a miniature sun.
The next second, the golden star beams struck the shield. Sparks flew everywhere, and despite their combined strength, the two goddesses were forced back by sheer power.
"This won't work! If you've got any tricks left, use them now, or we're both dead!"
Athena shouted.
Loki gritted her teeth. "Buy me a minute!"
Without waiting for Athena's response, Loki began to channel her divine power. Since Loki had disrupted the divine power barrier and the floating garden was encased in its barrier, the gods' power had been significantly reduced, almost to the point where they could barely use demigod-level power.
Loki immediately felt that skills she could normally use with ease now required her full effort.
"Damn it!"
Athena cursed, but there was nothing she could do except hold the line by herself.
Seeing that the two goddesses had stopped running, Ishtar Rin's attacks grew even fiercer. Countless golden star beams rained down on Athena.
Athena had never felt time pass so slowly.
Finally, as the minute was almost up, a trickle of blood appeared at the corner of Athena's mouth—evidence of the damage from the divine power backlash.
"I can't hold on much longer!"
"I'm ready!"
Loki's expression suddenly relaxed.
A surge of green divine power erupted from her.
Sensing something amiss, Ishtar Rin instantly intensified her assault. But she was just a fraction too late.
In a split second, the two goddesses' figures seemed to warp as if encased in glass, then snapped back to normal.
In that brief moment, countless golden star beams engulfed their figures.
However, Ishtar Rin showed no sign of joy on her face. She had seen it clearly—the moment the first golden star beam touched them, their bodies shattered like illusions, dissipating into thin air.
"They swapped themselves with illusions…"
Ishtar Rin's face twisted in frustration.
It was as if she could see an entire banquet of desserts slipping away from her grasp.