— — — — — —
Ryo didn't get to sleep until dawn.
It was well past three in the afternoon before he finally dragged himself out of bed. Having stayed awake the entire night, he shuffled over to the sofa in his pajamas, exhausted, and brewed himself a cup of coffee.
After finishing half of it, he let out a long sigh, "...I finally understand why she was so worried I'd become addicted to this sort of thing."
More importantly... he finally understood why the Moon Rabbits had become a race that perfectly catered to Indra's tastes.
'That old pervert... When he created the Moon Rabbits, there was no way his intentions were pure.'
Thinking of that, Ryo glanced at the peacefully sleeping figure beside him and chuckled.
Before he could say anything, however, his head suddenly turned toward the window.
Far beyond Elm City, deep beneath the sea... A colossal plume was slowly rising through the ocean, looking almost like a mushroom cloud.
Ryo raised his thumb to estimate its size.
The towering disturbance still extended higher than his thumb from this distance.
"...That's pretty close."
Someone was fighting on the seabed.
And not just anyone. At least a Four-Digit.
Judging by the scale of the clash, they were no ordinary Four-Digit either.
"It must be someone from the upper layers sending an incarnation."
"And they're already here because of the items I'm auctioning... Heh. I didn't expect them to move this quickly."
A smile tugged at his lips.
Still, interested as he was, Ryo had no intention of going to watch.
If someone like him showed up... the odds of getting jumped by everyone involved were uncomfortably high.
After all...
"I'm the one auctioning off alternate versions of everyone. I'm sure the upper layers of Little Garden already know by now."
He grinned and happily burrowed back into bed.
He wasn't about to provoke monsters he'd had no quarrel with.
...
..
Outside Elm City - Deep beneath the sea
A massive spherical barrier glowed with azure light, holding back the violent ocean currents.
Thunder rumbled continuously as the barrier endured wave after wave of pressure.
Within the swirling currents, a blue-haired young man dressed in black robes glared coldly.
"Lakshmi. Why are you stopping me?"
From within the vortex before him, Lakshmi slowly emerged.
Standing calmly on the ocean floor as though it were solid ground, she smiled faintly at the blue-haired god. "So you are the one behind Ori, Poseidon."
Poseidon frowned. "What exactly are you implying?"
"Nothing. Or perhaps I should ask what the Greeks are implying." With a casual wave of her hand, Lakshmi calmed the raging currents. "As one of the Twelve Olympians... you're secretly supporting Ouroboros. Looks like your loyalty to the Twin Goddesses isn't all that unwavering."
"Absurd." Poseidon's face darkened. "Are you trying to protect Ryo Yagami?"
Lakshmi laughed. "You make it sound as though you could actually kill him."
She casually gestured toward the distance. "Go ahead, find him. I won't stop you."
"..."
Poseidon's expression became unreadable.
She won't stop me?
By now, Ryo had certainly noticed the disturbance.
The element of surprise was already gone.
Whether Lakshmi blocked his path or not hardly mattered anymore.
After a long silence, Poseidon sighed and turned away. "I'll abandon the assassination. But you'll have to explain things to Typhon yourself."
His figure blurred.
A moment later, he dissolved into the darkness of the deep sea and disappeared without a trace.
Lakshmi made no attempt to pursue him.
Instead, she narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. "I really don't know how the people at the top of Ouroboros managed it. They've even sunk a few claws into the Twin Goddesses' camp."
"Heh. They'd better hope those claws don't get chopped off."
She smiled to herself.
Just as she was about to leave, she paused briefly, her expression turning strangely amused before disappearing into the depths.
---
Elsewhere on the ocean floor. Near a deep-sea trench. Poseidon stopped swimming, his expression grim.
"...Something's wrong. According to the plan, Singh should have contacted me first. So why was Lakshmi already lying in wait?"
"Did the information leak?"
"But only Zeus and I knew... If it wasn't me, then it was Zeus?"
"What in the world is that idiot thinking?"
Confusion filled his face.
He couldn't understand why Zeus would help someone who should have been an enemy.
Surely... Zeus wasn't trying to earn Ryo's goodwill?
Or was he trying to prove his loyalty to the Twin Goddesses? By selling Poseidon out?
After all, Zeus's dealings with Ouroboros had always been extremely discreet.
They were simultaneously enemies and partners.
Many of those secret arrangements had been carried out through Poseidon.
Strictly speaking, Zeus wasn't even an outer member of Ouroboros.
Poseidon, on the other hand, was an actual member within the First Alliance.
There was a world of difference between the two.
"..."
Poseidon inhaled a mouthful of freezing seawater.
'If that's really what's happening... Then coming here today may have been a serious mistake.'
The Twin Goddesses rarely concerned themselves with lower-layer affairs. But that didn't necessarily mean they'd tolerate someone constantly switching sides.
"...I'd better start making preparations."
'Just in case.'
With that thought, Poseidon swam farther into the darkness.
Then without warning... a streak of golden lightning flashed across the abyss.
In an instant, it engulfed him completely.
The surrounding sea exploded outward as countless waves were blasted apart.
For a brief moment, it looked as though a giant white lotus had bloomed across the ocean floor.
Several seconds later, the currents gradually settled.
And at the center of the explosion... only a few strands of dark green divine blood and several shredded pieces of black cloth drifted silently through the sea.
One second later, a translucent projection of Ryo appeared in the depths.
He sighed with obvious disappointment. "As expected, you really can't stop Poseidon underwater."
Trying to intercept an incarnation of the Sea God in his own domain had always been wishful thinking.
Still, he couldn't resist trying.
The result had been exactly what he'd expected.
Collecting the torn cloth and divine blood, Ryo narrowed his eyes.
"So Poseidon's already made his move. The next few days are going to be troublesome."
He quietly sensed several powerful Spirit Ranks racing after Poseidon before shrugging.
"So this is what the Godslayer War feels like... I've never really had a sense of it before. But seeing everyone lying in ambush and chasing each other around, I think I'm finally getting the picture."
He shook his head.
There were still seven days until the auction.
He needed to deliver all of his merchandise to the black market on schedule.
A grin spread across his face.
'Hopefully someone will be reckless enough to make a move.'
.
.
.