The moment the raven admitted that it was Loki, some kind of conceptual power within Ryo's Spirit Rank began to stir awake.
It was as natural as a being born with the ability to move their own arms. All of a sudden, Ryo had a feeling. He could easily strip the raven before him of its power and devour its very existence.
Ryo knew exactly where that power came from.
It came from the Norse Spirit Rank known as "Loki," which Athena had once given him. It was a conceptual form of dominion over the true name contained within the Spirit Rank itself.
In other words, Ryo could now devour the existence of the raven in front of him with ease.
Assuming, of course, that it didn't have some backup plan.
But with the situation still unclear, Ryo naturally wasn't about to kill a raven on the spot.
After a brief pause, he suppressed the strange feeling in his heart and looked at the raven as calmly as he could. "You... are Loki? That God of Mischief?"
The moment Ryo spoke, the raven flapped one of its large wings and snorted. "I know what you're going to say. You're going to bring up how Loki was supposedly killed by that Greek goddess of wisdom, and even had his Spirit Rank taken from him."
As it spoke, the raven strutted along the edge of the desk, cackling. "That's right. Loki did lose to that goddess of wisdom once, but that doesn't mean I, Loki, actually died."
"With her strength, she thought she could kill Loki? She's dreaming. It was all just a scheme. I faked my death to get away and free myself from Dystopia back then."
"Everyone, including that goddess of wisdom, was completely played by me! Hahahahaha!"
'If you're so damn impressive, at least say Athena's name. You keep calling her "that goddess of wisdom." What, are you scared of something...?' Ryo grumbled inwardly, though his expression remained perfectly unchanged.
A raven claiming to be Loki wasn't much of a threat to him.
Of course, that was assuming it really was Loki and didn't possess some substitute Spirit Rank. Otherwise, Ryo wouldn't be able to use the true-name domination to finish it off.
Even so, Ryo still held an overwhelming advantage. He wasn't worried about this raven causing trouble.
He narrowed his eyes and tapped the desk. "So you're here on behalf of Ouroboros this time?"
The raven on the desk blinked its single eye and said meaningfully, "In a sense, I'm the same kind of person as you."
Ryo narrowed his eyes.
Then the self-proclaimed Loki continued, "Or take Heracles, for example. Officially, he's an executive sent to Ouroboros by Zeus, but in reality, he was sent there by Hera. Likewise, I, Loki, am working undercover within Ouroboros under the orders of a certain Greek god."
Well, damn. You're a double agent too?
Ryo mocked inwardly, then raised an eyebrow and asked curiously, "A certain Greek god? Who?"
Loki immediately froze.
It gave Ryo a speechless look before answering irritably, "The Goddess of Victory, one of the Twelve Greek gods. There, happy now?"
The Goddess of Victory? Isn't that Athena...?
Ryo was momentarily stunned, then immediately started mocking him in his head.
So you actually submitted to Athena. And you're still going on about how you fooled the goddess of wisdom. Does this guy seriously think using a different title means they're different people?
Even if you don't want to admit you lost, isn't this taking it a little far?
"Ahem!" Seeing Ryo's strange expression, the raven coughed awkwardly and hurriedly continued. "Anyway, to put it simply. We're all on the same side here~~ So there's no need for us to point guns at our own people, got it?"
Hearing that, Heracles calmly said, "I don't attack my companions."
Meaning, assuming Loki actually counted as his companion.
Ryo immediately understood the implication.
Naturally, Loki understood it too, and the raven's face couldn't help looking a little awkward. "Heracles, you can trust Loki's integrity! If danger comes up, the worst I'll do is abandon you and run away. I definitely won't kick you while you're down!"
"How very reassuring." x2
Ryo and Heracles said it in perfect unison.
Having failed to get any amusement out of them, Loki curled its beak and looked at Heracles and Ryo, especially Ryo.
The more it looked at him, the more familiar and endearing Ryo seemed.
After all, the woman rumored to be involved with Ryo was the Demon Star who had once suppressed Athena. Loki had practically known about Ryo for ages.
It hadn't expected to run into him during an Ouroboros mission, but that was fine. First meeting, strangers. Second meeting, best friends!
Heracles, meanwhile, had no intention of being polite to Loki and got straight to the point. "Loki. As the messenger, what exactly is the order this time? Why did it require me to personally invite Ryo here in the open?"
He was also giving Ryo an explanation, making it clear that Ouroboros had a mission for the two of them.
"What's the rush? A guy who can hold it in for twenty-four hours without firing a shot, and you're in a hurry now? You weren't this impatient when you were out drinking and chasing girls."
As Loki complained, it raised a raven wing into the air.
A black serpent-patterned scroll about twenty centimeters long appeared, wrapped around by the motion of its wing.
The emblem of Ouroboros was clearly visible on the seal.
Seeing it, Heracles glanced at Ryo. "Opening the scroll means accepting the mission. That's Ouroboros's rule. Normally, you ask the messenger for all the details before opening it."
Ryo glanced at Loki.
The latter immediately cried out, "Why are you looking at me? I haven't done anything, caw~!"
Ignoring Loki's protest, Ryo turned to Heracles. "And if the messenger hides something?"
Heracles answered in a deep voice, "The mission still stands. But before accepting it, you may kill the messenger. Ouroboros will assist you in devouring the messenger's Spirit Rank."
"I see..."
Ryo's first thought was that this could be exploited. You could create disposable messenger pawns and use them to trick people.
But then he reconsidered.
Perhaps the reason Ouroboros used someone as well-known as Loki as a messenger was precisely because it had anticipated tricks like that. Sending a recognizable figure was a way of signaling that the messenger himself was trustworthy.
Of course, that was only so long as Ouroboros's fundamental interests weren't at stake. If they were, Ryo had absolutely no doubt that Ouroboros would be willing to trade one life for one life.
After thinking it over, Ryo rubbed his chin and asked Loki, "So what's the mission this time?"
"Someone with a filthy mind like yours was definitely just thinking up ways to scam people." Loki openly took a jab at Ryo before continuing, "This mission is pretty unusual. It's a protection detail. The person we're protecting is a member of Ouroboros."
At that, Loki paused before continuing, "Kalki, the Savior. He's the one we're protecting this time."
Ryo and Heracles both fell silent.
.
.
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