"Done?"
Dusk was falling. Ophis leapt onto the roof of a high-rise, where Ishta was already waiting.
"Not… not yet."
Ophis shook her head.
"But there's no need to force it. Even if I don't do anything now—"
"I know." Ishta wore her little-devil smile as she shot Ophis a sidelong look. "If it's her, then when it's time for her to grow up, she'll grow up. That person has that kind of talent—no matter how ordinary she started out, she'll bloom against adversity… From that angle, what you're doing right now is kind of unnecessary."
The old Ophis had taken "energy-saving" to an extreme. She never did anything without meaning; when she wasn't doing something, she considered even moving a finger a waste. Yet Ishta could tell—this Ophis was different.
"Perhaps."
Ophis didn't answer her head-on.
Even she couldn't quite explain what mindset she'd been in when she did those things earlier.
Back then, it wasn't so much that she refused to do meaningless things. It was more that she refused to do anything without a reason.
It was just that, back then, she couldn't find any reason other than "meaning."
Because at the time, she had no desire in the world beyond killing Great Red and going home.
And now…?
Ophis sank into thought.
She could say she had a reason—helping Ritsuka. But it wasn't necessary. Even without Ophis, Ritsuka would eventually stand on her own. At most, Ophis was only speeding up the process… and might even be introducing extra variables.
But if she insisted on giving an answer…
It felt interesting?
"Look," Ishta said suddenly, as if she'd lost interest in pursuing the topic. She pointed toward the river. "It's started."
Down there, Caster had been attacked by Lancer, who'd already been lying in ambush nearby. The two were locked in a fierce clash.
"Hey. Don't you think all of this is… wrong?"
Eyes glittering with excitement as she watched the fight, Ishta tossed out the question.
"Mm."
Though abrupt, their rapport was high to begin with. Ophis understood at once and nodded.
With even a little thought, something was off—and almost all of it circled around one person.
"That strategist…"
"Exactly!"
From several kilometers away, Ishta's crimson eyes narrowed as she stared at the battlefield.
"That Caster has been hiding himself carefully these last day or two. He's left practically no trace—can't even dig up the most basic information on him… So naturally, it should be impossible to predict he'd come to that place today, let alone lay an ambush in advance."
"Mm. That's beyond the scope of a strategist… Precognition? Clairvoyance? No."
Ophis echoed Ishta's reasoning—then denied her own conclusion.
"If it were clairvoyance, there'd be no reason to wait until now. And besides, whether it's you or me, we'd be able to feel a clairvoyant gaze. Even if he sensed something was off and avoided directing his sight toward us… even then—"
"We would still notice," Ophis finished. "A single sweep is enough."
"Right." Ishta's voice sharpened with certainty. "Clairvoyance targets a whole point in time. If he ever opened it, his line of sight would inevitably skim across us. Even if it couldn't lock on, we'd absolutely be aware that someone had opened a certain pair of eyes."
"Which means it isn't clairvoyance."
Trading lines back and forth, Ophis reached her conclusion.
"No clairvoyance, yet he can still know the future… Even if he had records of the future, the way he speaks and acts suggests he knows far too much, far too precisely."
Ishta's lips curled. Interest flickered bright in her eyes.
"I think I understand."
Ophis, meanwhile, felt a quiet clarity settle in her chest.
To save processing power… and, more than that, to make things more interesting, Ophis hadn't used Sha Naqba Imuru to peer at fate or the future. Much of what was going on was simply something she'd noticed and couldn't be bothered to dig into. But once someone pointed it out, the truth lay plainly on the surface.
"A true visitor from the future, in the strict sense… How delightful!"
Ishta's expression lit up with the thrill of a hunter spotting prey.
And the moment Ophis saw that look, she knew—
That strategist was going to have a very bad time.
"His future and his present are not the same," Ophis said after a moment.
"At the very least, in that future… the King of Heroes probably isn't me. And Ishta likely doesn't exist, either."
"That's what makes it fun!" Ishta's smile sharpened into something wicked. "If he's from the future, then he must have the arrogance of someone who thinks everything is under control, right? Even now—when things have already veered wildly off course—that arrogance has to be carved into him somewhere. He's probably still clinging to a little hope that it'll all come back in line… I really want to see it. I want to see what expression that eternally flat strategist makes when that ignorant arrogance gets shattered—when hope drops into despair!"
"…"
Ophis said nothing.
She'd started to chase "interesting" herself, at least a little, so she probably wasn't in a position to judge…
Still. No matter how the ages changed, this goddess's bad taste remained as reliable as ever.
Besides, Ophis felt she'd already dealt that strategist a blow heavy enough. In the goddess's eyes, that still wasn't nearly sufficient?
And Sha Naqba Imuru could even faintly show that these two had the potential for a teacher-student bond…
But as long as it had nothing to do with her, Ophis wasn't going to interfere in the goddess's "career."
That exhausted-looking strategist was not her problem.
"First," Ishta said, "if everything goes the way you think, it won't be fun. So let's start with this frog-eyed guy…"
The goddess's execution was, as always, terrifyingly decisive—having just finished digging a pit for her father, she was already ready to dig one for a teacher. She had several gemstones out, rubbing her hands together with giddy enthusiasm.
Then, all of a sudden, she stopped.
"Hey… lend me—no, King of Heroes. This goddess grants you the honor of paying tribute to this goddess. Be grateful and offer up your treasures!"
For the first time since getting past the hurdle posed by the Age of Gods' creator deity, Ophis felt the urge to sigh.
---
T/N: hello i am back from japan, and i am sick heres some chapters i remembered you guys exist
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