— — — — — —
Just moments ago…
The frozen mountains shook.
Vaisravana, who had been trading blows with Athena, suddenly faltered. His form flickered, then began to fade away.
"Big Bro… lost?"
For a heartbeat he stood there stunned, then gave a bitter smile and shook his head. His body dissolved into motes of light.
High above, Athena lowered her scythe and looked down without expression.
The slope beneath her was cratered and broken, like it had been pounded by artillery fire.
Yet standing unharmed amid the devastation, Aisha patted her chest in relief.
"Whew… that nearly scared me to death. Good thing I managed to dodge."
Athena's brow lifted ever so slightly as she studied the scene below.
"Unscathed… in the middle of my fight? How did you dodge everything?"
"Eh? Oh, that?"
Aisha blinked, then rubbed the back of her head and grinned sheepishly. "Probably just… luck?"
At that moment, Luo Hao returned, having just slain Zhu Ganglie.
"Ah, Onee-sama!" Aisha cried out in delight at the sight of her.
In midair, Luo Hao frowned. "Didn't I tell you to wait at the inn?"
"S-sorry!"
Aisha bowed in apology at once.
Luo Hao sighed, scanning the shattered ice and wrecked terrain around them. Her frown deepened.
"You didn't unleash anything troublesome, did you?"
"Eh-heh… I only used Live or Die Authority. Since you told me not to interfere, I didn't do much else."
"Good that you remembered at least that much."
Luo Hao snorted. She shot a glance at Asherah, curled up nearby and panting hard.
"Useless."
Then her gaze shifted to Athena. "What about my fiancé?"
"It should be over."
Athena's voice was calm, but her lips curved faintly. "No, correction—it is over. He's back already."
A ripple tore through the air, and Ryo stepped out of the void.
"Looks like things are wrapped up here too."
His eyes swept the battlefield. When they fell on Aisha, his brows twitched, but he turned to Athena and asked, "Have you pinned down Susanoo's Netherworld coordinates?"
"Not yet."
Athena shook her head. With a casual wave she drew fragments of the Ame no Murakumo and the unconscious Godou Kusanagi, dropping them onto the ground.
"But with the lingering spell traces here—and these anchors—it won't be hard to find him."
Ryo frowned. "He knows I'm aware of him. If we don't move fast, the rat will scurry off."
"I'll try," Athena sighed, unwilling to make promises.
The layered-space nature of the Netherworld was maddeningly slippery. Even with a marker, tracking Susanoo wouldn't be easy.
Knowing this, Ryo didn't press. Instead, he turned his attention to Aisha.
And Aisha, in turn, was looking at him with sparkling curiosity.
"Little Brother defeated the Monkey King so quickly? Amazing! No wonder Onee-sama likes you so much."
Ryo didn't answer. He only raised a brow, lifted his hand, and let silver-white light flare at his fingertips.
"Eh?"
Aisha blinked at the threatening glow. "W-wait! If you attack me right now—"
"Relax. It's not an attack," Ryo cut in with a small smirk. "I just need to put something inside you."
"…That's worse!"
Aisha's face flushed bright red. She raised her voice, flustered.
"Don't worry. It won't hurt." Ryo's tone was teasing as he flicked the spell outward.
"Wait! If you cast at me like this—"
She didn't finish. The air around them warped, like reality had turned into a funhouse mirror. The scenery twisted grotesquely. Ryo's spell vanished into the distortion.
At the same time, Athena realized the distortion was tugging at her tracking spell—interfering with it.
"What is this?"
Ryo blinked in surprise, while Luo Hao's cheek twitched, as if recalling some unpleasant memory.
"Uh oh. The Fairy's Corridor triggered itself again. I knew this would happen…" Aisha groaned, covering her face.
"What's going on?" Ryo demanded, frowning.
He'd only meant to embed a spell into her—why had it activated her authority?
"It's my luck ability," Aisha said helplessly.
"When I invoke it, anything that might hinder me suffers misfortune. Worst case, the Fairy's Corridor auto-triggers—either pulling enemies into the Netherworld, or dragging dangerous things from the Netherworld here."
Luo Hao's mouth twisted. "Why is your authority always such a disaster to deal with?"
"It's not like I want it this way!" Aisha said pitifully.
"Can you stop it?" Athena asked sharply. "My spell is tangled up in her power. If this keeps going, my tracking will fail completely. Then it could take months to find Susanoo again."
"I'll try!"
Aisha shut her eyes, strained for a second… then clasped her hands together and gave an apologetic smile.
"Sorry, everyone. Looks like it rampaged again. This authority always yanks things out of the Netherworld. Ah… wait, this time it pulled out people?"
Ryo froze, watching three very familiar figures tumble into reality—along with the floor beneath their feet.
Susanoo, Sita, and Buddha stared around them in blank shock.
What… the hell just happened?
One moment they were safe in the Netherworld, the next they were surrounded—three Godsayers.
Sita's face twitched. "Monk… you're the spatial expert here…"
"Don't look at me. I've got nothing." The Buddha looked like he had a toothache.
Susanoo, however, gave a bitter smile and stood. "Well, looks like I'll have to fight to the death after all."
Buddha was an undead monk, Sita was a divine ancestor, but Susanoo was a god.
And gods only ever had one kind of meeting with Godslayers: a battle to the death.
Summoning his blade, he leveled it at the nearest target—Aisha.
"Come, Godslayers! I may not be the fiercest warrior, but I won't be bullied by the likes of you!"
But just then, Ryo's vanished spell re-emerged from the warped air and slammed straight into Susanoo's chest.
"Ghh!"
The god staggered, glaring in outrage.
"A sneak attack? Against me?"
Three-on-one wasn't enough—they had to cheap shot him too?
How shameless could they be?
"…Authority seal," Ryo said flatly.
The spell itself barely harmed Godslayers. It wasn't designed for that. It reinforced the link between myth and authority—effectively shutting down divine powers. He made it so Aisha can control her power.
But for gods, it was a sealing technique.
"Ryo… Aisha's gone," Athena said suddenly.
Ryo blinked, turned—and sure enough, Aisha had vanished.
"…Seriously? She slipped out through the Fairy's Corridor?"
Dragged Susanoo in to take the hit, then escaped while the chaos covered her?
Whether intentional or not, her authority had pulled off a perfect getaway—at Susanoo's expense.
"Does losing her matter?" Athena asked with a frown.
"It's fine."
Ryo shook his head, then sighed as he looked at Susanoo. "You really are unlucky."
Silver-white light flared again at his fingertips, breaking into countless threads that engulfed the trapped god.
"Nooo! I didn't do anything—!"
Susanoo's wail was cut short as his form dissolved completely.
---
Tokyo
Guinevere suddenly rose from her bench, eyes shining.
"I feel it! My lord's aura—I can sense it again!"
Beside her, the cloaked Knight of the Lake revealed herself, startled.
"But there was nothing until now…"
Guinevere closed her eyes, savoring the resonance, and a smile spread across her face.
"It seems the God who masked my lord's resting place with interference… is dead."
"In that case, we move. Bring the Holy Grail."
"Yes!"
Guinevere nodded firmly, her expression resolute.
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