— — — — — —
Luckily, he had cut the war link earlier. Otherwise, he'd probably be just as miserable as Hermes right now. Thinking that, Ares couldn't help feeling a wave of relief.
Thank god he'd been quick on the uptake. After taking a slash from Asura, he'd immediately severed his connection with Hermes, which was why Ryo's attack hadn't spread to him.
…Or had it?
Ares instinctively glanced at the pack of wolves surrounding him and made a swift judgment.
These blue wolves weren't that strong. For three-digit existences, you could tank it with your body alone.
And even though Ares's own body was only at four-digit legendary, with the damage-sharing trait of War, spreading the damage across the war legions on Mount Olympus, he could still hold out.
He could endure the flame's raw attacks. What he couldn't endure was its terrifying ability to burn Spirit Rank itself.
Or rather, Ares didn't dare gamble on whether Ryo could burn his Spirit Rank or not.
That was obvious, really. Hermes had only sent an avatar, but the essence of his Spirit Rank was still three-digit. If even that couldn't withstand this kind of burning, Ares's own Spirit Rank, which hadn't yet undergone a true metamorphosis, stood no chance.
And honestly, this kind of move, burning the enemy's Spirit Rank to gain explosive destructive power, was downright vile.
Even Ares, one of the Twelve Olympian gods, had never seen something this dirty.
Tsk. This reeks of Underworld techniques. Ares seriously suspected Ryo had some kind of shady connection with Hades.
(Hades: Aren't we forgetting one teensy-weensy but ever-so-crucial little tiny detail?)
...
"Sigh~"
To be fair, Ares didn't deny that Ryo was strong.
Before this, he'd just thought Ryo had insane burst damage, attacks so destructive that his strongest move could even shatter Ares's body in a single blow and kill him outright.
For four-digit rule-breakers capable of killing him like that, Ares usually treated them as worthy opponents. He'd provoke them endlessly, courting death on purpose, using battle to abuse himself and force his own growth.
Back then, if Indra hadn't secretly warned him off, Ares would've gone knocking on Asura's door the moment she broke into four-digit.
That was why he'd mouthed off about Asura being fatherless in the first place. He'd been trying to provoke her into a fight, hoping for a brutal clash that would push his own power higher.
A god of war should gain strength through battle and temper himself in battle. That had always been Ares's creed, and he'd lived by it.
But now, he silently moved Ryo Yagami onto his personal "do not provoke" list.
He wasn't sure whether the current situation had been triggered by Asura's authority or not, but Ryo's method of burning Spirit Rank flat-out scared him.
The feeling was like when he'd just been born and first laid eyes on his terrifying uncle.
That soul-freezing cold gaze, revealing the true meaning of death with nothing more than a breath.
If there hadn't been a trace of kindness in that man's eyes, Ares would've been traumatized for life.
And now, Ryo's move gave him a similar feeling. Or maybe the exact opposite. Not icy cold, but a bizarre heat that burned straight through one's Spirit Rank.
At that moment, Hermes, forcing his mind to function while resisting the agony of his soul being burned, screamed himself hoarse toward Ares. "Ar… Ares! Save me!"
Ares looked around. At the blue flame wolves hemming him in, then at Ryo, whose palm was still burning Hermes's Spirit Rank. After a moment's thought, he deliberately avoided Hermes's gaze.
Damn. Being a little cowardly wasn't shameful… right?
Even losing to a human wasn't really his fault. There was no helping it.
Arcadia was one of humanity's strongest collectives, after all. Losing to Arcadia's leader was, if you thought about it, still acceptable.
A real man knows when to run. Back in the day, Athena had nearly blown his temple apart, and he'd endured that, hadn't he?
This time was just losing a fight. Compared to that, his record was actually looking better.
With that settled, Ares raised both hands high.
"Ares, you—!" Hermes's bloodshot eyes went wide.
"I surrender!" Ares shouted righteously.
A god of war surrendering wasn't embarrassing. In any war, someone had to lose. If he, Ares, lost once, what was so strange about that?
Hermes rasped in accusation, "I came with Zeus's orders—"
"Oh, spare me. If that old bastard's orders actually worked, I wouldn't have gotten my ass kicked by Athena back then." Ares cursed as he spoke. No matter how he thought about it, there was no way Ryo would accept Zeus's mediation.
Did Zeus really think he could order the new Arcadia?
"Bastard!" Hermes cursed. The pain of his burning Spirit Rank surged again, leaving him gasping, completely unable to speak properly.
At that moment, Ryo, who had only made two moves so far, stared at Ares with a deeply strange expression as the god stood there with his hands raised.
Wasn't this… a little too easy?
Why did it feel like Ares and Hermes together were actually easier to deal with than Ares alone?
Wait. If you thought about it that way, then one Ares plus one Hermes amounted to less than one Ares.
Did that mean Hermes equaled zero? Or even a negative number?
The more Ryo thought about it, the more that equation actually seemed to hold. His mouth twitched as he narrowed his eyes at Ares, then turned to look at Asura.
No matter what, this had been a two-on-two. He and Asura had beaten Ares and Hermes together. From the standpoint of surrender or handling the spoils of war, he should discuss it with her.
Noticing Ryo's gaze, Asura took a step back and said calmly. "Even though I'd like to do something, because of my people, I can only say that this matter has nothing to do with me."
Because the Asura race couldn't afford to offend Greece lightly…
Ryo paused, then nodded in understanding. He wasn't exactly unburdened himself, but compared to Asura, his baggage was much lighter. It was only natural that she had more to worry about.
Seeing this, Asura thought it over and realized that by helping suppress Ares and Hermes, she might have put Ryo in a tricky spot.
They were two of the Twelve Olympian gods. Even defeated, dealing with them would still be a massive headache.
You couldn't beat them senseless or kill them. You'd have to treat them as prisoners of war instead.
With that in mind, Asura said after a moment's thought. "You can try applying to Thousand Eyes for consignment. It doesn't sound nice to dispose of the defeated that way, but if Thousand Eyes accepts, the Greek Pantheon will find it much harder to target you."
Hearing that, Ryo, who had originally planned to just kill them and even brace himself for facing Zeus directly, felt his eyes light up at once.
.
.
.