— — — — — —
Mars…
Ryo parted his lips slightly, his expression turning serious.
Within the Little Garden, the vast cosmos naturally existed as well.
In fact, every four-digit community could raise its own flag among the stars.
That so-called "raising" a flag in the starry sky meant that a four-digit community could even create stars of its own, using them as symbols of its flag, placing them within the corresponding regions of the Little Garden's cosmos to radiate its brilliance across the entire world.
Because of this, most of the stars in the Little Garden's sky were owned by various communities.
That was also why, in the eyes of most lower-layer residents, four-digit communities were practically considered part of the "upper layers."
Using stars as flags was something ordinary people couldn't even begin to imagine.
Of course, aside from those countless stars, there were also a small number of special planets jointly created by powerful beings of the upper layers.
These planets were originally established to stabilize the Little Garden's geocentric cosmology, to make the idea of the stars revolving around the Garden an actual reality.
But now, after being refined and reinforced by high-ranking gods and buddhas, these worlds had taken on another role.
They served as arenas for large-scale Gift Games, places where communities above four digits could settle their conflicts.
And Mars was one such place.
A battlefield for clashes between entire pantheons.
True to its title as the "Planet of War."
What made things worse was that Ares, the god of war, was effectively a semi-Star Spirit of Mars. In a sense, he held partial authority over the planet.
Even if that authority was fragmented and only a small portion rested in his hands, it was still a massive advantage.
"I thought the war would be held somewhere else. Why Mars?"
Ryo rubbed his temples, irritation clear in his voice.
"What the hell are those pigs in the upper layers thinking?"
"They say it's compensation for Zeus."
Across from him, Uesugi Kenshin answered in a rather strange tone. "You might not know this, but Zeus is currently hiding in Olympus in the Upper Layers."
"Hiding?"
Ryo rolled the word around in his mind.
He knew that there was an Olympus in the upper layers.
Unlike the lower one, the upper Olympus wasn't just a mountain. It was a divine universe created from the Greek Another Cosmology.
At the center of that universe stood Mount Olympus itself.
Its rulers were Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, and Hades, the king of the underworld. Both were long-established, top-tier gods.
In terms of raw strength, Hestia was harder to judge, but Hades was unquestionably stronger than Zeus.
That aloof underworld king had an astonishing combat record in the Little Garden, even once holding his ground against three god-kings at once without losing.
It could be said that Hades was the true leading figure of the Greek pantheon in the upper layers. Even if Zeus went up there, he would likely have to stand beneath him, at least for a time.
Normally, with Hades around, no one would dare provoke the Greek gods of the upper layers.
With Hades handling force, Hestia managing diplomacy, and Hermes running errands, the Greek pantheon might not dominate the upper tiers, but they were far from easy to deal with.
And yet, even under Hades' protection, Zeus had to resort to hiding in Olympus.
"Does Zeus really have that many enemies?"
Ryo frowned, puzzled.
"Not that many," Kenshin replied calmly.
"It's just that three Another Cosmology holders are currently aiming their ultimates at Olympus."
"…"
Ryo found himself speechless.
What was Another Cosmology?
It was the greatest secret of a pantheon, the ultimate and most terrifying war weapon. It unified the divine authorities of all gods within a system into a single cosmological framework.
If three of them were targeting Olympus, it meant three entire pantheons had brought out their ultimate trump cards and aimed them directly at Zeus.
"Isn't that a bit excessive?"
There was a hint of unease in Ryo's voice.
Was the upper layer really this brutal?
Or had Zeus simply accumulated too much bad karma, only to be hit with backlash the moment he arrived, instantly becoming the target of three Cosmologies?
It might not sound like much at first.
But put more vividly, and the danger became obvious.
It was like placing three Azi Dahaka right outside Zeus's front door, all ready to tear him apart.
They were practically trying to kill him.
Just how many people had that old bastard offended?
"No idea. I don't follow upper-layer gossip. If you want details, you'd better ask Mata."
Kenshin shrugged, clearly unconcerned.
What did it matter to the Heavenly Army if Zeus was being targeted?
Their duty was to maintain stability in the Little Garden, especially the lower layers, keeping them safe from Demon Lords.
The internal struggles of the upper gods had nothing to do with them.
"Well, that's just great…"
Ryo shook his head.
Zeus being cornered also meant that his interests in the lower layers were already being carved up by the other gods.
In a situation like this, as long as Zeus showed weakness, like he was doing now, saying, "I'm scared, I'll hide, take whatever you want," then those who had already gained something would at least give him some face and not push him too far.
That was why the battlefield had been set on Mars, a location advantageous to the Greek pantheon.
"Heh. Using my risk to secure their profits?"
Ryo's expression turned cold.
He would be the one taking the risks on Mars, while those upper-layer gods reaped the benefits.
Well, wasn't that something.
He hadn't held back when he'd schemed against those gods before. Looks like karma had come around fast.
He'd made his move, and now they were returning the favor.
Still, the difference was that he had acted deliberately, while those high-ranking gods likely didn't even care about Arcadia's existence, casually using him as a tool to secure their own gains.
In a way, Ryo felt they needed another lesson.
He could accept enemies scheming against each other. That was just how things worked.
What he couldn't accept was being treated like an insignificant ant to be crushed at will.
The former was karma. The latter was humiliation.
And Ryo had no intention of swallowing that.
.
.
.