— — — — — —
Loki wore an ingratiating smile.
No matter how much Ryo framed him or smeared his name, he honestly wasn't worried. If anything, he felt even more at ease.
After all, he was practically alone. The only faction he belonged to, the Norse pantheon, was less a family and more a group of enemies pretending to be relatives.
If Ryo ever decided to invade the Norse gods, Loki would gladly be the first one leading the way.
Compared to the fate of the Norse pantheon, this expensive avatar was far more important to him. All his schemes, all his survival tricks, relied on this expensive body. If he lost it, he'd be heartbroken.
So when Ryo pinned the disaster in Greece on him, Loki's first reaction wasn't anger. It was relief.
Taking the blame was good. If Ryo wanted him to carry the blame, that meant Ryo didn't intend to kill him. A living Loki stepping forward and claiming responsibility for Greece's downfall was far better than a dead Loki being used as a scapegoat.
At least if he admitted it himself, the other pantheons would probably believe it, or half-believe it. Everyone knew how talented Loki was when it came to screwing people over.
But if Loki were dead and the three factions still tried to blame everything on him, the story would lose a lot of credibility.
Given that Ryo already knew this was only one of his avatars and that his true body was elsewhere, and considering how cooperative he was being, Ryo probably wouldn't go so far as to kill him.
The cost simply wasn't worth it.
Surely Ryo wasn't that stupid.
"You're right. Loki really did do it."
Ryo smiled and stepped forward.
At that instant, an illusory cloak settled over his Spirit Rank.
He extended a hand. Using Loki's own acknowledgment and the Authority of Deception inherent within Loki's Spirit Rank, he deceived reality itself.
In an instant, the world was rewritten.
The eleven frozen Chief Gods blanked out for a moment.
When they came back to themselves, they immediately turned furious, hate-filled eyes toward "Ryo." Or rather, toward the Loki they remembered.
In their memories, and within the Akashic Records of the world itself, Loki had used underhanded methods to ambush them, the great Greek gods, trapping them in ice and allowing the three invading factions to reap the benefits.
Their enemies had stolen victory before the battle had even begun. That was a blood feud. How could they not hate him?
"W-What did you do?"
Loki was the only one unaffected by the deception, and for the first time, panic crept into his voice.
Something important had happened.
He could feel it.
Yet he had no memory of it.
And why... Why did the man standing before him feel like he should be called... Loki?
But wasn't Loki himself?
The next moment, Loki froze.
He watched a headless corpse flying farther and farther away.
Confusion filled his face.
Only then did he realize the headless corpse was his own.
His head had been blasted off, creating the illusion that he was watching from afar.
But who killed him?
Oh. Loki killed him.
'So I killed myself...'
That final realization flashed through his mind.
Then Loki fell silent forever.
At the same moment, his true body far away in the Norse realm quietly lost all signs of life as well.
This was a conceptual erasure. Without specialized defenses against such an attack, escape was impossible.
After casually killing Loki, Ryo shook out his hand and wore an oddly amused expression.
"I was still debating whether to use Maxwell's Spirit Rank or Loki's. Looks like the decision made itself."
By deceiving the world and obtaining Loki's concept, Ryo had literally become Loki.
Memories. Power. Experience.
Everything belonged to him now.
Then, Ryo began sifting through Loki's memories.
Soon, he found something interesting.
"So Loki had connections with Indra... Ah, right. I'm Loki now. Hehehe~"
"But this Indra...."
Thinking of the Indra from High School DxD, the infamous mastermind who somehow involved himself in every major incident, Ryo found the development surprisingly believable.
Lord of Mount Meru. Leader of Buddhism. The Heavenly Emperor.
The first title wasn't a problem.
The second and third were.
Shakyamuni —also known as the Buddha— and the Heavenly Emperor were both two-digit powerhouses according to Thousand Eyes' intelligence network. Even Shiroyasha and Algol had specifically warned him to be careful around them.
And now, this world's Indra had indirectly gotten the Indra of Little Garden into trouble with both of them.
And one of them was even Indra's direct superior.
Ryo suddenly found himself feeling a little sorry for his future grandpa-in-law. Actually, scratch that. He felt very sorry for him.
He knew it wasn't really Indra's fault. The poor guy had just been handed a cosmic scapegoat by the multiverse.
But Indra could probably survive it. At worst, he'd need to express a bit more loyalty. Besides, Shakyamuni Buddha was famously reasonable.
That was all Ryo could do: hope for the best.
After all, what was done was done. It wasn't as if he was going to stop now.
'Ever since he got me as a future grandson-in-law, Indra's luck has really gone downhill...'
With that thought, Ryo used the contact method he found in Loki's memories and initiated a call.
Two seconds later, a multicolored screen formed from magical energy appeared before him.
A monk appeared on the other side.
A sacred vermilion mark adorned his forehead, while large prayer beads hung around his neck. His greenish-brown hair framed a face hidden behind round sunglasses, and a perpetual smile played at the corners of his lips.
Ryo's first impression was simple: This man looked crafty.
"You contacted me now, so I assume you've reached Mount Olympus, Loki."
Indra spoke casually, showing no sign that he noticed Loki's changed appearance.
Such was the power of conceptual deception.
It reminded Ryo of a technique from Shakugan no Shana called "Power of Existence."
His eyes flickered. Then he broke into an exaggerated grin.
"The intelligence you gave me this time was very interesting."
"Oh?"
Indra raised an eyebrow.
For Loki to call something "interesting," the information must have been exceptionally useful.
"How many Chief Gods did you screw over?"
He immediately assumed Loki had successfully trapped at least one Olympian Chief God. Otherwise, Loki wouldn't sound this pleased.
"You tell me."
Ryo smiled mischievously.
'I tell you?'
Indra paused.
'More than one?'
"Two?"
Ryo simply shook his head, still smiling.
"Four?"
Indra's voice rose in surprise.
Ryo's smile grew even more teasing.
"...Six!"
Indra covered his mouth and stared.
The information he'd provided had only been a single sentence, hadn't it?
Just one sentence.
He was pretty sure it had been one sentence.
And that one sentence had wiped out half the Greek Chief Gods?
Had his mouth been blessed by divine fortune or something?
Ryo chuckled.
The corners of his lips curled upward as he cheerfully said, "You should be asking me whether Greece has any survivors left."
"..."
Indra's brain completely stopped working.
.
.
.