Chapter 820 More Teammates
"Aren't you just mistaking them for those who had escaped the hunt?", asked Kisuke.
Athena shook her head, "No. They are the ancient variants that shouldn't be existing today and all of them were wearing armors that could only be seen in Olympus' museum and records. They aren't that strong compared to the modern equipment so there are no reasons to wear them aside from them still not being issued new armors due to logistical constraints."
"Assuming that's the case, then we'll have to gather evidence and send some forces to that location. Since they are still keeping it a secret, it means it's not yet ready and only those weaker beings could cross through the seal." Tiamat suggested.
Nyx then replied to her, "That's true. The location of the seal was deep within Hades' domain, however, to gather evidence, we would need a different route since the one we used was already compromised and that's the only route that I know of. They couldn't have possibly figured out our identities, but they should be aware that we were able to snoop around so they might have already relocated the entire thing."
"Knowing them, I'm sure that they've already relocated the whole thing. They wouldn't just do nothing when one of their core plans were compromised.", added Athena.
Kisuke sighed and said, "And I doubt anyone would want to make a move right now while all the largest factions lost a substantial amount of their forces. Instead of attacking, they would rather defend their interests first. As long as there is no evidence that a specific faction was about to be attacked, no one would stir the hornet's nest." He then looked towards Athena and asked, "But considering they're not yet prepared, why are you so glad that I didn't attack Olympus?"
"You couldn't really call it an alliance but Apollo's team consists of both Gods of Olympus, one of the Five Great Dragon Kings, a God of Asgard, and the Valkyries. If you were to attack them, Asgard would be forced to move too and even if you were able to clear the misunderstanding, there would still be a crack in our relations, which wouldn't be ideal for the extremely weakened Olympus."
Kisuke smiled at Athena's answer and said, "Heh~. So you wouldn't mind if a major portion of Gods from your faction were to perish, huh?"
Athena closed her eyes and tightened her expression, "Olympus' residents are my treasure, but if it's the Gods themselves are trying to destroy it then I wouldn't leave a timed bomb like them to exist."
"Destroy it? That's awfully pessimistic of you. You couldn't deny the fact they indeed have the chance to succeed. By then, far from destroying it, it would be Olympus' golden age. Isn't this just about your pride? Just say it, I'll free you from my control and you may join them. I won't leave a hidden bomb in you and you can also take Nyx with you."
Athena's face became serious and looked straight into Kisuke's eyes. Despite his sarcastic tone, she's convinced that he's telling the truth.
Kisuke saw the hesitation within Athena's eyes but didn't say anything, 'Well, this is a normal reaction.'
Athena once again reconsidered her options but before she could reach a conclusion, Nyx suddenly spoke up, "If you decide to side with Apollo, I won't stop you. But if you were to take me with you, I'd refuse your offer."
Athena turned to her and asked, "Is it out of fear despite his promise?"
"I won't deny that. But more than that, I do believe that I'm on the 'right' side.", answered Nyx with conviction, "...If you want my opinion on this matter, I do hope that you stay."
Athena fell silent. Not just Nyx but also the Belial siblings started to get nervous. If Kisuke were to really just let her go, a lot of information on her would be revealed on the other side. They don't even understand why Kisuke would make such an offer so confidently. Little did they know that Kisuke already had contingency plans in case Athena or Nyx successfully betrayed him.
Tiamat, meanwhile, only stayed quiet and watched the situation as she didn't have much context to understand what's going on. She did, however, find this very interesting, not just the situation, but also the growing mystery surrounding Kisuke, 'I initially thought that he's just a youngster that just wanted to keep his secrets. But now I think it's not wrong to say that he's actually an old overlord that only moves in the shadows.'
A few more moments of silence passed before Athena finally spoke up, "If this had been a test, I would have failed it magnificently."
"Which it isn't.", clarified Kisuke.
"I do appreciate the fact that you're giving me a choice but I'd like to keep it as it is."
Athena's answer caused Nyx, Sakura, Cleria, and Diehauser to heave a sigh of relief.
"If you're going to ask me for a reason, I'm sorry but I would have to disappoint you as it only comes down to the vague feeling that this is the correct choice."
Kisuke then suddenly clapped his hand and said, "With that out of the way, let's talk about our team's formation~!"
Athena felt bad when he suddenly changed the topic as if her decision wasn't something important. But she just let out a wry smile after recalling that this is how her captor always has been, "Wait. What team?" she asked as she also realized that she had no idea what Kisuke was on about.
"Azazel Cup."
"...You mean the International Rating Game cooked up by Ajuka Beelzebub and Shiva?"
"What else could it mean?"
Stunned, Athena added, "You do realize that I'm recorded as missing and Nyx is dead, right? You want us to resurface just for some games?"
"Why not?"
Out of all that they've talked about ever since arriving here, this is where Athena couldn't swallow her grievances, 'Then what was all that effort to keep ourselves hidden for!?' she shouted internally. She wanted to ask that question to Kisuke but she had a feeling that she would just be deeply hurt by his answer, and like his previous decision, it was a good call.
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