— — — — — —
"Forget it. That won't work. At this level, that kind of corruption would only be as disgusting to that ugly woman as stepping in dog crap. She'll handle it easily."
After her initial burst of excitement, Lilith muttered irritably.
'You actually seriously thought about doing it…' The corner of Ryo's mouth twitched.
In Little Garden, faith contamination wasn't anything new. The problem was that Zazalamagiu was an obscure, fringe belief from the Strike the Blood world. Even with parallel-world amplification, at best it would make Athena raise an eyebrow.
Just like Lilith said. The level of disgust you'd feel from noticing a pile of dog crap.
After weighing it for a moment, Lilith dropped the idea.
Too cheap. Too beneath her.
If she was going to make a move, it had to be something big.
The Zanpakutō floating in the air circled Ryo once before her teasing voice rang out again. "By the way, you may not have many redeeming qualities, but you're pretty good at planting thorns in people's eyes."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
Ryo's expression twitched, pretending not to understand. He smoothly changed the subject. "If you don't have anything more important to say, I'll use this dark god as an experimental sample for the Machine Gods."
Lilith clicked her tongue in disgust. "You look decent enough. How is your brain this inflexible?"
Ryo's jaw tightened.
Of all insults, being told he lacked brains by Algol of all people stung.
He looked up at the hovering blade, face darkening slightly, then forced a breath out through his nose.
"And what wisdom does Lady Lilith have to offer?"
Lilith paused before answering. "Give me that ugly thing. I'll have my true body create a four-digit demon for you to experiment on."
Four-digit?
Ryo's brows rose.
Zazalamagiu, even brought into Little Garden and enhanced by the Center, would probably cap out at the five-digit range.
If he could trade it for a four-digit demon as a test subject… that wasn't just a profit. That was like buying a ten-dollar lottery ticket and winning ten million.
Which made it suspicious.
Lilith—no, Algol—was offering far too much.
Ryo frowned slightly. "This thing isn't worth that much. An offer like that makes me uneasy."
When someone offers ten million for something worth ten bucks, even an idiot knows something's off.
And the one making the offer was Algol, public enemy number one in the eyes of Little Garden's gods.
If she used Zazalamagiu to pull off something insane and Ryo got dragged into it, that would be a disaster.
Then again…
What could a five-digit dark god even accomplish?
Could it possibly affect Algol?
Don't tell me she plans to use Zazalamagiu to escape her seal? Would she really stoop that low?
"Value is relative," Lilith said, irritation creeping into her tone.
"Didn't you already guess what I intend to do with that ugly thing?"
"You're seriously planning to use it to break out?" Ryo stared at the blade in disbelief.
He didn't know the exact mechanics of Athena's seal on Algol. But the mere fact that Algol would consider using something as filthy as Zazalamagiu to free herself was shocking.
Leaving aside her narcissistic obsession with beauty, she also held a beauty goddess' divinity.
She once said, 'Looking at something ugly pollutes my beauty.'
"...Tch."
Lilith clicked her tongue sharply.
She had indeed planned it, but hearing Ryo spell it out still made her stomach churn.
If this were before, and Ryo dared to speak to her like that, she would've slapped him flat without hesitation.
But times had changed.
Her true body was sealed. And Ryo?
This freak had gone from the weakest five-digit to a four-digit rule-breaker in just two months.
Did he have any idea what she'd witnessed through the Zanpakutō during that time?
An ant nearly catching up to her true body in two months.
It was absurd. Almost like the Buddha attaining enlightenment beneath the Bodhi tree.
And this wasn't some long epoch. It had barely begun.
He was only a few steps behind her now. If she delayed much longer, he might actually withstand the pressure of the gods and pull her out himself.
If that happened, the favor she'd owe him would be impossible to repay. On top of that, the current situation in Little Garden was heating up in ways she couldn't ignore.
He might not realize what he was stepping into, but she did.
A chance at two-digit territory.
If she kept hesitating, she'd miss it.
"It's not exactly breaking out," Lilith said, her tone noticeably calmer.
"I can't explain the details. Think of it as a certain application of Demon Authority."
She hesitated briefly before continuing.
"I can grant that ugly thing the identity of 'Demon Primogenitor.' Let it gradually approach my true body. Then, through certain… methods I can't disclose, I'll slowly switch places with it. In doing so, I can escape the seal."
She paused, then added coolly, "It's a form of self-stain. Even if that ugly woman notices, she'll probably enjoy watching me degrade myself. Her seal may be complicated, but at its core, it's designed to force me into lowering my own Spirit Rank."
Ryo blinked.
Lilith was being vague, but he knew enough to piece together the outline.
From what he remembered of Little Garden's original storyline, Algol's spirit rank kept falling over time.
From a Celestial Star Spirit to a normal god. From god to demi-god. Lower and lower, until there was nowhere left to fall.
And eventually, much later, she escaped.
So that's the play. You called me ugly? Fine, I'll disfigure myself before you can.
Ryo resisted the urge to comment out loud.
He also noticed Lilith's temper had softened considerably. So he decided to probe further.
"In other words, you're guaranteed to escape eventually. Athena's method forces you into it. Now you're trying to make it voluntary."
He tilted his head slightly. "I'm curious. Why make that choice?"
If she was forced to become ugly, she could at least justify it to herself as resistance.
But choosing to degrade herself willingly?
If she truly wanted that, she could have done it long ago. There had to be another reason.
The floating Zanpakutō froze midair.
Then Lilith spoke in a strange tone. "You've been seducing me for this long. Why are you pretending to be clueless now?"
Ryo blinked.
"…What?"
.
.
.