"Sun Authority... So the Boss is going to compete in the Sun War?" Juntan said, visibly astonished.
"Yeah, I just found out about the Sun Authorities myself," Riku shrugged nonchalantly.
"Huh, you just learned about the Sun War... Don't tell me the Authorities you have are Leo and Sagittarius?!" Juntan asked, his face now clearly shaken.
"Yep. Why?" Riku nodded, asking in return.
"It's nothing, it's just... you're amazing, Boss. You managed to obtain Leo and Sagittarius right under the noses of so many big shots, without anyone noticing." Juntan's expression shifted through a range of emotions before settling on pure admiration. The disappearance of Leo and Sagittarius was a famous topic throughout Little Garden; nobody knew where they'd gone. Not even the so-called omniscient demon, Laplace, or the mastermind behind the Sun War, the Lord of the White Night, had any idea.
Pulling that off... It's honestly unbelievable. No one knows how long the gods have been suspicious.
"So, does this mean I get to join the Sun War alongside you?" Juntan asked hopefully.
The Sun War was a major event in Little Garden. All the top communities were watching it, and countless gods and spirits wanted to participate.
But there's a catch unless you possess a Sun Authority or you have a direct connection to the Sun, you can't even join the preliminaries. As for the finals, nobody knows the rules yet, but it's possible that companions might be allowed.
From Juntan's perspective, if his Boss could go toe-to-toe with the Lord of the White Night and come out ahead, then clearing the preliminaries should be a breeze. If he could reach the finals and if the rules allowed allies, then maybe Juntan himself could participate in this legendary Sun War. Just imagining it was enough to make his blood boil.
That's why he asked.
"As for that, I'm not sure. We'll see how things go. If it's possible, I'll bring you along," Riku replied with a smile, his lips quirking upward.
To even get into the Sun War prelims, a contestant had to be at least a solid three-digit. Anyone who made it through would be strong even among that elite tier. Juntan joining the finals would be like throwing him to the wolves.
Riku didn't have high expectations. Pure-blood dragons had good potential, and Juntan could eventually become a powerhouse, the backbone of his community, but that was for the future. For now, against all the mighty gods and buddhas, a four-digit even with a break could only be a meat shield.
Still, he could be a pretty good tank. That hide of his would take a beating.
Riku snickered to himself.
"That's awesome!" Juntan was already lost in the thrill of maybe joining the Sun War, not realising that his Boss was planning to throw him under the bus...
WHOOSH
Just then, the twenty-four suns running along the Little Garden's horizon suddenly blazed brighter. An unusual aura surged forth, and the Leo and Sagittarius Authorities in Riku's possession began to tremble as if being summoned.
Riku's pupils narrowed as he realised what was about to happen.
"So soon? Looks like it's starting earlier than expected."
"Boss" Juntan started, but before he could finish, Riku was bathed in sunlight and vanished from sight.
"So it's finally begun? The first Sun War..."
At that moment, all across Little Garden, countless powerful beings looked up at the sky, whispering to themselves. The Lord of the White Night, the Halloween Queen, Indra, the Dragon King of the Star Sea every god, star spirit, and dragon connected to the sun simply disappeared from where they stood.
In another space, a vast grassland, Riku's vision shifted, and he found himself there.
"So this is the prelims' arena. I wonder what the rules are?" Riku narrowed his eyes, scanning his surroundings and muttering to himself.
No sooner had he spoken than a sheepskin scroll appeared in the air and drifted down.
Riku grabbed it and read the contents:
Gift Game: Sun War
Contestant: [Disboard] Riku Dola
Entry Qualification 1: Regardless of equator or ecliptic, anyone possessing at least one Sun Authority.
Entry Qualification 2: Anyone with the Sun's direct bloodline or who has achievements connected to the Sun.
[Prelim Rules]
Contestants include the holder of Sagittarius and other participants. No matter which participant wins, it will be counted as a victory for the holder of Sagittarius. The holder may change.
[Victory Conditions]
Shoot the indestructible poisoned arrow into Chiron's throat and turn him into Sagittarius. Defeat any who interfere.
Declaration: The Sun Authority War Operations Committee guarantees fair conduct of the above game.
[The First Sun Authority War]— Executive Director: Laplace the Little Demon.
"So these are the rules. Pretty much like what's described in the original," Riku said, looking over the scroll as he stood on the grass. "The first Sun War doesn't call for crazy wit, just raw, overwhelming strength."
"But this is actually a huge disadvantage for me." Riku shook his head, muttering to himself. The rules looked simple and direct. No matter which contestant took down Chiron, the win would be counted as his. Seems easy, but in reality, not at all.
With rules like these, all the other contestants would try to identify the Sun Authority holder, probably teaming up to eliminate them and steal the Authority for themselves.
And as for defeating "any who interfere," that was a little too ambiguous to ignore.
Riku stroked his chin, eyes glinting with calculation.
He knew the myth of Sagittarius well. During his pursuit of the centaur thief, Heracles accidentally wounded his own teacher, Chiron, with an indestructible arrow one Chiron himself had gifted him.
That arrow passed through a centaur thief and struck Chiron in the throat. Chiron, though immortal, was wracked by pain greater than death, the arrow had been dipped in the hydra's venom.
In the end, Heracles, seeking to free Chiron and also complete the [Twelve Labours] (specifically, the quest for the golden apples), rescued Prometheus, who'd been chained to Mount Caucasus by Zeus for stealing fire, by offering Chiron as a substitute.
Chiron, desperate for release, begged Zeus to let him die. At last, Zeus granted his wish; Chiron was freed, at last, transformed into the constellation Sagittarius.
"In this game, the biggest obstacle the one everyone has to defeat is Heracles. Most importantly, Heracles is holding the one item needed to complete the trial," Riku muttered, narrowing his eyes.
If Heracles manages to reenact the scene from the myth connected to Sagittarius, it would spell defeat for every other participant. That's something no contestant could tolerate. "That settles my first priority: Find Heracles, defeat or kill him, and seize the Poisoned Arrow."
Riku scanned the grasslands before him, deep in thought.
"If I can avoid running into other contestants, that would be best. I really don't want to reveal too many of my trump cards. But if someone else beats me to Heracles, I'll just have to do whatever it takes to get the key item back," a sharp glint flashed in Riku's eyes as he made up his mind.
With that, Riku shot into the sky, flying toward a chosen direction using his detection magic without reservation.
Even so, a whole day passed, and he still hadn't found anyone. No contestants, no event NPCs, there wasn't a soul in sight.
This game world was almost absurdly vast.
Suddenly, the system's notification rang out in Riku's mind.
Ding! [System update complete. Please check the updated functions, Master.]
"Oh? The update's finally done," Riku's eyes lit up, and he came to a halt in midair.
He immediately brought up the system map.
In an instant, a gigantic map of Little Garden appeared. Every major force's territory was clearly marked. What caught Riku's attention, though, was that all the Bronze through Platinum chests had vanished; only Diamond Chests, Rainbow Chests, and a new kind: Black Chests, remained.
And not only that, Diamond, Rainbow, and Black Chests weren't fixed in one place, but appeared to be moving.
"System, what's going on?" Riku inquired.
"After the update, all chests in Little Garden are now carried by powerful beings, rather than being stationary," the system explained. "Diamond Chests can still be opened freely. Rainbow Chests require certain conditions. The newly added Black Chests are quite special."
"The contents of a Black Chest change in quality depending on the strength of whoever's carrying it," the system clarified.
"Oh? That's interesting." Riku stroked his chin, finding it amusing.
"Wait you can even generate a minimap for this game world now? Not bad, not bad." Riku's thoughts shifted, and he managed to conjure up a detailed minimap of the game world. To his surprise, it actually worked.
Next, with a simple thought, Riku pinpointed Chiron's exact location.
"No more wandering aimlessly… This cheat is pretty great," Riku grinned.
BOOM—
Just as Riku was preparing to head to Chiron's location and wait in ambush, a massive explosion thundered from the far east, making the whole world tremble. Faint waves of heat even reached him.
"A fight's broken out, huh…" Riku narrowed his eyes and looked east. Normally, with the Sun Authority holder still hidden, the others wouldn't start infighting. If there was a fight, it meant one of two things:
Either some contestants already had personal grudges and just lost their cool, or someone had run into Heracles.
Either way, it was worth checking out. If it were just contestants fighting each other, he could swoop in and snatch the prize, a classic case of "the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind." And if it was Heracles fighting someone, even better, solving the Heracles problem first would be way more profitable than dealing with random contestants.
Resolved, Riku sped toward the source. Though the commotion was immense and could be sensed from here, the actual distance was over ten thousand kilometres.
Of course, Riku wasn't the only one who noticed the commotion; other contestants were already on their way.
At that very moment, in a place thousands of kilometres away, two mighty beings faced each other.
Hovering in the air was a man with the face of a middle-aged warrior, golden hair, and a body wreathed in searing, golden flames.
On the ground below him stood a hulking, giant-like man, broad, muscular, carrying a shield and spear, with a bow and quiver strapped to his back. His divine aura was overwhelming; his expression thunderous. The ground at his feet was blackened by fire, the earth sunken and scorched.
"Why did you attack me?!" Heracles bellowed, eyes blazing. Having nearly been killed out of nowhere, he was seething with rage. "As expected of the hero who completed the Twelve Labours, you actually withstood my attack," the golden-haired man replied, shaking his head. "Though I wasn't using much power, and this game seems to have strengthened your spirit."
"Tch, what an annoying guy. Die!" Heracles, infuriated by the other's haughty attitude, unleashed his fury, smashing the earth as he leapt skyward, shield and spear in hand, lunging straight at the golden-haired man.
But the man's face didn't even twitch. He simply raised a hand, and torrents of golden flame swept across the sky, far fiercer than before, engulfing Heracles in an instant.
In a single moment, Heracles' shield and spear were melted by the flames, his clothes vaporised, his entire body reduced to ashes, nothing left behind.
Only the undying bow and Poisoned Arrows remained, sheathed in holy light, utterly untouched.
And yet, the next instant, Heracles was reborn in the midst of the flames not by a "phoenix rebirth" like Riku's, but by pure resurrection.
Heracles, the greatest hero in Greek myth, is famed for his superhuman strength and courage.
Having completed the Twelve Labours and ascended to godhood, his accomplishments were legendary and his power remarkable. Even so, despite the game's power boost, he was no match for the golden-haired man, utterly annihilated.
But for Heracles, dying once was nothing. The Twelve Labours were his greatest Gift: not only did they make him terrifyingly strong, they gave him twelve lives. The same attack that killed him once would never work again.
For example, the divine fire that just incinerated Heracles could do nothing to him now it only served to make him look like he was reborn from the flames.
The Twelve Labours: truly a headache for everyone.
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T/N: Hey everyone! I'm going on vacation this week, so there won't be any new chapters for a bit (probably around 6 days).