Interested in Being Kyubey's Colleague? (Continued)

But before she took action, she remembered that she had allowed Athena to resist with all her might.

"Athena." She nodded to the Goddess before her.

The Goddess before him gracefully lowered her posture slightly in response. "Surtr."

"Does the agreement you made earlier still stand?" the beautiful and intelligent Goddess asked her.

"Of course it counts," Miss Surtr replied.

"If you want to make a move, I will allow you to launch the first attack. You can attack me in any way you can think of and do. I will retaliate only after that, and then kill you." The girl's fingertips lightly rested on the suspended blade of Laevateinn's sword.

"I will kill you, and then I will reshape your soul, body and mind—your new identity will be similar to that of a demigod. But you will no longer be connected to the divine system, but will simply possess the eternal life and combat power of a demigod. This is the reward you will receive for doing things for me, and the fact that you attacked me is an additional reward. Even if you are able to hurt me, I will not hold any grudge against you for it."

Miss Surtr spoke calmly. But every word she uttered was a golden rule that would inevitably become reality.

Because 'fate' no longer exists.

And her will is the novel destiny that all living beings on this land must accept, no matter how much they resist it.

"You are indeed more like a god than I am, more like us... in a philosophical sense than in reality. Surtr ..." Athena gripped her scepter, but had no intention of fighting. "However, I have another proposal."

"Tell me about it?" Miss Surtr tilted her head slightly.

"I do not wish to die, nor do I wish for all my kin to perish, leaving only me to eke out a living." Athena gently waved her scepter. "I wish to save my kin... to create a turning point for this hateful tragedy before everything else happens."

"You want to interfere with time?" Miss Surtr raised an eyebrow slightly. "I don't think it's feasible, not to mention how troublesome it would be to modify the butterfly effect caused by the past. At the very least, there's that attack from afar fifty years ago, and even now I can't find a way to deal with it. I can dispel starlight, I can destroy the gods. But the object I fight is ultimately just the shadow of that power that killed the world, just a trace, just a remnant. But if I were to directly face the body of that power..."

Miss Surtr's fingertips lightly traced the blade of Laevateinn.

"I'm not sure if I can defeat it. But I'm sure you can't, not even all of you gods combined. And even if I could win, the entire Earth would be destroyed by the residual power I release when I fight it."

"But what if we don't need to fight, but instead run away?" Athena looked at her, the Virgin Goddess's gaze exceptionally resolute. "To rewrite our past, to reweave a destiny for the Olympus Pantheon. To let us break free from the gods, from the identity of the Star Soul Tentacles, and thus gain an independent body. Just like what you originally intended to do for me!"

The air grew quiet.

Throughout the vast divine realm, only the sound of the undying Twilight Flame crackling could be heard.

Miss Surtr perked up slightly and gazed at the Goddess who had returned to her original form—she could easily see through the feigned weakness and then discern Athena's inner resolve and determination.

"Greedy... If I weren't the one standing here, perhaps you would have received this response." Miss Surtr turned her gaze to the other side of the earth. "But I'm different from other travelers... Give me a reason, Athena, why should I do this extra work?"

"Because you are Surtr." Athena seemed to breathe a small sigh of relief. "Although we haven't known each other for long. You came here only to save the world. Only to ensure the continuation of civilization on this planet. Humanity's survival is a byproduct of your mission, not something you were required to do."

"Continue?"

"Yes. The reason you chose to kill all the Immortals and Gods is because you judged that the Immortals and Gods were beyond saving. But mortals could still be saved, so you protected mortals and fought against the gods. But what if the gods also had a chance to save the world? What if the gods also had a chance to survive this calamity? Wouldn't two different civilizations be more conducive to your goal of saving the world?"

"..."

"Change the past, defeat the primordial gods who have not yet been sealed into the Mythical Realm and are still walking on the earth. Weave a new destiny for us, and we will leave. Far from this planet. Leaving only energy and conceptual shells to fill the void of this history. In this way, you will be able to save not only humans, but also gods. And for you, whose goal is to save the world, wouldn't this be a more thorough, more perfect ending?"

"..." Miss Surtr was touched on the nerve of the perfect ending.

"You are called the Goddess of Wisdom by the world, and that is not without reason, Athena." The fiery-haired goddess-slaying girl nodded solemnly. "However, there are still a few questions that need to be clarified. Because every effect has a cause, and I need to consider the whole picture—what can you gain from this request? What can I gain from it? And... how can your ideas be realized?"

Athena glanced away at the burning Olympus. When she returned, the corruption had already manifested in every single deity. Aside from herself, who was temporarily immune to the starlight's corruption thanks to the flames Surtr had implanted within her, there was no hope of salvation for any of the gods.

She didn't actually recognize them. She didn't recognize most of them.

Because she was a spirit of the earth, she was transformed into Athena by the myths told by mortals. In reality, her time on earth was limited to the brief period in the distant past, before the Mythical Realm had taken shape, a time when gods and humans coexisted, and also to her brief experience after awakening in the Parthenon.

Their life or death is actually none of her business.

But...

"Gods are influenced by humans. And I am the fourth God King of the Olympus gods, who has never ascended to the throne in any original mythology, yet is destined to rule over them." Athena gripped her scepter tightly. "I have a responsibility to them, therefore, I must fight for their survival."

"And as for you, Surtr... you can't save everyone now. But you can in the past... Greek mythology is ancient. Direct location jumps are difficult, but step-by-step backsliding is not impossible. Oceania, North America, South America, you can interfere with their mythology before the gods were even born. And in that case, reality can be corrected by your actions."

"You can save everyone, Surtr. The entire world, everyone who will die in this catastrophe... All the corrupted gods will be killed by you in the instant of their corruption due to the interference of the Source. And when you end the time travel and return to the normal timeline, you won't need to choose between East and West!"

After she finished speaking, her eyes widened. Her fists clenched, awaiting Surtr's final decision.

One second.

Two seconds.

The Twilight Flame that had consumed the divine realm paused for a moment, and then rapidly converged toward Miss Surtr's location.

Everything quickly quieted down again.

Soon, apart from the dilapidated palace floating in the void, the entire divine realm fell into deathly silence.

"You will still die," Miss Surtr said slowly. "Your fate will not change. I will complete this commission. I will kill you in the final step, just as I always have."

"You may kill me at any time. I will not resist." The Goddess lowered her head obediently, expressing her submission.

"Very good. So, what should we do?"

Surtr asked, and then she saw the Goddess before her turn slightly to the side. A sleeping woman, shrouded in divine power and whom she hadn't intentionally looked at, was then revealed to her.

That looks like a... Indian?

"Aisha, the third among the God Slayer. Her powers are unique, allowing her to travel across different timelines on Earth," Athena explained. "She cannot use her powers precisely, but I can. By using this mutated power, I can take you to the past."

Aisha is the most unique among the God Slayer. She possesses no fighting ability, yet she has unimaginable luck. No God Slayer can harm her. Unfallen Gods invariably meet their demise at her hands without her even knowing it.

—Strong fortune, the essence of strong fortune. It is being favored by the world.

—So that's it. She was a backdoor left behind by the planet's subconscious, a kind of safety measure. No wonder she possessed such terrifying luck and power; no wonder she fell into Athena's hands so easily after the world's demise.

—Tsk, so this plan does have a certain chance of being implemented... Oh well, since the path to a perfect ending has already been opened, what's wrong with me becoming a magical girl for once?

—Anyway, it's just a slight increase in workload. I'm still going to kill all the gods and immortals in heaven and earth.

After a brief moment of reflection, that's all.

Miss Surtr then nodded.

"Let's head to the first stop," she said.

Section 136 World Correction

Myths, urban legends, bedtime stories.

For this world, the spirit of nature will never lack a vessel to reside in.