Night had fallen.
Candlelight flickered inside the barn.
The wizards were utterly stunned. Every one of them stood frozen in place, even their breathing halted. Their eyes were fixed on the figure at the door—clad in silver armor, wearing an olive branch crown, with eyes as profound as the starry sky and an oppressive aura that stole their breath.
Athena.
Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, had actually descended in person!
"W-we're done for..." a young wizard muttered tremblingly, his legs going weak as he nearly collapsed to his knees.
"She must be here to settle accounts..." another old wizard closed his eyes in despair, his fingers unconsciously clutching the hem of his robe.
The wizards' faces had gone deathly pale. Some had even begun rehearsing their own deaths in their minds—burned to ash by Divine Punishment? Turned into stone statues? Or thrown into Tartarus to suffer for eternity?
Yet, at the very moment everyone thought the end had come, Athena's gaze passed over them and settled directly on Ian.
Her voice was soft, yet it reached everyone's ears with perfect clarity.
"As long as you can keep me alive when Ragnarok comes."
The moment those words fell.
It was no different from a bomb going off.
They had thought that today, they would either die at the hands of Temple Knights or suffer Divine Punishment from Athena. But who could have imagined... that a god would be negotiating with a wizard?!
Dead silence.
Even the sound of breathing vanished from the barn.
The wizards stared wide-eyed, scarcely daring to believe what they had heard.
Athena... was seeking a deal with Ian. This was a scene they had never imagined in all their lives—a true Olympian god appearing at their secret gathering!
And not only had she not delivered Divine Punishment