"This is the Sun Authority War. The only thing that matters is winning. As a Sun Authority holder, you should know that better than anyone." Apollo's expression darkened as he spoke coldly.
"Garuda, why don't we join forces and seize the Sun Authority first?" Apollo then turned to the Dapeng Golden-Winged Bird, Garuda, speaking with a face full of sincerity. With Riku wielding Phoenix Flame, Apollo wasn't confident he could win alone.
"Heh." Riku let out a soft, cold chuckle at those words, not taking Apollo's suggestion seriously in the slightest, his gaze calm as it fell on Garuda. As long as Garuda wasn't a fool, there was no way he'd accept such a proposal. And even if everyone here joined forces, Riku wouldn't feel the slightest fear.
Seeing both men's eyes on him, Garuda's gaze flickered uncertainly, though he didn't answer right away. On the surface, it seemed like a good plan, exactly what most contestants had in mind at the start: take down the Sun Authority holder first.
But now his position was delicate. Hercules was openly hostile toward him. If Riku were taken out here, Apollo, driven by his obsession with victory, would instantly turn his spearhead on Garuda, possibly even leveraging Hercules's strength against him.
Worse, once Garuda was eliminated, Apollo might not even need to fight Hercules at all; by riding the goodwill earned from helping to take down both him and Riku, he could walk away with the bow and arrows.
"Heh." Garuda finally chuckled coldly, his aura bursting forth, shaking the very void.
In the next moment, golden flames that could sear even the soul of the Goldwing Flame erupted forth, surging toward Apollo.
"Damn it!" Apollo's expression twisted. In his plan, the best outcome was for Garuda to be his pawn. Even if Garuda didn't take the bait, Apollo had expected him to at least stay on the sidelines or retreat temporarily, not to strike directly.
But there was no time to dwell on it. He could only meet the flames with full concentration, his face set in grim focus. Goldwing Flame was no trivial thing to fend off.
"Treating others like fools never ends well, fake god," Riku taunted. Anyone qualified to participate in the Sun Authority War was bound to be formidable; overconfidence would only lead to defeat.
That said, Riku did admire Garuda's decisiveness in making his choice in an instant.
If Garuda held Apollo back while Riku dealt with Hercules, the situation would shift entirely in Garuda's favour.
Whether Garuda defeated Apollo and faced Riku one-on-one afterwards, or joined Apollo to take Riku down, both scenarios were beneficial to him.
In the latter case, no matter how unwilling Apollo might be, he'd have no choice but to set aside his hostility and cooperate with Garuda. After all, once Hercules, an NPC in this Gift Game, was gone, the greatest threat to the other contestants was the Sun Authority holder: Riku.
"Still, plotting against me usually doesn't end well," Riku said with a playful smirk, glancing at Garuda pressing Apollo back.
"Roar! My nemesis, let us fight once more!" Seeing Garuda and Apollo locked in battle, Hercules wore a slightly puzzled expression. Still, it worked in his favour, so his killing intent surged again as he fixed his fierce gaze on Riku.
The next instant, Hercules charged at Riku, fists transformed into his deadliest weapons.
Riku, no stranger to close-quarters combat himself, met him without hesitation, his fist wreathed in Phoenix Flame, shattering all before it as it slammed into Hercules's own.
Boom!
A muffled shockwave erupted from the point of impact, rippling outward with violent force, shattering everything in its path.
Once again, Hercules was blasted away, but this time, he wasn't hurt.
"I'm getting tired of this. Time to end it." As Hercules prepared to come at him yet again, Riku shook his head lightly, speaking with calm indifference.
In the blink of an eye, Riku vanished, reappearing behind Hercules.
Just as Hercules began to react with a furious counterattack, ripples spread through the surrounding space. In the next instant, golden chains materialised out of nowhere, binding Hercules fast.
Hercules's punch froze just a centimetre from Riku's face, unable to advance any further.
"This is… a divine-targeting treasure!?" Hercules roared in shock, his entire body immobilised, even the manifestation of his Twelve Labours' spirit rank suppressed. "Why do you have something like this?!"
"Why? Personally, I don't feel like telling you," Riku replied leisurely, arms folded.
Hercules struggled furiously, the clack-clack of the chains ringing out, but the more he strained, the tighter they wound, leaving him unable to move at all.
Heaven's Chain was a divine-targeting treasure said to become ever stronger and more unbreakable the greater the target's divinity, though it did have its limits. If the opponent was too strong, it could still be broken. In the Type-Moon world, Gilgamesh's version could probably be broken by a three-digit-ranked Hercules in Little Garden, given the difference in power.
Unfortunately for Hercules, Riku's Heaven's Chain came from a system treasure chest and was leagues stronger than Gilgamesh's. According to the system itself, only two-digit full-authority deities might break free.
"That thing… Heaven's Chain! How does a human have a legendary treasure like that?!" Off to the side, Apollo and Garuda stopped their fight, eyes widening as they stared at the bound Hercules in shock.
The Heaven's Chain was said to be the treasure the most ancient of kings, the Hero King, had used to bind the rampaging Bull of Heaven, a story widely known.
If the Hero King could be born in Little Garden, his Heaven's Chain would certainly shake the world. But the Hero King could not appear here; there were far too many mysteries surrounding him.
Thus, while the Heaven's Chain was famous in Little Garden, it was thought not to truly exist here, just like the Hero King himself.
Yet now, a chain identical in form and divine-suppressing nature to the one in the myths had suddenly appeared in the hands of a human who clearly was not the Hero King.
Both Garuda and Apollo's expressions turned grim. Especially Apollo, he was deeply wary now.
For the strongest species like Garuda, this might not matter much, but for a chief god like Apollo, this was a dire threat. Being bound by it would leave him little better off than Hercules.
"Hercules… the remaining nine lives, you can leave those to me."
Even with three powerful beings staring him down, Riku's expression stayed calm, his tone faint.
In the next moment, the aura around him began to ripple, space itself trembling.
Then, word-spirits spilt from his lips.
As his words fell, the view before both Riku and Hercules shifted in an instant, transporting them to an unfamiliar place.
An endless green plain stretched out beneath their feet, countless swords thrust into the earth. Overhead, colossal stars and a blazing sun painted the sky in brilliance, a world of extraordinary grandeur.
This was Riku's current inner world, similar in nature to Disboard's Heart Realms.
Unlimited Blade Works might have been something he'd drawn from the system early on, but after countless improvements by Riku himself and the added strengthening of World Authority, it had become one of his ultimate trump cards.
Riku lifted his hand slightly. In that instant, countless treasures responded, rising into the air densely packed, blades all pointed directly at Hercules.
Though they were projections, Riku's reinforcement and the amplification of the Holy Grail's World Authority made each one superior to its original counterpart.
In Little Garden, any of them could serve as the signature weapon of a famed hero.
Here, it was less "Unlimited Blade Works" and more… Sovereign World.
"A human hero… it seems this time I will lose. How frustrating," Hercules muttered, silent for a long while as the weapons' killing intent pricked his skin. At last, he calmly accepted his defeat.
Bound by Heaven's Chain, he could barely move, yet even if he were free, facing this arsenal head-on would mean certain death.
More than that, he could feel something else here, an odd, lurking force in this world, even more dangerous than the countless treasures aimed at him.
"Farewell, Hercules," Riku said quietly, eyes gleaming. Hercules might have been a true hero, but here he was nothing more than an NPC born of Little Garden's Authority.
As the words fell, Riku's right hand cut downward.
Shhk—! Shhk—! Shhk—! Shhk—!
Countless treasures, wreathed in dazzling divine light, descended from above like a torrential rain, covering the sky as they pierced through Hercules.
Again and again, they impaled him with death after death. Even if he'd had a thousand lives instead of nine, it would not have been enough.
Thus, his only possible end here… was total annihilation.
Riku stepped forward, plucking the bow and arrows from Hercules's back as the hero's corpse, bristling with blades, fell lifeless.
Within this world, even Little Garden's own Authorities could not affect him. The permissions held by its gods and organisers were useless here; they could not forcibly drag him into a Gift Game.
That was because this world, too, was empowered by World Authority not from one, but from two worlds: Disboard and High School DxD.
It was, without question, one of Riku's most formidable trump cards.
"How's it looking?!"
Back in the outside world, Apollo and Garuda had long since stopped fighting, scanning their surroundings instead.
A moment earlier, a wave of spatial distortion had engulfed Riku and Hercules, pulling them into Riku's game world while leaving the other two locked out.
The development left both men uneasy. If Riku dealt with Hercules out of sight, took the bow and arrows, and then fled, they'd have done all the hard work only for him to reap the spoils.
Given that Riku was a Sun Authority holder, if he ran, his chances of passing the preliminaries would be extremely high.
"If it comes to that, our only choice will be to wait for Chiron… or guard the Caucasus Mountains," Apollo said in a low voice.
Garuda said nothing, only frowning. This was not how he had expected things to play out.
Then, space rippled once more, both of them snapping their gazes toward the disturbance.
"—!"
And what they saw made both their pupils contract.
Hercules emerged, his body riddled with holes, drenched in blood, well and truly dead.
Given Riku's mysterious nature, both had suspected he might have a way to finish Hercules for good. But neither expected it to be this fast, slaughtering all nine remaining lives in an instant. And in such a state… riddled with blades like a grotesque sculpture of martyrdom.
Attacks that worked once would not work on Hercules again, yet here was a man who could inflict so many fatal wounds. Both men's expressions darkened as the truth became clear: Riku possessed a staggering number of treasures and divine tools.
"You… are you actually the Hero King?" Garuda asked at last, face shifting through complex emotions as the old legend sprang to mind.
Apollo, too, wore a look of deep suspicion. Heaven's Chain, coupled with so many treasures capable of slaying Hercules… it was the spitting image of the Hero King's myth.
"No." Riku raised an eyebrow, answering flatly.
"Garuda, let's join forces. This human is far too strange for either of us to handle alone!" Apollo barked.
"Seems we have no choice," Garuda admitted with a bitter smile.
"Oh? Planning to team up?" Riku shrugged, unconcerned. "Fine by me. I was done playing around anyway. Now that I have the key item, I'll just wipe out every last one of you in my way."
"Such arrogance!" Apollo snarled, his irritation boiling over.
"Release [Solar Divinity]!" he roared.
In an instant, the radiance of the sun erupted around him, his aura and power visibly skyrocketing.
"Release [Light Divinity]!" he cried again.
This time, blazing wings of pure white light unfurled from his back, like those of an angel.
His presence now towered over both Riku and Garuda.
"Release [Spirit Rank]!" Garuda declared in turn.
At once, his form expanded into a colossal bird, wings blotting out the sun, his body wreathed in terrifying Goldwing Flame.
Its heat eclipsed what he'd shown earlier; his aura and power now surpassed even Apollo's, far beyond Riku's enhanced state.
"Now this is exciting," Riku said, the corner of his mouth lifting. "In that case, I won't hold back either."
The Sovereign World was his hidden ace and not something to reveal lightly.
But as for his other trump cards?
He had more than enough to spare.