Chapter 453: Anomaly, Two Athenas!
As long as the characters from the scripted story are brought out, then they can no longer be controlled.
Therefore, Renji's idea was to send Athena to his own world.
But simply teleporting her there wasn't enough—he also needed to test one scenario.
She was born here and is somewhat connected to faith. Once she leaves this world itself, would she be unable to maintain her existence?
Sending her directly there would be like throwing a fish out of water and onto land.
That's why an experiment was necessary, using the Divine Ancestor Asherah as the test subject.
"You plan to infect the entire world and alter large-scale myths?"
Athena, wearing a knitted hat that somewhat resembled cat ears, watched the owl she had released once again.
Her familiar would fly across the world, bringing plague to it.
"Are you sure you can affect such a massive population?"
In Japan, he had successfully distorted the myth of Susanoo, but in Athena's view, that was already the limit of the number of people he could influence.
If he wanted to alter myths on a large scale, it meant the base number of people he would need to affect was terrifyingly large—at least tens or even hundreds of times more than last time.
But in Athena's opinion, his power was far from sufficient to influence so many people, and spreading it across the entire world would only increase the consumption further.
"My limit is roughly infecting a quarter of humanity, but the number of people whose perceptions I can actually influence is estimated to be only one-tenth of the infected. That means, at most, I can affect around 200 to 300 million people. And for those 200 to 300 million to have their perceptions completely distorted, I'd probably have to cut that number in half again, leaving at most around 100 million people."
"One hundred million humans—that's still a terrifyingly large number. It's impossible to distort all myths, but for a targeted myth, you should be able to manage it."
"Right, but this time, I'm not trying to distort any particular myth. I want to create a new mythological figure."
"Oh? Why not concentrate the infected population? What are you doing spreading them across the entire world?"
It would be easier to weave a new myth if the people with distorted perceptions were concentrated in one region.
But he was dispersing them across the entire world—wouldn't that make it harder?
"This isn't ancient times, understand? Athena."
What did that mean? Athena tilted her head cutely in confusion.
"How does the information transmission capability of ancient times compare to now?"
As Renji reminded her, he also patted that adorable head, making her frown in dissatisfaction, though she didn't push his hand away.
"You plan to use the so-called internet?"
Athena had some understanding of modern civilization. Humanity had created this incredible thing called the internet, allowing people to easily transmit information to any corner of the world.
People on opposite ends of the world could communicate effortlessly and almost without delay through the internet.
It truly was unbelievable.
The last time she awoke, humanity didn't seem to have changed much from ancient times. But now, after waking again, human civilization had progressed to an unbelievable extent.
"Right, I'm making use of that. And have you heard of the story where three people can create a tiger?"
"Three people spreading rumors of a tiger? I see."
Athena somewhat understood his intention. Indeed, there was no need to distort the cognition of all humanity.
By having a group of people create rumors, others would be influenced and gradually mistake them for truth.
"So, who exactly are you? How do you know so well how to utilize the power of this era?"
It didn't seem like he had witnessed the development of this era and learned to use its power—more like he was a human from this era himself.
But according to Athena's current investigations, he had only recently descended into this world in Sardinia.
Moreover, she had heard his conversation with The Last King, Rama, and one part had particularly caught her attention—"So you come from that world."
"You want to know who I am? Simple. If the experiment on Asherah succeeds, she will be successfully sent to a certain place without disappearing. If you go there too, you'll know."
"Your world, is it?"
To this, he remained silent, merely smiling slightly before suddenly embracing her and rubbing against her.
"Release me, you insolent fool!!!"
Damn it, he always treated her with such disrespectful behavior.
"Not behaving like a god at all—more like an emotional human being."
Athena added this with a derogatory tone.
"Human? Do you think gods and humans are vastly different? Gods exist through human weaving; in reality, gods are merely imitating human speech and behavior. If gods were stripped of their Authority, of that power surpassing humans, do you think there would be any difference between gods and humans? Do you see any distinction between yourself now and a human?"
As Renji said this, he scratched the chin of the squirming loli goddess as if petting a cat.
His words made her pause slightly, as if she were genuinely contemplating.
Suddenly, Athena sensed something and looked toward the sea ahead.
Renji also sensed something—had a Heretic God descended?
But Athena's reaction seemed somewhat peculiar.
"What? A god you know?"
"No, I don't know, but I feel very strange—as if there's another me."
This was the peculiarity Athena sensed.
She felt another version of herself, which was very strange.
Hadn't her trinity already fully returned? How could another version of herself descend again?
Her expression shifted slightly as an owl flew toward them—but it wasn't a familiar under her control.
Soon, an owl became visible to the naked eye.
"Who are you? Why do I feel that you..."
The owl emitted a girl's voice, tinged with confusion and sternness.
"...resemble you, right?"
Athena completed the other's sentence.
"So, who are you, this impostor?"
Athena sharply retorted.
"Impostor?"
After a brief silence, the atmosphere grew oppressive.
"Hehehe, interesting. Calling me an impostor? So, you believe you are Athena, correct?"
The other party chuckled lightly, and the temperature around them plummeted.
Then, the owl transformed into a girl.
She was a beautiful girl of about thirteen or fourteen, draped in a deep green robe, her short hair swaying gently in the sea breeze.
Her gaze, darker than the night itself, sharply turned toward the source.
Stone, stone, stone—the sea surface was petrifying, rapidly spreading outward!