— — — — — —
When she heard Ryo's wildly arrogant words, Asura didn't react with disgust. Instead, her expression turned strangely subtle, like she wanted to laugh but was forcing herself to hold it in.
She stared straight into Ryo's eyes, then suddenly laughed, "Hahaha, you've got the makings of a God of Battle too."
A fighter who has walked out of blood and fire, a god born from war itself. That was what a God of Battle was.
"Yeah." Asura sighed softly. "But I need Kurousagi to draw Indra out so I can settle things with him. And for Ouroboros, this is also the best chance they'll ever get to deal with Indra."
As she spoke, she absentmindedly curled a strand of her hair around her finger, clearly troubled. "Umm... If a fight like that breaks out, even I can't guarantee Kurousagi's safety. It's normal for you to refuse."
She nodded to herself, then looked at Ryo with certainty, "And since you probably don't know the full story, your spirit rank must have warned you, right?"
Without waiting for an answer, Asura smiled, "In that case, there's no need for me to say anything else."
She stood up from the sofa, smoothed down her skirt, and turned her back to him.
"I've already told you my goal. Whether you can stop me depends on you."
With that, she walked toward the exit, smiling.
After a few steps, she paused, "Oh, right. I'll give those little ones who escorted me back to you."
She waved her hand, and several transparent bubbles appeared in midair.
Light refracted through them, revealing the figures of Lancelot, Willa, and the others.
Pop~
The bubbles burst, and the group fell to the ground like people who had just crawled out of a river.
"Cough, cough!"
Jack spat out a mouthful of water, looked around at the gods with all sorts of expressions, and let out a breath, "Looks like we're saved."
"Cough! What was that woman doing anyway? She didn't say a word and just locked us up out of nowhere."
Ayesha complained, then walked over and patted Willa on the back, "Willa, are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Willa replied calmly.
She shook the boxy, Digimon-level-looking device in her hand and added, "I got her contact number."
What? You got what? Wait, Asura's damn contact info?
Ayesha's face twisted, then she stared at Willa in disbelief, "Why would you ask for something like that? And she actually gave it to you?!"
"So careless of me…" Lancelot muttered.
After coughing a few times, she got to her feet and looked at Ryo, "I let myself fall into her trap. Sorry."
"It's fine. This isn't on you." Ryo answered, frowning, "Ouroboros's influence in the lower layers is stronger than I expected."
That woman called Asura was far more dangerous than her appearance suggested. The pressure she gave off was no less than Heracles.
Someone at that level would be the strongest figure in any four-digit community.
It wasn't surprising that Ouroboros could deploy someone like her in the lower layers. What was frightening was that they could still do so while being hunted by Indra and part of the Twelve Devas.
Even Indra hadn't forced them to reveal their full hand, and that was with them still hiding their backer.
No wonder... No wonder they wiped out Arcadia in a single night while it was at its weakest.
Thinking that, Ryo turned his head toward Uesugi Kenshin, who had come up beside him, "I thought the Heavenly Army would step in to stop her."
"I can't." Kenshin shook her head with a bitter smile.
"Unless she goes somewhere like the Heavenly Layer, where I can fight at full power, I can't stop her."
Ryo raised an eyebrow, surprised, "She is this strong?"
Kenshin nodded and sighed.
"Her origins are special. She's a hybrid, born from a natural god-buddha and an oni race close to a Star Spirit. Her spirit rank mutated during her birth. She was born to surpass limits."
He hesitated, then said with difficulty, "Be careful. She's a candidate for the Original Scripture."
Ryo's mouth twitched.
He knew exactly what that meant.
It meant Asura might possess Another Cosmology.
A four-digit freak holding a Cosmology was, in the lower layers, basically the absolute peak. A god among gods.
Seeing the troubled look on Kenshin's face, Ryo's eyelid twitched and he made a bold guess, "Six Paths?"
One of Buddhism's cosmological systems, the Six Paths of Reincarnation.
Kenshin stayed silent. He neither confirmed nor denied it.
"Oi, oi. Is it really okay to leak that kind of info?" Mata walked over, rolling her eyes.
"If the bald one finds out you're spilling secrets, he's going to be mad."
The bald one… Shakyamuni? The Buddha?
Ryo's expression turned grave.
Had the World-Honored One of Buddhism handed the Six Paths to Asura? Why?
At that moment, Athena approached, smiling as she reassured him, "Relax. That child has only completed a fragment of the Another Cosmology."
She deliberately added, "Besides, although she comes from the Asura race, she also has the nature of a benevolent god. That contradiction limits how much power she can exert. If you face her, focus on a drawn-out battle."
Poor endurance, huh?
But Asura was an evil god with benevolent traits, meaning she could activate at least two of the Six Paths.
"So who's the real gossip goddess here?" Mata complained after hearing Athena.
On the surface, Athena was comforting Ryo, but in reality she was casually leaking classified information. Her methods were as nasty as ever. Was she really that worried he might fail?
Mata sneered inwardly.
At that point, Ryo rubbed his temple, "I think I've got the general picture now."
An absent Ares. An openly hostile Asura. And Hermes, who might come knocking at any time.
He had barely stepped onto the Little Garden stage, and three dangerous figures were already lining up to visit him.
'Guess I really do have a talent for attracting trouble.'
With a self-mocking chuckle, Ryo looked at Willa and the others, who had just recovered, nodded slightly, then turned to Athena.
"I'll take them and leave for now. When the details of tomorrow's Gift Game are announced, I'll leave it to you."
"Oh?"
Athena raised an eyebrow, surprised he would hand her that job, "You're not worried anymore about being labeled as 'Greek-aligned'?"
"Do you really think that still matters now?" Ryo shot back.
Three enemies. Two freaks and one three-digit. Whether his Gift Game would even run smoothly tomorrow was already in question. Who had time to worry about anything else?
"Fair enough."
Athena smiled, "Then I'll reluctantly serve as the host."
Ryo didn't look at her again. He turned and led Willa and the others straight out of the hall.
"Such an impatient man," Athena muttered.
She walked over to a white table, grabbed a white-furred, red-eyed rabbit that had been sneaking desserts, and smiled.
"Good afternoon, Laplace."
Laplace Little Demons. The South Area's tier ruler, and one of Thousand Eyes' cadres.
With the rabbit grabbed by the scruff of the neck, it hurriedly stuffed the rest of the dessert into its mouth. A mechanical voice rang out: "Laplace Type-III at your service, Lady Athena."
Athena smiled, "Go. Distribute the basic intel on Arcadia's new leader's debut battle to the trash present here."
"As you command."
As the words fell, red eyes slowly opened one by one throughout the void.
White rabbits holding parchment poured out from every corner, beginning to hand out information.
Watching Ryo's retreating back, Kenshin let out a quiet sigh, "Tomorrow's going to be rough for him."
"The new Arcadia leader is definitely better at stirring up trouble than the last one," Mata said with a smile, jotting notes into her notebook.
"Athena, be careful you don't accidentally get your first lover killed."
"Don't worry," Athena replied, the corner of her lips lifting.
"He's stronger than anyone imagines... Including me."
.
.
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