— — — — — —
7:30 PM.
After dinner, Ryo returned to his residence on the top floor of the Keystone Gate.
As soon as he stepped out of the elevator, he saw a black coffin taking up half the corridor.
Standing guard around it were Sayaka, Shizuri, Yukina, and a black cat possessed by a spirit.
When they saw Ryo come back, all three women, especially Sayaka, visibly relaxed.
"A god embryo?" Ryo glanced at the coffin, chuckled softly, then turned to Shizuri. "Getting used to life on Itogami Island?"
"Thanks for asking. I've mostly adapted, " Shizuri replied, sounding at ease. "And I should be enrolling at Saikai Academy the day after tomorrow, as Natsuki-sensei's student."
After the island's expansion and nation-building, land had become much easier to come by. The real hurdle was securing permanent residency slots. That was why the six thousand former Onrai Island members joining Itogami Island hadn't caused much trouble. The only downside was cost of living. Most people ended up taking on some level of debt.
Sayaka had brought Shizuri over to help by exploiting that situation, dipping into Lion King Organization funds. What she didn't know was that her own teacher had padded the expense report by fifty percent.
Government money. Might as well use it.
"Natsuki's student…"Ryo's tone turned a little strange. "Well, she'll probably look after you."
After exchanging a few pleasantries with Shizuri, Ryo nodded lightly to Sayaka, skipped over the slightly tense Yukina, and looked at the black cat sitting atop the coffin.
"It's been a while, Endou Yukari."
"You've… grown stronger since last year, " Endou said, her voice complicated.
Stronger was putting it mildly. A year ago, Ryo's power had already been visible, something you could still grasp at. Now, it felt like staring into the night sky itself. Deep, vast, and making you painfully aware of how small you were.
"Have I?" Ryo smiled, not pressing the topic, and instead teased, "So when's the Lion King Organization planning to break away from the Japanese government?"
Sayaka froze for a moment. Yukina, on the other hand, stayed silent, as if she'd expected the question.
As for Endou, whose organization's secrets had just been laid bare, she looked completely unsurprised and replied casually, "Probably within the next few months. The Three Saints still haven't reached a unified decision. They might even choose to act as your informants within the Japanese government."
"Hard to leave home, huh?" Ryo laughed.
He didn't care much about the Lion King Organization's indecision.
At this point, the only things that had ever really piqued his interest were weapons like Snowdrift Wolf and deva descendants like Yukina and Sayaka. Now that those were already in his hands, whether the organization pledged full loyalty or partial loyalty made no difference to him.
The overall situation was firmly under his control. Anyone smart enough knew which side to choose.
Still, Endou shivered slightly.
She didn't believe Ryo spoke without purpose. Suspecting this was a warning shot aimed at the Lion King Organization, she forced a smile and hurried to demonstrate their value.
"Your Majesty, are you familiar with the Bureau of Astrology?"
"A special agency under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, " Ryo replied calmly. "They handle naturally occurring magical disasters. I've heard of them, but never paid much attention."
"From the way you're bringing it up, " he added, "Sounds like they've cooked up something new for me?"
Seeing his lukewarm reaction, Endou sighed inwardly.
Things were different from a year ago. Back then, Ryo had been alone in this world. Now, as the ruler of the Dawn Empire, secretly allied with the Chaos Zone, he had become a brand-new pole of global power.
The Lion King Organization no longer mattered much to him. And compared to that, the Bureau of Astrology mattered even less. To truly catch his interest, it would have to be Japan as a whole, or a secret that could shake the entire world.
Fortunately, the intelligence they'd stolen from the Bureau was important enough.
Keeping that in mind, Endou explained, "The Bureau of Astrology has discovered an ancient biological weapon known as Leviathan."
"It's a divine-level biological weapon, possessing power equivalent to a True Primogenitor."
"Recently, they located Leviathan, and by tracking its unique energy fluctuations, they also identified the control device capable of commanding it. A demon named Lilith."
Lilith?
Ryo's eyebrow twitched.
Noticing this, Endou let out a quiet sigh of relief. Any reaction was better than none. It meant they'd proven their worth.
Ryo frowned slightly. "Lilith? As in the one from mythology?"
The myths of the Strike the Blood world were a complete mess. Many were fabrications of the Devas, while others revolved around strange artifacts wielded by those same tribes—objects later worshipped by humans as gods.
They made a lot of noise and were worth next to nothing. These days, Ryo could barely be bothered to collect them himself.
Still, he remembered that Lilith existed through reincarnation. In this era, she was supposedly inhabiting a young nightmare girl named Yume Eguchi.
And demons… well, anyone who knew, knew.
Having lived long enough to rival an encyclopedia, Endou immediately supplied the information Ryo wanted.
"In ancient times, Lilith did leave traces and was worshipped as a deity by certain witches."
Ryo thought it over briefly, then said, "Bring that Lilith to me. Intact."
"Yes."
Endou accepted the order without hesitation.
Seeing this, Ryo nodded and walked past them into the living room. Just before stepping inside, he added, "Sayaka, you can notify Giada to bring her people over."
He was quite curious about the Second Primogenitor.
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