"When did you get here, Su Mo? Why didn't you say anything?" Shiroyasha laughed guiltily, discreetly recalling her stellar beasts.
"Yes, if I had known you were coming, I would have had Scáthach arrange a banquet," the Halloween Queen also nodded. "Even if the mortals need not know of your arrival, it should still be a cause for universal celebration!"
"The Queen is right," the white-haired loli nodded in agreement, then asked with feigned nonchalance, "By the way, when did you get back?"
"Just now," Su Mo replied. Just as Shiroyasha was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he added, "Just in time to see you two fighting."
"N-No, no! The Queen and I are the best of friends! We're both Sun Spirits, we're family! Why would we fight?" Shiroyasha blinked, spouting nonsense that not even a ghost would believe.
"I was just playing around with Shiroyasha just now. You didn't misunderstand, did you, Su Mo?" the Halloween Queen also declared with conviction.
Hearing this, the Kudou sisters exchanged a glance, a thousand unspoken words bottled up inside them. Who are you kidding?! Who plays around by throwing stellar beasts at each other?
Although they were being somewhat restrained this time, it wasn't as if they hadn't nuked Tokyo the first time they argued. It was just that the damage had been repaired afterwards.
If they weren't so unfamiliar with Su Mo, the two of them would have loved to tattle right now. Heaven knew how torturous it was to be under these two Problem Children.
Unfortunately, having been bullied by their two mentors for so long, even though they were itching to do so, they didn't dare to betray their masters.
Fortunately, the man before them was not so easily fooled.
"You two haven't forgotten that I can directly access the Akashic Records, have you?" he asked, looking at them speechlessly. "Even without borrowing Little Garden's central hub, the Earth Spirit's planetary chronicles have recorded all of history. If either of you still refuses to tell the truth... hmm, I'll punish you by sending you back to Little Garden for duty."
At these words, the two Sun Spirits were instantly alarmed.
Shiroyasha and the Halloween Queen exchanged a glance, then immediately spoke at the same time.
"I'm reporting her! The Queen is lying! She's the one who started the conflict!"
"I'm reporting her! That idiot Shiroyasha is lying! She was the one who made the first move!"
In an instant, the two who had just been trying to act like the best of friends became mortal enemies, exposing each other's dirt.
This ugly display of mutual attacks made the Kudou sisters want to cover their faces. So embarrassing. I don't want to admit these are my teachers.
A few minutes later, after using the simplest of divide-and-conquer tactics to turn them against each other, Su Mo finally learned the full story.
"The Kudou sisters were originally meant to be a single individual, the leader of a pantheon. But due to an accident, they were born as twins, so the aptitude for being a pantheon leader was split. Asuka inherited the Gift, and Ayatori inherited the Divinity." Su Mo briefly summarized the sisters' fate, which was identical to the original novel.
"Yes," Shiroyasha nodded. There was nothing much to say about that; it was simply an accident.
"According to fate, only one of them should have been born. The Gift of a pantheon leader is only meaningful when combined with the Divinity."
"Although we have interfered with the sisters' fate, a winner must still be decided between them to determine who will become the leader of the pantheon. Therefore, a duel is their destiny."
Until a winner was decided, the two sisters existed in a superposition of life and death. If their aptitude as a pantheon leader wasn't a concern, they could be left alone. But the existence of the Kudou sisters was closely related to the upcoming historical transition period, so they had to become one.
Hearing Shiroyasha's explanation, the twin sisters subconsciously exchanged a glance, both their expressions clearly unwilling to back down. The sisters, with their vastly different auras, only showed their shared stubbornness at a time like this.
"Only one of the two sisters can live..." Hearing this, Percher clicked her tongue. "Isn't that a bit too cruel?" This method of raising them, like fighting cocks, was a bit hard for her to accept.
Hearing her say this, the Kudou sisters immediately looked up and retorted.
"That's not it, Lord Shiroyasha..."
"Her Majesty the Queen would never—"
Halfway through their sentences, the Queen raised her hand slightly, and the two immediately fell silent.
The Halloween Queen glanced at little Percher before explaining. "Leave this part to me. Although, for the sake of the pantheon leader's aptitude, there can only be one winner between these sisters, for us, we only need to decide a winner, not life and death."
"With us here, the winner can receive all the Gifts, and the loser can continue to exist through reincarnation or by becoming a familiar. No one will disappear."
For beings of their level, the boundary between life and death had long since ceased to matter.
"Oh, right!" Percher slapped her forehead, realizing she had fallen back into a mortal way of thinking. Su Mo had already shown her a miracle before.
Leticia also understood what the two meant, but there was still one thing she didn't understand. "But if that's the case, why were you two so agitated just now, to the point of nearly fighting each other before they could even decide a winner?"
"Well..."
"Ugh..."
Hearing this, Shiroyasha and the Halloween Queen both averted their gazes, looking a little guilty.
Leticia immediately turned to the Kudou sisters, her pretty little face full of seriousness. "So, what happened?"
Under her imposing questioning, the Kudou sisters looked at their silent mentors, hesitated for a few seconds, and then spoke up.
"Lord Shiroyasha said she could be my teacher, and that under her guidance, I could easily defeat this disobedient little sister."
"Her Majesty the Queen said she could assist with my education, allowing me to defeat this incompetent older sister with my strength."
"Who are you calling a disobedient little sister?"
"Who are you calling an incompetent older sister?"
After speaking, the sisters glared at each other again, both clearly displeased with the other's choice of words. The atmosphere between the twin sisters was identical to that between Shiroyasha and the Halloween Queen.
At this point, even Leticia understood the situation. No wonder the sisters' fighting styles were so different. "So, you two were just using your sisters' duel to settle your own personal squabble?"
"..."
The Kudou sisters wanted to say no, to speak up for their mentors, but they couldn't refute it.
Hearing Leticia's final verdict, Shiroyasha and the Halloween Queen exchanged a glance and lowered their heads. "I can't deny it... but Canary agreed too. She said this method would best bring out the disciples' potential. I thought it made sense."
The Halloween Queen also nodded in agreement, once again siding with Shiroyasha. "Indeed. Leaving aside the personal grudge between me and Shiroyasha, don't you think the disciples we've raised are excellent, Su Mo?"
"I can't argue with that." Su Mo sighed and then nodded. Disregarding the near-world-ending crisis these two had almost caused, their teaching results were indeed impressive.
Hearing Su Mo's praise, the Kudou sisters' hearts filled with joy, surprised to have received the Lord's recognition.
Unfortunately, the next sentence made them a little indignant.
"Canary left these two children with you. It's acceptable that they've only turned out this warped. What has she been doing herself?"
Faced with Su Mo's question, Shiroyasha and the Halloween Queen exchanged a glance, then both looked towards the depths of the earth behind them.
"She seems to be training the two brats with the Third Stellar Particle. I don't know the details, but those two brats don't seem as obedient as the two girls we have here," the Halloween Queen said.
"Indeed," Shiroyasha nodded, agreeing with the Halloween Queen's judgment. "Those two brats are definitely not as obedient as the girls. But with Monkey and Algol watching over them, there shouldn't be any major problems. Canary will definitely keep an eye on them. You can rest assured, Su Mo!"
Shiroyasha patted her chest, giving her guarantee.
The next instant—
BOOM!
A massive explosion roared from below. The ground shook violently, and half of the stadium before them collapsed, sinking deep into the earth and leaving behind a giant crater.