— — — — — —
Near noon, in Arcadia City, a five-story mixed-use building stood on the edge of the suburbs.
Wrapped in a trench coat with her hood pulled low, Rin slipped through a narrow alley and stopped in front of the building facing the street. She glanced at the clothing shop on the first floor, took out a key, unlocked the iron side door, and headed straight up to the third floor.
Knock. Knock. Knock-knock-knock.
Two slow knocks, then three fast ones.
A subtle ripple of spatial distortion spread out.
Using the passcode to pass through the barrier, Rin opened the door and stepped inside.
And what greeted her was a spacious living room.
In the center stood four rows of sofas arranged in a hollow square. On each sofa sat a single figure.
"Rin, you're back."
On the sofa directly facing the door, Kalki (His Highness) looked up and smiled faintly.
"Yes, Your Highness."
Rin closed the door and walked to the nearest sofa. Before she could sit down, Maxwell, seated to her right with neatly parted hair, leaned forward impatiently, "Any news about Willa?"
"..." Rin's mouth twitched.
She didn't answer, only shook her head.
"You went out to gather intel, didn't you?" Maxwell's irritation was no longer hidden.
"Shut it, Maxwell," came a deep, heavy voice from the shadowed sofa opposite them. "Advisor Rin's job is to investigate Arcadia, not help you chase women."
Rin turned her head slightly and saw a massive figure, so large it nearly crushed the sofa beneath it.
A bird's head and talons, the muscular body and stripes of a tiger, and a snake's tail that swayed lazily in midair, hissing softly from time to time.
His name was Graiya.
He was a reinforcement recently dispatched by the upper ranks of Ouroboros, added specifically for this operation.
Faced with the ferocious beast, Maxwell only shot him a dark look before lowering his head and muttering to himself, "Willa… why did I lose the signal I left by your side… Willa... Willa...."
Graiya snorted and turned to Rin. "How did the intel sweep go? Have those dangerous types cleared out yet?"
"Due to the Second Union's activities in the south area, the Heavenly Army's Kubera and Dhṛtarāṣṭra left late last night," Rin replied.
"Besides that, Pallas Athena was temporarily recalled by Zeus at dawn to hold Olympus, in response to movements by the Egyptian and Babylonian pantheons."
"Too easy," Kalki muttered. "At a time like this, everyone who bet on Arcadia, who bet on Ryo, suddenly pulls out. Isn't that a little too obvious?"
"It's a trap. An open one," Rin said calmly. "The Heavenly Army, maybe even Greece as a whole, has probably guessed we want something from Arcadia."
"The Alliance Flag," Graiya sneered, his tone turning mocking. "The people backing the First Union absolutely lost their minds."
"They even dragged Asura into it, stirring chaos in the open, while having us cause trouble in the shadows. Using special Gifts to steal the Arcadia Alliance Flag. Looks like the higher-ups are getting desperate."
"The flag itself doesn't do much," Rin said thoughtfully. "At least, not enough to warrant this level of attention. Which means… they want to lift that seal."
The seal of the Demonic Dragon Azi Dahaka.
Kalki's brow jumped, "Graiya, Rin, watch your words!"
Graiya just smiled and said nothing more.
Those who understood, understood. No need to spell it out.
Startled by Kalki's shout, Rin double-checked the barrier, confirmed there were no security issues, and continued. "Through observation, prophecy, and divination, we've deduced that once Ryo starts the Gift Game, some of Arcadia's members will be responsible for maintaining order at the venue."
"So there won't be many people left at headquarters. And Ryo Yagami himself, as the leader, definitely won't be there."
"Who's likely to stay behind?" Kalki asked, pretending to be deeply invested in the mission.
"Leticia Draculea is the most likely," Rin replied. "Aside from her, at most there'll be one four-digit-level entity. Five-digits are basically absent."
"Of course, the strange weapons on the streets will still be there. Probably several command units."
As she spoke, Rin looked toward the continuous stretch of windows on her left.
Outside lay clean, orderly streets and slightly aging lampposts.
Beneath one of those lamps stood a spider-like metallic construct, its single eye scanning the surroundings.
The Nalakuvera, a god-made weapon used to maintain public order. During testing yesterday, it was judged to possess strength equivalent to a five-digit class.
"Heh. A lion is a lion, even in a cage." Graiya said with thinly veiled disgust.
"They've already been wiped out once, and they can still field three four-digit combatants. I told the upper ranks to finish them off completely, but they wouldn't listen."
He had a long-standing grudge against Arcadia, or rather against its former leader Koumei Kasukabe, and that resentment naturally carried over to Ryo's Arcadia.
Ignoring Graiya's bitterness, Kalki asked calmly, "The Flag is confirmed to be at Arcadia's headquarters?"
Rin nodded, "Yes. Or rather, the old flag definitely is. According to intelligence, Arcadia seems to have a new Alliance Flag, one tied to the Zodiac constellations."
"Oh?" Graiya perked up instantly and even laughed out loud.
"No way. The second-generation leader wants to change the Alliance Flag? Hahaha! So Koumei Kasukabe gets to see this day too? Don't tell me that Ryo Yagami is actually our mole in Ouroboros?"
'No, it's the other way around. We're Arcadia's mole…' Rin thought quietly, then immediately shut that line of thought down as too dangerous.
"Alright, enough," Kalki said, clapping his hands to bring them back on track.
"Our priority is reclaiming Arcadia's flag. Bringing in Lady Asura cost us dearly, so we only get one shot."
He looked around at everyone. "The attack will begin at twelve o'clock, when Arcadia convenes the Gift Game…"
Before Kalki could finish, a man's voice echoed across the entire city.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am the current leader of Arcadia Grand Alliance. My name is Ryo Yagami!"
Kalki, Rin, Graiya, Maxwell, and even Asura somewhere in a distant corner of the city all looked up at the nearest Nalakuvera.
Ryo's voice was coming from within it.
"So it's starting…"
That silent murmur spread through every corner of the city.
Kalki understood.
The gift game was about to begin.
.
.
.