— — — — — —
With a soft creak, the door slid open on its own.
Stepping inside, Ryo spotted the visitor in the reception room—Uesugi Kenshin, seated on a fabric sofa.
She looked the same as ever: high ponytail, sharp-featured suit, her whole presence clean and commanding.
Kenshin sat with one leg crossed over the other, a cup of hot black tea in hand. When she saw Ryo walk in with Kurousagi, she set the cup down.
"So," she said with a faint smile, "how did it feel, setting Indra up?"
Ryo grinned as he took the seat across from her and poured himself some tea. "Like eating ice cream in the middle of summer. Cold, refreshing, and way too satisfying."
Kenshin let out a short laugh.
"And Asura?" he asked.
"Mata took her back to the clan," Kenshin replied casually. "After causing that much trouble, she had to sync stories with the big shots of the Asura tribe."
There was a hint of schadenfreude in her expression.
She clearly enjoyed watching her old boss deal with chaos on his own turf.
Not out of spite, exactly. More like… she'd been cleaning up after Indra for years, and seeing him finally stuck in an awkward mess he couldn't wiggle out of? That was satisfying.
The Heavenly Army had lost face more times than she could count because of his nonsense. Seeing him suffer a bit was long overdue.
"Sounds like she's fine, then."
Ryo let out a quiet breath. He'd been a little worried Indra might take it out on Asura, but apparently the Deva King had chosen to swallow it, even after being played by his own daughter.
In a way, Indra was easy to deal with… as long as you ignored his absolutely ridiculous love life.
"Why are you so concerned about Asura?" Kenshin asked, her expression turning odd.
Especially when she glanced at Kurousagi standing behind Ryo, her look became… complicated.
Being tangled up with Indra's great-granddaughter was one thing.
Don't tell me you're mixed up with the daughter too?
"Looking after your clients is just good business," Ryo replied lightly, taking a sip of tea.
"What exactly did you sell her?" Kenshin asked, curious.
Ryo raised a brow.
"A chance to get back at Indra."
"…Damn."
Kenshin's lips twitched. Then she sighed. "No wonder the kid handed me this before she left."
As she spoke, she pulled out a cluster of crimson flame about the size of a fist.
It glowed faintly, flickering in the air. Every few seconds, it would split apart into several fragments, only to be pulled back together by flashes of white light.
The flame pulsed and reformed in her palm, over and over.
Ryo studied it, then asked carefully, "Authority of… destruction?"
"Close. It's 'Shattering,'" Kenshin confirmed with a nod. "About 25% complete. It has absolute effectiveness against energy-based gifts. It can break down any form of energy."
"Of course, at only 25%, it's still limited. It can't affect matter, concepts, or space-time. So no targeting living beings or environments directly, and it doesn't do much against conceptual powers either."
"But even so," Ryo said quietly, "this is incredibly rare."
He wasn't clueless. A 25% completed authority, especially one focused on offensive 'shattering,' was absurdly valuable.
Frowning slightly, he added, "This… should be one of Asura's main development paths, right?"
Authorities didn't just appear out of nowhere.
First came gathering concepts, then forming fragments, and finally refining them into a complete authority.
Early on, they were heavily restricted. Some only worked on amphibians. Others required environments with over 80% oxygen. The limitations could get ridiculous.
But this "Shattering" authority had relatively few constraints and was already highly specialized against energy. That alone marked it as something she'd invested heavily in.
It was obvious. She knew Ryo was looking for this kind of power, so she handed over something she'd been developing seriously.
Kenshin, however, remained perfectly calm as she sold her niece out. "She said it's not one of her main ones."
"So just… treat it as not."
Ryo leaned back into the sofa and scratched the back of his head. "Indra's whereabouts are worth this much?"
Selling him out once for something like this? That wasn't just profitable—it raised a terrifying question: How many people would line up to sell him out tomorrow?
Seriously.
Ryo was willing to bet that if word got out, the number of people ready to betray Indra could circle the Earth ten times over.
"No idea if it's worth that much," Kenshin said, rolling her eyes. "But you're the only one who's managed to sell him out and live."
"You think Indra's that easy to mess with? If you weren't his future grandson-in-law, you'd already be dead for what you pulled yesterday. And you're thinking about doing it again? Dream on."
"…Guess I got lucky," Ryo muttered, his lips twitching. He really had considered doing it a second time.
Probably best not to push it.
If things went well with Kurousagi, they'd still need Indra to show up on her side of the wedding.
With that in mind, Ryo dropped the topic and looked back at Kenshin, narrowing his eyes with a smile.
"That's not all, is it?"
"You think I'd skim off your payment?" Kenshin shot back with a snort.
She flipped her free hand, and a pitch-black, diamond-shaped crystal appeared in her palm.
This was the payment from the Buddhist faction.
A Limit-Authority of [Destruction].
.
.
.