— — — — — —
After working out the remaining details, Indra slipped away as stealthily as a thief.
But before heading out, he pulled his sunglasses, baseball cap, and face mask back on, completing his half-hearted disguise.
It looked suspicious as hell.
"Hm...?"
The moment Indra stepped outside, Ryo completely lost track of his presence. It was as if the man had vanished from existence.
"So the disguise really was just for his own entertainment... I'll have to try that someday."
Keeping a straight face, Ryo turned his attention to the tea table.
A map lay there.
It was Indra's parting favor.
The map detailed Outer Gate 7752 and the rough distribution of its major factions.
Judging by the Heavenly Army insignia stamped in one corner, it had clearly come from their intelligence division.
"He certainly knows how to return a favor." Ryo smiled wryly. "Meanwhile, I'm always the one taking advantage of him."
He folded the map away before turning toward Algol, who was sitting nearby with a thoughtful expression. "Well? Notice anything?"
Algol closed her eyes and slowly took a deep breath, "That guy... He's something else."
Ryo blinked. "How so? Is there something wrong with Indra?"
"I'm not sure yet." She shook her head uncertainly before continuing, "But... just now, Indra felt almost exactly the way I did after I came back from DxD world."
That made Ryo sit bolt upright. "Hey, don't joke about something like that."
After coming back from DxD, what state had Algol been in? She'd had one foot across the threshold of becoming a Rule-Breaker.
If Indra was in the same state... then what was even the point of the Godslayer War?
The moment he entered the competition, he'd practically have already won.
'...But wait. If he really were that strong, would he still act this cautiously?'
'...No, maybe that's exactly why he's so cautious.'
Ryo frowned, "How confident are you?"
"Less than thirty percent." Algol tilted her head. "But one thing's certain. He sensed I was here. With perception that sharp, he's either very close to the Two-Digit realm or can become a rule-breaker like me. He just hasn't taken that final step yet."
She couldn't help laughing, "That old bastard. I always wondered how someone with his personality managed to stay Commander of the Heavenly Army for so many years without getting himself killed. So he'd been hiding this all along."
Her laughter carried a trace of self-mockery.
She was laughing both at her former self for never seeing through him... and at Indra for being absurdly cautious.
If she'd possessed his level of restraint back then, perhaps the Lord of Buddhism wouldn't have ended up being that endlessly compassionate monk.
Ryo sighed. "Anyone who's survived since before Little Garden was even created is bound to have a few hidden cards."
He'd long suspected Indra had been concealing his true strength. He just hadn't expected him to be hiding this much.
A Three-Digit standing infinitely close to becoming a Two-Digit...
Indra really knew how to keep a low profile.
Then again... thinking back, the battle against Azi Dahaka had already been a huge clue.
Indra had led the entire Heavenly Army away alive. That alone spoke volumes.
True, Indra possessed Zoroastrianism's Cosmology as part of his Spirit Rank, making him immune to Azi Dahaka's Another Cosmology.
But the Heavenly Army wasn't.
So even though Azi Dahaka's Avesta had no effect on Indra, it still worked on everyone else.
According to information Shiroyasha had once shared with Ryo... Back then, Indra had fought an Azi Dahaka empowered by the strength of the Eleven Dharma Protectors and the Twelve Devas.
He'd actually managed to kill Azi Dahaka once.
Unfortunately, he hadn't realized Azi Dahaka was a canonical Last Embryo.
Caught completely off guard by his conceptual immortality, he'd been wounded and forced to retreat.
But even so... Indra had still managed to get every single member of the Heavenly Army out safely.
Before today, Ryo had assumed Indra had only accomplished that by relying heavily on his Another Cosmology described in the official reports.
Now... it seemed that had simply been his own strength all along.
"...I honestly can't figure out what he's after." Algol said, her tone tinged with puzzlement. "I doubt he only reached this level recently. He's probably been standing on the threshold for at least five thousand years."
"With strength like that... and when the last opportunity to become a Two-Digit appeared, why didn't he compete for it?"
"Maybe he has plans of his own." Ryo shook his head before asking, "Do you think Indra will make a move during the Godslayer War?"
Just as Indra had suspected Algol's auction was really a scheme to seize the vacant Two-Digit position... Ryo had begun suspecting Indra for the exact same reason.
He hadn't thought much of it before.
But now that he knew how close Indra actually was... the timing seemed suspicious.
Algol had clearly arrived at the same conclusion.
Still, she shook her head. "He won't. Plus, the Heavenly Army serves as one of the referees."
She looked at Ryo. "Have you ever seen a referee win the championship?"
"...Forget it." Ryo finally let out a sigh of relief. "People whose motives you can't figure out are the biggest pain."
Since he couldn't guess what Indra wanted, he decided not to waste any more brainpower on it.
If Indra was content staying at the Three-Digit level despite standing on the verge of becoming a Two-Digit... What did that have to do with him?
"These old monsters..." He picked the map back up while muttering to himself. "Why is every single one of them so absurdly good at lying low?"
Even someone as strong as Indra was hiding his strength.
Ryo had to admit it. Little Garden might genuinely be a world ruled by masters of playing it safe.
Athena was like that.
Zeus was like that.
Indra too.
Come to think of it, there really weren't many reckless people around.
And the two most reckless of them all... Algol and Shiroyasha.
Well... they only survived because Star Spirits were practically impossible to kill. Anyone else would have died ages ago.
From beside him came an indignant snort, "Don't badmouth me when you're sitting this close."
Algol glared at him. "With my current senses, it's basically the same as saying it directly to my face."
"I can't control that kind of perception yet. My sincerest apologies." Ryo's response was so perfunctory it barely counted.
He unfolded the map again, this time focusing on the faction notes printed in the margin. "Outer Gate 7752... one of Ouroboros's strongholds."
"The leader is suspected to be Lakshmi... Vishnu's wife, huh..." He clicked his tongue. "One of the items I'm putting up for auction... is also a Vishnu."
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