Though Heracles also believed Kalki shouldn't have been born in this era, attacking a child still went against his principles.
"Hmph, since when do Greek heroes meddle in others' affairs?" Thor snorted, pulling back his hammer and glancing toward where Aslan and his two companions were hiding.
"And you lot, Ouroboros lackeys, what's the point of hiding? Come out! Let's fight openly!"
With Thor's shout, thousands of lightning bolts struck at Merlin. As shadowy flowers bloomed, the roaring thunder dissipated into nothing. However, in exchange for blocking the thunder, Merlin's form was revealed.
"Huh? The Queen's knight? Why are you here?"
Seeing Merlin, even Thor was shocked. "What? Is the Queen meddling too?"
"Hehe." Merlin smiled sheepishly, sticking out her tongue. She hadn't expected to end up being the decoy and getting discovered first. She was quite confident in her illusions, but now that confidence might crumble.
Seeing it was Merlin, Thor abandoned his intent to go all-out against Ouroboros. Though he was determined to fight Ouroboros to the death, he wouldn't trouble a spy. After all, it wasn't worth offending the Halloween Queen.
The Norse Pantheon had already suffered greatly, and it was hard to say how many of them were still alive. While Thor wasn't afraid of death, whether it was worth it was another matter.
"I'm here to pick someone up." Merlin said, winking toward Kalki's location, openly stating her mission without hiding anything.
However, Thor and Heracles grew confused. They weren't sure if this was a mission from the Halloween Queen or Ouroboros.
If it was from the Halloween Queen, stepping back wouldn't be an issue, as they didn't dare offend her.
If it was from Ouroboros, it meant the Halloween Queen wasn't involved, and they could act more freely.
After all, avoiding offending the Halloween Queen was far more important than any mission from their superiors.
While Merlin distracted Heracles and Thor, Aslan and Aishelia moved stealthily. Hades' invisibility helm was a gift that even Algol, a Three-Digit, couldn't detect. Heracles and Thor naturally didn't notice Aishelia's presence.
And Aslan? The entire space was filled with his presence, but these viruses were in a dormant state, making him equivalent to air—undetectable. They might sense something off, but ultimately, they couldn't pinpoint his location.
Then, unnoticed, Aslan lifted Kalki with one hand and knocked Jester unconscious with the other, sealing him into a Magic Card.
Aishelia quietly placed an invisibility helm on Rin. Of course, this wasn't the original but a mass-produced version made by Perseus later. Its effects were inferior to Aishelia's.
"Save Rin first…" Kalki seemed to sense someone trying to save him and instinctively wanted to speak. Aslan quickly covered his mouth, pointing to Rin, who had already vanished, indicating she was safe.
"Shh."
Kalki nodded weakly, finally closing his eyes calmly. He didn't care about his own life, but he didn't want his older sister harmed because of him.
"Tch, that was a heavy hit."
Aslan grumbled slightly, then prepared to leave with the pitiful white-haired boy who was born just days ago.
"By the way, friend over there, isn't it time you stopped your tricks?"
A hoarse voice came from behind. Hearing it, Aslan didn't stop; instead, he moved faster. "Right, I knew it. Ahriman can hide herself, but taking someone else and escaping? Still not quite there."
"Mjölnir!"
Thor threw the hammer in his hand, which was only the size of two fists. In an instant, it transformed into a massive hammer three or four people tall, charging at Aslan with tremendous force and endless lightning.
"Kalki, you ready? Something big's coming!"
"Three, two, one!"
As Aslan counted down to the final number, a laser beam of infinite heat shot from beneath the fortress, as if it could destroy the entire world, grazing past his back.
*BANG!*
The beam instantly obliterated Mjölnir, Thor the Thunder God's prized artifact, leaving no trace behind.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
A few minutes earlier, at the top of the fortress where Arcadia's flag was planted.
"By the way, it's been so long—why no word from Indra? Did something happen to him?"
"And is this flag really tied to the seal? I don't think Canaria would've left such a huge gap."
Aslan asked Kenshin curiously. Uesugi paused, shaking his head.
"I'm not sure either. Two hundred years ago, I was gravely injured fighting Azi Dahaka and reincarnated. I only just returned. Only Indra knows how Canaria sealed it."
Hearing this, Aslan frowned, glancing at Kenshin, then at Karyou, and fell silent for a moment. He looked at the flag, sighing.
"I'm just worried Indra's fallen into a trap. He went to check the seal and might've helped Ouroboros open it instead."
Seeing Kalki and Maxwell, Aslan increasingly felt that Ouroboros wanted to release Absolute Evil and let Kalki defeat it to gain achievements. At the same time, they'd prove to all of Little Garden that they truly didn't intend to destroy it. They'd generously offer the achievement of defeating Absolute Evil to Little Garden's gods.
This way, Ouroboros could clear their name and pursue other goals.
The savior issue? Just a minor detail.
All the gods would be busy fighting over the achievement of defeating Absolute Evil. Who'd care about Ouroboros's secret plans?
After all, Kalki's ten different worldviews were the perfect excuse for the corresponding Pantheons to vie for the right to distribute the achievement.
"It shouldn't be…" Kenshin was at a loss for words. He recalled the straw hat he saw last night. Krishna had already made a move—how could this be simple?
Still, out of caution, Kenshin contacted Indra through a Gift connection to warn him.
"Indra, be careful. Don't fall into Ouroboros's trap…"
"Damn it, I'm already trapped!"
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
In the fortress's dungeon, Indra stared at Azi Dahaka, Absolute Evil, who opened its three dragon heads, preparing to unleash the Halo of the Supreme Ruler that could destroy a third of the world.
He wanted to cry.
Indra said in despair, "Why didn't you warn me earlier? The seal's really been broken now!"
Then, with one hand, Indra forcefully redirected Azi Dahaka's three dragon heads to prevent the Halo of the Supreme Ruler from hitting him.
Though he could withstand one such gift's attack, he'd still be severely injured. Don't ask why—it'd make him look like he'd already lost.
Thankfully, Azi Dahaka was still heavily injured; otherwise, his Four-Digit Spirit Status might not have been enough.
But he couldn't attack either—what if he accidentally sent Azi Dahaka into revival? There was no Arcadia to fight to the death anymore.
Now, all it took was a modern human hero with a Perpetual Motion Machine Spirit Status and human Spirit Status to kill Azi Dahaka to fully overcome the Absolute Evil trial. This hero only needed to be above the elite Four-Digit level.
The only problem was… there weren't many modern human heroes in all of Little Garden at the elite Four-Digit level, let alone those with a Perpetual Motion Machine Spirit Status.
Otherwise, Azi Dahaka wouldn't have been sealed for so long without being dealt with.
The claim that Kasukabe Koumei gained Divinity was just a pretext to deceive the public. Humans gaining Divinity didn't affect their human Spirit Status; they merely became Divinity holders. And if it did affect them, they could relinquish the Divinity, which wasn't difficult.
Even naturally born gods could descend to earth as humans.
The only true way to become a god was to gain human belief throughout history, not by acquiring Divinity.
That's why Canaria chose to stop at the most critical moment, and even Koumei's Divinity was arranged by Canaria. Koumei didn't have a Perpetual Motion Machine Spirit Status.
If Koumei had killed Azi Dahaka back then, the damage caused by a fully revived Azi Dahaka would've been far greater and more desperate. It was better to seal him while he was weak, lowering the difficulty for the next human hero with a Perpetual Motion Machine Spirit Status to defeat him.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
"Go for it! Indra, I believe you've got this. You're the head of the Heavenly Forces!"
Kenshin sent his encouragement to Indra, then closed the Gift connection, tossed his hair, and looked at Aslan.
"It's settled now. Take the flag. The rest is up to Indra."
After all, he had just reincarnated, so a big issue like Absolute Evil wouldn't be his burden. Besides, this was all Indra's fault.
"Alright." Aslan twitched the corner of his mouth. He took the flag and silently mourned for Indra.
"Indra, let's storm Absolute Evil one more time!"