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From the Demon King's point of view, there was only one person who checked all the boxes: Indra!
A classic womanizing mindset who loved descending from the heavens in human form—just his style. He was also the moon rabbit's patron deity, supposedly had a pretty tight relationship with the Demon Star Algol back in the day, and—most importantly—
He was Canaria's teacher in sword fighting. He also wanted to date her later.
So yeah, someone like that being interested in Canaria's community, coming down to the lower realms, and secretly helping [No Name] rise again? Totally tracks.
And if he was Indra, then it made perfect sense that he knew about Ouroboros too.
Being the god of war, rain and thunderstorms also the leader of 12 Devas and not knowing about Little Garden's dark-side organizations? That'd be pathetic.
Thinking all this, the Demon King started giving Ryo a weird look.
Wait... didn't the moon rabbit have Indra's bloodline? And was he this bad? Did he turn into a creep now?
Ryo, of course, noticed the Demon King's strange expression and sudden silence—but he wasn't surprised.
"So I guessed right, huh? Otherwise, why would he be reacting like this?"
The guy clearly knew about Canaria's connection to Sun Wukong. If he heard Arcadia had fallen, checking in would be the obvious move.
And that bit about 'watching me for six months'? Yeah, Ryo had just thrown that number out—but judging by the reaction, he probably nailed it.
Ryo did think about killing him to keep things quiet... but nah.
This guy had a complicated relationship with Wukong, and who knows how the Monkey King would react to his death?
Besides, more importantly, the guy clearly wasn't loyal to Ouroboros—he might even be... useful.
"Never thought I'd be the one setting up a double agent," Ryo chuckled to himself. Then, smiling slyly, he said:
"Interested in working for me?"
"Hell yeah!" the Demon King snapped to attention and replied instantly, "Very, very interested!"
Come on, a shady three-digit deity asks you to work for them? Of course you say yes!
He hadn't fulfilled his own obsession yet—he wasn't planning to die anytime soon.
Ryo narrowed his eyes, studying the guy's reaction.
His emotions were all over the place, and he was way too eager to cooperate. Yep—no doubt he'd misunderstood something.
From the way he acted—half-scared, half-sucking-up—he clearly thought Ryo Yagami was some big shot.
After half a year of spying, the guy probably knew most of what Ryo had been up to. Cross-referencing that with Arcadia and Canaria's connections...
One of Canaria's teachers?
Male? Probably Indra. Could also be Orpheus, but odds were it was Indra—the guy was powerful enough to scare the Demon King like this.
"Interesting," Ryo smirked, his voice laced with amusement as he muttered: "If only everyone were as quick on the uptake as you."
Ouroboros wanted to wreck the lower levels of Little Garden, force the higher-ups into rebuilding the entire system from scratch.
What a damn mess.
Little Garden's infrastructure had taken years to build up, and now these clowns wanted to tear it all down because their boss said so?
That's like... owning a company worth ten billion, holding just a million in shares, and deciding to bankrupt the entire thing out of spite.
Ryo could understand being selfish—but dragging him into this? Nah, that was just insane.
So Ryo had absolutely zero sympathy for Ouroboros.
Hell, he was even starting to feel some hatred toward their rumored backers—the Cross pantheon.
Given the chance, he'd love to let them taste the full force of his Cosmo.
The Demon King paused for a second. 'Was that a jab at Sun Wukong?It had to be.'
Back when Wukong fought the Buddhist gods, Indra definitely clashed once or twice.
No idea what really happened, but knowing his crazy "sister" and her big mouth, she probably cursed Indra out or something.
So if Indra held a grudge and was calling Wukong "clueless," that'd make sense.
A chill ran down the Demon King's spine.
If it weren't for the fact that he and Wukong had a terrible relationship, this so-called heavenly emperor might've blasted him on the spot.
"Old scheming bastard!"
He cursed inwardly.
Indra, that sly immortal, descended into the mortal world just to cozy up to one of his own subordinates. What kind of move was that?
That's literally some Zeus-level behavior from Greek mythology!
And then there was Ryo, slowly revealing his strength, becoming Shiroyasha's subordinate deity—yeah, that was suspicious.
Is this guy... trying to seduce the Lord of White Night?
No way, right?
R-Right...?
...Don't tell me there's something going on between those two.
Smells fishy.
He used to think Sun Wukong helped Shiroyasha to descend and appear in the lower gates, but now? Indra looked like a real possibility.
And Canaria... giving the community's revival hopes to Indra? Were those two always this close?
As these wild thoughts flooded his head, the Demon King's face started twisting in weird ways.
Meanwhile, Ryo—who couldn't read minds—was just standing there, confused as hell, staring at the guy's constantly changing expression.
But now wasn't the time to worry about that.
Ryo casually flicked his fingers. Before the Demon King could react, he planted a tiny trace of Cosmo into his body.
It was a "Flash Blaze" simulation—small-scale, but powerful enough to seriously injure the guy if he tried anything.
Then, Ryo pulled out what looked like a phone and said calmly, "I left a little something on you. From now on, keep in touch through this."
Of course, it wasn't a real phone—it was a simulated Gift that looked like a phone, with limited communication range. Civilian-grade messaging, essentially.
He planted something on me?!
The Demon King tensed up but forced himself not to check his body. Instead, he quietly accepted the phone Ryo tossed over.
Then, with a heavy tone, he asked: "Got it. What do you want me to do next?"
"Just lure Maxwell over. Say one word: Willa. That'll be enough."
"Understood."
He clenched his teeth but nodded, turned, and disappeared into the crowd.
Meanwhile, Ryo turned toward Lily—who had been standing nearby this whole time, completely silent—and said: "Lily…"
"Yes, sir. I didn't hear anything! So Black Rabbit and Lady Leticia won't hear anything from me either!"
The tiny fox girl—barely a meter and a half tall—covered her mouth with both hands, her expression screaming "I saw nothing, I know nothing!"
"You clever little thing!"
Ryo chuckled and rubbed her soft fox ears. Then he said gently, "Alright, head back for now. Leticia and I will handle the bad guys. You stay here and you'll just get hurt."
Lily nodded, quickly packed up her little stall, and scampered away.
As for Ryo? He had zero intention of contacting Leticia.
Instead, he sat back down on the bench and closed his eyes, resting quietly.
He wanted to try something.
What kind of reaction would Demon Lord Maxwell have to Sixth Sense Cosmo?
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