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[Arcadia] used to be one of the strongest communities in Little Garden, but after losing its flag and name, it became [No Name].
As for why the great alliance community, Arcadia, fell—there were many reasons.
The most direct cause was the deadly battle two centuries ago against the three-digit Demon Lord, Azi Dahaka.
In that fight, more than eighty percent of Arcadia's elite forces were wiped out.
Of those who survived—
Their leader, Koumei Kasukabe, lost control of his Gift, overloading it until his humanity completely vanished.
Their chief strategist, Canaria, burned through her very spirit, nearly dying.
The senior officer, Sun Lion of Suraya, was crippled and hung on the edge of life and death for years during treatment.
And countless other officers, both in headquarters and allied communities, were either killed or permanently disabled. What followed was two hundred years of slow recovery.
Even so, Arcadia never truly recovered—after all that time, their strength was less than one percent of what it once was.
Then, just half a year ago, came another disaster: an ambush from an unnamed Demon Lord.
Their remaining powerhouses were exiled into countless observation worlds, all their valuable resources looted—and worst of all, even their flag was stolen.
And without a flag, a community can barely survive.
After the defeat, Leticia, who had been bought by [Perseus], used their influence again and again to track the flag's whereabouts.
She found nothing.
Even Perseus—a powerful upper-tier four-digit community—had mobilized most of its intelligence network and still came up empty.
So Leticia concluded that only the information guild [Thousand Eyes] might be capable of finding any lead.
After regaining her freedom, she even discussed this with Shiroyasha.
But the answer they got was… despairing.
Even Thousand Eyes had no trace of the Arcadia flag. The clues pointed toward the involvement of a two-digit being.
To unravel something like that, they'd need a large portion of Thousand Eyes' intel division working for years.
Hearing that, Leticia had kept silent. She didn't even dare tell Black Rabbit, much less Ryo—she didn't want to crush his growing momentum.
Because such an investigation's price was far beyond anything No Name could pay.
Yet now… things had taken a turn that completely defied Leticia's expectations.
In just half a month, Ryo had somehow gotten intel about Arcadia's lost flag.
One person, matching the entire Thousand Eyes intelligence network?
Should she say Thousand Eyes was useless—or that Ryo's luck was absurdly good?
Feeling a swirl of emotions, Leticia sent Black Rabbit a quick message asking her to come over.
Then she looked at Ryo, her expression complex, took a slow breath, and asked, "Did this information come from the gods' coalition you joined to track down the Last Embryo?"
(The Last Embryo, also known as the Last Trial of humanity.)
At present, that was the only possible source of new intel.
If Ryo had gotten it earlier, he'd have planned around it long ago—so it had to be recent.
"Yes," Ryo answered simply.
Leticia held down her excitement. "And the source—can we trust them?"
Ryo didn't bother with preamble.
"It's from Kalki."
Leticia blinked, realization dawning. "The last Avatar of Vishnu. No wonder Thousand Eyes couldn't find anything."
The Ten Avatars of Vishnu were legendary across the Little Garden. Three of them were suspected two-digit beings themselves.
Anything tied to them had incredibly high anti-divination properties.
In such cases, even an ordinary person, if their spirit rank was entangled with an Avatar's, became nearly impossible to spy on with Gifts.
That was the inevitable effect of brushing up against a two-digit's realm.
"Wait... The last Avatar has awakened, huh…"
Leticia couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
Kalki, the white horse Avatar, the savior of the end—that was what she knew about him.
For such an existence to awaken in this era… it was an omen of something extraordinary.
"For now, we shouldn't rush to reclaim the flag," Leticia said carefully. "We need to investigate first—find out who's really backing Kalki."
Anything tied to him—and thus to a two-digit existence—was dangerous ground. No matter how important the flag was, Leticia couldn't afford recklessness.
No Name simply couldn't afford to lose again.
Ryo understood what she was thinking.
"Kalki will cooperate with us," he said, then added with a faint grin, "And besides, we do have a chance."
"There must be a two-digit behind him," Leticia said, frowning.
If there wasn't, that would be the real anomaly.
But Ryo countered, "Don't forget—in the lower gates of the Little Garden, full three-digit beings aren't allowed to exist. So whoever we're facing, they can't be completely unbeatable."
In the Little Garden, three-digit gods were bound by the Pact of the Divines and forbidden to descend fully, while two-digit beings were restricted by the system's core itself.
In the lower gates, the only ones considered invincible were exceptional four-digits — and even then, while Leticia and Ryo might not win, they could still escape alive.
Ryo's lips curled slightly.
"Besides, we're not exactly without our own two-digit backing."
Leticia's eyes widened. "You mean… Lady Shiroyasha? No—are the twin goddesses actually willing to step in?"
Shiroyasha had sealed her own spirit rank to stay in the lower gates. Even if she supported Ryo, Leticia doubted she'd risk returning above and being imprisoned again.
That meant the only two-digit allies Ryo could possibly be referring to were those two goddesses.
But Ryo shook his head with an amused smile. "No, we won't need to cash in favors from anyone like that."
He leaned back against the window frame, squinting in the light, his voice laced with playful confidence.
"All we need are three letters."
Leticia went quiet for a moment, then asked uncertainly, "Are you sure about this?"
Ryo's grin widened. "Seventy percent chance we get the flag back. One hundred percent chance we stay alive."
The seventy percent was his best estimate of success; the guaranteed survival came from the three letters, the forum, and his other backup plans.
Leticia exhaled a long breath and smiled faintly. "That's just so you."
Then she added, resigned but composed, "You'll need Black Rabbit's power, won't you?"
Ryo nodded. "The Judge Master Authority—the ability to forcibly suspend a Gift Game—is an incredibly valuable weapon."
"I'll explain it to her," Leticia said, already planning ahead. Then she looked back at him. "When do we move?"
"Three days from now," Ryo said without hesitation. "September 25th."
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