— — — — — —
Mandora stared at the woman in front of him, barely tall enough to reach his chest, her brilliant golden hair shining brightly. And his mind went completely blank.
Beside him, Sandora lit up with joy and rushed forward.
"Leticia-Onee-san!"
"Oh, Sandora-chan."
Leticia wrapped an arm around her, smiling as she raised a hand and gently rubbed Sandora's head.
As one of Arcadia's veteran executives, she naturally knew Salamandra's heir candidate, and the two even had a decent relationship.
Standing next to Leticia, Black Rabbit said happily, "Miss Sandora, Mr. Mandora, I didn't expect you two would come."
"And these are…" the Divine Ancestor Sita said with interest, studying Sandora.
She could feel an intense spiritual presence coming from the girl. Dragon spirituality.
"They're companions from our allied community, Salamandra."
'Companions, my ass…'
Mandora desperately wanted to say that, but he didn't have the guts.
Declaring rebellion in front of Leticia Draculea herself was stupidity of the highest order.
Leticia, known as the Knight of Little Garden, was not a forgiving soul.
This was someone who absolutely despised traitors.
And even setting her aside, Black Rabbit alone, plus Sita beside her with that faintly comforting yet unsettling presence, made Mandora extremely uneasy.
Not to mention, over there, the cloaked Valkyrie, Lancelot.
The danger radiating from her was enough to drive him mad.
A... A Dragon Slayer?
Without a doubt, a wielder of a dragon-slaying, dragon-specialized Gift. At least a five-digit powerhouse. An absolute natural enemy to a demi-dragon like him.
Since when did Arcadia recover to this level… Mandora thought uneasily.
While he was still reeling, Black Rabbit cheerfully introduced them to the others.
"This is Mandora Doltrake, a very capable Gift Game host. And this is Sandora, Salamandra's princess."
After the brief introduction, she couldn't help reaching out and pinching Sandora's cheek.
"By the way, were you standing here waiting for us?"
"It was Mandora-nee who brought me to the entrance to wait for you!" Sandora replied in a very childlike tone.
She had no idea that Salamandra had broken the alliance. She only remembered Mandora deliberately bringing her to the entrance and mistakenly thought he did it to welcome Black Rabbit and the others.
'I didn't. I'm not. Stop making things up…'
Mandora instinctively protested internally, then paused.
Actually… this misunderstanding wasn't so bad, was it?
His inner monologue instantly changed to: 'Sandora, well done!'
"Eh? That's too much trouble."
Black Rabbit froze for a moment, then pinched Sandora's cheek in mock annoyance.
"Next time, just come straight to headquarters. You don't need to wait around the banquet hall, okay?"
"Okay!" Sandora answered innocently.
At that moment, Leticia suddenly asked, "By the way, where's Sala? She didn't come?"
Mandora's expression stiffened. He said nothing.
Internal power struggles weren't exactly something to air in public.
"I see…" Leticia didn't press further. She simply looked at Mandora. "You're here to see Ryo, right?"
After an allied leader change, meeting up to discuss the next phase of the alliance was perfectly normal. Leticia wasn't surprised by his visit.
"…Yes," Mandora answered after a moment of silence, clenching his teeth.
At this point, running away wasn't an option anymore.
Although it was strange that Black Rabbit seemed unaware of Salamandra breaking the alliance, Mandora could only grit his teeth and acknowledge the alliance anyway.
There was no choice.
Leticia Draculea had been a Demon Lord infamous for slaughtering traitors back in the Dawn Era.
Mandora wasn't about to test her patience, much less declare to her face that the alliance had already been scrapped.
That would be suicide, and not the clever kind.
Hearing this, Black Rabbit complained bitterly from the side, "You came at the worst time. Ryo ran off early this morning saying he was picking up an honored guest, and now he's nowhere to be found. That guy, doesn't he know how important today's banquet is?"
'He probably thinks it's not important at all, considering Arcadia's new leader killed Hermes' avatar last night… But wait, Black Rabbit doesn't know about that either?'
Mandora was getting seriously confused.
Salamandra breaking off the alliance, Ryo killing Hermes' avatar last night. Two huge events, and Black Rabbit knew neither?
Weren't the rumors saying Arcadia's remnants were barely being held together by Black Rabbit?
Why did that feel… wrong?
Instead of the pillar supporting the community, she felt more like a mascot. Was that just his imagination?
Just then, a man's voice sounded from behind them. "Talking behind my back isn't very nice."
Black Rabbit's ears twitched. She turned around awkwardly.
Behind them stood Ryo, dressed neatly, looking at her with a teasing smile.
"When did I…" she protested, blushing, then froze and looked at the figure beside him.
'So this is Arcadia's new leader…'
Mandora also turned to look.
The young man with black hair and black eyes made Mandora's gaze sharpen instinctively.
Strong. Deeply strong. Impossible to read. And this was after he'd restrained his aura. A genuine four-digit.
Mandora felt a trace of envy.
Both their communities had been devastated two hundred years ago in the aftermath of the Evil Dragon Subjugation War.
Salamandra had fallen from four digits to five.
Arcadia had been erased entirely, only to rise again.
Logically, Salamandra should have been in far better shape than Arcadia.
And yet…
Look at this lineup.
A four-digit leader. The Moon Rabbit of Little Garden. A top-tier executive still at peak strength: Leticia Draculea.
Add in Lancelot and Sita, whose true strength couldn't even be gauged but were at least five-digit.
That didn't even count Arcadia's god-made weapons maintaining order, or the members still stationed at headquarters.
They might not be at their peak anymore, but this was easily the standard strength of a mid-tier four-digit community.
Now compare that to Salamandra, barely hanging on with just two five-digit members…
How did the gap between communities get this huge?
Mandora felt his worldview crumbling.
At that moment, Black Rabbit, having been caught red-handed, hurriedly changed the subject. "By the way, Ryo, weren't you going to pick someone up? Where are they?"
"Obviously, I got stood up," Ryo said, shrugging helplessly.
"I don't like the sound of that."
A woman's voice rang out, amused.
Suddenly, a figure appeared beside Ryo.
She had golden hair and blue eyes, an olive wreath resting on her head. She wore a Greek-style white robe that bared her shoulders, elegant and intelligent in demeanor.
The moment Mandora saw her, his expression froze solid.
After a long pause, he forced a name out of his throat.
"Pallas Athena!"
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