— — — — — —
"A-Asura…"
Hearing that name, Jack's mind went blank for a moment. He didn't react at all.
Asura smiled, dimples appearing on her cheeks.
She tilted her head slightly and asked Jack in a cheerful tone, "You know Arcadia's leader, right? Or at least, you're connected to someone from Arcadia."
Asura… the current Asura Queen.
If Jack's pumpkin head could sweat, he'd be drenched by now.
The community Jack belonged to, Will-O-Wisp, operated covertly under Queen Halloween, which gave them access to certain classified intelligence. Among it was information about the Asura tribe.
During the Seven-Day War, the Asuras were nearly destroyed by Sun Wukong. Their power collapsed, and the royal main line was forced to step aside, handing authority to a mixed-blood member from a branch family.
That hybrid had once been personally evaluated by the Queen after a certain incident.
The exact words were known only to her closest retainers, but afterward, a single line was added to the Asura Queen's file: {Suspected to possess four-digit-level freak combat power.}
Running into a near-invincible monster at what was basically a five-digit gathering… Jack's expression twisted, but he still answered respectfully.
"I never imagined the current Asura herself would be here…"
"You're so annoying," Asura said flatly, her face full of disdain. "Just answer whether you know them or not."
Jack froze.
Not just his expression. His body locked up completely.
Asura's presence had him firmly pinned in place.
At that moment, Willa suddenly spoke up. "Do you want me to help?"
"Yes!"
Asura nodded immediately, then looked at Willa with curiosity. "You're the rising newcomer from the North Area, right? The woman they call the Will-O-Wisp Demon."
Willa tilted her head, studying Asura for a second or two. Then a white cross-shaped baton appeared in her hand.
She casually tossed it, smacking Asura on the arm.
"..."
The air froze.
"Willa!" Ayesha nearly burst into tears when she realized who Asura was. "At a time like this, can you please not let that bad habit of yours kick in?!"
Among people who knew her, Willa had a strange quirk.
Whenever she got interested in someone, she'd throw a cross-shaped blunt object at them and quietly observe their reaction.
Clearly, Willa was very interested in Asura right now. But Willa, please read the room!
Is this really the time for that?
After a few seconds of silence, Asura asked in mild surprise, "I thought you pulled out that toy to do something dramatic. You just wanted to hit me with it?"
"What a shame. Nothing interesting happened," Willa said, looking genuinely disappointed.
"Well, it is just a six-digit trinket," Asura replied seriously. "If you really wanted to hurt me, you'd need to throw a planet or something."
She sounded completely sincere while explaining her damage threshold.
Willa's eyes lit up, then she sighed regretfully. "I can't lift a planet."
"If you join a few higher-level Gift Games, you'll get there soon enough," Asura encouraged her with the same seriousness.
…This seems oddly normal?
Ayesha watched Asura casually chatting with Willa, her expression complicated.
Anyone who could keep up with Willa's logic had to be a problem child too, right?
Asura then smiled and returned to the main topic. "So, can you contact Arcadia's leader?"
Willa shook her head lightly. "No."
'Willa, there is no way she's going to believe that,' Ayesha thought in despair.
Asura rubbed her head, looking troubled. "Then do you have an invitation from Arcadia?"
"No," Willa replied, then tilted her head again. "Do you want to see Ryry-chan?"
"Yeah… in a way."
Asura turned to look at Black Rabbit in the center of the venue and scratched her head. "Taking something without asking isn't really my style."
'Black Rabbit is the target. No, more likely Indra himself.' Jack's thoughts raced despite being immobilized.
With what he knew about the Asura family's feud with Indra, and Black Rabbit's identity, the conclusion was obvious.
Asura probably intended to abduct Black Rabbit to force Indra to show himself. Arcadia was just collateral damage.
But was the current Asura really planning to negotiate politely with Arcadia about taking Black Rabbit away?
That was absurdly arrogant.
"This is troublesome…"
Asura said that as she turned to look at a tall woman with honey-colored hair nearby.
"If Will-O-Wisp can't be relied on, what about you? You're an Arcadia member, right?"
Ayesha followed her gaze and felt her head buzz.
It was the honey-haired woman who'd been following Ryo earlier. An Arcadia member had been right there the whole time?
"..."
Lancelot, radiating battle intent yet smiling brightly, looked at Asura with clear delight. "That madness of yours. You're a war god too, aren't you?"
"Hm? One of my kind?"
Asura paused, then examined Lancelot more closely, surprise creeping onto her face.
"That divinity… Lancelot under the Queen? No, wait…"
She looked Lancelot up and down, curiosity deepening.
"You're definitely a woman, and you carry Mother Earth divinity too. Interesting. Your spirit rank is strange. Seems Arcadia isn't as weak as I thought."
"Do you want to fight here?" Lancelot asked with a smile.
"Please don't," Asura sighed and hopped off the sofa.
"Both the Greek goddess of wisdom and your leader have already noticed me. I don't want to push things past the point of reconciliation."
She smiled faintly at Lancelot. "Still, having you here makes things much easier for me."
Lancelot frowned slightly, surprised. "You want me to take you to see Ryo?"
"Why not?" Asura replied lightly.
She then turned to Willa. "What about you? Want to come along?"
"Willa…" Ayesha shot her frantic looks.
This woman was clearly hostile to Arcadia. Getting involved in a direct confrontation with Ryo was way above their tiny community's pay grade.
Small temples attract strong winds. Keep your head down!
"Sure," Willa replied cheerfully, then tilted her head at Ayesha. "Ayesha, what's wrong with your eyes? Get sand in them?"
"I…" Ayesha's mouth twitched. She couldn't get a single word out.
"Interesting," Lancelot said with a smile, turning her back to them. "If you've got the nerve, follow me."
Asura smiled and immediately did so.
"Willa… please don't…" Ayesha stared blankly at Willa's retreating figure.
Jack, finally freed from the pressure, let out a sigh. He looked at Asura with lingering fear and patted Ayesha on the shoulder.
"At this point, we don't have a choice. We're going too."
'Let's hope Lord Yagami can keep Asura in check,' Jack thought grimly.
.
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