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An enormous swarm of pterosaurs filled the sky, blotting out the sun. Thousands upon thousands packed the air so tightly that every possible escape route was sealed.
Seeing this, Vatler immediately understood what the one above was implying. He gave up on fleeing and ordered his familiars to halt in midair.
The lion-headed, eagle-bodied flying beast descended, and the purple-haired woman standing on its back looked down at Vatler with a hint of surprise.
"So it's a kid from the Juranbarada family. Didn't he want nothing to do with this whole affair?"
Vatler's scalp went numb. He quickly lowered his voice and answered, "Your Majesty, the old man only told me to come take a look."
That part was true.
The Lost Warlord had indeed sent him merely to investigate, with explicit instructions to mind his limits.
Back then, Vatler hadn't understood what that meant. Now he did. Turns out the woman in his hands was the shared target of three Primogenitors.
Jumping in blind this time really had been a spectacular lapse in judgment.
"Still as eccentric as ever," Aswad said flatly, his voice carrying that cold, detached weight of the Second Primogenitor—also known as the Fall Gazer.
He let his gaze drift toward Vatler, barely sparing him more than a glance. His tone remained calm, almost indifferent, as if nothing in the world could stir even a flicker of emotion.
"The girl you're holding still has her uses to me. Hand her over."
There was no politeness in his words, nor any concern for the fact that Vatler served under the Lost Warlord and represented his authority.
After all, hadn't Vatler himself said that his lord only sent him to take a look?
If that was the case, then returning empty-handed was perfectly reasonable.
Vatler felt his scalp prickle again. The person under his feet was something he neither dared to give up nor dared to keep.
Among the Warlord's Empire, he was known as a battle-crazed maniac. But in front of a Primogenitor, he didn't dare bare his fangs too much.
Especially now, surrounded by a Primogenitor's familiars. He had zero confidence that he could escape alive.
And yet, handing over Celesta Ciate just like that left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Someone important enough to catch the old man's attention. Fine if he never got his hands on her, but now that he had, only to have the Second Primogenitor snatch her away. Where would that leave the Warlord's dignity?
Besides, Celesta was still in his grasp. The Second Primogenitor would at least hesitate over a mutual-destruction scenario. That gave him room to stall.
If nothing else, he could drag things out until the First Primogenitor arrived. Or failing that, until the Third Primogenitor forced her way into the situation.
Seeing that Vatler still hadn't moved, Aswad frowned slightly, his expression turning cold.
"What? Did you not hear what I said?"
"Your Majesty…" Vatler's face stiffened. He still didn't dare reply.
By now, he was cursing every blood clan that had sold him fake intelligence.
Who the hell said the Second Primogenitor was a soft-tempered shut-in? The killing intent in front of him was barely concealed.
If he didn't hand over Celesta, he really might die here.
"Oh come on. An ancient granny bullying an innocent young man? That's not a good look."
A mocking voice drifted through the air, teasing and sharp. But Aswad didn't even flinch. He knew the ridicule aimed at his appearance. Yes, he looked like a woman, but he was male, and he loved to crossdress. It was nothing new, nothing that could rattle him.
But Vatler was different. His entire face twitched.
He turned to the right and saw a green-haired woman in a white dress, her hair styled into neat buns, standing casually in midair with a bright, playful smile.
The Third Primogenitor, Giada Kukulcan.
After dispatching her Rose Mechanical Corps and failing to capture the target, she'd clearly decided to step in personally once the Second Primogenitor showed up.
Vatler was already regretting why he'd ever waded into this mess.
Now it was a clash of gods, and he was the unlucky bystander bound to suffer.
After appearing, Giada sneered lightly at Aswad. "Old friend, barging into my territory and snatching my spoils? That's not very polite, is it?"
Searching their own territories for rare species and remnants of gods, then offering those lives to Ryo in exchange for a ticket to Little Garden. That was something Giada and Aswad had already agreed upon.
Unfortunately, divine beings were far too hard to track down. In the short term, the only confirmed lead was Celesta Ciate.
That was precisely why the Second Primogenitor had come all the way to the Americas. Even at the cost of offending Giada, he was determined to take Celesta back and present her to Ryo in exchange for a better ticket.
"Giada…" Aswad narrowed his crimson eyes slightly, his tone noticeably softer than when he spoke to Vatler.
"This time, I'm in the wrong. But this little girl, let me have her. You're guaranteed a ticket with Ryo. But I have nothing to fall back on."
Ryo had promised Giada a chance to enter Little Garden. Aswad, however, was different.
He hadn't crossed paths with Ryo through battle, nor had he received any formal invitation.
The odds of convincing Ryo to take him along looked painfully slim.
If he let Celesta slip away now, he might never get another chance.
When it came to matters involving gods, Celesta was unique. The only priestess currently capable of summoning a deity.
An opportunity to reach Little Garden without owing an overwhelming debt was rare beyond words.
Naturally, the sooner he secured it, the better.
"Well now, playing the pity card? I don't recall you being this proactive usually," Giada laughed, her earlier hostility fading.
"Fine. Seeing you back down for once is kind of amusing."
The three Primogenitors were peers, but that didn't mean their relationship was all harmony and no conflict.
If she could make an old friend lose face once, Giada was more than happy to watch.
Besides, once they reached Little Garden, unfamiliar territory and all, having an old acquaintance from the same homeland around wouldn't hurt.
With that thought, Giada smiled. "I'll let you have the girl. You owe me a favor."
"In that case," Aswad smiled, "why not go all the way and help me make introductions with that Arcadia leader?"
Even joining a normal corporation required interviews and connections. Joining Arcadia, a major organization in Little Garden, was on a completely different level.
Even if Ryo's basic intel said Arcadia had fallen from its former glory, the two of them were ancient beings.
A fallen giant was still a giant. Completely different from a rootless, drifting force.
Even at its lowest point, Arcadia still had the moon rabbit standing as its symbol.
Frankly speaking, Kurousagi alone could sweep through the entire Strike the Blood world and smash it into the abyss.
A foundation that deep, with no senior parasites leeching off it and with an absurdly powerful background. Saying they weren't tempted would be a lie.
Compared to that, Aswad felt the real challenge was figuring out how to join Arcadia.
That was why he wanted to borrow Giada's sliver of goodwill. If he could get in through Ryo and secure a solid backer in Little Garden, all the better.
Giada frowned, understanding perfectly what her old friend was angling for.
"You really are shameless," she muttered, then sighed.
"Fine, fine. I'll introduce you to Ryo once."
"That would be excellent," Aswad said, letting out a slow breath.
With Giada's agreement, things weren't guaranteed, but the odds had gone up by several points.
Of course, the most important gift for that meeting, the priestess of Zazalamagiu, still had to be firmly in hand.
With that thought, Aswad cast a lingering glance at Vatler.
At the same time, Giada turned her head slightly as well.
Dimitrie Vatler was experiencing, for the first time, what it felt like to be stared down by Primogenitors.
And judging by their conversation, the girl he was holding was actually someone the Fourth Primogenitor wanted.
The Second and Third Primogenitors had personally come here just to curry favor with that one.
And he, Dimitrie Vatler, had just tried to snatch prey from the hands of three Primogenitors.
What the hell was he thinking? Was he tired of living?
He cursed himself viciously, but faced with two clearly allied Primogenitors, even his lord would probably be at a loss.
"Your Majesties, on behalf of the Warlord's Empire, I withdraw from this competition."
Left with no other choice, Vatler said it. He really didn't want to die here.
"Shall we deal with him?" Giada asked lightly, smiling.
After all, the Second Primogenitor capturing a priestess just to flatter the Fourth didn't sound very nice.
Primogenitors lived long lives and weren't particularly concerned with saving face, but who knew if Ryo cared? What if he didn't like subordinates with no sense of shame?
"At least I was once acquainted with Ki Juranbarada," Aswad sighed softly.
Hearing that, a flicker of hope crossed Vatler's face.
Then the next sentence froze him in place.
"Give him a dignified end."
'Fuck—' Vatler cursed in his heart as flames and flying beasts swallowed him whole.
.
.
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