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Break into the Greek camp and capture Eunomia alive!?
Ryo fell silent for a moment after hearing that, then said, "Are you sure I'm the one who isn't normal?"
He honestly felt like Leticia Draculea was even more extreme than he was.
"Wasn't it you who said we needed to make this a big scene?" Leticia replied with a smile.
"I'd like to hear the reasoning behind that." Ryo rubbed at his temples and walked over to lean against the wall.
He had to admit, Leticia's proposal had genuinely thrown him off.
'I only wanted to break a window, and you're trying to tear the roof off.'
'If this was your way of telling me to stop, you could've just said so.'
That was what he muttered to himself.
"Didn't you already give me the reason?" Leticia sat on the wooden bed, smiling at him. "The 'narcissistic one' is about to return to Little Garden, isn't she?"
In Little Garden, even among the upper layers, Algol's infamy was enough to make anyone uneasy.
Otherwise, there never would have been that absurd incident where, after merely breaking her seal and refusing to sign the Godslayer agreement, multiple pantheons had secretly joined forces to drive her out.
And yet… it had happened basically yesterday.
The gods had only just managed to breathe a sigh of relief, probably hadn't even had time to throw a victory banquet yet, and now she was already on her way back.
That was less of a comeback and more of a slap in the face.
Seeing Leticia smile, Ryo couldn't help laughing too. "Alright, I admit it. There's definitely some messing with people involved. But honestly, I didn't expect things to go this smoothly."
The buddha faction had even paid the price of a Limit-Authority just to get Ryo to "sell out" Algol. And all that bought them… was one day.
One single day of Algol leaving Little Garden.
If Ryo were one of their higher-ups, he'd probably want to kill somebody too.
Hearing him casually admit he and Algol had played the gods like fools, Leticia sucked in a breath.
The amount of information hidden in that one sentence was terrifying.
She was starting to suspect that Ryo and Algol weren't even bothering to hide their alliance anymore.
After a moment, she called out softly, "Ryo."
He blinked in surprise.
Ever since acknowledging him as her leader, Leticia had rarely called him by name.
"What?"
Her expression was serious. "Are you really certain you want to put all your chips on that Demon Star?"
She stared at him. "The Ryo Yagami I know isn't the kind of person who gambles everything on a whim."
"Leticia, you can just call me two-faced. No need to spare my feelings." Ryo sounded almost helpless.
He knew perfectly well how shameless he looked, bouncing between factions, squeezing out benefits, and tricking gods left and right.
Being cursed for it was only natural.
But he didn't care about his reputation. Didn't care how the gods judged him. To him, surviving and growing stronger was already lucky enough.
If you hadn't even solved the problem of staying alive, what right did you have to talk about living elegantly?
"…"
Leticia stayed silent, her face stiff.
Clearly, she hadn't heard a word of that. She wanted a clear answer, she wasn't gonna gamble the safety of Arcadia
And Ryo knew how stubborn she was. One sentence wasn't going to change her mind.
And honestly, he understood why she was wary of his partnership with Algol. Unlike him, Leticia had lived through Little Garden's Dawn Age.
Back then, Algol had still been one of the Three Great Problem Children of Little Garden, a monster who had fought the Buddha for the path to second-digit, and was infamous for her volatile, terrifying nature.
With that history, it made perfect sense for Leticia to be alarmed by Ryo going all-in on her.
Thinking that, Ryo sighed, "I'd love to tell you Algol has changed…"
"Changed?" Leticia blinked.
That kind of ancient monster, stubborn enough to survive countless ages, changing her ways? Had Ryo been deceived?
"Anyway, my relationship with her is complicated. There are reasons I've chosen to stand completely on her side." He paused, his voice lowering. "It won't be long now before Little Garden gains... another Queen."
"A Queen?" Leticia shot to her feet, horrified. "You mean… her? That's impossible."
She collapsed back onto the bed, dazed.
"By the World Dragon…" Her voice trembled. "That crazy woman actually reached that final step."
And just like that, everything made sense.
A three-digit rule-breaker being.
A monster among monsters.
One of the absolute strongest in Little Garden.
At that level, what did personality matter?
If word got out, even some three-digits would be tempted to swear loyalty.
As absurd as it sounded, Leticia couldn't help but think: Ryo had probably helped her achieve it. At the very least, he'd played a part.
"So in the end…" Leticia muttered blankly. "It's not that we've chosen to stand behind the Demon Star. It's that she's joined us?"
"You're overthinking it." Ryo immediately crushed that fantasy. "With her personality, there's no way she'd openly admit to joining Arcadia."
With Algol's pride, joining a community that wasn't even four-digit? Impossible.
If she wanted power, she'd be the boss herself.
And honestly, that was for the best. With her personality, if she wasn't the boss, she'd probably drive whoever was into an early grave.
"Even so…" Leticia murmured, still half in disbelief. "I never thought I'd live to see someone like her tied to Arcadia. If Canaria knew, she'd probably be laughing herself to death."
As she said it, she wore the same silly grin Kurousagi always made.
Ryo slapped his forehead.
She's gone stupid.
His once-elegant vampire was nowhere to be seen.
"Enough daydreaming." He cut her off. "The priority right now is keeping the gods from connecting us to Algol. We need to make enough noise that their attention goes somewhere else."
That was the key.
Ryo absolutely could not let anyone trace Algol's level-up back to him.
If the gods figured out he'd helped create a three-digit rule-breaker, not even having powerful protectors would buy him peace.
"That's true." Leticia slapped her own cheeks lightly, forcing herself back to reality. A three-digit rule-breaker returning to Little Garden, especially someone like Algol, would cause chaos no matter what.
To avoid being dragged into that storm during the most dangerous phase, Arcadia needed to create its own massive incident first.
And it had to happen before Algol returned. Only then could they redirect everyone's attention.
"So," Ryo asked, "got any ideas?"
Leticia looked at him seriously, "Break into the Greek camp."
Her eyes sharpened. "Capture Eunomia alive."
Ryo stared at her, the corner of his mouth twitching. "Why are we back to this again?"
"No." Leticia shook her head. "Before, I said it to stop you from making trouble."
She lifted her gaze, her tone turning grave. "But this time… I mean it."
She continued, "If someone universally recognized as a four-digit rule-breaker like you violates the Divine War rules and captures Zeus's daughter alive, it'll be enough to pull the gods' focus onto us. And once that Demon Star returns, it'll also send a message about where we stand."
Ryo frowned. "Breaking Divine War rules means the Heavenly Army will come down on us at full force."
At that, Leticia smiled. "If I remember correctly… your Spirit Rank hasn't actually reached rule-breaker level yet, has it?"
Ryo froze.
Then it clicked.
"A loophole."
Divine War rules forbade four-digit rule-breaker beings from interfering. But Ryo's Spirit Rank was technically still below that threshold.
That was the loophole.
"So?" Leticia asked. "Do we do it?"
A grin spread across Ryo's face, "Of course."
.
.
.