After they finished speaking, even Lucius sensed that something was amiss.
The three of them looked at Indra at the same time, and no one spoke.
"...Why are you all looking at me like that? Is there something wrong with me?"
Unable to bear the strange, silent atmosphere, Indra raised his arm and sniffed, his expression a little puzzled.
"I wasn't out carousing before I came here!"
"Who's looking at you!" Canary rolled her eyes speechlessly.
To Lucius and all existences below the Three-Digits, Indra was an incredibly majestic thunder god, the leader of the Heavenly Army, equivalent to the head of the law enforcement system, and was greatly feared. But to her, this useless god was difficult to respect, and could only be considered as unrecyclable trash, just like that pervert, the God of Death, Croa.
In addition, Indra's relationship with the people of Arcadia was extremely good, so her attitude toward Indra was rather casual.
"Haven't you noticed something is wrong?" she took the initiative to explain. "It's just a mere Four-Digit Devil King. Is it really necessary to mobilize the Heavenly Army to deal with it? And to even have you do it personally... although you're a real piece of work, you're still one of the Twelve Devas. What kind of trouble requires you, the Emperor of Heaven, to take action?"
"Hey, hey! If you're going to talk about the problem, just talk about the problem. Don't secretly insult people!"
Faced with Canary's disdain, Indra scratched his head and retorted. Then, he nodded in agreement.
"Even if you didn't say it, I know this is a bit strange. But it's our duty as the Heavenly Army to subjugate Devil Kings. As martial gods, we don't need to get to the bottom of it, right!"
"Anyway, it's always been the case that the higher-ups just open their mouths, and we subordinates run ourselves ragged. Whether the mission is reasonable or not is not for us grunts to consider."
As he spoke, Indra spread his hands and said, "Just like some unknown Full Authority Domain of the cross once said, we of the Heavenly Army only need to obey orders and subjugate Devil Kings. The higher-ups of the pantheons have much more to consider!"
Evidently, Indra had noticed the problem but didn't care. For the Heavenly Army, carrying out unreasonable missions issued by the higher-ups of the pantheons was probably the norm, so this mission was no big deal.
"Tsk, I didn't expect the high and mighty Emperor of Heaven to be a slacker too. An organization like the Heavenly Army that maintains the safety of Little Garden has actually become the private army of the pantheons... Is this kind of management by the pantheons really okay?" Canary couldn't help but complain.
"You'll have to take that up with the big shots," Indra shrugged helplessly. "I'm just a mere guardian god. In modern terms, I'm just a security guard. You can't expect a security guard like me to go and sort out the pantheons, can you?"
"If your believers heard you say that, their faith would surely be shattered!" Canary retorted, dumbfounded.
A Three-Digit Full Authority Domain security guard, my ass!
As the two were bantering, Shiroyasha, who had been on the side, suddenly spoke up.
"Indra, can I ask you something? Who was the big shot who gave you this order?"
"..."
For a moment, the room fell silent for a few seconds.
"Why do you ask?" Indra scratched his head and asked, puzzled.
"Don't worry about that for now," Shiroyasha shook her head, naturally not intending to say.
She knew that Su Mo had had Saber Alter make a move to test something, but she hadn't expected the pantheons' reaction to be so swift and quick.
The Heavenly Army had clearly not received the news, yet the higher-ups of the pantheons had already obtained the information. It seemed that they had already confirmed Artoria's spiritual rank, otherwise they wouldn't have been in such a hurry to have Indra take action.
Originally, she had been a little skeptical about the mastermind being a pantheon. But now, Indra's arrival had completely shattered her doubts and verified Su Mo's words two hundred percent.
Based on the pantheons' nervousness about Artoria's existence, a few basic points could be confirmed.
First, the destruction of the Knights of Avalon in the past was related to the pantheons, and there was a mastermind hiding among them.
Second, the mastermind's status in the pantheons must be extremely high. Not just anyone could order Indra around. Although Indra had complained that he was just a security guard, as an ancient god-king who had sacrificed his own majesty to almost nurture the entire Indian pantheon, it would be too naive to take his words at face value. Even the Lord of Buddhism, Shakyamuni, would not be disrespectful to Indra.
Therefore, the pantheon to which the mastermind belonged must be one of the most powerful. As long as she could get the other party's name from Indra, she could most likely lock down the mastermind's name.
Shiroyasha's idea was good, but reality was not so simple.
"If you don't tell me the reason, how do I know what you want to do?" Indra asked in return, then added, "Of course, even if you tell me the reason, I can't tell you. Not to mention that just mentioning the names of those few will be sensed. The key is, how can you casually inquire about the affairs of the big shots!"
Hearing this, Canary's eyes flashed. She realized that Indra was not only refusing, but also giving a hint at the same time.
In the world of Little Garden, the only ones who could be called "big shots" by Indra were the Two-Digit Full Authority Domains. There were only seventeen Full Authority Domains in Little Garden. And to be sensed just by mentioning their name, they were most likely of the Divine Spirit race.
There were not many Full Authority Domain level Divine Spirits in Little Garden, and most of them had not appeared with their complete spiritual ranks, further narrowing down the scope of possibilities.
She just didn't know why Shiroyasha was suddenly paying attention to this.
Just then.
"You really can't reveal anything?" Shiroyasha asked, unwilling to give up. She hadn't yet grasped the deep meaning of Indra's answer, so she wanted to try again.
"Is it because there are other people here? If Lucius leaves, can you say?"
After thinking about it, she pointed the spear at the only untrustworthy outsider in the room.
Hearing this, Lucius did not dare to be angry, but instead showed a look of relief.
"Lady Shiroyasha is right! Since it concerns the Heavenly Army, it is not something a humble person like me can participate in. Please allow me to take my leave immediately! Don't worry, my lips are sealed. I will definitely not speak of this randomly!"
Sensing the dangerous atmosphere, he didn't wait for their consent and directly bowed, opened the door, and fled in one smooth motion. The water in this incident was too deep for him to handle.
After Lucius left, Shiroyasha looked at Indra with a burning gaze, clearly wanting to get a result.
"Stop staring. Even if you stare until you're blind, I can't say. Unlike a convict on parole like you, I'm a full-time employee." Indra shook his head, his attitude very firm.
After refusing, he asked curiously, "So, what's the deal with this Devil King? Why are you two being so secretive? Is there some inside story?"
Evidently, as a grunt, he didn't know much either.
"You'll have to ask Lady Shiroyasha!" Canary also showed an interested expression, putting psychological pressure on Shiroyasha. "Lady Shiroyasha seems to be particularly concerned about this Devil King. Doesn't Lady Shiroyasha want to say something?"
Hearing this, Shiroyasha was startled, only now realizing that her attitude had been too concerned. But it didn't matter. Anyway, the few people in front of her were all friends. As long as she was stubborn, she wouldn't give herself away.
So, her gaze drifted to the side, and she said guiltily, "W-what's there to be concerned about! It's just a mere Devil King. What's there to be so concerned about? I'm just filled with justice and want to subjugate the Devil King as a Floor Master!"
It had to be said, she had learned a lot from her time as a shopkeeper, such as lying with a straight face. Unfortunately, this little trick was ineffective against the shrewd Canary.
"If Lady Shiroyasha continues to be so stubborn, even if we want to help, there's nothing we can do!" Canary threatened and tempted, then casually probed, "Speaking of which, a Devil King from the Celtic pantheon is indeed rare. I just heard that Lady Shiroyasha visited the Queen yesterday. I wonder if Lady Shiroyasha's involvement in this matter has more to do with the Queen or not—"
Before she could finish her probing words, she was interrupted by Shiroyasha.
"N-no! What I'm investigating has nothing to do with that woman!"
Seeing Shiroyasha's slightly nervous tone and slightly stiff movements, Canary and Indra exchanged a glance, and both understood something.
After a moment of realization, both of their gazes were a little surprised.
They both knew about the conflict between the Halloween Queen and Shiroyasha. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the two were rivals. But now, Shiroyasha was actually taking the initiative to get involved in an investigation related to the Halloween Queen?
This was really something else!
No, that's not right!
Even if the sun rose from the west, these two rivals would not easily cooperate. Something they didn't know must have happened. Either an incident had occurred that was enough for the two to put aside their differences, or a person had appeared who was enough to suppress their conflict.
It was unknown which was the case, or perhaps both.
As for what Shiroyasha was hiding, and the possible identity of that Devil King...
Suspected to be a dragon, a Devil King, from the Celtic pantheon... in the Celtic pantheon, where the main conflict was between the Aesir and the deep-sea giants, dragons did not play a large role, and there were not many Devil Kings related to dragons. Among them, those who could attract the simultaneous attention of the higher-ups of the pantheons and Shiroyasha were even fewer.
Based on Shiroyasha's previous reaction, if this Devil King's true identity was not Vortigern the White Dragon, then it could only be—
"?!"
Suddenly, Canary's eyes widened. Her pupils contracted, as if she had thought of a puzzle that had been weighing on her mind. If it really was related to that incident, then the pantheons' attitude seemed to make sense.
Only Shiroyasha's attitude was still questionable. With her personality and intelligence, she shouldn't have noticed this, nor would she have taken the initiative to help. With the Halloween Queen's pride, she would not have asked for help from this rival.
In that case, there must be a third person behind the two of them. That must be a strong leader, who acted willfully and directly suppressed the conflict between the two problem children, in order to orchestrate the scene before them. And with the wisdom of the person behind the scenes, he must also be able to see the truth from the pantheons' reaction.
In fact, the other party might have already calculated her reaction.