To subjugate a Devil King and rescue a princess, if one didn't consider that the Devil King was forced to fall by Su Mo, Su Mo's actions would even be perfectly in line with the legendary process of an epic hero.
This was the model that the pantheons had always promoted.
With this political correctness crashing down, even the mysterious messenger who had been sending messages to Indra was at a loss for a moment.
However, the pantheons were still the pantheons. Even if they couldn't find a problem with Su Mo, they could find a problem elsewhere.
For example—
"Strictly speaking, you did successfully subjugate a Devil King, and there is no room for others to criticize," under the messenger's urging, Indra spoke to define the situation, then turned to look at the young woman behind Su Mo, his tone changing.
"But that's no reason for you to associate with a Devil King."
There were no black marks on Su Mo, but that didn't mean there weren't any on Saber Alter.
"The young woman behind you is a serious criminal on the pantheons' list. If you're smart enough, don't do anything foolish."
Out of admiration, Indra deliberately hinted, not wanting Su Mo to get involved in this mess. Since Su Mo's subjugation of a Devil King was a righteous act, then as the Heavenly Army, his subjugation of the Devil King Artoria was naturally a righteous act within a righteous act.
Without a sufficient reason, no one could protect a Devil King. If Su Mo insisted on standing in his way, he would be making an enemy of the Heavenly Army, and even the pantheons.
Faced with this expected persuasion, Su Mo smiled slightly.
"Indra, I think you might have misunderstood something."
"What do you mean?"
Indra, who hadn't been called by this name for a long time, was slightly taken aback.
"Saber is not my companion," Su Mo beckoned, and the cold-faced Saber Alter came to his side. He stroked her head, and Saber Alter obediently lowered her head, her docile and submissive appearance showing no trace of a Devil King's aura.
Then, Su Mo said calmly, "She is my property. Do you understand what that means?"
"...What?!"
If it were an ordinary person with a mind full of dirty thoughts, they might think Su Mo was talking about some kind of master-slave play. But although Indra's mind was full of dirty thoughts, he lived in the world of Little Garden, so he immediately understood Su Mo's meaning.
"You mean, you've already defeated this Devil King and made her your subordinate?"
"That's right," Su Mo nodded. "Although I don't know how much sin she committed when she fell into a Devil King, in the rules of Little Garden, she has already paid a sufficient price and has now become my property."
As he spoke, he looked at the law-enforcing heavenly god before him. "Even the pantheons have no reason to pass judgment on others' property, right?"
In the world of Little Garden, if one could break a Devil King's Gift Game in both strategy and force, then in addition to accumulating merit for subjugating the Devil King, the Devil King themselves would also become a prize and a subordinate of the victor.
For a Devil King, losing their freedom and their own sovereignty was already the greatest punishment. They were not even allowed to die and could only become permanent slaves. Therefore, after becoming a subordinate, the Devil King's past sins would also be completely dissipated, as if their old self had already died.
This rule sounded unreasonable and unfair. If a Devil King could wash away their sins like this, then who would the innocent victims who died because of the Devil King complain to? However, no matter how unreasonable, this was a rule that actually existed in the world of Little Garden, and it had been shown many times in the original work.
Perhaps individuals could still hold a grudge against the Devil King themselves, but the rule itself did not allow one to attack a Devil King who had already lost their self-sovereignty. Even the pantheons would not subjugate those Devil Kings who had already become subordinates. This was something Shiroyasha on the side should be very familiar with.
"..."
Indra, whose mouth was shut by Su Mo's eloquence, was completely speechless.
After thinking for a few seconds, he finally caught a doubt and asked, "This Devil King just attacked a commercial community in the lower world last night, and today she has been completely subdued by you?"
"Can't I?" Su Mo asked back calmly. "With my strength, is it not enough to defeat a mere Four-Digit level Devil King overnight?"
"If you doubt the authenticity of this incident, or suspect that her actions last night were instigated by me, I can provide a contract document as proof. The Central Hub of Little Garden confirmed my and her subordinate relationship this morning."
This was the truth.
Although Artoria had signed a contract with Su Mo from the very beginning, confirming their master-servant relationship, it had not been confirmed by the Central Hub of Little Garden.
Last night, after Artoria had fallen into a Devil King and carried out her plunder, it was only this morning that Su Mo, under the witness of the Central Hub of Little Garden, made Saber Alter completely subordinate to him. Under a series of operations, Artoria's crimes were completely washed away.
Procedurally, there was no problem with this approach. Even the strictest god could not find fault with this coincidence.
"You!"
Even Indra, who knew there was a problem, couldn't say anything.
Having seen Su Mo's combat power, he couldn't refute Su Mo's claim that he could subdue Saber Alter in one night, nor could he treat the coincidence of the timing as a point of suspicion. If he did that, everyone would be in danger in the future. Who would still subjugate a Devil King if they had to consider whether the other party had just committed a crime before subjugating them?
And most importantly, Su Mo's act of exploiting the loophole was not his original creation, but learned from the pantheons, especially the Buddhist sect.
Letting their own mounts fall into Devil Kings, causing chaos in the lower world, and then returning with a halo of glory in the form of subjugating the Devil King. This way, they gained both faith and benefits, and except for their mounts losing their non-existent freedom, they didn't lose anything at all.
During the Seven-Day War, on the journey to the west, weren't there many such things?
Even for his own sake, Indra could not criticize Su Mo. After all, what he said were the lines the pantheons had used in the past.
"...You're really something!"
In the end, Indra could only sigh. He had thought the other party was just a warrior with outstanding strength, but he didn't expect him to be an extremely cunning strategist. His brain was no less than that of the vixen Canary.
The other party had blocked everything he wanted to say. How could he hold him accountable?
Just then, Shiroyasha, who had arrived after Indra, exchanged a knowing look with Su Mo, and then said with schadenfreude, "Hahaha! Indra, I didn't expect you to have a day like this! This is hilarious!"
Hearing this, Indra's face darkened, and he turned to glare at Shiroyasha. "I entrusted you to deal with the Asura clan's matter. How did you arrive later than me?"
"How can you blame me for that? Handing over work also takes time!" Shiroyasha spread her hands and pointed to Su Mo in front of her. "And who knew someone would step in and be able to solve the entire Asura clan in a few minutes? If we don't count this accident, didn't I arrive just in time?"
"...That's true."
Indra scratched his head.
A series of accidents and coincidences were superimposed, and the Su Mo before them had instead become a pure and noble hero.
Although Indra didn't think it mattered, it was clear that someone was anxious.
"Indra! For whatever reason, you must capture this Devil King of the Celtic pantheon. You must not let her go!"
Although Su Mo had shown a sufficient threat, what he was most concerned about was not Su Mo, but Artoria.
For this Devil King to be subjugated by someone else and become a subordinate was the worst result he feared.
No one knew what relationship this King Arthur had with the King Arthur who was the leader of the Knights of Avalon in the past. If the Devil Kings back then not only failed to complete their mission, but also exposed themselves and had flaws, then for every day Artoria was left alive, there was an extra risk of being exposed.
In fact, his, Indra's, interference was already on the verge of danger. But compared to the leakage of real, solid evidence, these superficial doubts were not a big deal. The force he belonged to could withstand any questioning.
The messenger's idea was good. The most important thing in cutting the weeds and removing the roots was to be decisive.
But he had forgotten that Indra was not unconditionally their dog.
"To pass judgment without reason, how is that different from a Devil King?" Indra questioned.
If there was a legitimate reason before, he would have had to obey the other party's request. Now, Su Mo had cleverly used the rules of Little Garden to place himself on the moral high ground. In this situation, on what grounds could he pass judgment on his subordinate?
"Why, are you willing to trample on the rules of Little Garden at all costs to deal with this Devil King? What are you trying to hide?"
Not only did he not obey the order, he even questioned the messenger in return. Even Indra realized that the other party had a secret that must be hidden, and this secret was related to Artoria.
Hearing this, the messenger's heart sank.
If it wasn't necessary, he absolutely could not step in. If Indra, this spokesperson, didn't do it, the problem before them would be troublesome. As for Indra's question, he couldn't explain it to him either. This war god was too close to humans.
Thinking this, he said indifferently, "This is not something you should ask!"
"Then I'm not doing it—"
"Cooperate with me, it's the Lord Buddha's will. Do you want to defy the Lord Buddha?"
Before Indra could go on strike, the messenger raised his voice and brought out the leader of the Buddhist sect to suppress him.
"The Lord Buddha..."
Hearing the Buddha's name, Indra's brewing momentum faltered slightly.
He, who had once rampaged through Little Garden as an evil god of Zoroastrianism, had repented after being saved by the Moon Maiden. He, who was infamous, was not accepted by the good gods. At that time, it was the Lord Buddha who had gone against the crowd and generously gave him a chance, allowing him to join the Buddhist sect. Only then did he become the famous good god of Little Garden.
He didn't know why the Lord Buddha would assist a fellow like this, but he believed in the cosmology depicted by the Lord Buddha, and believed in the Lord Buddha's decision.
So—
"My apologies!"
A golden long spear was entwined with lightning. Indra took an offensive stance and looked at Su Mo with a hint of apology.
"For some reason, this Devil King must be investigated. I hope you will cooperate. I guarantee in Indra's name that her safety will be ensured. No one will lay a hand on her unless they step over my dead body!"
Indra, who couldn't refuse the messenger, could only propose such a compromise.
Naturally, neither side was satisfied.
However, what was strange was that apart from the messenger's cold threat, Su Mo's expression was obviously very calm, and could even be called relaxed.
"Before you conduct a security check on a Devil King who is already subordinate to someone else, as one of the Twelve Devas, shouldn't you deal with the matter of other Devil Kings first?"
"Other Devil Kings?"
Indra was slightly taken aback, not knowing what Su Mo was talking about. The Asura King had been subjugated, and Artoria was right in front of him. Where was there another Devil King?
However, the moment his voice fell, a monstrous demonic aura came from the east, which was the direction of the Trāyastriṃsha heaven.
A purplish-red ominous pillar of light illuminated the entire heavenly realm. The soft, thousand-mile white clouds in the sky turned into petrified gray in the blink of an eye and fell from the firmament. If there weren't many clouds today, the entire sky would probably have been petrified!
Even though there were many Asura Gods and Buddhas in the world of Little Garden, there was still only one existence that could use the petrification Gift to this extent.
Indra's expression suddenly changed, and he immediately turned to look at Su Mo. "What's going on?"
"There's something I forgot to mention earlier," Su Mo's tone was still calm. "In the Gift Game with Saber, a Gift in her possession called the Gorgon was lost to the outside world, and its sovereignty was removed, becoming a free agent."
As he spoke, he looked at the commotion in the distance and said as if it had nothing to do with him, "Fortunately, it's just a Four or Five-Digit level Gift. With the strength of the Heavenly Army, taking down a Gorgon should be a piece of cake, right?"
Hearing this, Indra's heart sank to the bottom. His worst premonition had come true. It was indeed that Algol who had been released!
He didn't have time to care whether Su Mo had done it intentionally. The full-power Algol was a madwoman who could challenge all the Asura Gods and Buddhas of the three thousand worlds. Although her brain wasn't very good, her combat power was indeed in the first tier of the Three-Digits.
Without him to lead the Heavenly Army, if they encountered this Devil King, it was possible for them to be wiped out!
"BOOM!!!"
Without any intention of responding to Su Mo, Indra turned into lightning and rushed back in a hurry.