"I…"
Shiroyasha instinctively wanted to refuse, but she thought of Aslan's help to her and her own incompetence as a boss, and she hesitated.
"Shiroyasha, think carefully. If you pass this village, you won't find this shop again."
The Halloween Queen took the Holy Sword of the Star from Aslan's hand and bestowed the Status of the Sword of Promised Victory (Excalibur) upon it.
She opened the Celtic Pantheon's worldview, including the banner and heritage of Avalon.
This allowed Little Garden's Central Core to continue observing and grant the Status of Spirit to the Holy Sword of the Star brought by Aslan.
As for Shiroyasha, though she had conflicts with her, disliked her, and was her sworn enemy, that didn't mean their relationship would never end.
Sometimes, the two still cooperated. Otherwise, she would've quietly stolen Aslan or sold this information to someone else.
Or even played dirty, trapping Shiroyasha to death.
(Shiroyasha, you're truly pathetic. You love Little Garden so much, yet you can't even protect it.)
"Alright, Boss, let me handle this."
Seeing Shiroyasha struggling, Aslan rubbed his head and took over the conversation.
For now, Aslan still felt he had a brighter future with Shiroyasha. The Halloween Queen, he felt, was too possessive.
And Shiroyasha genuinely provided those "benefits."
Of course, there was one more thing Aslan understood: his greatest supporter in Little Garden was actually Shiroyasha.
Little Garden's Central Core, his biggest backer at the moment, had a rather ambiguous relationship with Shiroyasha.
Even when Aslan was at the Root, helping Little Garden's Central Core pollute the Root and create an avatar, the avatar of Little Garden's Central Core's will was Shiroyasha.
However, the Root was also a form of Cosmogenesis, and it would take an incredibly long time for Little Garden's Central Core to fully repair it through the Umbrella Corporation.
Thus, whether from an emotional or background perspective, Aslan didn't want to just run off.
However, human nature always craves more, and Aslan was no exception.
After all, something like the Principle of Creation sounded incredibly valuable and hard to obtain.
Besides the Halloween Queen, Aslan had no idea how to acquire it.
As for the Mother of Evil Gods, Ahriman…
The "granny" who was always with him couldn't obtain something like the Principle of Creation either.
Especially now, with only her consciousness remaining, asleep, she would only briefly awaken when Aslan needed her.
"Sorry, Queen. I don't think I absolutely need the Principle of Creation, right?"
After all, the Halloween Queen had explained clearly: Aslan was a young Creation God. As for how young…
Maybe embryo-level?
Even embryo-level might be too high for him.
But, simply put, it wasn't necessary for him. He could grow slowly.
The Halloween Queen and Aslan weren't sure how much effect the Principle of Creation would have on him.
Even whether Aslan could comprehend the Principle of Creation was another matter.
"That's true, but if you grow on your own, I don't know how many years it'll take for you to reach Three-Digit, let alone Two-Digit."
The Halloween Queen said with great interest. She was now enjoying watching Shiroyasha's reluctance and the pained expression on her face as she "stole" him.
"For example, Kuu-chan took about a billion years to grow into a Three-Digit Pure-blooded Dragon."
"I don't think your growth speed will be much faster than hers."
This was why Pure-blooded Dragons, who theoretically had no lifespan limits and could grow indefinitely, joined Little Garden.
Without the catalyst of merit, their growth would be extremely slow.
"And after having the Principle of Creation…"
The Halloween Queen didn't need to finish; Aslan already understood. His growth speed would be significantly accelerated.
Little Garden wasn't short of races that became incredibly powerful upon maturity, but the condition was surviving until maturity.
At the very least, Little Garden's environment didn't support having thousands or tens of thousands of years to grow.
Especially since Little Garden was in the midst of its most critical historical transition.
The Hero Candidate of humanity and gods would soon emerge.
With the destruction of Arcadia as the turning point, Little Garden entered a transitional period that would determine its future fate.
Would it continue to be maintained, or would the old Little Garden be destroyed to establish a new one?
Who would manage the new Little Garden, and how would the distribution of benefits be restructured?
All of this would be decided during Little Garden's historical transition.
Under such changes, Aslan had no time to grow and develop peacefully.
However, Aslan still had enough confidence. He wasn't lacking in things that could catch the Halloween Queen's attention.
"Then, Halloween Queen, is this enough?"
Aslan quietly pushed a Magic: The Gathering card in front of the Halloween Queen.
There was nothing else on the card, just a promise.
A promise that in the Second Little Garden, the Halloween Queen would be the sole Sun Counter Force.
As for Shiroyasha? Naturally, she would remain the Sun Spirit Star.
When she took the card, the Halloween Queen paused for a moment. Her eyes looked at Shiroyasha with a hint of pity.
And her gaze toward Aslan was filled with even greater interest.
She acknowledged that she now truly needed to treat Aslan with the same respect as a "chess player."
(The Little Garden of Christianity and the Little Garden of Hinduism haven't even started planning their establishment, yet you're already prepared?)
(Interesting, this is truly interesting.)
(Who's behind Aslan? Laozi? Or Haotian? Or Houtu? Even Nüwa is a strong possibility.)
Even the Twin Goddesses of Beginning and End, Alpha and Omega, were included in the Halloween Queen's list of suspects.
Of course, the Halloween Queen wasn't interested in digging further. After all, sometimes knowing too much wasn't a good thing.
She only needed to know that her chances of becoming the Sun Star Spirit and a true Two-Digit entity had increased.
After all, the position of Sun Star Spirit in the new Little Garden being prepared by Christianity and Hinduism was already reserved for her.
Though Hinduism needed quotation marks, as the true Hinduism was actually led by Indra.
And Indra and True Hinduism had already given up.
This Little Garden hadn't even reached its end, yet three new Little Gardens were already being prepared?
This was truly too intriguing.
Even these three Little Gardens had guaranteed the Halloween Queen that she would be the sole Sun Star Spirit.
Of course, for the Halloween Queen, the more, the better.
If one day she could witness a scene where three, or even four, Little Gardens emerged simultaneously…
Perhaps even death would be worth the price.
Playing around was fine, joking was fine, but don't mess with profits.
The Halloween Queen could see that what Aslan offered, and what Christianity and the Sun King offered, were just empty promises.
Empty promises needed guarantees. She didn't know the entities behind Aslan, so why should she trust him?
For an empty promise, she'd have to give up the Principle of Creation?
Moreover, this empty promise might not even be fulfilled.
"I need a guarantee."
The Halloween Queen neither refused nor agreed.
"Then how about, until the promise is fulfilled, I serve as the Halloween Queen's knight?"
As he spoke, Aslan instantly switched identities. His clothes transformed into silver-blue armor.
"Alright."
The Halloween Queen nodded, then tossed the Sword of Promised Victory, which she had just imbued with the Celtic Pantheon's worldview, making it a true Holy Sword of the Star, back to Aslan.
After going in circles, the sword ended up back in Aslan's hands.
He couldn't escape the fate of becoming the Halloween Queen's knight.
However, Scathach's expression turned strange.
She felt a slight connection with Aslan, as if it were a master-disciple bond.
Did she hear Aslan call her Shishou?
It seemed the Queen's task of making him her disciple had been fulfilled without her realizing it.
(Thank you, my otherworld self! Next time I see you, I definitely won't absorb you.)
Scathach couldn't hold back a smile. Now she could avoid the Halloween Queen's punishment.
She had indeed made Aslan her disciple before he returned to Little Garden.
"By the way, Scathach, from now on…"
The Halloween Queen seemed to notice the connection between Aslan and Scathach, and Aslan's current state seemed to be that of a Heroic Spirit?
It appeared Aslan still had many secrets.
The Halloween Queen grew curious.
"It seems Scathach has already become your master."
"Then let's do it this way."
The Halloween Queen said, delighted.
Successfully "stealing" Shiroyasha's subordinate put her in an excellent mood.
Meanwhile, Shiroyasha's mood wasn't so great.
The one treasure she enjoyed alone was now forcibly split with someone else.
No one would be happy about that.
But there was nothing she could do—she was the old, poor Shiroyasha.
At least Indra still had the Twelve Heavenly Guardians.
As for Shiroyasha, she was truly poor. Besides her fourteen Sun Authorities, she really had nothing else.
Who told Shiroyasha, back when she was the White Night Demon Lord and during the First Sun Authority War, to make so many enemies?
"Aslan, tell me, am I a bit useless?"
Shiroyasha said, slightly autistic. When she was alone, she didn't feel it. But now, after bringing Aslan along, she realized just how tough it was.