The outcome was hardly surprising.
If even Ophis's Aptitude couldn't qualify as a Familiar, practically no one in this world could.
"Who are you?"
Ophis tilted her head.
Among everyone who had ever visited this house, she had never seen Rosen.
"Rosen."
He kept it short.
"Oh, you came for a snake too? Here."
With a small gesture, a pitch-black, earthworm-like thing emerged from her body and landed before Rosen.
Closer inspection revealed the writhing "snake" wasn't real but a mass of unstable black energy squirming like a serpent.
Rosen didn't take it; at his current level he had no need.
Of course,
as part of the Infinite Dragon God's power, the snake was extraordinarily potent.
Consuming it could raise one's strength by several magnitudes in a short time.
A Top-Class Devil, for instance, could temporarily reach Devil King Level magic after taking Ophis's snake.
Rosen recalled that during the Three Factions talks, the Old Demon King Faction's descendants had used Ophis's snakes to boost themselves to Devil King class.
Confident of victory, they launched suicidal attacks on Sergeks, Seraphiel, and Azazel.
Yet even at Devil King Level, the gap in power was enormous.
Sergeks was already a Transcendent; Seraphiel's strength surpassed the old Devil Kings several times over; and though Azazel ranked lowest of the three, his artificial Divine Artifact's Balance Breaker far exceeded an ordinary Devil King, crushing the Old Leviathan descendant Katerea in an instant. When Katerea tried to self-destruct and take Azazel with her, Azazel lost an arm.
Azazel paid that price right then.
Thinking of it, Rosen found Azazel's lost arm hard to stomach.
What bothered him wasn't the Fallen Angel Governor choosing to lose a limb against Katerea, but that after losing it Azazel didn't seek regeneration—instead he installed a mechanical prosthetic.
He claimed the metal arm was more agile than flesh, yet as the Governor of Fallen Angels his natural limbs were less nimble than a man-made machine.
Azazel was simply hopeless.
Had he stood before Rosen now, Rosen would've slapped him across the face.
The entire Fallen Angel race had been disgraced.
Back to the point.
Rosen's refusal caused the faintest flicker of expression on Ophis's face.
She found this man odd.
If he hadn't come for a "snake," why bother visiting her?
"I'm here to take you away. The Trouble Group is no place for you."
Rosen cut straight to the chase.
Ophis tilted her head again.
"Why?"
"They're lying to you. They only use the promise of helping you defeat Great Red to milk power from you."
Hearing this, Ophis remained silent for a few seconds before nodding faintly and saying, "I know about this."
Ophis was merely slow-witted, not stupid.
She naturally knew very well in her heart whether the Trouble Group genuinely intended to help her.
However, Ophis had her own reasons for staying here despite knowing the truth.
One was that she still held onto the fantasy that the Trouble Group might assist her in defeating the Great Red someday in the future.
On the other hand, she also needed a place to stay.
In the past, when "traveling" around the world, every place she went would greet her with a large group of "covetous" local Pantheons, and every time, Ophis would be rudely demanded to leave immediately.
Although Ophis possessed the power to blow those Pantheons away with a single breath, in her eyes, there was no need for her to specifically attack those "ants."
Now that she finally had an organization willing to accept her, even if it wasn't genuine, Ophis preferred her current life.
It was much better than being driven away every time she stepped outside...
Moreover, even if she had to divide her power every time, it wouldn't affect Ophis in any way.
At the very least, Ophis had never felt weak.
Most people seeing Ophis's attitude would likely not know what to do next.
However, Rosen knew very well that Ophis had only one obsession.
That was returning to the Dimensional Rift occupied by the Great Red.
"I can help you return to the Dimensional Rift, and you only need to agree to one condition."
As soon as this matter was mentioned, Ophis's eyes subtly widened.
The fact that her home, the Dimensional Rift, was occupied by the Great Red, and that she had been beaten several times, had always been Ophis's greatest worry.
Everything she had done so far was for the sake of returning to the Dimensional Rift.
Although this was her obsession, Ophis wasn't stupid; she wouldn't agree to Rosen's condition based on just a single sentence.
After all, the Trouble Group at least offered a verbal promise.
Just then, footsteps sounded outside the room.
A stern-faced man wearing a black robe and sporting a samurai topknot pushed the door open and entered.
"Ophis, give us the Snakes, we need four."
After speaking, the man finally noticed that there was an outsider present in the room.
He was slightly surprised but didn't say much, merely glancing briefly at Rosen before remaining silent.
Cruzerre is a descendant of the Asmodeus Devil King of the Old Demon King Faction. In order to annihilate the current Devil King Government of the Netherworld, the Old Demon King Faction, led by Cruzerre-Asmodeus, Katerea-Leviathan, and Shalba-Beelzebub, guided all its members to join the organization called the Trouble Group.
The forces within the Trouble Group are not limited to the Old Demon King Faction; they also include humans, Witches, stray Fallen Angels, and more.
Regardless of who they were, they could all obtain the power of Ophis's Snakes.
To cope with the increasingly severe situation in the future, Cruzerre needed a greater number of Snakes.
"You came at the perfect time."
After realizing the identity of the newcomer, Rosen showed a faint smile on his face.