"So that's how it is. The Assassin is a Last Embryo?" Kenshin rubbed her cheek, looking troubled. "And Ouroboros actually hid a God King in the lower layers? That…"
Brahma added, "According to my previous investigations, they seem to have been planning to target the Hand of Order under Shamash."
"The Hand of Order? That community dedicated to exploring Unobserved Outside Worlds?" Mata froze for a moment, then her expression changed dramatically. "Come to think of it, over the past few thousand years, the losses suffered by the Outside World exploration communities seem to have been far greater than before…"
"I think the situation is pretty obvious." Brahma looked like he hardly knew how to put it. "Ouroboros has been secretly destroying exploration communities all this time. Anat was one of their agents, and during one of her missions, she happened to encounter a Last Embryo…"
At that, Kenshin and Mata instinctively glanced east.
There, a pillar of light rose, stretching from earth to sky like the Tower of Babel. It stood silently in the distance.
That was where the Little Garden Central Core was located.
"So Anat encountered a Last Embryo…" Kenshin said, her tone difficult to read.
"Serves her right." Mata looked almost gleeful.
Both of them had clearly understood what Brahma was implying.
Ouroboros had committed so many atrocities that they had naturally drawn the attention of the Central Core and become subject to the rules of Little Garden itself.
The result was the sudden appearance of a Last Embryo.
It was simply a form of "normality" within the order of Little Garden. And if one thought about it carefully, perhaps the Last Embryos that had appeared recently were themselves an instinctive response from the Central Core, acting according to its own rules.
"Report it." Brahma sighed. "We can't let Ouroboros remain hidden any longer."
Kenshin and Mata immediately straightened at his words, understanding exactly what he meant.
The Heavenly Army was going to war with Ouroboros?
The Devas present all felt their hearts grow heavy.
_ _ _
Boom!
A wooden office desk exploded as an arm slammed deep into its surface.
A barrage of furious strikes followed, and before long, the ironwood desk had been reduced to splinters.
"How dare they!" Indra furiously pounded the desk into pieces. "Those old bastards! Do they think I'm already dead?"
A girl with black hair and black eyes sat on the sofa, a vermilion mark between her brows. Her sigh was filled with an almost deathly emptiness. "Has the prestige of the Heavenly Army really fallen this far from what it was two hundred years ago?"
Indra glared resentfully at the unremarkable-looking girl radiating an aura of utter desolation. "Quit rubbing it in, Shiva. You're one of the Twelve Devas too, the Maheśvara. Which side are you actually on? And how could you, as the leader of Ouroboros's Second Alliance, know absolutely nothing about an operation like this?"
After saying that, Indra paused, then sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Forget it. If a blabbermouth like you knew about it, the entire Little Garden would probably know by now."
Shiva remained completely unfazed. She simply took out a notebook and quietly wrote: {"Indra called me a blabbermouth. I'm holding this grudge."}
A closer look at the notebook revealed page after page covered in densely packed entries, all of them apparently documenting various grudges.
"You…"
Indra stared at her, utterly speechless.
He finally gave Shiva another glare before returning to the sofa, his face dark. "So which faction is responsible for secretly eliminating the exploration communities?"
"Usually, it's planned by the First Alliance, with some members of the Third Alliance carrying out the operations. Everyone knows the Second Alliance has been heavily infiltrated, after all. And recently, Queen Halloween joined the Second Alliance too. To be honest, everyone's been pretty nervous about it."
Shiva casually stated a fact that was terrifying enough to send shivers through the gods of Little Garden.
Queen Halloween had joined Ouroboros.
That news alone was enough to leave a huge number of gods paralyzed with fear.
"That willful Queen…" Indra rubbed his aching forehead before saying. "Give me the portion of the roster you know about. I'll report it to the Thousand Eyes and the Buddhist Pantheon. And you should find an appropriate time to withdraw from Ouroboros."
Shiva quietly wrote another entry in her notebook: {"Three hundred years, then another three hundred. After six hundred years of hard work, I finally became the leader of the Second Alliance, only to be urgently summoned back by Indra. I'm holding this grudge."}
"What the hell are you writing?" Indra was genuinely exasperated now. "Have you gotten addicted to being Ouroboros's leader?"
"The authorities are cheap," Shiva said it as though it were the most reasonable thing in the world.
"Damn it!"
Indra cursed under his breath, but he didn't dare say anything harsher to Shiva.
This goddess possessed the identities of both the God of Destruction and the Goddess of Life. She was one of the strongest among the Twelve Devas, but she was also one of the Heavenly Army's biggest headaches.
If they truly fell out with her, forget dealing with Ouroboros. The Heavenly Army itself might be turned upside down.
But this time was different. According to Brahma's compiled intelligence, Ouroboros's covert acts of sabotage had already attracted the attention of the Little Garden Central Core. A Last Embryo had even appeared and killed a God King.
This was no trivial matter.
If things escalated, it could potentially lead to the emergence of another Dystopian Demon Lord, perhaps even another Azi Dahaka.
And the Little Garden of today no longer had top-level Game Breakers like Canaria who genuinely cared about all living beings.
With that thought, Indra said angrily. "Shiva, Ouroboros has crossed the line this time."
"That's why I never refused to leave Ouroboros." Shiva calmly closed her notebook and said, "Cleanse the South and North Areas."
"What about the East and West?" Indra frowned.
Shiva's expression remained indifferent. "There are very few snakes in the East. But Shiroyasha is there. As for the West… that's the Seven Demon Kings' territory. Ouroboros wouldn't dare act recklessly there either."
Indra opened his mouth, then finally sighed. "Fine. I'll sign the order."
He understood what signing that order meant.
From this moment on, Ouroboros and the Heavenly Army would officially be enemies.
"What a turbulent time…" With a sigh, Indra took out the documents and began signing the orders.
_ _ _
Ten minutes later, at Outer Gate 666
Krishna sat beside a stream, fishing while wearing a straw hat.
When she received the newly delivered intelligence, she froze in confusion.
"What? The Heavenly Army has declared war on us? Anat was also killed by a Last Embryo?"
"Huh? We caused another Last Embryo situation?"
Krishna's expression suddenly became utterly bewildered.
"...What the hell is going on?"
_ _ _
Outer Gate 3345.
After taking a shower and spending some time working out, Ryo rubbed his aching lower back and stared strangely at the report in his hands.
It was an application that Shiroyasha had just sent him.
"Application for Promotion to Floor Master? What the hell is going on?"
.
.
.