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Upper Layer— Outer Gate [500], headquarters of the Heavenly Army—
Sitting stiffly in his office, still not fully able to sit comfortably, Indra stared at the report that had just been handed to him.
His face instantly turned black.
"That little bastard!"
Bang!
He slammed his fist down hard enough to punch a hole straight through the desk.
Then the movement pulled at the injury below his waist, and he sucked in a sharp breath, "Hiss! Damn it, that hurts! That unfilial brat... and that bastard Ryo Yagami..."
"What happened?" Leaning against the wall nearby, carefully maintaining her military blade, Uesugi Kenshin looked up and asked.
"Who else could it be? That damned scheming bastard, Ryo."
Thinking of the two troublemakers who had worked together and caused him such personal pain, Indra couldn't help cursing the main culprit, "Dammit! Can't that brat stay quiet for once? He attacked the Greek stronghold! Does that brat think the Divine War Treaty is toilet paper?"
From the sofa nearby, Mata lazily popped a piece of melon into her mouth and said, "You're overthinking it, Indra. Four-digits don't need to poop. Why would they need toilet paper?"
"Shut up, Mata." Indra shot her a glare, only to wince again from the pain. "Damn it... that bastard really doesn't treat himself like an outsider, does he? Does he seriously think I can do whatever I want in the Heavenly Army?"
Anyone with eyes could see the problem.
Ryo's relationship with Kurousagi... Kurousagi's relationship with Indra.
And on top of that, Asura owed Ryo a huge favor.
Which meant the one stuck in the most awkward position right now... was Indra.
Breaking the Divine War Treaty meant the Heavenly Army was obligated to punish the offender.
But when the offender was basically the fiancé of the commander's granddaughter... that got uncomfortable fast.
Of course, by the rules, the Heavenly Army had to move.
And even if they refused, the angels of Cross, the Twelve Greek Gods, and the hypocritical Daoists would all mobilize under treaty law anyway.
At that point, the only one left looking stupid would be Indra.
Mata gave him a look full of disdain, "You're acting like you aren't ridiculously powerful."
Then she stretched lazily on the sofa and glanced at Kenshin. "So, Kenshin, what do you think? The two of us are the only ones stationed at headquarters this millennium. If we have to go suppress Ryo, it'll be us. Don't just sit there."
Hearing that, Kenshin opened her eyes and glanced at Mata with faint amusement.
"It won't come to that." She said it calmly. "That kid isn't impulsive."
From what she knew of Ryo, if he dared make a move like this, it meant he already had a follow-up prepared.
Odds were, by the end of all this, Ryo would walk away perfectly fine.
If that was the case, why should the Heavenly Army exhaust itself? Might as well sit back and watch the show.
"Tch. Boring." Mata flopped back onto the sofa.
Meanwhile, Indra scratched his head, looking irritated. "The problem is Greece already sent their formal protest. Zeus is threatening that if I don't act, he'll send the Twelve Olympians himself."
He clicked his tongue, "That old bastard reaches the upper layers and still doesn't know how to behave."
Mata stretched. "He's all bark. At the Greek headquarters in upper layers, there are over a dozen God-Kings camping outside every day just waiting to beat the crap out of that dirty old pervert. What's he acting tough for?"
Indra rolled his eyes. "That old fox is slippery as hell. Unless five top-tier three-digits surround him and go all out, no one's stopping him... I still have no idea why he stayed in the lower layers for so long."
Then he muttered under his breath, "And Damn~ His Spirit Rank is even higher than mine now."
"..."
Kenshin and Mata exchanged amused looks.
Stronger than Indra? Sure. That was easy to say.
But who would believe it?
The authority-grade divine artifacts in Kurousagi's hands, the life-saving treasures carried by Indra's descendants, all of them were fragments of Indra's own authority.
And if he had split off that much... who knew how many authorities he still held?
For all anyone knew, he might have already built a Truth-level core.
After all, two hundred years ago, during the Evil Dragon Campaign, Indra had personally dragged the heavily wounded Twelve Devas out from under Azi Dahaka's claws.
Against a monster that had fully activated Avesta, no less.
Avesta, Another Cosmology allowed Azi to stack his enemies' original powers onto his own, even creating mirrored opposite Gifts that could neutralize virtually anything.
On that day, Azi Dahaka's power had reached a level close to that of a two-digit. And Indra still had enough strength left to organize the full retreat.
"That brat pops my bubble, and right after that he goes and pulls something this big." Indra cursed under his breath. "My old injuries haven't even healed yet."
Back in that battle two centuries ago, the Heavenly Army hadn't lost a single soldier. But almost every one of them had been injured.
Indra worst of all.
Azi Dahaka's title of "one man equal to a million gods" wasn't for show. He really was that terrifying.
Originally, the Heavenly Army had planned to bluff and coast on Indra's reputation until everyone recovered.
But recently, Ryo and Asura had schemed against Indra and exposed the truth, revealing that the Heavenly Army was mostly bluffing.
As a result, their deterrence had taken a huge hit.
That was why Indra had come back to headquarters to handle paperwork.
If he stayed outside too long, some of the darker factions might decide to take a shot at assassinating him.
Kenshin ran an oilcloth across her blade and asked calmly, "So what now?"
Indra rubbed his chin.
"Greece has already raised hell, so there's no dodging it." He thought for a moment. "...In that case, we'll send an investigation team to inspect the site."
A grin slowly spread across his face, "That should drag things out for at least half a month."
Kenshin glanced at the report on his desk.
"The Greek stronghold in Mars got flattened." She looked back at him. "You really think you can drag it out for half a month?"
Indra rolled his eyes.
Then he leaned back and spoke with complete seriousness, "Kenshin, you can't just say the stronghold got flattened because someone said it did."
He began counting on his fingers. "How many locations did Ryo attack? How many square centimeters were damaged? How many cubic meters of soil were destroyed? What total area was affected? How much did it alter Mars's environment? And for how many years will that impact last?"
"See..." He spread his hands. "You think we can know all that without a proper investigation? And if we investigate all of that, how could it possibly take less than a month?"
"..."
The two women fell silent.
They had to admit. That level of shamelessness was impressive.
.
.
.