— — — — — —
After a long silence, Mata finally curled her lips and said dryly, "Of course. Fair as always, Mr. Indra. Seems you've already got it all planned out."
"Quit the sarcasm, Mata."
Indra rubbed his temples, sounding tired. "All we're doing is buying time. First, we figure out whether that brat actually has any cards left to play. If he doesn't, we'll just go over there and teach him a lesson."
He paused, pinching the bridge of his nose. "And if it really comes down to it, we'll talk to Athena and have her claim that the Ryo Yagami who attacked the Greek front was just one of their own people in disguise. If it means making Zeus suffer, she'd gladly play along."
"Indra, you're really shamelessly biased," Kenshin said.
Even she had underestimated just how thick-skinned Indra could be.
"You think I want this?" Indra rolled his eyes, glancing toward the eastern window. "That one from Buddhism mentioned the brat recently."
"What?" Kenshin straightened immediately.
Mata shot up from the sofa too, her expression turning grave. "Oi, oi. That's not something you ever mentioned."
"It was only a few words," Indra said casually. "Though even a few words from him are enough to make things serious."
He lowered his head and continued sorting through his paperwork.
A moment later, he frowned at the brilliant sunlight spilling across his desk. "Which pantheon's in charge of the light today? Why is the sunlight so damn bright? Trying to blind me?"
Mata waved a hand dismissively, "Probably Amun-Ra took the wrong meds this morn—"
But before she could finish, Indra's expression changed. "This is bad. That's not sunlight. That's Buddhist radiance. Shakyamuni himself is acting nearby."
(A/N: For the sake of this story, Shakyamuni, the Buddha's epithet, will serve as his name.)
"Don't joke around, Indra. Even if the Buddha——" Before Kenshin could finish, a strange premonition rose in her heart.
Something had happened.
The same subtle sensation appeared in all three of them at once.
And the moment it did, they froze like statues.
They had felt this before. A long, long time ago.
Back in the dawn of Little Garden.
At the same moment, another unsettling feeling surfaced inside them. A darkness growing in their hearts, as if a second personality was taking shape.
"…No way."
Mata's mouth fell slightly open, disbelief flickering in her eyes as she struggled to accept what was unfolding.
Indra snapped the pen in his hand, his face pale with shock. "You felt it too?"
Kenshin nodded silently. While Mata laughed bitterly. "I don't know who it is, but this... this could turn the whole Little Garden upside down."
Indra silently tossed away the broken pen, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it. "I never thought I'd live to see Shakyamuni make a move again."
"That attack just now… it tampered with causality, didn't it?" Mata pressed her fingers against her forehead, grimacing. "I know something in my past has changed, but I can't remember what changed. This is just…"
Even as a veteran of the Twelve Devas, she couldn't even perceive who a two-digit being was fighting.
That gap in power was enough to make her feel miserable.
"That's not the main problem," Indra said, taking a drag from his cigarette. "The real issue is the second one that appeared afterward. Something that could bring out the darkness in my heart… that doesn't match any of the current eighteen."
Little Garden only had seventeen known two-digit powerhouses. Add in Queen Halloween, a special case who was technically still three digits, and that made eighteen.
Other than those eighteen, there shouldn't be anyone in existence capable of making Shakyamuni act.
"Could it be one of them using an alt account?" Kenshin muttered, frowning.
Among those eighteen, aside from Queen Halloween, who always acted openly, everyone else had plenty of disguises.
A two-digit entity clashing with Shakyamuni under a false identity wasn't exactly unheard of.
Back when Shakyamuni had yet to attain "two-digit enlightenment," Algol hadn't been the only force sowing chaos and vying for that position.
Algol had simply been the only one bold enough to show her face.
The others? Too many to count.
A certain Zeus. A certain Sun Wukong. A certain Odin. And even Indra himself.
Back then, everyone had been careful. Masks on, striking under cover of darkness. Only Algol had been crazy enough to charge in broad daylight and throw hands openly.
That was why the retaliation she got afterward had been so brutal.
"…Doesn't feel like it. Aside from those four, I've ambushed— uh, no, I mean, I've met all the others. I've never seen this power before…"
Indra coughed awkwardly, pretending he hadn't misspoken.
Mata shot him a sidelong glance but didn't call him out.
Instead, she stared at the brilliant Buddhist light on the horizon.
"This fight's been going on for a while. Looks like whoever it is, they're tough."
It wasn't like she'd never seen two-digit beings fight before. But usually those battles ended instantly.
Two or three seconds, tops.
Fast enough to feel absurd.
Of course, who knew how long those monsters were really fighting? For beings who could tamper with time itself, one second stretching into years wasn't impossible.
But now the Buddhist radiance had been shining for nearly a full minute.
Who in the world had enough beef with Shakyamuni to attack Mount Meru for that long and still not stop?
"I've got a bad feeling," Indra muttered, his hand trembling slightly as he held his cigarette. "Feels like something huge is about to happen."
"You can see something, can't you?" Kenshin narrowed her eyes at him.
She suspected Indra had glimpsed the battlefield.
"Me?" Indra gave a strange smile. "I'm just an old, weak, heavily injured little guy. How could I possibly know what those big shots are doing?"
Kenshin squinted at him, unconvinced.
Just then, Mata saw the Buddhist light in the sky fade. "It's over? Who won?"
"No one," Indra said casually. "The Central Core stepped in."
Mata slowly turned back to stare at him. Suspicion written all over her face.
"..."
Indra coughed, "Big shots' business is none of our concern. Right now, we should focus on current political matters."
"Hm?" Kenshin blinked, then frowned. "What about Ryo? We still haven't picked people for the investigation team."
Indra immediately slapped a hand over his ear and shouted, "What? What did you say? My hearing's bad, can't hear you!"
Kenshin fell silent.
Mata looked at the now-clear sky in the distance, shivering as her lips trembled, "Hey, Indra… don't freak me out like this."
Indra shot her a dark look, then lowered his head and buried himself in his paperwork again. "Don't say anything. Don't ask anything. Stay indoors for a while. And don't go near Ryo either. That's all."
He paused for a moment before adding, "Whatever Ryo does... just pretend you didn't see it."
Seeing him act like this, Kenshin and Mata exchanged glances.
Both of them felt the same chill run down their spines.
The one who had just fought Shakyamuni... there was a good chance that very being was the one standing behind Ryo.
Only then would Indra abandon his plan to stall for time and stop caring altogether.
...
..
Mars, Valles Marineris— Arcadia Alliance Frontline—
After bringing Eunoemia back to camp and leaving Leticia to keep watch over her, Ryo stood at the cave entrance, staring up at the Little Garden continent hanging in the sky.
"What the hell's going on? Why does Little Garden keep going dark one second and glowing gold the next? What even are those two...?"
Ryo had a bad feeling something had happened in Little Garden. And there was a good chance Algol was behind it.
Problem was, he was stuck on Mars right now.
'...Maybe I should sneak back and take a look.'
The thought quietly began forming in his mind.
.
.
.