— — — — — —
"We don't have much time left."
The moment those words fell, Michael's heart sank. Azazel's expression turned equally grim.
A reputation like that didn't come from nowhere.
The Infinite Dragon God had wandered this world for countless years, so overwhelmingly powerful that even the Hindu gods avoided provoking her. That level of deterrence wasn't hype. It was backed by real battles.
It was said no one could withstand her second strike.
It was also said that Shiva, ranked second in the world, once challenged her, only to be severely wounded. Afterwards, he admitted the two of them weren't even on the same level.
Most of the top ten powerhouses had encountered her. Quite a few had even challenged the Dragon God.
Aside from Shiva, the others didn't even see how she attacked before being gravely injured.
Ophis's reputation had been forged entirely through crushing victories. And total domination at that.
Because of that, most mythological factions usually avoided provoking this bug-like monster.
Now that they knew the leader of the Khaos Brigade was this terrifying existence, everyone's mood grew heavy.
They all understood what Sirzechs meant by "we don't have much time."
With the Infinite Dragon God approaching, any internal conflict would be foolish. They had to reach a three-way agreement as quickly as possible and pool their strength to oppose her. Otherwise, everyone present might end up purged by the Khaos Brigade.
Of course, Ryo was the one exception to the gloomy atmosphere.
He was currently watching everyone with a subtle expression.
One sentence kept echoing in his head.
'That ritual formation is actually this effective?'
His expression grew increasingly strange.
Earlier today, under the pretense of inspection, he had taken Rias and Akeno around to set up a massive spell designed to attract true dragons.
Garol from the Draco Greif Alliance had mentioned the formation would be highly attractive to all dragon species, but Ryo hadn't expected it to work this well.
Not only had it attracted Ophis, but when members of the Khaos Brigade tried to stop her, she'd actually killed them?
So the Infinite Cute Dragon could kill people too?
That completely off-track thought was all Ryo could think about.
In his impression from the original story, she was basically a mascot, mostly handing out cheat-level buffs and rarely taking action herself.
Then again, this was reality, not a novel. If a ceiling-level monster actually acted, the story would end immediately.
Differences between fiction and reality were normal.
An ancient being like the Infinite Dragon God… you could call her simple, maybe, but calling her stupid? Who would believe that?
She had lived from the era of the Creator God to the present, met the rulers of countless pantheons, and maintained the throne as the world's strongest. If she were truly foolish, those old schemers would've used her up long ago.
The original portrayal, where she got tricked repeatedly like a child, didn't feel reliable at all.
So Ryo only half-believed the original information.
Of course, if the Infinite Dragon God really were a naive, cute dragon, he wouldn't hold back.
A young pure-blood True Dragon was basically an ownerless Another Cosmology.
The value was so absurdly high it felt like a mountain of gold falling from the sky.
After all, whether the Little Garden even had fifty pure-blood True Dragons in total was questionable. Every True Dragon was among the strongest of their tier, sometimes the absolute strongest.
The reputation of the Three Strongest Species wasn't a joke.
If Arcadia had even one, or two, pure-blood True Dragons, they'd be invincible in the lower layers. Even if something happened to Ryo, they could still maintain a top-five position there.
A True Dragon of that caliber was foundational strength for a community. The value was immeasurable.
So when Ryo heard the Infinite Dragon God was heading to Kyoto, the first thing he thought about was how to capture her.
His mind immediately filled with brainstorming.
"Mr. Yagami?"
"Ryo Yagami, can you hear us?"
"Huh?"
Ryo looked up and saw Akeno's slightly worried face.
"What is it?"
Then he realized everyone was looking at him.
Only then did Ryo remember they were still in the middle of a three-faction discussion. He coughed lightly.
"Sorry, spaced out. Where were we?"
Sirzechs twitched at the corner of his mouth but answered anyway.
"We were discussing defenses against the Khaos Brigade."
He paused, then continued.
"Those in the devil faction who oppose me have already joined the Khaos Brigade, including Rizevim. I used a refrigerated transport to sneak here specifically to avoid their eyes."
"Besides Rizevim, the descendants of the Four Great Satan should also be in the Khaos Brigade. I've also heard some members of the devil council have their hands in it."
Azazel then added what he knew. "On the fallen angel side, aside from former executive Satanael, I believe Indra has also placed people inside the Khaos Brigade. They're newcomers wielding terrifying Sacred Gears."
Michael also recalled something. "The Church has reported exorcists defecting to other organizations in recent years. Based on the descriptions… it seems they joined the Khaos Brigade as well."
Counting it all up, the Khaos Brigade's mid- and high-level forces weren't small.
"Wow." Ryo clapped lightly, tone strange. "If each of us pulls our traitors back, the Khaos Brigade would basically just be Indra's hidden forces and the Infinite Dragon God holding things up, right?"
Everyone looked awkward.
Thinking about it carefully… that was actually true.
Remove the people from their three factions, and the Khaos Brigade would be left with the Wizards of Oz and Indra's hidden hands.
Unless Ophis personally acted, they could practically win however they wanted.
Sirzechs looked speechless. "When you put it like that, it sounds like we raised the Khaos Brigade ourselves."
Ryo rolled his eyes. "Obviously. Like Rizevim, he is a traitor from your devil side."
Sirzechs immediately bristled. "But he defected because—"
He suddenly stopped himself.
How could he say it was because Ryo and Lilith refused to acknowledge Rizevim as their son, which pushed him to defect?
But thinking about it, Grayfia had always claimed Rizevim was a fake crown prince. There really might be something to that.
And the fact that Ryo was the real Lucifer was far too explosive. Not something to say in this setting.
"Because what?" Ryo raised a brow. "Why stop? Finish the sentence."
"You really want me to say it?"
Sirzechs looked aggrieved. That expression sent a chill down Ryo's spine.
"Just say it. What's with that look? You're creeping me out."
"Exactly," Azazel chimed in with a sly tone. "After today we're all tied to the same rope. What's there you can't say?"
Sirzechs frantically shot Ryo meaningful looks, but Ryo ignored them all.
"It's fine. Say it. There are no outsiders here."
Sirzechs fell silent, then sighed. "You said that. Don't turn on me afterward."
"Just say it already. I don't even know what you're worried about." Ryo rested his chin on his hands, looking impatient.
Sirzechs paused, then stared at him with a strange expression.
"Your Majesty Lucifer… do you really not know what I'm worried about, or are you pretending not to?"
"I went back yesterday and asked the Progenitor Lilith. She confessed everything."
"You are the real Satan Lucifer. That's not fake, right? Lilith admitted it herself."
Ryo: "???"
Three huge question marks practically appeared over his head.
.
.
.