— — — — — —
"A trap?" the God of Breasts asked hesitantly.
She didn't believe any ordinary trap could deal with a Dragon God-class being. At least, not without someone even stronger stepping in.
Existences at that level were notoriously difficult to kill.
That was a lesson the Evies and the Etouldes had learned through countless clashes.
For beings of that caliber, dying was often harder than surviving. They simply had too many backup plans.
At that moment, however, Indra let out a sinister chuckle.
"What do you think of this?" he said with a sly smile. "I lure Ryo Yagami over, and you lure in a few of the Evil Gods' top beings. We throw our enemies together and let them tear each other apart."
The God of Breasts paused.
"That could work, but..." Her tone became complicated. "Are you planning to abandon your own world?"
"If the Evil Gods manage to enter your world, then even if they're repelled once, they'll come back again as long as the passage remains open. Have you really prepared yourself to throw away your homeland?"
To kill a Dragon God-class existence, the Evies would need at least one of the Three Pillar Evil Gods to personally take action.
And once a being of that level entered the DxD world, even Great Red wouldn't be able to drive them out.
If things reached that stage, defeat would be the only outcome for the world's defenders. The world itself would eventually be transformed into a mechanical empire ruled by the Evies, becoming nothing more than fuel for their expansion.
Would Indra really be so ruthless toward his own home?
"You misunderstand." Indra grinned broadly. "I have complete confidence in Ryo Yagami."
The God of Breasts blinked.
Indra continued cheerfully, "A guy who can crush the Holy Spear with nothing but a projection of his will? No matter what happens, he should be able to take a few Evil Gods down with him."
The God of Breasts nearly choked.
Crush the Holy Spear... with just a thought-form?
As the Mother Goddess's incarnation, she had an extremely close relationship with the Creator God. Naturally, she knew the Holy Spear better than almost anyone.
The material used to forge it was divine metal so durable that even her full-power attacks couldn't damage it. Only because Creator possessed exceptional forging talent had the raw material eventually been shaped into the Holy Spear after centuries of effort.
In terms of sheer toughness, even the Three Pillar Evil Gods would struggle to destroy it.
And now Indra was telling her that someone had casually crushed it using nothing more than a projection?
At that moment, everything suddenly made sense.
Indra wasn't counting on the Evil Gods to defeat Ryo. He was planning to use them as cannon fodder.
"Are you sure he'll only take down a few Evil Gods?" she asked carefully.
What she really wanted to ask was, 'Are you trying to wipe out the entire Evie faction?'
Just from that feat alone, she suspected Ryo could crush the Three Evil Gods' skeletons with his bare hands. After all, their mechanical bodies weren't much tougher than the Holy Spear.
Had she misunderstood Indra all this time? Was this man actually a noble patriot willing to sacrifice everything for his world?
Was his real goal to trick the Evil Gods into walking straight into Ryo's killing field?
Could Indra actually be... a good person?
The more she thought about it, the stranger her expression became.
She had always assumed that Indra was the sort of scheming snake who spent his days hiding in dark corners plotting against everyone.
The only reason she had cooperated with him in the first place was because she hadn't had any better options.
After the Creator God's death, she had been unable to find anyone suitable to become a defender capable of resisting the Evil Gods, buying time for the DxD World, and preventing the Evies from growing stronger.
Indra had merely been the least bad choice. Originally, she had wanted to support Shiva instead.
Unfortunately, Shiva's hostility toward outsiders from other worlds was immense, and his love of battle made him reject her outright.
Yet now, a pleasant surprise had appeared where she least expected it. The spare candidate she had casually recruited seemed to possess unexpectedly grand ambitions.
"Wait." Indra looked genuinely startled. "Are there really several people on the Evil Gods' side who are as strong as Ryo?"
The God of Breasts fell silent for a moment.
Then she answered, "Well... yes, there are."
Deciding to play along and exaggerate the strength of the ExE world, she continued, "Among the Three Evil Gods, there are beings such as the 'Fierce God' Regalzeva, the 'Malevolent God' Melvazoa, and the 'Wicked God' Seraselbes. All three are far beyond the Dragon God level."
"Opposing them are the Etouldes. Among them, the 'Benevolent God' Resetoras and the 'Mother Goddess' Chimune Chipaoti have likewise surpassed the Dragon God realm. Each side also commands several Dragon God-class subordinates."
"Oh, and then there are independent figures like me... In short, in terms of sheer numbers, our side definitely has more high-level powerhouses than your world."
"..."
"Three super-powerful Evil Gods, huh?" Indra rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "That actually makes things easier."
If Ryo died, Indra could simply flee to the Etouldes' side. And if Ryo managed to kill enough of them before falling, Indra could just rally a global alliance to resist the invasion.
If Ryo won and survived...
Could he really chase Indra all the way into the ExE world? Did Ryo even have the coordinates?
The more Indra thought about it, the more pleased he became.
Sure, he might have to live under someone else's roof afterward, but at least he'd be alive.
"So we're agreed?" he asked.
"If you're serious about this, I'll start making preparations immediately." The God of Breasts' tone remained strangely conflicted.
She had a nagging feeling that setting Ryo up like this was a terrible idea and might come back to bite her later.
But if it could get rid of the Three Pillar Evil Gods, then sacrificing herself would be a small price to pay.
For the safety of her world. For the future of the Etouldes... It would be worth it.
"Excellent. Then it's settled."
Indra narrowed his eyes and spent some time discussing the finer details before ending the connection.
"Now then..." He stroked his chin and smiled. "The next challenge is figuring out how to lure Mr Ryo Yagami over."
His grin widened.
"Loki, oh, Loki... good thing I planted you inside the Three Factions. Whether Ryo takes the bait or not depends entirely on you."
"Though he's probably still angry with me because Azi Dahaka didn't end up in his hands."
Indra shrugged. "But not that it matters. With Samael around, those Evil Dragons are practically worthless anyway. I might as well hand all those useless dragons over to him and let him command them. I doubt he'll refuse a favor like this."
Having reached a decision, Indra immediately activated a secret communication channel connected to "Loki."
The moment the line connected, he declared dramatically, "Loki! My future is in your hands!"
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