Chapter 103. Scaramouche's Usual Attitude
Now, Signora regarded Azar and the other Sages with nothing but contempt.
In her eyes, they were simply too foolish.
A man who bore the title of Great Sage should have possessed wisdom worthy of the name, yet Azar treated everyone around him as though they were ignorant fools.
The irony was almost laughable.
It amused her, but it also left her exasperated.
He was simply too blinded by his own arrogance.
"Futsu Mitama isn't nearly as simple as you think," Signora said coolly.
"Ever since he arrived in Sumeru City, he's undoubtedly been planning something troublesome. You've dealt with him yourself, so you should understand exactly how difficult he is to handle. Do you honestly believe he's someone who can be reasoned with?"
Azar's expression turned slightly stiff.
He had to admit that Futsu Mitama was anything but easy to negotiate with. If anything, the young man had been overwhelmingly forceful, showing him not the slightest courtesy.
Of course, Azar also understood why.
Futsu Mitama had come to Sumeru for Lesser Lord Kusanali.
He had never come for the Great Sage.
The title of Sage might command respect within the Akademiya, but in terms of status, it could not even compare to one of an Archon's family—much less someone like Futsu Mitama, whose standing already surpassed theirs and who was destined to inherit the mantle of an Archon.
Still, Azar had spent too little time dealing with him to grasp the full extent of his character.
He merely snorted.
"It doesn't matter whether he's easy to deal with or not. As long as he remains quietly in Sumeru City and doesn't interfere with our affairs—Then everything will proceed as planned."
He turned toward Signora, a faint sneer appearing on his face.
"Or are you saying... you'd rather have Futsu Mitama come looking for you?"
Signora immediately fell silent.
Have Futsu Mitama seek her out?
That would be no different from asking for her death.
Dottore had already informed her that Futsu Mitama possessed the Anemo Gnosis.
The very reason she remained in Sumeru was to seize it from him. But she had no illusions about her own strength.
Setting aside whether she could defeat Futsu Mitama himself—
She wasn't even confident she could overcome the two maids who never left his side.
Among that entire group, the only opponent Signora believed she could defeat with absolute certainty was the ninja girl.
As for the other two, whether it was the Adeptus disciple Shenhe or the Divine Priestess Sangonomiya Kokomi of Watatsumi Island, she could not confidently claim victory against either of them.
According to the intelligence she had received, both possessed strength on par with her own. While she carried the authority of the Cryo Archon, they each possessed comparable means of their own. Defeating either of them would be anything but easy.
Crossing her arms, La Signora regarded Azar with undisguised disdain.
"I have no desire for Futsu Mitama to come looking for me," she said coldly. "But I understand him far better than you do."
"He may appear to be doing nothing, but behind the scenes, he has almost certainly already set something in motion. I advise you to stay vigilant. The Fatui have suffered enough losses at his hands to learn that lesson well."
"As for you—" Her icy gaze settled on Azar. "I only hope you don't ruin everything at the most critical moment."
This was not mockery, but a genuine warning born from experience. As his enemy, no one understood how troublesome Futsu Mitama could be better than the Fatui Harbingers.
Had he been stirring up chaos throughout Sumeru City, she would have cursed him outwardly while secretly feeling relieved.
Instead, he had spent the past three days wandering the city as though he were merely sightseeing, making no suspicious moves whatsoever.
That was precisely what unsettled her.
It was unlike him.
Which meant he was almost certainly plotting something in secret—something neither she nor the Akademiya had yet discovered.
"Hmph."
Azar merely snorted without arguing. Deep down, however, he shared the same concern. The closer they came to success, the more he feared something would go wrong.
And then there was Faruzan.
She had already aligned herself with Futsu Mitama, and after leaving the Akademiya, no one knew what she intended to do.
To be honest, Azar had always admired her. Even when he was still a young scholar, Faruzan had already been a legendary figure within the Akademiya.
A full century.
No one knew how she had endured those hundred years. Yet even after all that time, her wisdom and reputation remained among the very best in the modern Akademiya.
If she chose this moment to stir up trouble, it would become an enormous headache.
Fortunately, reputation alone was not enough.
The Faruzan of today was no longer the Faruzan of a hundred years ago. Her old network of colleagues and disciples had long since disappeared, scattered by the passage of time.
Had it been the Senior Faruzan of a century earlier, with countless scholar friends standing beside her, Azar and the other Sages would have been thrown into complete disarray.
But that era had already passed.
"Wait."
La Signora's eyes suddenly narrowed as realization struck her.
She fixed Azar with a sharp stare.
"Lesser Lord Kusanali—Buer. What's her current situation?"
Azar's expression changed immediately.
For the past few days, all of his attention had been consumed by the God Creation Project. In his excitement, he had completely neglected that so-called useless Archon.
Only now did he suddenly remember.
Futsu Mitama's true objective had always been Lesser Lord Kusanali. His group had spent these three days acting with suspicious leisure.
Could it be—
Were they planning to secretly rescue her?
A chill ran through Azar's spine.
Without hesitation, he pressed a hand against his modified Akasha Terminal.
Three days earlier, after Futsu Mitama's group had repeatedly questioned him about why they were forbidden from meeting Lesser Lord Kusanali, Azar had been genuinely frightened.
He had feared that Futsu Mitama would simply ignore reason altogether, storm the Sanctuary of Surasthana, and free her by force.
Publicly, Azar constantly dismissed Lesser Lord Kusanali as an incompetent Archon unworthy of Sumeru's title of God of Wisdom.
Privately—
He was terrified of her.
He had already witnessed firsthand the overwhelming might possessed by true gods.
If Lesser Lord Kusanali were released and sought revenge against the Akademiya and Sumeru itself, they would have no means of resisting her.
It was for that reason that, on the very night Futsu Mitama confronted him, Azar had secretly modified his Akasha Terminal, granting himself direct surveillance over the Sanctuary of Surasthana.
Buzz.
The image appeared.
Everything inside the Sanctuary was exactly as it should be. Nahida remained quietly within, motionless and peaceful.
Azar finally released the breath he had been holding. Suppressing the lingering anxiety in his heart, he looked toward La Signora with feigned composure.
"You're worrying over nothing. Lesser Lord Kusanali hasn't escaped."
Having relied on the Akasha System for years, Azar trusted it absolutely. He refused to believe it could ever deceive him.
"Still there—"
La Signora frowned.
She had been certain Futsu Mitama's objective was to rescue Lesser Lord Kusanali.
Yet three days had already passed. Buer remained imprisoned within the Sanctuary exactly as before. So what, exactly, were Futsu Mitama and his companions preparing?
Or perhaps—
What were they waiting for?
The uncertainty gnawed at her nerves.
Neither La Signora nor Azar spoke again.
The atmosphere grew noticeably heavier.
La Signora could not decipher Futsu Mitama's intentions.
Azar, meanwhile, worried that this prolonged calm was nothing more than a carefully crafted illusion—one designed to lull them into lowering their guard before delivering a devastating surprise.
"It doesn't matter."
A confident, arrogant voice suddenly echoed through the chamber.
"They're all just ants. No matter what they do, it's meaningless."
Both Azar and La Signora turned simultaneously.
At some point, Scaramouche had already entered the room.
"Isn't the experiment still underway?" La Signora asked, her brows knitting together. "Why are you out here? You should be synchronizing with Shouki no Kami, the Prodigal."
Scaramouche's sudden appearance only deepened her irritation. Their side was already at a disadvantage in terms of combat strength, yet instead of completing the final integration, he had wandered off.
Azar's expression also darkened.
"Why are you here? The experiment hasn't finished yet. Why leave the machine?"
Shouki no Kami, the Prodigal—the Everlasting Lord of Arcane Wisdom.
It was an artificial god constructed through the combined efforts of all six Darshans of the Akademiya, possessing power comparable to that of a genuine Archon.
Although it already possessed divine power, it had yet to receive its Divine Knowledge.
At present, Shouki no Kami was nothing more than an incomplete god—a vessel overflowing with divinity but lacking true wisdom.
Even so, Azar was thoroughly satisfied.
Once the expedition in the desert recovered the Divine Knowledge—
A true god would finally be born.
He had assumed Scaramouche would obediently remain inside the machine until that moment arrived. Instead, the puppet had casually walked away.
If Futsu Mitama appeared right now and crushed him before the integration was complete, wouldn't everything be ruined?
"Are you teaching me how to do things?"
Scaramouche smiled.
It was an extraordinarily brilliant smile.
Purple lightning flashed across his eyes as an overwhelming divine pressure erupted from his body. Even detached from the machine, the aura surrounding him rivaled that of a true Archon (Demon God).
"!!"
Azar's legs nearly gave way beneath him.
Shock and anger flashed across his face. Yet almost immediately, both emotions transformed into uncontrollable excitement.
Even separated from Shouki no Kami—
This puppet forged by the Electro Archon still retained the power of a god?
Magnificent.
Simply magnificent.
The Divine Knowledge had not even been installed yet, and he already possessed such terrifying strength.
In an instant, Azar completely forgave Scaramouche's disrespect.
The stronger Scaramouche became— The stronger the Akademiya became.
Hahahahaha!
Even without Dottore—
The Akademiya now possessed someone capable of standing against Futsu Mitama.
His heart overflowed with exhilaration. For the first time in days, the enormous weight pressing upon him seemed to vanish.
La Signora, however, responded differently.
Frost quietly gathered around her as the authority of the Cryo Archon spread outward, colliding head-on with the divine pressure emanating from Scaramouche.
"Oh?"
Scaramouche's eyes glimmered with violet light. The divine aura surrounding him intensified once more.
This time, he ignored Azar entirely.
His pressure was directed solely at La Signora.
An indescribable weight descended upon her shoulders, causing her body to tremble ever so slightly.
"That's enough, Scaramouche."
La Signora refused to retreat. Grinding her teeth, she glared back at him.
"Don't push your luck."
Scarlet flames flickered around her. She was genuinely angry.
"Heh~"
Scaramouche chuckled.
He withdrew his divine pressure. If he continued pressing her, the woman would truly lose control.
Although he was confident he could kill her, she was still a useful tool. There was no reason to dispose of her before she had served her purpose.
Besides—
If he killed her now, Dottore would undoubtedly have something to say about it.
La Signora slowly released a quiet breath. Fixing him with an icy stare, she asked,
"What exactly do you want?"
Truthfully, she had never expected Scaramouche's strength to increase so dramatically after the experiment.
If he had truly intended to kill her just now— She wasn't certain she could have survived.
The God Creation Project had not merely created a divine vessel. It had elevated his strength by leaps and bounds.
The realization left her deeply shaken.
In barely half a year—
Scaramouche had stepped into the realm of the gods.
If he returned to Snezhnaya now, even his rank among the Fatui Harbingers would likely be raised.
"What do I want?" Scaramouche folded his arms and shrugged.
"I was bored. I've listened to the two of you talk long enough."
"So I decided to interrupt."
He glanced between Azar and La Signora with open amusement.
"Why are you both so afraid of Futsu Mitama? He's no longer my opponent. I can clearly feel my strength now."
As he spoke, a violent sphere of Electro energy condensed above his palm.
Arrogance radiated from every word.
Ever since his defeat in Inazuma half a year ago, he had remained in Sumeru, recovering from his injuries while participating in the God Creation Project.
With the Electro Gnosis continuously supplying divine energy, his strength had undergone a complete transformation.
Now—
He no longer regarded Futsu Mitama as a threat.
What a joke.
He had already surpassed him.
He... Had become a god.
Not even Beelzebul had the right to dictate his destiny anymore.
With that thought, Scaramouche crushed the crackling Electro sphere in his hand.
"I just heard that Futsu Mitama is in Sumeru City. Then I'll pay him a visit. I'd like to see whether he'll run away in fear after seeing me."
Before he could take another step, La Signora immediately spoke.
"You can't go. If you do, you're very likely to be killed by Futsu Mitama."
"Your intelligence is outdated. Futsu Mitama has already stepped into the realm of the gods."
"He also possesses the Anemo Gnosis. If you challenge him now, he'll kill you."
She did not doubt Futsu Mitama's strength in the slightest.
Even before reaching the level of a god, he had overwhelmed both her and Tartaglia with ease. Now that he had advanced even further—
His strength could only be more terrifying.
Otherwise, why had she released both Dehya and Faruzan three days earlier instead of taking them hostage?
It was because she understood exactly how terrifying Futsu Mitama could be.
Had she killed either of them or taken them away, she would almost certainly have provoked his full wrath.
La Signora was no fool.
She had no intention of overturning the entire board for the sake of fleeting satisfaction.
So she looked directly at Scaramouche and warned him one final time.
"Proceed carefully. Don't let arrogance blind you."
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