"They should have participated in a Gift Game that required memory erasure."
Aishelia said after a moment of thought. Normally, Little Garden's rules protected a person's free will, emotions, and memories.
Even if one lost a Gift Game and became another's slave, the victor couldn't interfere with their will, thoughts, or memories.
Free will was also protected by Little Garden's Central Core.
Only Gift Games could possibly affect one's will—besides subtle environmental influences.
"It seems that unknown Demon Lord's Host Master Authority is related to memory?"
"Hard to say. At least, I've never heard of a Host Master Authority related to memory."
Shiroyasha shook her head, rejecting Aishelia's speculation.
Due to Little Garden's rules, free will was protected. Any Authority related to charm, memory, thought, or even the soul would be restricted.
No one would bother creating a Gift Game where participants forgot the content after joining.
Even if so, the contract terms of the Gift Game should still be remembered.
Not that all memories would vanish completely.
"Then, is there a possibility they didn't participate in a Gift Game at all?"
Aslan stroked his chin and proposed an idea that seemed fantastical.
But this wasn't a fantastical idea—it was a speculation he made based on available information, combined with his prior understanding of Little Garden.
All Three-Digit Divinities, except Queen Halloween's, were equal.
That meant in Little Garden, although there were differences among Three-Digits, the gap wouldn't be too great.
At minimum, the upper and lower limits of all Three-Digits were nearly the same.
And Arcadia, as a community that once faced Absolute Evil—the being that challenged millions of gods and buddhas, Aži Dahāka—
Each of its members could almost be said to have experienced countless battles. Even if they lost eighty percent of their combat strength, they wouldn't be destroyed so easily.
It wouldn't be difficult to buy time and spread the news, right?
It wouldn't become a mystery even the direct victims couldn't remember.
So, there was only one most likely answer: they broke the rules.
Rules are always made by the strong to bind the weak. The strong never intend to follow the rules.
The rules of Little Garden were made by the strong, so those who made the rules wouldn't possibly allow themselves to be bound by them.
With Canaria's intelligence, as long as things remained within the rules, even in an uneven situation, as long as basic rules existed, there was still room to maneuver.
What did intelligent people like Canaria fear most?
What she feared most was when others didn't follow the rules—when they destroyed everything that resisted, then erased their memories.
Precisely because of Little Garden's rules, the weak had a chance to defeat the strong through intelligence.
But once the rules no longer applied... the weak would forever remain weak, with no possibility at all of defeating the strong.
Under such an almost absolute power difference, it was natural they'd fall into despair.
"No... that's impossible, right?"
Aishelia fell silent. She felt as if her worldview had shattered and been rebuilt.
In Little Garden, was there anyone who didn't follow Little Garden's Central Core's rules?
Four-Digits who broke rules were immediately punished. If a Three-Digit broke rules, Decadence would instantly occur.
Two-Digits, merely by appearing in Little Garden, would immediately attract Decadence.
"And wasn't the Moon Rabbit with Jury Authority still in No Name (Arcadia)? How could there be a violation?"
The Moon Rabbit's ears were connected to Little Garden's Central Core. That meant as long as a Moon Rabbit existed, even cheating was impossible—Little Garden's Central Core would immediately expose it.
Hearing Aishelia's words, which sounded as if her worldview had collapsed, Aslan only smiled.
If everyone followed the rules, if all Divinities were equal, then why did people still chase achievements?
Why did so many "omniscient and omnipotent" gods from the outer world come to Little Garden?
Was it just to put shackles on themselves?
Or to pursue higher realms and greater power?
Three-Digits could already be "omniscient and omnipotent"—why still strive for Two-Digit?
Not to mention the top Two-Digit figures were chasing One-Digit.
Even on the Christian side, because monotheism couldn't be applied, they were already prepared and planning to destroy Little Garden and rebuild Little Garden and human history to allow monotheism.
Were they following the rules?
Even after coming to Little Garden, Aslan only believed in one sentence: whoever has the greatest power holds the truth.
It could only be said that this knight was still a bit too naive.
But it was understandable—Aishelia was a representative trained by Athena. And representatives only participated in games that followed the rules.
In places that didn't follow rules, who would send a representative? If rules didn't apply, wouldn't they fight together?
"It is indeed possible."
Shiroyasha sighed. If it was truly as Aslan said, then it would be difficult.
After all, only Two-Digits could block Little Garden's Central Core and conduct illegal games.
However, the difficulty with Two-Digit existence was that Shiroyasha currently couldn't do anything—unless she was truly willing to tear everything apart.
But to tear everything apart, she'd first have to face her two bosses, Alpha and Omega, and the Enlightened One, Śākyamuni.
These three Two-Digits would hold her back when she tried to destroy everything.
"Unless there's absolute proof it was done by one of the Cosmic Truths, otherwise I can't do anything."
Shiroyasha sighed and said. She had lost too much, and her limitations were too great.
"No wonder Leticia became so pessimistic."
Aslan looked at Leticia, standing still like a doll, and sighed.
It was even highly possible that not only Arcadia was destroyed this way.
Even past vampire clans might have been destroyed this way.
What?
You used the rules to build a system independent of divine and buddhist protection?
You even used the rules to elevate your status to equal that of divine groups?
Then it's time for you to see the true rules of Little Garden.
Aslan even suspected that when Kasukabe Koumei fought Absolute Evil, he might have been cheated this way too.
"But if so, I need to think about your safety."
Shiroyasha looked at Aslan, paused for a moment, then spoke somewhat helplessly.
After all, Aslan was her god's follower, and the talent she admired most.
If she kept leaving him in No Name as bait, the outcome might not be good.
Better to keep him by her side and train quietly—but that was too embarrassing.
Shiroyasha felt extremely frustrated and stressed. Even when she divided her Sun Authority, she'd never felt this upset.