"Come on, Karyou, let's grab the flag first."
Aslan looked up, shielding his eyes from the sunlight with his right hand, squinting at the flag fluttering atop the fortress. A flag with a red base, golden edges, and a pattern of hills with a rising sun and a girl, swaying in the breeze.
Sure enough, Arcadia's flag was standing so blatantly atop the fortress? Ouroboros was more arrogant than he'd imagined.
"Alright." Karyou nodded slightly. She had no objections to his plan. After all, her purpose for coming was simply to be by his side, to prevent Aslan from being ambushed or killed due to his lack of combat experience.
She stepped forward slightly, and the moment Aslan and she set foot in the area, they were already at the flagpole. As they reached for the flag, a golden spear crackling with lightning shot toward Aslan's hand at lightning speed.
"Sorry, though I really don't want to stop you from taking the flag, now's not the time for that." said a scruffy-looking man with a blue ponytail, dressed in a suit, as he pulled back his spear.
(Indra?)
Aslan was quietly shocked. As expected, this matter was too big—so big that the head of the Heavenly Army himself had shown up.
As for why he couldn't grab the flag on his first try, Aslan wasn't surprised. Or rather, it would've been strange if the flag could be taken so easily.
"Uncle, what's there to say? Ouroboros doesn't want to give it back?" Aslan asked Indra curiously. His current knowledge wasn't enough to figure out what Ouroboros had done to the flag.
But Aslan wasn't in a rush. The reason he dared to go straight for the flag was that there would be many "elders" here. And they all had some connection to Arcadia. If there were no issues, they usually wouldn't stop him from taking the flag. But if there were problems, they'd offer help by warning him.
His earlier action was more about seeking allies than grabbing the flag. And now, the biggest "big shot" in this Gift Game had shown up.
Indra, who once defeated Azi Dahaka, who held the Spirit Status of multiple Pantheons and the Twelve Divine Generals, single-handedly. Even after being ambushed by a revived Azi Dahaka, he still had the strength to retreat with the entire Heavenly Army.
Who knew how strong this old man really was? At least for Aslan right now, Indra was clearly someone he could rely on.
Indra glanced at him, saying nothing more. After taking a drag from his cigarette, he spoke casually.
"It's not that. Your flag is indeed here. Ouroboros left it here, but your flag is also a key part of unlocking Absolute Evil's seal."
"If you take the flag now, Azi Dahaka will most likely break free from his seal."
"Got it, kid? Don't act recklessly next time!"
Indra couldn't help but scold Aslan, though his tone was only tough on the surface. After all, Aslan was Kurousagi's comrade and Arcadia's heir. A little reprimand would help him learn.
"Alright, Uesugi, you stay by these two kids' side to protect them, so they don't get ambushed by people with bad intentions."
"I'm going to check if Ouroboros has tampered with the seal."
With that, Indra withdrew his Vasavi Shakti and left. Only Uesugi Kenshin remained, standing with arms crossed, eyes closed, resting.
His purpose here wasn't just to watch over these two juniors but also to prevent others from snatching the flag, which could cause issues with the seal.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
On the other side, at another entrance to the Gift Game.
Aslan, remotely controlling his consciousness, observed the people around him. Merlin, Aishelia, Lamia, and Maxwell. They didn't seem to have officially entered the game yet.
(Looks like he arrived just in time.)
"Thanks for your hard work, Ahriman." Aslan silently thanked the Mother of the Evil God in his heart. Multitasking was still quite challenging for him.
Ahriman was great in every way, but her lack of self-awareness was quite troublesome. Someone had to control her, or she'd easily lose form and turn into an unconscious virus.
Or rather, Angra Mainyu, as a Last Trial of Mankind, was more like a phenomenon than a being bearing this Spirit Status. The advantage was that it was extremely hard to kill, could be revived anytime as long as there was still a virus, and was highly concealable. The downside was that it needed constant control.
"No problem, as long as I can help you." Ahriman said in a weary tone. After all, in her current state, controlling Angra Mainyu was a massive mental drain for her.
She now only had a small amount of consciousness stored by Aslan in a Magic Card. Though she could recover slowly and didn't need to worry about losing it, a full Two-Digit-level consciousness couldn't be contained by the Magic Card Aslan had made.
"By the way, Ahriman, how long can you use your full power, and what level of strength can you achieve in this situation?"
Aslan needed to assess his current trump card, thinking about how to cause trouble for the greatest benefit.
"At most, three minutes before I need to rest. As for the combat strength I can display now, maybe about 1.5 Indra."
The Mother of the Evil God estimated. Unlike the Mother of the Good God and Gaia, who excelled in research, worldviews, and power manipulation, she was more skilled in combat.
Since Little Garden was established, she had been fighting continuously, challenged by heroes and gods, never losing. She could be said to have borne all of Little Garden's negative elements alone, fighting the entire Little Garden single-handedly in the early days. She only rested after the Mother of the Good God sacrificed herself and Bahram's betrayal ensured the fate that justice would always prevail.
At the same Spirit Status level, Indra wouldn't last two rounds against her, even with Vasavi Shakti.
"Good grief, Indra's become a unit of power." Aslan now had a better understanding of the Mother of the Evil God's combat strength and others'. Most importantly, the strength she could display now. If she were at her peak… Aslan couldn't even imagine it.
The Mother of the Evil God had no ambition to dominate and only passively accepted challenges from other gods and heroes. Otherwise, it wouldn't be Shiroyasha who'd be the strongest Demon Lord.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
"Let's go, it's time to get to work." Maxwell said coldly after glancing at Aslan and the others. Without hesitation, he stepped into the game arena.
Lamia followed, while Aslan, Merlin, and Aishelia quietly hid.
Maxwell and Lamia seemed to have other tasks. Aslan and the others only needed to find Kalki.
Hearing the occasional loud noises around, the mushroom clouds rising from explosions, and the light pollution from various lightning and flames—it finally felt like a battlefield.
"Follow closely. Under the influence of so many authorities, the range of illusions I can protect is limited." Merlin warned. But Aslan and Aishelia didn't care much.
Aslan once again dissolved his body, turning into a viral concept or phenomenon, and hid. As long as he could split himself enough, no one could find him.
As for Aishelia, Hades' helm was always with her. The three didn't trust each other enough to stay within a safe distance.
"Alright, let's go. Based on the information Lamia left, the person we're picking up is about a thousand kilometers north."
This distance wasn't too far for Aslan and the others; a few minutes would suffice. After all, the game's range was one outer gate, equivalent to Earth's area. This distance wasn't much.
When Aslan and the others arrived at Kalki's location, Kalki was already surrounded by several figures with powerful auras, and he was even severely injured.
Kalki wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, standing in front of Rin and Jester.
"Sorry, though I can't find a reason to fight, I don't want to give up my life so easily."
But before Kalki could finish, a hammer crackling with lightning struck him directly.
"Who cares about you? We only know it's not time for a savior to be born." Said a giant, red-haired man. He pulled back the hammer in his hand, scratching his ear while looking at Kalki, gravely injured by his Mjolnir.
Thor, the main war god of Norse mythology, recorded to have sacrificed himself in the war against Dystopia. Aslan didn't know whose account this was.
"Little Garden hasn't reached the End of the World yet, Savior? Go back to your era!"
"Sure, if you want us to send you back, we can do that too."
As he spoke, Thor swung his hammer forcefully, stepping forward and aiming it at Kalki's head.
"Cross the sea of stars and bring the hero of the new era before me! Argo!"
A muscular man with long hair reaching the ground, reminiscent of a lion, summoned a wooden ship. Upon closer inspection, the ship resembled a hero.
Heracles, the strongest warrior from Greece, had come to this Gift Game to protect the newly reborn Arcadia and to retrieve Arcadia's flag.
The wooden ship vanished from Heracles' hands. Argo of Aries, proof of a hero and also the Aries Sun Authority. Using the Aries Sun Authority to whisk away Kalki, who was about to be crushed by Thor, along with Jester and Rin whom he was protecting, wasn't difficult.
"Thor, what are you doing attacking a child who was just born?" Heracles shielded Kalki behind him, mocking.