After a brief moment of stunned silence, Mata narrowed her eyes and gave the white-haired boy a teasing yet dangerous look. "So, what are you gonna do now?"
"I surrender."
The melancholy-looking boy flashed a friendly smile and slowly raised both hands, making it clear that he was perfectly willing to be handcuffed.
He was saying the right thing, but considering the timing and that expression on his face, Mata seriously suspected that she was the one being threatened here.
"This brat…"
Mata's expression hardened as she studied Kalki thoughtfully.
This personality didn't match the intelligence reports at all.
Was he a fake? Or had the Kalki described in the reports been nothing more than a deliberate disguise?
"Aren't you going to force me to come with you?" Ryo, disguised as Kalki, sauntered forward with a smile that practically dripped with mischief. "Or are you afraid of Krishna? Afraid of Kurma? Or perhaps you're worried that the one backing you, Shakyamuni, might take offense?"
'Crazy.'
The same word surfaced in both Mata and Rin's minds at exactly the same time.
In Little Garden, openly calling out the true names of Two-Digit beings was practically guaranteed to draw their attention.
And more importantly, "Kalki" had just exposed one backer behind Ouroboros.
Quite a few people in the upper layers of Little Garden already knew about it, but no one had ever been foolish enough to say it outright.
Nobody wanted to offend a Two-Digit.
At the same time, nobody wanted to get dragged into a struggle between Two-Digits and end up serving as someone else's pawn.
Still, Mata had to admit that Kalki had played this card beautifully.
With the attention of those Two-Digits inevitably being drawn here, she and Shiva really didn't dare do anything to Kalki.
Even the slightest move would have to take the opinions of those beings into consideration.
Whether those opinions actually mattered was another question entirely. What mattered was that Mata had to make it clear that she respected whatever those beings might decide.
'Fuck.'
Mata cursed inwardly.
That soft little pushover she had thought would be easy to deal with had somehow turned into a porcupine, and every angle was now covered in spikes.
At that moment, Ryo took another step forward. He was still smiling, but his tone was openly mocking. "Oh, I see. So even the Heavenly Army likes to bully the weak and fear the strong?"
The instant he finished speaking, he felt pressure against the back of his neck.
Ryo immediately stopped moving.
He stopped talking, too.
A lazy female voice sounded beside his ear.
"Are young people really this arrogant these days?"
At some point, Shiva had appeared behind Ryo.
Her right hand rested lightly on his shoulder, while the black-painted nails of her fingers gently scraped across the skin of his neck.
Her nails weren't particularly sharp, but they still left pale marks across his skin.
At the same time, an overwhelming sensation of suffocation descended upon him, as though he had suddenly sunk into an unfathomably deep ocean.
Countless black tentacles wrapped around his entire body, as if they were about to tear him apart and devour him whole.
Shiva gently leaned closer until her face was almost against Ryo's cheek. Her voice remained soft and languid. "Did you really think their attention alone would be enough to keep you alive? If I actually wanted to kill you, one finger would be enough."
Her black-painted nail lightly scraped against his skin.
A sharp scraping sound rang out, accompanied by a shower of sparks.
With a series of sharp cracks, Ryo forcibly broke free of the restraint and turned his head.
For an instant, his lips nearly brushed against Shiva's cheek. "Whether it'll keep me alive or not, I can't say. But I do think what you're doing is pretty dangerous."
"Sun Authority of Leo?"
Shiva frowned as she examined the fine cracks spreading across her nail polish. Her expression turned slightly dejected.
"What a hassle. I didn't even get my appearance fee, and now I've ruined my nail polish for nothing. This stuff takes forever to apply."
As she spoke, the arm around Ryo's neck tightened ever so gently.
The motion was gentle.
The effect was anything but.
Ryo felt as though his entire body were about to be torn into pieces.
It was as if invisible abyssal maws were biting down on his limbs from every direction.
"Shiva." Mata's warning voice rang out.
The invisible pressure vanished immediately.
Shiva returned to the sofa, propping up her cheek with one hand while using the other to wipe away the thin white line of moisture that Ryo's lips had left on her face.
Once she had cleaned herself up, Shiva lazily looked toward Ryo.
"Looks like I narrowly survived." Without a word, Ryo relaxed his hands, which had nearly been pressed together in a prayer. "These older ladies really do make it hard for little boys to keep up."
"My apologies, then." Shiva lazily climbed to her feet and sat sideways. "So, are you ready to come with us now?"
Ryo paused and glanced at Rin behind him.
Mata immediately understood what he was thinking.
"Our only target is you. As for the others, whether they live or die is irrelevant to us."
The implication was obvious.
If "Kalki" went with them willingly, they would let Rin go.
After a brief pause, Mata continued with a smile that was almost impossible to read. "Don't worry. Given the current circumstances, nothing will happen to you once you go to the Heavenly Army. In fact, you could say it's the safest option."
"Of course, you'll inevitably be placed under house arrest. But being confined in the Heavenly Army might not necessarily be a bad thing." Mata's smile became meaningful. "You should know, there are quite a few beauties in the Heavenly Army. Rakshasa, for instance, is hardly the only one."
Ryo sighed. "Do you really think that line is going to work on someone who's been alive for less than a year?"
After a moment, he suddenly became serious. "Of course, I have considered seeing what the Heavenly Army's food is like, and getting a feel for the local culture at headquarters. Since I have the chance this time, maybe I could…"
"The food is terrible," Shiva casually interrupted. "Surya steals the food budget to buy alcohol every day."
"Ah…" Ryo froze for a moment. "Then maybe I'll just go take a look around and experience the local culture…"
"Ever since Indra sent the Moon Rabbit down to the lower layers, nobody's been keeping an eye on his c. It relieves itself all over the scenic areas at Heavenly Army headquarters every day. And since the headquarters is ridiculously hot, everything gets baked dry almost immediately. I have to put a barrier around myself every time I go in or out."
Shiva paused, then added, "Of course, if you consider that a form of scenery, I have no objections. Just don't expect me to take you sightseeing. My shoes aren't thick enough. I'd step in it."
Ryo stared silently at Shiva.
Then he spoke with complete seriousness. "Fine. Then I want to see beautiful women. At the very least, I want to see their bare thighs."
Shiva lazily reached out, lifted the hem of her elaborate black skirt, and revealed a long, snow-white leg. "Go ahead and look. Once you've had enough, please stay here."
Ryo fell silent.
With Mata watching him from the side with an amused, knowing smile, he finally asked, "Why are you trying to stop me from going with the Heavenly Army?"
"I don't want my pay docked." Shiva's voice was filled with weary resignation.
Ryo: "???"
'What does your paycheck have to do with me?'
"If you insist on going to the headquarters, I'll be responsible for keeping watch over you. You'll definitely try to escape. There's a chance I won't be able to catch you, and then Indra will dock my pay because I failed to do my job."
"And then my perfect record of completing every assignment will have a blemish on it. Once I have a blemish, my rates for private jobs will go down. That would be such a pain…"
Shiva sounded like a thoroughly exhausted working professional.
Ryo was silent for a moment, then asked with a smile, "Then what if I escape while Mata's guarding me?"
"Deal!"
Shiva immediately jumped to her feet.
Mata: "???"
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