After stepping out of the room where Vali was being held, Azazel sighed, his mind filled with thoughts.
"The Infinite Dragon God… Ophis. Even she showed up here?"
Thinking back to what Vali had just told him, Azazel could not help feeling a headache coming on.
"First, calm down. According to Vali, Cao Cao defeated them and used the Dragon Eater to defeat the Infinite Dragon God Ophis, but Shadow suddenly appeared and stopped him.
In other words, the worst-case scenario, the Infinite Dragon God being captured and going completely berserk, is less likely now. The situation hasn't deteriorated to that point yet. But Vali doesn't know where the Infinite Dragon God went afterward…"
Pressing a hand to his forehead, Azazel carefully sorted through the situation Vali had described, rubbed his brow, and let out a deep sigh.
"Should I get someone else to take a look? But this already involves Shadow and the Infinite Dragon God, two of the world's strongest. Who even has the qualifications to help?
And unlike the Infinite Dragon God and Great Red, whose personalities are known to everyone, Shadow isn't some lazy good-for-nothing. If he made a move this time, he's probably been preparing for it for a long time, just waiting for the Infinite Dragon God to be heavily injured and weakened.
After all, monsters who can do whatever they want in this world through their own strength can only be restrained by others on the same level. The fewer of those exist, the better it is for them. Tsk…"
As he pieced everything together, Azazel's expression grew uglier. In the end, wasn't the key point still the Infinite Dragon God?
If anything, the situation had gotten even worse. Now Shadow had joined the list of those targeting the Infinite Dragon God's infinite power. With two of the world's strongest involved, even if they gathered every faction they could, one misstep could wipe them all out. The risk had only grown!
"So… where exactly is the Infinite Dragon God?"
Muttering to himself, Azazel absentmindedly walked in the direction he had been given earlier.
The more someone understood this incident, and the broader their perspective, the clearer they were on what mattered most right now.
Without question, it was the Infinite Dragon God. Shadow and the Hero Faction both wanted her dead, but if what Vali said was true, then the Infinite Dragon God absolutely could not die right now.
If she died at Shadow's hands, then Shadow, already one of the world's strongest, would become even more unrestrained. One of the few forces capable of making him hesitate would disappear.
If she was captured by the terrorists of the Hero Faction, it might look as though nothing had changed, but there was a difference between an Infinite Dragon God controlled by the Hero Faction and allowed to run wild, and an Infinite Dragon God who merely served as a mascot and at most handed out a few items.
"What a pain. No wonder Natsuki Minamiya agreed so easily to let me meet Vali."
His expression darkened. Before, Natsuki Minamiya had been the one worrying about how to contact the major factions. Now that problem had fallen to him. Worse, he really was more qualified than Natsuki Minamiya to discuss this with the other factions.
"But the problem is…"
Where the hell is the Infinite Dragon God? Who knows?!
Azazel did not say the second half aloud, because he had already reached the destination he had been walking toward. Through the glass, he saw the young man standing near the door, talking to a blue-haired loli in a maid outfit, while a blonde girl in a nun's habit occasionally added a comment from the side.
Although the young man was the reason Azazel had come to this room, his attention was not on those three right now. Instead, it fell on the silent loli lying on the sofa, whose once well-fitting clothes were now bulging, and the other loli crouched in the corner, who looked like her twin.
"The Infinite Dragon God… and there are two of them!?"
...
"Order acknowledged. Beginning report…"
The girl's mechanical voice rang out, drawing Cid's attention to Astarte.
"After Astarte followed Cid's order and returned with the food, Astarte specifically pointed out to Asia the portion of food Cid had set aside.
After that, while Astarte sat down to eat the food Cid gave to Astarte, Lilith opened the food Cid had specifically marked. This attracted Ophis, who tried to take it. When Lilith refused, Ophis used force and took all the food."
"That's not what happened!"
A clear young voice interrupted Astarte's report. Asia shook her head, pointed at Lilith, and spoke to Astarte.
"It's true that Ophis-chan was wrong to use force, but Ophis-chan was the one who picked that bento first. Lilith-chan swapped it afterward, so this wasn't all Ophis-chan's fault…"
"But according to the rule, each person gets one portion. Ophis gave her food to Lilith, then changed her mind afterward and wanted it back. So this matter is Lilith's fault alone."
Astarte shook her head and rejected Asia's defense entirely. When she had distributed the food, she had repeated Cid's original words from the start.
"No, you can't put it that way. Ophis-chan only gave it away because Lilith-chan tricked her first."
Asia stared wide-eyed at Astarte, not expecting to be denied. No matter how she looked at it, this was obviously Lilith's fault for tricking Ophis out of her food, then refusing to share and trying to eat it all herself.
"But Lilith did not violate the rules. Cid said one portion per person. Ophis gave hers away and then regretted it, so it is Ophis's fault."
"You. How can you be so unreasonable?!"
"Unable to understand. But those are the rules Cid stated, so Lilith did nothing wrong."
The sound of the two inexplicably arguing made Cid unable to resist rolling his eyes. Was this for real? Asia, you could actually get into an argument with a robot? And Astarte, you were a robot, yet somehow stubborn enough to argue with Asia?
"Don't just start arguing on your own…"
Faced with one being stubborn and the other being rigid, Cid worked very hard to suppress the urge to make comments in his head. He pulled the two apart, quieting them down and making them look at him.
"All right. No matter how we handle this, I should be the one judging Ophis and Lilith, not you two…"
As he spoke, Cid pressed his hands onto their heads and ruffled their hair.
"Mm. I'm sorry, Cid-san."
Asia responded, but she still looked at Astarte with a displeased expression. Clearly, she still did not like Astarte directly saying Ophis was at fault. This was a daughter tricking her mother!
"Order acknowledged. Understood."
Astarte spoke as usual, but she met Asia's gaze without the slightest intention of backing down. Her logic was correct, so why should she avoid Asia?
"You two…"
Cid spoke helplessly. He never would have imagined that Asia and Astarte's personalities could actually clash like this. Still, he did not pay it much mind and walked over to Ophis, who was lying on the sofa with her round belly sticking out.
"Ophis…"
Cid's faint voice reached Ophis's ears. The shadow cast over her made Ophis open her eyes, which had looked as though they were about to drift shut, and she saw Cid looking down at her from above.
Ophis tilted her head, her usual expressionless face unchanged. From her look alone, no one could tell she had just beaten up her own daughter and stolen all the food.
"Sniff, sniff…"
As she silently stared at Cid, Ophis seemed to smell something. Her nose twitched, and she clung to Cid.
"What are you doing?"
Cid blinked and looked at Ophis hanging onto him, then asked in confusion.
"Cid, you smell good."
"Huh?"
Ophis said it in a dazed, adorable way, and her words successfully stunned Cid. Could it be…
"Cid, delicious."
Do you have a dog's nose? How is your sense of smell that sharp?!
Seeing Ophis's puzzled eyes, Cid thought for a moment and completely blocked off every trace of his aura.
"Huh? The smell is gone?"
With the scent gone, Ophis looked at Cid in confusion, seemingly unable to understand how the smell on him had vanished in an instant.
"If it's gone, then it's gone. Ophis, have you noticed any changes in your body?"
Cid smoothly changed the subject. He had no choice. Right now, Ophis was probably instinctively treating him as some kind of food, to the point where her instincts were nearly taking over.
"My body… changes?
…I feel a special sense of satisfaction here. Like… returning to eternal silence."
Ophis paused, thought carefully about Cid's question for a while, then stroked her round belly and spoke with satisfaction.
"Oh, right. Cid, I learned how to manage my daughter."
As if suddenly remembering something, Ophis excitedly pointed at Lilith, who was still crouched in the corner and seemed to have sensed the movement over here. Like a child trying to prove herself to her parents, she raised her thin arm, which fit her small body perfectly, and clenched her fist.
"As long as I punch my daughter on the head, she'll obediently listen to me."
Ophis said this with great pride, completely failing to notice that the moment Lilith saw her fist, she turned her head away, trembling as she covered the large bump on her head and crouched defensively.
"Uh, Ophis…"
If you keep doing that, I'm worried she'll defect to Great Red and kill you…
Cid did not say the second half, because the sound of footsteps behind him told him someone had arrived.
"Huh? Uncle Azazel?"
"We meet again, Cid Kagenou. And…"
Cid turned around. What appeared before him was a sloppy middle-aged man with a roguish smile. He was clearly greeting Cid, yet his gaze was looking past him.
That's pretty rude, Uncle.
Right, Cid had met him yesterday. More accurately, the other party had approached him. He seemed to be the leader of a top faction, called Azazel, supposedly a top-level being whose name was recorded in the Bible. His strength was decent, but he still felt weaker than Ophis.
"Infinite Dragon God, Ophis."
Completely ignoring Cid, Azazel stared solemnly at Ophis, who had now stood up from the sofa. Lilith, crouched in the corner as if only now realizing what had happened, also stood up.
"Long time no see, Azazel."
Ophis gave Azazel a faint smile and nodded, greeting an acquaintance from the days when she had once walked the world.
"To be honest, seeing you this time is a real surprise. You used to be an old man, but now you're a beautiful girl. Two beautiful girls, no less. This isn't anything like what Vali told me.
Looks like Cao Cao and Shadow's plan against you failed. You don't look heavily injured at all."
Azazel spoke calmly, using a tone that made it sound as though he was very familiar with Ophis. It seemed he understood Ophis's personality well, so he was boldly probing for information.
"No. Cao Cao and the others succeeded. I was split into two by them. My infinite power was divided in half. My power… weakened."
Ophis glanced at Azazel, and because she sensed no hostility from him, she casually revealed the fact that she had been severely injured.
"Wow, but I can't tell at all. My instincts are still telling me that you're terrifyingly strong, Ophis. You probably wouldn't even need a second attack to beat me."
"Mm."
Ophis admitted it directly. She had no interest in lying. There was no need to hide the fact that she had weakened, because even weakened, she could still slap Azazel to death.
"Even half is that terrifying? In other words, she's…"
The "she" obviously referred to Lilith.
"The half I discarded."
"So, Ophis, you mean…"
Understanding what Ophis meant, Azazel looked toward Lilith standing in the corner, and a trace of heat appeared in his eyes. This was the young version of the Infinite Dragon God!
"Lilith. My daughter."
"Sorry."
Azazel immediately withdrew his gaze. He was still sensible enough. The Infinite Dragon God might have weakened, but that was only by the Infinite Dragon God's standards. Other than the top five in the world, perhaps only Shiva, the God of Destruction from Hindu mythology, had the qualifications to exchange a few moves with her.
"Lilith, huh? Sounds like a good name. So, Ophis, what do you plan to do next?"
"?"
"It looks to me like you could use a little help from us, Ophis."
Azazel showed a confident smile, ignoring the refusal Cid was signaling to him from the side. This was one of the world's strongest. Who would not be tempted?
"Let's join forces. Right now, Cao Cao and the others have split your infinite power in half, and while you're weakened, Shadow and the Hero Faction are watching you the whole time. Joining forces with us is a very good idea, don't you think?"
"…I don't want to."
After a moment of silence, Ophis shook her head.
"What's the harm in trying? Once you arrive, I'll make sure…"
Before he could finish speaking, Azazel stopped.
Because Ophis had raised one hand.
It was an extremely slender hand, yet in Azazel's eyes, it had become the scythe of death.
So here was a question: to experts below the level of a Dragon God, did a weakened Ophis mean the threat had decreased, or that her power had decreased?
The answer was, she had become even more dangerous.