"F—K YOU! I'll never tell you any—AAAAAAAHHHHH... I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"
The moment Bokue's fingers closed around the monkey's skull like gripping a basketball, Bikou's bravado from one second ago instantly crumbled.
Ten seconds later, he sat cross-legged on top of the coliseum wall, perfectly behaved. Even the fur on his tail had been smoothed down.
"Alright then—start answering my questions."
Bokue stood with his hands in his pockets, looking at the monkey whose entire strategy was "passive resistance."
"I hear you've been running with some organization called the Khaos Brigade?"
"...Huh?"
At the mention of "Khaos Brigade," everyone on the wall except the gothic-dressed little girl turned to look with expressions of varying significance.
Bikou only needed one glance to understand the situation. He hastily raised his hands, gesturing for everyone to calm down.
"Oh right, right—Le Fay, Arthur, I forgot to mention. This is that old acquaintance of mine. Vali's told you about him before."
"...I see."
Arthur pushed up his glasses and nodded lightly.
After all, they'd only heard Bikou and Vali mention this before. This was their first time actually meeting the person in question.
According to Bikou, the guy's personality wasn't actually bad—quite reasonable, even. But since he'd opened with questions about the Khaos Brigade, it was hard to say...
"Are you being wary of me?"
Just as Arthur was calculating his options, Bokue shifted his gaze and added flatly.
"There's really no need. If I actually wanted to kill you all, it would already be over."
"..."
Arthur could tell perfectly well that there was no threat in those words. It was simply a statement of fact.
"Okay, okay—back to the point."
Bikou jumped in at the crucial moment, steering the conversation back on track.
"You were asking about the Khaos Brigade? Yeah... that's right. It's like you said."
"Mm."
Bokue nodded.
"And I also heard your Khaos Brigade is connected to some Infinite Dragon God named Ophis?"
"Uh... that's our boss."
Bikou continued nodding obediently, then carefully pointed toward the gothic-dressed little girl still sitting with her back to everyone, legs swinging gently over the edge as she gazed down at the arena below, seemingly lost in thought.
"Right there."
"...?"
Bokue followed the direction and looked over, then slowly formed a question mark.
This tiny child—who looked about the same age as Yume, maybe even younger—was supposed to be the leader of the Khaos Brigade? The legendary Infinite Dragon God Ophis?
Then again, it wasn't entirely impossible.
After all, even Runeas—the First Generation Gremory from the same era as the original Bael tens of thousands of years ago—still looked like a young girl. Species not bound by lifespan tended to be rather casual about their appearances.
Even Bokue himself could do the same now if he wanted.
With that thought, he walked over and stopped behind Ophis. Under the nearly petrified gazes of Bikou, Arthur, and Le Fay, he reached his hands under the girl's arms and lifted her up like picking up a kitten or puppy.
Without question, just as her appearance suggested, she was extremely light. In Bokue's hands, she felt like a fluffy ball of cotton. She even let out a soft "Hm?" the moment she was lifted.
The next second, Bokue flipped the girl around to face him.
Their eyes met. Bokue raised an eyebrow.
"So you're the one who sent those Old Satan Faction people to cause trouble on my Itogami Island?"
"...Old Satan Faction?"
After what seemed like a moment of contemplation, a glimmer of understanding flickered through Ophis's void-black eyes.
"I do recall such a group. But I know not of the matter thou speakest. I merely shared the power of my 'snakes' with them—in exchange for them fulfilling my wish by achieving their own."
"What?"
The question marks above Bokue's head multiplied.
Honestly, he wasn't quite used to Ophis's archaic way of speaking... no, "archaic" didn't even cover it. This was straight-up antiquated.
Normal people spoke in plain, modern language. But Ophis sounded like she'd time-traveled from several centuries ago, speaking in what might as well be classical prose.
It wasn't that he couldn't understand her—it just took extra effort. Way too roundabout.
"Well~ let me translate."
Bikou sidled up at that moment, clearing his throat to explain.
"What Lady Ophis means is: she shares her power with certain people. By helping them achieve their wishes, she establishes contracts so they'll help her achieve her wish in return. As for what those people actually do with that power—Lady Ophis doesn't concern herself with that."
Much easier to understand.
Bokue returned his gaze to the girl before him.
"So what's your wish?"
"My wish... is to return to that tranquil dwelling place."
Ophis spoke softly.
Bokue immediately looked toward Bikou.
"Where's that?"
"Uh, to put it in terms that are easier to understand—the Dimensional Gap."
Hm?
Hearing "Dimensional Gap," Bokue furrowed his brow slightly in confusion.
That place was accessible to anyone at Demon Lord level. The mighty Infinite Dragon God couldn't get back there?
According to Ddraig and Albion, the Infinite Dragon God was far stronger than either of them at their peak—essentially the most powerful being in this world aside from Bokue himself. Even the Biblical God had feared Ophis's power.
"The hateful Great Red stole my dwelling place. Therefore, I must reclaim it."
Ophis suddenly added.
Great Red...
Another new name. Bokue was certain he'd never heard it before.
But setting aside what this "Great Red" actually was—if it could drive Ophis out of the Dimensional Gap, then at the very least, it had to rival her in power.
"Hss~ Are you kind of dumb?"
Bokue narrowed his eyes and leaned back slightly, looking at the gothic lolita before him.
Ophis tilted her head slightly, seemingly confused as well.
Bokue took a deep breath and explained.
"Since you're a Dragon God, you should be able to sense the difference in power between yourself and those Old Satan Faction people—including that Norse evil god Loki, right?"
"To put it bluntly, they don't even have one percent of your power. And Great Red is someone you can't defeat even at one hundred percent. So what makes you think that scattering your power among them will somehow help you beat Great Red?"
"Even Yhwach knew to use Auswählen to reclaim the power he'd distributed. How are you doing the opposite—giving all your power away? How is that supposed to work?"
"..."
Ophis fell silent for a moment at the young man's barrage of words. She lowered her head with a slight furrow of her brow, lips moving softly.
"But each of them solemnly vowed to me..."
"That was fake. They lied to you."
Bokue's merciless exposure.
"I-is that so..."
In that moment, the Infinite Dragon God seemed to understand for the first time in her existence that something called "deception" existed in this world.
Then Ophis raised her head again to look at the young man before her.
"But I can sense it—thou art strong. Far stronger than the hateful Great Red. With thy aid, I could surely..."
"Not interested."
"Please..."
The small girl tilted her face upward, reaching out to gently grasp the young man's wrist.
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