Chapter 166: The Unexpected Visitor

Events proved that Tatara was still a bit too early to be surprised.

When another cyan giant sword radiating a brilliant silver glow slowly emerged in the midair, echoing and opposing the previous crimson giant sword, the flaxen-haired Lock of the Red Clan widened his eyes in astonishment. He remained silent for a long while before turning his head with a feeble look toward Kurama—

"Is this what I think it means?"

His tone was weak.

The red-haired kitsune maintained a calm and unruffled expression, as if ever since that initial flash of surprise, his attention had not been captured at all by the two Damocles Swords suddenly appearing in the firmament.

"It is merely that the timing has been advanced slightly."

Though his reply seemed irrelevant to the question, it effectively served as an affirmative answer.

After a brief thought, seeing that Tatara still wore a helpless expression, the kitsune added kindly, "Rest assured, they know what they are doing."

Tatara: "…………"

……Heh.

Knowing what they were doing, my foot!

How much time had passed since the Blue King had a "secret discussion" with them through the terminal?! These two sides had already begun acting according to plan?!

What about the group previously sent to attack Hades and the others? Had they all been successfully captured?

And regardless of whether they were captured or not, Scepter 4 hadn't sent back a single piece of news... That simply defied logic!

"I thought they would at least wait until they had investigated the previous attack a little more thoroughly before taking action ==."

Tatara said with an "ah-haha" tone and a helpless look.

Kurama silently raised a hand to pat his shoulder, "I am afraid the Blue King wished to as well, but..."

But the Red King clearly had no intention of cooperating.

Catching the unspoken meaning in Kurama's words, the helplessness on Tatara's face immediately turned into a wry smile—because he had to admit that was most likely the truth.

Turning his head to gaze once more at the two giant swords standing apart in distant opposition across the sky, Tatara pressed his lips together. In the end, he let go of the faint worry and unease that had welled up in his heart upon seeing the dilapidated state currently exhibited by the Damocles Sword belonging to Suoh Mikoto, the Red King—

"Let us... go."

He spoke softly, as though urging departure, or perhaps as if building a barrier to isolate himself from something.

***

Later that day, Kurama and his group successfully settled into a hotel in the city center.

Not long after, they received, as expected though fashionably late, a communication from the Blue King, Munakata Reishi.

"Thirteen attackers; we have captured eight."

The calm and steady voice of the Blue King came through the terminal, carrying a trace of suppressed exasperation that Kurama did not miss.

The kitsune smiled softly.

"There are others plotting against this group as well."

He stated with a certain tone.

Munakata let out a silent sigh on the other end, "It is the Gold King."

That legendary king who had entrenched himself at the very core of the nation since the end of World War II, towering above everyone—including ordinary people and clansmen—with a sweeping gaze that transcended all conventional or unconventional political power.

Kurama had anticipated this long ago.

Therefore, he felt not the least bit surprised by the imperceptible trace of helplessness, or rather, powerlessness, in the Blue King's tone.

"Your Scepter 4 took the lion's share when it comes to capturing the attackers."

He said with a smile.

"From this, one can see the attitude of the Gold King toward this entire matter."

——Concerning the Silver King, Adolf K. Weismann, the Gold King, who shared an old friendship with him, naturally could not simply stand by and do nothing.

However, this Second King managed the degree of his intervention remarkably well. He appropriately demonstrated his attention to the situation without meddling excessively—at least on the surface, he maintained the recognition and... well, respect (?) for Scepter 4's leading role in the entire investigation and handling process.

"...Mm." Munakata came to his senses somewhat at this point.

Of course it was not that he hadn't considered these things, but rather that throughout the afternoon, minor and major matters had come in rapid succession. Even though some had been arranged beforehand, executing them in reality had proved quite mentally taxing for the Lord Blue King. The moment he finally relaxed, he immediately contacted Kurama and Tatara, leaving him no spare time to carefully ponder and reflect.

Now, gently "reminded" by Kurama's kind prompt, he quickly grasped the twists and turns involved, and the slightly furrowed brows between Munakata's eyes inevitably relaxed a little.

"However, whether it is Scepter 4 or the Gold King, I am afraid neither will be able to extract any useful intelligence from these attackers."

His voice carried a hint of a smile.

——It sounded as though he wasn't particularly surprised or troubled by coming away empty-handed?

Kurama raised an eyebrow.

Regardless of whether this was Munakata's genuine reaction or a deliberate posture, since His Majesty the Blue King had already stated his stance, Kurama had no need for any unnecessary reservations—though he hadn't intended to have any in the first place.

Curving his lips slightly, the kitsune reciprocated by briefly explaining to Munakata what had transpired earlier.

Upon hearing Kurama's account of the whole sequence of events, Munakata fell silent for a brief moment.

"I see."

His tone carried a hint of solemnity.

Kurama thought it made sense; if the victims of this attack had not been Hades and the others, but someone else entirely, given the ability the Colorless King had stumbled upon and newly mastered...

The consequences were truly unimaginable.

Blinking and listening to the silence that predictably fell over the terminal, Kurama reached out and handed the terminal—which originally belonged to Tatara—back to its owner:

"You must have a lot of questions to ask, right?"

Tatara returned a gentle smile to him.

Kurama nodded at him with a smiling gaze, pulled Hades—who was sitting silently to the side—over by the arm, and turned to walk toward the room belonging to Hypnosis. Speaking of which, during their call with the Blue King and the time leading up to it, the God of Sleep must have thoroughly "tended to" someone's split consciousness body once again, right?

"It wouldn't hurt to go verify the results."

The kitsune said with a beaming smile. As he knocked on Hypnosis's door, he also left the spacious living room entirely to Tatara alone.

***

Hypnosis's room was, naturally, decorated in a typical hotel style.

Although grandly called a luxury suite, it was impossible to completely redecorate it according to a guest's preferences in just a single night.

It did not matter, however; the God of Sleep was not a deity who cared about such trivialities.

To a certain god whose academic research persona was operating at full throttle, establishing a qualified laboratory required nothing more than a qualified experimental table.

Hypnosis was currently standing before a grayish-black, wide stone desk that clashed completely with the room's decor style, resembling an alchemist's table belonging to a wizard often found in Western fantasy stories. The table was covered in various potions and unknown materials, with tall stacks of thick, seemingly precarious books piled high on the corners. Facing a small white ball cowering in the corner of the table, he wore an enthusiastic smile so bizarre it sent a chill creeping straight up Kurama's spine from the soles of his feet—

Upon seeing this, the kitsune silently lit a symbolic candle in his heart for the Colorless King—

To be remembered in such a manner by the God of Sleep—dear classmate, you are on your own!

"Ah, Your Majesty, Kurama, you are here?"

Noticing the arrival of the two, Hypnosis instantly snapped out of his mad scientist state. He turned around and flashed an incomparably gentle and modest smile at Hades and Kurama—his face-changing skills were truly practiced and thorough!

Standing to the side, Thanatos couldn't help but raise a hand to silently cover his face.

One had to know that the God of Sleep, when engrossed in his research, was notoriously difficult to wake up.

Take just now, for instance: the knocking on the door by Kurama and Hades before entering—had Thanatos not happened to be inside Hypnosis's room, the God of Death would have deeply doubted whether his older brother could have regained consciousness before His Majesty grew impatient and responded to the two accordingly.

Though in Thanatos's view, his brother's little hobby wasn't really a major issue either! But still...

Silently stealing a glance at a certain Majesty who was wearing a very normal (?) expressionless face, Thanatos felt that if this continued, his brother would definitely suffer major and minor losses he had no business suffering...

At that exact moment, Hades looked back in their direction as if sensing something.

Caught red-handed in the act of stealing a glance, the God of Death hurriedly retracted his gaze and assumed a proper, upright posture... uh, stance ==.

Watching all of this unfold, Kurama secretly curved the corners of his mouth upward.

Acting as though he had noticed nothing at all, he shifted his gaze to the blonde God of Sleep, who had seen right through his younger brother's thoughts but had no intention whatsoever of exposing or comforting him:

"Judging by your appearance, your research has made progress once again?"

——It hadn't even been an afternoon yet, Hypnosis, you could certainly be even more efficient!

Hearing this, the God of Sleep, clearly having reaped a rich harvest, cast a meaningful glance toward the small white ball cowering in the corner of the table, whose originally overflowing white radiance had now dimmed to a flickering, unstable state...

"Obviously, yes."

He spoke in a "soft voice" brimming with delight.

It made Thanatos, standing nearby, involuntarily shiver.

Hypnosis gave him a faint glance.

"Because the main body could not be overstimulated, many of the methods I envisioned could not be employed. However, that does not matter. At this stage... as long as we achieve this level, it is already sufficient."

As he spoke, he reached out to take a neatly stacked pile of experimental records from beside the desk and casually handed them to Kurama.

The kitsune took them, flipped through them casually for a moment, and then placed the records back on the table with total indifference.

"So, the conclusion is?"

While it wasn't that he couldn't understand Hypnosis's experimental records, since the God of Sleep had already synthesized a set of conclusions, Kurama certainly didn't mind "sitting back and reaping the rewards."

His intention was so obvious and natural that Hypnosis, burdened with this trust (?), didn't even know where to begin his complaints.

In the end, he could only let out a helpless sigh and "graciously" accept the heavy responsibility with resigned compliance—

"I assumed the conclusion was crystal clear from the very beginning."

A divine aura radiating in full force, Hypnosis wore a smile brimming with aloofness, his brilliant golden eyes narrowing slightly. Hidden behind his gold-rimmed glasses, it was even harder to discern what unfathomable meanings swirled within those depths...

"This fellow has never been an obstacle to us."

"No matter how the 'Fate' that favors the Kings is currently making immediate adjustments to balance the disruptions brought about by us—"

The moment his voice fell, Hypnosis abruptly raised a finger, casually pressing it against a small, suspicious sphere that looked remarkably familiar, one that... well, arguably belonged among the eight planets of the solar system...

"Oh my, this truly is—an unannounced welcome."

Amidst a sudden morphological shift, the ordinary hotel room transformed into an environment resembling outer space. Under the second light touch of the blonde deity's fingertip, the sphere he pressed against shattered completely as if unable to withstand the pressure, scattering into glowing dust that drifted through the air. He then calmly withdrew his finger and lightly pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of his nose—

"The Second King, the Gold King—KokuJoji Gogo."