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Last Embryo Volume 2 Chapter 7 Part 1

Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist

Inside the Giant Spirit Train 『Sun Thousand』.

Amidst the dark clouds which continued to hurl one lightning strike after another at it, the Giant Spirit Trian continued its mad dash towards the Ley Line. Initially Homura and Company wanted to lead 『The Bull of Heaven』 as far away from the Underwood as possible in order to take care of him, but that plan had to be put on hold due to the assault from an unknown third party. If they wanted to proceed with their original goal, they had to deal with them first.

Now that Homura had finished his 2nd audience with Queen Halloween, he was being fed with some explanations courtesy of his new master, Scathach, and tilted his head to the side when she reached a part where she mentioned the name of a certain Community.

「Did I hear it right? 『Avatara』?」

「Yes, 『Avatara』, 「The Gathering of the Ten Kings」. That is the name of the Community responsible for the current assault on the Giant Spirit Train, and their ranks consist of the 10 Gods and kingly figures from Indian Mythology. Have you heard about any of them before?」

「No, this is my first time ever hearing about them.」

「Is that so? Well then, I guess I’ll just have to give you a brief explanation about each of them as we will continue our walk, because that is a matter that is not entirely unrelated to you.」

Scathach said while raising her index finger into the air and slowing down her pace so that Homura could keep up with her. As much as he wanted to rush to Ayato’s side to help her, he would be completely powerless without knowing exactly what kind of enemy they were facing now, so he simply returned a nod to Scathach and listened to what she had to say to him.

The Community of the Ten Great Kings, 『Avatara』. They were a gathering of the 10 incarnations of the sun in the pantheon of the Ancient India. Every member is a separate member of the Indian royalty as well as a Divine Spirit possessing a set of separate Gifts who have obtained fame and glory in their respective eras, but they all share one common trait: that each and every one of them were charged with the same mission of bringing peace and prosperity onto the world. Even in the world of Little Garden that was literally crawling with Gods and various divine and demonic creatures, beings like Arc, 『The First Avatar』, World Dragon Kurma, 『The Second Avatar』 and Siddhartha the Enlinghtened, 『The Ninth Avatar』 could be counted on the fingers of one hand. If such beings really are competing in the 2nd War for the Sun’s Authority, then it should be obvious that they will become one of the strongest contenders for the victory in the entire Gift Game whom even someone as powerful and influential as Queen Halloween would be unable to touch… but Scathach shook her head to te sides, indicating tat such a scenario won’t be happening.

「It is highly unlikely for the three of the most powerful members of the 『Avatara』 to participate in this battle at all. And even if they were somehow willing to participate, then their participation will be limited to only being the 「Sponsors」.」

「「Sponsors」? How is that role different from being a Game’s 「Host」?」

「It is fundamentally different. Haven’t you heard? That 3 special positions have been prepared for this particular Great Gift Game?」

This time Scathach raised 3 fingers into the air as she proceeded to explain about the 3 roles in more detail.

「First we have the 「Hosts」, the ones entrusted with the administration and management of this War for the Sun’s Authority. Second are the 「Players」, the ones who will fight and battle each other in the actual small-scale Gift Games. And thirdly, we have 「Sponsors」, who are allowed to lend their support to the Players. Placing us all into the three aforementioned categories, you and your friends are the Players, and Queen Halloween and I are the Sponsors.」

Homura pondered the exact meaning of her words with a small sigh.

The fighters and those who back them up in their battles. It is the kind of relationship like the ones in the mythological tales of old where humans like Homura were fighting for their chosen Gods as their Champions, and they in turn would bestow their Gifts and boons on them to aid them in their quests, because no matter how powerful those Divine Spirits might be, they won’t be able to do anything without exceptional pieces waging their wars in their names. That was also the reason why Queen Halloween was looking for outstanding people from the Outer World in the first place.

「Well, that is more or less how I expected it to be.」

「You expected it? Really?」

「Yes, because that is exactly how my relationship with Everything Company can be summed up, and even though I have been summoned to another world, I do not expect that relationship to change anytime soon. But more importantly, who is acting as a Sponsor for this 『Avatara』 bunch?」

Returning to the main topic at hand, he asked about the matter which interested him the most. Surprised, Scathach blinked a few times and then answered him with a smile.

「To be more precise, we believe that the entirety of 『Avatara』 is a union of Players and Sponsors, and that they have placed an age restriction in order for the Players to participate in the Game at all.」

「Oh? That might actually be a pretty good news. What is that limit, exactly?」

「Only those who have yet to reach adulthood are allowed to participate, or, to be more precise, if you end up exceeding the age limit allowed by the Sponsors, you’re going to be treated as a special case and removed from the Game entirely. Bearing that in mind, the time left for Sakamaki Izayoi to be treated as a Player is approximately 3 months.」

「…..What?」

「Hm? Is something the matter?」

「……N-No, please, do go on.」

Homura faltered for a bit when a name he didn’t expected to pop up did end up popping up. Scathach took a mental note of that and continued while grinning widely.

「Judging from their current interference and other violent actions they are supposedly responsible for, we can say with 100% certainty that the current 『Avatara』 has nothing to do with righteousness and bringing piece to the world at all, being only a group of villains and criminals. It is even speculated that they are willing to accept any Demon Lords among their ranks, regardless of what their aspirations and backgrounds are.」

「So what you’re trying to say is that they are 『Avatara』 in name only; that instead of being the legendary rulers they are those who aspire to become them?」

「Well, we cannot exactly say that this is how it is. According to our information, at least 3 out of 10 actual Great Kings are participating on 『Avatara’s』 side, but in that case, the numbers of those who can become Sponsors will also be limited.」

「3 out of 10 genuine Great Kings 『Avatara』, huh?」

『The First Avatar』, Arc.

『The Second Avatar』, Kurma the World Dragon.

『The Ninth Avatar』, Siddhartha the Enlightened.

They are supposed to be the current 『Avatara’s』 most powerful members, so at least one of them will surely take part in the 2^nd War for the Sun’s Authority as a Sponsor.

「Well, if we assume that 『The Ninth Avatar』 who is the founder of Buddhism has nothing to do with the current happenings, so he’s innocent in other words, then our main causes for concern are 『The First Avatar』 and 『The Second Avatar』. As for their origins, they are most likely attributed to the Pisces of the Twelve Constellations and the Dragon of the Zodiacs respectively, but in order to be absolutely sure of that we would have to wait for the War’s proper opening ceremony, so let’s not worry ourselves with it so much for the time being. But it doesn’t change the fact that the most pressing concerns for now are the members of the 『Avatara』 that continue to interfere with the Outer World. There is no doubt in my mind that they have to somehow be involved with the Star Particle Bodies.」

Homura stopped dead in his tracs as if he couldn’t believe what Scathach said just now. He looked back at her, confused, and asked once again, unable to fully comprehend the the meaning behind her words.