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Last Embryo Volume 3 Chapter 7 Part 1

Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist

A dreary sound of rain reverberated throughout the slums.

This was a region where storms rarely happened, though the heavy rain itself was the continent’s special trait.

With no money to rebuild them, the slum buildings had their paints peeled off and seemed to have severe roof leaks, and their residents running around to somehow deal with the heavy rain that would come any moment now. The abandoned building where Izayoi was currently taking cover was also wrecked here and there by the wind and rain. If he wanted to safely pass today’s heavy rain, he needed to search for another abandoned building. This area that was close to the mountains also held the possibility of a landslide occurring. He would’ve chosen to spend the night in a safe hotel somewhere in Rio, but he wasn’t able to book the hotel when he had a girl of unknown origin with him. While these slums had terrible public order for something being so close-by a Mega City like Rio, it was perfect for people like him who wanted to keep themselves hidden. As the drug dealing and trafficking, much less weaponry, was a natural occurrence there, doubtful anyone would question him bringing a girl here. Pritt and Izayoi wanted to leave before the downpour hit, since the weakened girl needed a to be examined by a legitimate doctor immediately. However, the two became speechless by the disastrous situation that Ayato spoke of.

「……」

「……」

「U-Um… That’s the current situation of Team Little Garden. Any thoughts on the matter?」

「Are you guys complete idiots or something!」

He immediately answered back. And mercilessly at that. This dealt a critical damage to everyone involved. Even though Ayato herself was not the target of those words, she still dropped her shoulders in dejection. However, Izayoi’s tone seemed to contain neither anger nor exasperation. Rather, he was just admiring Tokuteru for managing to create a situation like that.

(Hmm… Though it’s just temporary, he managed to weaken 『Avatara’s』 fighting power and add it to his own side. Huh, I suppose he plans to use the pretense of the debt and those daily exhibition matches to train Homura and Suzuka since they lack combat experience. I’m not sure just how far he has thought this through, but it’s quite a good development.)

Tokuteru was probably thinking of removing Arjuna from 『Avatara』 with this, because objectively speaking, that was a perfect opportunity to do so. That was why he had him tag along with Homura’s group.

(He even went so far as to conspire with Shiroyasha. I suppose even a God of War must be loving his kid, huh.)

He was a God of War, a womanizer, a drunkard, a muscle-brain, and loved the inherent goodness in people’s hearts. A Divine Spirit more humane than the modern humans themselves: that is who Indra was. It was said that he was the fastest to take action against Dystopia and Azi-Dahaka in the distant past, lending his power to save mankind and their future. For someone like him, who tried to associate with mankind like a sole compatriot, the Demigod child Arjuna must have meant a lot.

Sympathizing with such sentiments, Izayoi heaved a heavy sigh.

「Well, if you give it proper consideration, it’s not so bad a situation. It would be good for Homura to take part in Exhibition Matches and learn more about Gift Games. If you are having trouble with the current Game, it will only get tougher for you later on, you know?」

「……Oh, shut up. Then how would you have gone about clearing that Game, huh?」

「I would’ve summoned Asterios right from the start and beaten him down without a second of hesitation.」

「I was an idiot to even ask you!」

He heard a shout coming from the other end of the phone. However, Asterios was obviously left in the Outer World for that exact purpose, no matter how he thought about it. After all, in order to choose how you won a Gift Game, one had no choice but to become strong.

「Now, let’s stop the chit chat here. Guessing from the story so far, Kasukabe should be in the room nearby, right?」

「Hm? I’m right here.」

You answered after her name was suddenly mentioned. It appeared that she was quietly sipping her tea in the corner. Hearing the nostalgic voice of his companion, Izayoi’s expression loosened a little.

「Oh, so you were in the same room. Getting rather sociable there, aren’t we? That’s quite a big achievement, considering your pas t awkwardness.」

「That’s not the case. If it weren’t your siblings, I don’t think I would’ve helped. And Suzuka didn’t even bring me the box of cakes like she promised.」

「Eh!? So you were angry about that, after all!?」

Suzuka jumped to her feet while You gave her a small laugh.

「I’m not angry. Just a little bit sad.」

「Ugh, that makes me even more embarrassed. I’ll definitely bring it with me next time, I swear!」

「Hey now, don’t tease my Suzuka there. And Suzuka, you don’t have to mind her at all. When it comes to Kasukabe, I’ve cleaned after her mess more time than she did after mine.」

「I don’t think that’s true. Since you and Asuka started neglecting your duties of sending regular payments to the Community, I’ve been working for my food all the time.」

「Well, sorry about that. By the way, remember the present from the pumpkin forest that Kuro Usagi and I sent there? Well, I heard it suddenly disappeared one day without a trace. Maybe you have an idea about that? Huh?」

「Well, I’m pretty sure it must have been the work of some mischievous fairy.」

「Also, those headphones Homura made for me were stolen by Calico Cat…」

「Okay, fine, stop and let’s end this topic right there!」

You raised her hands in defeat. Coming out as the winner, Izayoi started laughing with his hands on his stomach.

「Good grief… 「Food before romance」 is still your preferred way of life, huh. Well, that’s the kind of person you are, and it’s great that you haven’t changed. So, did you become a bit more like an adult woman since the last time we saw each other?」

「We haven’t met for two whole years, so of course, I’ve grown a bit. How about you?」

「Regretfully, I’m still mostly the same. Only my height has changed a bit. If there’s anything else that has changed, it has to be… no, let’s leave that for later. I want to have a bit of a secret meeting. Everyone aside from Homura, Kasukabe and Arjuna, sorry but move somewhere else or go take a bath or something.」

「That’s fine and all… but should Arjuna really stay as well?」

Homura glanced towards Arjuna.

「Understood. I also had something to ask of you, Sakamaki Izayoi.」

「Oh, now we are talking! I wonder if I should be delighted that I have the greatest honor of having my name known by the strongest Kshatriya of the Indian Pantheon?」

「You should stop with that fake humility of yours first. The achievements you have gained in the Little Garden have obviously also reached my ears. In particular, the biggest of them was the achievement of defeating the 「Last Embryo」, Three-Headed Dragon Azi-Dahaka. After all, that was not a Demon Lord a human could have possibly defeated. I am curious as to what means you have used to best him in combat.」

Arjuna’s words, mixed with slight cynicism, resulted in different responses from Homura and Izayoi.Homura raised his head after hearing the name of the monster he has yet to hear anyone else mention before.

(Three-Headed Dragon? Azi-Dahaka? 「Last Embryo」?)

The scene from his dream came up in his mind. The dragon that tore him to shreds and devoured him amongst the towering blazing flames was also a three-headed dragon. He pricked his ears to properly register what might the relationship between those two things be, however, Izayoi’s voice from the other end of the phone didn’t even bother to explain it in more details for those who might not have known what in the hell was he talking about..

「Hah. Of all things, you had to ask something so boorish. I shouldn’t have expected much.」

「What?」

「He was a Demon Lord that a human couldn’t defeat? Stop bullshitting me! Is there such a thing in this world? I thought you who is spoken of in legends would understand at least that much… but yeah, I get it now. The Great Hero Arjuna was, after all, someone who triumphed by breaking an oath!」