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Last Embryo Volume 7 Chapter 3 Part 8

「Yes. You slide your finger to turn the page, and double tap on the image to enlarge it.」

「Oh… and what will happen if I touch it in this place?」

「Um, this is a history app. It’s a function that allows you to look for information regarding great people or famous historical events.」

「Hou hou! In other words, this one small gadget holds so much information in itself… to think that… there would be such a multi-functional Gift in the Outer World… I see… hmm…」

Hercules held onto Ayato’s phone and continued to battle its LCD screen while tapping his fingers all over it. It was nice seeing that he was having fun wit it, but everyone wanted him to get to the copy of the stone pillar’s text as soon as possible.

The Players continued to wait for a while longer with nervous faces.

The fact that he went out of his way to explain the importance of the inscription from the pillars and then present the existence of a copy of the inscription should be more than enough evidence for the Players that Izayoi is willing to negotiate with them.

There seemed to be a lot of time to be calm, but they actually had very little of it, so they needed to hurry. There are many things that must be done before the giants invade, after all.

「Alright, I thoroughly enjoyed it!」

「No, you’re not supposed to be enjoying it!, Did you check the contents of the inscription’s copy?!」

「Of course. It’s definitely a copy of the inscription from the stone pillar, I have no doubts about that.」

When Heracles acknowledged the copy’s authenticity, Izayoi immediately declared the following thing:

「If you decide to follow my command and unit organization, I am going to be more than willing to share and disclose information on the contents of the inscription and on the ways of solving the mystery of the Chief God’s Declaration with you!」

「… Huh? That’s quite generous of you, but aren’t the conditions rigged too much in our favor this way?」

Misha’s blue eyes shine from under her sunglasses.

Perhaps she raised her guard too high in her exchanges with James, or perhaps she couldn’t accept that this current development actually real, since it was too good to be true.

Izayoi puts up his index finger while retrieving his phone from Heracles.

「Let me be clear on something here. Since intelligence = solving riddles, it’s no exaggeration to say that the remaining two conditions have been almost decided. I hope that everyone were noticed that already?」

Of course they noticed it. There is no way that a Player who participates in the 2nd War for the Sun’s Authority has managed to come this far without understanding at least that much.

If their current objective aimed to test their strength and courage in this situation, Izayoi could think of two possible things:

Strength = Defeating the Demon Lord Typhon.

Courage = Receiving a personal recommendation from the Hero Heracles.

These two are the most probable conditions for obtaining the rewards from this Gift Game.

「In other words, it is inevitable that the Players who are going to be sent to fight against the giants are going to miss out on this last opportunity to get the reward for themselves. That is why in order to remain fair with everyone, I was thinking of selecting one person from each Community and combining them into a group that will face the giants. How about it?」

Izayoi paused right there.

The participants looked at each other and began to discuss, but no particular objections were raised, probably because they felt fairness in the strategy Izayoi came up with.

「Additionally, there will be two main units, one with Heracles and one with me. In other words, I lose one chance to appeal to Heracles.」

「… Are you serious?」

「Of course. The enemy is the strongest Demon Lord in Greek Mythology after all. Since the gods of Olympus united together and devised a strategy utilizing all of their wits to finally defeat such a fearsome enemy, so why wouldn’t we the Players be capable of doing the same thing? If we don’t take this seriously, we’ll be slaughtered instantly.」

The Players swallowed Izayoi’s all too realistic words.

That’s right. Their enemy is one of the strongest Demon Lords who overwhelmed even the Chief God Zeus once.

Originally, in addition to its continental-class gigantic body, it is a formidable enemy who can even use 『Another Cosmology』. Last time he only showed its pure destructive power, but there is no doubt in Izayoi’s mind that it has a hidden power just like 『Avesta』. If that happens, the Players won’t be able to handle something of that caliber alone, because the only thing that can defeat 『Another Cosmology』you need another Gift with the same kind of power.

Even if the human-based Players who are not Divine Spirits, banded together, there was no way they could ever hope to win. That’s why this is not the time to consider your own disadvantages against others.

「People who are participating in the Game individually, please make sure to report this to either me or Heracles before the final organization is decided, okay? We’re in a situation where every little bit of strength we can get for ourselves counts. Strong people should go to the front lines. Any other objections?」

This time, the training ground was completely quiet. Alma had to say that she was a little impressed with Izayoi just now.

(Oh… You handled that pretty well, young lad.)

Gain trust of others by daring to reveal all the cards in your hand.
This is the exact opposite of what James was trying to do earlier. No matter which side of the battle was right, James’ trickery did him no good in gaining the trust of others, and as a result, the Players were already discussing whether to join Izayoi or Hercules.

Asuka, who is one of the Players who are participating individually, also has to think about which group she should be picking.

「Master. What are we going to do?」

「It’s a difficult choice, isn’t it? Rather than joining Izayoi-kun’s unit, I think we’ll be more likely to receive a reward if we choose to go together with Heracles.」

「That’s right. If Master chose to go with Izayoi-dono, them Master’s immaturity would only stand out even more than it already is.」

Asuka furrowed her brows at Alma’s obvious sarcasm.

「… As usual, you have an awful lot to say. But I am not falling for it this time. I’m simply weighting our odds of winning with the ones of obtaining a reward in this Game.」

「Fufu, that’s great to hear. It might be little by little, but you’re becoming stronger against provocations.」

Asuka puffs up her cheeks even more when Alma praised her out of the blue.

On the other hand, Izayoi ran up to Suzuka and the others and raised his right hand while laughing.

「Yo, you look as fine as ever. I heard that you were taking care of me while I was sleeping?」

「Fufun, that’s right. Our beautiful girl duo took care of Iza-nii.」

「Un, I’m glad that Izayoi got better already.」

The Albino girl greeted him lightly, and then she trotted behind Izayoi’s back and began to climb up just like a kid at the park climbing a jungle gym.

Izayoi, who’s mood immediately worsened after he was hit with a feeling of a very unpleasant déjà vu, glared daggers at Suzuka.

「Oi, Suzuka.」

「Ah, that’s right! While Iza-nii was sleeping, we all came up with a perfect name for this girl!」

Suzuka proudly puffs out her chest while raising her index finger.

The Albino girl who has climbed up all the way onto Izayoi’s shoulders has shifted from climbing mode into piggyback ride mode, beaming with confidence and a sense of accomplishment.

Having enough of it, Izayoi pulled her off of him with one swift movement while veins were popping all over the sides of his head and he held her in front of him by the collar like a cat.

Izayoi stared at the albino girl while holding her in that position in front of his eyes.

「I see, I see. So the name has been decided on, huh? That’s great and all, but then there’s something else that needs to be done first, right? I may be easy on the kids, but I’m very strict with kids who don’t have the proper manners.」

The Albino girl who was threatened harshly by Izayoi hurriedly corrected her posture. While still being suspended in the air, she bowed her neck down and lifted it back up in an attempt at a polite self-introduction.