Cthulhu Gonfalon

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

After receiving Sui Xiong's notice, his friends each sent out a clone to discuss the situation with him. But even after gathering an entire group of gods, it made no difference to the fact they couldn't think of any answers.

You couldn't blame them all for not trying; the information Sui Xiong gave them was just too vague to work with.

Someone was plotting against him; then some other very talented person who didn't wish to show their face had warned him, and they were supposed to figure out who was plotting against him just based on those two clues?

If they really could find this person, then the God of Luck must have definitely disguised himself and snuck into his circle of friends!

Everyone talked back and forth for a while, but the only conclusion they could come up with was to be careful and prepare against the unexpected—but that was something so simple even a child could understand it.

Seeing Sui Xiong looking so dejected, Javier suddenly grew thoughtful, saying, "Why don't you go ask the War God System?"

Sui Xiong blinked in surprise at that, giving him a blank look.

The War God System? Did they have a particularly good information network? But to tell the truth, they weren't exactly on good terms with each other.

Looking at his obviously uncomprehending expression, Javier let out a sigh and said, "In any case, you still count as their leader, so what's wrong with going to them for a little information? As for the efficacy of their information channels… Don't underestimate them! They have many believers among servicemen and soldiers, so it's more than likely at least one of their believers might know something."

It was only then that Sui Xiong saw the light. After giving his thanks, he hurried over towards the God's Kingdom of the War God System.

Aside from being surprised by his visit, the war gods all welcomed him. When he gave them his reason for coming, they immediately got busy working.

Gods were able to know their believers' every thought and belief; although the gods usually didn't bother using this particular ability, it happened to be needed right now, so it didn't matter if it was a little inconvenient.

After maybe five or six hours, the God of Strategy, Augmentin finally picked up a clue.

"I have a believer in the upper levels of the Kingdom of Thousands of Springs," he said. "Yesterday, the emperor of the Kingdom of Thousands of Springs, Dyke Spoolin, raged for a while before discussing something secret with his head mage… I believe it may have something to do with you."

He used his Divine power as he spoke, projecting the scene from his believer's memories.

What the scene showed was the imperial hall in Nephrite City, and King Dyke had been yelling in rage.

Sui Xiong furrowed his brows after watching the image, sinking into deep thought.

It was clear that the Kingdom of Thousands of Springs wanted to use him to cause something. But what, exactly?

"This Dyke Spoolin is certainly bold!" Augmentin knew perfectly well that Sui Xiong was bad at coming up with strategies and so helped him understand by saying, "What he's planning to do here is to get the human gods to act for him!"

"Huh?" Sui Xiong paused and stared at him with a puzzled look.

It was then that he remembered the god standing before him was one of the best masters of strategy among all the gods. Why was he thinking so hard when he had a professional right here!

"This plan of his is split into steps. The first step should be to entice the Legendary Masters of the Mifata Federation into attacking you. There's an element of uncertainty to this, as it's much too difficult to manage, so there's no way for them to succeed unless they ask the human gods to help," Augustin said. "But once this step is complete, the rest is all quite clear: those Legendary Masters will obviously be severely punished by you, thus forcing the God of Spellcaster to make an appearance. He isn't anywhere near strong enough to be your opponent, so the Master of Mystery will have to appear as well… My guess is that the human gods probably want to use this chance to feel out the Master of Mystery's strength. If he reveals a weak position, it won't be long before the Human God System will turn out in full force to eliminate him."

Sui Xiong continuously nodded as he listened. He thought for a moment then asked, "But what if I don't severely punish those suicidal Legendary Masters? For example, if I turn them all into little girls and let them figure out how to turn themselves back on their own. That wouldn't count as a severe punishment."

"Common sense dictates that based on your way of handling things in the past, you wouldn't be lenient towards anyone who tried to threaten you."

Sui Xiong laughed. "I'm actually a very friendly person."

Augustine laughed as well at that. "Which is why I quite look forward to seeing their faces when the time comes."

It was clear that the hole in the plan was especially obvious; all it needed was for Sui Xiong not to get angry, and the rest had no possibility of proceeding.

"What do you think I should do, then?" Sui Xiong asked.

"Beat them at their own game," said Augustin. "This is a pretty good chance. It's entirely possible for you to blackmail both the Mifata Federation and the Kingdom of Thousands of Springs here."

Augmentin then listed a huge number of plans all in a single breath.

These plans were all obviously created with Sui Xiong's measures in mind, all of them perfectly suiting his appetite, and Sui Xiong couldn't help but laugh aloud.

"These plans are very amusing! I like them!"

After another while, Sui Xiong took his leave. The Master of War, Wenner, watched him disappear into the distance before he said to Augustin, "He's an interesting person."

"You're right; he's as powerful as he is amusing. Never in my life did I imagine there would be someone like this in the world."

"Perhaps this is just the way jellyfish think?"

"Perhaps. But the fact that he's so willing to listen to others' opinions and suggestions is a very good habit."

"It's a mystery who will be out of luck this time around." After a while, Wenner smiled and said, "Once the time comes, we can use the opportunity to gain some profits of our own."

"Personally, I'd quite like to see what the Master of Mystery's true strength is." Augustin went quiet for a moment then said in a low voice, "I keep getting the feeling this former peak master has grown weaker…"

Wenner's eyes lit up at that. "How sure are you of that?"

"At least 60 percent!"

"Sixty percent is already worth the gamble! Make the plans!"

Augustin nodded, and in the blink of an eye, he was gone.

Wenner returned to his own throne and poured himself a cup of wine, but rather than drinking it, he fell into deep thought as he held the cup in his hands.

If they used this opportunity to discuss the Master of Mystery's base and discovered that he'd become weaker, then they could act immediately. They wouldn't give the human gods the chance to go first.

In the past, the War God System had always followed a quick, accurate, and ruthless method of attacking to continuously annihilate their enemies and strengthen themselves. So even if they were using their own leader, Wenner wouldn't hesitate.

In any case, as long as they could reap enough benefits from it, His Majesty the Void Mask probably wouldn't object to being used once.

Besides, in the end, the ones putting their all into charging the enemy lines would still be the War God System; they were just borrowing the Void Mask to act as an excuse and gain the initiative.

Wenner carefully calculated the situation, weighing the pros and cons and considering what they should do once the time came.

Meanwhile, Sui Xiong had already returned to his own God's Kingdom. He mulled over the plans Augustin had just given him, thought a bit, and then laughed.

Just from imagining the looks on those conspirators' faces when the plan went into effect, Sui Xiong couldn't help but laugh.

After he'd laughed for quite a while, he suddenly remembered something and was struck with inspiration.

In a flash of green light, his clone had already appeared before Satan in the human realm.

"Are you busy right now?" he asked.

Satan was just in the middle of surveying the land in preparation for setting up the gigantic purification arrays. He jumped at the voice, not understanding why His Majesty would suddenly come looking for him with a question like this.

He shook his head, looking somewhat at a loss. "I wouldn't call this busy; I can spare two or three days without a problem."

Sui Xiong laughed at that. "Then how about you take a walk with me?"

"To where? To do what?"

"We're heading to the underworld," Sui Xiong said with a chuckle, "to settle some old grudges."

Satan had some misgivings about this—what sort of grudges did he have with anyone in the underworld? Or was it His Majesty that had grudges to settle and was inviting him to come watch?

But while he could doubt all he wanted, he still had to obey Sui Xiong's orders. So after dealing with the mages who'd come to help him, he got himself ready to go with Sui Xiong to the underworld.

They arrived near a palace which, while gorgeous in its construction, clearly hadn't been cared for in a while.

Sui Xiong laughed again as he looked at that palace. He then drew in a deep breath, raised his voice, and loudly yelled, "Shadow Devil, I'm here to settle accounts with you!"