Chapter 2191: Prelude to Battle
Though there was less than a week until the succession ceremony in the North, the majority of the Little Garden's inhabitants were focused on the Battle Royale hosted by the Sage Dragon's Hearth. Hundreds of millions of people had migrated to the East in order to witness the event directly. After all, while the establishment of a 4-Digit Community wasn't particularly rare, competitions between the organizations occupying the lower-digit Gates were exceptionally so.
Even if it were just Kotoamatsukami and Trayastrimsa competing against one another, the entire Little Garden would have paid attention to the affair. Now that their Gates were on the line, even the most reclusive entities within the Divine Realm had come out to see what all the fuss was about. Everyone could feel that great change was afoot, so, despite several other notable events occurring around the same time, even the Royal Family of Salamandra, was paying close attention to the East.
Taking advantage of the rather drastic increase in publicity, Vahn allowed Katana, the journalist he encountered during the Vahnatus, to interview everyone who would be participating on behalf of the Sage Dragon's Hearth. This garnered a considerable amount of interest but also left many at a complete and absolute loss for words.
One of the greatest strengths of the Sage Dragon's Hearth, at least from the perspective of those in the know, was the fact that very little was known about the organization and its members. Everyone who visited the Sage Dragon's Hearth on business would meet, at most, Leticia, Vahn, and whoever he was entertaining at the time. The only other known members were Shiryukihime, Fenrir, Mikoto, Seraphina, Usalia, and, to a lesser extent, Sarina and Nono. Everything else about the rapidly rising Community was shrouded in secrecy, so much so that, prior to the exclusive interviews, the general public had thought the entire organization was comprised of Vahn and half a dozen or so powerful women.
Nobody, not even the members of Kotoamatsukami, had expected the Sage Dragon's Hearth to show their hand prior to the Gift Game. Everyone was under the assumption that Vahn was going to great lengths to keep information about his Community a secret. Thus, the moment the interviews were made public, speculation regarding each of the girls' identities and Vahn's true intentions ran rampant throughout the Little Garden.
Most people interpreted the event for what it was, a publicity stunt intended to give the girls a bit of exposure. Others, reading a bit too much into things, believed this was Vahn's way of saying he had nothing to hide. They thought he was going out of his way to slap Amaterasu in the face, and, due to the message she had received from Kenshin and Musahi, the aforementioned Sun Goddess believed this to be the case. In reality, Vahn was just keeping his promise with Katana and helping his loved ones increase their fame and infamy. They wanted to be able to stand at his side, so, while it wasn't particularly difficult to lend them his Authority, he wanted to give them a platform to build their own.
To this end, Vahn allowed Katana to interview Shirayukihime, Fenrir, Mikoto, Seraphina, Usalia, Kusu, Vados, Marcarita, Caulifla, Kale, Chronoa, Sarina, and, for the sake of further inflating tensions with the members of Kotoamatsukami, Amaterasu, Tamamo, Musashi, Kenshin, Tomoe, Okita and Nobu. Quite a few of these were 'on loan' from other Communities, but, as his affiliation with said groups had been made public prior to the announcement of the Gift Game, Vahn could borrow their talent at his leisure. In fact, if he really wanted to go all in, he could mobilize the Imperial Fleet and bring forth every single person living within his Little Garden. After all, with very few exceptions, all those living within Vahn's Little Garden could be considered Players.
Instead of amassing an army, a surprisingly common tactic among well-established Communities, Vahn would rather hit his foes with a relatively small group of elites. The more enemies there were in comparison to his forces, the greater the impact it would leave on the hearts and minds of the Little Garden's residents. This was the double-edged sword of mobilizing an army, as, the moment a genuine powerhouse appeared, numbers meant very little. Wu, for example, could lay waste to the entire Imperial Armada on her own. In other words, unless he brought out Da Vinci's more powerful armaments from the very beginning, deploying an army would simply be providing an opportunity for his enemies to increase their fame.
As the penultimate purpose of the Gift Game was to give his loved ones the opportunity to increase their fame, keeping the number of participants low was ideal. The fewer there were, the greater the impact they would leave on the citizens of the Little Garden. Twenty was the number Da Vinci had come up with after countless simulations, so, while Amaterasu, Tamamo, Musashi, Kenshin, Tomoe, Okita and Nobu were harassing the members of Kotoamatsukami, everyone else would be splitting into much smaller teams to tackle the forces of entire Communities. Caulifla and Kale, in particular, were planning to take on Trayastrimsa, one of the most well established Communities in the entire Divine Realm, by themselves.
Though their chances of success weren't particularly great, Vahn was confident the two Saiyanesses could put on a good show. This would, in turn, provide them with the means to inflict damage on their opponents. After all, from the perspective of normal people, there had to be a reason for them to challenge the entirety of Trayastrimsa on their own. There would be tens of billions, if not trillions of people thinking this during the Gift Game. As a result, attacks that would have been ineffective in every other situation would break even the defenses of the Asuri Tribe. From that moment onward, even Wu might not be impervious to their attacks.
In the Divine Realm, popularity and perception were second only to Authority and comprehension of the Laws. If the vast majority of the Little Garden's populace believed you could defeat even the mightiest foes in a single blow, the only thing that could possibly prevent you from doing so is a lack of willpower. In that regard, Caulifla could even compete with Roger in terms of mental density and resolve...
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"Welcome, one and all, to the inaugural ceremony celebrating the Sage Dragon's Hearth potential rise from a 5-Digit Community to a 4-Digit Alliance! I trust that everyone is just as excited as I am to witness this historic moment in the Little Garden's history~!?"
Capitalizing on her recent popularity, Katana, having recently joined the Thousand Eyes Community, had been chosen as the primary Caster for the Sage Dragon's Hearth's promotional Gift Game. This was clearly a ploy by Shiroyasha, but, having already accepted the impish beauty's scheming nature, Vahn enjoyed the little surprises she presented on a near-daily basis.
In response to Katana's shout, a massive crowd that appeared to stretch beyond the horizon issued a thunderous yet festive roar. Everyone was keen to witness if the Sage Dragon's Hearth could live up to the hype, but, more important than even that was the fact that Katana was currently wearing little more than a black bikini top and short-shorts. This wasn't just an opportunity for the members of the Sage Dragon's Hearth to increase their popularity. Rather, as someone aspiring to be a Poet, Katana was willing to do whatever it took to increase her fame, and, if necessary, her infamy.
Assisting the faux-redhead in her endeavor was a woman with remarkably similar features, the only notable differences being the color and shape of her hair and eyes. This was actually Katana's non-identical twin sister, who, upon learning of the former's agreement with Vahn, decided she wanted a piece of the pie. More specifically, she wanted to capitalize on her sister's popularity to increase her own, so, much like Katana, the blue-haired woman, Dagger, wore a black bikini top with blue flames and a pair of tight, form-fitting short-shorts that revealed a hint of her bright blue, t-back thong.
Piggybacking her sister's words, Dagger held up her own mic, a seductive smile on her face as she answered, "I know I am. Vahn and his Sage Dragon's Hearth are well on their way to breaking the record for the fastest-promoted Community in the Little Garden's history. I can't way to see what the members of his Community have in store for their opponents."
Nodding her head in approval, Katana briefly exchanged glances with her sister before the two of them shifted their gazes to the massive display that had appeared behind them. It showed Vahn, and, alongside him, the Leaders of every other participating Community. This included the golden-haired Amaterasu, an inordinately handsome man with medium-length brown hair and a tanned body, a rather demonic-looking individual with fiery red hair, a disinterested looking girl with fang-like teeth, and several other prominent figures.
Seeing the graphic from within the Sage Dragon's Hearth's waiting room, a wry smile developed across Vahn's face as Caulifla shouted, "That damned monkey is also participating!? I can't wait to kick her ass...!"
Located in the 9th position, representing one of the teams affiliated with the Jade Palace, was none other than Sun Wu Kong. She had, quite literally, strong-armed the Jade Emperor into allowing her and the surviving Sages to participate in the event. Thus, rather than the original throwaway teams, the Jade Palace was being represented by Wu, a remarkably petite girl with vermillion hair, an idol-like man wearing an eyepatch, and, somewhat surprisingly, a middle-aged man with long black hair and azure eyes who Vahn recognized as Meng Zhang, the Azure Dragon.
("It never ceases to amaze me how 'petty' those with tremendous pride can be...")
(*Well, you did kind of stand him up. It's only natural that he would come to 'teach' you a lesson.*)
Restraining a chuckle, Vahn shifted his attention to the remaining representatives as Katana and her sister continued to pump up the crowd. He hadn't done very much research prior to the Gift Game, so, much like the crowd, he was just now learning who the representatives were. The inordinately handsome man acrros from Amaterasu was none other than Indra, one of the most powerful beings outside of the 1-3-Digit Gates. As for the red-haired man and the rather voracious-looking girl with white hair, the former as the Divine Realm's version of Shuten-dōji while the latter was the leader of Akuma, the 'Devilish' Community comprised almost entirely of former Heroes who had been invited to and exploited by the Little Garden.
Though she looked like a relatively normal, albeit tomboyish woman at a glance, the white-haired girl, Tokudaiji Shion, gave Vahn a similar impression to Fenrir. She had cold, disinterested blue eyes and an expressionless face, yet, in spite of this, even her image exuded an aura of perennial hunger. The look in her eyes were reminiscent of an Apex Predator, someone who had sat at the top of the food chain for so long that they stopped viewing the people around them as people and more like livestock...
("That one is going to be dangerous...")
(*She is the Leader of a Community comprised of Isekai'd Heroes. Even without asking Loi-chan for confirmation, I can pretty much guarantee she has an ability similar to Rimuru. She may even be the type that absorbs the skills and abilities of whatever she eats. If that's the case, you may want to tell everyone to avoid her. She will most likely come to you.*)
Resisting the urge to ask Loi-chan to reveal all of the girl's secrets, Vahn responded to Sis with a curt nod as he focused on the final representative, an unconventionally handsome and muscular man by the name of Johnathan. He didn't stand out much compared to the other representatives, but, as someone brave enough to compete against two of the most powerful factions in the East, he couldn't be underestimated...
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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Fame and popularity really do let you get away with anything...','A white-haired, blue-eyed Isekai protagonist with multiple ahoge!? Run for the hills...!','(O w O)...')
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