Chapter 217: Kalinga: Then I'll leave?

At noon, City of the End.

The temple in the city center was originally a temple dedicated to the Snake god White Snow Princess, but after Shiroyasha was "kept" by Su Nian, it also became the property of Arcadia.

As for White Snow Princess's opinion? That is not important; a certain unscrupulous Yaksha had long since forgotten her entirely.

This place had already been transformed by Su Nian into a large-scale secret realm used to host the many Communities coming to visit, and today's banquet was also being held here.

Using Leticia's shadows as the base, Canary used Fiction to create identities, and finally, after some slight modifications by Su Nian, attendants resembling the Shadow Demon Corps placed exquisite cold dishes onto the long white-clothed tables.

Fine wine from Huaguoshan supported by the Seven Great Sages, elven melons and fruits ordered from Avalon, and chefs supported by Athena.

Added to that were members of various Communities from all over, of different races and appearances, who had rushed to attend the banquet.

The scene looked just like a lively masquerade ball.

However, a very subtle thing was that the atmosphere at the venue was, on the contrary, unusually solemn and heavy.

Several Beastkin in suits and leather shoes gathered together, forming a small group.

"Did you all receive the news too?"

"Received it... but is it true? Arcadia actually offended the Twelve Gods..."

"This cannot be described as a simple offense."

A Beastkin with a fearful face deliberately lowered his voice and said.

"I purchased the news from Thousand Eyes at dawn; the Avatar of Ares was killed."

"The one who made the move was precisely that new leader of Arcadia."

"Hiss!! How could he dare..."

"Maybe he got carried away because he defeated Azi Dahaka... If I had that kind of strength, I reckon I'd be even more carried away than him... *cough cough*, I didn't say anything."

"It's just that back then, Canary was so..."

"Cough cough... don't say things that are detrimental to unity."

Using a Gift to eavesdrop on those snippets of conversation, Mandela Te'erduoleike lowered his head in embarrassment.

Why is everyone now bad-mouthing Arcadia? This makes him, someone who painstakingly prepared a gift, look very foolish, doesn't it?

Vaguely, he even seemed to hear the surrounding Communities discussing a certain fool.

Clearly having been tricked by the Arcadia of the past to such an extent, and still, under the circumstances where the current Arcadia leader offended Ares, he was still single-mindedly preparing a gift to show sincerity.

Well, needless to say, this Mandela also knew exactly who this fool was.

Damn it, why did I feel bad about that bit of money last night and not go buy the intelligence? Otherwise, how would I have ended up in this state?

As a result, I've become a laughingstock instead.

The most important thing is that not only might the money spent have gone down the drain, but there is also the possibility of offending the Greek God Group.

Making the already precarious current situation of Salamandra even worse.

How about... we withdraw first?

Light gradually emerged in Mandela's eyes; as long as he escaped this storm, the Greek God Group would certainly not care about a small ant like Salamandra.

Who knows, maybe we could just muddle through?

And at this moment, his younger sister, Shandora Te'erduoleike, as the leader candidate, looked around curiously and asked in surprise.

"Brother Mandela, why aren't we going to Arcadia's headquarters to find Lily and the others?"

Previously, Arcadia and Salamandra were still allies.

Both sides had the intention of letting the next generation forge a friendship.

Because of this, as the next candidate leader of Salamandra, Shandora had interacted very harmoniously with the juniors of Arcadia.

Seven-year-old Shandora had met Jin Russell and Lily and the others of the same age group back then and became friends.

And this time, it was a reunion of friends after several months, and after Arcadia had run into trouble; Shandora was very much looking forward to it.

Hearing this, Mandela immediately became hesitant.

Whether it was severing the alliance with Arcadia or forming an alliance again, these were his own private decisions, and Shandora was unaware of them.

Shandora only knew that she was visiting friends in Arcadia, and incidentally retrieving the Inheritance Gift that her father had deposited in Arcadia, and incidentally training in Arcadia for a period of time.

Acting as a hostage, huh? He was all too familiar with this.

He knew very well that even if Su Nian were willing to take the initiative to return the Simulated Star Creation Map: Star of Fiction - Tai Sui and the Sun Authority: Chen Dragon to them, they would not be able to guard such Secret Treasures.

The best result would be nothing more than depositing them with the leader of Arcadia first, and then retrieving these inheritances after Shandora grew up.

Incidentally, Mandela could also use this method to take all the blame, so as to reduce the rift between Arcadia and Salamandra, letting him become the sole sinner.

It's just that it's very awkward now...

Su Nian killed the Avatar of Ares, successfully pushing Arcadia, which had finally recovered, back into the fire pit.

If he guessed correctly, Ares should already be on his way now.

But the current Salamandra absolutely cannot fight alongside Arcadia again; after all, your Arcadia has a large family and business and can afford to toss and turn.

But now Salamandra only has this little bit of family business left; if we keep fighting, whether Salamandra can even survive is a question.

Although he admired Su Nian's character and knew that Su Nian was definitely not the type of person Canary was, but very sorry...

I, Salamandra, cannot continue to be buried along with Arcadia.

Mandela's mouth twitched, and he pulled Shandora and said.

"Shandora, we are going to a place."

Shandora's eyes lit up, thinking that Mandela was going to take her to Arcadia's headquarters, so she was happily led out.

The two had just walked out of the temple gate when they saw a group of people walking towards them.

At this time, Leticia in the crowd said in surprise.

"Eh? Isn't this the kid from the Fire Dragon family?"

Mandela looked at the woman with brilliant golden hair in front of him, whose height did not reach his chest, and he was completely stunned.

Beside him, however, Sandora rushed over with a look of pleasant surprise.

"Sister Leticia~~"

"Oh? It's little Sandora."

Leticia hugged Sandora, raised her hand, and smiled as she rubbed Sandora's head.

As an old Cadre of Arcadia, she naturally knew the candidate for leader of Salamandra, and they even had a fairly good relationship.

Seeing a familiar face, Black Rabbit was in an excellent mood; her former allies had all come to seek a new alliance with Arcadia.

"This is Mandela Te'erduoleike, the acting leader of Salamandra, and this is little Sandora, the little princess of Salamandra; don't get them mixed up, Su Nian."

Black Rabbit briefly introduced them to Su Nian, and then Su Nian couldn't help but reach out and pinch Sandora's collagen-filled little cheek, saying.

"I know that, of course; I even wrote their Invitation Letter by hand."

"Come to think of it, is Sandora waiting for us here?"

"Brother Mandela brought us to the entrance to wait for you."

Sandora said quite childishly.

She was unaware that Mandela had terminated the alliance, knowing only that Mandela had brought her to the entrance on purpose.

She mistook this for Mandela intentionally bringing her to welcome Su Nian and the others.

Hearing Sandora's words, Mandela's heart skipped a beat; the heavy stone in his heart landed, smashing squarely onto his toes.

It's all over; he was now completely tied to Arcadia.

At the same time, Mandela felt it was a pity—a pity for Su Nian, this Dragon Species currently undergoing self-awakening.

If only Sandora could cultivate by his side; it would be very beneficial for Sandora's growth.

The Dongfang saying, "When one person attains the Dao, their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven," refers exactly to this.

When a Dongfang person undergoes self-awakening to become a Dragon Species, they emit an aura extremely beneficial to Dragon Species, even capable of allowing the lives around them to awaken Sub-dragon bloodlines.

Of course, the so-called self-awakening to become a Dragon Species in the Dongfang has another name: attaining the Dao and becoming an immortal; an immortal is a type of special Dragon Species.

Forget it, since things have already reached this point, he could only hope that Arcadia could withstand the pressure from the Greece side.

Mandela stood to one side with an expressionless face, putting away his private thoughts.

If he had to play the fool, so be it.

Hearing Sandora's words, Black Rabbit was stunned for a moment, then irritably pushed Su Nian aside and pinched Sandora's cheek.

"There was no need to wait here at the banquet hall; you should have just gone to the headquarters. Sandora, do you understand?"

"Mm."

Sandora nodded obediently.

"Ath... Ath..."

Mandela's tongue suddenly tied itself in knots, and he couldn't help but point in shock at the golden figure walking toward them in the distance, shouting.

"Ath what Ath?"

After giving Mandela a strange look, Black Rabbit turned her head to look in the direction Mandela was pointing, and she couldn't help but open her mouth wide, revealing the same expression as Mandela.

"Ath... Ath... Why is Lady Athena here?"

Hearing Black Rabbit's words, Su Nian was also stunned.

No, why did Athena actually come?

They had practically made it clear they were on the outs, so why was Athena still coming?

"Athena, you really came?"

Su Nian looked at the figure appearing beside him with a very strange expression.

"What's wrong? I said I would come to attend the banquet."

A smiling female voice came from the woman beside Su Nian—a woman with blonde hair and green eyes, wearing an olive wreath and a Greek-style off-the-shoulder white robe, her temperament elegant and intellectual.

"How is it? Do you feel a sense of surprise?"

Athena said in a very cheerful tone.

"Not at all."

Su Nian's mouth twitched; he straightened his clothes and said with slight disgust.

"If you hadn't come, that would have given me a sense of surprise."

"Is that so? That is truly a pity."

The smile on Athena's face became even more cheerful—or perhaps "delighted" would be more accurate.

Su Nian's reaction brought Athena no small amount of amusement.

"Heavenly Lord Athena..."

Leticia and Black Rabbit, who had recovered, Jialing, who was accompanying Su Nian, and several members of Salamandra also hurriedly stepped forward, bowing to pay their respects.

Athena glanced at Jialing, then narrowed her eyes and smiled at Black Rabbit and Leticia.

"We meet again, little ones of Decretia and Indra."

"And this is the princess of the Golden-Winged Great Peng clan, right?"

"I heard from Su Nian that you are a very good supportive wife who has helped Su Nian a lot."

Athena said, looking at Jialing with a beaming smile.

Jialing's little face turned slightly red, as if she were very embarrassed by Athena's words, but she still responded.

"Thank you for the compliment, Goddess Athena."

Uh... did I say that? I didn't say that, did I?

And Jialing? A supportive wife? Has she ever been associated with that word?

Su Nian recalled his daily life with Jialing: sparring, playing games, drinking, and then her being both unskilled and eager to play, and finally dragging Leticia along to challenge him.

Hmm, sometimes he even drags Nangong Nayue along.

However, Su Nian had no intention of undermining anyone, provided he didn't want to be lectured by all the women present at once.

Soon, after a series of pleasantries, Athena took the initiative to end the conversation, stepped forward, and hooked her arm around Su Nian's.

"Alright, it's getting late, and it's time for the host of the banquet to make an appearance."

Athena tried to pull Su Nian, but he didn't budge.

"Athena, what kind of madness has gotten into you?"

Su Nian transmitted his voice to Athena; what was the meaning of suddenly hooking onto him for no reason?

At the banquet, his female companion had long been decided; it was Jialing, with whom he had recently confirmed a relationship.

Athena smiled slightly and replied via voice transmission.

"Su Nian, you forgot to wipe the lipstick mark off your mouth."

"???"

What lipstick mark? Su Nian widened his eyes and looked at Athena; if Athena was pointing it out, it certainly wasn't from Jialing or the others.

Besides, he hadn't been making out with Jialing or the others today.

Athena smiled mysteriously and cut off the voice transmission.

Even Su Nian himself did not know that there was a lipstick mark on his lips left by Algol, visible only to Athena.

It was meant to mock Athena: Su Nian is her man, so you want to poach him?

You ugly woman should go look in a mirror before coming to compete with her.

If you have the ability, then compete with her for the man!

It was just a pity for the only victim present, Jialing.

Jialing widened her eyes, staring at Su Nian and Athena with a look of existential doubt.

Especially at Athena, who was holding Su Nian's arm.

Athena looked at Jialing, seemingly understanding something.

Caught in the act... Athena thought quite gleefully.

It was just a pity that this unlucky little bird's man had been targeted by Algol; she hoped Su Nian wouldn't have his soul snatched away by Algol.

Yet, Athena didn't seem to realize that in Jialing's eyes, she was the one with ill intentions who had targeted Su Nian.

"Hmph~"

Jialing crossed her arms and glared unkindly at Athena, and at Su Nian as well.

Especially at Su Nian; Jialing let out a cold snort at him and said.

"Did I interrupt your lovey-dovey exchange?"

"Should I leave then?"

Meanwhile, Mandra on the side was already stunned; no, what was he seeing?

Athena and Jialing fighting over a man? And Athena seemed to be the third party?

Wasn't this plot development a bit too wrong?

(End of chapter)