What do you mean by asking what my purpose is in approaching Little Jibril?
I never wanted to get involved with her at all!
She's the one who harassed me in broad daylight and forcibly dragged me to this godforsaken place!
Though her heart was filled with furious complaints, Origami Tobiichi expression remained unchanged.
Facing Azril, who exuded a cold aura mixed with an unmistakable killing intent, she took a deep breath and calmed her wildly beating heart.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said flatly. "Believe it or not, I never intended to get close to her."
"Heh. I know that Little Jibril was probably the one who approached you, but weren't you the one who tempted her?" Azril continued with a sneer. "At this point, stop pretending to be innocent. You're not even a Flugel, are you?"
"I am a Flugel."
"How stubborn," Azril smiled—not with anger, but with sarcasm. "Do you know who I am?"
"Azril, Chairwoman of the Eighteen-Winged Council. The first of the Flugel."
"That's right. I am the first Flugel." Azril nodded. "Though our race has the largest population among the higher species, even at our peak, we've never numbered more than five hundred."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Jibril is the most special among us. She prefers hunting alone, and her relationships with other Flugel are hardly close. It's understandable that she would mistake you for one of us."
Azril paused, then spoke with certainty: "But as the first being and the one who oversees all Flugel, I have personally seen every single one of our kind. You, however… I have never seen you."
At this point, Origami knew there was no point in trying to hide it anymore.
Unlike the carefree and uninhibited Jibril, Azril carried the mission bestowed upon her by the God of War and had always acted as the leader of the Flugel.
Originally, Origami had hoped that this woman might also mistake her for a Flugel like Jibril had.
Now it was clear—that was not going to happen.
However, she had anticipated this situation on her way here.
She had already formulated a rough plan in her mind to deal with it.
Though risky, if the plan succeeded, the benefits would be tremendous.
Opening her dimensional inventory and ready to transform into Tokisaki Kurumi at any moment to slip into the shadow dimension, Origami began to put her plan into action.
"You naturally wouldn't have seen me," Origami said calmly. "Because the God of War gave me a special mission. After secretly creating me, He had me leave Avant Heim."
Azril was momentarily stunned by Origami explanation, and the hostility she emitted subsided slightly.
Her eyes locked firmly onto Origami face, as if trying to detect even the smallest crack in her expression.
But her efforts were in vain.
On that face, which seemed to only ever have a single expression, she could detect nothing.
Azril stared deeply at Origami, as if weighing the credibility of her words.
Just when Origami thought she had dodged a bullet, Azril figure suddenly vanished from where she stood.
Origami felt something press against her back—an immense force following right after.
On instinct, she activated the Flugel's teleportation ability, "Heavenly Shift," and moved to a safe distance.
"What exactly are you trying to do?" she asked coldly, now staring at Azril who had appeared behind her. Her nerves were stretched to the limit.
"Just testing your strength a little," Azril said, lowering her hand as if she hadn't just launched an attack. "You can use Heavenly Shift—that is one of the hallmarks of a Flugel."
"I already told you I'm a Flugel. Do you believe me now?"
"But I only used thirty percent of my speed just now. Any real Flugel could have dodged that easily. You didn't fully avoid it."
Only thirty percent?
Hearing that exaggerated statement, Origami couldn't help but curse her in her heart: Freak.
After using three enhancement cards, her physical stats, Astral Dress, and Angel powers had all become significantly stronger. Her current strength far surpassed her original form.
Yet even so, Azril thirty percent speed nearly exceeded her reaction time.
Had Azril gone full strength just now, she wouldn't have even had the chance to dodge.
Azril power was clearly top-tier among the Flugel—T0 level. Her thirty percent was likely equivalent to half the strength of an average Flugel.
Estimating roughly, Origami figured her current strength was about half that of a standard Flugel?
With that in mind, those three side-quest enhancement cards were indeed worth the effort.
While Origami was silently thankful for pre-buffing herself, Azril doubts only grew deeper.
Initially, she had been sure—this girl is definitely not a Flugel.
But after seeing Origami use Heavenly Shift and being forced to show part of her strength, Azril was now uncertain.
Her strength wasn't weak—she could easily overpower any species below the Flugel.
But she wasn't exactly strong either—compared to an average Flugel, she was like an underdeveloped child.
Azril fell into deep thought.
Seeing her attitude begin to soften, Origami seized the opportunity and pressed on: "Actually, there's a very simple way to prove my identity."
"What way?"
"Let me meet the God of War."
"..."
That was indeed a good idea.
Since she claimed to be a special Flugel secretly created by Artosh, the matter could be easily settled by asking Him directly.
However, Azril didn't really want to trouble their creator over something so trivial.
"Lord Artosh is a very busy being. He has no time to handle such petty matters."
But perhaps moved by Origami sincere request to meet the God of War, Azril finally withdrew all hostility and waved her hand dismissively. "Fine. I'll believe you for now. You may leave."
Hearing Azril words, Origami rolled her eyes internally.
Busy?
Artosh was unlike the Forge God Ocain of the Dwarves who actively took part in divine battles, or the Forest God Kainas of the Elves who was focused on development. Artosh just sat on his throne overlooking the world all day. Far from being busy, he was practically bored to death.
If there were a contest for the most idle god in the world, the God of War would win hands down.
Origami had to meet him.
After claiming she was a special Flugel created by the God of War, she had no room to back down.
"Even if you believe my identity now, I still need to see the God of War," she said, refusing to leave and casually fabricating another excuse.
"Because—I have something important to report to Him."