A fight against a single demigod was already too much for Ray, that was something Anubis knew very well. But then again, 'Fighting Heracles will help him get a grasp of his power... two demigods, however, are too much'.
"Grayfia, I want you to do something for me... in exchange, you will get information".
Although the maid didn't like to be given orders, the prospect of getting information about the incident worked wonders.
"... what is it?"
"Take the girl that he's protecting and bring her to me".
"Very well... you better keep your word".
*WHOOSH!*
She disappeared in a magic circle and the meantime, Anubis placed her gaze in a direction. A little rat seemed to be squeezing through the trees and leaves to deal a fatal strike on Ray's back.
Anubis snapped her fingers and the glyph bands coiling around her body were released like hungry snakes towards the forest. They moved swiftly and caught something.
!!!
"What?!"
The Egyptian Goddess smirked and pulled them back, taking the rat out of the forest and exposed to the foggy day, it was a woman in armour who was fighting to free herself but it was all futile, those bands were tougher than steel.
"Who are you, let me go?!"
*WHOOSH!*
"HAAAAA!!!"
One of the bands tightened harder than necessary, twisting the woman's arm in an odd direction, she tried to scream but another band covered her mouth, stopping the wails from coming out of her lips.
The pain continued until Grayfia returned with a girl in her arms, it was the unconscious Anna who was still in her Youkai form. Anubis watched her for a few seconds before wrapping her up in her bands.
"Good job, this is our source of information, Grayfia".
Anubis released the woman's mouth, she had been glaring at Grayfia.
"You're the Satan Lucifer's wife... Grayfia Lucifuge".
"I'm honoured that you know my name but I'd hope some cordiality, my lady".
"Hmph, why would I-"
"Answer my questions if you don't want to die, mortal. What is your name?"
"I-I'm Jeanne D'arc".
Seeing the goddess that had so easily twisted her arm out of shape, she didn't think she had much of a choice.
"You're the saintess?!" Grayfia's tonality changed upon realising the woman's identity, she was a legend.
"Tch, a filthy devil... why is a goddess working together with a devil?" Jeanne tried to pry for Anubis' identity. One could easily tell she was an Egyptian deity, but since the Egyptian gods were extinct, that left her a bit clueless.
"We're merely acquaintances. What is your objective here? Are you working together with the Youkai?"
"I don't have to tell you anything".
"So you have chosen death then?"
The bands began tightening again, this time both of her legs would be forfeited, 'Like I'd die just to protect that group of bastards'.
In the end, her loyalty was brittle.
"Tch, our objective is to draw out the nine-tailed fox with this attack. The Youkai are rogues who were exiled from the Eastern Youkai Faction for their crimes, by using them we can instigate a war between the two regions, two birds with one stone".
"Why is the Shinto Faction not getting involved yet? do you know the cause?" Grayfia asked next and Anubis allowed her to do the questioning since she didn't even have enough information as to put two and two together.
"The Kyoto Leylines controlled by Yasaka are currently disturbed due to her condition from one year ago, she was pierced by the poison of Ouroboros, and it will take her a while to recover; no news of what is happening here has reached Takamagahara and it won't so long as Yasaka is disturbed".
"O-Ouroboros... that dragon is involved in this?!"
"What is she talking about, what are the Leylines? What is Ouroboros?"
Anubis's ignorance called for the attention of both the devil and heroine. There was a degree of ignorance in the topic that could be tolerated, but no god in this world didn't know who the Ouroboros Dragon was.
"They're the spiritual lines of Kyoto. All the faith harnessed by the shinto faction which flows from the earth and into Takamagahara, in essence, it is the path that connects the divine realm with the real world" Grayfia answered the question related to the topic at hand and decided to leave the Ouroboros for later.
'I more or less understand now...'
"One year ago during her marriage ceremony, we scheduled an attack on Yasaka intending to slaughter her and her recently born daughter to appoint another Youkai and take control of the Leylines. In the end, we ended up killing her husband-to-be but she and her daughter escaped. It was a failure. We tried again today, but it seems she's too scared to come out".
"What do you expect to achieve by killing this Yasaka?"
"I'll tell you if you join us, goddess~"
Jeanne didn't think twice about throwing her dart. It hadn't been only Grayfia who had sensed it, her question of 'Who is Ouroboros' made it very clear to them.
This Goddess is not from around here. And the answer that she got not only confirmed it, but even boosted Jeanne's confidence.
"I may think about it".
"Wait, Anubis!-"
Grayfia panicked, she had just heard of some sort of terrorist group with wicked intentions in the paranormal world and it would only make things worse if this unknown powerful Goddess suddenly joined their ranks.
"Remain silent, Grayfia... I want to hear her".
"..."
"You tell me first who you are and then I'll consider it, Jeanne..."
"We're from an organisation called Khaos Brigade. Our objective is to harness enough power to slaughter the Great Red Dragon in the dimensional gap. To do so, control over the Leylines is necessary. We're trying to control many landmarks, Japan is only one of them, the underworld is another~".
"The underworld?"
Grayfia clenched her fists, just with this statement alone... she had already determined Khaos Brigade was the enemy.
"And what will you achieve by slaughtering that dragon?"
For her part, Anubis merely wished to understand a bit more about the motives and interactions between the many pantheons.
"Ophis-sama, our leader is the Infinity Dragon. Once she reclaims her throne in the dimensional gap, we will essentially be the rulers of this world. Infinite power awaits us".
"..."
"Why would you, a saintess of the church, have such malevolent views?" Grayfia threw a jab, she knew engaging Jeanne and killing her would be difficult with Anubis present, her killing intent towards Jeanne had already dissipated and that wasn't a good sign.
"Have you forgotten, devil? It was the same church that I worshipped who tried to burn me in a stake!"
"Your plan sounds interesting, I'll think about it... retreat now before I change my mind".
"Anubis, this is a wicked organisation to destabilize the supernatural community, I would advise you to not involve yourself with them-"
"Why wouldn't I? I don't care about any of you... I and my son have our objectives. if destroying that red dragon happens to align with those objectives..."
"Then-"
"Then you will be my enemy".
"Wouldn't mind having the whole world as your enemy?"
"It wouldn't be the first time. In any case, I haven't accepted... you can go for now but don't interrupt my son's battle with that man, Heracles".
This small meeting left Grayfia in a horrendous position. The bands keeping Jeanne restrained receded, and the woman stood up and cracked her arm back into position as if it was nothing, sending Grayfia the most wicked of looks. She had a very positive attitude regarding this goddess, Anubis.
"We may have started in the wrong tone, but I believe we can benefit from each other. How can we contact you, Anubis?"
"You don't need to contact me... If I want to reach you, I have my ways".
Just like with Grayfia, a spark of light left her body and entered Jeanne who merely nodded albeit disgruntled, she was already happy enough to be able to leave with her life.
'I need to tell Cao Cao about this!'.