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[Crossover] Ch 194: A Cosmology
🕑 Added 2025-08-11 18:36:50 +0000 UTC— — — — — —
East Area
3345 Outer Gate — [Thousand Eyes] HQ.
In the middle of a traditional Japanese-style courtyard, Shiroyasha sat in a pale lavender kimono, folding fan in hand, exuding effortless elegance. Across from her sat Ryo Yagami and Leticia Draculea.
"Well, well… showing up on the second day already. You've got guts," she said with an amused smile.
"If I didn't, I wouldn't have dared to eye the Sun Authority in the first place." Ryo drew a slow breath, then spoke with uncharacteristic solemnity.
"And regarding that… I owe you an apology."
He wasn't wrong to want more power, but stealing a Sun Authority legacy—especially one in Shiroyasha's possession—was another matter entirely.
She'd looked out for him more than once, and plotting against someone who had helped him felt low, even if it had worked. When he'd first tried it, he hadn't expected it to succeed at all—maybe a ten percent chance, at best. But now that it had, there was a part of him that regretted it.
Breaking trust for something like this wasn't satisfying. It felt… ungrateful.
He was ready to accept whatever punishment she saw fit.
Shiroyasha tilted her fan, covering the lower half of her face. Her eyes gleamed with a faint smile.
"What's done is done. Saying this now—what good will it do?"
"Or are you thinking a few words will earn my forgiveness? Don't feed me something so sweet it makes me laugh myself sick. It might make me consider killing you instead."
"Of course not."
Ryo's reply came sharp and steady. "From the start, I wasn't sure it would work. My odds were maybe one in ten. I just didn't expect Little Garden's Central Core to be that stupid."
Privately, he suspected the Dimensional Forum had a hand in it too.
"Stupid?" Shiroyasha arched a brow, then shrugged.
"Well… sometimes the Central Core does stupid things. Old habit."
She actually agreed with his assessment, then leaned forward.
"So now that you've succeeded—how exactly do you plan on handling my wrath? If you haven't thought about it, I can just see you to the door right now."
"The special ability of the Zodiac."
Ryo's voice was calm, but his expression was serious. A silvery-white light began to radiate from him.
The light of the Cosmo.
"And this—power from an 'Unknown Domain'—I'm willing to put it on the table as my bargaining chip."
Shiroyasha shot to her feet, eyes fixed on the silver glow.
"Another Cosmology?!"
"How the hell do you have that kind of Gift?!"
Leticia's reaction was just as shocked. She knew exactly what this meant.
It was the treasure of a divine pantheon, the embodiment of their worldview—essentially, a condensed universe. Holders of such a Gift were often the centerpiece of a god-group, true kings among the divine.
"Canaria… just where did you find this man? You picked up a born Divine King like it was nothing?!" Leticia's mind was spinning.
Ryo, on the other hand, looked blank. "Another Cosmology? Why would you think that?"
"You can't tell?" Shiroyasha blinked, then seemed to realize something. She sat back down.
"Right, you wouldn't. Gifts like this have the highest-level concealment by default. Not recognizing it is normal."
Ryo's expression turned strange. "Cosmo is… Another Cosmology?" That stretched his understanding.
Saint Seiya warriors had this stuff by the dozen! He'd planned to offer the Cosmo for her to study as a fair trade to settle the Sun Authority issue. But if it was really this valuable… wasn't that way overpaying?
Shiroyasha, clearly thrilled, was already talking quickly.
"From the feel of it, your Cosmology must be Greek—something to do with a new-universe creation theory? Honestly, if I didn't know your background and hadn't watched you grow, I'd think you were Athena in disguise here to mess with me."
Ryo couldn't even argue.
The Cosmo was the source of great power in Saint Seiya lore—energy capable of birthing universes. It was essentially their cosmology… and thus a worldview separate from Little Garden's geocentric one. Which, in Little Garden terms, made it exactly an Another Cosmology.
It fit disturbingly well.
"Seems incomplete," Shiroyasha noted, tapping her fan against her shoulder, "but who cares. You're willing to put this on the table? Generous of you."
A fully unlocked Cosmology could rival a double-digit's full Authority. It was one of Little Garden's greatest treasures—something truly legendary.
And he was offering it… for Zodiac legacies. Not even the Sun Authority itself.
Even just lending it for study would be a staggering price.
Shiroyasha almost felt guilty. Almost.
"Forget it. A Cosmology's real power only works for the one it's tied to. I could study the surface, but that's all. Oh—wait." She paused, smacking her palm with her fan.
"Don't tell me you're after the Sun Authority because your Cosmology's full form needs it?"
That wouldn't be unusual. She'd seen many Cosmologies that required Sun Authorities to unlock—Vishnu's Ten Avatars in Hinduism needed ten, for example. Egyptian Ennead systems, Japan's Takamagahara trinity, China's Taichi system—all had similar requirements.
Every few centuries, she and other heavyweights like the Queen Halloween would deliberately reclaim scattered Sun Authorities just to redistribute them, giving these cosmologies a chance to complete. And collect a few favors along the way.
But Ryo's case…
"Twelve Sun Authorities?" she repeated, raising a brow. "That'd be a new record. Are you sure your Cosmo really has the power of all twelve Zodiacs?"
Ryo gave a crooked smile.
"I don't know if our definitions match perfectly, but yes—my Cosmo does have twelve Zodiac powers, with matching weapons and techniques."
He meant the Gold Cloths and Zodiac battle skills.
Shiroyasha sucked in a breath.
"Twelve for full unlock… definitely a record." Her eyes shone.
"You're reliable. I like that." She rapped his shoulder with her lengthened fan, grinning.
"But as far as this mess goes, let's call it even. Hand me your report and I'll polish it up so those idiot gods have nothing to complain about."
"Seriously, you're a treasure. Skyrocketing strength, bringing me a Cosmology… luck like yours is one-of-a-kind in Little Garden."
Ryo could only pass her the parchment with a conflicted expression.
This… felt like he'd just gotten off scot-free. He really had been aiming for a fair trade—not handing her an enormous windfall.
Leticia, meanwhile, was still processing.
An Another Cosmology needing twelve Sun Authorities? Vishnu's Ten Avatars only needed ten, and that was hailed as the mark of a savior among divine treasures.
If Ryo's needed twelve… the leap in quality alone left the Ten Avatars in the dust, and that system involved multiple double-digit beings.
Could Canaria really have just… picked him up by chance?
Leticia wasn't doubting Ryo's identity—she was doubting Canaria's supposed luck. No way was this pure chance. Unless… Canaria had used her poet's Gift to rewrite her own fate.
Because in this world, no one stumbled on a man with a Cosmology of this scale by luck alone.
She was going to have to grill Black Rabbit about exactly how they'd met.
.
.
.
