— — — — — —
The air froze for a second, then slid back into something almost casual.
"Seriously? You scared me for nothing—so that's all it was?"
Shiroyasha slapped her flat chest, exhaled in relief, then gave him a weird look.
"But that woman really acted a bit late this time. Must be all the chaos up top lately—looks like she's just as swamped."
Her tone didn't sound like she was talking about an arch-enemy at all—it sounded more like she was roasting an old friend. Ryo reconsidered whether he needed to adjust his understanding of the relationship between Shiroyasha and Queen Halloween.
Still, he summed up what had happened with the Queen.
…And after barely three minutes of explanation, Shiroyasha finally got it, her eyes lighting up in realization.
"No wonder you were able to shake Mithras off and even turn the tables on him."
Queen Halloween had descended in person to intimidate. The Buddha had made a hidden move. Borrowing Indra's authority, they'd forcibly ended the gift game and killed Mithras.
Given that lineup, there was basically no way for Mithras to escape. He probably died and crawled back out of his coffin—or he had pre-split a body in advance… Shiroyasha tapped the table as she reached that point.
"And you promised Queen Halloween some intel on a Sun Authority? That's what you were so desperate to clarify."
"Yeah." Ryo nodded, then added, "Heracles also said he'd give me information about Taurus. I'm waiting on his reply."
He had originally considered giving her the Draco, but he suspected the Queen—who had indirectly participated in the subjugation of Azi Dahaka two hundred years ago—already knew its whereabouts. Handing over the Draco's intel might make her feel like he was playing games with her, and that… would end badly.
"No need to make it that complicated." Shiroyasha waved him off, smirking.
"I've got Sun Authority intel too. Just hand her this one."
Ryo blinked, and she continued with a playful lilt. "Tell her Draco is stored below the Scorching Flame Capital of outer gate 54545."
Draco… If he remembered right, that Authority had already become part of the sealing formation for Azi Dahaka…
So she was trying to screw with Queen Halloween. No way the Queen could unseal Azi Dahaka even if she wanted to.
Ryo was speechless for a while before he asked, "You're sure this won't blow up in my face?"
Handing over an Authority that couldn't be moved—with intel the Queen probably already knew—definitely sounded like a great way to get killed. That was exactly why he'd ruled out offering the Draco earlier.
But Shiroyasha grinned with full confidence.
"Come on. Knowing even one Sun Authority is already your upper limit. And given [No Name]'s origins, the only ones Arcadia knew were Leo and the Draco. If that woman's willing to act, it means she's already prepared to lose out."
She paused, frowned as if thinking the Queen wouldn't actually lose that much, then gave Ryo a sidelong look.
Ryo twitched. "I'm reading 'scam' all over your face."
"How could you say that!" Shiroyasha laughed loudly, slapping the tea table. "I was just thinking of an old saying."
"What saying?" Ryo asked, playing along.
"'Repay kindness with kindness.'"
After declaring this, she nodded with satisfaction, then raised both hands. She made a circle with her left thumb and index finger, then pushed her right index finger through it repeatedly.
"Go give that woman's subordinate—the one named Scathach—this."
Her finger moved in and out a few more times, very pointedly. Then she added, deeply meaningful. "You know. Please her."
Ryo's face twitched several times. "I'll… do my best."
He immediately changed the subject. "When do we start making the Cloth?"
"Tsk. You're the one getting all the benefits here, and now you want to change the subject?"
She grumbled, stood up, and motioned for him to follow.
Ryo did, trailing her into a large, empty room.
There were no windows—just four snow-white walls, faintly sparkling with something crystalline embedded inside. The place looked extravagant.
"This is the testing chamber. The whole thing is Star Iron. Cost me a fortune to get Hongjun to custom-forge it. Even internal members have to pay ten thousand points each time they use it, hehe~"
She wiped her nose in smug satisfaction.
"You can forge your divine gear here. If you need materials, just ask—I'll give you a twenty-percent discount."
"I've already prepared almost everything."
As Ryo spoke, he purchased materials from the dimensional forum.
The first one was a metal that looked like transparent crystal—as if it didn't even exist: Orichalcum.
Also known as the ghost metal, a legendary metal from the Saint Seiya world, the hardest metal said to show its full strength only in the hands of gods.
Two blocks of Orichalcum appeared, each the size of Shiroyasha, shimmering with dreamlike brilliance.
"Whoa—this metal?"
Shiroyasha jumped forward, feeling it all over.
"Damn, this hardness is almost at three-digit star spirit level. If you made this into a vibrator, the women using it would probably die from pleasure."
Ryo's foot slipped; he nearly face-planted.
Barely stabilizing himself, he shot her a glare and took out the second material.
Gamanium.
It looked like golden, living blood—pulsating with life, the size of a fist.
It was the spiritual foundation of the Cloth and the metal that merged with Orichalcum to give it flexibility.
Shiroyasha poked at it curiously and muttered something Ryo quickly tuned out.
The third item was Stardust Sand.
A tiny amount of shimmering silver sand, like miniature stars.
This was what gave the Cloth its self-repairing ability and even allowed limited autonomous evolution.
With all three main materials gathered, Ryo took a deep breath. He drew Byakuya—his Zanpakutō—then quietly pulled out a small glass vial from his robe.
Inside it floated a single drop of intensely bright crimson blood.
Within that drop, one could almost see a miniature universe flickering.
Athena's unawakened divine blood.
"What's that?"
Shiroyasha suddenly turned, eyes widening.
"Cosmic blood? A being in the two digits? No… the divinity's a bit thin, but the original body's definitely at least close to two-digit tier."
She looked back at him with a very strange expression.
"You brat… how does your little secret stash have more weird treasures than mine?"
"But still missing one drop—yours."
"..."
"You really have too many secrets," she muttered, lifting her left hand. She extended a finger and casually sliced open the artery in her right wrist.
For a brief moment, Ryo saw something like a miniature sun rise—then it shot straight into the Orichalcum.
He immediately pressed the crafting button on the forum.
[Please provide at least 2000ml of Seventh Sense Gold Saint blood.]
Ryo inhaled sharply.
This was it—the crucial moment.
.
.
.