— — — — — —
The gold-forged armor flowed over Ryo's body, covering him from neck to toe. Only his head remained exposed beneath a crown-like headpiece.
And with it came a force far beyond anything he had imagined—an immeasurable, overwhelming Cosmos.
With a thought, Ryo summoned his personal Gift Card and read the newly added entry.
[Gift: Another Cosmology · God Cloth (Ars Magna)]
[A primordial power leaking from an unknown domain, its very existence equivalent to a true cosmology .]
[Evaluation: Low three-digit class. This God Cloth appears to be missing many key components, causing a reduction in essence. The corresponding Sun Authority may be able to compensate for the loss.]
"Finally…" Ryo murmured.
His instincts told him that Shiroyasha's divine blood, Athena's god-blood, and his own human blood had all reacted in a strangely harmonious way.
That synergy had drawn on his Cosmo and allowed his Another Cosmology to manifest in its true form: a God Cloth.
In the Little Garden, Another Cosmology usually took the shape of tangible objects. So this armor might actually be the proper form of it.
"Damn~"
Ryo could already feel a connection to Leo's Sun Authority. And he knew— even if he lost this Sun Authority someday, that bond wouldn't break. At most, it would fade a little.
He chuckled inwardly. "The armor's defense is on a cosmic level. I'm pretty sure even a normal three-digit being couldn't break it."
So the armor itself counted as a three-digit entity?
No… more than that. The God Cloth could evolve. It would grow according to his needs. Given enough time, it could even restore itself to a complete form.
Which would make it comparable to a peak main god in the Saint Seiya universe—a first-class deity, the equivalent of a two-digit being.
Of course, that would take an absurd amount of time. According to Shiroyasha's estimates, something like ten billion years.
Even cutting that down a hundredfold still meant a century—longer than his whole life so far.
Totally unrealistic. Much harder than simply earning Thousand Eyes credits to borrow Sun Authority from Shiroyasha.
Ryo grumbled silently to himself.
Shiroyasha watched him regain his focus and finally asked, curious. "So? What level of weapon did you forge?"
High-level divine artifacts always hid themselves by instinct. Outsiders couldn't judge their abilities directly unless they were the rightful owner.
Shiroyasha was no exception. Unless she released her spiritual restraints and returned to her true two-digit nature, she couldn't read the God Cloth's stats either.
Ryo kept a calm face and answered casually. "It only reached the three-digit."
"Only…? only three-digit…? And it's just armor…?"
Shiroyasha's eyes went wide. Her dumbfounded expression was almost comedic.
Right then, she noticed the armor changing again.
Its coverage shrank, revealing his neck and lower arms. The aura of power also dropped massively.
No—she realized the earlier overwhelming presence hadn't been Ryo's power at all. It had belonged to the armor. And the armor had voluntarily sealed itself, worried its wielder might not withstand its full force.
Armor with this kind of awareness… it was basically alive.
A battle suit that was itself a three-digit being, and alive on top of that—Shiroyasha felt her eye twitch.
"Pervert," she muttered.
Because this wasn't armor anymore. This was Ryo wearing a three-digit entity—one that shared his will and could amplify his strength severalfold.
But she had never heard of a Cosmology with a self-aware will.
Wait—self-aware Another Cosmology?
Shiroyasha whispered, stunned: "This is like… a living version of Ama no Murakumo…"
Ama no Murakumo. Also known as Kusanagi no Tsurugi.
A near two-digit divine sword capable of cutting through all abilities, authorities, and powers.
The ultimate weapon born from the sacrifice of all Takamagahara's gods—and even their Cosmologies.
In the Little Garden, Ama no Murakumo was considered a suspected two-digit existence, currently held by Queen Halloween.
One of the biggest reasons the Queen was so terrifying.
Yet on Ryo's armor, Shiroyasha could sense a force similar yet fundamentally different from that sword.
A miniature cosmos that felt like it could birth all things. She felt her mouth twitch again before asking:
"Don't tell me… there might be eleven or twelve more of these? Because if so, this beats my entire treasury…"
Shiroyasha had seen the armor take the form of Leo. Based on that, there should be at least eleven more—possibly twelve.
The Little Garden had a Thirteenth Zodiac sign, Ophiuchus.
Which meant once Ryo's Another Cosmology was complete, he would basically be wearing thirteen armors into battle.
Just imagining it made even Shiroyasha's scalp tighten.
Who the hell could fight that?
And that wasn't counting the powers granted by Sun Authority, Ryo's Cosmo that could destroy everything, or the saint techniques he claimed he still couldn't fully unleash.
Then another thought struck her. The armor's "life" came partly from Byakuya.
Sorry, little Canaria…I think I made your successor way too strong…
Byakuya was created from Shiroyasha's power fused with Ryo's soul through a zanpakutō. And now that sword had become armor…
Did that mean she and Ryo had… birthed armor?
Shiroyasha stared blankly, disturbed by the implication.
Meanwhile, Ryo continued examining the downgraded armor and sighed with regret.
"As expected, even the Seventh Sense isn't enough to sustain a full God Cloth."
"Looks like the Gold Cloth is the highest my current level can support."
A Saint's Cloth only performed at full power when the user's Cosmo matched it. Their minds and the Cloth had to resonate as one. Otherwise, it was just heavy metal weighing them down.
If he didn't restrain it, wearing the armor would obliterate him instantly.
"Still, even degraded, at its core it's a God Cloth—something only gods should wear."
Ryo lifted his hand and admired the golden armor, speaking with genuine awe: "The base amplification alone is like doubling my power. That doesn't match the diary's description that the Gold Cloth equals one Gold Saint… mine feels a whole tier stronger."
It was more like... two Gold Saints' worth of amplification.
Including himself, that meant the force of three Gold Saints' Cosmos.
And that invoked a single terrifying term—
Athena Exclamation (A.E)
The ultimate forbidden technique where three Gold Saints infuse their Cosmo, unleashing a power that is equal to that of the Big Bang.
So what did it mean to unleash an A.E. alone? Well... Anyone below the Eighth Sense would be instantly obliterated.
"So… I should be able to fight a three-digit now, right?" Ryo thought uncertainly.
Once he ignited his Cosmo, he didn't mind fighting head-on, but his instincts still leaned toward caution.
Better to wait until he reached peak Seventh Sense before acting cocky in front of a three-digit.
Until then, stay careful. If he ever had to face a three-digit, he would unleash A.E at the first moment, without hesitation.
He mentally rehearsed the scenario several times, confirming the safest possible battle plan. Only then did he relax slightly.
Then he closed his eyes and let his Seventh Sense sharpen his foresight. The changes within his Cosmo became clearer:
"After my Cosmo evolved into the Seventh Sense… I've started to understand a few things. I think I gained some new abilities…"
.
.
.