「The Unfading Sun」
That was the "True Name" the Crimson Realm had bestowed upon Ryo.
It meant the Sun of Life That Never Sets, and the Authorities under its dominion were Sun and Life.
He was the Sun God who had bestowed life and order upon the Crimson Realm at the very dawn of its existence.
His representative color was blazing gold, the color of the sun itself.
"Not bad… I guess this is what you'd expect from Aishelia…"
(AN: Remember in Chapter 802 when Aishelia said he could kill her Heretic Form and take the Sun Authority? She was referring to this one, not the Sun Authorities from the Little Garden.)
...
After receiving his True Name from the Crimson Realm, Ryo had entered into the very concept of the Unfading Sun, becoming one of the Crimson Realm's four gods and a member of its divine pantheon.
What caught Ryo completely off guard was the fact that the Unfading Sun was actually the Second Pillar among the Crimson Realm's gods.
The implication was obvious.
"Did Aishelia arrive in the Crimson Realm after the Snake of the Festival?"
Ryo estimated the timeline.
According to the original story, among the gods of the Crimson Realm, the God of Creation, the Snake of the Festival, was the very first.
Its Authorities were Creation and Settlement.
Next came the God of Retribution, Alastor, who maintained balance and order. Its Authorities were Judgment and Condemnation.
Finally, there was the God of Guidance, Shaher. Its Authorities were Evocation and Propagation.
"In other words, Aishelia arrived in the Crimson Realm before the God of Retribution and the God of Guidance. That's how she managed to become the Second Pillar."
"She arrived so early it's honestly terrifying."
"And she left way too much of a mark on the Crimson Realm."
Feeling the information contained within his True Name, Ryo found himself almost unable to believe it.
She established the four seasons, defined the flow of time, encouraged the stirring of the Sea of Life, and became the origin of countless Denizens and Crimson Lords. She is the Sun God and the God of Life, as well as the God of Time and Order.
"Did she seriously try to weave together four Authorities at once? Sun, Life, Time, and Order?"
Just thinking about how recklessly Aishelia had gone about it, trying to weave four Authorities together in one stroke and actually succeeding with half of them (Sun and Life), made Ryo's teeth ache.
"According to this information, even the name 'Crimson World' was decided by Aishelia. That woman really went all out, didn't she?"
"So this is what you get from someone with a proper academic background? She must have been taught by some Poets."
Honestly, even Ryo hadn't expected Aishelia to take things this far.
By any reasonable standard, determining the name of a world, establishing its four seasons and its concept of time, and creating the foundations of order and life amounted to artificially creating a historical transition period.
If establishing order at the very beginning of a world's existence didn't count as a historical transition, then what did?
It absolutely counted.
In fact, it could perfectly well be described as the oldest creation myth of all.
The names and ranks of the Crimson World's Denizens, Crimson Lords, and Gods had all been established by Aishelia.
She had defined time.
Life had emerged because of her.
Even the world's name, the Crimson World, had been given by her.
So why had she ultimately failed? Why was the world still not ready to be observed after all her influence?
Even Aishelia herself couldn't figure that out.
From her perspective, she had already done everything she possibly could.
If there was no naturally occurring historical transition period, she had created one herself.
If she needed influence, she had established the four seasons and the laws of order, becoming one of the sources from which life itself emerged.
She had pushed every aspect as far as it could possibly go.
Her failure could only be described as a case of losing for reasons beyond her control.
And Ryo, who knew at least part of the truth, understood that this really was a case of being defeated by circumstances rather than ability.
"Even I wouldn't have thought that there was another world connected to the Crimson Realm if I hadn't had the original story as a reference."
"To complete the observation, it wasn't enough to have influence within the Crimson Realm. You also needed influence in the human world. After all, they both belonged to the same universe."
Thinking of this, Ryo helplessly shook his head.
He took out the pocket watch that measured his influence and sighed. "Talk about being doomed by circumstances. Who would've thought the influence had to be built up in two worlds at the same time?"
Aishelia had pushed her influence in the Crimson Realm to its absolute limit, but she had no influence left in the human world.
That was why she failed.
And back in the era when she descended, the Crimson Realm and the human world hadn't connected yet. What else could you call that except bad luck?
"Still, looking at it this way, the Crimson Realm and the human world must be deeply connected. Considering that the Crimson Realm is a conceptual world while the human world is a physical one… are they two sides of the same coin?"
As he muttered, Ryo lowered his head and glanced at the pocket watch.
There was only a single hand on its face.
At that moment, it was pointing at the rather unusual number 8, while trembling ever so slightly as it steadily moved toward 7.
"…"
Ryo fell silent for a moment.
Then he sighed with deep feeling. "Free meals really do taste good."
Ryo naturally knew why the indicator had shot straight up to eight points.
It was because he had inherited the achievements Aishelia had accumulated and directly succeeded her as one of the Crimson Realm's Gods.
In other words, all of Aishelia Perseus' past efforts had been handed over to Ryo Yagami.
She had left with nothing but the Life Authority she had woven.
That was why Ryo had started the game with an absurdly favorable hand.
It also meant he didn't need to work hard to build up his influence in the Crimson Realm.
His "rich lady" had already done all the work and served the meal right in front of him.
All Ryo had to do was eat it.
The analogy was ridiculous, but from Ryo's perspective, that was exactly what had happened.
"Still, if you think about it carefully, even if Aishelia had pushed her influence in the Crimson Realm to its absolute limit, she should only have been able to reach six points."
"So where did the extra two points come from? The human world?"
'Wherever you go, you leave a mark.'
Aishelia had spent a century in the Crimson Realm, influencing countless Denizens and Crimson Lords. She could practically be considered one of the sources from which they had originated.
Once the human world and the Crimson Realm finally connected, allowing the Denizens and Crimson Lords to cross over, all the influence she had accumulated would inevitably erupt on a massive scale.
In other words, as long as Aishelia had waited until the Crimson Realm and the human world became connected, she wouldn't have needed to do anything at all.
She would have successfully completed her observation of the world.
The reason her influence had now fallen to eight points, with the indicator even beginning to slip toward seven, was simply because Aishelia had been gone for too long.
Influence had a shelf life, after all. And it was incredibly easy for people to forget.
That was precisely why observing a world at the right moment was so difficult.
'What a shame. If only she'd been able to wait a little longer.'
'Though if she really had waited, there probably wouldn't have been anything left for me to do…'
At the thought, Ryo shook his head and sighed. "This debt is going to be hard to repay... If she ever asks me to repay it by marrying her, I'll reluctantly accept."
After joking to himself for a while, Ryo narrowed his eyes. Then he murmured, "Next, I'm heading to the human world and pushing these eight points of influence all the way to the maximum… Twelve."
"Looks like I'll have a pretty short journey in Shakugan no Shana."
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