Chapter 906: Ch 905: Pisces

"Beware of Yavoth."

It wasn't just Kalki who heard that. Ryo and Rin heard it too.

A warning from Mithras was not something to brush off, so all three of them fell silent.

Kalki and Rin only saw the world through whatever intel Ouroboros fed them, but Ryo was thinking a lot further ahead.

If Mithras wasn't deliberately steering them wrong, then the one eyeing Kalki might not be the Son (Lord of Cross) at all. It could very well be the Father (Yavoth).

As far as Ryo knew, the Father and the Son were two separate gods in the Little Garden, yet in some sense they shared the same root. That was the Thousand Eyes' understanding, anyway. Down in the lower layers, among the Cross Pantheon's various communities, people treated the two as completely different beings.

That was why the Cross Pantheon had been split, on purpose, into the New Testament and Old Testament camps, which then fractured further into Orthodox, Protestant, Roman, Catholic, Marian and plenty more besides.

The stronger a pantheon got, the more it tore itself apart. Sometimes they seemed to prefer fighting each other over fighting outsiders.

The Cross, the strongest pantheon, was no different.

When factions clash, their leadership ends up clashing too. So it was very likely that Yavoth and the Lord of Cross felt completely differently about Kalki.

Once he'd worked that out, Ryo had a rough picture of things, and he understood who Krishna had really been wary of all along.

'Yavoth, huh...' He narrowed his eyes and stood quietly to one side, letting Kalki and Mithras have their last exchange.

He was also surprised that Mithras could repeatedly utter the True Names of two Two-Digits without them noticing.

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"Remember what I just told you. Keep it close to your heart. It'll make your situation at least a little easier."

Having said that, Mithras heaved a laugh and a sigh. "Ah, how shameless of me. All this time I've been feeding off your spirit rank to recover, and I've given you nothing in return. So let me do you one small favor as a parting gift."

The moment he finished speaking, Kalki felt a tightly sealed door in his mind get thrown wide open.

It was like endless starlight. Wisdom beyond words ran through his heart like a river.

That invisible, intangible power coursed through Kalki's entire body. Faint golden motes, like fireflies, drifted across his skin.

Lit up by that glow, the young white-haired boy looked holy and towering, so much so that people couldn't help wanting to kneel before him.

Rin felt it the instant she saw the light. Her knees almost buckled, but Ryo caught her arm and pulled her back to her feet.

"What is this?" She turned her face away from Kalki, unable to look at him directly.

Ryo, who wasn't affected at all, studied Kalki carefully. "Looks like Pisces has been fully unlocked."

Each Sun Authority tied to Kalki's Another Cosmology "Avatāra" unlocked a power and a corresponding inheritance. Pisces corresponded to the ability of Matsya, the Infinite Fish.

Matsya, the first avatar of Vishnu. One of the Two Digits, rumor had it, lived in seclusion directly beneath the Little Garden continent, a god born to carry this starry continent as it drifted through the universe.

"This is insane. In an instant, his spirit rank has ballooned from elite level to this. He's right at the doorway of Rule-Breaker." Ryo gaped at Kalki, bathed in divine light from head to toe.

What was behind this growth rate? A feature of the Another Cosmology? Or something special about the Infinite Fish?

But that didn't add up. By his own influence, even the original Kalki, who held three Sun Authorities and had handled Leo, Dragon, and Pisces, never reached this level. Yet this surge in spirit rank clearly came from a Sun Authority.

Ryo suppressed the throbbing of his Saint Cloth within his spirit rank and looked hard at Kalki's current state.

He was sure this power came from the Another Cosmology. And if a single Sun Authority could bring this kind of growth, did Kalki's earlier Leo really unlock Avatāra's power at all? Or had the power Leo awakened been restrained somehow? Or did Avatāra hold deeper powers still waiting to be tapped?

And if so, did his own Another Cosmology, the Zodiac Cosmo, have hidden depths he could unlock too?

While he pondered, Mithras' voice came again, much weaker now. "Heh, those old fossils really guard this stuff tightly. I nearly died in here."

Mithras grumbled, then sighed. "Yagami, kid, take Pisces away before they cart Kalki off. Otherwise, with him in this state, those old fossils are going to get nervous."

Ryo narrowed his eyes, his tone playful. "Can I take that as a bribe?"

Mithras had lifted the restriction on Kalki's Another Cosmology and was immediately handing Pisces over to him. It was hard not to think of the words "hush money."

"If you want to see it that way." Mithras laughed, his voice growing fainter. "I'm old. Going to meet Shakyamuni in this state, I'd just be treated as entertainment."

"Oh well. In the end, I just wasn't strong enough."

His words trailed off into silence.

At the same moment, two golden fishes leaped out from between Kalki's brows, bounding through the air and sending faint ripples through it.

Ryo quickly reached out and caught them, then looked at Kalki.

The divine light around Kalki had already faded, and his body tipped sideways.

Ryo caught him and glanced at Rin. "Are you staying here, or going with him?"

"...I'll stay." After careful thought, she sighed. "If I went, I'd only be holding him back."

The upper layers weren't a place she should go to. Even five-digit gods could barely survive in the safe zones there. In her current state, Rin would only drag Kalki down.

Better to stay inside Arcadia, grow stronger on Mars, and hope to see her little brother again someday. In a way, it was the best choice available.

"Then I'll go back and tell Leticia to make arrangements for you," Ryo said. He tucked Kalki away in a Gift Card capable of storing living beings, then turned to leave. "Brace yourself."

It had a double meaning.

She had to prepare herself to face the Divine War alone, without Kalki's help. And she had to prepare herself for never seeing him again.

After all, Kalki was headed to the Buddhist Pantheon. He'd stay alive, probably, but how things would turn out was anyone's guess.

Rin didn't answer. She just let Ryo go. Only when his footsteps had faded completely did she let out a long, deep sigh.

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