— — — — — —
At the boundary gate at the foot of Mount Olympus.
Leaning against a large tree, Shiroyasha had finally waited long enough for Ryo to come down the mountain.
The moment she spotted him, her eyes lit up.
"Hey, Ryo! Come on, let me see what Authority you traded for."
"You guessed?" Ryo looked at her noisy enthusiasm with mild exasperation.
"Of course I did."
Shiroyasha rolled her eyes and grinned. "Among everything Hephaestus has, the most valuable thing for an individual is his method of stripping Limit Authorities."
"Anything higher than that—like actual Authorities—is too personal to the god who holds them. Those can only be turned into divine artifacts. Anything weaker isn't worth much. So the best thing he can offer is Limit Authorities."
"Now hurry up. What did you pick?"
Ryo sighed and flipped his palm over, producing a golden sphere of light.
Inside the glowing orb floated a strange piece of gray metal, constantly shifting and reshaping itself.
Shiroyasha glanced at it and immediately saw the name of the Authority.
[Machinery]
"Machinery?" She raised an eyebrow. "That's a concept that only really appeared after the eighteenth century in human history. But its origin supposedly traces back to the mechanical assistants Hephaestus created."
"Wow. That's one of his specialties. And he actually gave it to you."
She tilted her head. "What are you planning to do with it?"
Ryo didn't answer directly. Instead, he snapped his fingers.
In truth he was pulling something out of his Gift Card.
For a brief instant, two figures appeared beside him before he stored them away again.
Shiroyasha only caught a glimpse.
But that glimpse was enough.
"Holy— I mean, seriously?!"
Her eyes went wide.
"So that's why you fell out with Zeus!"
What had she just seen?
The main battle avatars of Hermes and Ares had been turned into machines.
Machine gods.
Two rule-breaker four-digit machine deities.
That was… that was an insane profit.
If fighting Zeus once could earn someone two rule-breaker four-digit machine gods, even a crowd of three-digit god-kings would be tempted.
After all, while rule-breaker four-digit beings could rival three-digit powerhouses in combat, the real advantage was something else.
They could move freely in the lower layers.
True god-kings normally resided in the three-digit Upper Layer.
If they wanted to act in the lower ones, they had to rely on avatars. But very few gods were willing to send their main battle avatars—especially those carrying Authority—down there.
Because the lower layers had Demon Lords.
Some of the strongest Demon Lords hid in the lower worlds specifically to assassinate those avatars.
If they succeeded, they could strip weakened Authorities from them and strengthen themselves.
To powerful beings in the lower layers, an avatar carrying Authority was basically a walking treasure vault.
That was why rule-breaker four-digit beings held such high status.
They could directly fight the avatars of god-kings—and more often than not, they would win.
"So this was the control method you mentioned earlier," Shiroyasha muttered, grabbing Ryo's hand and rubbing it as if it were a golden touch charm. "I thought it was some limited-use trick."
"But this… this is permanent control."
"I seriously can only say one thing: what a haul."
And she meant it.
Turning avatars into machine gods and controlling them might not be as powerful as killing a god-king's avatar and absorbing the Authority for yourself.
But gaining a rule-breaker subordinate?
That kind of value was astronomical.
If it were her, she'd choose the same thing.
Her eyes suddenly shone like light bulbs.
"If Halloween ever sent an avatar down…"
"Ahem... Ryo, can I learn it?" she asked eagerly.
Ryo gave her a strange look.
"You sure about that? Would those two agree?"
He didn't even need to think to know what she was plotting.
Going after Queen Halloween?
If the Twin Goddesses didn't step in to stop her, that would be the real surprise.
Together they might not fear Queen Halloween in the upper layers—but that didn't mean they wanted to offend her either.
After all, in Little Garden, where the two-digit realm was restricted, the Queen was widely considered the strongest duelist alive.
She was practically unbeatable—the only three-digit rule-breaker in Little Garden.
"Yeah… figures. Boss would never agree."
Shiroyasha smacked her lips and sighed.
"Ah well."
She waved a hand.
"Anyway, that Machinery Authority actually suits you pretty well. It gives you huge advantages when it comes to controlling and strengthening machine gods."
She glanced at him. "So, are you planning to make this your first main Authority?"
"No." Ryo shook his head. "I'll think about it more."
He had already considered the issue carefully.
For himself—or rather, for Cosmo—the best match would be Authorities related to destruction, ruin, or the end.
Those were extremely lethal Authorities.
And in the lower layers of Little Garden, they were always in high demand.
He had already asked Leticia to quietly post purchase requests through Thousand Eyes, but there was no telling when something suitable would appear.
In Little Garden, Authorities could be obtained through trade or by winning Gift Games.
That was also why Hephaestus was so unbelievably wealthy.
"As long as you've thought it through," Shiroyasha said with a sigh. "I won't nag you about it."
Truthfully, she had wanted to guide Ryo a little.
But as a poor two-digit being, the most valuable thing she could offer was splitting her own Authority so he could study it.
And that path clearly didn't suit someone like Ryo, who possessed Another Cosmology.
Her help would only become truly useful after he reached the three-digit level and established his own path.
Only then would he be able to resist the influence of her power.
She straightened up.
"Next, the Greek pantheon will probably launch a divine war against Arcadia Community."
"I'll designate a region as your battlefield."
"You should tell Leticia and the others to prepare."
"This kind of war happens below the rule-breaker level. And those subordinate gods from Greece aren't pushovers."
"I understand."
Ryo narrowed his eyes, his tone serious.
He knew things would be hard for the rest of his community.
But at least the worst threat had already been stopped by him.
Compared to that, a war with Greece might be brutal—but it would also accelerate their growth.
All he could do now was support them from the side.
"You know what you're doing, then."
Shiroyasha nodded before suddenly laughing. "Come to think of it, your debut battle is technically still going on."
"The gods and communities down in the lower layers probably never imagined that in the middle of it you'd charge into Greece, try to kill Zeus… and then walk away alive."
She smirked. "What's this called? Returning home in glory?"
"Maybe."
Ryo smiled, a hint of pride showing.
"Listen to you getting smug." Shiroyasha rolled her eyes and laughed. "I was going to remind you how to explain things to Kurousagi and the others."
"But judging by that expression… you've already thought about it, haven't you?"
"Kurousagi…"
Ryo's face darkened.
He had come to Greece without even telling Leticia.
When he got back…
Sighing, Ryo shrugged, "Time to go back."
"Yeah," Shiroyasha said. "Let's go. We need to announce the end of the Gift Game."
"Why do you sound even more eager than me?" Ryo grumbled.
Still complaining, he followed her through the boundary gate.
.
.
.