— — — — — —
The moment the recording began, the image showed the entrance to a manor. The viewpoint floated high above, giving everyone a bird's-eye view.
Many of the gods who had spent time in the lower layers immediately recognized it.
"That's the Greek pantheon's base at Outer Gate 7777."
Then, from an area hidden in shadow beyond the screen's edge, a lone figure slowly emerged.
Black hair. Golden eyes. Sharp, handsome features.
He wore a perfectly tailored black suit, his bandaged hands tucked into his pockets. Like a raven heralding death.
It was the first time most of the assembled gods had seen Ryo's true appearance.
Quite a few goddesses' eyes lit up. While several unconsciously pressed their legs together as they stared.
Within the recording, however, Ryo stood motionless at the entrance. His expression was calm, as though quietly considering something.
Then two figures walked out from inside the Greek compound. Judging from their appearance, they were Greek contestants.
The instant they appeared... Ryo vanished.
The next frame showed him already standing behind them.
Only then did everyone notice that both Greek competitors had already been driven headfirst into the ground, their bodies twitching violently.
There was no saving them.
Only after that did the explosive boom finally catch up.
"Hiss...!"
A collective gasp swept through the Pantheon Hall. For a brief moment, it felt as though all the air had been sucked out of the room.
"What just happened? How did they suddenly drop dead?" a goddess exclaimed in disbelief.
"That's... pure physical strength!" a war god cried. "How can that be? That's the body of a Four-Digit being. Not just any Four-Digit either. That's Legendary class."
"What kind of joke is this?" a third deity protested. "Participants are supposed to have their Spirit Rank restricted to Five-Digit rule-breaker at most. That shouldn't even be possible!"
"The rules restrict Spirit Rank," another god countered. "They don't directly restrict the body."
"And since when does a human possess the body of a Legendary Four-Digit?" the third deity snapped. "He's neither a Star Spirit nor a dragon! That's impossible! He cheated! He had to have cheated! This is outright cheating!"
He glared at the others as the hall instantly exploded into uproar.
Watching the chaos unfold, Indra felt a headache coming on.
He slammed the table, "What are you yelling for? The recording isn't even finished yet!"
His shout quieted the room... And the silent recording continued.
A Greek warrior wielding an icy flame spear thrust directly at Ryo's forehead.
Before anyone could react, the spear crumbled into dust, inch by inch.
This time no one gasped. Silence swallowed the hall.
They simply watched as Ryo moved through the battlefield with effortless ease.
Without relying on Gifts. Without borrowing outside power. Using nothing except his own body, he literally smashed one Four-Digit Greek warrior after another into pieces.
It wasn't a battle. It was a slaughterhouse.
The Greek contestants looked like chickens lined up for processing. Ryo Yagami was the cold execution blade suspended above them.
Within only a second or two, every attempt at resistance became another corpse.
Silence dominated the Pantheon Hall.
Then a broad-shouldered blond man in a crimson suit appeared on screen. Life finally returned to the audience.
"Odysseus! The great hero Odysseus! With a legendary hero like him here, that human won't..."
Before the speaker could finish, Odysseus was split cleanly in half by a single side kick. He hadn't survived even one exchange.
The hall fell silent again. Only this time, the silence carried a chill.
The gods gathered here might not have been the quickest thinkers. Their eyesight, however, worked just fine.
To put it bluntly... Among everyone present, not a single god believed they could confidently survive a one-on-one fight against Ryo under the Godslayer War's power restrictions.
Many doubted they'd even manage to escape.
Then the recording continued as Ryo leisurely pursued the final survivor. Like a cat toying with a mouse.
Seeing that, Amun-Ra suddenly spoke. "That's enough. I believe everyone has already seen what they needed to."
He had no intention of letting the recording continue.
The next scene would be Artemis's battle with Ryo.
Even Amun didn't know exactly what had happened. He only knew it had taken place inside Artemis's bath. But if the footage continued, the Central Core would automatically notify Artemis before showing anything involving her privacy.
She would almost certainly refuse permission. Then she'd investigate who requested the recording. And that trail would lead straight back to him.
Being hunted by Artemis wasn't something he was interested in experiencing.
Although Amun spoke, the recording had yet to stop. The discussion below had already grown impossible to suppress.
"Cheating! He blatantly ignored the restrictions!"
"That's no human! It can't be!"
"Either he's a Star Spirit masquerading as a human... or somehow a human obtained a Star Spirit's body. But that's impossible! Not even the Monkey King ever pulled off something like that!"
"Quiet down!" Indra repeatedly banged on the table.
But it accomplished nothing.
Finally, his expression turned icy. Killing intent flooded the room as he slowly swept his gaze across every representative below. "Don't make me lose my temper."
The entire hall froze. Faces instantly went pale.
Several Five-Digit representatives looked as though they might collapse from the pressure alone.
The killing intent of Indra wasn't something they could endure.
Only after everyone finally quieted down did Indra snort. Leaning back in his chair with one leg crossed over the other, he said, "The Central Core has never violated its own Gift Game rules. No matter how abnormal Ryo's physique appears during the Godslayer War, it was still achieved within the framework of those rules."
Amun immediately seized on those words.
"So you mean..." He narrowed his eyes. "...that a human can reach Five-Digit stage while possessing a Legendary Four-Digit physical body?"
"Why not?" Indra shot him a sideways glance. "There aren't many people like that in Little Garden. But there are some."
He looked around the room. "Have you all forgotten about that category of people?"
One of the God Kings who had remained silent until now finally spoke, "Indra... You mean... Cosmology Candidates?"
The words struck the hall like lightning.
Cosmology Candidates. They were extraordinary beings born with Spirit Ranks capable of wielding the Great Secret Treasure known as Another Cosmology.
They might be human. Star Spirits. Dragon species. Gods. Or virtually any form of life.
What made them special was their compatibility. They could unleash the greatest possible power from Another Cosmology.
Such individuals usually stood at the very center of an entire pantheon.
Most God Kings or Three-Digit beings didn't possess Another Cosmology. But every Three-Digit being who did possess one was unquestionably a God King among God Kings.
If someone held Another Cosmology without yet reaching Three-Digit strength... then they were considered that cosmology's future God King.
...
At that moment, a God King from Mesopotamia asked uneasily, "Then... which Another Cosmology does Ryo possess? Every one of those treasures is officially registered."
His concern wasn't difficult to understand.
If Ryo happened to be Algol's chosen successor... then the Another Cosmology he possessed might very well be the Mesopotamian one Algol had taken.
That would be disastrous.
At worst... this God King might someday find himself serving under Ryo.
Hearing that, Zeus slowly narrowed his eyes. A smile spread across his face.
"Wouldn't the simplest solution be... to ask Ryo himself?" His grin grew wider. "As long as he explains where his Another Cosmology came from and what it can do, wouldn't that settle everything?"
'Damn it...'
Indra's heart sank. He finally understood Zeus's true objective.
The old fox wasn't trying to punish Ryo at all. He wanted intelligence. Information about Ryo's Another Cosmology. Enough to prepare countermeasures.
"I support the proposal." Amun immediately raised his hand.
True, he and Zeus were enemies. But he had a score to settle with Ryo too.
As soon as Amun-Ra voiced his support, the chamber naturally shifted into voting mode.
"I agree!"
"Same here!"
"We should verify it. If a pantheon's Another Cosmology has gone missing, that's everyone's concern."
"Exactly! Let him prove his innocence!"
Just then...
Knock. Knock.
Two crisp taps on the table cut through every approving voice.
The entire hall fell silent. Every eye turned toward the source.
There sat a beautiful goddess dressed in flowing white robes, an olive wreath resting upon her golden hair.
Athena calmly met everyone's gaze, "I can explain the origin of Ryo's Another Cosmology."
The room froze.
After a brief sigh, she continued, "It is the result of... one of my experiments. What happened afterward was an unforeseen development."
"As for the details..." She shook her head. "I'm afraid I cannot disclose them. That falls under the internal affairs of the Greek pantheon."
The moment those words left her lips, the entire hall erupted in shock.
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