— — — — — —
The moment she put on the armor, her Saint Cloth—exquisite and ornate, but refined enough under the goddesses of beauty's guidance not to look gaudy—Shiroyasha immediately felt the benefits.
The defensive enchantments were almost an afterthought.
For someone like her, who could wield the total mass of the original universe itself, nothing short of a force that could shake the sum mass of all universes observable in the Little Garden could actually threaten her.
But the amplification it gave her Soul Light? That was something she couldn't brush off.
The "gene lock" potential Veyron had granted her was already worth more than gold.
First, from the very start of the fourth stage, it offered at least a hundredfold increase in combat strength—and as the lock progressed, that growth could scale into the thousands, tens of thousands, even higher.
Second was the Soul Light itself.
At first it had been nothing more than a twisted form of telekinesis. But when she broke into the mid-fourth stage and awakened her personalized aspect, it underwent a metamorphosis so drastic it even stunned her.
From "seeking outward" to "giving inward," her inner world gradually seeped into cosmic reality, reversing entropy itself. The Soul Light now allowed her to casually perform feats like matter-energy conversion, stabilizing pure energy, or shattering space.
For a Little Garden three-digit omnipotent, or even some of the unique four-digits, that still wouldn't be unthinkable.
But after she began brushing against the peak of the fourth stage, the Soul Light fused deeper—with her life, soul, will, very being—creating a path entirely her own. A path untouched by external rules or laws, as absolute and unchanging as pure mass or ultimate strength, unaffected in any time, space, or dimension.
"Ninefold."
Sensing clearly the amplification her new armor gave her Soul Light, Shiroyasha narrowed her amber eyes. "So nine is the limit, huh?"
"Maybe."
Veyron had already known the amplification ratio before forging the armor. He didn't bother confirming, only reached out under her curious gaze and tapped a finger against her shoulder plate.
At that point of contact, golden radiance burst forth, instantly wrapping the entire suit.
The Saint Cloth already dazzling enough to be called resplendent now shone even brighter.
"?!"
Shiroyasha drew in a sharp breath.
Just from that single touch, the amplification effect of her Soul Light shot from ninefold to eighty-onefold total.
"Could you… maybe poke me another hundred times like that?"
Feeling the surge so directly and vividly, she tossed her dignity straight out the window without hesitation.
"…Why don't I just poke you for three days and three nights while I'm at it?"
Veyron stared at her in disbelief.
"That works too."
Her amber eyes were full of expectation.
You've got some nerve, he thought. Even when I stacked multipliers with Divine Ki, I didn't dare dream that big.
"If you really want another layer on top, it's possible. But the boost would be temporary."
Veyron raised a hand. A drop of blood welled from his fingertip and floated before her, held aloft by invisible force. "My blood can push the armor through another evolution. Whether you use it immediately or wait until the very last second—seventy-one hours, fifty-nine minutes, and fifty-nine seconds from now—three days after it leaves my body, the power inside will be gone."
The principle was similar to Athena's blood empowering a Saint Cloth into a God Cloth, granting its wearer strength to rival the gods.
As the source of the gene lock's laws, Veyron's blood could likewise trigger an evolution in the armor.
But because of the unique nature of his "existence," any God Cloth born from his blood could only last three days.
"I see."
Shiroyasha touched the drop of blood to her armor.
The radiance flared brighter.
Where gold had once been just an accent, now it dominated, the primary color of the entire suit.
Her Soul Light surged again, this time multiplying ninefold once more—reaching seven hundred twenty-nine times the strength of her base state without armor. She felt exhilarated… though also a bit bitter knowing this state would only last such a ridiculously short span of time.
Wait. An idea!
Veyron: "…?"
One second ago, the silver-haired loli in golden armor had been beaming with pride. The next, she looked utterly drained—like he'd suddenly wandered into the Treeborn World and slept with seven million beings, only to collapse. Though, knowing himself, even that wouldn't have left him fatigued—he'd just leave refreshed afterward.
Out of respect, Veyron didn't probe her with his senses. He just gave her a look that said, "Hello~ What the fuck did you do now?"
"Nothing big. I just tried to glitch the rule, but… it didn't work."
Shiroyasha scratched her cheek with an awkward smile.
She'd just thought of something: if the blood-powered evolution only lasted three days, then what if she simply stretched the concept of "three days" into infinity? Wouldn't that make the God Cloth permanent?
Of course, the attempt failed.
Thankfully, the concept of "absolute" only blocked the exploit—it didn't punish her for trying. Otherwise, she'd probably be more than just a little drained. She might have ended up respawning from scratch… assuming she even got the chance to respawn at all, since "absolute authority" clearly operated on a level above that.
"You've got some guts."
When she explained what she'd tried, Veyron raised a brow. "Why didn't you at least test it first with the chat group's 'point enhancement' system?"
"…Oh, right!"
Shiroyasha smacked her forehead.
"But nope, don't bother. I tried that already—it doesn't work."
Before she could even make the attempt, Veyron dashed her hopes.
Shiroyasha: "..."
She put away the Saint Cloth that boosted her Soul Light seven hundred twenty-nine times, shifting back into her kimono-clad loli form. After a moment of hesitation, she glanced at Veyron and said, "This might sound greedy coming from me, but judging by the two Gene Lock potentials you gave me last time… you already know I'm not the only one here who needs saint cloth, right?"
Veyron nodded, glancing at the twin goddess banner hanging in the room. "Want me to give them a discount?"
"Preferably a discount on top of a discount!"
Shiroyasha nodded vigorously. "Forging something like this is bound to carry some failure rate, yeah? These days, even a five-digit being trying to reach the four-digit divine realm has to risk their life on odds of one in a gazillion. So, for my sake, just lop off, say… a zero or two. Or three. Or four. One trillion sets of materials or equivalents for a single armor piece sounds fair enough, right…? We can even give you—"
Midway through her spiel, she turned to the banner and added, "What do you mean I'm siding with outsiders? This is just normal bargaining! If I were really letting emotions sway me, we'd have to go back and unpack how exactly our relationship started in the first place."
"Back when I was second only to that guy in the Authority Domain, I could rebuild the whole Little Garden if I wanted.... but how did I end up as a [Thousand Eyes] cadre again? Oh, right—it was because of that rule in Little Garden that says 'a defeated Demon Lord becomes the victor's subordinate,' wasn't it?"
"I, Shiroyasha, am an honorable person… but honestly, I'm kind of bragging hard here for you. What, you want to buy something from my Admin for free? Is this buying anymore? Where is the reputation of [Thousand Eyes] as the wealthiest community?"
Shiroyasha's eyes lit up as she glanced at Veyron, as if to say, 'See that? I was trying to score you some benefits, boss. You got my message, right?'
Alpha and Omega, the twin goddesses of 'Beginning' and 'End', were left speechless for a moment.
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