Mars, Arcadia's stronghold— The underground secret prison—
Kalki slowly opened his eyes, his gaze gradually clearing as consciousness returned.
"Umm..."
As the haze lifted, he remembered everything.
He remembered how Ryo had stolen his identity.
"Where am I... What did—?
Before he could finish, a kindly old man's voice came from within his mind.
Kalki's face lit up with surprise. "Mr. Mystery, you were awake this whole time?"
Mithras—or, as usual, Mr. Mystery in Kalki's mind—fell silent for a moment before finally speaking. "Recovery has its time and place too. Things had already gotten that bad. What was I supposed to do? Sit back and watch it all happen? I'm an old cripple who's been relying on you just to recover. If something had gone wrong, what then?"
"I see..." Kalki suddenly understood. "So you were the one who saved me from Ryo Yagami?"
Mithras's answer was silence.
Kalki began wondering whether he'd said something wrong.
Then Mithras suddenly spoke, "...How exactly do you imagine an old, weak, disabled Three-Digit like me could have snatched you away from that monster, Yagami, with two-Digit beings watching?"
Kalki's answer was also silence.
But after a moment, he sorted through the situation. "So we're still on Mars?"
"More precisely, you're lifeless in an underground secret prison." Mithras chuckled. "Given your current situation, this is actually a pretty safe place."
Kalki was silent for a moment before asking, "What about Rin..."
Mithras smiled faintly. "She's safe. At least she's much safer than you are right now."
"I see. So Arcadia is protecting her?"
Kalki understood his current situation perfectly well.
As a pawn caught between the Heavenly Army and Ouroboros, his existence was essentially a weapon in the hands of two great factions.
And not exactly a sturdy weapon.
More like a paper knife.
No matter which side he was pointed at, he wasn't going to come out of it in one piece.
"So I just need to worry about my own safety now," Kalki murmured to himself.
"No. All you need to do is wait quietly for the outcome. No matter what happens, both the Heavenly Army and Ouroboros will leave you alive..." Mithras then paused.
Looking at Kalki's expressionless face, he sighed. "Why put yourself through this? Having Ryo take your identity and face the Heavenly Army, as well as everyone coveting your Spirit Rank, is already the best solution we have right now."
"I know." Kalki let out a quiet sigh. "But I also understand that I shouldn't have been born. I can sense that there aren't any particularly powerful guards nearby. Maybe it would be better if I simply died here without making a sound."
As the symbol of Little Garden entering its Endgame Era, Kalki's birth had never been a particularly happy affair.
Ouroboros had destroyed countless exploratory Communities, gradually causing human history to stagnate and pushing the future toward destruction. It had even managed to launch a surprise attack that brought down the previous Arcadia Alliance.
The ultimate result was the birth of a child who would become the Savior.
A child who, from the moment he was born, possessed all knowledge and understanding, yet was inherently pessimistic and weary of the world.
Having his companions around him made things bearable.
But whenever he was alone, Kalki's innate weariness with the world would gradually resurface, eventually driving him toward self-destruction.
Mithras understood this perfectly.
More importantly, he understood that this was a consequence of Little Garden's overall environment.
In a universe that was somewhat weakened but still in its heyday, prematurely giving birth to a savior meant to herald the end was inevitably going to produce someone like Kalki.
So Mithras didn't try to stop him.
He simply explained the situation, "You're not wrong. Hercules and Loki really have left for the time being because of certain circumstances. But don't forget what will happen if you die."
Mithras's tone carried a faint note of anticipation. "The moment you die, Ryo, who's currently borrowing your identity, will be unable to return it because the identity itself no longer exists. For a brief moment, he'll merge with the Spirit Rank of Kalki."
"And that will completely awaken the King of End's Spirit Rank within him, causing him to become the next Savior."
"Personally, I'd love to see that bastard who ruined my plans and landed me in this mess get screwed over by you."
Mithras laughed quietly. "I think it would be very entertaining~"
Kalki visibly wavered.
He had always been somewhat indecisive by nature, and his Spirit Rank leaned strongly toward benevolence.
Having him deliberately screw over someone who was technically protecting him right now was something he simply couldn't bring himself to do.
"So in the end... I still have to struggle on in this filthy world?" Kalki murmured.
"Perhaps you should consider changing this world into the kind of place you want it to be." Mithras gave a soft chuckle.
But before he could say anything more, the two of them sensed a flash of light through the connection between their Spirit Ranks.
A beam of light that pierced the world.
It was the radiance shining above the surface of Mars as the Divine Sword of Salvation gathered the power of the galaxy.
"The King of End Spirit Rank? Campione! What an unusual world... Hmm?"
Kalki was still wondering what had happened when Mithras suddenly fell into a deep silence.
After a long while, he finally sighed. "What a move. That sinister bastard from the Lower Layer. That venomous snake brought by Canaria. He's trying to drive us all into a dead end!"
"What are you talking about?" Kalki froze, completely unable to understand what was happening.
"Idiot! We all forgot where this vicious little bastard got the Divine Sword of Salvation!" Mithras didn't hold back. "Rama. He got it from Rama. Up until that point, everything should still have been fine. But inside that Rama Spirit Rank, inside that blade, is the Spirit Rank of the Lord of Cross! Hiss... Rama, in the Campione world, was the savior. He was revered as the Messiah by the churches there."
"And now, the moment bastard Yagami made his move, everyone who can see this battle, anyone who didn't know the truth, will naturally form the equation in their minds: 'Kalki' equals 'the Lord of Cross.'"
"And once that information spreads to the lower layers..." Mithras's voice became filled with apprehension.
"You know about the special human Spirit Rank known as the 'Poet'! Back then, Ouroboros used a little trick, and their Poet turned Leticia, the glorious knight of Little Garden, into the traitor and Demon Lord Draculea."
"You've seen those records in Ouroboros's archives. If you know all that, then you should understand how terrifying rumors can be!"
Mithras's tone was full of frustration. "In Little Garden, whether information is true or false isn't what matters. What matters is whether you can stop the majority of people from believing it's true."
"Because once the majority accepts something as fact, it becomes fact!"
"So..." Kalki's lips felt dry. "Was Ryo Yagami doing it deliberately? Deliberately exposing the King of End's Spirit Rank so that my Spirit Rank would become equated with the Spirit Rank of the Lord of Cross."
"Is he trying to drag the Lord of Cross into the competition for Vishnu's Spirit Rank?"
There were already four Two-Digits competing for the Spirit Rank in question: Matsya, World Dragon Kurma, Krishna, and Buddha Shakyamuni
And now the Lord of Cross could be added to the mix.
If this really happened, turmoil within Ouroboros would be inevitable.
"But the higher-ups in Ouroboros aren't idiots. What Ryo is doing is obviously an attempt to drag the Lord of Cross, accusing him of coveting Vishnu's Spirit Rank. So without concrete evidence, and without anyone's interests being directly harmed, the higher-ups would never be stupid enough to turn on one another." Kalki calmly finished his analysis.
Not even half a second later, Mithras spoke in a strange tone. "The old monsters probably don't know that I've been hiding inside you."
Kalki went completely blank.
He had been completely lifeless, only to suddenly sit bolt upright.
Why would he be able to do that? Had the Lord of the Cross secretly intervened?
Something was wrong, and the evidence was... himself?!
"Otherwise, I wouldn't have said we're in serious trouble." Mithras's voice was dry.
"Then..."
Kalki was at a complete loss.
After a long silence, Mithras quietly suggested, "How about you kill yourself and we screw Ryo over?"
Kalki was silent.
He really didn't want to die anymore.
.
.
.