Augmentation. Defense. Recovery. It could be said that the boost provided by a Cloth was truly all-encompassing.
At this moment, Saeko Busujima finally understood why, in the Sanctuary, Saints and candidates with equal Cosmo were worlds apart. A Saint wearing a Cloth would utterly crush a candidate without one.
There was no helping it. The boost provided by a Cloth was simply too massive.
"However..." Saeko Busujima murmured softly, "If one grows accustomed to this power only to be abandoned by it at a critical moment, I fear their mental state would completely collapse."
Before coming to the [Saint Seiya] Universe, Saeko Busujima had learned about the corresponding "plot," so she naturally knew what Deathmask had gone through. She understood that if one became habituated to such power, only to have it stripped away, their psyche would surely shatter.
However, Saeko Busujima only pondered this for a moment before a flicker of light appeared beside her.
Immediately after, Riku's phantom image emerged, bringing Rika Minami and Rei Miyamoto with him.
"Mr. Riku!"
"Rika-san, Rei."
Saeko Busujima turned to look at the three of them without any surprise. When Riku arrived, he had naturally notified her.
After greeting them, Saeko Busujima gave a slight nod and said, "Mr. Riku, I have already made the arrangements. The magical beasts are just outside, and I have cleaned up all traces."
"I'll leave the rest to you then," Riku said directly, without making further arrangements.
Originally, Riku had planned to continue handling a few matters here. However, Alice had just sent him a message saying that some things, some interesting things, had occurred in the Longhuang Universe.
Riku needed to leave.
As the phantom image dissipated, Saeko Busujima, Rika Minami, and Rei Miyamoto looked at each other and nodded in unison.
Next, it was time to truly get busy.
***
[Longhuang Universe]
As soon as Riku returned, he saw two women who appeared to be having afternoon tea under a sunshade.
Alice had changed back into her signature outfit. In truth, she had not brought that iconic set out in quite a while.
On the other side sat a woman with long golden hair and eyes like burnished gold, wearing clothing that bore a very distinct Khaenri'ah style.
"Rhinedottir?" Riku raised an eyebrow, finding this quite amusing.
The greatest characteristic of the Longhuang Universe was that it was like a sieve. Strange things were always falling into it. However, until now, no other living beings besides Alice had ever tumbled in.
Rhinedottir was the second.
Riku had not expected that even though the "drops" into his universe were completely random, both living beings would actually come from Teyvat.
"Mr. Riku." Rhinedottir crossed her long legs and raised her teacup slightly in greeting.
"Darling~~~" Alice called out with a long drawl, greeting him as well.
Riku walked over and sat down beside Alice. He sized up Rhinedottir and said with interest, "Without the power of the Abyss, you haven't yet fallen into a 'sinner'? The Cataclysm of Khaenri'ah hasn't happened yet?"
Rhinedottir's slender hand holding the teacup trembled slightly.
With her intelligence, she naturally guessed exactly what Riku's words implied.
"It seems that, within the flow of time, I still made that choice," Rhinedottir said softly, setting down her teacup.
Riku asked in return, "You don't seem surprised?"
Rhinedottir replied calmly, "I pursue the pinnacle of alchemy. Therefore, as long as the opportunity presents itself, I will certainly take it. If Teyvat cannot bring me hope, then the only choice left to me is the Abyss."
Riku was not surprised by this.
To be precise, as one of the forms of Extinction, the Abyss also existed within the Longhuang Universe. Riku had researched the true nature of the Abyss before.
Unlike other forms of Extinction, some of which were pure destruction, some pure decay, and others pure temptation, the situation with the Abyss was very interesting.
It was like an IF-line. The Abyss would display all your possible futures before you and place the path you desired most right at your feet.
Would you choose to walk down it? You would achieve the success you wanted most; as for everything else, that was none of your concern.
To put it simply: if someone gave you one hundred million and told you the world would be destroyed in one hundred years, what choice would you make?
Most people would take the one hundred million. After all, if the world ends in a century, what does that have to do with me? Forget one hundred million, even for ten million or one million, countless people would make that choice.
"Oh, right!" Riku suddenly thought of something and asked with a hint of curiosity, "Rhinedottir, did your Khaenri'ah summon a Prince or a Princess?"
"Mr. Riku, are you referring to His Highness the Prince?" Rhinedottir pondered.
To Rhinedottir, no, to everyone in Khaenri'ah, even the so-called Five Sinners, addressing one of the twins as "His Highness the Prince" was absolutely correct.
It was undeniable that one of the twins had truly taken Khaenri'ah upon their shoulders. As for why they had to do so in the first place? Don't ask.
Hearing this, Riku's smile became more pronounced.
As expected! The Abyss Order's gacha pulls went sideways again. This banner did not have the Princess at all; it was full of Princes.
Alice took Riku's arm and asked, "Darling, what's the situation?"
Riku said jokingly, "You know about IF-lines, right? In my former world, there was a saying: the Abyss Order's gacha pulls... in that specific pool, there are only Princes. There isn't a Princess to be found."
Alice and Rhinedottir were both witches of vast experience. Though it was only a few words, they both understood what he meant.
"Can I still go back?" Rhinedottir simply smiled at the joke, not caring about things that had already happened, and instead asked about the way home.
Riku considered this for a moment before saying, "You can. However, the timing is uncertain. The 'Universe Gate' can lock onto universes within the Crystal Wall Sea, but it's all random. It is very difficult to precisely lock onto the [Teyvat Universe] where you and Alice come from!"