Saeko Busujima departed.
Inside the Goddess's Temple, only Saori Kido and Kyoko remained.
"..."
The atmosphere grew heavy with silence. Saori Kido parted her lips and spoke softly, "Chi Xiao... Kyoko, what do you think?"
"Miss Saori, since you have already made your choice, why bother thinking so much about it?" A valiant, heroic smile played on Kyoko's lips.
"Indeed." Saori, no, Saori, also revealed a smile.
Yes. Since the choice had been made, why hesitate? The long Holy War had already spanned countless ages. Since they had reached this stage, there was no longer any room for retreat.
A moment later, Saori's smile faded. Her purple eyes filled with a sharp, cold light as she said softly, "Has Pegasus made his choice?"
"Yes!" Kyoko nodded. She did not say what kind of choice Pegasus had made, but the result was already self-evident.
"Since he is so immersed in this game and no longer possesses courage, then let it end here." Saori's voice was cold and indifferent. It was a helpless reality that former friends would eventually drift apart.
Time, after all, changes everything.
***
[Longhuang Universe]
Riku listened to Saeko Busujima's report and cut the connection. He remarked with interest, "Rhinedottir, do you find this result surprising?"
"I do." Rhinedottir's figure emerged from nearby, a smile curling her lips. "I thought that over the vast stretch of time, that Goddess's will would have been ground down to nothing. I did not expect that given just one opportunity, she would make a choice without the slightest hesitation."
Riku agreed, "It is not that strange. From the Mythological Era until now, these gods who fought their way through blades and spears... how could their wills be weak?"
"Ranch No. 2 and Ranch No. 3... how is the processing going?" Riku asked Rhinedottir.
Rhinedottir replied, "It is already handled. They were easy to deal with."
During these fourteen years, the [Universe Gate] had connected to two more universes. However, these two were not universes Riku was familiar with.
Of course, this was not surprising. In the vast Crystal Wall Sea, the number of universes was astronomical. What he knew was merely a drop in the ocean, perhaps even less.
Ranch No. 2 was an ordinary technological universe, with its overall level still in the steam age. Ranch No. 3 was a magical universe. As for its level? One could only say it amounted to nothing!
The processing of these two universes was naturally handled by Rhinedottir. While researching [The Dead], she had conveniently tidied up both universes.
For some beings, the limiting factor was not their talent, but their world. Once the ceiling is shattered, one finds that their speed of progress becomes incredibly rapid.
"Yu, I have selected a group of exceptionally talented individuals from those two universes. I will train them. In the future, I will organize plans for these ordinary universes, and they will be responsible for the gradual progression," Rhinedottir continued.
"That is fine with me," Riku said, having no objection. He only asked curiously, "What I am more curious about is, why did you only choose girls?"
This was what Riku found most peculiar.
"Human nature," Rhinedottir said calmly. "According to those novels you and Alice read, in female-oriented stories, they will not seize power even after 800,000 words; in male-oriented stories, they start plotting a coup by word 800."
"Uh..." Riku's mouth twitched.
Fine! Rhinedottir had a point. The ambition of males, no, male organisms, would never disappear. They only needed a single trigger, and it would manifest immediately.
"Furthermore, the [Cosmic Core] is very precious. Selecting people in large quantities would be a waste of them," Rhinedottir continued. "It is better to choose the best of the best. We do not need sheer numbers."
"You call the shots." Riku gave a small shrug, signaling that since she was the one in charge, she had total authority.
"Is there anything else?" Rhinedottir asked directly.
"Speaking of which..." Riku asked with a hint of helplessness, "The character in my name should not be 'Yu,' right?"
Rhinedottir turned and walked away. Answering that question was a waste of time.
Riku. Riku. Alice was always able to come up with these random things. For some reason, everyone's way of addressing Riku was either 'Mr. Riku' or, like Rhinedottir, simply calling him 'Yu.'
It was ridiculous. He could not even figure out how a character in his name had been changed for no reason.
Forget it, forget it. She was his own lively Great Witch; what else could he do? Aside from some 'punishments,' he naturally had to pamper her.
"Pack up, it is time to head to the banquet. Alice, are you coming?" Riku did not want to dwell on those messy details and asked directly.
In the empty garden, the sound of whistling sparks erupted. Alice landed on the ground amidst the flames.
"Of course I am going!" Alice rubbed her hands together excitedly. "I have wanted to visit the [Saint Seiya] world for a long time, but my darling would not let me!"
"That is because I was afraid something would happen to you!" Riku could not help but retort.
As the [Great Navigation] of the Crystal Wall Sea continued, more and more [Ranches] were discovered, and the [wealth] harvested grew as well.
The [Extinction] within the [Longhuang Universe] was continuing to be cleared. It was not much, but over these ten-plus years, nearly one-fiftieth had been purged.
This was only because Riku frequently arranged and deployed massive amounts of [Universe Energy]; otherwise, even more [Extinction] could have been cleared.
However, as the [Extinction] was cleared and the universe began to recover, [Universal Authority] began to gradually gestate once more. Riku had granted Rhinedottir the [Authority] of [Alchemy].
As for his own fiery Great Witch? There was no helping it. The fiery Great Witch was too special. To put it simply, Riku wanted to give her an [Authority], but the [Authority] did not dare to merge with her.
In short, it was not worthy.
As the first lover of the Lord of the Universe, and the only one, and as the mother of the Daughter of the Universe, Alice's life essence had already begun a frantic metamorphosis. That was the blessing and [Protection of the Universe]. She did not even need to cultivate; like Little Keli, she only needed to grow with the passage of time.