Crossover: The Problem Human of [Arcadia]

— — — — — — 

After redeeming the Cosmo, Ryo's body didn't show any changes. But deep within his spiritual core, a whole new world was unfolding.

A cosmic galaxy appeared—one filled with both radiant brilliance and mysterious darkness, a blend of depth and light—like the birth of a brand-new universe inside him.

In that moment, Ryo had the strange feeling that the entire world had turned into microscopic particles, while his body held the terrifying power to utterly shatter them.

—Atomic Destruction!

This was the source of the Cosmo's terrifying might. It was also the foundation of every Saint's fearsome strength.

That's why Saint battles were so intense—if you weren't careful, your atoms could be shattered by your opponent, erasing you from existence in an instant.

Saint Cloths? They weren't just cool armor—they were essentially insurance for these deadly fights, and also functioned as tools to amplify a Saint's Cosmo.

Ryo let out a small sigh of relief.

"Luckily, there aren't many people in the Little Garden who have powers capable of atomic destruction. For now, I don't have to worry about needing a Saint Cloth."

In the Saint Seiya universe, fighting without a Cloth was a death wish. But in the Little Garden, things were a bit more… cautious. So it wasn't as dangerous.

"But seriously, the power level in the Saint Seiya is nuts. I wonder if that's all because of that big-shot, Chronos…"

Ryo grumbled, letting off some steam before shifting his focus inward, trying to sense the new energy within him.

And sure enough—

He had no clue how to actually use the Cosmo.

Ryo immediately felt the sting of regret. "So… I just got the seed of the power? I swear, if this ends up being incompatible with the Little Garden, I'm gonna lose my mind!"

[Answer: The Central Authority of the Little Garden has approved.]

[The Cosmo system can fully operate via your spiritual core.]

"So the stronger my spiritual core is, the stronger my Cosmo becomes?"

Ryo frowned. That didn't sound ideal. For Saints, going all-out—exploding with power—was kind of their whole thing. But right now, it sounded like he couldn't even do a Cosmo burst?

[Answer: Those with strong conviction can forcefully ignite a higher level of power by massively consuming soul energy.]

"..."

Ryo went silent.

In the Saint Seiya world, Saints constantly pushed their Cosmo to explode in moments of desperation. The oldest ones barely lived past 500 years.

And Ryo could tell—even without training—that this Cosmo system could extend one's lifespan.

Break through the sixth sense? You'd easily live 10,000 years. Reach the seventh sense? You'd probably forget what death even was.

And yet Athena's Saints, one after another, they were burning through their lives just to exist. No wonder they could beat back the gods. They weren't afraid to sacrifice millions of years of life just to throw a punch. Absolute madlads.

After a moment of awe, Ryo opened the community forum to ask: "How do you actually use the Cosmo?"

[Answer: Targeted search costs 1,500 points.]

Ryo frowned.

But points weren't easy to earn—but the sooner he got his hands on training methods, the better.

Why? Because of Hōgyoku. With that gift, as long as he knew the method, he could internalize and master it absurdly fast.

Judging by Hōgyoku's four-digit rank in the system, supporting him up to the Seventh Sense should be no problem.

With that in mind, Ryo didn't hesitate anymore. He opened the point exchange screen and searched for "Cosmo Training Methods."

To his relief, some results showed up—starting at 500 points.

[Libra Meditation Technique — Author: Dohko — Points: 500]

[The first Pegasus Basic Meditation Method — Author: Pegasus Seiya — Points: 520]

[...]

Line after line of training techniques scrolled by—some from unknown Saints, others from legendary Gold Saints. But the more he read, the more conflicted he felt.

He didn't know much about Cosmo training, so all he could rely on were familiar names. But even then… how was he supposed to judge which was best?

Sure, points were a useful metric, but when the differences were this small, it didn't help much.

Just as he was about to give up, something caught his eye.

[Athena's Diary —Author: Sasha (Athena—partially awakened) — Points: 520]

Ryo blinked, his expression turning a bit weird.

"Athena's diary counts as a training manual?"

If he remembered correctly, Sasha was the reincarnation of Athena from the 18th century—the generation before Saori Kido. She was from the Hades arc.

This version of Athena wasn't some damsel constantly yelling "save me!" She was the type to grab her divine staff and throw hands with Hades herself—a full-blown war goddess.

"A goddess's diary, huh…" Ryo felt a strange curiosity creeping in.

It felt wrong to peek at a girl's diary, but… also weirdly tempting.

A girl's diary? That had to be filled with sweet, innocent thoughts… right?

Giving in, Ryo tapped on the entry. The moment the points were spent, the diary opened before him.

The handwriting was elegant and neat—not exactly beautiful, but definitely easy on the eyes.

Of course, if Ryo showed this to Athena in the Little Garden and claimed it was hers, she'd probably respond with her signature line: "OK. War."

Supposedly, someone once called Athena ugly to her face and said she was embarrassing herself. Her reply? "OK. War."

Three years later, that guy's head was mounted on a pike. Ever since, the upper-tier gods in the Garden avoided arguing with her.

She wasn't just any goddess—she was a battle-hardened, hot-headed war goddess.

But oddly enough, compared to the dignified, terrifying Athena everyone feared, Ryo actually found Sasha's diary kind of… adorable.

There it was—that touch of divinity.

He began reading.

---

{Saturday. Just got back from the Pope's Palace. Sage said another Saint died on a mission. I guess casualties are unavoidable in the end….....}

The handwriting trailed off at the end, as if she'd stopped mid-thought.

{Sage seemed really upset. Apparently, the fallen Saint was the last descendant of one of his old comrades...}

The bottom of the page looked slightly warped, like it had been soaked and dried. Maybe it had been teardrops?

Flipping the page, Ryo kept reading, expression blank.

{Sunday. Went down to the town with Scorpio Cardia—he kinda dragged me there. I don't think he noticed Sage was secretly tailing us the whole time… but I did. Weirdly, Sage didn't stop us. That surprised me.}

{Alcohol tastes awful. It burns your throat. I could use Cosmo to flush it out, but for some reason, I didn't want to. Still, I don't think I'll drink again.}

{The tavern was messy, so I helped clean a bit. The owner tried to give me money. I secretly stuffed it back behind the counter.}

{Reading this a month later… I kinda regret it. After my Cosmo awakened, I couldn't feel that burning sensation anymore. Shame. I only got to try it once.}

Ryo flipped again, reading with genuine interest.

{After awakening my Cosmo, daily life got a lot harder. This morning, I crushed my stone bed just by stretching.}

{But when I tried to remember how the bed looked before… it fixed itself. Wait… Cosmo can do that???}

The triple big question marks made her confusion clear.

{Asked Sage how to use Cosmo. His expression was… weird. Like, "Yep, that's Athena for you." ...Also, I think I can read his thoughts when he relaxes. Was he picturing me skewering a black-armored enemy with a spear?}

Ryo winced… and kept reading.

{So… when I grow up, I'll have a really nice figure? That's a relief! No more worrying about looking down and only seeing the floor. Guess I do have potential!}

Ryo nearly burst out laughing.

He stifled it and turned the next page.

{So this is the Gold Meditation method, huh? Control your breathing, clear your mind…And suddenly, I was back at the Big Bang. In that moment, I could feel the singularity explode, and I could control it—direct the energy however I wanted. It was… incredible.}

{Sage said I was in meditation for six months. I could feel time passing outside, but I didn't care. Controlling the Big Bang to recreate people I knew was too much fun. So I kept going.}

{Apparently, being able to fully control that post-Big Bang energy is super rare. Sage said it's a "Gold Saint potential" thing. So I can be a Gold Saint too?!}

Ryo's eyes lit up.

Next page—

{Told Sage I wanted to be the new Leo Gold Saint. He yelled at me.}

{But not at me—he yelled at himself. Said he failed as Pope if I ended up thinking like that. I comforted him a bit. Still… why can't a goddess become a Saint? Did none of the previous Athenas complain??}

...

The rest of the diary was a scattered mix of Cosmo training notes, Sage's tips, Sasha's personal reflections, and her awe at other Saints' techniques.

Most of it wasn't super technical, but Ryo found himself thoroughly absorbed.

By the time he finished reading, the Hōgyoku inside him gave a faint pulse.

And in the next instant, Ryo saw it—

A surge of infinite light, exploding from a single origin point.

—The Big Bang.

.

.

.