NOVEL NEXT Chapter 214: Has Anyone Seen My Lost Athena?
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In front of everyone, Shiroyasha pulled out a roll of black parchment, her body faintly glowing with dark light.
"Hold the banner steady."
The moment she spoke, Ryo tightened his grip on the alliance flag.
Dark light rippled across the parchment, gathering in one spot—then shot forward in a flash, sinking into the banner in Ryo's hands.
For an instant, it felt like a colossal pillar of light pierced the heavens and earth right through his eyes.
But the moment he blinked, the vision vanished without a trace.
Instead, what surfaced before his eyes was the change on his own Gift Card.
[Special Gift: Region Ruler]
[Authority granted: management of an Outer Gate · Capital of the Edge, spanning 120,000 square kilometers.]
"OK."
Shiroyasha's tone was relaxed as she said,
"Congratulations, you're officially promoted to a four-digit community. If you're throwing a banquet, don't forget to invite me for a good meal."
"Banquet forbidden!" Black Rabbit crossed her arms in an X in front of her chest. "Every coin in the community has to be stretched carefully. More importantly, everything Lady Shiroyasha would want to eat is way out of our budget."
"Tch."
Shiroyasha clicked her tongue, then in the blink of an eye appeared right behind Black Rabbit. She grabbed her long ears with a wicked grin and gave them a sharp tug.
"Nice and springy, heh."
Before Black Rabbit could react, Shiroyasha vanished with a swish.
"Yaaah!"
Black Rabbit yelped, clutching her ears as she hopped in pain, then landed with both feet on the ground, fuming.
"That shameless troublemaking star spirit! So annoying!"
Leticia just sighed beside her.
"You still don't get it, do you? The more you fight back, the more she enjoys teasing you."
"..."
Meanwhile, Ryo casually flicked his hand, and a brown parchment appeared—his authority as Region Ruler, now materialized.
Scanning its contents, his brows shot up.
"Wait… it says I can rearrange territory at will? Doesn't that mean we can just merge all our scattered land into one big piece?"
"Hm? That wasn't there before…" Leticia leaned closer to take a look. "Looks like there are a few clauses added that didn't exist two hundred years ago."
"In that case, we might as well combine all the land. That'll make management so much easier."
[No Name]'s farmland, ranches, and other plots were scattered all across the vast 120,000 square kilometers of the Edge. Managing them had always been a headache.
But with this ability, everything could be consolidated into one area.
Ryo thought about it, then dangled the parchment in front of Leticia.
"?" Leticia tilted her head, glancing at him in surprise. "You want me to handle it?"
"Exactly." Ryo nodded, smiling faintly. "I've got more important matters to deal with over the next couple of days."
Hearing that, Leticia immediately understood—he was planning another trip to a different world. She worried, but respected his choice.
So she accepted the parchment with a small smile. "Then take care on your journey."
"I will." Ryo gave a short nod, cast one last glance at Black Rabbit—who looked like she had something to say but swallowed it back—and then waved lightly before turning to leave.
...
Later, in his bedroom, Ryo sat on the sofa by the window, eyes closed as if resting.
In truth, he had pulled up the Dimensional Forum and posted a new question.
"How do I get to a world where an Athena exists?"
[Answer: Spend 5000 points to use "Targeted Search" on Athena?]
Ryo froze.
His gaze shifted from the forum back to his points balance: [1000]. His lips twitched.
That thousand points had only been earned after his trip to the Strike the Blood world, tricking Avrora into issuing him an invite.
And he was still short 4000.
Damn it. Am I supposed to walk back out there and tell Leticia I'm not leaving after all? How embarrassing would that be?!
Grinding his teeth, he posted again:
"Anything I have that could be exchanged for 4000 points? Preferably something I can trade repeatedly."
[Answer: A portion of the 'Victory' Authority's blessing may be exchanged for 4000 points. After exchange, the Authority will enter a berserk state for 20 days. This method can only be used once without harming the source.]
"Victory Authority?" Ryo blinked, then realized—oh. Athena's blessing.
This thing can be traded for points?
"What else can I exchange for points?"
[Answer: Concepts, Authorities, Truths, incomplete Linges, Source Power.]
"…Yeah, goodbye."
Ryo nearly slammed the forum shut on the spot. Listing only things he didn't have—wasn't that just cruel?
He took a few slow breaths to calm down, then asked again:
"If I exchange, what are the side effects?"
[Answer: For 20 days, the holder will be locked in a 'Victory State'. In all situations, their actions will be guided toward victory. After 20 days, the blessing reverts to normal.]
So basically… guaranteed wins in gambling, guaranteed wins in the Gacha?
Ryo's face twisted. He typed out,
"You call that berserk?"
[Answer: Uncontrollable = berserk.]
He went silent for a beat. Then posted, "Fine, exchange it."
It was a good thing for him after all. And he really wanted to experience what "Gacha win guaranteed" felt like.
[Answer: Exchange complete. Would you like to begin the targeted search?]
"Yeah, start it."
Ryo checked himself carefully, but didn't feel any noticeable change. Then again, this was three-digit level Authority—of course it wasn't something he could just sense at will.
Soon, the Forum popped up a new prompt.
[Answer: Please enter your specific query.]
A text box floated before his eyes.
After some thought, Ryo typed: 〚I'm a Saint under Goddess Athena. My goddess has gone missing. Has anyone seen my lost Athena?〛
"Send!"
Crossing his arms, he watched the [Searching…] screen, muttering, "Wonder which Athena this'll lead me to. Hopefully it's a simpler world."
[Ding.]
[Search complete. Athena located. Question sent.]
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A/N:
The Fourth Crossover had begun — and for those who skipped the synopsis, try to guess what it is.