Saint Seiya: The Multiverse Libra Gold Saint

"A god?"

"You're kidding, right?"

Will didn't believe Kaiser.

But the inexplicable time added to his arm told him this was no simple matter.

In Will's mind, time was everything.

Intangible, yet it governed all aspects of life.

Now, someone claimed to be a god, aiming to overhaul the social system and strip time's dominance from human life.

To Will, this sounded like madness.

"A hundred years is my greeting gift."

"Use it as you wish."

"You can seek answers with this time."

"I expect your response."

"No need to hide my existence. If the police find you, reveal me."

Kaiser smiled, unfazed by Will's disbelief.

The rigid class system would teach Will the law of the jungle.

With that, Kaiser vanished.

Will's pupils shrank, his face etched with shock.

That vanishing ability…

"Could he really be a god?"

Will was stunned.

He felt he'd encountered something extraordinary.

Gods existed only in stories and legends.

In the Time Bureau's world, gods weren't believed in.

If they existed, they were the elite of the first time zone.

Immortal, gazing down from the world's peak with endless time.

"A new social order?"

Will stared at his century of time, falling silent.

This time was his chance to rise.

To cross time zones.

To enter the rich district.

With ample time, Will's first act was consumption.

Items once out of reach now seemed cheap.

"Hm?"

At a bar, Will noticed someone.

They didn't hide the time on their arm.

Over a hundred years.

"Another from the rich district?"

Will was surprised.

To see such a person in a slum bar was unexpected.

"You're flashing your time so openly. Aren't you afraid of time bandits?"

Will ordered a drink and sat across from the man.

"Terence. You?"

The man seemed unconcerned, introducing himself casually.

Beneath his carefree exterior hid a lifeless soul.

His eyes revealed a death wish.

"This isn't the place to talk. Want to go somewhere else?"

Will subtly showed his own time to Terence, signaling no ill intent.

He recalled Kaiser's words about witnessing.

Here was someone from the rich district... perfect for gathering information.

"Interesting."

Terence glanced at Will, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

From the rich district, he knew such time was impossible in the slums.

Will's demeanor didn't suggest wealth either.

"Let's go."

Curiosity piqued, Terence agreed to talk.

They soon reached a warehouse.

This was Will's usual spot to unwind.

Not exactly hidden, but rarely visited.

"Will Salas, my name."

The two sat on a tattered sofa.

Away from the noisy crowd, Will relaxed.

"Your time, it's from an unusual source, isn't it?"

Terence eyed Will.

He seemed tense.

A century-plus of time wasn't obtained through normal means.

"No comment."

"I'm here to ask why you're in this place."

"What do I need to know to visit the rich district?"

Will stayed silent, unwilling to reveal more.

"Don't worry, I'm not interested in your time."

"I've lived long enough."

Terence leaned back, his eyes filled with confusion.

"How old are you?"

Will was curious.

In a world where life froze at 25, age was hard to gauge.

"Almost two hundred."

"You?"

Terence didn't hide it.

"Thirty…"

Will hadn't expected Terence to be nearly two centuries old.

"Young, full of passion."

"Now that you have time you'll never exhaust, what do you plan to do?"

Terence asked a question he'd never answered himself.

"Do?"

Will recalled Kaiser's words.

"What do you think of the current social system?"

"If time stopped being the measure of everything."

"If humans were born, grew, aged, and died naturally."

"Would that be a better or worse order?"

Will countered.

"Oh?"

"Not a question I'd expect from you."

Terence was surprised.

Slum dwellers toiled daily for barely a day and a half's worth of time.

A calculated amount by those at the top.

There might be slight variations, but not much.

They controlled birth and death rates.

Ensuring the lower class could never rise.

Ensuring a steady labor supply.

A terrifying class system.

Even in the rich district, crossing classes was nearly impossible.

You were born in your place, locked there for life.

Rising was impossible.

But falling was easy.

Few chose to fall.

"Until yesterday, I hadn't thought about it either."

"But I met someone… strange."

"More refined than you, with an extraordinary presence."

"He called himself a god, gave me a hundred years of time."

"Told me to witness."

"He asked what social system I'd build if I were in charge."

Will paused, then revealed Kaiser's existence.

Kaiser had said his presence didn't need hiding.

"A god?"

Terence's eyes lit up at the word.

"Will, you don't understand this world's system."

"It's rotten."

"The rich stay rich, the poor stay poor."

"I've lived enough. I don't want to keep going."

"I've lost my reason to live."

"But your talk of a new system…"

"If death came to everyone equally."

"That might be a fairer world."

Terence's face showed confusion and pain.

Will couldn't grasp why someone with over a century of time, free from worry, was so tormented.

"If you've truly met a god, and he chose you."

"Go see the world."

Terence shared tips about the rich district and basic knowledge.

They talked late, engrossed.

Until they fell asleep.

The next morning, Will woke alone.

"Terence?"

No response.

He glanced at his arm instinctively.

Will froze.

"Two hundred thirty-one years…"

He stared, stunned.

Looking out the window, Terence sat on a bridge, watching the sunrise.

His arm's time ticked down.

At the final second, it hit zero.

Terence paled, his body falling lifelessly into the stream below.

Will wanted to shout, but Terence's warning from last night stopped him.

On the window, words were scrawled: "Don't waste my life."

"Witness the new world."

Signed, Terence Vale.

He'd planned it all.

Will stood silent, then took a photo of the message at home.

Proof of his innocence, courtesy of Terence.

Everything had been orchestrated last night.

"So, you're setting out?"

Kaiser's figure appeared beside Will.

Will stumbled back, startled, then relaxed seeing Kaiser.

He asked the question haunting him: "Why me?"

Will felt lost.

Kaiser and Terence had both given him vast time.

Witness what?

"That question will find its answer later. For now, see the world."

"Enjoy life."

"I still await your answer."

Kaiser gave Will a deep look.

He'd already begun balancing this world's laws.

But he wasn't ready to upend it yet.

Other laws were manageable.

Extracting time laws from the souls and bodies of all beings was incredibly difficult.

Reviving a stagnant, lifeless world was a challenge.

"I understand…"

Will set aside his doubts, deciding to visit the rich district.

After sharing Kaiser's existence last night, Terence had opened up, and they'd talked extensively.

Will wasn't clueless about the rich district anymore.

Back home, he transferred ten years to his mother.

Will shared the recent events with his mother.

"Go, Will. See the world."

"I'll take care of myself."

Her words freed him from worry.

He boarded a time-operated vehicle, heading for the rich district.

The journey passed countless checkpoints.

It cost nearly seven years in tolls.

Will finally reached the rich district.

"Just crossing time zones took seven years."

"No wonder slum dwellers never see the rich."

Will marveled.

Seven years, for the slums, would take roughly 2,600 people to pool.

An staggering disparity.

In the slums, seven years was unimaginable wealth.

For the rich, it might cover a single meal.

The rich district's opulence and slow pace felt surreal.

But one thing remained constant: lifelessness.

A chilling absence of connection and emotion.

In the slums, children laughed and played.

Though time was scarce, neighbors and friends shared genuine bonds.

They lived each day to the fullest, cherishing their last.

Here, with endless time, there was no conversation, no laughter.

The contrast pained Will.

"Don't mind it. It's inevitable when you live too long."

"Look to your left, that elite."

"He's lived nearly a thousand years."

"But his family and friends died in accidents."

"So he's emotionally numb."

"They're just ordinary people with vast time. They die if killed."

"Immortality can be a cruel curse."

"But you're lucky... you can choose to end it."

Kaiser appeared abruptly in the seat across from Will, ordering the same coffee.

Familiar with Kaiser's ways, Will was only mildly startled.

"Why do you always appear out of nowhere?"

"And why can't they see you?"

Will glanced around, curious about others' reactions.

No one stirred.

"Only you can see me."

"I'm observing this world."

Kaiser replied.

"So you're really a god?"

Will no longer doubted Kaiser's divine claim.

But he couldn't grasp Kaiser's intentions.

"Your turning point is coming."

"Terence's death has been noticed by the Timekeepers."

"You're a prime suspect."

"As I said, I await your answer."

Kaiser vanished.

Will sat alone at the table.

"They've already noticed?"

Will wasn't surprised.

He'd crossed multiple time zones.

And left the bar with Terence the day before his death.

He was the obvious suspect.

Unbeknownst to Will, a girl had been watching him.

She saw his hurried movements.

His self-talk.

Speaking as if to someone, though no one was there.

"Interesting…"

Sylvia felt intrigued by a man for the first time.

In the cold rich district, Will brought a spark of color.

"Turning point?"

"Answer?"

"I need to connect with the rich."

To truly understand this world, he had to meet its true rulers.

Those with endless time.

After resting a night, Will learned of a casino.

A hub for the rich district's elite.

In a place flush with time, only gambling brought thrills.

The casino was crowded.

Each patron immensely wealthy.

Will spotted two conversing elites.

Their arms displayed centuries, even millennia.

Time unimaginable in the slums.

Taking a deep breath, Will sat at a gambling table.

Across from him was a refined man.

But seeing the time on his arm, Will's heart surged.

"Ten thousand years…"

Will couldn't fathom such time on one person.

Even slum banks held only about a year's reserve.

But here was a man with ten thousand years.

Sylvia recognized Will.

The man who sparked her curiosity.

"You seem unique."

"Where are you from?"

Philippe eyed Will with interest.

It had been ages since he'd seen someone like him... clearly a cross-time-zone traveler.

***

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