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Just how powerful was Mika in his God Cloth?
To understand, one must first understand the Ninth Sense—a realm so vast it defies simple classification.
A human who has just ascended to Godhood is considered to be at the Ninth Sense—yet, so are beings like Athena, Hades, and Poseidon, Chief Gods who could effortlessly annihilate their lesser counterparts.
Even a being like Zeus, the King of the Gods, who could strip the other Twelve Olympians of their divine armor at will—was also classified within the Ninth Sense.
The domain was simply too broad.
To truly describe it, Mika would have to borrow the tiered system from webnovels of his past life: beginner, adept, mastery, and pinnacle.
Newly ascended Gods could be classified as beginner wielders of the Ninth Sense.
Beings like the Twin Gods, Thanatos and Hypnos, were firmly in the adept stage.
The Twelve Chief Gods, like Athena, Hades, and Poseidon, had achieved mastery and delved deep into its mysteries.
As for the absolute pinnacle?
Mika wasn't sure if even Zeus qualified...
That stage was reserved for those who had walked the path to its very end, standing on the precipice of a higher form of existence.
Perhaps a being like the Great Red from the world of High School DxD was at that level, which would explain why even the immensely powerful Ophis was no match for him.
And as for Mika, clad in his new God Cloth?
His combat power now rested somewhere between the adept and mastery stages of the Ninth Sense.
It was difficult to give a precise classification, as his power wasn't a reflection of his own stage of enlightenment, but a raw amplification of his combat strength.
He based this assessment on a simple fact: Mika felt he was now on par with Yahweh.
Yahweh was currently at that very level.
This was why Athena had been so envious of her good fortune.
In the beginning, Yahweh, despite being a top-tier God in Orario, was only comparable to a Chief God from the High School DxD world, a far cry from the Gods of the Saint Seiya universe—
—But by continuously sending her avatar, Gabriel, to accompany Mika and absorb the knowledge of other worlds, she had rapidly grown, reaching a level just shy of the Dragon Gods.
Her true breakthrough into the Ninth Sense had been achieved by mastering Cosmo, but even then, she was only at the beginner stage, the gap between her and the late-stage Athena being incalculable.
Yet, after a single journey to another world, she had practically leaped to the threshold of mastery, nearly catching up to Athena—It was no wonder Athena was so shocked, so envious.
Such an explosive leap in power was something she couldn't even imagine. And to Yahweh, it was a miracle she never thought could be replicated.
But now, that miracle had been duplicated.
With just one suit of armor.
"Tsk!"
As the most powerful being present, Athena could, of course, gauge the scope of Mika's new strength. Even now, his power was something she could not hope to match. It was for this very reason that she clicked her tongue in annoyance.
She was jealous... Again!
"That is the power of a God Cloth. Its amplification of a God's strength is beyond mortal comprehension..." Athena couldn't help but remark.
"It is said that the techniques to create them were passed down by a great being who reached a state beyond the Ninth Sense. It is by relying on these armors that my clan was able to stand at the pinnacle of the world."
"You're not wrong!" Mika nodded emphatically.
Having experienced the power of the God Cloth firsthand, he had to admit it was a cheat-level existence.
In the Saint Seiya world, the Greek pantheon was undeniably the strongest.
Mika had previously attributed this to the existence of that transcendent being, and it seemed he was right. While not a direct influence, the forging techniques he had passed down were clearly beyond the reach of any God who had yet to transcend their own world.
In Mika's estimation, if Athena, already at the mastery stage of the Ninth Sense, were to don a true God Cloth, her combat power would absolutely reach the pinnacle, and perhaps even beyond.
And at their peak, the Greek pantheon had Twelve such Gods.
Such a force... even if all the other pantheons in the universe combined their strength, could they even assemble a comparable force?
It was no wonder the Greek Gods were the hegemons of their world.
No wonder Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, was also the Guardian of the Earth.
No wonder Poseidon could monopolize the seas without giving a sliver of face to any other sea God, and Hades could do the same with the Underworld.
It made sense that the three of them were the ones fighting the most fiercely. No other pantheon was even qualified to join the game.
————
Having grasped the full picture of the Saint Seiya world, Mika immediately turned to Yahweh and shouted, "Yahweh, let's have a match!"
"Bring it on! I'm also very interested to see how strong you've become!" Yahweh's eyes lit up instantly.
Seeing the two decide to fight, Athena grinned, eagerly waiting to see Yahweh's eventual embarrassment.
And reality did not disappoint.
After a brief but intense battle in the vast emptiness of space, Yahweh called a stop, a frustrated look on her face.
"Stop, stop! No more! I'm not fighting anymore!" Yahweh waved her hands frantically, refusing to continue.
Mika, though slightly unfulfilled, was mostly overjoyed. His duel with Yahweh had given him a clear picture of his own strength. In terms of offensive output, he was roughly on par with her, both of them just barely touching the mastery stage of the Ninth Sense.
But when it came to defense... his limits were nowhere in sight.
After all, Yahweh's attacks had been completely nullified by the God Cloth he wore. It was clear her strength was nowhere near enough to test the armor's defensive capabilities.
With this thought, Mika couldn't help but glance at Athena.
"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT. I'M NOT FIGHTING YOU. I know exactly how frustrating it is to fight that thing—" Athena said, waving her hands in refusal. That lump of metal was a real pain to deal with.
"But rest assured," she continued, "with that God Cloth, you have no possibility of losing within the realm of the Ninth Sense. The only outcomes for you are victory or a draw."
"Although, with your stamina, I imagine it would be very difficult for any enemy to force a draw with you," Athena explained, a helpless look on her face. But as she spoke, a smile crept onto her lips, as if she were pitying Mika's future opponents.
"Is that so!"
Receiving this reliable information from Athena, Mika's face was wreathed in a grin.
No possibility of losing in the Ninth Sense meant that among the God-level enemies within any given world, he was now effectively invincible. And with his infinite stamina, not losing meant he would inevitably win.
Without a doubt, Mika was now unbeatable.
"Now, I can finally travel to a new world without any worries," Mika said, his face full of anticipation.
————
A new world, a complete unknown. This was what Mika sought. But he hadn't journeyed to a new world in a long time.
As for the reasons, he no longer wished to dwell on them. Right now, he just wanted to get to the next world as quickly as possible and continue his exploration.
However, his current anticipation was fueled by more than just his own curiosity. There was an urging from the depths of his soul.
It was a call from the starry expanse within his mind.
As Mika's strength grew, his connection to that inner cosmos became stronger.
As a result, he would occasionally receive information from it, usually macro-level intelligence about his current world.
Normally, such information would be crucial for a traveler.
But Mika was different.
Coming from Earth, he was already incredibly familiar with these worlds. At least, he had yet to encounter a world he didn't know about. Perhaps only when he finally did would the information from the starry expanse prove useful.
However, as his strength increased, the importance of the intelligence he received also grew. By the time he reached LV.9 with his Falna, the information from the starry expanse had finally changed.
It told him that when he finally ascended to Godhood, he would gain complete mastery over the starry expanse, see its true form, and truly command it.
And to help him grow, it had chosen a world that was perfect for him.
A world with an enemy that would allow him to fight to his heart's content.
Upon learning this, Mika's curiosity about the new world had been ignited. He desperately wanted to know what kind of opponent the starry expanse, which had awakened alongside him, had chosen for him. Though it had warned him that the enemy was strong, Mika felt no fear.
Instead, he was even more excited.
Now, having obtained the God Cloth and achieved a state of invincibility, his anticipation for this enemy was even greater.
"I wonder if you'll still be a threat to me, as the starry expanse claimed, when you're facing me like this," Mika thought with a grin.
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