But that's nearly impossible. Asking her to relinquish Kalki?
That would be even harder than asking her to give up her own life.
Kurma is a pure-blooded Dragon Race and a World Serpent. She merely needs to bear the weight of the world to become infinitely powerful. At the very least, the current Two-Digit elites are far from Kurma's upper limit.
Mātariśvan's Ark chose to merge with Little Garden, becoming Little Garden's Ark of Salvation and transforming into a mechanical entity akin to the Winds of Decadence.
As long as Little Garden grows stronger, He too can advance. And once Little Garden inevitably approaches its end, He will also have the chance to become the new Little Garden.
As for Buddha… there's no need to elaborate further. The World Preserver God-Spirit status of Vishnu cannot be separated from Buddhist teachings. The Ninth Incarnation is merely a tribute offered by Bhagavan.
He never imagined a being like Buddha would be interested in Vishnu's God-Spirit Status.
Thus, in truth, the one most invested in the World Preserver God project of Vishnu is none other than Himself—Krishna. Everyone else, according to Krishna, are merely opportunists waiting to reap the fruits of His labor.
Here it is specifically mentioned—the treacherous son who stabbed the Holy Son in the back.
This is also the reason why He tirelessly manages Ouroboros without complaint.
Willing to seek a path in the morning and die by evening.
Having glimpsed the direction forward, no matter the price to pay or sins to bear, He will never stop until He either achieves His goal or falls.
Rishi Krishna was His name during the Two-Digit era. Orpheus the Poet was His name during the Four-Digit human era.
And His name during the Three-Digit era was—Vishnu.
Of course, all of this is merely His past, unworthy of outsiders' knowledge. And as the sole Two-Digit poet in Little Garden, how much truth—and how much fabrication—lies within these accounts?
"I'm sure you're aware now of the world codenamed 'Campione!', right?"
Aslan leaned back on the sofa, tilting his head as he looked at Krishna.
Hearing this, despite having ascended from human to Two-Digit and considering Himself highly knowledgeable, Krishna couldn't help but twitch the corner of His mouth.
Observing other worlds? He had certainly done so during the Dawn Age. But a world as absurd as Campione!? This was truly the first time He'd ever encountered something so ridiculous.
Isn't this world's mythology a bit too impoverished?
Every god must wear countless masks just to stabilize their mythology.
Don't pretend to be rich when you're broke!
Who exactly are you trying to deceive?
Even Krishna now felt like He'd just been fed a load of utter nonsense.
Krishna nodded helplessly. It seemed even Two-Digits couldn't fully control their own fate.
Fate really is a damn bastard.
"Don't you think 'Stray God,' 'The Fool,' and 'The Pact of the Gods' fit the current situation perfectly?"
Aslan took a small sip of tea, then reached out and grabbed the one-eyed crow perched quietly beside Krishna's hand, examining it curiously.
He studied this one-eyed crow with genuine interest. If His instincts were correct, this crow seemed to possess Four-Digit-level power.
When seized by Aslan, the crow clearly displayed a look of fear.
"What are you planning to do? You're not going to flirt with a crow, are you?"
"No, no, no—I just want to check your gender."
Aslan made a remark that sounded exactly like a mischievous child. But honestly, he wasn't wrong.
In terms of both growth and age, he truly was still just a child.
"I'm merely a kid—what kind of bad ideas could I possibly have?"
Hearing this, the one-eyed crow couldn't suppress another twitch and instinctively hid behind Krishna's back.
"Brat… I hate brats the most."
"Enough, Odin—stop causing trouble."
Krishna frowned, clearly annoyed by Aslan and Odin.
"Huh? So you're not dead yet?"
Aslan's interest was instantly piqued by Krishna's remark. He stared at Odin with intense curiosity.
(What if I leaked this news to the Halloween Queen?)
Aslan thought with wicked glee.
Indeed, no one who could be called "King of Gods" was ever simple. Nearly every such figure possessed unique talents.
The entire Norse pantheon had been obliterated by Dystopia back then—yet someone actually survived? Though their current state wasn't exactly enviable.
While Aslan played with Odin, Krishna sank into deep contemplation.
He knew clearly that once information about the King of the End and that world was exposed, the absolute chaos He desired would surely erupt within Little Garden.
In such chaos, the growth of Kalki's God-Spirit Status would be greatly accelerated.
If not for the high likelihood that Kalki would become a target—hunted and devoured by the King of the End's God-Spirit—He would wholeheartedly support this chaos and even secretly toss in a few more barrels of explosives to fully ignite the situation in Little Garden.
But with Kalki as potential prey, this was extremely troublesome.
Unexpectedly, He—the leader of the Demon King Alliance, who had vowed to restore the chaos of the Dawn Age to Little Garden and usher in its end—had now voluntarily become its defender.
Thinking of this, Krishna let out a bitter, helpless smile.
He was utterly trapped.
The youth of this era truly were extraordinary. Regardless of whether this world emerged naturally or was orchestrated by someone…
Little Garden's observation and the triggered mythological shift already indicated the other party's plan had succeeded.
This time, Krishna admitted defeat.
Yet somehow, He sensed a faint, strange scent within this "accident."
He looked back. Aslan returned His gaze with an utterly innocent smile.
(No, it couldn't possibly be him. Just a Four-Digit, not even an Origin Candidate—at best, a holder of Alternate Cosmology. He lacks the qualifications.)
Krishna shook His head. Though Aslan was a genius, from the Dawn Age until now, from human to Two-Digit, He had witnessed countless beings far more brilliant than Aslan.
Even Canaria… Canaria?
Add her to the suspect list for now. Canaria lacked the power to create a mythological shift acknowledged by Little Garden's Central Core.
Krishna leaned more toward the mastermind being someone on His own level.
Surely it couldn't really be Shiroyasha… could it? Better to assume He was just unlucky.
Krishna's expression instantly soured.
For some reason, the probability of Shiroyasha being the culprit kept rising in His mind.
It was common knowledge that holding Solar Authorities could interfere with Human History to a certain degree—even influencing Little Garden's Central Core's judgment.
Especially Ophiuchus, which could directly disrupt external organizations.
And Shiroyasha held fourteen Solar Authorities—naturally making him the prime suspect.
But did Shiroyasha even have the brains for this?
Or… had Shiroyasha been pretending all along? Krishna's eyes gradually deepened with thought.
(Good, good, good—so this is what the White Night Demon Lord is like.)
(And Shiroyasha has lived long enough to qualify for knowing vast amounts of information.)
(He also has motive—after all, Shiroyasha deeply loves Little Garden.)
(As for Aslan… Shiroyasha is even more likely than him.)
Still, Krishna added both Aslan and Shiroyasha to His suspect list.
Just in case. No matter how slim the chance, it remained possible.
Miracles were never in short supply in Little Garden.
Pulling His thoughts back, Krishna roughly understood Aslan's idea.
"You mean… giving them a fair chance to compete?"
Aslan nodded with an expression that said, "Finally, someone gets it."
At the very least, it had to appear fair—and in Little Garden, there was a sufficiently fair mechanism:
The Gift Game.
"So, we'll hold a massive-scale Gift Game solely to determine the King of the End candidate, right?"
"Doesn't a King of the End God-Spirit, chosen and empowered by the gods with destiny and authority, sound absolutely perfect?"
Aslan flashed a faint smile and sat up a little straighter.
"Indeed, it sounds perfect."
Krishna showed an agreeing smile. His gaze toward Aslan grew noticeably warmer.
Truly, the young had brilliant ideas.
This way, the positional overlap between the King of the End and Kalki could be perfectly avoided.
After all, Kalki is the divine Savior who descends at the end times.
Whereas the King of the End is the Savior chosen by the gods, entrusted with duty and destiny.
The latter could even be established as a unique position.
And being entrusted with duty and destiny was far more civilized than simply killing and devouring another's God-Spirit.
Gathering the power of all gods and Buddhas in Little Garden, and jointly creating the Two-Digit King of the End Savior through the Pact of the Gods.
"Therefore, Lord Alliance Leader, I leave the crucial task of lobbying the other Full Domain Authorities to you."
Aslan patted Krishna's shoulder with a serious expression, barely stopping short of saying, "Do your best."
If successful, he'd add an extra chicken thigh to Krishna's bento box.
Krishna brushed away Aslan's slightly grubby little hand with a sour expression. That hand had just been playing with Odin—don't smear it on Him!
He felt utterly disgusted!!
"Then, Your Majesty Krishna, see you again… ah, no—see you another time."
Having dumped all the follow-up work onto Krishna, Aslan clapped his hands cheerfully.
Krishna truly deserved to be the model worker among the Two-Digits. Such awareness, such foresight—truly remarkable.
Indeed, entrusting this matter to Krishna unexpectedly gave Aslan confidence.
So, just how skilled were the human attributes of this Krishna-tool?
Krishna surely hadn't climbed to Two-Digit status easily.
"You're really going to trust the words of this kid so readily?"
The one-eyed crow perched on Krishna's shoulder tilted its head, regarding Him curiously.
"Even if I don't trust him, I have no choice."
Krishna sighed. If He wasn't mistaken, Aslan had come with a mission too.
He had just tried tracing Aslan's information source and examining Aslan's God-Spirit structure—but saw a faint 'α' mark on him.
This clearly indicated that His Majesty did not wish for Little Garden to reach its end so soon.
How could He—the lowest-ranked among the Two-Digits—possibly dare oppose the will of that Great One?
This also neatly explained Aslan's source of information.