Chapter 781: Origin Candidate, Kaito Shirogane
"The legendary... massive Gift..."
This statement once again caused a shift in the eyes of the Azure Sky members. The Space's prompt had already appeared; Ryo had been confirmed truly dead.
The ownership of the Azure Sky assembly had been transferred to Reinhardt.
Red-eyed Reinhardt gritted his teeth, constantly emitting a sound between a pant and a roar.
The magical energy on his body surged continuously, and the wisp of bloodline unique to the Primordial God race surged within him. He even began to display some characteristics of the Heavenly Phenomenon Descent.
That was a necessary characteristic of the true Primordial God race. As long as it appeared, they would naturally control a certain phenomenon, element, or law, making them true gods nurtured by heaven and earth.
"Mercenary Tao, I want to make a deal with you, a deal you absolutely won't regret!"
Ren, whose codename was [Reinhardt], found that even though he had spent a long time preparing himself mentally and exchanged for magic to force calmness, his mind still couldn't find peace at this moment.
He could not accept Ryo's death.
To him, Ryo was not only the leader of Azure Sky but also his closest friend, a comrade he had encountered during his very first trial mission.
He had followed the other's footsteps all the way to grow to this stage. Now that the unreliable, unrefined figure was suddenly gone from ahead, he instantly felt he had lost his direction.
Kaito Shirogane's expression remained completely unchanged, as if he hadn't heard Reinhardt's voice at all. He merely continued to look at the Halloween Queen with a smile.
He had obtained quite a few good things in this battle. Whether it was the Kaio-Ken, which had leveled up during the limit-breaking battle, or the Talent: Limit-Break Spiral, both were massive upgrades.
Additionally, he had successfully acquired the Third Star Particle from within Izayoi Sakamaki. Although he couldn't view its attributes for the time being, Kaito Shirogane guessed that even if it wasn't a bloodline item, it was at least a special material that could be smelted into his own body.
There was also the special drop card obtained from killing Ryo. Because he was in a special state at the time and the battle intensity was too high, he didn't have time to designate Ryo as a target for elimination to increase the drop rate. But thinking about it now, with this group from Azure Sky, even if he used his [Scavenger] authority to designate them, whether the check would succeed was debatable.
Of course, the biggest gain was actually the fusion with Azi Dahaka. That Demon Lord of Absolute Evil possessed power beyond common sense, whether it was the hyper-dimensional ability of Another Cosmology or that series of Demon Lord Authorities.
Any power that entered Kaito Shirogane's Sea of Consciousness would not leave without a trace.
Ever since he completed the Stairway of Binary Antinomy last time, Kaito Shirogane possessed the ability to use the item left by Shigeo Kageyama to engrave the power essence of others who sat upon the Throne of the Heart into his Sea of Consciousness!
This was the true reason Kaito Shirogane was willing to accept the invitation from the mastermind [Ouroboros] and let the Demon Lord Azi Dahaka awaken within him.
What he wanted was absolutely not just a one-time, 4-Digit combat power trial card of fusing with a Demon Lord. He wanted to tangibly obtain the power of the Demon Lord of Absolute Evil!
Reinhardt felt Kaito Shirogane's disregard. His mentality became unbalanced, and he stepped forward to grab Kaito Shirogane, but a chilling Soul Blade was already raised and held in front of his neck.
Black Face, tall and slender with his face full of incantations, stepped sideways to block in front of Kaito Shirogane. He said coldly, "Step back, mortal. The King is not someone you can touch."
On the other side, the one-armed Artoria similarly held her sword single-handedly, pointing it at Reinhardt from afar. A terrifying malice instantly locked onto the new master of Azure Sky.
Brynhild and Roman also stepped forward.
Professor Kento was somewhat at a loss. He instinctively looked towards Mori-Summer, only to find that Big Sis Mori-Summer was still unusually weak. That weakness even gave him the illusion that Big Sis Mori-Summer had entered a near-death state.
Yet, she clearly had no severe injuries on her body.
Kento's mind was a mess.
"If you are trying to resurrect Ryo, then we can drop this deal."
Finally, whether out of pity or some other motive, the Halloween Queen actually spoke up proactively, exposing the truth that Kaito Shirogane was too arrogant to even bother explaining.
If resurrection could truly break it, then how much oppressive force would the so-called Destined Death hold over Reincarnators at the level of the Supreme Three Kings?
Although for ordinary Reincarnators, resurrection was basically the hardest condition to fulfill.
But with so many task worlds, there were quite a few worlds with plot characters possessing resurrection abilities, and equally many worlds with resurrection items. Even factoring in restrictions like world tiers and power levels...
There were still worlds like Dragon Ball, where one could explicitly collect the Dragon Balls to wish for a resurrection. And the power level of that world was more than sufficient for current Reincarnators.
Since Ryo himself didn't make that choice, but instead chose Little Garden for his final stand, it proved he knew very well that his death could not be resolved through resurrection.
"That man's will has already returned to the Root."
How could Reinhardt not understand this? He wasn't stupid. It's just that humans are creatures who, when things concern themselves, are influenced by emotions and value judgments.
This was the difference between him and Kaito Shirogane.
Upon realizing that even a top-tier, 3-Digit exception plot character like the Halloween Queen could not resurrect Ryo, Reinhardt completely lost hope.
Without saying a word, he staggered toward a tavern in another direction.
There, it was already packed with people celebrating their narrow escape from death.
On the streets, leaders of various Communities were frantically searching for the mastermind. Seeing this, the Halloween Queen casually swiped her hand, and a curtain-like golden ray of light fell.
She and Kaito Shirogane seemingly vanished from the world.
At this moment, she and Kaito Shirogane were no longer on the same boundary line as the other people in Underwood, including Shiroyasha. It was as if an independent phase had been overlaid.
Both sides occupied the same space but could not interfere with each other. People in the lower phase couldn't even detect their presence.
Shiroyasha was quickly discovered. As an executive of [Thousand Eyes], Shiroyasha held immense authority, and in this situation, she naturally had to take responsibility for explaining things.
Meanwhile, she, the Halloween Queen—acting truly like a problem child—gracefully retreated, despite being the actual biggest mastermind who triggered this disaster.
Looking at the imperceptible smile on the Halloween Queen's lips, Kaito Shirogane couldn't understand what part of this could bring joy to a powerhouse of this level.
But the Halloween Queen wouldn't explain it to an anomaly like Kaito Shirogane.
She merely led Kaito Shirogane towards the outside of Underwood, speaking at the same time.
"You should also be well aware that from the very beginning, there was no so-called massive Gift. That was merely an illusory reward fabricated by your mad compatriot to create a massacre."
Kaito Shirogane nodded but remained unmoved by the talk of "compatriot."
"She is her, and the Queen is the Queen, isn't that so?"
The smile on the Halloween Queen's lips became more pronounced. She found this bizarre human, who was disliked by the Azure Sky members, to be quite interesting instead.
Sharp, direct—like a newborn, powerful lifeform, instinctively demanding various nutrients while restlessly touching every corner of the world.
Unlike "humans," which are viviparous species, the Halloween Queen was an Astral Spirit born from the [Sun].
Because the sun has always played a vital role in human history and mythological history, Astral Spirits born from the [Sun] possessed terrifying strength, their Spirit Status far exceeding that of ordinary Astral Spirits.
At the same time, the Halloween Queen was also an entity derived from the conceptual godhood of Halloween. Born from the boundary between life and death, she naturally controlled the power of numerous domains and was a 3-Digit exception capable of rivaling a 2-Digit.
Her way of viewing the world and humanity was completely different from human logic.
The birth of an Astral Spirit requires a span of time humans cannot even fathom. Simultaneously, once an Astral Spirit is born, they naturally possess power that is considered the strongest even among the three strongest species.
She wasn't wary of this outlier who demanded things so brazenly; rather, she found him amusing.
"Kaito Shirogane, what do you think the truth of this world is? Did gods create humans and derive history, or were gods born from human history and worship?"
Kaito Shirogane frowned, keenly sensing the intent behind the Queen's question.
The Halloween Queen naturally wouldn't ask a question randomly. In this Little Garden world, there was this ultimate riddle, concerning the future of the pantheons of the universe and the various 2-Digit and 3-Digit Gods and Buddhas.
Moreover, among the many existences in the Little Garden world, there was a very special identity related to this question.
"Are you trying to make me an [Origin Candidate]?"
The Queen finally revealed a clear smile. What a fascinatingly clever young anomaly. She even felt that the guy she found was slightly more interesting than the one Shiroyasha chose.
The so-called [Origin Candidate] refers to a special individual created by humans and gods, each from their own perspective, capable of ultimately solving the world's riddle.
Humans hope to create an individual to ultimately prove that human history guides the gods, while gods naturally hope to create an individual to prove that gods guide humans in creating history.
Those who could be called [Origin Candidates] in the original work included Son Goku, Kalki, and Izayoi Sakamaki.
To become an [Origin Candidate], one must meet three conditions:
The probability of existence is 100%.
Possess the power to interfere with the past, present, and future from outside the flow of time.
Be able to exert extremely high influence on the world in some form.
And the Halloween Queen discovered that these anomalies from another high-dimensional world naturally possessed circumstances that made it extremely easy to fulfill the conditions of an Origin Candidate.
This anomaly in front of her was even more so.
Kaito Shirogane thought for just a brief moment before revealing an indifferent smile.
"Hah, that kind of thing doesn't matter either way, does it? What kind of future does the Queen want to see?"
Although the Halloween Queen was known as a problem child, she rarely caused the kind of massive problems Shiroyasha did. She was the type capable of solving the problems she caused.
Moreover, the Halloween Queen was an Astral Spirit—neither human nor god. Faced with this ultimate riddle, her stance was not absolute.
Hearing Kaito Shirogane's answer, the Halloween Queen became even more satisfied.
"Yes, that kind of thing doesn't matter. But I need an answer. Hmm... a better result would be for me to find the answer before anyone else."
Kaito Shirogane nodded gladly in agreement. He didn't care much about the direction of his own world, let alone the Little Garden world. Rather, as long as he could gain power, he didn't care whether the world was created by gods or if gods were created by humans.
That kind of thing didn't matter at all.
"So, what exactly is the massive Gift you desire, my knight?"
Special Entity: Halloween Queen invites you to join the Community: Queen Halloween
Do you accept?
"Yes."
Kaito Shirogane became a knight under the Halloween Queen without any hesitation. He was very open-minded about his identity. No matter how many identities he had, he was still himself.
The Halloween Queen subsequently gave Kaito Shirogane several options.
Authority, weaponry, and the rumored Host Master Authority—she could grant them all.
Logically, the most precious of these was the Host Master Authority. Possessing this essentially granted the possibility of becoming a Demon Lord, as well as the qualification to initiate Gift Games to seize the Gifts of others.
But Kaito Shirogane didn't plan on staying in the Little Garden world. He still had to return to the real world and enter other worlds. To him, this Host Master Authority was actually the least useful.
Authorities and weaponry were things directly related to power. After some thought, Kaito Shirogane chose something else.
In the real world, on the ice plains bordering the White Bear and Eastern Summer, a group of imposing Reincarnators stood fully geared and ready to go. The most powerful Reincarnator assembly of the West District was massing here.
This group was going to cross the border today, stepping into Eastern Summer territory.
This action would perhaps directly trigger the so-called Great War between the East and West District Reincarnators.
But they were willing to pay the price.
Everyone was waiting for a single command.
Yoko stood on the ice plain, letting the cold wind blow past her. A hint of sorrow flashed through her emerald eyes.
She raised her hand and watched the golden radiance circling her wrist dim, rapidly dissipating like scattering stardust.
That was the miracle the benevolent King had once bestowed upon her. It was said to grant her a miracle of narrow escape in situations of certain death.
But she had journeyed all this way without ever needing to trigger this miracle.
Instead, the King who bestowed the miracle upon her had already fallen.
"Mr. Ryo, did you get your wish and die in the Little Garden world..."
She had once deeply admired Ryo. He was the most free-spirited Reincarnator she had seen in this dark, chaotic Infinite Dimensional Space.
Undertaking missions according to his own will, altering the landscape of the real world, and stabilizing order according to his own will.
But as she grew and witnessed the tragic states of more Reincarnators, she gradually perceived Ryo's limitations.
After she encountered other Spaces and invasions from other worlds, she completely transformed.
She realized Azure Sky's approach was too naive.
Any external enemies, outsiders, or external powers would one day bring destruction.
Therefore, those things had to be slain one by one.
"On this journey, we will level the Erdtree, eradicate the supporters of the Golden Order, and put an end to the spying of the Greater Will."
"For... Humanity!"