Chapter 734: Ren: Two-Digits, I Fear Nothing! Even in Hakoniwa, I'll Kill Them For You!
Canaria, the former strategist of the great Community "Arcadia," looked at the man standing before her. Her translucent, soul-like form flickered slightly, betraying her inner turmoil.
"Putting aside what power you have to resurrect me now," she said, her voice steady but her eyes searching his face for any sign of deception. "Do you know who I am? Truly? And do you know how many enemies want me dead?"
She wasn't asking out of arrogance. She was stating a fact.
As the one who deciphered the "Humanity's Final Trial," she was a thorn in the side of the Gods. The Heavenly Army, the Demon Lords, the myriad pantheons of Little Garden (Hakoniwa)—many powerful entities breathed easier knowing Canaria was dead.
"You have many enemies in Hakoniwa," Ren replied, his voice calm and unbothered, as if discussing the weather. "And there's only one thing I can tell you."
He paused, stepping closer to the spectral woman. His dark eyes seemed to hold an abyss deeper than the void they stood in.
"The 'Two-Digits' in your eyes... those Truths of the Universe, the Chief Gods, the Buddhas... I fear nothing."
He raised a hand, clenching it into a fist.
"Even if I am in Hakoniwa, standing in the center of their divine domain, I can kill them for you. If they stand in my way, I will erase them from the Great Tree of Origins."
His words were confident and calm, full of an absolute certainty that bordered on terrifying.
"!!!"
Canaria and Leticia's eyes simultaneously narrowed in shock.
Leticia, standing guard beside Ren, felt a shiver run down her spine. It was the first time she had heard him describe his power in such explicit, destructive detail.
In Hakoniwa, there were rules. The "Two-Digit" beings—those ranking 10 to 99—were cosmic principles given form. They were the laws of physics, the concepts of creation and destruction. How could anyone kill a concept?
This should have been impossible. It sounded like the ravings of a madman.
But Ren's words carried a strange weight, a resonance that vibrated in their very souls. It made one feel that it was absolutely achievable. That he wasn't boasting, but simply stating a fact of nature: water is wet, fire burns, and Ren destroys gods.
Canaria was stunned for a long time. She analyzed his micro-expressions, his mana signature, his presence. She found no deception.
Finally, she exhaled deeply, a sigh that seemed to release centuries of tension.
She bowed her head slightly. "Your Excellency is truly the most special person I have ever met. To speak of deicide so casually... it is both terrifying and reassuring."
"Heh heh, after you're fully resurrected, I'll let you see something even more special."
Ren's expression became profound, a smirk playing on his lips.
"But before fully resurrecting you," Ren continued, his tone shifting to business, "I still have a question: Regarding the matter of resurrecting you, do you have any thoughts on it? Or rather, do you even want it?"
"..."
Canaria fell silent.
She looked down at her translucent hands.
She had never thought she would wake up again. Death was supposed to be the end, the final rest after a lifetime of scheming and fighting.
Nor had she thought that her dead self—a soul fragmented and lost outside the Garden—could be resurrected.
What she could do after being resurrected?
She truly hadn't considered this question.
Continue to seek revenge for Arcadia?
Memories flooded her mind.
She was the strategist of Arcadia, the largest allied community in Hakoniwa, established by connecting the East, North, and South. It was a utopia, a "Nation of the Sun" where humans, hybrids, and spirits lived in harmony.
She was the only human who had completely deciphered "Humanity's Final Trial"—the dystopia that threatened to consume history.
This was why she was opposed by the gods.
Arcadia's development hindered the gods' management of history. It was too free, too uncontrolled.
So Arcadia disappeared from Hakoniwa. It happened overnight. The flag was torn down, the name was stolen, and the members were scattered to the winds.
At that time, when she stood amidst the ruins of her home, watching the fires burn, she was indeed full of thoughts of revenge.
She couldn't bear the thought of the dream of the "Dominator's Grand Alliance," established by Arcadia, ending in such a pathetic way.
But even then, full of thoughts of revenge, she finally realized that her personal challenge had already ended. When she was banished, when she raised the child Izayoi, she found a different kind of peace.
When she died, protecting the secret, she felt relieved. The burden was finally gone.
Now, Ren was offering to put that burden back on her shoulders.
Seeing Canaria's complicated gaze, unable to give an answer, Ren pressed on.
Ren: "Then, to put it another way, do you want to be resurrected? Do you want to breathe again, to see the sun again?"
"!!!"
Leticia's heart tightened. She stepped forward instinctively. "Canaria..."
She wanted to persuade her. She wanted to scream, 'Live! Live for us!'
But Canaria raised her hand to stop her. The gesture was gentle but firm.
Looking directly into Ren's eyes, Canaria regained her composure. The strategist was back.
"You haven't told me the price of resurrection," she asked, her voice sharp.
"You guessed it?" Ren raised an eyebrow.
"No, I just don't think there's no price for such a thing. Equivalent Exchange is a fundamental law, even for Administrators."
Canaria never thought that anything came without a price. Especially something as miraculous as reversing death.
And merely by Leticia becoming his servant, he could resurrect her and become an enemy of the gods? The math didn't add up. Leticia was valuable, yes, a former Demon Lord, but was she worth a war with the Two-Digits?
She didn't believe it.
Even though she cherished Leticia as an incredibly precious companion, she still had to weigh the difference between the two in terms of benefit.
This transaction was completely not worth it for Ren. Unless... unless the price was her.
Ren shrugged, looking unbothered by her suspicion. "You're right, there's a price, of course. I'm not a charity."
He pointed a finger at Canaria's chest.
"If I resurrect you, you will belong to me just like Leticia. You will be my property, my strategist. And you will be taken away from this world by me."
The first point was within Canaria's expectation. It was a standard demon contract—soul for service.
But she had doubts about the second point.
"This world?" she echoed.
"Does it mean going from this 'Pseudo Star Map Creation' world to other worlds, or returning to Hakoniwa?"
Ren smiled, a mysterious glint in his eyes. "Do you think you can return to Hakoniwa as you are?"
"No," Canaria answered decisively. "I was exiled. The gates are closed to me."
But Ren shook his head and said: "I can let you go back. I can kick the gates open if I want to. But I won't let you go back to stay."
"I will take you all out of this world entirely. I mean beyond the greater world that includes Hakoniwa, the Outer World, and all timelines. I will take you to my reality."
"..."
Canaria froze.
She was exceptionally intelligent. Her mind raced, connecting the dots—his unknown power, his dismissal of the Two-Digits, his strange terminology.
She instantly understood the meaning of this sentence.
Her eyes gradually widened, losing their composure for the first time. "You... you are from outside the multiverse?! You are an Outsider in the truest sense?"
"Just as you thought. So tell me, your decision. Will you come with me to a place where the gods of Hakoniwa are nothing but fiction?"
"Wait a moment!"
Before Canaria could make a decision, Leticia stepped forward. She couldn't hold back anymore.
She respectfully said to Ren: "Master, may I reveal the identities of Kasukabe Yo and Kudou Asuka to her? I believe it will help her decide."
"Go ahead."
Ren nodded indifferently. He crossed his arms, waiting.
Then Leticia turned to Canaria, her face glowing with a suppressed excitement.
"Canaria... you are not the only one. Master has already found others. He has found Kasukabe Yo—the daughter of Kasukabe Koumei. And he has found Kudou Asuka—a descendant of the banished Arcadia members."
"!!!"
Canaria's eyes widened. She gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.
"Koumei's daughter? And a descendant of the exiles?"
"Yes," Leticia nodded vigorously. "Both of them possess special Gifts. And Master intends to send them to Kuro Usagi. He plans to rebuild the No Names."
Canaria's mind reeled.
Kasukabe Koumei's daughter... possessing the Genome Tree? And another descendant with Authority?
Her eyes lit up with a keen, revitalized glint.
She saw it.
She saw the new generation's future for Arcadia. The flag rising again, not by her hands, but by the hands of the children she had paved the way for.
Suddenly, she didn't want to die so much anymore.
Although she had already found peace in death, Canaria wanted to witness Arcadia's new future with her own eyes. She wanted to see if her sacrifice had meant something.
"Okay," she whispered, her voice trembling with emotion. "I agree to your terms. I will be yours."
She looked up at Ren.
"But... I also have a condition. No, or rather, a humble request."
"Tell me."
Ren had some guesses, but still let Canaria speak first.
"I want to... tell a story first. A confession. About me..."
Canaria closed her eyes, letting the memories wash over her.
"I want to tell you about what I did after being expelled from Hakoniwa. Something that made me feel guilty until my death."
She took a deep breath.
"It is about my adopted son, Sakamaki Izayoi."
Canaria recounted the story. The rain, the laboratory, the blood.
She spoke of the "Third Perpetual Motion Machine."
Izayoi's biological parents were brilliant scientists who were murdered by a certain organization due to their development of this forbidden technology. They had turned their own child into a vessel for the particle body.
"I abducted Sakamaki Izayoi when he was still a baby," Canaria confessed, her voice heavy with regret. "I stole him from the wreckage."
"Because my plan... my grandiose plan to save humanity... caused him to lose the opportunity for a normal, happy life with parents and friends. I dragged him into my world of secrets."
So Canaria hoped to give Sakamaki Izayoi the possibility of living in the real world, letting him choose for himself.
She had intended to acquire divinity and become the center of a divine group, thereby triggering a historical turning point to fix the timeline.
However, she mistakenly made the nameless infant Sakamaki Izayoi the strongest candidate for the "Original Scripture." He became a walking catastrophe, a boy with the power to shatter the stars, but with no place to call home.
Canaria felt guilty for taking away Sakamaki Izayoi's original ordinary, happy right. She felt she had turned him into a weapon, a "Problem Child."
She couldn't let go until her death.
"I only hoped that the child could choose his own life," she finished, tears glistening in her spectral eyes. "That is my only regret."
"Canaria..."
After hearing the story, Leticia's expression was complicated. She reached out, trying to touch Canaria's shoulder, but her hand passed through the hologram.
She hadn't expected Canaria's death to be burdened by such a personal sin.
Kudou Asuka, who had been listening silently nearby via the telepathic link, frowned and analyzed: "So you hoped he would become an ordinary person? Someone who shouldn't be influenced by you and forced to bear the weight of the world?"
"..."
Canaria nodded slowly. "After all, everything was because of me. His loneliness, his power... it's all my fault."
However.
"Heh."
A scoff cut through the emotional atmosphere.
Ren laughed, shaking his head dismissively.
"You're overthinking it, strategist. Your guilt is misplaced."
"Hm?"
Canaria looked up, confused. "Why do you say that?"
Ren stepped forward, his presence dispelling the melancholic mood. He looked at her with eyes that saw through the fabric of fate itself.
"Those things have nothing to do with you," Ren said indifferently.
"Sakazaki... no, Sakamaki Izayoi was born to be a monster. Whether you interfered or not, that is Sakamaki Izayoi's destiny. Even your actions, your kidnapping, your guilt... they are merely footnotes included in the convergence point of his legend."
"You didn't ruin him, Canaria. You gave him the game board he was born to play on."
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