Az Dakahaka's signature Gift—"Ruler's Halo"—had grown even more terrifying due to his current state.
With Dragon's Legacy activated, his body had expanded to a colossal hundred meters in length. Accordingly, the halo of light gathering before him had swelled into something resembling a blazing sun.
When its radiance and heat climbed to their absolute peak, the massive golden halo shot downward from the sky.
It felt as though the sun itself had fallen.
"BOOOOOOOOOOM—!"
The sound that followed dwarfed even the previous impact. Heaven and earth seemed to split apart as the roar echoed across the entire battlefield.
The instant the colossal golden halo descended into the meteor crater where Ren Kuroda had fallen, its unimaginable heat melted everything within a radius of several kilometers.
Golden light swallowed the world.
A gargantuan mushroom cloud rose from the earth's surface. An immense inverted bowl of radiant brilliance spread across the sky, dyeing the heavens gold.
Water sources evaporated instantly. Plants and animals were reduced to ash in a single heartbeat. The earth liquefied into molten rock. The temperature of the air surged to its peak in an instant, transforming the entire region into a living hell of magma.
Even Black Rabbit and the others—who had already retreated more than a dozen miles away—felt their expressions change the moment Ruler's Halo detonated.
The searing heat that washed over them was enough to signal disaster.
Fortunately, two three-digit powerhouses stood beside them.
In an instant, the Dragon Demon King transformed into his pure-blood dragon form. Activating his Gift of commanding clouds and rain, he spewed forth a vast curtain of water, enveloping everyone within a protective veil.
At the same time, Indra donned his strongest defensive armament—the epic armor Sun-Sovereign Raiment—barely withstanding the shockwave of the supercharged Ruler's Halo.
When the storm finally subsided and the water curtain fell away, what lay before them left everyone stunned.
The battlefield had once been a plain. Not lush and vibrant, but not barren either.
Now—
Everything within sight had become desolation.
Not a single patch of green remained.
Though rainclouds still hovered overhead—summoned by the Dragon Demon King's Gift—the air remained oppressively hot. Even with rain falling upon them, the region felt like a gigantic steamer basket, trapping unbearable heat.
But the most eye-catching sight of all was the enormous crater at the center of the battlefield.
It was so deep that its bottom couldn't be seen at a glance. Around its edges, the ground had been scorched into vast fields of magma, as though branded by divine fire.
And due to the natural flow of liquid, the molten rock continued pouring downward into the abyss.
This—
This was the power of a top-tier three-digit being.
The terror that made all of Little Garden tremble.
The Human Final Trial—"Absolute Evil" Az Dakahaka.
A single blast of his proud Ruler's Halo had transformed dozens of miles into purgatory. Even regions a hundred miles away had been affected to varying degrees.
Shara, Black Rabbit, and the others were largely unharmed thanks to their distance and the protection of Indra and the Dragon Demon King.
But the five-digit gods and Buddhas who had remained within the battle zone were not so fortunate.
Though they were not the primary target, they had still stood within the central region.
When the sun-like Ruler's Halo descended, they hadn't even possessed the strength to resist.
Along with the divine-class clones of Az Dakahaka that had been battling them—
They were vaporized.
Yes.
Vaporized.
Not even a fragment of flesh remained intact.
Even as five-digit beings—members of the strongest races—under Ruler's Halo, they were no different from ordinary grass and trees.
Reduced to ash in an instant.
No matter if they possessed Gifts like "bronze skin and iron bones," such defenses were meaningless before Az Dakahaka's supreme flash-heat Gift.
Those with reincarnation abilities might yet return.
Those without—
Were gone forever.
—
Originally, Az Dakahaka had intended to follow Ren's prediction. After sealing him completely, he would have dealt with the "fertilizer" afterward.
But he had changed his mind.
As a fellow Human Final Trial, he indeed could not kill Ren outright.
However, after enduring so many of his devastating strikes, even if Ren could not die, his power should be exhausted.
His body should be unable to move.
Even if the power of Avesta faded, Az Dakahaka was confident he could easily dominate a dying Ren and seal him.
Which meant—
Those gods and Buddhas had lost all value.
Letting his divine-class clones perish alongside them could at least be considered a fitting end.
Az Dakahaka's massive body descended to the edge of the crater. He stared into the unfathomable depths, waiting for Ren to reappear.
Moments passed.
Nothing.
"Not dead… but completely unable to move?" he muttered.
Caution prevailed.
He had no intention of flying into the crater himself.
Instead, he extended both hands. A vast magical formation began forming between his palms, intricate lines weaving together as the spell rapidly took shape.
Az Dakahaka would not risk himself.
He would turn the entire crater into a sealing ground.
Seal Ren Kuroda completely.
It was almost laughable.
Ren was also a Human Final Trial.
If Az Dakahaka sealed him, one could argue he had even made a contribution to Little Garden.
But just as the massive formation in his hands completed and began expanding outward—ready to cover the mouth of the crater—
The earth trembled.
A new change erupted.
Before the gigantic spell array could descend, an enormous surge of black mud burst upward from the depths like a volcanic geyser.
It smashed into the formation.
The intricate spell shattered like fragile glass.
The black mud then gathered rapidly, condensing and solidifying—until it formed a colossal oni deity rivaling Az Dakahaka in size.
The black demon god possessed long flowing hair and ferocious fangs. A single horn rose from its forehead. It had three heads and six arms.
It wore armor adorned with demonic masks.
Upon its back loomed the towering gate of Rashōmon.
In its six hands, it gripped six long blades.
From the moment it appeared, its presence and sheer aura were overwhelming—maxed out to absurd levels.
The frigid aura emanating from its body instantly drove down the suffocating heat left behind by Ruler's Halo, causing the surrounding air temperature to plummet in seconds.
Staring at the grim reaper-like deity that had descended before him, Az Dakahaka would have had to be a fool not to realize—
This was Ren's doing.
And not only had Ren seemingly avoided the crippling injuries he'd expected—
He appeared more vigorous than ever.
No—
More likely, he had grown stronger.
Az Dakahaka truly could not understand.
By all logic, Ren had just been completely dominated.
So why—
Why was he now erupting with yet another explosive power-up?
Had he been holding back before?
But that made no sense.
After all, no one could have predicted Indra and the others' arrival in the first place.