Ren Kuroda watched the earth collapse inward yet again under the force of the impact. The ground had been shaved down by more than another meter, as though some invisible god had taken a blade to the world itself.
Not far away, the Dragon King and Taishakuten could only stare in speechless disbelief.
They had descended into the Lower Levels of the Little Garden to join the coalition against Az Dakaaha. And yet somehow, instead of serving as the vanguard of a grand campaign, they'd been reduced to little more than glorified babysitters—background extras in a catastrophe that had spiraled far beyond anyone's expectations.
The plains surrounding them were no longer plains at all. The battle between Ren Kuroda and Az Dakaaha had drained the land of life, gouged away its vitality, and even lowered the terrain itself by a staggering margin. What had once been rolling grassland was now a scarred wasteland, sunken and ruined.
And the fight was no longer confined to the ground.
From the heavens above came relentless tremors and flashes of blinding light. Even without looking, one could tell the two titans were locked in a savage aerial clash deep within the clouds.
Each of them towered over a hundred meters in height. Every collision between them unleashed devastation on a colossal scale, reshaping the landscape as easily as a child molding clay.
Nor were they stationary.
This was no static exchange of blows. They were fighting at breakneck speeds, tearing across the sky in a storm of pursuit and counterattack.
Az Dakaaha fought while retreating.
Ren pursued.
At first, Ren hadn't understood the white dragon's intentions. But the moment he noticed the trajectory Az Dakaaha was taking, realization struck him like lightning.
He's dragging the battlefield upward.
Az Dakaaha intended to force the fight into the Upper Levels of the Little Garden—to tilt the odds in his favor.
Unlike the Lower Levels, where powerful beings were formidable but comparatively scarce, the Third Level and above were domains where gods and buddhas walked openly. It was a realm dense with divinities.
If they reached the Upper Levels, it would be nothing short of paradise for Az Dakaaha.
And with his "Simulated Star Creation Map — Avesta," he could very well become invincible.
Ren saw through the plan.
So did Taishakuten.
So did the Dragon King.
Without hesitation, both transformed into their true forms and shot after them at full speed. Az Dakaaha despised the Upper Three Levels of the Little Garden more than anything—but if Ren and Az Dakaaha clashed there in earnest, the consequences would be unimaginable.
As for the grand alliance in the Lower Levels that had originally set out to subjugate Az Dakaaha—
The situation had already spiraled far beyond their ability to interfere.
And if Az Dakaaha was heading for the Upper Levels, that meant the Lower Levels were effectively out of immediate danger.
Fortune truly turned like the wind.
Not long ago, the Upper Levels had been prepared to sacrifice the Middle and Lower Levels entirely, all to prevent Az Dakaaha's chaos from reaching them.
Now that the Lower and Middle Levels were safe, it would be the lofty powers above who would be forced to wrestle with the fallout.
Of course, that didn't mean everything below was peaceful.
Once Ren and Az Dakaaha departed, Shira and the others immediately turned their attention to the Demon King Alliance—Ouroboros.
Though the Prince and his faction had joined the battle against Az Dakaaha earlier, their motives had been entirely self-serving.
And in truth, the catastrophic upheaval of the Lower Levels—the deaths, injuries, and disappearances of countless regional rulers—could largely be traced back to them.
Their temporary alliance had been born of necessity.
Now that necessity was gone.
Old grudges weren't about to vanish so conveniently.
While Shira's group and the Prince's faction clashed below, Ren and Az Dakaaha continued blasting through layer after layer of dimensional barriers, ascending ever higher.
Az Dakaaha looked worse for wear.
Just as he had predicted, his odds against Ren stood at roughly forty to sixty.
Forty in his favor.
Sixty for Ren.
With the disadvantage in raw power, he had naturally become the one being suppressed. His massive white dragon body was now covered in blade wounds—large and small, some shallow, some deep enough to expose shimmering scales beneath torn flesh.
And yet he refused to yield.
Even as he retreated, stretching the battlefield farther and farther, he continued taunting Ren.
"You can see what I'm doing, can't you?" Az Dakaaha's voice thundered across the sky, thick with smug amusement. "You may have the edge in strength—but in speed, I hold the advantage."
He glanced back at the figure relentlessly pursuing him.
"Even knowing my goal, you have no other choice. Either slink away with your tail between your legs… or follow me into the Upper Levels."
There it was.
Two choices.
Chase Az Dakaaha into the Upper Levels and fight to the death.
Or withdraw.
Either outcome benefited the dragon.
If Ren followed him upward, Az Dakaaha's power would surge to unimaginable heights.
If Ren turned back, then Az Dakaaha would lose no face—after all, it would be Ren who had retreated first.
And for Ren—
If he withdrew now, the mission evaluation from the System would undoubtedly conclude in failure.
The decision took only a heartbeat.
Ren tightened his grip on his blade.
Then he accelerated.
His speed spiked violently, closing the distance in an instant.
Az Dakaaha saw the choice Ren had made and burst into satisfied laughter as he wheeled around to counterattack.
For two beings each over a hundred meters tall, capable of surpassing even the third cosmic velocity with ease, even the vast Little Garden—whose expanse rivaled the surface area of a star—could not restrain them for long.
They had begun their battle in the Southern District's Sixth Level.
Now, in less than ten minutes of relentless pursuit and combat, they had already blasted through to the Fourth Level.
The barrier to the Third Level was now clearly within sight.
Unlike the Lower and Middle Levels, the Upper Levels were surrounded by a protective boundary—a barrier separating the divine core of the Little Garden from the rest.
It was both a shield and a declaration:
Not just anyone was qualified to enter the Upper Three Levels.
Taishakuten and the Dragon King, using official channels, managed to return to the Upper Three Levels even faster than Ren and Az Dakaaha.
There, they delivered the news.
And when the White Yaksha heard what had happened—
She went utterly pale.
She had never imagined events would spiral this far out of control.
Ren Kuroda had become a never-before-seen "Dual Final Trial Candidate."
And now he and Az Dakaaha were on the verge of smashing into the Upper Levels.
Realizing the gravity of the situation, the gods wasted no time splitting up.
Taishakuten moved to notify the deities of the Third Level.
The Dragon King went to inform the other Seven Great Demon Kings.
The White Yaksha hurried to contact the Thousand Eyes and the other strongest species.
Two Human Final Trials were about to breach the Upper Three Levels.
At this point, the looming catastrophe was no longer confined to gods or demon kings.
To a "Human Final Trial," everyone else was an enemy.
No one would be able to stand aside.
No one would be spared.