When the gods and demons learned that Ren Kuroda would no longer prioritize attacking "humans" within his designated zone, they abandoned the idea of descending en masse into mortal vessels.
Faced with the two looming "Final Trials of Humanity" before them, they quickly devised a new plan. They would first use the power of Absolute Evil—Avesta—to eliminate Ren Kuroda, the unprecedented "Dual Trial Bearer." Only after that would they proceed with a large-scale descent into humanity to deal with the nuisance known as Absolute Evil.
No matter how one looked at it, handling a single Final Trial of Humanity was far preferable to confronting two at once.
The reason they chose to target Ren first was simple: his simulated cosmology—The Seven Deadly Sins—was overwhelmingly oppressive against humanity. If the gods and demons were to descend en masse right now, it would be little different from offering themselves up as slaughter.
Thus, with the deliberate coordination of every divine faction in the Third Layer of the Little Garden, more and more gods and demons gathered around Azuka Hakuryū.
At the same time, under the power of the simulated cosmology—Avesta—Azuka Hakuryū's strength continued to rise without limit.
The battlefield between Ren Kuroda and Azuka Hakuryū, which had once stood evenly matched, began tilting decisively. What had been a deadlock turned into a one-sided domination.
"Hahahahaha! I can't say I'm thrilled about it, but it seems these gods and buddhas think you're the greater threat, not me," Azuka Hakuryū roared, his three draconic heads grinning viciously. "Fine by me. Once I seal you away, I'll slaughter this million-strong host of divinities myself!"
Of course, Azuka had seen through their intentions. Being used as a weapon by the very gods he despised infuriated him—but at this moment, he did not refuse their assistance.
Because to him, Ren was unquestionably the greater nuisance. As for the rest of them? Before Avesta, they were nothing but fodder.
Did they truly believe that "descending into humanity" would be enough to defeat him? Those who failed to grasp the true meaning of Absolute Evil were nothing but fools.
Azuka Hakuryū's dragon claw tore through the air, slashing downward toward Ren's chest—only to be caught in a crossed block by two long blades formed from pitch-black mud, wielded by a six-armed, obsidian oni manifestation behind Ren.
Clang—!
A piercing metallic shriek echoed across the battlefield. Sparks erupted in torrents as dragon claw met blackened steel. The shockwave alone swept away everything in the surrounding area.
Ren held the strike—but the overwhelming pressure forced him down onto one knee, the ground beneath him fracturing under the strain.
Before he could recover, Azuka's massive tail filled his vision. A devastating sweep struck him full-on, sending him flying dozens of miles through the air.
And as Ren was launched skyward, Azuka opened his jaws.
A blazing Tyrant's Radiant Wheel erupted from his mouth.
The searing ring of light carved a molten trench across the earth that stretched for dozens of miles, vaporizing several unfortunate bystander deities along the way before finally striking Ren midair.
BOOM—!
The explosion rivaled a nuclear detonation. Heat and pressure obliterated everything within kilometers of the blast center. A golden sphere of light hung suspended in the sky like a newborn sun.
Watching nearly half a residential district reduced to ruin—and countless divine beings erased—under Azuka Hakuryū's blessing, the factions of the Upper Three Layers could only stare in grim silence.
They had allowed Absolute Evil to draw upon Avesta to grow stronger in order to eliminate one Final Trial.
And now that very power was being used to destroy their communities and slaughter their own.
It was nothing less than having their faces ground into the dirt.
Azuka's act was deliberate. If they would use him as a weapon, then he would repay the insult in kind.
"After mimicking the powers of the assembled gods through Avesta," one deity murmured shakily, "Absolute Evil's strength must have already approached the Two-Digit realm. Even a Dual Trial Bearer… after taking that head-on… surely he cannot still stand."
Few beings—perhaps not even among the Three-Digit elites—could survive such an attack unscathed.
But then came the terrifying question:
Even if they had eliminated one Final Trial of Humanity… how could they possibly contend with an Azuka Hakuryū now approaching Two-Digit strength?
As that thought spread through the Third Layer—
Something changed.
The surrounding gods and demons suddenly realized they could no longer feel their Divinity.
According to their plan, they would descend into humanity during the coming battle against Azuka.
But they had not yet relinquished their godhood.
So why… had it vanished?
Worse still, not everyone qualified to descend. Only a select few among them met the criteria.
Panic spread rapidly.
It wasn't just the gods. Even the strongest Star Spirits and Dragonkin present found their spiritual ranks fading from their awareness.
Their divine aura weakened visibly, plummeting as though stripped away.
In that instant, the rulers of the Three Layers no longer felt like transcendent beings.
They felt… human.
Not everyone was affected. As a Final Trial of Humanity, Azuka Hakuryū remained untouched. Those like Taishakuten, who had already chosen to descend earlier, were likewise unaffected.
But with so many divine ranks reduced to ordinary human spiritual levels, Avesta's amplification could no longer be sustained.
Azuka's aura—once rivaling the Two-Digit class—began visibly declining, returning to its natural state.
Faced with such a bizarre turn of events, Azuka's three heads snapped toward a single direction almost simultaneously.
And there, the "sun" in the sky began to change.
Just as the blazing sphere threatened to rupture again, thick black mud seeped from its core like a filling bursting from a sweet dumpling. In moments, it swallowed the radiance whole.
A massive orb of writhing black mud hovered in the sky. Silver yokai sigils spread across its surface.
Behind it—
A star map unfurled.
Then another.
Two vast simulated cosmologies expanded fully into the heavens.
One was swallowed in abyssal darkness, pierced by only seven shining stars—symbols of ultimate sin and yet the final flicker of hope.
The other glittered with countless stars, a river of light stretching across the sky. At its forefront shone a single brilliant Morning Star, guiding the celestial host forward.
Two star maps.
Two simulated cosmologies.
Ren Kuroda possessed a second one—and he had activated it.
The sudden degradation of the assembled gods' spiritual ranks could only be the effect of this second cosmology.
Azuka's eyes narrowed.
"Another simulated cosmology? But yours shouldn't function at this moment!"
Ren stepped forward from within the dissolving sphere of black mud, his voice calm but resonant.
"Simulated Cosmology—Hyakki Yagyō. The Night Parade of a Hundred Demons. This is the authority I gained upon becoming the Second Final Trial of Humanity—'The Yokai Theory.'"
His voice carried across the sky.
"Where the Night Parade marches, gods and buddhas withdraw. Within this domain, all races except humans and yokai suffer spiritual degradation. The stronger the rank, the harsher the decline. Those reduced to human-level ranks will find it easier to overcome the Final Trial."
He paused, lips curving faintly.
"For deities, losing rank means losing power. I would call it… an equivalent exchange."
"Equivalent exchange, my ass!" Azuka barked, unable to contain himself. "Sure, degraded gods might find it easier to overcome the Trial—but your other cosmology, Seven Deadly Sins, perfectly counters humans! From start to finish, these gods are nothing but your toys!"
Ren shrugged without denial.
That was more or less correct.
With two simulated cosmologies, his advantage was simply overwhelming.
Azuka's expression darkened.
"So that's it. You knew my objective in coming to the Upper Layers—and you followed me anyway. I thought I'd lured you in with rage… but from the beginning, I was the one being led."
And indeed, Ren's pursuit had not been impulsive.
Even bearing two Final Trials, Ren's odds against Azuka had previously hovered at sixty-forty—perhaps even fifty-fifty. And that assumed Azuka would fight to the death rather than flee.
Azuka's Dragon's Afterimage granted him wings of terrifying speed. If he chose to escape, Ren had no reliable method of stopping him.
But now—
Trapped in the Third Layer, weakened by the collapse of Avesta's amplification, and ensnared within Ren's dual cosmology—
Escape was no longer an option.
Ren rose into the air and extended both arms.
A transparent barrier, like an inverted glass bowl, descended and sealed the entire region.
Its principle resembled his earlier technique—Demon Art: Dankū—but now, with his strength approaching the Two-Digit realm, its durability was on another level entirely.
The weakened gods could not break it.
Even Azuka would need time.
The battle between the two Final Trials of Humanity began anew.
Azuka fought with everything he had left.
But the tide had completely reversed.
The Three-Digit Demon King Azuka Hakuryū—Absolute Evil himself—was utterly overwhelmed.
Even his once-cataclysmic Tyrant's Radiant Wheel was now torn apart barehanded by Ren's clawed grip.
The outcome was inevitable.
At last, Azuka's power was exhausted. His body could no longer move.
As Ren prepared to seal him away, the dragon's pride burned undiminished.
"I said it before," Azuka growled. "Though I have lost, you have not won. As fellow Final Trials, you cannot kill me. You are not human—you cannot surpass me. Nor are you the hero who stands at humanity's peak and ends the apocalypse."
Ren did not answer.
"Binding Art Number Ninety-Nine: Seal."
Straps and iron spikes erupted from the void, pinning Azuka's limbs.
"Binding Art Ninety-Nine, Second Stage—Bankin: First Movement—Restrain!"
Massive bands wrapped around the dragon's colossal body, halting all motion.
"Second Movement—Hundred Shackles!"
Dozens of thick iron stakes impaled and fixed him firmly in place.
"Final Movement—Great Seal!"
A colossal stone monument bearing a sacred manji sigil descended from the heavens, crushing Azuka Hakuryū beneath it.
Then Ren released a vast mass of All the World's Evil, which flowed like liquid cement, solidifying around the monument and locking the seal in place.
And thus—
Absolute Evil was bound.