"He seems to have accepted his fate?"
"Then let's finish this together!"
"Cut him down!"
In an instant, the three figures charged in unison.
"Come!"
Kawashima Toya drew Excalibur and rushed toward the three versions of himself, initiating a battle of life and death.
The first exchange lasted only a few breaths. Toya was sent flying backward like a meteor, crashing heavily into the earth.
BOOM!
The impact created a massive crater, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Nearby, Jashin-chan, who hadn't run very far, saw Toya defeated so quickly. Terrified, she immediately sped up her escape.
"So strong..." Toya steadied himself amidst the ruins, coughing lightly.
He finally understood why Nyaruko had said clearing the "Future" banquet was nearly impossible.
These three versions of himself—each having walked a completely different path—possessed power equal to his own. Worse, they were coordinating their attacks, leaving him no room to counter.
Even his battle against the legendary martial artist Li Shuwen hadn't put him under this much pressure.
At that moment, the formless entity in the sky—the version of him representing Divine Will—made his move.
The world itself began to manifest malice, actively targeting Toya.
"Divine Will..."
"Three 'selves' who are my equals, plus the assistance of a 'Divine Will' version of me." Toya looked grimly at the world, which was twisting like a kaleidoscope due to the rejection of world.
"If I knew it was this bad, I would've just let Jashin-chan take the beating."
"The one in the sky hasn't even attacked directly yet."
"How am I supposed to fight this?"
In his vision, the entire world was warping. Under the pressure of the world's rejection, the three 'selves' began to create afterimages, making their attacks impossible to read.
"This is serious trouble."
Just as Toya tried to stand up, an immense force struck him again.
He was launched into the air once more, streaking across the night sky before slamming deep into the earth. The ground around him cracked like a spiderweb.
It was easy to imagine the despair of fighting three equals backed by the absolute will of the world.
"Toya! You have to hold on!"
"You absolutely cannot lose!" Jashin-chan shouted anxiously from the distance. "I was getting beaten for a whole day!"
"I need to rest a bit before I can switch places with you!"
Toya struggled to rise from the rubble, laughing bitterly. "I want to hold on too, but I can't block them!"
Dealing with three 'selves' was bad enough, but the entity in the sky acting as Divine Will made resistance futile. In just a short exchange, Toya had become the most rejected entity in existence.
"Too weak."
The ethereal, carefree Sword Saint Toya shook his head slightly, sneering. "With such weakness, how are you worthy of fighting us?"
"Stop talking trash. Did you forget that villains die from talking too much?" the cold, indifferent Evil God Toya remarked.
"This poor monk agrees. Let us use our full strength and end him instantly."
The compassionate Enlightened Toya, bathed in holy light, flashed a terrifying killing intent in his eyes.
"Even the 'villains die from talking too much' trope? They learned that too?"
Toya felt increasingly helpless. Aside from taking different paths, these 'selves' seemed to have absorbed all his knowledge and quirks.
Suddenly, the three figures chanted in unison:
"I am the pinnacle of humanity, the peak of life!"
"The pathfinder of the era, the Savior of the World!"
"Manifest here!"
Toya stared in shock. "They can even do that?"
That was the special Manifestation Decree of the Savior, capable of calling upon the blessings of heaven and earth and the gaze of the Root Consciousness. Once successfully activated, the user would essentially become the Child of Destiny.
"This is bad." Toya's tone was grave. "Looks like they succeeded."
He wasn't even sure if he could use that ability at will, yet these three 'selves' had executed it perfectly.
He could foresee that the battle was about to become completely one-sided.
With the manifestation of three "Saviors," the world's rejection of him became absolute. As their enemy, he not only had to deal with the environment targeting him but also the karmic consequences of opposing a Savior.
"However... I can still fight!"
Toya glanced at Clarent, the Sin-Star Holy Sword, and muttered, "I thought I wouldn't have to use this Holy Sword."
"Turns out, bringing it was a visionary move."
"The world rejects me? Then I'll just destroy it!"
With that, Toya tossed Excalibur aside and drew Clarent from his back.
Sensing its master's will, the Sin-Star Holy Sword erupted with endless chaotic energy.
The world began to turn foul. The land started to wither, and space itself began to rust. Chaotic, disorderly energy wrapped around Toya's body, making him look like the most terrifying, grandiose Evil God of them all.
Destruction, calamity, disaster, plague...
Countless forms of malice enveloped him.
In this moment, he looked even more evil and cold than the Evil God Toya standing in the center of the trio.
This was the Anti-Purge Noble Phantasm forged by Nyaruko specifically to counter Excalibur. Designed to corrupt the radiance of the planet, it was proving to be the perfect countermeasure.
Surrounded by terrifying dark energy, Toya stared indifferently at the three figures. "Round three. Start!"
BOOM!
With a loud explosion, Toya vanished from his spot.
CLANG!
The Sword Saint Toya drew his longsword, barely blocking the attack.
The heavy, malevolent strike drove the Sword Saint into the ground, causing a hundred-meter radius of earth to collapse instantly. The sunken ground was covered in dense fractures, a testament to the devastating power of the blow.
"Interesting." The Sword Saint Toya chuckled lightly and vanished, reappearing at a distance.
Nearby, the other two figures nodded with satisfaction. "Now this is getting interesting."
"After all, if he's too weak, how can he highlight our greatness?"
As the words fell, the three figures attacked simultaneously.
"This isn't simple at all." Toya charged forward, engaging the three in a chaotic melee.
Even with the buff from Clarent, he gained no significant advantage. He was still being suppressed, with almost no power to fight back.
Each of the three 'selves' possessed invincible combat power in their own right. None of them were weaker than him, making this battle incredibly difficult.
Like a meteor, Toya was knocked out of the sky again, smashing another deep crater into the ground.
"Again!"
Toya's face remained calm as he ignored his injuries and charged back into the sky.
He had lost count of how many times he had been smashed into the earth. Even now, he hadn't gained the slightest upper hand.
Each 'self' was too strong—strong enough to fight him to a standstill individually. With three of them at once, plus Divine Will in the sky, even using all his trump cards made it hard to compete.
The only thing he could do was keep standing up and rushing back into the fight.
Only by doing this could he survive a little longer and look for that sliver of a chance to win. Once he stayed down, he would surely die in the next second.
Far away, Jashin-chan watched Toya crash into the ground over and over, only to charge back into the sky each time.
Her heart ached terribly.
"If not for me, Toya wouldn't have come here."
"With my rotten personality, I should be the one here... getting killed and revived over and over."