Chapter 750: Little Garden Opens, The Halloween Queen
[Archetype of Terminus and Genesis EX051, you are applying to enter the public space of the Syndicate: Azure Sky (Lv9)]
[Application Approved]
[Please note: Within this space, the laws of reality have been partially distorted.]
Kaito Shirogane looked at the prompt before him. He rarely entered the spaces of other syndicates, but this special marker made him feel the uniqueness of [Azure Sky].
Hum~
Kaito Shirogane transformed into a streak of white light. The next moment, he felt himself pass through a massive veil. Immediately after, the sea breeze rushed against his face, and the sound of seagulls flapping their wings echoed in his ears.
He appeared on a golden sandy beach. In the distance, the White Alchemical Jade Manor was exuding two intensely powerful forces.
An illusory gate faintly materialized above the manor.
The gate was circular, connected to the surrounding sky by complex runic patterns.
Kaito Shirogane guessed that this thing probably also belonged to the category of [Special Creations]. Just like the [Gantz] sphere he had obtained, and the [El Dorado / Golden City] he had seen in the One Piece world, ownership could be acquired through prolonged occupation.
Kaito Shirogane tapped his foot lightly, and his figure shot up through the air, landing inside the White Alchemical Jade Manor in the next instant.
Everyone's gaze instantly focused on Kaito Shirogane.
The Professor watched Mercenary Tao, who remained completely unfazed even while surrounded by the top-tier Reincarnators of Azure Sky, and even had the leisure to flash him a smile of unknown meaning.
He profoundly felt the essential gap between himself and the man.
Sometimes, the difference between the strong and the weak could be completely perceived just by looking at their aura. He lacked that innate demeanor of a strong person. Even though he was a hundred times stronger than an ordinary person right now, his mindset still treated him as one.
And Mercenary Tao was probably the type who had completely separated himself from the masses even before entering the dimensional space.
"Sovereign Monarch, let us begin~"
Reinhardt stepped aside, revealing two massive marks on the ground behind him.
Those were left by him and Sousuke when they opened the gate.
At this moment, Sousuke was merely sitting by the round table. He scrutinized Kaito Shirogane with an appraising gaze, seemingly trying to discover something about the man that he hadn't noticed before.
There were two other people at the round table. One wore heavy black armor covering their entire body, making it impossible to see the human form inside, with only a red slit on the visor indicating where the eyes might be.
The other was a woman wearing a white robe. In Kaito Shirogane's perception, her soul power was incredibly strong—almost the strongest soul power he had seen in any Reincarnator besides himself.
Furthermore... she was surrounded by numerous spiritual entities.
The corners of Kaito Shirogane's mouth curled up slightly, as if he was memorizing the woman's appearance.
That look caused Mori-Summer, who was leaning against the wall on the other side in a dark blue sailor uniform, to open her eyes. Her long, narrow eyes were filled with absolute coldness.
She still held the Cursed Katana that possessed the trait of [Slaying Anomalies].
After sizing up everyone in Azure Sky, Kaito Shirogane smiled and stepped forward.
"Azure Sky is truly full of talent. I'm quite envious."
Kaito Shirogane arrived before the gate. As if his blood were being summoned, he raised his hand. His pupils instantly transformed into golden vertical slits, and pitch-black scales appeared on his skin. It even looked as if something was about to bulge from the top of his head.
BOOM!
An intense Dragon Might erupted from his body. The next moment, it transformed into a golden giant dragon that plunged into the gate.
The ground beneath Kaito Shirogane's feet also instantly lit up. Complex runic patterns glowed in the void and connected to the gate bit by bit.
[You have touched the Special Creation: The Queen's Boundary Gate]
[Warning: You are attempting to activate a restricted creation. This action will cause unpredictable consequences.]
The crimson warning prompt appeared, but neither the people of Azure Sky nor Kaito Shirogane showed any intention of stopping.
The light emanating from beneath Kaito Shirogane's feet finally connected completely to the circular illusory gate.
The runic patterns around the gate lit up entirely in an instant, flowing in all directions like lightning before disappearing into the void.
Hum~
In an instant, the sky above this special syndicate space of Azure Sky began to change.
The color of the sky first turned a dull grey, as if night had fallen in an instant.
Subsequently, a massive number of Jack-o'-lanterns began to appear in the sky, floating in the air and also drifting over from the sea.
This scene made Mori-Summer frown as well.
"That ocean... should be an illusion, right..." the Professor stammered. Although Azure Sky's private space was large, the ocean was merely an illusion, a "blindfold" trick of the space.
In reality, the boundary of this syndicate space was just a short distance beyond the sandy beach; only the closest waves were real.
But right now, those pumpkin lanterns were genuinely emerging from the illusory ocean, crossing the boundary between illusion and reality, and drifting onto the beach.
Ding-ding, dong-dong~
An inexplicably cheerful ringing sound began to echo from the void, sounding like some kind of calling.
The massive circular gate now began to shift slightly, revealing the pitch-black void behind it.
Watching this scene, the smile on Kaito Shirogane's face grew even wider.
As expected of the [Little Garden] world, where it's truly said that "Saints walk everywhere, and Gods and Buddhas are less than dogs"...
This manifestation of power had instantly surpassed the highest level of power in the vast majority of cosmologies.
"To still be surprised by this kind of thing at this point—are you really ready, Kento?"
Sousuke stood up at this moment. He looked up at the illusory gate, which had suddenly transformed the space into a Halloween night, his smile as boisterous as ever.
"The [Halloween Queen], the master of [Boundaries]. It's only natural that she can do something like this~"
Then, Sousuke turned to look at everyone and spoke.
But Kaito Shirogane frowned. He realized he seemed to have been put on mute; he couldn't hear a single word Sousuke was saying.
He couldn't even read the man's lips to make out any meaning.
This was probably another Authority. As a Reincarnator at the level of the [Supreme Three Kings], whether it was their accumulation or the things they could acquire, it far exceeded Kaito Shirogane's imagination.
And at Kaito Shirogane's current stage, he had actually already acquired multiple Authorities.
Therefore, upon realizing that Sousuke was saying things to his subordinates that he didn't want him to hear, Kaito Shirogane didn't mind at all.
He felt absolutely no discomfort from being excluded. On the contrary, Kaito Shirogane watched the changing expressions of the Azure Sky members with a look of amusement.
The Professor's shocked appearance, and the tearful posture of the gentle woman in the white robe, all indicated that Sousuke was probably saying his final goodbyes.
"Heh, a melodrama..."
No one paid attention to Kaito Shirogane's teasing. As Sousuke finished his final arrangements, the auras of the Azure Sky members began to rise little by little.
Illusory fluctuations appeared behind everyone. To Kaito Shirogane, that scene was an absolute masterpiece.
He licked his lips somewhat enviously.
Kaito Shirogane wasn't just being polite earlier. These Reincarnators of Azure Sky were indeed talented.
Setting aside their overly idealistic nature, purely from the perspective of Reincarnators, their talents were outstanding.
It almost gave Kaito Shirogane the hallucination of seeing a group of Mad Kings gathered together.
In Kaito Shirogane's eyes, the Mad King was also an idealist.
"Let's move!"
Sousuke grabbed the Professor by the back of the neck, and the two of them stepped forward first. An attractive force seemed to emanate from the illusory gate, directly sucking the two inside.
Next were Roman and Brunhilde, who entered together. Mori-Summer glanced at Mercenary Tao before stepping in alone.
"Let's go, Sovereign Monarch. As thanks for helping us open this gate, it's only right that you have a share in this journey to Little Garden."
Reinhardt still wore his signature flawless smile, gesturing for Kaito Shirogane to enter first.
The curve of Kaito Shirogane's mouth became even more pronounced. He looked at this powerful Reincarnator, who highly likely possessed a divine bloodline, and said,
"It seems that guy Kento managed to successfully persuade a few of you after all."
Reinhardt kept smiling and didn't argue.
Kaito Shirogane knew that Reinhardt was actually most afraid that he would give up the opportunity to enter Little Garden at this moment.
However, even knowing this, how could Kaito Shirogane give up entering Little Garden?
For him, that place was simply the most wonderful stage.
Kaito Shirogane lifted his foot and walked toward the illusory gate, and then a strange thing happened.
He felt as if he were walking on an illusory passage out of thin air. Earlier, he saw Sousuke and the others being sucked in instantly, but when he walked up, he felt as if he were walking on flat ground, genuinely strolling through some kind of corridor.
The next moment, he entered the illusory gate. The pitch-black passage around him was like the cosmic starry sky, with countless stars twinkling.
He walked forward along the passage, the cheerful ringing sound constantly echoing in his ears.
He didn't know how long he walked before a bright light appeared in front of him. He stepped forward, and the boundless light instantly engulfed him.
This was probably the first time Kaito Shirogane had entered another world without relying on the space's deployment and not in the form of an information stream.
The experience was incredibly novel.
The wind blew against his face, the light naturally scattered, and the air carried the sweet scent of candy.
This was a place that looked like a massive plaza.
Various toys, pumpkin men, lanterns, and similar items were scattered everywhere.
It depicted the theme of the [Halloween Queen] very clearly.
So clearly that Kaito Shirogane began to doubt whether the master of this item and power was truly the [Halloween Queen], one of the three great problem children of the Little Garden world.
In the cosmology of Little Garden, there exists a special setting to measure strength:
[Digit / Rank].
The level of the digit basically represents the tier of strength.
As a special world capable of accommodating the gods, buddhas, and demon lords of all universes walking together, [Little Garden] is divided into many layers from the inside out.
The closer one gets to the inner layers, the more terrifying the power level.
The center of Little Garden connects to countless parallel worlds.
The 7 levels divided from the inside out accommodate existences of different tiers.
It is mainly divided into the [Outer Gates] of the 5th, 6th, and 7th levels, and the [Inner Gates] of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th levels.
The Inner Gates are the true realms of the gods, places mortals can hardly step into.
But even the Outer Gates are terrifying enough for Reincarnators or characters from other cosmologies.
Yet at this moment, Kaito Shirogane didn't see anything else special in this massive plaza.
Looking outward, everything was covered in a thick fog.
Rustle!
Suddenly, countless crows took flight, a massive number of Jack-o'-lanterns floated up, and a group of figures wearing black robes and pumpkin heads appeared out of thin air in the plaza.
These people's feet didn't touch the ground, but their speed was incredibly fast, instantly appearing before Kaito Shirogane and the Azure Sky members who had also arrived here.
Kaito Shirogane's pupils shifted, revealing the Byakugan. He stared intently, only to find that beneath the pumpkin heads, there was nothing but emptiness. They weren't humans in disguise; they were genuine monsters.
A pumpkin monster raised its hands, and a scroll of parchment appeared before Kaito Shirogane.
[The Queen's Invitation]
[Quality:] Special
[Description:] An invitation created by a great existence from a certain world, possessing special power.
[Effect:] Accept the invitation, and you will enter the Queen's Gift Game.
The Professor looked at the parchment in front of him. The space's information had already appeared. As he hesitated over whether to accept it, he instinctively looked at the others.
He then saw that Mercenary Tao had already signed his name on the parchment in front of him.
Not just Mercenary Tao; Mori-Summer, Reinhardt, and the others were all signing as well.
Smack!
Sousuke lightly slapped the back of the Professor's head. Compared to his sister, Kento was a bit too hesitant when doing things.
After Kento also signed his name, all the parchments began to burn.
The next moment, the pumpkin men gathered together, their bodies bursting with a bang. From the smoke, a giant pumpkin man emerged.
"Oya oya, a few rare guests have arrived. A Dragon Species, a Mythological Species, an Astral Species... truly a nostalgic combination. To welcome everyone, I've decided to host a little 'Halloween' party ahead of time! Come, my children, show me your 'stories' and entertain me!"
A booming voice echoed from the giant pumpkin man's mouth, but the tone was extremely whimsical, unbefitting a monster.
Judging by the tone, it was clearly the Queen herself speaking.
Moreover, she seemed to have already discerned the special identities among the arrivals.
Kaito Shirogane stood his ground, observing that even the so-called [Supreme Three Kings] didn't seem to receive any special treatment right now; they were merely waiting for the Queen's Gift Game to begin.
He had realized that the Little Garden world was unique enough.
Arriving here wasn't achieved through the space's teleportation.
In other words, essentially, this trip to Little Garden didn't count as a deployment task at all.
Furthermore... the Little Garden world had its own rules!
The Halloween Queen didn't summon them directly to the outer layers; instead, she pulled them here to impose a special Gift Game.
It was highly likely a "safety measure" established so they could walk normally in Little Garden, akin to a registration process.
Therefore, neither the people of Azure Sky nor Kaito Shirogane refused.
In reality, they didn't have the power to refuse either.
After speaking, the giant pumpkin man opened its massive maw and lunged downwards with a fierce bite.
Kaito Shirogane crossed his arms and was instantly swallowed.
The light and shadows shifted before his eyes, and the next moment, he found himself in a massive jungle.
There was no one else around.
The parchment appeared before Kaito Shirogane once more, with clear writing on it.
[The Queen's Gift Game]
[Host:] The Halloween Queen
[Rule:] Walk out of the forest alive.
[Reward:] Obtain a Gift Card.