Chapter 752: Duel City and the Gift Game
The earth beneath the forest began to churn as if injected with berserk energy. Golden Ki shot directly from the sky into the ground below.
The ground rolled like ocean waves, and the eerie forest clinging to it was entirely upheaved, rolling up like duckweed on the sea.
Rumble! BOOM!
A massive explosion triggered a chain reaction from beneath the tectonic plate, rapidly sweeping across everything in sight.
The two monsters, specifically used to test Kaito Shirogane's combat ability and strategic acumen, had long been annihilated in the grandiose energy explosion.
But Kaito Shirogane still felt unsatisfied. He clenched his left fist, his figure slowly contorting as a peculiar "charm" began to emanate from him.
Sssss~
The surrounding air naturally condensed into white smoke clouds, dissipating outwards from Kaito Shirogane's fist. In fact, wherever the air touched any part of his skin, it began to condense.
A terrifying [Force] was indiscriminately spreading in all directions, crushing any matter that came into contact with Kaito Shirogane.
After unsealing the Fifth Step of the Stairway of Eternal Return and activating the 8-Fold Kaio-Ken, his enhanced attributes combined with a series of power-ups caused his pure physical strength to form a [Force Field], completely independent of any special abilities.
It was a unique domain; the overwhelmingly terrifying sheer force distorted everything around him.
And what governed this [Force] was a certain fist intent that echoed with an aura of invincibility.
Kaito Shirogane took a step forward. His body naturally twisted, and the King's Left Arm struck out in a fluid motion.
Hum~
It was as if some invisible behemoth had swept across the entire sky. This was the effect of the air within a radius of tens of thousands of meters being collectively distorted by the force field and then blasted outward.
A massive shockwave expanded in the opposite direction behind Kaito Shirogane, instantly rippling outwards in a vertical posture across the entire space.
BOOM!
A vacuum wave preemptively pulverized the violently exploding landmass, the forest, and the atmosphere. Then, a shockwave condensing a colossal amount of air crashed over the ruins like a giant ring.
RUMBLE!
Only then did the deafening roar echo between heaven and earth. Kaito Shirogane retracted his left arm. The fine blood mist on the surface of his body began to thin, and the Ki that had shot into the sky gradually subsided, ultimately vanishing back into his body.
He landed on the ground. A fine layer of bloody sweat covered his skin, and the Qilin Armor disappeared bit by bit.
Kaito Shirogane panted, a rare occurrence. His body exhibited a slight, spasm-like posture.
But just by standing on the earth, that special sensation of standing upon the [Source of the World] emerged. A continuous stream of pure vitality rapidly flowed into his body.
Meanwhile, the demonic dragon of the Anti-Life Domain pulsed at the location of his heart, interweaving massive amounts of anti-life matter into the surface of Kaito Shirogane's body in the form of flesh and blood.
Existential damage was being dissolved by the Anti-Life Demonic Dragon in an entirely different form.
Kaito Shirogane's physical body had begun to transcend mere flesh and tissue. His actual immortality and regenerative capabilities were far higher now.
A massive amount of particles appeared before Kaito Shirogane's eyes. He saw the world disintegrating bit by bit. This format was extremely similar to the [Information Stream] condensation and dissipation he experienced during every deployment and return.
Soon, everything before Kaito Shirogane's eyes vanished completely. His body dropped downwards. As he landed from the sky, the scene before him had once again transformed into the Halloween Plaza.
The giant Pumpkin Demon still stood in the center of the plaza. Jack-o'-lanterns drifted in the air, and the crystal balls below displayed various scenes.
Kaito Shirogane turned his head and saw the King of Miracles, Sousuke, standing alone beside a few pumpkin monsters.
Sousuke raised his hand and waved at Kaito Shirogane, holding a white card.
Kaito Shirogane reached out his hand, and a similar card fell into his grasp.
[Archetype of Terminus and Genesis EX051, you have obtained the Special Creation: Gift Card]
[Gift Card]
[Type: Special Creation]
[Description: A special card created by a great existence in a certain world using a fragment of Laplace, possessing miraculous powers.]
[Effect: In specific worlds, possesses the ability to identify, dominate, manipulate, and trade various powers.]
Even before the battle, Kaito Shirogane knew that this special Gift Game was highly likely a test set up by the Queen to anchor their group of Reincarnators.
Furthermore, the Queen had likely grasped the general strength of all the Reincarnators before the test. Thinking of this, Kaito Shirogane looked at Sousuke, who had emerged earlier than him, and realized that perhaps not everyone was read easily—this [Supreme King] might be an exception.
He could sense from the enemies the Queen arranged for him that she had a basic expectation of his strength; the enemies likely possessed 6-Digit power.
And indeed, when Kaito Shirogane didn't activate his explosive powers, he probably only possessed a 6-Digit level of destructive force. He lacked the special abilities or Authorities that could unleash devastating power in his base state.
All of Kaito Shirogane's power relied on "stats." In other words, all his abilities were fundamentally executed through his own physical capabilities, the intensity of his Ki, and so on.
He was a standard archetype where the higher the base stats, the more exponential the leap in combat power.
Therefore, upon activating the Qilin Armor and the 8-Fold Kaio-Ken, he rapidly surpassed the limits of a 6-Digit, becoming an existence that possessed immensely devastating power even among 5-Digits.
It was at this moment that the advantage of Kaito Shirogane's enhancement type truly shone. He didn't rely on one specific ability to unleash destruction; he was a comprehensively enhanced type.
Once he stepped into the 5-Digit tier, he immediately became a fiercely powerful combatant within that rank.
Whether in terms of destructive power, regenerative ability, immortality, attack range, or immunity, he was absolutely top-tier.
Thinking of this, Kaito Shirogane grew increasingly satisfied with this world. As his strength continued to grow, most derivative worlds struggled to bring him any real pleasure anymore.
Enemies that could be killed with a casual strike completely failed to let him experience the joy of battle.
But the Little Garden world was different. It was a world teeming with monsters.
Just as Kaito Shirogane had sensed, the 7-Digit figures in the outer layers likely already possessed combat power equivalent to the [Average] to [Strong] tiers among Reincarnators.
This place was full of beings born with divine strength.
Little Garden could be viewed entirely as a superhuman world where various mythological epics continued naturally.
In this world, gods walked the earth, and there were many who obtained the power or bloodline of deities. The power scaling was frighteningly high compared to standard plot worlds.
6-Digits had already reached city-destroying combat capabilities. Flying slashes that could cleave walls dozens of meters high, energy cannons that could instantly obliterate city blocks, and the aftershocks of battle causing earthquakes and other natural disasters were all normal occurrences.
This level of destruction, which would be considered top-tier power in most worlds, equated roughly to the upper [Strong] tier to the lower [Fierce] tier among Reincarnators.
Currently, most top-tier Reincarnators were still stuck at this stage. Yet, in the Little Garden world, this merely belonged to the 6-Digit outer gates.
Reaching 5-Digit, the destructive power instantly transcended the mortal realm. Changing the landscape with a single strike, destroying medium-sized nations in full-force combat, and shattering tectonic plates—feats that represented the absolute ceiling of combat power in most worlds—were merely the standard for a 5-Digit in this world.
At this tier, one began to see the powerhouses of the outer gates, legendary heroes, descendants with mythological bloodlines, and so forth...
As for 4-Digits, they officially stepped into the domain of gods. Ordinary planets no longer possessed a sense of "safety" before this tier. Furthermore, their Authorities mostly began to heavily interfere with the laws of reality, and their pure physical expressions were enough to cause planetary surface destruction with a single strike.
Relying on Authorities and Gifts, destroying planets or even small galaxies was not an impossible feat.
The 3-Digit rank was occupied by the ceiling-level chief gods of various mythological lineages, or anomalous combatants within those pantheons.
At this level, discussing pure destructive power was meaningless. Concepts like omniscience and omnipotence, the struggle over Authorities, and the magnitude of one's Spirit Status were much more practical measures.
A 3-Digit like Sakra could destroy a large galaxy with a single strike.
Such a scale lacked any sense of reality for the current Kaito Shirogane. Right now, he was looking at the Gift Card bestowed upon him by the Queen in his hand. The information on it was incredibly concise.
[GIFT CARD]
Name: Kaito Shirogane
Community: None
Gift List:
Nameless Stairway (Type: System / Concept / Unique / Incomplete)
Dualistic Paradox (Type: System / Paradox / Unique)
Eternal Return (Type: System / Life / Anti-Life / Unique)
Dragon Emperor Bloodline: Nidhogg (Type: Bloodline / Dragon Species (Pseudo) / Authority)
Sovereign Kingship: God King (Type: System / Authority / ???)
Martial Arts: Realm of Nothingness (Type: Skill / Art)
Path of Transcendence: Limiter (Type: Skill / Art / ???)
Spirit Status Evaluation:
Unmeasurable.
The existence of this individual creates a paradox with the known systems of Little Garden.
Initial assessment is no lower than the peak of 5-Digit.
This card listed a massive amount of content. The Gifts alone formed a long row. Kaito Shirogane guessed that the [Nameless Stairway] at the very top was likely the [Stairway of God] that he and the Knight Girl were chasing after.
Within Little Garden's system, this stairway was marked as [Incomplete].
This was one of the rare high-level worlds Kaito Shirogane had encountered that similarly possessed such a detailed system for listing information and checking statuses.
Thus, it was also a prime opportunity to compare the power system of the Little Garden cosmology with that of the Infinite Dimensional Space.
He found that in this regard, the Infinite Dimensional Space, which specialized in [Information], was still much more detailed.
At the very least, he still had many unused Authorities and special constitutions that weren't displayed here.
Of course, it was also possible that the bodies of these Reincarnators ultimately still harbored the residual traces of the power of the Infinite Dimensional Space, the [Observer].
Certain things had been hidden away, and they would only be observed and recorded by Little Garden when actively used.
This made Kaito Shirogane realize that, in reality, his group of Reincarnators could utilize this to play some "tricks" during Gift Games.
Naturally, it could also simply be that mere 6-Digit Reincarnators weren't worthy of such meticulous scrutiny, or perhaps, it was that Queen...
The [Halloween Queen], as an anomalous 3-Digit existence, had a stance that was hard to fathom.
While Kaito Shirogane was pondering, Mori-Summer and Reinhardt also dropped from the sky, and Gift Cards similarly appeared before them.
Kaito Shirogane noticed that alongside their clearing of the game, a new door had appeared at the other end of the Halloween Plaza.
Seeing the Azure Sky members still waiting for Professor Kento and the others who hadn't passed the test yet, Kaito Shirogane shoved his hands into his pockets and walked straight toward that door.
Reinhardt wanted to speak, but Sousuke stopped him.
After all, the two sides were not on the same path, and besides...
Amidst the cheerful jingling of Halloween music, Kaito Shirogane walked up to the door, and the circular gateway automatically opened.
The next moment, Kaito Shirogane felt an intense suction force.
Swoosh!
Kaito Shirogane turned into a blur and vanished into the portal.
...
In the clear sky, a portal appeared out of thin air, and Kaito Shirogane was dropped directly into the high altitudes.
White clouds drifted beside him, while a vast, boundless forest stretched out below.
The air instantly swirled around him as Kaito Shirogane naturally stabilized his footing in mid-air.
He wasn't the type like Izayoi Sakamaki, who possessed 4-Digit strength yet didn't know how to fly.
Suspended in the air, Kaito Shirogane naturally unfurled his Mantra Network.
Fine currents of electricity flashed through the air and disappeared.
Zzt~
ROAR!
The very next moment, a thunderous sound akin to a dragon's roar erupted from somewhere in the forest. It was some powerful monster that had sensed the expansion of the Mantra Network; the electric currents sweeping across its body made it feel that its territory had been violated.
The corners of Kaito Shirogane's mouth hooked up. He was growing more and more satisfied with this world.
In any random patch of forest, one could encounter enemies capable of perceiving such minute energy fluctuations.
Kaito Shirogane glanced at a city in the distance, as well as the wilderness near it. A massive number of humans were gathered there, and the auras of various energies and Authorities were constantly leaking out.
It seemed some sort of ultra-large-scale Gift Game was taking place.
"Gift Games... how wonderful. As long as you keep participating in games, you can acquire power..."
"This world is absolutely fantastic~"
Enveloped in golden Ki, Kaito Shirogane carved an arc through the air, instantly plummeting toward a massive lake in the forest below.
That roar just now had originated from here.
Splash~
Kaito Shirogane's feet landed on the surface of the lake, sending ripples spreading in all directions. The next moment, the center of the lake began to churn violently.
A giant black dragon, over fifty meters in size, emerged from the lake.
The black dragon opened its maw and roared at Kaito Shirogane. Rings of Dragon Might spread out, instantly sending the birds and beasts in the forest fleeing in terror.
In Kaito Shirogane's perception, many weak beasts and even monsters were directly shocked to death on the spot.
But standing on the lake, he felt absolutely no pressure from the Dragon Might.
Within Kaito Shirogane's eyes, golden irises slowly emerged.
Following that, a terrifying pressure entirely unique to the Dragon Race manifested.
The black dragon's body stiffened. A horrifying pressure was endlessly pouring out from the human opposite it. It instinctively felt trembling and fear, to the point that even the strength to roar began to fade.
Kaito Shirogane simply walked up to the black dragon step by step. He pressed his index finger against the center of its brow, and a golden Ki lit up in a flash.
The pseudo-Dragon Species bloodline of the [Dragon Emperor] gave Kaito Shirogane an incredibly massive advantage when facing dragons.
As the giant dragon crashed down, the metallic scent of dragon blood fell into the lake and began to spread, attracting several humans who were originally in the nearby woods.
"Hey, you there! How could you just silently kill the prey we've been waiting for for so long?!"
"How are you going to compensate us?!"
The person in the lead wore silver-white light armor. The two people behind him—one holding a magic staff, the other carrying a bow and arrows—both exuded impressive auras.
They looked at the black dragon behind Kaito Shirogane with greedy eyes.
As if he didn't understand the trio's meaning, Kaito Shirogane also turned around, revealing a radiant smile.
"Oh?"
"Then how do you propose I compensate you..."
The leader turned and exchanged a glance with his two companions, then immediately raised his hand. In his hand was a piece of parchment, looking as if it had been torn from some massive sheet.
Only then did Kaito Shirogane notice that on the man's right wrist was a bracelet adorned with a golden star, exuding a special aura.
"Naturally, it means you have to play a Gift Game with us!"
"If you win, we'll consider this prey as having been yielded to you. But if you lose~"
"Not only must you hand over all the [Stars] on you, but you must also forfeit your most valuable Gift to us!"
Kaito Shirogane looked down at his own empty wrist, then at the other party's bracelet and star, which gave him an inexplicably familiar feeling.
His smile grew even more radiant.
He nodded gladly.
"Of course, of course. I'll participate in your Gift Game, but the conditions will have to be tweaked a bit~"
A crimson phantom appeared over Kaito Shirogane's body; the [Omen of the Evil God] had manifested.
The next moment, the leading man's face suddenly turned pale as if struck by some kind of impact. He then stood rooted to the spot, nodding with glazed-over eyes.
[Heart of Slaanesh]!