— — — — — —
The [No-Name] base looked like something out of a haunted house—a crumbling, eerie old castle.
In the corridor, a little fox girl, maybe six or seven years old, with golden hair and fluffy ears twitching on her head, pushed Black Rabbit forward with surprising determination.
"C'mon, Black Rabbit-nee. Be good and stay in your room!"
"Yeah, yeah! That's what Ryo said!" x2
The two kids following her chimed in with cheerful defiance.
"Brother Ryo said you're supposed to stay put no matter what. Even if something happens, don't come out!"
"…You say that, but still…"
Black Rabbit sighed, helpless against the sheer energy of the kids.
Pushed forward by the tiny fox girl, she half-reluctantly gave in and asked with a frown:
"Lily, what's Ryo planning? Why does he want me locked up in my room? And wasn't Jin just heading out on his own earlier? The outside world is way too dangerous."
"Hmm…"
Lily paused, then drew in a breath. Puffing up her cheeks in a serious effort to mimic Ryo's voice, she said:
"Lily, you're old enough to think for yourself now. You can carry some weight for the community."
"So I'm giving you a mission: Keep that dumb rabbit in check. Don't let her run off and do anything stupid."
Then, in her natural kiddy tone, she added, "That's what Brother Ryo said! Word for word!"
"Hah… yeah, that does sound like him…"
Black Rabbit clenched her fists, twitching with barely restrained irritation and a forced smile.
She tried to walk away, but Lily blocked her with that strangely mature glare. After a short silence, Black Rabbit gave in with a sigh.
Much as she wanted to find Ryo and give him a piece of her mind… that could wait.
"Fine, fine. I'll stay in the room. Happy?"
Grumbling, she turned and stomped off toward her room, muttering complaints the whole way like:
"Using kids to keep me in line? Unforgivable… And he called me a dumb rabbit! The nerve!"
Lily and her little crew exchanged a look—then high-fived each other in triumph.
"Yay~"
For a brief moment, the corridor was filled with pure, victorious joy.
And that's when it happened.
A flash of fire shot through the narrow window.
The next instant, flames roared up two meters high—and out of that blaze stepped Ryo.
Some of the kids nearby squeaked in shock, but when they saw who it was, they instantly called out:
"Ryo! Brother Ryo!"
He smiled and gave them a nod before gently setting Jin Russell down from under his arm and saying,
"Alright, Jin, Lily—take the kids and head to Black Rabbit's room. If I'm right, those brain-dead idiots should be showing up soon."
"Got it!"
The kids responded like pros and scurried off with Jin and Lily leading the way.
Once they were gone, Ryo turned toward his room. He opened a cabinet, pulled out some bandages, and began wrapping them around himself.
Even though he was pretty sure Taigo and his crew had taken the bait, Ryo wasn't about to skip the theatrics.
— — —
Meanwhile, elsewhere…
Taigo and his gang finally reached the [No-Name] base just before sundown.
The moment he laid eyes on the rundown castle, his face twisted with disgust.
"Damn… this dump isn't even worth selling. Way out in the sticks, too. Anyone who bought this would be stuck with it."
"Word is, this place got teleported here using a boundary gate by some bigwig from the upper floors. Even garbage gets moved around when you've got money like that," one underling muttered, half in awe.
"Yeah! We're down here scraping by, splitting a single gold coin in half, while those guys live it up. Probably even have gold toilets. It's bullsh—"
"Shut up."
Taigo snapped, silencing them with a glare before turning to the lion-head beastman beside him.
"You. Go knock on the door and tell Ryo to haul his ass out here."
"Yes, Boss Taigo!"
Grinning like a kiss-ass, the beastman turned and kicked open the rust-covered iron gate at the edge of the castle grounds.
The old gate screeched, then slammed into the ground with a metallic crash.
Several kids working in the yard looked up in alarm and rushed over.
"Hey! Who are you?! Why'd you bust our gate?!"
Taigo strode past the lion-head like he owned the place, scanning the area and snorting when he saw it was full of kids.
"This is it? Just a bunch of brats? Hahaha! This is what's left of the Arcadia community? What a joke!"
Then a voice rang out—sharp and cold: "Who are you people?!"
Taigo turned, only to see a black-haired, black-eyed young man walk out calmly.
The guy was wearing a simple T-shirt and shorts, leaning on a cane. Bandages peeked out from beneath his shirt collar.
He looked exactly like the intel photo Taigo had gotten from Thousand Eyes.
No visible blood, but still looking roughed up enough to put Taigo at ease.
At least until Ryo gave him that strange look—like he was watching a drunk fool stumble into a trap.
Was this guy really this dumb?
For a second, Ryo had been wondering if things were going too smoothly. But now that he'd seen Taigo in person, he felt reassured.
There was no way this guy had the brains to pull off anything clever.
Ryo tilted his head and said flatly:
"Please leave. We don't want any trouble, and we're not interested in any Gift Games."
"Hahahahaha~!" x14
Taigo and the thirteen beastmen with him burst out laughing.
"Does this guy think we're here to play?"
"'Please leave'? Seriously? Stupid humans always think they can reason their way out of everything. Newsflash—we're not here to be nice!"
Taigo didn't stop them. He just chuckled, then held up a necklace. "Maybe take a good look at this before you keep talking."
"…That's Jin's necklace. What did you do to him?!"
Ryo's face went pale with shock.
"Oh, he's fine. For now. But if you don't play along…"
Taigo grinned wide, flashing his shark teeth. "…he might end up not-so-fine."
Ryo took a deep breath, clearly forcing himself to stay calm.
"…Fine. What are the rules?"
By now, Taigo wasn't even pretending to think things through.
"We make a vow to the Little Garden. You bet everything No-Name has. We go one-on-one. Winner is whoever survives—or makes the other surrender."
"That's not a fair wager," Ryo said coolly. "If we're betting everything, then you have to bet everything too. Little Garden won't approve otherwise."
"Sure, sure. Works for me."
Taigo smirked, but added with a smug sneer: "But let's change the rules a bit."
He jabbed a thumb at Ryo—then pointed back at his entire group of snarling henchmen.
"You fight us. Alone."
Ryo blinked… then laughed and rubbed his forehead like he'd just heard the punchline to a great joke.
"Sure. Let's do it. Game on."
WHOOM—
A scroll of glowing white parchment fell from the sky.
The moment both parties agreed, the power of the Little Garden activated.
[Gift Game: Duel]
[Participants: Great Shark (Taigo's group) vs. No-Name]
[Rules: Ryo fights alone against all members of Great Shark.]
[Victory Condition: Death or surrender of one party.]
[Game Validated by the Authority of Glory and Triumph.]
---
As the parchment drifted down, Taigo didn't even glance at it.
He was too busy staring at Ryo, who was still grinning.
"What the hell are you laughing at? Stop it! What's so funny?!"
"Ahh—sorry, sorry…"
Ryo's smirk widened as he rubbed his temples, lips curling up into a wolfish grin.
"I just got a little excited. Forgot the game had already started."
He stretched, stepping forward as flames erupted around him, towering and crimson.
"Let's wrap this up. Try and keep me entertained, would you?"
"Is this guy insane?" Taigo muttered, the unease clawing at him.
Then Ryo moved.
With a single step, his entire body surged in size. Crimson fire burst up like a volcano. A massive foot slammed down, scorching the grass to ash.
In the next breath, Ryo stood transformed—a towering ten-meter fire giant, eyes blazing like twin suns.
"One," the fire giant rumbled, voice like a cathedral bell.
"What the hell?! A fire giant's Gift?! But he's human—!"
Taigo's eyes went wide. Then it hit him.
"Damn it—it's a trap! Everyone, hit him with water! NOW!"
Beastmen with water-based Gifts inhaled deeply and blasted massive torrents of water.
"Two."
FSSSSHH—
The second the water touched Ryo's blazing form, it evaporated into steam.
"Divine-tier defense?! A five-digit ranked being?!"
Taigo's pupils shrank in terror.
In that same moment, the giant's hands closed around him like a claw grabbing a baby chick.
Then came the smile—cold and merciless.
"Three… Game over."
"Wait! Stop—stop! Do you have any idea who I work for?! I'm under a Demon Lord—!"
CRUNCH—
Blood spattered from the giant's closed fist, then vanished into nothingness.
Taigo's broken, charcoal-like body was flung to the ground, lifeless.
The fire giant loomed over the stunned beastmen, golden eyes glowing like suns.
They stood frozen for a second… then, trembling, dropped to their knees.
— — —
Ten kilometers away, on a mountaintop…
A young woman with golden hair and red eyes, bat-like wings stretching from her back, stood atop a tree branch.
She silently watched the inferno raging at No-Name's base.
After a long moment, her body dissolved into a flurry of bats and disappeared into the wind.
.
.
.