Orange red fireball swelled in his vision, growing larger with every heartbeat. The air around him shimmered as the temperature climbed higher and higher.
Ren Kuroda was certain of it now.
The sun… was falling.
It was absurd. Worldview-shattering. The kind of thing that should not exist outside apocalyptic prophecy.
And yet—
It was happening.
"What the hell am I supposed to block that with? My skull?!"
He stared up at the descending sun, horror rippling through him. He finally understood the true meaning behind the game's title—
"The One Who Faces the Sun."
White Yaksha hadn't been exaggerating when she said people could die attempting this Gift Game.
Of course they could die.
Stopping a falling sun?
If someone didn't die, that would be the miracle.
For a fleeting moment, Ren wondered if anyone had ever truly cleared this difficulty before.
Far away, watching the blazing orb descend from the sky, Black Rabbit was nearly beside herself with panic. She pleaded with White Yaksha to stop the game immediately.
But White Yaksha merely shook her head.
As the host, she could not arbitrarily halt a Gift Game. Nor did she have the authority to do so. If Ren deemed it too dangerous, he could surrender at any time. The game would end instantly. The sun would stop.
But he hadn't surrendered.
Which meant—even now—he intended to challenge the impossible.
White Yaksha wasn't wrong.
Ren's heart pounded as he stared into the inferno above. Compared to that celestial force, he felt small. Fragile.
But to retreat now?
That left a far worse taste in his mouth.
There was just over a minute left.
If he could endure the falling sun for one minute—
Victory would be his.
This wasn't the true solar sovereign. It carried the essence of the sun, yes—but its size and power were still inferior to a real star.
If he retreated here…
What would he do when he one day faced Amaterasu or Tsukuyomi?
After all, in the main world, Amaterasu Ōmikami was the very goddess of the sun itself.
If he couldn't last a single minute before a simulated solar authority—
What right did he have to speak of battling gods?
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH—!"
With a furious roar, Ren unleashed every ounce of his yokai power.
The ground beneath his feet fractured violently.
Crimson demonic energy erupted skyward in a pillar so vast it split the heavens of White Yaksha's world.
Then—
He reached into the void.
A massive sake gourd appeared in his hand.
He tore out the cork and began drinking like a man possessed.
His fear ability, "Drunk on Life," roared to full activation. The crimson aura around him grew denser. Thicker. Almost viscous.
He wasn't fighting.
He didn't need techniques.
He needed power.
Raw, overwhelming, excessive power.
The Endless Sake Gourd never left his lips.
He drank continuously.
His consciousness began to blur.
Scarlet madness bled into his vision.
And behind him—
A colossal figure began to form.
A crimson oni god with three heads and six arms emerged from the raging aura.
It towered over the landscape—larger even than the celestial beast Uma he had faced before.
Wrapped in murderous intent and demonic pressure, the Three-Headed, Six-Armed Oni God roared at the falling sun.
Then it planted both feet firmly into the earth—
And thrust all six arms upward.
Heaven-bearing stance.
Yet even that immense god seemed small before the sun.
The moment its hands made contact—
It howled in agony.
The sun's flames were the embodiment of pure yang—blazing, absolute, annihilating.
The oni god, formed from yokai power and killing intent, began to burn.
And it wasn't just the heat.
The impact force from the descending sun was beyond imagination.
Though not a true star in mass, it still bore the essence of the sun. Its sheer presence dwarfed even the asteroid once dragged down by Abe no Seimei.
The earth cracked.
The oni god's legs sank deep into the ground.
The surrounding land collapsed under the pressure.
Moisture evaporated instantly.
Plants withered.
Lakes vanished in seconds.
Even the ground Ren stood upon began melting into magma.
This—
This was the sun.
It gave life.
And when enraged—
It erased life just as easily.
Seconds ticked away.
The oni god trembled.
Cracked.
Melted.
Finally—
It was crushed and burned away by the descending sun.
But it had bought him time.
What had been over a minute—
Was now less than thirty seconds.
With no resistance left, the sun fell faster.
It hadn't even fully touched him yet—
But the heatwave alone felt like death incarnate.
Did he have any other choice?
No.
There was no plan left.
Only stubborn defiance.
Ren looked up at the blazing sphere now almost within arm's reach.
And smiled.
A reckless.
Fearless.
Mad grin.
Then he thrust both hands upward—
And caught the sun.
The weight slammed into him instantly.
Even with "Strength of Chaos" at full output, his body bent under the pressure.
Blood burst from his pores as vessels ruptured from the impact.
But the blood never fell.
It vaporized instantly.
The weight was monstrous—
But the heat?
The heat was worse.
All his yokai power was being poured into brute strength.
He had nothing left to shield himself.
He was completely exposed to the sun's proximity.
A normal human would have been vaporized.
But Ren—at full power—was at least an SSS-class half-yokai.
His body endured far more.
Still—
His skin charred.
Then cracked.
Then burned away.
His regeneration activated.
New flesh grew.
Only to burn again.
Over and over.
Seconds felt like eternities.
Pain flooded him without mercy.
Regeneration healed the wounds—
But it did nothing for the agony.
Ten seconds remained.
Ren's strength was fading.
His yokai power was nearly exhausted.
His arms trembled.
His mind blurred.
And yet the pain—
The heat—
Kept him conscious.
"Don't underestimate me…!"
He snarled through clenched teeth.
"I'm Ren Kuroda!!"
Black substance began leaking from his body.
It hit the ground—
And spread.
Rapidly.
Violently.
The white expanse of White Yaksha's game field began to darken.
To corrode.
To be swallowed.
The sun brought daylight.
As the Star Spirit of the Sun and White Night, White Yaksha's domain was eternal day—sun resting upon the horizon in perpetual brilliance.
But now—
Half the world fell into absolute darkness.
Pitch-black.
Impenetrable.
And at its center—
Ren Kuroda stood, wrestling the sun.
The darkness expanded.
Cold wind swept across the battlefield.
The suffocating heat lessened slightly.
The blinding light could not pierce the abyss.
The sky itself split in two—
One half blazing orange.
The other a bottomless void.
Light and darkness clashed.
Competing.
Dividing the world.
White Yaksha watched in stunned silence.
"That boy… not only does he keep pulling out outrageous strength…"
"He's even manifested a game field?"
"And its level rivals my own 'White Night'…"
Her golden eyes narrowed.
"Is he truly a newcomer to Little Garden?"
"How did No Name find such a monster?"
Frankly speaking—
At his current level, Ren already exceeded what the lower levels of Little Garden should allow.
Even in the Middle or Upper tiers, many communities would welcome him eagerly.
The moment his Innate Boundary — Demon Domain unfolded—
White Yaksha knew.
The Gift Game was decided.
If there were several more minutes, he would collapse.
But ten seconds?
With this field supporting him—
He would endure.
And she had never expected that outcome.
From the beginning—
She hadn't believed Ren's group could clear this challenge.
Even famous four-digit communities had failed at the final descent of the sun.
And yet—
Ren Kuroda stood there,
Holding it back.