Though all three of them were labeled "problem children," Izayoi, Asuka, and Yō each had wildly different personalities.
But they shared one defining trait.
They were fiercely competitive.
All of them had joined No Name together.
Izayoi had already begun mapping out strategic plans for the community's revival. Ren Kuroda had resolved their most urgent resource crisis.
If Asuka and Yō contributed nothing—
Wouldn't that make them useless?
They refused to accept that.
—
The following day, as agreed, the members of No Name arrived at Fores Garo's residential territory.
When they caught sight of the buildings nestled deep within the forest, Asuka and Yō both paused in surprise.
"So their base is actually inside the forest?" Asuka murmured. "Though… now that I think about it, they're tiger beastmen. Building in terrain like this does make sense."
Yō nodded calmly.
"If the forest is the game field, that's actually advantageous for me. I've made friends with a lot of the animals here."
Since No Name was the participating side, they had no authority to choose the venue. Still, neither of them had expected the Gift Game to be held in a forest.
Off to the side, Ren suddenly grabbed Black Rabbit's sleeve and pulled her aside, lowering his voice.
"Isn't this the same place where we took down those guys who tried to abduct Lily and the others?"
Black Rabbit blinked, then gave him an exasperated look.
"That's exactly what I told you. The community challenging Miss Asuka and Miss Yō is Fores Garo."
"Those men you dealt with before were members of Fores Garo."
"Honestly, Ren, you're far too inattentive."
Ren scratched his cheek.
"Sorry. I didn't bother memorizing the names of small fry."
He glanced toward a wooden post nearby, where a sheet of parchment had been nailed in place.
"If I'd known earlier that the community they provoked was those same guys, I would've joined the game."
He sighed lightly.
"But now… looks like it's too late."
Pinned to the post was a thick sheet of tanned leather. Written across it were the rules and participants of the Gift Game.
—
Gift Game Title: InvasionParticipants: Kuon Asuka, Kasugabe Yō, Jin RussellVictory Condition: Eliminate Gale Gardo, who is concealed within the host's headquarters.Method of Victory: Gale Gardo must be eliminated using the special weapon designated by the host. Any method other than the designated weapon cannot "eliminate" Gale Gardo.Defeat Condition: Surrender, or failure to fulfill the above victory condition.Designated Weapon: Placed somewhere within the game field. Participants must locate it themselves. No additional information will be provided.
Oath:Under the banner of honor and flag, No Name hereby participates in this Gift Game.
Seal of Fores Garo.
—
Izayoi clicked his tongue when he finished reading.
"Ren, looks like you called it. They're abusing host privileges to stack the rules in their favor."
And "stacked" was putting it mildly.
First, the battlefield was the forest—a terrain unfamiliar to Asuka and Jin, but advantageous to beastmen.
Second, the victory condition was absurdly restrictive. They had to eliminate Gale Gardo—and specifically with a designated weapon.
That meant no matter how powerful Asuka's Authority of Command or Yō's Gifts were, they could not defeat Gale unless they found and used that specific weapon.
Through the rules, Gale had effectively granted himself a pseudo-immortality.
And as for this so-called "special weapon"?
The parchment offered no description.
Which meant that somewhere within this vast forest was an unknown object they had to locate—
Before they could even attempt to kill Gale.
Before coming here, Jin had done his research.
Fores Garo, despite its vile reputation, was undeniably one of the strongest communities in the Eastern Outer Gates.
Its leader, Gale Gardo, possessed three Gifts—human, tiger, and demonic—granting him multiple forms and considerable combat prowess.
Now, with the rules reinforcing his survival, the difficulty of this Gift Game had skyrocketed.
Yet—
There was no retreat.
The parchment had appeared. The contract had been sealed. The central system of Little Garden had acknowledged the game.
Backing out now would count as surrender.
Gale would win automatically.
Gritting their teeth, they stepped into the forest, which now seemed far darker and more ominous than before.
Yō immediately activated her ability to communicate with animals, reaching out to the creatures of the woods to gather information.
If possible, she wanted to locate the designated weapon as quickly as she could.
Ren and Izayoi were not official participants.
However, the rules did not forbid non-participants from entering the forest.
So they followed.
The moment Ren stepped beneath the canopy—
He frowned.
"You said Gale is a tiger beastman, right?" he asked quietly.
"Then why do I smell something else in the air?"
He inhaled again.
"There's blood. A lot of it."
His expression darkened.
"And something… similar to an oni's aura. But tainted. Twisted."
As a half-yokai, Ren's senses far exceeded human limits.
Beyond the heavy stench of blood, he also sensed something had changed since the night they had fought here.
Yō nodded.
"I smell the blood too. And the animals are saying the central building of Fores Garo is radiating something dangerous. They won't go near it."
She didn't detect the oni-like presence Ren mentioned—but the sense of danger was unanimous.
They continued deeper into the woods.
Then—
Without warning, a massive tree beside the path shuddered.
Its bark split like a wound.
Thick vines lashed outward like tentacles, snapping toward Asuka, who had been momentarily distracted.
"Look out!"
Yō reacted instantly.
Harnessing the power she had borrowed from a griffin, she manipulated the air itself.
A blade of compressed wind sliced forward.
The vines were severed mid-strike, falling to the forest floor in writhing segments.
Jin's face went pale.
"These aren't normal trees!"
"They've been demonized—corrupted!"
The once-ordinary forest now radiated an oppressive chill. The trees creaked unnaturally, their branches twitching like skeletal fingers.
Jin swallowed hard.
As far as he knew, Gale was a tiger beastman.
He did not possess the ability to corrupt plant life on this scale.
And to demonize such a vast number of trees—
Only one individual in Jin's memory had ever displayed that kind of power…