"I honestly thought I wouldn't have to resort to special measures… but looking at the situation now, it seems I don't have much of a choice."
Ren Kuroda let out a soft breath.
"We haven't been together for long, but I still owe you all an apology. For the time being… I'm withdrawing from 'No Name.'"
Lios's taunting words had already succeeded in making Ren and the others stop in their tracks.
But before Black Rabbit could even begin thinking of a way to resolve Leticia's situation—
Ren's sudden declaration hit her like a bolt from the blue.
She froze.
"R-Ren… are you planning to use force?" Black Rabbit stammered. "And because you're worried about dragging 'No Name' into trouble, you're leaving the Community first?"
Her voice grew urgent.
"But you know how it works in Little Garden! Gifts can only be seized through a Gift Game. Even if you use violence, the Little Garden Central Authority won't recognize it!"
She swallowed.
"Unless… unless you can force the other side to agree to a Gift Game… or…"
Izayoi's lips curled into a grin as he picked up where she hesitated.
"Or unless you're the kind of existence who doesn't need permission at all—someone who can drag an entire Community into a Gift Game by force."
Ren's smile deepened, faint and knowing.
"You mean a Demon Lord, right?"
He turned his gaze toward Lios.
"Didn't I say earlier? 'Perseus' has already caught the attention of a Demon Lord. Why did you all assume I was lying?"
Lios heard every word of Ren and Izayoi's exchange.
But in his eyes, it was nothing more than an elaborate act.
He'd already been fooled once today.
There was no way he'd fall for another bluff.
Not again.
That confidence lasted—
Until the sky turned black.
Sheets of heavy parchment began to fall from above, drifting down like snow.
They multiplied rapidly, spreading across the entire territory of 'Perseus.'
The hall fell silent.
Black parchment.
In Little Garden, that color meant only one thing.
A standard Gift Game invitation descended on ordinary tan paper.
But when a Demon Lord descended upon a Community—
The parchment was black.
Ominous. Unavoidable.
And once such a notice fell, the targeted Community had no right to refuse.
As the black pages fluttered down around them, the members of 'Perseus' went pale.
Lios stared at Ren in disbelief.
He simply couldn't accept it.
This man—
This infuriating brat—
Was actually a Demon Lord?
What made it worse was the realization that he had just insulted him.
Repeatedly.
In Little Garden, becoming a Demon Lord wasn't something you could simply decide to do.
It required "merit."
But not merit born of kindness.
The kind that qualified one for Demon Lord status was forged in catastrophe—through devastation, calamity, fear.
To become a Demon Lord, you had to have once been a disaster in your own world.
Like Shiroyasha, who in a certain era had embodied the terrifying concept of the heliocentric theory—an existence so overwhelming it overturned the world's common sense.
Or like Leticia, whose original legend was that of the Impaling Demon Lord—Dracula, the King of Vampires—whose name once sent all of Western Europe into trembling fear.
Such beings carried their legends into Little Garden.
And those legends became qualifications.
As for Ren—
When he first arrived in Little Garden, he had faintly sensed it.
Somewhere deep within, there had been an acknowledgment.
He possessed the potential to become a Demon Lord.
And to be honest—
That realization had startled even him.
By strict moral standards, Ren wouldn't call himself a saint.
Plenty of enemies had died by his hand.
But he had never considered himself irredeemably evil.
And yet—
Little Garden had judged him qualified.
Still, if one thought about it carefully, the outcome wasn't so surprising.
Ren's "merit" was anything but lacking.
He was no ordinary human.
He was a half-demon.
In his original world—a modern city plagued by yokai outbreaks—Ren, under the alias Hyakki Yoru, had become a figure both feared and revered. Criminal syndicates, rogue spirits, even corrupt officials whispered his name with dread. His exploits were known in the shadows, especially among the supernatural underground.
And his legend did not come from a single world.
In another realm where yokai and onmyōji clashed openly, Ren had once crushed the infamous sorcerer Abe no Seimei so thoroughly that the entire demon world still spoke of it in hushed voices.
In yet another world, he had risen as a true Oni Lord—seizing a kingdom in a single night. The soldiers who fell before him and the monstrous hordes he annihilated had numbered in the thousands.
Across multiple worlds—
The accumulated weight of those legends had followed him here.
And so Ren Kuroda had transformed, seamlessly, into a calamity of Little Garden.
A newly born Demon Lord.
A natural disaster in human form.
And the moment that transformation occurred—
His Spirit Origin swelled violently.
In Little Garden, the expansion of one's Spirit Origin meant one thing:
Power.
Though he was a newborn Demon Lord, his combat strength had already surpassed that of most veteran Demon Lords.
One of the black parchments drifted down before them.
Its contents burned with ominous clarity.
Gift Game Name: Birth of the Demon LordParticipants: All members of the 'Perseus' Community
Victory Condition: Survive until the end of the newborn Demon Lord's hunting game.
The game area shall be restricted to the host's designated field.Participants may employ any means necessary to ensure their survival during the game.Time limit: One hour.
Defeat Condition: Surrender, or failure to fulfill the victory condition.
Oath:In the name of honor, the banner, and the game host, we hereby swear to uphold the above rules and commence this Gift Game.
Because Ren had just formally withdrawn from 'No Name'—and had not established a new Community—
The host section bore no Community name or seal.
And yet, the black parchment falling from the sky was proof enough.
It had been recognized by Little Garden's Central Authority.
Ren's identity as a Demon Lord—
Was genuine.
From the moment the black parchments began to fall—
To the moment Ren announced his withdrawal from 'No Name'—
Only a few minutes had passed.
Black Rabbit and the others hadn't even fully processed why Ren was leaving—
When suddenly, he had become a Demon Lord.
"T-This can't be real… Ren has become a Demon Lord…"
Black Rabbit stood rooted in place.
Her already overworked brain refused to produce a solution.
As for 'Perseus'—
Including Lios—
They stared at the rules on the black parchment, anxiety twisting in their chests.
For the first time since inheriting his position, Lios felt true regret.
If he had simply agreed to a Gift Game with 'No Name' from the start—
Even in defeat, the worst outcome would have been losing that petite vampire.
But losing to a Demon Lord's Gift Game?
Everything 'Perseus' possessed—
Their banner.
Their wealth.
Their authority.
Their very existence—
Would be stripped away.