There was no helping it—shock was inevitable.
Most of the others hadn't fully grasped what had just happened.
But Shiroyasha had.
She had seen it clearly—her Gift had been shattered in an instant by that man called "His Highness."
Overwhelming physical ability. Power capable of shattering heaven and earth. And the ability to destroy Gifts themselves.
Wasn't that contradictory, outrageous power… the very same "unknown origin" Gift Izayoi possessed?
No—
If anything, the speed and strength His Highness had just displayed surpassed even Izayoi.
Perhaps he wielded that power with greater mastery.
Or perhaps his Gift was simply stronger.
But the ability to shatter another's Gift—Shiroyasha had never even heard of such a thing before.
And now, a second one had appeared.
And that wasn't all.
She had also seen Ren Kuroda's final slash clearly.
A spiritual-class weapon—repelled.
Compared to the absurdity of shattering Gifts, the ability to repel weapons wasn't unheard of in Little Garden.
But to repel even a spiritual weapon—
Gifts of that level were exceedingly rare.
If she remembered correctly…
"…Impossible. The power that deflected Ren's blade—was that the Sun Authority of the Lion?"
The thought had only just surfaced in Shiroyasha's mind when Leticia gave voice to it with certainty.
As a former member of "No Name," Leticia was intimately familiar with the Gifts once possessed by her comrades.
And what His Highness had just used—
Without question—
Was the power once wielded by the Sun Lion.
The Sun Lion.
A former member of "No Name."
Bearer of one of the Twenty-Four Sun Authorities—the Authority of Leo.
One of the few true powerhouses in their community's past.
The Authority of Leo granted a terrifying ability:
Regardless of whether it was divine-forged or star-forged—
It could reflect all weapons in existence.
In simple terms—
So long as it met the definition of a "weapon," any attack directed at the holder of Leo's Sun Authority would be reflected.
It had been said before—
Both the "Simulated Star Creation Diagram" and the "Sun Authorities" were among the pinnacle powers in Little Garden.
But neither could be wielded freely.
The Sun Authorities were slightly more accessible than a Star Creation Diagram—anyone could theoretically possess one.
However—
To use the immense Gift contained within it required meeting specific conditions.
Otherwise, even if you held a Sun Authority, at best you could merely summon its corresponding star beast to fight—just as Shiroyasha once had.
But His Highness—
He had unquestionably used the true power of Leo.
The authority to reflect all weapons.
"So it really is Leo's Sun Authority…" Shiroyasha's voice grew colder. "The Sun Lion's Gift is in your hands. That means the Demon King who attacked 'No Name' years ago… was you.
"Our banner was stolen. Now you're targeting Salamandra's Star Sea Dragon King's Horn.
"So your goal is the 'Final Evil,' isn't it?"
Her gaze toward His Highness had turned utterly hostile.
No one understood better than she how catastrophic the "Final Evil" was.
After "No Name" had been destroyed, she had sealed most of her own power and descended to the lower levels as a Floor Master—all to better safeguard Little Garden and prevent disaster from rising again.
And yet—
The world never lacked troublemakers.
How long had it been since Az-Dakaha was sealed?
And already someone sought to release him again.
Standing beside her, Leticia and Black Rabbit were equally shaken.
They too had once been members of "No Name."
To see a Gift that once belonged to a former comrade now wielded by an enemy—
How could they remain calm?
They moved almost simultaneously, charging toward His Highness without hesitation.
Leticia tore the black ribbon from her hair.
In an instant, the petite loli form vanished—replaced by her mature, true vampiric form.
Her full combat power unleashed.
Black Rabbit also moved at once, drawing forth multiple simulated divine weapons—the Vajra and the Brahma Spear among them.
Her sky-blue hair shifted to brilliant pink in a heartbeat.
"Simulated Divine Weapons" were replicas forged to emulate genuine divine armaments. Though lacking the complete authority of the originals, they retained a portion of their power.
And the Vajra and Brahma Spear Black Rabbit wielded were modeled after the weapons of Indra—the foremost of the Twelve Deva Guardians.
As the central deity of an entire pantheon, Indra's status and power ranked among the highest in Little Garden.
Though merely simulations—
The Vajra and Brahma Spear in Black Rabbit's hands surpassed the majority of genuine divine weapons.
The moment Leticia and Black Rabbit lunged without restraint—
War fully erupted.
Every being drawn into the battle was at minimum five-digit rank.
Green light flared across Garo's body as he transformed into a colossal griffin, intercepting Sandora, Alger, and Pest alone.
As a five-digit Demon King, Garo was weaker than Alger.
But he appeared to possess a Gift similar to the "Life Directory," along with a speed advantage.
Though completely suppressed in a one-versus-three scenario, holding them back temporarily was not impossible.
Shiroyasha had intended to seize His Highness personally—to capture him alive and extract information.
But Maxwell intercepted her.
A four-digit Demon King was naturally no match for the Demon King of White Night.
And Maxwell was even slightly weaker than most four-digit Demon Kings—having only recently advanced to that rank.
But whether he could win was irrelevant.
The problem was—
He simply wouldn't stay down.
No matter how many times he was destroyed, he reconstituted himself without harm.
And he possessed an infuriating spatial transfer ability.
Every time Shiroyasha bypassed him—
He reappeared like sticky glue, blocking her path once more.
That left Leticia, Black Rabbit, and Izayoi—
With only one opponent left.
His Highness.
Which had been his intention from the start.
He was confident in his own strength.
Though newly born into this role, facing the Demon King of White Night would have been somewhat risky.
But aside from Shiroyasha—
He did not regard the others as serious threats.
The power to shatter Gifts.
The Sun Authority that reflected all weapons.
Combined—
They rendered him immune to the vast majority of abilities in Little Garden.
..
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