And the reality of the battlefield proved exactly that.
Although His Highness was facing the most opponents—Izayoi, Leticia, and Black Rabbit, three against one—
He was the one handling things with the greatest ease.
Leticia unleashed the full arsenal of a vampire's Gifts, but each one was effortlessly shattered by His Highness.
Black Rabbit's simulated divine weapons clearly fell under the definition of "weapons," and thus every strike she launched was reflected right back at her.
As for Izayoi—
This was likely the first time he had encountered someone of the same type as himself. Both were candidates for "Original" abilities.
Their Gifts were similar in nature.
But raw strength still determined the outcome.
Izayoi was, at best, five-digit class.
His Highness, conservatively speaking, stood at four-digit.
So after trading several blows of that "heaven-and-earth-shattering" power—
Izayoi's arm twisted at an unnatural angle.
Yet just as Black Rabbit and the others were being pushed to the brink even in a three-on-one—
A sudden eruption of overwhelming aura blasted apart nearby rubble.
A figure shot forward like a cannon shell—
And a kick slammed squarely into His Highness's chest.
Because His Highness had been dividing his focus to fend off the trio, he had not fully guarded against Ren Kuroda's sudden assault.
And Ren—
Was no longer within the bounds of humanity.
He had entered his Half-Oni Transformation.
Half-man. Half-demon.
In this state, Ren's strength had nearly reached four-digit level.
And that kick had been infused with the full force of Monstrous Strength: Chaos Divine—a power fundamentally akin to the force that shattered heaven and earth.
Struck head-on—
His Highness's body blasted backward at supersonic speed, smashing through every obstacle in its path. He tore through multiple structures and was sent flying clear across Salamandra's headquarters, only coming to a stop after bursting through the far side of the community's main building.
"That kick repays the punch you gave me earlier," Ren said coldly. "I'd love to settle this slowly.
"But stalling for time was one of your goals, wasn't it? So I won't indulge you right now.
"I don't know what this so-called 'Absolute Evil' really is. But if it can make Shiroyasha look that shaken, it's no minor threat.
"And since I'm about to leave this world anyway… the least I can do—for those kids from 'No Name'—is make sure I don't leave them with a disaster waiting to explode."
After kicking His Highness hundreds of meters away, Ren did not pursue.
Instead, he shattered the ground beneath his feet and launched himself in another direction at full speed.
He knew something.
Maxwell aside—
There had been another member of the Demon King Alliance he'd encountered before.
A girl named Ayasato Rin.
She appeared to be a young少女—but without question, she was also a Demon King.
And yet, in this chaotic battlefield, she had not appeared.
Which meant she was doing something more important.
Ren didn't know what the so-called Human Final Trial—Az-Dakaha, the "Absolute Evil"—was truly like.
But if Shiroyasha said he possessed the power to destroy the entire lower levels of Little Garden—
It wasn't a joke.
After winning Pest's Gift Game, Ren's primary mission in Little Garden had already been completed.
Which meant—
His time remaining in this world was limited.
If the Absolute Evil were released after he left—
There would be nothing he could do.
So if he could not intervene later—
Then he would make sure the Absolute Evil was never released to begin with.
As if sensing Ren's intention—
His Highness burst from the rubble and moved once more, accelerating beyond comprehension, reappearing directly in front of Ren.
But this time—
Ren showed no surprise.
Maintaining his forward momentum, he pressed a hand against the hilt at his waist.
"Kamiyu—Spirit Release."
With the spiritual liberation of Kamiyu—
Ren changed.
Not just his eyes.
Not just his aura.
His entire presence transformed—
Into a blade.
A razor-sharp edge without equal.
And the one who felt that change most clearly—
Was His Highness.
Yet he did not retreat.
Because he believed—
No matter how sharp a blade might be—
It could never escape the definition of a "weapon."
And if it was a weapon—
The Sun Authority of Leo would reflect it.
And yet—
Despite that belief—
The blade in Ren's hand filled him with a suffocating premonition of death.
The Sun Authority of Leo was supposed to reflect all weapons in existence.
And yet—
He felt certain that this strike could kill him.
But could he retreat?
No.
This was for Rin's wish.
They believed in him.
So he had to see it through.
"Incredible," Ren said quietly. "Your instincts are warning you. And yet, even now, you choose to face my strongest blade head-on?
"Leo's Sun Authority—reflecting all weapons—is truly remarkable.
"But what if the attack doesn't originate from the blade as a weapon—
"But from the microcosm within the human body itself?"
"I only began grasping a fragment of this technique recently.
"Now, witness the infinite potential hidden within living beings."
"Six senses united in the heart. The summit of martial perfection—
Fūrinkazan Secret Art—Bukoku!"
Silver light exploded across the air.
In that instant—
Space itself seemed torn open, splitting apart with a massive rupture.
His Highness's vision was consumed entirely by that peerless slash.
The blade did not appear especially fast.
Yet impossibly—
His body felt as though someone had pressed pause on existence itself.
Frozen.
Unable to move.
And though it appeared to be a simple strike—
Within it—
He saw the universe.
This blade represented an entirely new cosmology.
Before the scale of a universe—
What difference was there between a star the size of a sun…
And an ordinary living creature?
Before the ultimate blade forged at the summit of martial truth—
All things were insects.
That was what this slash embodied.
The infinite potential of life itself.
The dazzling blade—
Cut the earth apart as easily as a hot knife through butter.
Even space—proclaimed the most unbreakable of substances—was cleaved cleanly, a precise spatial fissure opening where the blade passed.
And the unfortunate victim of this strike—
Was Salamandra itself.
The vast community grounds, spanning dozens of square kilometers—
Were sliced cleanly in half.
Like cake.