His Highness and the others were gone.
At last, the storm that had swept through the North District came to an end.
And yet—
Though the Demon King's assault had been repelled and casualties kept relatively low, not a single person present felt any joy.
Ren Kuroda had originally intended to return the Simulated Genesis Star Map to Salamandra.
But the decision made by Sandora and Mandora genuinely surprised him.
Sandora stated clearly that although Hollow Star Tai Sui had once belonged to the Star Sea Dragon King—and by all rights should return to Salamandra—if not for Ren, the artifact would already have fallen into enemy hands.
More importantly, Salamandra currently had no one capable of using the Simulated Genesis Star Map.
Rather than allowing it to gather dust in their vaults while inviting further greed and disaster, it would be better to entrust it to someone who could wield it.
Of course, Salamandra wasn't giving away one of the most precious treasures in Little Garden out of pure generosity.
In exchange, Ren had to agree to two conditions.
First—when the time came, he must assist Salamandra in their revenge against His Highness and the Demon King Alliance.
Second—if disaster were ever to befall the North District, Sandora hoped Ren and his Community would lend their strength.
For someone so young, Sandora's judgment was remarkably sharp.
A Simulated Genesis Star Map was invaluable.
But if no one could use it, it was nothing more than a dangerous ornament.
And there was no guarantee that His Highness's faction wouldn't return for it one day.
Better to trade a volatile liability for a dependable ally.
From what little information they had gathered, Sandora understood that the Demon King Alliance's ambitions extended across the entire Lower Floor of Little Garden.
Which meant—
The Lower Floor would soon face a threat unlike anything before.
The East had the strongest Floor Master, Lady Shiroyasha, and the battle-proven Community No Name.
But what did the North have?
Even she, the so-called North District Floor Master, had only recently taken office—and her strength barely reached the Five-Digit threshold.
Will o' Wisp's leader was hailed as the strongest demon of the North, yet rarely appeared. Even during this crisis, the ones truly fighting had been Pumpkin Jack and Aisha.
Bluntly put—
Among the four regions of the Lower Floor, the North was probably the weakest.
At first, Sandora and Mandora had known nothing about Ren.
But after learning more, they discovered that he had once belonged to No Name in the East.
However, his current Community—Ghost Travel—had been established in the North.
That made him, in effect, part of the North District as well.
If a crisis was coming—
Then Salamandra naturally hoped Ghost Travel would remain.
Because although Ghost Travel had only just been founded and had no more than five or six members—
In terms of combat power?
Calling it the strongest Community on the Lower Floor wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Ghost Travel
Rank: Seven-Digit Community.Reason: Newly established; no participation in large-scale Gift Games yet.
But its actual strength?
Leader: Ren Kuroda — Half-demon. Holder of multiple high-tier Gifts exceeding the Two-Digit class. Peak strength unknown, but preliminarily assessed as a top-tier Four-Digit Demon King.
Strategist: Leticia — "Little Garden Knight," pioneer of the Floor Master system, pure-blood vampire. Though her Divinity had been lost, she still stood at peak Five-Digit Demon King level.
Second Maid: Alger — The most ominous Demon Star, strongest type of Star Spirit. Once considered a catastrophic threat to Little Garden. Four-Digit Demon King class.
Third Maid (newly joined): Peste — Black Death Divine Child. Because she had not died in this Gift Game, her Divinity remained intact. Peak Five-Digit Demon King strength.
Wesir and Latine—
Wesir, after receiving a fragment of Peste's Divinity, had fought Izayoi head-on and even crippled one of his arms. That alone placed him at roughly Five-Digit strength.
Latine, formerly the weakest member at barely Six-Digit level, had received a Divinity granted by Ren himself. Her combat performance now rivaled Wesir's.
In Little Garden, beings possessing high-ranking Divinity or Spirit status could bestow lower-tier Divinities or Spirit attributes upon others.
Lady Shiroyasha had once granted Divinity to the White Serpent at the End of the World.
Leticia had granted vampiric Spirit status to the former Tiger-Man, Jaald.
As for Ren—
Though his half-demon Spirit rank was not exceptionally high, he carried something far more significant.
The Spirit status of the Lord of Yokai.
Back in his original world, when Ren battled the Night Blade God, his strength had already touched the ceiling of that world's limits. There were no yokai stronger than him.
The title Lord of Yokai was no empty boast.
Latine was originally a rat.
When Ren granted her Divinity under his authority as Lord of Yokai, she naturally acquired yokai Spirit status as well.
Though—
Perhaps because Ren's "Lord of Yokai" authority did not yet stand at a truly transcendent height, he could only grant a single Divinity in this manner.
He had initially planned to give it to Leticia.
But Leticia—who rarely refused him—declined this time.
Partly because it did not suit her nature.
And partly because her own Divinity had always been superior—merely lost for now.
As a result—
Latine had practically burst into tears of gratitude.
Her reverence for Ren now surpassed even her loyalty to Peste, her former master.
After losing their Gift Game, she had expected punishment.
Instead—
She received Divinity.
And a massive boost in power.
Compared to their former Community, the Pied Piper of Hamelin—
Ghost Travel felt infinitely more formidable.
The only thing that left Latine feeling faintly distressed…
Was the sight of Leticia, Alger, and Peste standing behind Ren.
Her figure was far too mature—curves in all the wrong places. Completely different from the petite, loli-type build she believed Ren preferred.
How was she supposed to compete for Ren-sama's affection like this?
Still—
All things considered—
Ghost Travel, despite technically being a Demon King Community that should not have been tolerated by a Floor Master—
Had become a special exception.
They were granted permission to establish themselves in the North District.
Rules were made by someone.
Which meant someone could break them.
The Floor Master system itself had once been established by Leticia.
So if Ghost Travel now bent the rules—
Who could truly object?
In the end—
When strength surpassed the boundaries of regulation—
Even the strictest rules became little more than suggestions.