"I'm also concerned about Percher's problem. Why did he go berserk after hearing what Izayoi said? Did they know each other before?"
Kudou Asuka shook her head in confusion, also unable to understand why things had suddenly escalated.
In truth, saying they had fought Typhon's incarnation for two rounds was a bit of an exaggeration.
The reality was, they were crushed in the first round. Asuka and the others, following their plan, had intended to tell him the truth and recruit him.
At first, he was skeptical. But the moment he heard Izayoi speak, he flew into a rage.
Then, in a single round, he utterly defeated them.
If Kudou Asuka hadn't been clever enough to detonate her power and scatter everyone, at least one of them would have been severely injured by his assault.
The shift in the Typhon incarnation's attitude was clearly bizarre and warranted investigation.
"However, I think I have an idea about You's question. A normal human test subject might not be able to surpass the physical specs of you Codex Holders, but if they have a BDA boost, that's another story."
Kudou Ayato offered his theory.
"A BDA boost?"
Izayoi was taken aback for a moment.
"According to little Homura, some BDAs can enhance the user's physical abilities. It's possible he has a similar device," Kudou Asuka said.
A normal Third Stellar Particle holder couldn't possibly surpass an Original, but with a BDA factored in, it was a different matter.
"That makes sense."
Izayoi nodded, then clenched his fists.
"Dammit. If this guy had shown up after Homura finished his prototype, we might not be in such a passive position."
This was the first time he had truly understood the importance of BDAs.
Someone with inferior base stats could gain the power to crush him just by using a BDA. If he had a BDA boost, would he have to worry about any of this?
"What's taking little Homura so long to finish his research? If he doesn't hurry, we might actually die..." Kudou Asuka couldn't help but complain.
To avoid harming innocents, they had used street advertisements to lure their target to the coast of Tokyo Bay and had evacuated the surrounding area.
They just hadn't expected him to arrive so quickly, before Saigou Homura's prototype was even complete.
As a result, they had to leave Saigou Homura at their base to continue his research while the rest of them teamed up to face the threat.
But who could have guessed they'd be routed even as a team?
Despite Black Rabbit's warning, the enemy's strength had still far exceeded their expectations.
"I don't know. Should we ask—"
Izayoi shook his head, about to send a message to hurry things along. Just then, Kasukabe You's expression sharpened, and she cut them off.
"Wait. I think I hear something... unpleasant."
The words had barely left her mouth when a sonic boom washed over them.
But long before the high-frequency sound arrived, a shockwave moving faster than the third cosmic velocity blasted away every trace of mist in the area.
A boy with white hair and brown skin descended from the sky with overwhelming force, his eyes blazing with fury as he stared intently at Izayoi.
"Saigou... Saigou... Saigou Izayoi. You said you're the son of Saigou Touya?"
Forcibly suppressing his rage, the boy—Typhon's incarnation—trembled as he sought confirmation.
"Look out!"
Kudou Asuka immediately shouted a warning, manipulating the Bull of Heaven to form a dozen bull-headed monsters, each two or three meters tall, in front of her.
Even though their opponent wasn't paying her any mind, she had to act with the utmost caution.
Otherwise, given the power the Typhon incarnation had displayed, he could easily wipe out everyone present.
Kudou Ayato and Percher also assumed defensive stances.
Naturally, Izayoi was also extremely wary of the enemy who had hunted them down. But he didn't let it break his spirit. Even though he had nearly been obliterated by a single punch earlier, he still held his head high and answered the question.
"I hate to admit it, but yeah, that's right."
After speaking, he added in confusion, "So who are you? How do you know that man?"
Izayoi was puzzled by the Typhon incarnation's reaction, but the boy clearly had no capacity to answer. Upon hearing the confirmation, he stared at Izayoi with eyes full of condemnation and rage.
His frenzied will and the sheer weight of his question left everyone on the scene momentarily stunned.
"What?"
Izayoi froze, about to ask again.
Canary hadn't hidden much about his father, but there was still a lot he didn't know.
She had said it concerned matters within an unobservable domain of a historical transition period, and that even speaking of it prematurely could drastically alter history.
All he knew was that this father of his had used him as a human test subject and was eventually killed by the authorities. He never expected to hear his father's name from the mouth of one of his victims.
Seeing Izayoi's blank expression, the Typhon incarnation grew even more furious.
"You don't know? How could you not know?! If your father hadn't excavated my incarnation from Crete, tricking him into helping under the guise of saving the world, would the world be facing this world-ending crisis of the Bull of Heaven?! Would my incarnation and countless other particle test subjects have been so brutally slaughtered?!"
The string of accusations allowed Izayoi to piece together the fragments.
So that was it. The test subject before him wasn't a modern-day Stellar Particle holder, but one who had been dormant since ancient times.
That explained how his father had gotten a head start on everyone, on every other faction, in capturing a Third Stellar Particle.
It wasn't because he was lucky or meticulous, but because he had extracted a similar structure from a test subject in some ruins long before the Third Stellar Particle erupted from the earth, giving him a temporal research advantage.
No wonder his father had begun researching the effects of the Third Stellar Particle in human experiments so early, while other factions, even the highest authorities, were more than a decade behind him.
Saigou Touya's initial Third Stellar Particle had come from a test subject, so his research was naturally skewed toward human experimentation from the very beginning.
Most other factions extracted similar structures from flora and fauna in nature, so for a time, they only regarded it as a new type of material or substance.
This error in research direction created a generation gap between the two sides.
"My incarnation told Saigou Touya that he wanted to work with him in this era, to atone for past sins and save the entire world! Can you even begin to understand the heart with which he spoke those words?"
The Typhon incarnation continued his agonizing interrogation.
"To suppress all his pain, to chase after every last hope, only to discover he'd been deceived! Not only did he fail to save the world, but he also caused even more people to suffer tragedy because of it! Can you comprehend the meaning behind those tears?"
It was obvious now. Saigou Touya had requested the Typhon incarnation's assistance on the grounds of saving the world, and he had willingly agreed, becoming a test subject.
Though it was unclear what exactly Saigou Touya had done, the result was clear: Typhon's incarnation had been betrayed.
Not only was the world not saved, but it was plunged into a new, world-ending crisis. Not only did he fail to save humanity, but he also caused many more to become human test subjects, just like him.
For a good person who wanted to save the world, this outcome was an immense source of pain and torment.
"Zeus clearly told me... to wait in the future..."
"Both King Minos and Saigou Touya promised my incarnation that someone would use me to save the world in the future! But why... WHY!"
"Why did everyone betray us?!"
His furious roars and howls sounded less like a mighty beast and more like the pained cries of a cornered animal on the brink of collapse.
Even Kudou Asuka and the others, who saw him as an enemy and had been defeated by him, couldn't help but exchange awkward glances after hearing his crazed, agonizing accusations.
Somehow, it felt like they had become the villains, or at least the villains' accomplices.
Being questioned like this, they almost lost the will to fight back.
Not that they could win even if they did.
"I..."
Hearing the unspeakable regret and sorrow in Typhon's cries, Izayoi, who was usually so silver-tongued, found himself at a loss for words.
The plan they had agreed on had no contingency for this!