Ren Kuroda truly preferred not to use the power of All the World's Evil unless absolutely necessary.
After what had happened last time, he had gained a faint degree of control over it. But if he drew upon that power on a large scale, the risk of falling into a fully corrupted berserk state remained dangerously high.
This was Little Garden.
Not his original world.
If he lost himself here, there would be no one close to him—no one who truly understood him—to pull him back from the darkness.
And yet…
Facing Az Dakaha, he had no better option.
Ren had already calculated it.
Even if he stacked Half-Demon Form, Blade Spirit Release, Bottomless Drinker, and a measured portion of All the World's Evil, his power would still fall short of the three-digit threshold.
And Az Dakaha wasn't just any three-digit being.
With the strength he currently possessed, achieving even a stalemate—let alone victory—was impossible.
There was only one remaining possibility.
Stop suppressing All the World's Evil.
Release it completely.
Yes, the chances of losing himself entirely were extremely high.
But if the mission failed, he would be trapped in this world—and die at Az Dakaha's hands regardless.
At least this way…
There was a sliver of hope.
In Little Garden, under the rule of its laws, all power manifested as "Gifts."
And Gifts could be transferred. Stripped. Sealed.
Even if he fully succumbed to corruption, as long as someone defeated him, the Gift of All the World's Evil could be taken away.
And he could regain his sanity.
Just as the Wheel of the Overlord descended to engulf everyone—just as its light and heat threatened to vaporize them—
The earth shattered.
A vast ocean of black mire erupted upward from the ground, rising like a tidal wave of sludge.
It surged toward the radiant golden halo.
The moment the black mud appeared, everyone felt it—
Ominous.
Cursed.
Thick with suffocating negativity.
But sometimes, darkness and evil did not mean destruction.
And light and grandeur did not always mean justice.
Before them now, Az Dakaha's Wheel of the Overlord blazed with brilliance and majesty—
Yet its purpose was annihilation.
The rising black tide looked sinister beyond words—
Yet in this final, desperate moment, it protected them all.
Izayoi blinked as he stared at Ren's back.
"Ren, you had a move like this and didn't use it earlier? What, worried everyone would mistake you for the villain because it looks evil?"
He grinned, even now.
"You're already a Demon King, man. Like it or not, most people already think you're the bad guy."
Even the so-called strongest flash-heat Gift—the Wheel of the Overlord, said to destroy a third of the world—struggled under the devouring tide of All the World's Evil.
And after being weakened by the two Aurora Pillars earlier, it could not endure long.
The golden halo, radiating catastrophic light and heat, was swallowed whole into endless darkness.
Izayoi stared at Ren standing before them—the black mire writhing around him like a living thing.
For a brief moment, he froze.
Then his fighting spirit ignited once more.
Ren's power gave him hope.
According to everything they knew, unless Az Dakaha invoked his simulated cosmology—Avesta—the Wheel of the Overlord was already among his strongest Gifts.
They had been helpless against it before.
But if Ren could neutralize it—
Then Ren could focus on defense.
And he and His Highness could focus on offense.
Under that formation, defeating the Human Final Trial might not be impossible.
That was why Izayoi could still joke.
Ren answered quietly.
"Yeah. Before, I was just worried about being mistaken for the villain.
"But now… I really am one."
His voice dropped.
"And not just a Demon King.
"I've become a new Human Final Trial."
Izayoi's grin faltered.
"Right now. Immediately. While I can still suppress my instincts using system authority—get everyone out of this area."
Izayoi had assumed Ren was joking.
But when Ren turned around—
His eyes were no longer their usual sharp, dark brown.
They were completely black.
Izayoi's smile vanished.
"Ren… what the hell is going on?"
He wanted to press further.
But beside him, His Highness—still in the omniscient state granted by his simulated cosmology—stiffened the instant he saw Ren.
Understanding dawned.
Without hesitation, he grabbed Izayoi and pulled him back.
"Retreat. Now."
At the same time, he ordered everyone else to evacuate immediately.
If they remained within this region, the consequences would be unpredictable.
The divine-class Az Dakaha clones blocking Shira and the others were swiftly torn apart once Izayoi and His Highness joined the field.
A path of escape was carved open.
When they finally reached a safe distance, Pest and Algal noticed something.
Ren wasn't with them.
"Where's our lolicon leader?" Pest demanded, eyes blazing. "Why are only you two here? Don't tell me you left him behind as a rear guard and ran!"
Until now, the main force against Az Dakaha had been Ren, Izayoi, and His Highness.
Now only two stood before her.
Her first instinct—
They had abandoned him.
Pest might be a Demon King, but she cherished her companions deeply. Anyone who knew her past could see that.
And Ren had promised her—he would help her change the tragic fate of the Black Death's outbreak.
Izayoi shook his head.
"Ren chose to stay. But… something's wrong with him."
Algal and Pest clearly refused to accept that answer.
Their killing intent flared.
Leticia, without a word, spread her wings and prepared to fly back.
Then His Highness finally spoke.
"Amamiya Ren Kuroda is no longer merely a Demon King.
"He has become a new Human Final Trial."
Silence fell.
"And not just any trial.
"One of the most difficult for humanity to overcome."
He looked back toward the distant battlefield.
"The reason he forced us to leave is simple. As a Human Final Trial, he will instinctively subject all humans within range to a trial."
A trial that would not discriminate.
A trial that would not show mercy.
A trial born from All the World's Evil itself.