New Final Trial of Humanity: Human Evil

"That group seems to be going more and more overboard."

Black Rabbit frowned. As a Little Garden noble, she normally had an excellent temper, but for some reason, after learning that the half-black, half-white-haired man not only possessed three heartbeats as well, but also an evil Gift called [All the World’s Evil]…

Black Rabbit found it impossible to be friendly toward the Martial Artist known as Mercenary Tao.

Many of that man’s traits kept reminding her of the Demon King who had destroyed her homeland.

Reverse Uchiha Izayoi merely watched the scene with a smile. The leader of the Perseus Community was an idiot—that was obvious at a glance.

What he was more curious about was the origin of the distinctly unusual people under that Martial Artist’s command.

His gaze drifted toward the white-robed girl following beside Black Rabbit.

White Face immediately understood and smiled.

"Those people are also powerhouses from different worlds. They were forcibly brought under the command of that evil Martial Artist, Mercenary Tao. In order to use [All the World’s Evil] to resurrect, they would probably do anything…"

White Face slandered the others without the slightest psychological burden. She was not saying this in order to scheme against Mercenary Tao.

In truth, she had long known that even if she were resurrected through [All the World’s Evil], she would not be able to become a truly independent individual for quite some time.

That was because the Black Mud was a Special Creation personally controlled by Mercenary Tao, while spiritual entities like herself had already effectively died.

Therefore, anyone resurrected through the Black Mud would be considered a special summon subordinate to Mercenary Tao. They could be teleported alongside him and enter other worlds with him.

If Mercenary Tao, the main body, died at a time like this, her own fate would most likely not be pleasant.

The reason White Face kept provoking Black Rabbit’s nerves was because she understood perfectly well that if she wanted to obtain rewards of a sufficiently high level outside Mercenary Tao’s camp, she needed to have a unique use.

At times like this, she would be treated as someone opposed to Mercenary Tao’s group. The more evil and powerful she made Mercenary Tao sound, the greater her own value would become.

Sure enough, after hearing her words, Black Rabbit became even more wary of Mercenary Tao’s group.

Wantonly plundering rewards from other worlds, killing powerful figures, enslaving their souls, then releasing them into the Little Garden World and controlling them to seize other people’s Gifts…

People like that…

Reverse Uchiha Izayoi merely smiled and did not respond. Yō Kasukabe and Asuka Kudō were the same. The three Problem Children of this generation were not rash types; in many matters, they could even be considered calm.

"Did you notice? Among the many Four-Star Gift Games serving as cover, there are some special types hidden away."

Asuka Kudō spoke like a highborn young lady. Her mouth barely moved as she spoke, and her gaze remained directed ahead as usual.

Reverse Uchiha Izayoi nodded.

"It isn’t just the Four-Star Gift Games. The two Five-Star Gift Games that have appeared were both released by those kinds of people."

Yō Kasukabe had a finer sensitivity toward life, and she added to Reverse Uchiha Izayoi’s words.

"No. Rather than those kinds of people, it would be more accurate to say those kinds of Gifts."

"Someone used some rather rare Gift to imitate participants, mixing them among the crowd and holding those dangerous Gift Games with unknown purposes."

A gleam flashed through White Face’s eyes. The three protagonists of this powerful world were all quite shrewd. Following people like them, she did not need to appear too clever. She merely needed to provide some crucial intelligence at the right time.

"Although it may not be appropriate for me to say this given my position, I did just see something familiar in the Gift Game Mr. Izayoi was watching…"

[Five-Star Gift Game: Trial of Love and Loneliness]

[Organizer: Apostle; Ouroboros]

[Gift Game Content: Travel to a lost world and challenge the Trial of Love and Loneliness]

[Reward: Gift of the Heart]

[Participants: None]

The parchment was held in the hand of a frail boy. He wore a special white skintight pilot suit completely out of place among most of the people in this world.

That was why White Face recognized this unusual person at once, and why she noticed that trial—not because she had followed Reverse Uchiha Izayoi’s gaze as she claimed.

In reality, Reverse Uchiha Izayoi’s movements and powers of observation both surpassed the current level of Reincarnators. White Face had difficulty keeping up with him now.

"Miss White Face, this is no time to hide information. After all, this is a major crisis that Lady White Night Yaksha said might lead to the emergence of a new Final Trial of Humanity."

Asuka Kudō could see at a glance the desire hidden in the eyes of this person calling herself White Face.

She wanted to use them, use [No Name]—or more precisely, use Reverse Uchiha Izayoi’s unreasonable power—to gain benefits for herself.

But so what? Asuka Kudō had long understood that the most fundamental and substantial Logic driving this world forward was the exchange of interests.

What the other party wanted was not something they could not give. So they would give it to her.

White Face narrowed her eyes into crescents and immediately spoke.

"The Gift from that so-called [Trial of Love] was most likely designed by someone from the same place as us. Going a step further, this major crisis that may give birth to a new [Final Trial of Humanity] might also be that person’s handiwork."

Her smile was radiant, as though she were speaking of someone entirely unrelated to herself.

"You may not understand, but although people from our world are inferior to many people here in terms of power, we possess uniquely blessed talents when it comes to intelligence and evil deeds."

"Many people have personally destroyed entire worlds beyond recognition~"

White Face had already guessed that the organizer labeled [Ouroboros] on every Gift Game was most likely the Reincarnator stirring up trouble in this world.

That person was probably far stronger than she was and possessed some special ability capable of replicating Plot Characters or even certain scenes.

That was why they could accomplish something like this.

White Face licked her lips.

Since Shinji Ikari held [Trial of Love and Loneliness], the content of this Gift Game was very likely related to the Human Instrumentality Project and the Wall of Heart.

She was extremely familiar with this content. She had even carried it out once in the Fate World. If Mercenary Tao had not received help from the Restraining Force, she would likely have successfully completed the Human Instrumentality Project already.

White Face’s eyes moved, and she quickly spotted another person among the crowd whose art style was completely different from everyone else’s. It was a humanoid figure entirely encased in aged silver metal.

Judging by the size of the parchment in his hand, it should be a Four-Star Gift Trial.

"Mr. Reverse Uchiha Izayoi, I think it would be better to start with that trial. Perhaps we can gain a deeper understanding of what Gifts that person hiding behind the scenes possesses…"

The armored figure was someone White Face confirmed to be Alphonse from the Fullmetal Alchemist World. No matter what Four-Star trial he held, given the world’s difficulty and the rank of the Four-Star Gift, its difficulty would certainly be lower than the troublesome EVA.

Although Reverse Uchiha Izayoi was immensely powerful and could be considered the most exceptional person in the Outer Gate district, White Face still felt uneasy when facing a purely subjective, idealistic power system like EVA.

She hoped Reverse Uchiha Izayoi would first enter a trial derived from the Fullmetal Alchemist World and test the waters.

Following White Face’s words, Black Rabbit and Asuka Kudō indeed noticed that person. The two immediately headed toward Alphonse.

But Reverse Uchiha Izayoi stared unblinkingly at the Five-Star Gift Game before him.

He extended his hand, but in the next moment his expression shifted. Another person had already appeared at his side and likewise reached for the parchment.

Seeing that Reverse Uchiha Izayoi had not followed, White Face turned back, only to see Mercenary Tao and Reverse Uchiha Izayoi standing side by side before Shinji Ikari, both pressing their hands toward the parchment.

She froze, then panic surged through her heart.

Damn it, Mercenary Tao really was insane. This time, there might not be any Restraining Force or Gaia consciousness standing on his side.

To voluntarily face Human Instrumentality—perhaps even the complete Human Instrumentality Project—even for a Reincarnator like Mercenary Tao, whose immortality was of a fairly high level and whose physical body was absurdly powerful, the chance of death was still high.

After all, strictly speaking, the Human Instrumentality Project did not kill people. It merely dissolved everyone else’s Wall of Heart and returned all people to one whole.

That had little to do with immortality. It was the destruction of individual existence.

"Martial Artist, your Gift Authority isn’t high enough, is it? You should go take a look at one of the other trials over there…"

Reverse Uchiha Izayoi had little interest in the other Gift Games currently appearing. He was very curious how the major crisis White Night Yaksha had spoken of, one that might lead to a new [Final Trial of Humanity], had formed.

The people he had seen did not seem particularly strong. How could they possibly create such a crisis?

And besides… what kind of special power did these people, who seemed able to freely travel through all sorts of worlds, possess?

For Reverse Uchiha Izayoi, entering the Gift Game that appeared to be the most difficult was naturally the most convenient choice.

Bai Cangshu was the same. He had originally planned to hunt the organizers of the other Four-Star Gift Games in order to seize more Gifts.

But he had inadvertently noticed this Five-Star Gift Game.

It was said that several holders of Four-Star Authority had already taken part in this Gift Game’s challenge, yet the final result was that the Gift Game remained, while the participants vanished completely.

He looked at Shinji Ikari’s vacant eyes. The other party merely held up the parchment mechanically, as though his heart and soul had both been lost.

Bai Cangshu did not believe this was a Plot Character. The other party lacked the aura of a living person. Bai Cangshu had also formed some guesses about the content of this Gift Game.

More importantly, the reward for this Gift Game was…[Gift of the Heart].

Bai Cangshu tilted his head and raised his wrist. At some point, a fourth star had appeared there. During that brief span of time, he had swiftly used [Heart of Slaanesh] to charm a woman, forced her to activate a Gift Game, and successfully defeated her to obtain the star.

Bai Cangshu reached out and pressed directly onto the parchment. At the same time, Reverse Uchiha Izayoi did the same.

White Face nearly wanted to cover her forehead. She felt as if the brain nerves she had only just regained through resurrection were about to tear apart from pain.

The person holding her life and death in his hands, and the strongest helper whose power she could currently rely on, had actually entered at the same time what she considered the most dangerous Gift Game, the one most likely to go disastrously wrong.

Worse still, with that madman Mercenary Tao’s personality, if he recklessly challenged Reverse Uchiha Izayoi, he might even be killed by him…

Damn it…

While White Face was wracked by a headache, Yō Kasukabe and Asuka Kudō on the other side had already accepted the Special Gift Game before Alphonse, [Trial of Wishes], and vanished at the same time.

Only Black Rabbit remained standing beside her.

"Whoa!"

A cry of surprise came from the other side. In the sky, enormous fireworks shot upward. Only afterward did fireworks rise near them as well, because Gift Games above Four-Star had just been activated on both sides.

White Face realized that someone on that side had activated a high-ranking Gift Game even earlier.

She followed their gaze and saw only Gilgamesh, clad in resplendent golden armor, who had appeared at some unknown time with an expression more serious than usual.

Then his body gradually transformed into motes of golden light and disappeared. Judging by the speed and spectacle, that Gift Game seemed to be of an even higher rank than the ones here.

White Face immediately approached that side, only to discover that the parchment was being held by a girl carrying a massive shield.

"That is…"

Then Black Rabbit came closer as well.

"A Six-Star Gift Game…Human Evil Manifestation – Tiamat?!"

It was actually a Six-Star Gift Game…

White Face was extremely familiar with all sorts of anime, film, analysis, and novel settings. That was part of her talent.

Seeing this now, she immediately understood why someone like Gilgamesh had been drawn in.

The setting within this Gift Game was most likely derived from the Creation Mother Goddess of Mesopotamian Mythology.

And it was connected to the Gilgamesh of old.

In other words, this Gift Game might belong to Gilgamesh’s own world.

White Face frowned. She began to find that [Ouroboros] hiding behind the scenes troublesome. If that person could truly recreate the scene of Beast II – Tiamat descending in [Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia]…

Then that person’s level of power might completely surpass even the current Supreme Experts.

Even… White Face had never witnessed the power of The Three Supreme Kings, but that was already a scene from mythology. She found it hard to believe that among the Reincarnators of the present generation, while many were still wandering at the [And] rank, someone had already reached such a level.

To participate in a great war from the Age of Mythology?

And since this was a Gift Game, it would not necessarily fully recreate the original world line. Without the appearance of Grand Servant – King Hassan, how could they possibly defeat Tiamat, the Creation Mother Goddess who did not even possess the concept of [death]?

White Face pondered deeply, then suddenly looked at Black Rabbit. She abruptly realized that the purpose of the [Ouroboros] hiding behind the scenes in releasing these Gift Games might not be to benefit Reincarnators like them.

"Yes. In this world, we Reincarnators are ultimately insignificant. That person’s target…is the people of this world…"

Above the pitch-black city, a gigantic human figure towered into the heavens. Its face could only be vaguely seen from the sky, a pure-white figure with ruby-like eyes.

The entire world was silent.

Bai Cangshu and Reverse Uchiha Izayoi stood atop orange juice, both looking up at the giant who seemed to stand beyond the planet itself.

Faint rings of AT Field emerged from all directions, then collapsed immediately.

The residual power of countless Walls of Heart folded through the air, eventually acting upon the two of them at once.

"Do you desire a heart?"

"Bai Cangshu."

"Do you wish to become a truly complete individual…"

Bai Cangshu stepped forward. As the "orange juice" beneath his feet rippled, rings of power like Heart Light Pulse emerged from within it, and the Wall of Heart around Bai Cangshu’s body immediately began to tremble.