The saviors-in-training now faced two crises at once.
The first was the hundred Bulls of Heaven that had already been created, a crisis that could either destroy the world directly or trigger its destruction through the system of nuclear deterrence.
The second was the possibility that the mastermind could create even more Type-A weapons—that is, more Bulls of Heaven.
Both crises had the potential to bring about a world-ending catastrophe. Either one on its own would have been an unprecedented challenge, yet now, they were happening concurrently.
"Is it really possible to solve a disaster of this magnitude when both are happening at the same time?"
Even Kudou Ayatori, with her warrior-like spirit of fierce advancement, couldn't help but be stunned.
The difficulty was simply too high. This was no longer a crisis that could be resolved by slaying a specific target.
"Never mind that we don't have the ability to eliminate a hundred Bulls of Heaven at once. Even if we did, the mastermind would surely create more while we were dealing with them," Kudou Asuka said with a frown.
"And if we follow Izayoi's idea of 'capturing the king to catch the bandits' and go after the mastermind first, we can't prevent the hundred-plus Bulls that already exist from going berserk."
What was once a straightforward path was now blocked at both ends. The two crises were two sides of the same coin, inextricably linked.
Resolving either one would have been immensely difficult, but now, even if they solved one, the other would immediately erupt.
Deal with the former, and the latter would create more disasters out of a sense of peril.
Deal with the latter, and the former would surely become more extreme to protect themselves.
"In other words, we have to solve both problems at the same time to completely avert the world-ending crisis."
Izayoi summed it up, scratching his head in frustration for the first time.
"Is this the trial Lord Su Mo has given us? If even this is just a part of Humanity's Final Trial that has already been overcome, then how hard will a real Demon Lord be to deal with?!"
It wasn't hard to maintain one's fighting spirit in a difficult situation; what was hard was maintaining it in a desperate one.
Simultaneously dealing with the mastermind and a hundred Bulls of Heaven was the stuff of fantasy.
"There's one more critical issue," Kasukabe You added, her tone heavy.
"If we wait until these hundred Bulls of Heaven are fully formed, we'll completely lose the initiative."
"If the enemy deliberately uses a Bull of Heaven to destroy a city or two as a show of force, not only will we be unable to do anything, but we'll also be constrained by their tactics."
Those without a moral compass always have more options than those who do.
They couldn't bring themselves to threaten innocent civilians, but the enemy would surely have no such qualms.
"...You-san is right! We can't think about them with a normal person's mindset."
Hearing this possibility, Saigou Homura's expression changed. He immediately opened his simulation data and began running calculations.
A few seconds later, he reached a conclusion.
"The climatic conditions for these hundred Bulls of Heaven to mature aren't as good as they were here, but according to estimates, some of them will grow to a scale capable of threatening cities within twelve hours at the earliest!"
"So you're saying we have to solve two world-ending crises simultaneously within half a day to have any chance of passing this trial?"
Pest's mouth fell slightly agape, her eyes filled with disbelief.
Was this really a challenge meant for humans?
Either crisis was something they might not be able to handle even with their full strength. Now, not only were they required to solve both at once, but they were also under such a strict time limit.
Faced with this hellish level of difficulty, everyone fell silent.
Forget them—even if a demigod from mythology were to descend, they wouldn't be able to solve this mess without using supernatural powers, right?
After several dozen seconds of silence, Izayoi suddenly looked up and spoke with determination.
"Same as before, leave the mastermind to me! Twelve hours… It's a bit short, but if my guess is correct, it's enough!"
Even in the face of such a crisis, his attitude was still one of "why not give it a shot."
"Really?"
A look of pleasant surprise appeared in Kudou Asuka's eyes.
She was aware of the Saint Cross Conglomerate's network, but there was a huge gap between suspecting something and confirming it. Proving the mastermind's true identity would require a massive amount of detailed investigation.
Izayoi's previous analysis might have sounded logical, but the world was full of clever people. Who knew if the distribution of the Bulls of Heaven wasn't just another deceptive tactic?
If they couldn't be sure of the direction, the process of elimination would take a very long time.
If they could confirm a direction to investigate and then dig deep, twelve hours might be enough.
But the risk was that if their suspicions were wrong, that golden window of opportunity would be truly wasted.
"Of course it's true. Besides, it's the only way now," Izayoi said with a shrug.
"Alright."
Kudou Asuka nodded.
"Then that just leaves the last, and most troublesome, problem… To deal with all one hundred Bulls of Heaven within twelve hours. To be honest, I think that's completely impossible."
If investigating the mastermind with the right connections and a bit of luck made it possible to find the target in twelve hours…
Then dealing with over a hundred Bulls of Heaven in twelve hours was nigh impossible.
Although the Bulls of Heaven in their nascent stages would be easier to handle than the fully formed monster before them, given the sheer number and scale, twelve hours wasn't even enough time for them to visit every single one.
Kudou Asuka didn't want to be a pessimist, but the difficulty was clearly absurd.
"Unless we had a hundred of me acting at once," she quipped.
A hundred of herself could solve the problem of all the Bulls of Heaven simultaneously, but that was obviously an impossible condition.
Just as she was thinking that—
"No! Wait… Young Mistress, your idea might actually work!"
"Huh?"
Kudou Asuka was momentarily stunned.
"What might work? Creating a hundred of me? Can the Third Stellar Particle clone people?"
"No, while the Third Stellar Particle can indeed be used for cloning, twelve hours is obviously not enough time."
Saigou Homura shook his head vigorously, then explained excitedly.
"What I mean is, while making a hundred of you is impossible, making you a hundred times stronger *is* possible!"
"Although I don't know the true nature of your Vim Gift, based on your previous performance, Young Mistress, if you were a hundred times stronger, you could directly dominate the Bulls of Heaven, not just those Minotaurs!"
"If that's the case, forget a hundred Bulls of Heaven—even a thousand or ten thousand would be nothing to you!"
There was no fundamental difference between the Minotaurs and the Bull of Heaven, only a difference in scale.
Since Kudou Asuka could completely dominate the Minotaurs, she could certainly dominate the Bull of Heaven.
The reason she couldn't do it now was that she was too weak. Once her spirit-rank broke through a certain threshold and reached a level where she could dominate one Bull of Heaven, then based on the nature of Vim, she could certainly dominate a hundred.
If so, the world-ending crisis would be solved in an instant.
No matter how many Bulls of Heaven there were, none could stand against a single command from Kudou Asuka.
Hearing Saigou Homura's words, Pest blinked. As the newcomer, she was the only one who had doubts.
"Isn't it also impossible to make Miss Asuka a hundred times stronger in just twelve hours?"
"No."
Looking at the puzzled Pest, Kasukabe You shook her head and turned her gaze to Kudou Ayatori, who was standing nearby.
"For Asuka, it's not impossible… Of course, if Ayatori were the one to win, she should be able to do the same thing."
"?"
A question mark appeared over Pest's head.
As she stood there looking utterly lost, the Kudou sisters locked eyes, and it was as if sparks flew between them.
"If it's come to a point where we have to decide a winner, then I can only regretfully defeat my disobedient little sister and accomplish the great deed of saving the world."
"Hmph! You want my Divinity? Don't be surprised when I take your Vim instead, leaving you to watch me save the world as a weak and helpless older sister."
The intense stare-down between the shrine maiden and the swordswoman put pressure on all the onlookers.
"Wait, what's going on? Why does it look like you're about to fight amongst yourselves at such a critical moment?"
Pest looked around in a daze, hoping someone would intervene.
After all, based on their previous interactions, these saviors-in-training all seemed to get along well.
But to her surprise—
"This is between them. We can just cheer from the sidelines," Kasukabe You said, shaking her head, clearly intending to stay out of it.
Sakamaki Izayoi looked even more relieved.
"It's for the best that you're willing to settle this now! It's a shame I won't get to see the duel, but this isn't the time for spectating. Just remember to tell me the results later. I'll be sure to laugh my head off at the loser!"
After delivering his scathing remark, Izayoi waved and turned his back to them.
"To save time, I'm heading off to investigate the mastermind. Good luck, you two, and don't you dare hold back!"
Even the usually timid Saigou Homura supported their confrontation.
"Whichever one of you wins will gain the power to dominate the Bulls of Heaven, so Young Mistress and Second Mistress, you don't need to hold back. Settle it once and for all!"
With that, Saigou Homura turned his gaze to the remaining three.
"I need to study the structure of the Bull of Heaven and gather as much intel as I can in the next twelve hours. I'll leave the matter of the Young Mistress and Second Mistress to you three."
"Oh… Okay!"
Pest was a little flattered to be assigned such an important refereeing task and nodded her head.
"As much as I'd like to help, I can't interfere in their sisterly affairs!" Black Rabbit said, shaking her head in a difficult position.
The outcome of the Kudou sisters' duel was a significant historical turning point, and as a divine attendant, it was not her place to exert influence.
"Don't worry! I'll look after Asuka and Ayatori and make sure they don't get too seriously injured!" Kasukabe You puffed out her chest and replied earnestly.
"No, I'm not asking you to control the intensity of the fight. The grudge between the Young Mistress and the Second Mistress isn't at a life-or-death level."
Saigou Homura scratched his head, then pointed up at the sky.
"What I mean is, I need you to stop Shiro-Yasha-sama and Her Majesty the Queen when the time comes. It'll be a disaster if those two start acting up."
That was why he had asked Black Rabbit as well. His concern here wasn't in the mortal realm, but the potential meddling from the gods and buddhas.
After all, knowing the personalities of those two problem children, if they found out the person they were backing had lost, there was no telling what kind of massive scene they might cause.
"Oh, right!"
Hearing this, Black Rabbit's heart skipped a beat. She exchanged a look with Kasukabe You, and both of them nodded, acknowledging this as the greatest risk.
"This won't do. I have to go ask Lord Su Mo for help! Otherwise, there's no way we can stop those two!"
Black Rabbit made a swift decision, immediately grasping the key to the problem.
In an instant, everyone was busy.