For Percher, this was indeed a massive leap in power.
She had jumped from being slightly stronger than a normal person all the way to the five-digit level, placing her on the same starting line as the other Savior Candidates.
However, among all the Savior Candidates, she was still the weakest.
Due to her age, even after obtaining the Third Stellar Particle Prototype, she only possessed physical abilities on par with a divinity. Her base state was even a little weaker than Kudo Asuka's; only when using her Gift could she surpass her.
But if Gifts were factored in, Kudo Asuka could still freeze Percher in place with a single word.
And the others were on a whole other level.
Fortunately, while she didn't have much of an edge in internal competition, the challenges they faced were mostly external.
Therefore—
"Leave the Bull of Heaven to me and Yō!"
After attempting to tame the fully grown Bull of Heaven with her Prestige, Kudo Asuka declared with great confidence.
"Now, we just have to wait for Izayoi's results."
Originally, the hundred-plus fledgling Bulls of Heaven were the real headache, but after Asuka obtained her divinity, it was no longer a problem.
The new obstacle, then, was identifying the mastermind behind it all.
"Percher and I will go help!" Kudo Ayato immediately volunteered.
Though not one for mental gymnastics, the advantage granted by the Third Stellar Particle Prototype allowed them to ignore the enemy's layers of defense and security to get the information they wanted.
Nothing in this world currently existed that could stop a wielder of the Third Stellar Particle Prototype.
Izayoi could rampage through this world, a powerhouse capable of shattering islands and destroying nations with his bare fists, and so could they.
"Alright! I'll be waiting for your good news!"
Saigo Homura had no objections.
As the brains of the group, his primary role was research. Even with the unimaginable combat power he'd gained from the Prototype, he lacked a fighter's instinct.
Rather than heading to the front lines, he preferred to continue investigating the previous mysteries from their home base.
For instance, how had the enemy managed to research and mass-produce a device called the Bull of Heaven in such a short time?
And what kind of power was the young lady's Prestige, and why was it so incredibly effective?
Of course, there was a deeper question, one that had been nagging him from the beginning.
If the power of gods truly couldn't interfere with humanity's Paradigm Shifts, then why were Ayato before, and Asuka now, exceptions?
The Gifts they possessed were genuine divinities, after all!
Why could a divinity interfere with a Paradigm Shift?
It was a string of questions, each one worthy of investigation.
And so, with their roles assigned, the group departed for their respective battlefields.
It wasn't until eight hours later, as evening approached, with just two hours left until the Bull of Heaven fully matured, that Saigo Homura finally saw his older brother return, weary from his journey.
"Homura, come with me."
The moment he was back at the base, Izayoi wasted no words, simply grabbing Homura and pulling him away.
"Brother Izayoi, weren't you in North America? Why are you back? Did you find the mastermind?"
Homura let Izayoi drag him along without resisting, his voice filled with confusion.
Izayoi remained silent until he had brought Homura onto the helicopter arranged by the organization. Only then did he speak.
"The organization has already dealt with North America. All that's left is the final experimental base, in Okinawa."
"Okinawa? I see."
Homura was stunned for a moment, but he quickly understood. It was indeed the most likely location.
No wonder the Bull of Heaven had first appeared on their doorstep. The enemy's research had been nearby all along.
"But why are you taking me there? Is there something special inside the base?" Homura asked.
"Yeah. There are some things I need you, the researcher, to confirm in person."
Izayoi nodded, his expression grim.
"And so you can see with your own eyes what those bastards have done!"
Hearing this, Homura shot his brother a surprised look. It was the first time he had ever seen Izayoi this angry.
A sense of nervousness crept in as he asked, "By the way, Brother Izayoi, didn't you say it would take a long time to find the mastermind? How did you manage it so quickly?"
To have wiped out the mastermind's entire network, leaving only a single base, meant Izayoi had worked far faster than anyone could have imagined.
"Simple," Izayoi explained patiently.
"Once you understand the essence of this trial, it's easy to pinpoint the culprit's identity."
"The essence... of this trial?"
"Do you remember the myth of the Bull of Heaven?" Izayoi prompted.
"I do. The willful goddess Ishtar, seeking to punish Gilgamesh, unleashed the Bull of Heaven to threaten the world, causing a seven-year drought. It was ultimately subdued by Gilgamesh and Enkidu."
Homura gave a quick summary.
On the surface, it was a common tale of a hero defeating a monster. A historian would surely dismiss the mythological elements and interpret it as a record of a drought during Gilgamesh's reign.
But Izayoi saw it differently.
A myth was a myth not just because it was intertwined with history and served to record it, but also because it carried a certain warning.
He extracted this element and then asked, "We have the Bull of Heaven now. So who is the willful goddess?"
"Ishtar was considered the Queen of Heaven, the daughter of the then-god-king Anu. However, the title 'Queen of Heaven' can also mean the feminine sky god, 'Antu,' so she could also be seen as the feminine aspect of the god-king Anu."
Homura fell into thought.
The former represented the daughter of the supreme ruler. The latter represented the supreme ruler's feminine, or female, aspect.
Realizing this, he quickly grasped Izayoi's meaning.
"Brother Izayoi, are you saying the mastermind is actually the supreme ruler of this planet?"
"Mhm."
Izayoi nodded.
"The ancients divided everything in the world into feminine and masculine. The authoritative aspect of the highest power was seen as masculine, so it was often depicted as a male figure. The willful aspect of the highest power was seen as feminine, so it was often depicted as a female figure."
"The willful goddess Ishtar doesn't actually refer to the daughter of the supreme ruler, but to the willful aspect of the supreme ruler, just manifested in the form of a goddess."
"In other words, this myth is actually a cautionary tale: if the power of the Third Stellar Particle is first obtained by those in power, the willfulness of the supreme ruler will inevitably give birth to a disaster like the Bull of Heaven."
In that moment, the ancient myth and the events of the present completely overlapped.
Once those in power grasped absolute strength, a single moment of willfulness was all it would take to cause a world-ending catastrophe.
"So, we just need to find the one with the most power, the so-called 'God-King Anu,' and we'll find the enemy's main base."
It dawned on Homura, and he finally understood Izayoi's logic.
No wonder he was so fast. If he had been able to lock onto that from the start, there would have only been one suspect all along.
"Exactly!"
Izayoi nodded.
"According to the myth, the ones who ultimately defeated the Bull of Heaven were the duo of Gilgamesh and Enkidu. And Gilgamesh seems to hold the title of 'the wedge between humanity and the gods.'"
"I don't know how that connects to the young lady's identity, but she is also key to defeating the Bull of Heaven, and her identity does seem to be that of a living god—one who is surely among the most special of all deities. You can research it later."
Clearly, Izayoi was also very concerned about how Kudo Asuka, a wielder of divinity, could be a Savior Candidate.
"Okay."
Homura nodded, then looked out the window.
The helicopter had already landed at the entrance of the Okinawa base. Through the window, he could see unconscious soldiers littering the ground and the scars of a recent battle.
Kudo Ayato and Percher stood at the entrance, as if on guard, or perhaps waiting for them.
It seemed the two of them had already cleared out all the armed forces inside the base before they arrived.
The Saigo brothers quickly jumped out of the helicopter.
"How is it? Have you suppressed them all?" Izayoi asked the two girls.
"Mhm."
Kudo Ayato nodded, her face expressionless, and glanced at the soldiers in the distance wearing helmets with a holy cross.
"The external forces have all been disarmed, and the internal personnel are under control. But we haven't touched the laboratory, just as you said. It's still sealed."
When she mentioned the laboratory, Ayato's expression turned ugly, and Percher looked like she was about to retch.
"Are you guys really going into that hellish place? I don't want to see it a second time. I used to think modern society was like heaven compared to the past, but I never imagined it had such a disgusting side."
She had once thought that seeing her father turn on her and villagers slaughter each other were the most brutal and bloody scenes imaginable. She had even felt she had matured mentally beyond most adults.
But it wasn't until she witnessed the darkness of this world firsthand that she understood the medieval horrors she had experienced were mere child's play.
When it came to cruelty, modern society was in a league of its own.
Seeing Percher's extreme reaction, Saigo Homura's heart sank.
There were many ways to research the Third Stellar Particle, but there was one that was the fastest, the one most likely to yield results.
"Those bastards... they didn't do human experiments, did they?"
He clenched his fists, his body beginning to tremble slightly.