Alternative: Last Scion of Gaia
Of the more than one hundred experimental facilities, only one had any connection to the Church. And as fate would have it, that was the very facility that blew up in their faces, causing the victim to lock its hatred onto them.
Although it was the Church's own oversight, one couldn't help but feel wronged by the situation.
However, the Problem Children present had no such weak thoughts. Once they confirmed the enemy was heading straight for them, they were more excited than annoyed.
"So, you're saying we don't have to do anything? We just sit here and wait for them to come to us?" Kasukabe Yō asked, eager for a fight.
If that was the case, couldn't they solve the problem just by knocking the enemy out?
"It's a shame they aren't targeting those scoundrels, but considering their lack of a proper upbringing, we can't just do nothing. In fact, we should probably publicize this as much as possible so they can find their target accurately and avoid harming any innocents," Kudou Asuka proposed.
The best-case scenario was that the enemy would seek revenge on the original perpetrators in North America. The next best was that it would come straight for them without harming anyone along the way.
For them, who were confident they could take the enemy down, the stronger the victim's grudge, the easier it would be to resolve the issue.
Even Saigou Homura saw nothing wrong with this strategy.
He wasn't the only one; all the Savior candidates present were supremely confident.
After all, they hadn't actually done anything wrong. With clear consciences, they had no fear of being unable to win someone over.
"Good point. I'll notify the other departments to ramp up the publicity," Izayoi immediately agreed with the decision.
"If he comes to us, everything will be simple. But there's still one unresolved issue."
He turned to Black Rabbit, a hint of confusion in his eyes.
"Black Rabbit, you said a Demon Lord more troublesome than the Bull of Heaven would appear. You weren't talking about this little test subject, were you?"
"He's strong, sure, but he can't be that much stronger than the Bull of Heaven, right? At most, they're on par. What's there to worry about?"
The Bull of Heaven's maximum power could practically destroy the world. While this rampaging test subject was terrifyingly strong, he had only displayed power on par with Izayoi's normal state. It was hard to see how he could be any more dangerous.
Hearing this, the others also turned to look at Black Rabbit.
"That's right, Black Rabbit. Are you hiding something? Don't tell me this is another one of those things you can't talk about," Kudou Asuka pressed the small, rabbit-eared girl.
At her words, Black Rabbit grabbed her own ears in frustration and retorted, "What do you mean, hiding something? I haven't said anything at all! Everything so far has been your own speculation. I never said you were right or wrong!"
She didn't want to be a traitor.
Seeing that she was genuinely angry, Kasukabe Yō and Kudou Asuka exchanged a glance.
Yō then stepped forward with a deadpan expression, tugged on the corner of the little girl's clothes, and asked with the detached air of a child, "Black Rabbit, can you really not say anything?"
"...I can't!"
Black Rabbit hesitated for a second before taking a wary step back.
"I'm warning you! Don't think you can ask me like you did when you were little and I'll spill everything! You were cute back then, but now you're all just a bunch of Problem Children. I'm not falling for that trick!"
Noticing her hesitation, Kudou Ayato and Kudou Asuka shared a look. Ayato also stepped forward, taking hold of little Black Rabbit's other sleeve, her pretty face expressionless.
"Do you hate us, Big Sis Black Rabbit?"
The sharp-witted swordswoman suddenly acting cute was a critical hit. Forget little Black Rabbit; even Asuka on the side found it hard to bear.
If her own headstrong little sister were to ask her for something in that manner, she probably would have forfeited their duel and given her Gift to her sister on the spot.
"Guh... So dirty!"
As expected, Black Rabbit couldn't withstand the attack. Seeing the two little girls she had raised staring at her intently, she scratched her rabbit-like head and gave up.
"Fine, whatever. Lord Su Mo said I could only reveal this information if we were pushed into a corner, but I'm definitely in a corner right now, so a little hint should be fine... At worst, I'll just go back and accept Lord Su Mo's punishment later."
As she mentioned the word "punishment," the rabbit-eared girl's cheeks flushed red, clearly thinking of something strange.
"Hurry up and tell us!" Asuka, oblivious to the meaning behind Black Rabbit's expression, urged her on.
"Alright!"
Little Black Rabbit nodded, then emphasized a point.
"Let me be clear. I'm only allowed to reveal one thing: one of this guy's identities. I don't know anything else, so don't even think about trying to sweet-talk me."
Since she'd put it that way, no one pressed her further.
After everyone nodded, little Black Rabbit clasped her hands behind her back, struck a mysterious pose, and uttered a single term.
"Gaia's Last Son."
"What does that mean?"
Kasukabe Yō, who had a habit of skipping class, tugged on little Black Rabbit's sleeve, refusing to be brushed off so easily.
"It sounds like... the last child of the Mother Goddess, Gaia?" Kudou Asuka guessed.
"Mhm, mhm."
Little Black Rabbit nodded eagerly, confirming her theory.
Mother Goddess Gaia... Hearing that name, Saigou Homura and Percher subconsciously glanced at each other, thinking of the Gifts they had just received.
"In Greek mythology, the last child of Mother Goddess Gaia should be Typhon, right?"
Izayoi stroked his chin, recalling the myths he had read.
According to the theogony, after the god Zeus cast the Titans into the abyss and established the order of the gods, the Mother Goddess Gaia conceived her final offspring in the underworld: Typhon.
Typhon was a Titan monster with a hundred dragon heads, so powerful he could crush the gods single-handedly. Not even Zeus could withstand his might. He was a true powerhouse capable of suppressing the entire pantheon on his own.
In the myth, Zeus had to gather the power of all the gods and use his invincible lightning to finally defeat the monster.
If the Minotaur was just a common monster that even human heroes could defeat, then the Bull of Heaven was a monster that only a god-tier hero like Gilgamesh could handle.
And Typhon... was a terrifying existence that the King of Gods, and indeed the entire pantheon, had to fight with all their might to overcome.
There was no stronger monster in all of Greek mythology.
From that perspective, Typhon was indeed far beyond the Bull of Heaven.
Thinking of this, Izayoi couldn't help but ask, "Speaking of which, since the Bull of Heaven was once a Humanity's Final Trial, I don't suppose Typhon is one too?"
Although in mythology Typhon seemed more like a Final Trial for the gods than for humanity, there was no denying he possessed the power to destroy the world.
Hearing this question, little Black Rabbit quickly shook her head.
"Nope! While this lord is the strongest Demon Lord of the Greek pantheon and does possess the power to destroy humanity, he is not a Humanity's Final Trial. He's just a Demon Lord who was defeated once."
"Oh?"
Kudou Asuka was a little surprised.
"The strongest Demon Lord of the Greek pantheon... That title certainly sounds terrifying, but if he's not a Humanity's Final Trial and has already been successfully subjugated, then there's nothing to be afraid of, right? In terms of nature, he sounds even less dangerous than the Bull of Heaven!"
Her words weren't born from arrogance.
From a Savior's perspective, there was a decisive difference between a Humanity's Final Trial and a non-Final Trial.
The fact that this Demon Lord had been defeated once before proved that it could be dealt with if they found the right method. The fact that it wasn't a Final Trial meant there was no risk of total annihilation.
This sense of ease and pride was shared by the others.
As a group that had completed one round of trials and defeated a Humanity's Final Trial, it was only natural that they would look down on a non-extinction-level disaster.
But that confidence lasted for only a single second before it came to a screeching halt.
Because, looking at the proud and conceited Problem Children, Black Rabbit added faintly, "I'm so glad to see you all are so confident... So I suppose even if Lord Typhon's true form is a Two-Digit Full-Authority Domain Demon Lord, it's nothing you heroes need to worry about, right?"
"Of course! Wait... what did you say, Black Rabbit?"
Kudou Asuka was about to lift her head proudly and agree when she caught the specific keywords. She froze, her gaze turning vacant as she stared at little Black Rabbit in disbelief.
"Did you just say... Two-Digit?" she asked again, unable to believe her ears.
The others wore the exact same expression.
Having been raised by gods and buddhas since childhood, they were not ignorant of Little Garden. They were at least very clear on the basic power rankings.
So they understood perfectly what "Full-Authority Domain" meant.
It was a rank that, even in all of Little Garden, was held by at most seventeen beings—the supreme gods and buddhas who stood just below the single-digit End Emptiness.
Every single Full-Authority Domain powerhouse had the power to destroy a universe with a wave of their hand.
And now, Black Rabbit was telling them they had to face a monster of that caliber?
"You want a bunch of us Five-Digits to take on a Two-Digit? Are you serious?"
"I am!"
Seeing the rare look of shock on the Problem Children's faces, Black Rabbit let out a mischievous laugh.
"Do your best, Problem Children! I'll be cheering for you from the sidelines!"
The black-bellied rabbit wanted her revenge.
"..."
The Savior candidates fell into a deep silence, staring at each other for more than ten seconds without a word.
Finally, Percher was the first to speak.
"Let's disband."
"Good idea. I agree," Izayoi nodded.
"I'll be taking my leave as well. Farewell, everyone."
Kudou Asuka nodded woodenly, while Kudou Ayato silently began to pack her things. Saigou Homura simply sat where he was, looking slightly helpless.
"Hey, wait! Aren't you guys usually so confident? Why are you running so fast this time? Don't go!"
Seeing that they seemed to be seriously considering bailing, little Black Rabbit panicked and quickly called out to them.
Hearing her, Kudou Asuka shook her head.
"Being confident doesn't mean we're idiots. At our current strength, we're no match for our teachers, and they were only using Three-Digit level power..."
"With our current combat ability, what's the difference between fighting a Two-Digit being and committing suicide?"
They were Problem Children, not morons. They wouldn't walk into such an obvious death trap.
If the enemy were a little stronger, they could try to fight. But how were they supposed to fight a Two-Digit Full-Authority Domain? If it got serious, it could crush the entire universe with a flick of its wrist.
Seeing that they had truly lost their will to fight, little Black Rabbit thought she had taken the joke too far and quickly tried to salvage the situation.
"It's not actually that bad! I was just exaggerating a little. I'm not really asking you to subjugate a Two-Digit Full-Authority Domain Demon Lord!"
Hearing this, the group gave her a "we knew it" look. They all stopped what they were doing but didn't let Black Rabbit off the hook.
"What's the real situation, then?"
"This child isn't Gaia's Last Son's true body, just an avatar descended to the mortal world! Gods can't interfere with the development of human history, but descending as a human allows them to circumvent that rule. So the one before you is, at best, an avatar of Typhon," Black Rabbit explained honestly.
"His body is still human, but his thought model will be highly consistent with his divine prototype. From a human perspective, he might be seen as delusional, mentally ill, or perhaps a saint or god descended from heaven. Similar to a Son of God or Joan of Arc, he's the type who can leave a mark on both Pan-Human History and the history of myths."
"But for all of you here, it would be better to treat him with the respect due to the will of the Two-Digit Full-Authority Domain Demon Lord, Typhon."
By borrowing mythological or ideological legacies, every era sees the birth of humans with god-like models.
They interfere with human history using their divine-like personalities combined with the wisdom and power of ordinary people, allowing them to play a crucial role across the infinite multiverse.
That was the situation they were facing.
Not the Two-Digit Typhon himself, but his avatar.
"Just a human avatar? Well, that's a relief..."
Kudou Asuka let out a small sigh.
As long as they weren't fighting the real thing that could crush universes.
Sakamaki Izayoi was clearly not so optimistic. Seeing little Black Rabbit's wavering gaze, he asked directly, "So, how strong can the avatar of a Two-Digit be?"