Three days passed in a flash.
During these three days, the Salvation Group was exceptionally busy.
They had to ensure the safe transfer of Dystopia Project, and finally, arrange for Typhon to meet the victims to set their minds at ease.
Fortunately, these tasks went smoothly for the most part. Typhon regained consciousness after being in a coma for two days and agreed to personally meet and console the victims.
With Typhon's cooperation, the one hundred thousand victims were quickly settled.
Typhon did not hide the fact that he did not have long to live. The victims, in turn, were far stronger than the Salvation Group had imagined and did not fall into excessive grief.
For them, perhaps, life and death were already commonplace. To be able to end their lives under the sun was a form of happiness in itself.
The enemy forces launched no attacks during this period, and most of the work proceeded without a hitch.
The only thing that did not go smoothly was the investigation into the projects related to the Demon Lord Dystopia.
To prevent his younger brother from going to extremes, Izayoi, while ensuring the main base was protected, exhausted every possible method to find information on this series of bases.
However, aside from the ruins of the few known bases that had been completely destroyed and reduced to ash in molten lava, he found little valuable information.
Just as Saigō Homura had said before, it was far too difficult to find the enemy's weakness through conventional means.
Under the shielding effect of the Evil Dragon Satan, Izayoi searched every suspicious location but failed to find any similar bases.
In the end, he even fully mobilized the Holy Cross Group's power in the secular world, hoping to reverse-engineer the bases' locations by investigating cases of mass disappearances.
However, all he found were the already exposed bases from the Bull of Heaven project.
There was absolutely no information on the base housing the Project Dystopia.
"This shouldn't be happening!"
Izayoi grabbed his messy hair and sighed at the sky.
He had to admit it: some things were simply impossible.
The sky was already approaching dusk. It was the third day.
Typhon had less than half a day left, his own brother could snap at any moment, and Kudō Asuka's power had yet to recover... For the Salvation Group, this was undoubtedly the worst situation in their history.
"This won't do!"
As time ticked by, Izayoi grew more and more agitated.
He understood that if he continued to delay with no results, something he dreaded would inevitably happen.
Although Saigō Homura had been quietly conducting research in the lab ever since his explosive declaration a few days ago, and had even given him a newly made reusable BDA glove yesterday, Izayoi knew better.
The quieter his brother was, the more dangerous he was, and the more likely he was to stir up trouble.
For one thing, his current mastery of Dragon's Shadow was already approaching Lady Leticia's level.
And just yesterday, with Typhon's permission, he had taken a tissue sample from Typhon for research. He was clearly up to something dangerous.
If he didn't do something, his brother might truly be lost. After much thought, Izayoi sought out their Salvation Group's most trusted playmate.
"Black Rabbit, please! I have urgent business with Lord Su Mo. If not, Teacher Canary will do!"
For his brother's sake, Izayoi lowered his usually proud head and made his request to the bunny-eared girl.
It was a bit shameful, so he had made sure to find her when his companions weren't around, not wanting to be seen.
But Izayoi genuinely wanted to seek help from the adults.
He couldn't help it; he only had one little brother.
Besides, since Black Rabbit had been able to leak unimportant information before, it meant that as long as it didn't affect the trial or involve the adults intervening directly, merely seeking some life advice shouldn't be against the rules.
"You Problem Children only pretend to be respectful when you want something from me."
Faced with Izayoi's request, little Black Rabbit puffed up her cheeks and grumbled, though she wasn't truly upset with them.
Seeing that Izayoi's attitude was sincere, she finally spoke.
"Don't worry. Neither Lady Canary nor Lord Su Mo would ever abandon you."
Hearing this, Izayoi's face lit up with joy.
It felt great to have someone to rely on!
This blissful feeling, however, vanished the moment little Black Rabbit spoke her next sentence.
"I remember Lady Canary saying something like, 'When a boy with Izayoi's personality finally comes begging for help, it means he's entered the real trial. You can tease him however you want then, and he'll have to endure it. But remember to grant his request for a meeting!'"
Little Black Rabbit recalled Canary's exact words.
"That woman knew I'd come to them? Did she foresee what would happen with Homura?!"
Izayoi was stunned by the first part of her statement, and by the end, he was grinding his teeth.
"That vixen! Still thinking about teasing people at a time like this!"
Thankfully, Black Rabbit was pure of heart and not the type to cause mischief. Otherwise, for his brother's sake, he really would have had to endure it.
But when he heard the very last part, he was overjoyed.
"Teacher Canary agreed?!"
In the span of three short sentences, Izayoi had used three different titles for her, perfectly embodying the phrase "arrogant before, deferential after."
Little Black Rabbit stared at him, speechless, and nodded.
"Of course! As it happens, Lord Su Mo and Lady Canary are together right now. If you wish for an audience, they will both see you."
Hearing this, Izayoi immediately started walking toward Su Mo's residence.
After the trial began, the adults' living quarters had become a forbidden zone for them. Only Black Rabbit was permitted to enter and exit. Now that he had permission, he could finally go in.
"Hey! Wait!"
Seeing how impatient Izayoi was, Black Rabbit quickly called out to him.
"Not yet! You have to go to the side hall first!"
"Why?"
Izayoi paused, slightly taken aback.
"Even if they've agreed, there's still a line!" little Black Rabbit said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"There's already someone ahead of you having an audience, so you'll have to wait your turn!"
"Someone's having an audience?"
Izayoi was even more surprised.
"Who?"
Could it be that Kudō Asuka and the others had thought of this as well, hoping to seek help from their teachers?
If so, being girls, they were better suited to wheedling Lord Su Mo and Canary. They might actually get some guidance.
Just as Izayoi was imagining this, little Black Rabbit's answer shocked him.
"Little Homura! He came just a little before you. You didn't know?"
Little Black Rabbit looked at him, confused.
"I thought you two had arranged to come together!"
In her mind, the two brothers had always been close. She hadn't expected Izayoi to be unaware of his own brother's whereabouts.
Hearing Black Rabbit's words, Izayoi finally understood why she had said "you" in the plural earlier—Homura had already been here.
But what was he doing here, seeking out Lord Su Mo?
Worried, he shot off in a flash.
"Thanks, Black Rabbit! I'm going to check it out!"
Izayoi was incredibly fast. Saigō Homura had indeed arrived only two minutes before his brother, and to show respect, he had walked to the main hall with proper etiquette.
Therefore, by the time Izayoi reached the side hall to wait, Saigō Homura was just entering the main hall for his audience.
Izayoi immediately peeked through a crack in the window, looking at his brother with confusion.
At that moment, Saigō Homura was kneeling on one knee, performing the rite of audience. That was normal.
What wasn't normal were the words that came out of his mouth after the gesture.
"Your Eminence, Su Mo... Is this... the outside world? I never thought I would have the honor of meeting you again... So, what orders do you have in summoning this defeated foe of yours?"
That exceptionally reverent tone, tinged with a sense of unfamiliarity and nostalgia, was definitely not his brother's.
More importantly, his brother Homura had always addressed him as "Lord Su Mo," never "Your Eminence."
So, inside the main hall, who was that person who looked exactly like his brother?