A pillar of white light manifested, hurtling toward the Demon King of Absolute Evil with the power to obliterate everything in the material world.
This was the power of an Another Cosmology. Even someone like Azi Dahaka would be killed instantly by a direct hit.
However—
"Let us counter in kind! Avesta!"
The radiance of the stars manifested in Azi Dahaka's hands. A light like a galaxy itself completely neutralized the white pillar unleashed by Typhon.
"Fortunately, His Majesty has bestowed this power upon me once more..."
Azi Dahaka breathed a silent sigh of relief before swiping his claws at the stunned Typhon's chest.
"BAM!"
Typhon reacted just in time.
The two powerhouses, both possessing physical prowess on the level of continental plates and nearly identical densities of Spiritual Status, collided. The shockwave from their exchange laid waste to all of Washington, yet neither of them suffered a scratch.
"You have an Another Cosmology too..."
Typhon finally realized just how formidable his opponent was.
In physical prowess and combat skill, they were equals, and his trump card was useless against Azi Dahaka.
Under these circumstances, even he could see no path to victory.
"No matter how much you hate the gods, in the end, you are still one of them."
The jet-black Demon King regarded his opponent with calm, confident eyes, as if victory were already in his grasp.
"If you think you can defeat Absolute Evil with just this, you're far too naive!"
With Avesta, Azi Dahaka feared no god.
This held true even if Typhon's true Spiritual Status was at the Full-Authority Domain level.
Hearing this, Typhon was at a loss for words. Azi Dahaka was simply too powerful, and even he had no way to counter the overpowered nature of Avesta.
Just then, a third voice cut in with a question of its own.
"Is that so? Then what if you add me to the equation?"
This was a voice that Saigou Homura would find incredibly familiar, and one that Azi Dahaka had heard once before.
From the very first word, Saigou Homura identified the speaker.
"Brother Izayoi?!"
Saigou Homura's consciousness briefly surfaced, his gaze turning toward a point over the Pacific Ocean.
And from that direction, moving faster than sound, came a streak of starlight approaching the sixth cosmic velocity.
It was Saigou Izayoi!
He had arrived on the battlefield just a few minutes after Typhon—an impressive speed by any measure. But the original enemy, the Dystopia Demon King, had already been vanquished by the joint efforts of the two Demon Kings present.
Now, it was a civil war between Demon Kings, and Izayoi naturally sided with Typhon.
"Homura, I know what you're thinking. You want to become Absolute Evil, to act as an anti-hero to push forward the history of mankind."
After arriving on the battlefield, Izayoi looked at Saigou Homura, his expression much calmer than before.
"I have no objection to the path you've chosen, but you should know one thing—the Demon King of Absolute Evil was already successfully defeated by Lord Su Mo. This is a trial that has already been overcome. You don't need to make such a sacrifice."
Unlike before, when he had blindly tried to stop Saigou Homura, this time, Izayoi had learned to take a more roundabout approach.
"Brother Izayoi, I know..."
Hearing this, Saigou Homura shook his head.
After becoming an incarnation of the Demon King of Absolute Evil, he learned of Azi Dahaka's past and knew the truth that this Final Trial of Humanity had already been overcome.
But—
"If I don't step up now, who else can save the remaining victims? Who can save the humans in the research facility?"
"If I don't go to hell, who will?" Saigou Homura spoke with that very resolve.
Even if the trial had been cleared, the victims still in danger shouldn't have to lose their lives.
If he didn't act against the highest authorities, the Dystopia Project would still claim countless lives before it eventually failed. He didn't want to see that happen.
Hearing this, even Typhon couldn't find anything to say in rebuttal.
Although his methods were debatable, his sense of justice was truly admirable.
However, at this moment, Izayoi shook his head.
"What is it?" Saigou Homura asked.
"According to the latest intelligence, there aren't many victims of human experimentation inside the Dystopia Demon King's research facility," Izayoi said with a shrug.
"How is that possible!"
Saigou Homura naturally didn't believe it.
"They've invested so many resources into the Bull of Heaven project, and their progress is unprecedentedly ahead of it. If they didn't use human experiments, how could they have achieved such a high level of completion?"
It wasn't that he looked down on their research team, but given their capabilities, it was highly unlikely they could achieve such significant results without human experimentation.
The existence of those thousand-plus Evil Dragon Satans alone implied that the Dystopia Project's facility had at least that many test subjects.
How could an operation of this scale not have a large number of human test subjects?
"I know you don't believe me, but that's the truth," Izayoi answered frankly.
"Most of the human experiments used in the Dystopia Project were just hypnotizing particle body carriers to control their powers. The rest of the research was advanced through various biological experiments."
"From the results, although they were unrestrained in the field of animal testing, involving at least tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of life experiments on plants and animals, the Dystopia Project was not as cruel as the Bull of Heaven project when it came to human experimentation."
"...Of course, this has nothing to do with so-called morals or ethics. According to the available data, it's simply because the results from combining the Third Stellar Particle with other biological life factors were more useful. Plus, they could share the data on human trials from the Bull of Heaven project, so there was no need to waste resources doing it a second time."
This was also why Laplace's Child was sent to the Bull of Heaven project. The Dystopia Project had little need for human test subjects, but a great need for biological ones.
This was also why Izayoi's previous attempts to track down the Dystopia Project's facility by investigating missing persons reports had failed.
The experiment itself really didn't create victims on a large scale.
"Is that so..."
Hearing this, both Saigou Homura and Typhon breathed a small sigh of relief.
For whatever reason, the fewer victims, the better.
As for the project itself—
"Even so, if we don't act against them, they will inevitably start other malicious experiments," Saigou Homura said in a determined tone.
The sin of those in power is that they are never satisfied with minimal sacrifices. Even if the Dystopia Project was enough to secure their interests, they would still try to dabble in greater evils to solidify their advantage in power.
"Therefore, the deterrence of Absolute Evil is essential!"
He still had no intention of changing his mind.
"I know..."
Izayoi took a deep breath.
At this point, he no longer hoped to change Saigou Homura's mind, but that didn't mean he would compromise.
On the contrary—
"Then I'll just have to drag you back by force, in the name of your older brother!"
The gloves on his hands glowed faintly. Pushing his BDA to its absolute limit, Saigou Izayoi stood beside Typhon.
Then, Izayoi and Typhon moved in unison, rushing toward Saigou Homura.
"Brat! Let me handle this!"
The consciousness of the Demon King of Absolute Evil surfaced instantly. Avesta activated, and he met their charge with equal power and speed.