Comprehensive Manga: The Master is not here today.

Chapter 747 Truth and Choice
"So you're looking for me? I thought you were waiting for Sherlock Holmes."

As she spoke, Baiyasha glanced at Pest, who was standing next to Fujimaru Ritsuka and staring at her with a somewhat tense expression, as if she was thinking about something.

"Okay, let's get back to the topic."

"What you want to ask is about the Black Death, right?"

Seeing that Shiroyasha reacted so quickly, the two became more convinced. Fujimaru Ritsuka nodded and asked:

"Are you really involved in this matter?"

"Yes."

While Baiyasha readily admitted it, his gaze seemed to be cast towards somewhere far away, with memories and emotion in his eyes.

After a while, she slowly exhaled, looked at them again, and said seriously:

"Since it's you, I can certainly tell you about that past experience. Also, Lord of the Black Death, I want to take this opportunity to say sorry to you."

Pest was slightly startled, then said coldly:
"No, I just want to know what happened."

Bai Yasha was not surprised by Pest's reaction, so she just smiled bitterly and shook her head, then continued:

"Well, let me explain it to you briefly."

"But let's not talk about Ritsuka for now. Lord of the Black Death, have you ever heard of the [Final Trial of Humanity]?"

"…Are you looking down on me?"

Hearing this, Pest frowned in dissatisfaction.

Although she didn't know much about the existence of the [Final Trial of Humanity] - the oldest demon king in the Little Garden, she was not so ignorant as to know nothing about it as she had once been a demon king.

But the other party mentioned the [Final Trial of Humanity] at this time, which made her feel inexplicably uneasy.

Then, they heard Bai Yasha say:

"At that time, the Little Garden encountered a serious crisis, and the culprit who caused the crisis was the [Final Trial of Humanity], the demon king of the closed world - dystopia."

The closed world represents a "self-enclosed worldview", which denies all possibilities of the outside world and attempts to fix the world in eternal stagnation; dystopia represents a "desperate society ruled by absolute order", which eliminates freedom and diversity through extreme control.

Their enemy is such a terrible demon king.

In the areas controlled by the other side, there is no struggle, no discrimination, no epidemic, no thought, and no future...Humans have become captive livestock, walking corpses who have given up thinking, and walking towards the end of their lives meaninglessly.

If the other party successfully occupies the box garden, the result will be undoubtedly that the entire human civilization will stagnate and eventually be destroyed.

At that time, the entire western district had fallen, and only the other three districts were still resisting stubbornly. However, despite the participation of many gods, Buddhas, and Shuras, the situation was still unfavorable to them.

Because of the absolute management politics and suppression of pagans that [Dystopia] possesses, it has the strongest godslayer side, making gods and Buddhas extremely weak when facing it.

"In the end, we won a hard-fought victory, but it came at a terrible cost. Nearly 80 million people lost their lives in the battle against [dystopia]."

"Eighty million people...?"

Hearing this number, Fujimaru Ritsuka was shocked. He was not only surprised by the serious casualties, but also had some doubts about this subtle number.

If she remembered correctly, the number of people who died from the Black Death was also nearly 80 million...

Just as she thought of this, Bai Yasha's next words answered her inner doubts -

"Ritsuka, do you remember what I said before, that the box garden and the outside world are now entangled and influence each other?"

"! Could it be that——?!" "That's exactly what happened."

Bai Yasha confirmed her guess and sighed:

"This battle caused such a serious impact in the small garden that it would inevitably flow to the outside world, and its manifestation was the Black Death pandemic across the Eurasian continent."

The sun is one of the conditions that promote the spread of the Black Death, and her performance as the main fighting force in the box garden corresponds to it.

"And in fact, we did not directly crack the trial of [Dystopia], but used clever means to reduce the possibility of its occurrence to zero."

"It is precisely because of this that the 'Black Death Pandemic' covered all the parallel worlds that the Little Garden could observe, and became an absolute [Historical Transition Period]."

"I see……"

At this point, everything said by the mysterious man who provided information to Pest corresponded to the situation described by Bai Yasha, and their problems were completely solved, but it was not a truth that could make people feel optimistic.

Ritsuka Fujimaru subconsciously looked at Pest beside him. She lowered her head slightly, so he couldn't see the expression on her face or what she was thinking. But her clenched fists showed that she was not calm.

Seeing that she had no intention of speaking, Fujimaru Ritsuka had no choice but to look at Shiroyasha again and asked:
"One more question. What if we wanted to change the outcome of 80 million deaths?"

"Is this your purpose?"

Hearing this, Bai Yasha widened his eyes in surprise and looked at Pest. A glimmer of understanding flashed in his eyes, and then he sighed again:
“The Hakoniwa is a space that contains all the possibilities, so I won’t say ‘this can’t be done’.”

“But I don’t recommend you do that.”

The essence of the Black Death pandemic is a battle with the [Final Trial of Humanity]. This process involves too many people and too many forces, and it is conceivable that it encountered fierce obstruction from many gods, Buddhas and Shuras.

Moreover, as that history changes, [dystopia] will undoubtedly revive and once again trigger a world-destroying crisis that is enough to destroy countless parallel worlds, causing even more serious consequences.

What's more, now that the 'Black Death Pandemic' has become an absolute 'historical transition period', the mere act of changing history could lead to the complete collapse of human civilization.

"Although I feel sad and regretful for the loss of 80 million lives, I can also answer with a clear conscience that this is the best solution we have found after trying our best."

Baiyasha looked at Fujimaru Ritsuka with a serious face and said:
"If you want to do something more about this history, the outcome will only add to the tragedy."

"..."

Really?
Fujimaru Ritsuka was not too surprised by what Shiroyasha said.

Although she had no basis for this, she had already guessed in her mind based on her past experience that the outcome of this conversation might not be satisfactory, and the result was indeed the case.

But the most important thing now is——

"Pest..."

She looked at Pest, who was silent, with some worry, but she didn't know what to say.

Persuade the other party to give up the action? Encourage the other party to continue to persevere?

...none of them seem quite right.

This kind of thing really requires her to make the decision herself, right?

And all she can do is probably to decide her own actions based on the other party's choice after he or she makes it.

At this moment, the silent Pest suddenly moved. Regardless of the reactions of the other two people in the room, he said something coldly, then turned around and left as if he was running away.

"I'm going back."

(End of this chapter)