Boom-!
Shatter-!
Earth received yet another wave of destruction as [Entropy] continued attracting 'everything'. It was extremely similar to the shadow of IX in the sense that it was indiscriminate.
Everything that enters it would be consumed by [Entropy]. Humans would die in an instant since their energy would enter a state of entropy—thus ceasing vital operations crucial to human survival.
As long as one remains a mortal, it becomes a fatal threat.
It was evident when only [Magisters] and the likes faced it.
Hence, the ones who remained did not have much leisure as to where their leader went.
'It's strong.'
Far too strong.
That was Aiz's honest evaluation of the enemy in front of her. Despite Suimei taking care of the majority of its pressure, the forces of attraction emitted by it were enough to entangle her.
If not for their work, the world would have been swept clean by [Entropy], just like what happened to Mei's world.
'Where is he…'
Aiz naturally noticed Nobu's disappearance. He still used to command from Altair even when he wasn't directly present within all the fights. Now, he was nowhere to be found.
It was not only him but several others as well.
Looking at the hole made out of blankness, her chest tightened further.
*****
"I have a bad feeling about this!"
"...We're not that different."
Upon developing her power, the control of sound, Hitori became a human alert system. She was the main reason why a city filled with people could efficiently evacuate within minutes.
She could basically manipulate a person's mood through the use of sound waves, using it to calm them down and to emphasize the tiny bit of danger perceived by their brain.
"What if he…"
Although she already overcame most of her bad side, Hitori could not prevent herself from overthinking.
The signs are already there; only a stupid and dense person would not be able to pick it up.
Seeing two calamities appear at the same time as well as his unprecedented disappearance, it provoked some bad thoughts in her head.
"No, no, no, that's not it."
It didn't take long for her to find another similarly-concerned person.
"Mn. Yes, he hasn't appeared yet."
Atop Tokyo Skytree was a girl with a set of painting materials. Her canvas was shockingly similar to the scene happening within the vicinity of [Entropy].
Then, as if brushed with an eraser, the 'black hole' on the painting disappeared.
The next moment, a similar-looking black hole appeared in reality. It tried to consume the 'phantom' of the real [Entropy]—that is, the projection of its real body.
It didn't simply give up when it became preoccupied with Suimei. It tried to find ways to disrupt the real world.
After cloning the phantom, Mashiro's gaze turned towards the sky. Her reply took a little while longer.
"Do you think Artoria-san… or even Suimei knows where he is..?"
"Maybe… but he will be fine."
*****
The concept of a [World] itself is extremely abstract. It could be used to enclose an entire planet, a viewpoint, a location…
It is too vast to encompass a single thought.
Fortunately, there is something that could match its abstractness.
"Nine Worlds…"
Fireworks are literally exploding inside my head. My sense of 'power' was on another level.
I could already do everything with my former strength, but now…
Just…
I could feel a certain something.
"The path to the highest level…"
Unfortunately, this power does not truly belong to me. Although I assimilated the power of nine God Kings into this body of mine, it does not qualify as my true strength.
Moreover…
'All the failsafes…'
These God Kings may be willing to die for the world, but that is only the acceptable scenario. I may not be able to use this power selfishly.
Unless, I do find something within this upcoming fight. Until then, I will focus on defeating it.
Suddenly, my senses caught something… or rather, someone.
The final World that did not arrive up until now made His appearance.
"Why..?"
Why me?
Only the two of us could perfectly contain the power of several Worlds. It was strange for Him to not appear up until the last moment. It showed His attitude of giving way to me.
But then, why?
For the first time in a long while, I heard His response.
"You are made out of miraculous circumstances." He said. "My power merely served to gather momentum. Your abnormalities, traits… it was up to these circumstances."
I could see myself in the past. Galahad, who was fated to be disposed of by the Counterforce, was saved by Him through a certain loophole. In turn, the miracle of an object such as the Holy Grail, an artifact formed by His power and the power of the entire human subconscious, merged with my existence.
In the end, I became the owner of the Holy Grail. But, it did not end there.
"For the fate I gave you… for the destiny you have to carry… this is a form of atonement."
I didn't forget His purpose when He sent me out.
In my world, nearly all gods were killed due to the White Titan. The number of looming threats in my world far exceeds what it could handle.
Just the civilization that sent the White Titan as a vanguard was something to be concerned about already. There were still the Ultimate Ones descending upon Earth.
Out of the countless possibilities, there was only one where that world overcame everything and evolved—the so-called Age of Will.
It is an extremely advanced level of civilization where nearly every human being has materialized souls. It contains the vision Amakusa Shiro has, but much more controlled.
However, existing is still different from reaching it.
To ensure that its chances of existence become higher, I became His trump card in the truest sense.
Unfortunately, He failed to account for this disaster that I am currently facing, and as such, His version in this world took the liberty to make amends.
"Go, your enemies shall fall under your blade."
Right now, His existence was extremely vague—like a translucent white light that alternated into other colors. He disappeared as he said those words. As a result, I felt my power increasing even further.
Now…
I could see why staring at the stars and becoming a star are two different things. The brilliance that I contain is something that was never seen since time immemorial. I doubt the other world reached a level similar to this.
Everything remained at my arm's reach. Resisting the 'suffocating force' released by the End became extremely easy.
"...No."
I woke up from my reverie.
Although my strength drastically increased, the same went for the End. It is still nothing to me now, but it is hard to say when time continues passing.
As such…
"I need to settle this as soon as possible."
Crack-!
Sou-!
A small crack appeared inside this space filled with nothingness. A cyan-blue light shuttled directly into my hands.
This blue light…
"The authority of a world."
It isn't wrong to say that Miku is the personification of the world. She does not have the full authority to control it, but other things are still possible.
The blue light seeped into my hands. A new authority appeared within me. Looking at the endless darkness, I made my choice.
"That crack…"
Now that I have come closer to the 'conclusion', I started to have an intuition about my future. It was once blank, unable to be seen. That change started the moment I became a vessel of ten Worlds.
It's as if I saw a part of the ending which made my heart uneasy.
In the end, I chose to leave that gap as it is.
Clasping my two palms, I immediately urged the world—the End.
'I bear the role of the world. It was objective before, but not now..!'
Rumble-!
The ground started shaking. Black fluids started falling from above. All sorts of sounds came out of the entire space. The Finality Space's tranquility was broken. Its objectivity shattered piece-by-piece… until a dark red dragon was formed.
ROAR-!
"Ha… I see, this was it..!"
With my current strength, I easily saw through its origin.
It is a dragon.
"Ha…"
Thinking about it made me think of the ancient dragon that killed me over and over within my earlier iterations. At first, the grudge was extremely big. Its existence served as my motivation to become stronger.
As I became stronger, it felt more… insignificant.
That time when I killed Dionysus is an example. He was an inviolable god in the past, but to my hands, he was no different from a mortal.
The ancient dragon was killed in the same manner as Dionysus. It was killed the moment it woke up. It was similar to being off screened on a series.
The level of perspective and viewpoints change upon stepping into a higher level.
Beginning and End…
It seems to be like this.
A sheathed blade found itself in my hands once again. The blade that accompanied me up until this moment shed light to the world of darkness.
Shiing-!
This feels like a deja vu. I led Mei against her greatest foe with my swordsmanship, and I am about to do the same.
The power of the [Finality Space] was being transferred into the black dragon in front of me. It didn't take long before it contained 'all' of its power. I could tell from how the space no longer had any suppressive effect.
Rumble-!
It was still the same. The power did not change one bit. The only difference, however, was its extra origin.
That is, a dragon.
Since the [End] thought of me as the [World], it followed my thoughts. What I fought was no longer an objective space, but the [End] with the embodiment of a dragon.
It created a weakness out of its seemingly invulnerable self!
Hum-!
The first thing that greeted my mind was the sea of black flames. They contained the concept of the 'end', making nearly all attacks useless against it.
Of course, there's a reason why it was "nearly".
Sou-!
It was cut down by my blade. Since the only thing that could fight it was something of its level, my attack worked.
Moreover…
Swoosh-!
It was a matter of instant. I was already on its back and sent out numerous slashes on its back.
Just as to be expected, it was able to perfectly dodge most of my attacks. The rest that it couldn't only dealt a small amount of damage.
Even so, the traces of damage remained evident.
"It's different. This entire experience…"
What I used was my perfected dragon-slaying swordsmanship that I honed for years.
Hum-!
Sou-!
Swoosh-!
From a completely conceptual and abstract battle, it turned into a melee. It brought back something from me.
Excitement.
All the explosions, sword slashes, and the cutting of void was all too familiar to me when I had just started.
At first, the pattern remained like this. The dragon was able to dodge most of my attacks. It also dealt me some level of injuries.
Just now, I had to regrow my entire left arm.
"Huff… This was its true strength..?"
This battle confirmed several things. For once, the [End]'s pattern of 'increasing power' remained the same as when it was just the [Finality Space]. The pressure was small at first, but it steadily grew until it was able to match a World. When it reached that level, it was still growing further.
If not for the ten Worlds within me, I might've not been able to match its output.
However…
"It's weakening."
The weakness that I forced it to have, the dragon aspect, started working against it. From the beginning of this battle, I only used the anti-dragon concept. The effects weren't that visible from a few injuries, but it steadily accumulated.
In a sense, this phenomenon is a form of self-destruction. Though, it was exactly due to the lack of the [End]'s subjectivity that it led to this. All it had was instinct—the same thing that the world has.
Now, I have the utmost confidence to defeat it. This scenario was made upon every other possibility, parallel worlds even.
But…
"What's this..?"
As we fought, I found something new. It was something that evaded even my omniscience. It was extremely similar to the conjecture that I drew.
"The [End]... [Finality]... and [Origin]..."
I vaguely grasped a key.
*****
A/N: Well, everyone should be feeling it. The conclusion to this fic would be presented tomorrow. Do expect a longer chapter compared to the usual since it's the epilogue… and it has to be special. As for the message included within, it will be released at the same time as that.
I hope everyone had a fun time with me throughout this fic.
Happy Reading~!