Thanks to Fate's power, the Human-Demon Allied Forces' side had quickly gained the upper hand, and the progress of the battle started changing at an alarming pace.
In the first place. It was originally impossible for a battle of beings possessing power of this level to quickly end. After all, the Supreme Gods, the Six Kings and people who have abilities equal to them are basically immortal.
Even if their bodies are wiped out, they can resurrect themselves by twisting the law of causality, or just by regenerating their own bodies from nothing.
Thus, in addition to direct combat, battles of this level also involve indirect combat... where one needs Null: Regeneration and attacks that pierce through defenses.
In addition to clashing with each other's bodies, using one's abilities when clashing with others is also very important. Determining what cards your opponents have and how to suppress them... The most important key part of the high-dimensional battle was, surprisingly, the part that doesn't appear on the surface.
However, in the end, the victory condition for the Human-Demon Allied Forces had remained the same. They will continue to fight in order to quickly eliminate Life, the key member of the Gods and their leader, Chronois.
But at the same time as such a battle is happening... a battle of a different dimension from this one was also raging.
Multiple worlds are created and then erased one after another. With a single swing of a hand, galaxies disappear, with a single step, multiple dimensions bend, and in the aftermath of that battle, space collapses.
It is truly a duel of Gods beyond human imagination... The battle between the world's God of Creation, Shallow Vernal, and her half-body, Kuromueina, was also reaching its climax.
[...Kuhhh.]
The one who had the advantage on the course of the battle so far... was Shallow Vernal, holding an overwhelming advantage against Kuromueina. Kuromueina is clearly beginning to take damage, but she has yet to mount any kind of counterattack against Shallow Vernal.
In terms of simple combat power, such as attack and defensive power, the two are evenly matched, or perhaps, Kuromueina could even be said to be slightly superior. In fact, in the "fights" that they've had, Kuromueina has won more often than not.
However, that's only when Shallow Vernal "meets her in battle head-on, straightforwardly fighting against her".
There was a clear significant difference between Shallow Vernal and Kuromueina. One point of such difference is that "it was Shallow Vernal who created the being called Kuromueina".
Kuromueina is indeed a woman of diverse powers, and her abilities even rival those of the world's God of Creation. However, by no means is she omnipotent... She's a being who had things "she couldn't do".
Meanwhile, Shallow Vernal is someone who was almost omnipotent, and this was what made the difference between victory and defeat in their battle.
Shallow Vernal, who created Kuromueina, knows "what she can't do. Thus, she knows what way she could be advantageous in her fight against Kuromueina.
Kuromueina isn't capable of instantaneous teleportation between worlds and dimensions. In order to achieve such a thing, she would need a huge teleportation magic circle.
Hence, Shallow Vernal created one world after another... trapping Kuromueina in that world and from another dimension, she would repeatedly attack her, trying to wipe her out together with the world Kuromueina was currently in.
Kuromueina has no way to counterattack, while Shallow Vernal can one-sidedly attack her... This is the strategy that Shallow Vernal judged to have the highest victory rate. In fact, up to this point, Shallow Vernal had been able to carry out the battle with an overwhelming advantage... yes, "up to this point", that is...
(...Shiro really is strong. I knew that this would happen when she seriously fights but... but this is harder than I thought it would be.)
Yes, Kuromueina knew that this would happen if they fought against each other. Even though they are close in terms of combat power, there is too much of a difference in the cards that Kuromueina and Shallow Vernal have. On top of that, Shallow Vernal knew all the cards in Kuromueina's hand. Thus, this result was inevitable.
(...You're quite desperate, aren't you? I know how you feel, Shiro. It may not be the same as mine, but at this core... it isn't that different from what I feel.)
As she was repeatedly exposed to the explosion that engulfed her entire field of vision, Kuromueina quietly closed her eyes, not caring how she would be left defenseless.
(However, Shiro's choice is wrong. Even though you know that... You still won't stop, right? Then, I'll stop you. For Kaito-kun's sake... and for Shiro's sake...)
Shallow Vernal certainly was aware of all of Kuromueina's abilities. However, it is only limited to "the abilities that Kuromueina has had since birth".
Yes, there are things Shallow Vernal didn't know. She doesn't know why Kuromueina has been growing in power so rapidly as of late, and she also doesn't know how Kuromueina was able to completely outperform Eden's perceptions when they once engaged in a mock battle...
Deep in her heart, Kuromueina had always been aware that she was half of Shallow Vernal. However, this perception was changed when the being named Kaito appeared, as she is no longer "Shallow Vernal's half body", she is now the being named "Kuromueina".
Yes, Shallow Vernal didn't know about it. That the moment when Kuromueina's perception changed... the "inherent power" laying dormant within her for so long has awakened...
[I can't beat Shiro at this rate.]
The words she spoke held definite power. And thus, activating the power that was the embodiment of her true essence, she spun out the key words.
[...In that case, let's start things, right at this moment! "The story of my reversal"!
And thus, the story unravels.
[———-"Prologue"!]
(T/N: Prologue: The Beginning of the Story)