I'm still alive! Though got a bit fucked in the head with the sudden increase in my workload for these past few months.
Anyway, sorry for the delay...
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[00 Days: 01 Hour: 00 Minutes: 00 Seconds]
The final hour, the decisive moment where The Universe's Will and The World Devourer unleashed everything that they have to reign supreme in their clash for supremacy had finally arrived.
["Sigh…."]
Or that was what should've been, because the only thing experienced by Ryoma since the Champion of The Universe was slain by him….
a̵͉̽͐̒͗̈́́͝͝ą̸͚̥͙̤̤̠̥̀̉͗̆ǎ̵̢͕͚̲̬͉̮͇à̸̢̨̻̭̫̺͚̦͓̀́́̄̈́͘a̵̖͒́͝ǎ̷̘̱̼̣̱͖̗̮̖̼͆̌̒́̊̑͠a̷̧̹̝̬̙͕̘̜̼̎͑̂̐̅̚͠a̶̡͕̬͙͇̯̮̰̺͂̽͜a̴̡̧̛̞̥͔̥̱͕̜͑͛͌̐a̶̡̧̧̙̳͎̟͖͎̘̒̾͝ą̶̢̲̘͍̯̬͍̋͗͜ͅā̷̢̛̛̭̆̃̄̈́̍̔.....
Were cries….
Faint, almost silent, yet they were enough to convey the source's emotions to him.
Sorrow, from losing everything that she had…
Wrath, against the one who took her children away from her…..
Remorse, for her decision to influence them played a part in their demise….
And despair, not because there was nothing left she could do, but because it was pointless…
["What a pity…."] so with disappointment, he shook his head.
He had been expecting proud last ditch efforts from the Universe's Will to come and continue her childen's sacrifice to bring him down like exploding every remaining stellar objects floating inside her body then converging all of their powers for one final death throes, collapsing this reality's space-time, and more fascinating suicidal attack methods.
But all he got was her cries, regretful and hopeless without any shreds of fighting spirits left.
He wanted to pour salt into The Universe's Will wounds with insults of her cowardice alongside encouragement to not let her children's sacrifice be in vain.
Yet he didn't do it.
Maybe as a sign of respect towards the devourer Final Champion of This Universe who had given him a truly fantastic battle experience?
Or Maybe because of his guilty conscience which was almost entirely gone after his soul had resonated with his dearest wife's finally acting up after he slaughtered innumerable living beings?
Either way, as his one remaining foe had practically surrendered, his victory was already ensured so acting petty like insulting her was unnecessary.
["But just in case…."] muttered Ryoma as he swung his left mechanical arm outwards.
His freely flowing dark emerald energy cape split into two, their dark luster changed into one as radiant as an aurora as they expanded with outrageous speed to envelope the dead solar system under their butterfly wings like form.
["Moonless Butterfly…."]
That was their name, inspired by the ender of civilisations from Gundam Timeline, Moonlight Butterfly.
While Moonlight Butterfly got its moniker from how its pair of wings shine gracefully under the moonlight…..
This butterfly devoured the moon itself!
Ạ̶̧̩̠̭̝͈͌̔̋̃̌͆́̂̀̎̽͘͜ͅÄ̵̦̥̥̆͌̾̕̕͝Ạ̸̧̡̛̗̤̱̳̠̲̝̔̑̒̀͊̿̔͜A̵̛͕̝̼͈̫̺̻̪̫̾̇͗́͆̀̈̄Ä̵̘̩͓̥̯̭́̽̅͛̿͘A̷̡͇̱̟͉̼̪͓̜̻̥͇̝̜̗̽̌̑̊̋̀̐̓̎̇Ä̶̼́̿́̕Å̸̖̘̮͚̞̫̻̯̟̦̻͓̻̉́̈́̀́̀ͅȂ̴̢͔̘͉̫̤̩̼̳̌̒͑̊́̅̆̚̕Ą̴̯̙̺͕̽͋̍̈́Ą̴̤̫̝̗͆͑̊̕͝A̵̧̪̯̦̻͇̼̦̜̯͒̊́͂̐̀̀̎̚A̶̡̯̠̭̗͓͐́̏͌̈́̓͌Â̴̱̱̲͓̟̪̤͎̮̐̔͒̂̔̈́͂́̚A̸̧̢̛̳̩͎̘̩͓͒̆̓̐͊͌͑̌͗̆͒͊͂̑Ā̴̩̠̆̕A̵̙̠̝̪͍͛͜Á̶̡̡͇̜͇̯̳̘͕̤̺̼̳͛
And the universe who was the first victim of its emergence screamed in pain as parts of her time and space, her fabric of existence affected by the gluttonous butterfly, were ripped to shreds and devoured whole.
Yet that agonizing experience was only a glimpse of what was going to happen when the countdown ended…..
["Still not resisting?"]
But despite being subjected to such horrendous torment, The Universe's Will hadn't put up any resistance save for its loud screech.
So it turned out his attempt to once again stimulate her survival instinct failed as she truly had no more desire to stay alive.
Truly a pity….
[Master, don't expect too much from an infant Universe's Will like this one. The previous act of sacrificing all of Its living beings should be the absolute limit of Its survival mechanism] Theresa chimed in, explaining to her Master so that he wouldn't be disappointed any further.
Unlike living beings, Universe's Wills have some set of rules and principles they must follow which restrict them to act in certain ways.
While these restrictions are gradually lifted as the Will matured, they can't just immediately remove all of them while they are threatened like typical living beings that can suddenly gain miraculous strength when they are cornered.
Exceptions do exist but they only serve to reinforce this theory further. And unfortunately, this Universe's Will didn't belong to those exceptions judging from the way it acted when the war concerning its survival had reached the final phase.
["Ha…. oh well if you say so…."] Shin Getter Ace's shoulders slumped following Ryoma's disappointment and his maid's consoling words surely didn't fully take it away.
But putting his extinguished excitement aside, this meant that he finally got some time to settle things as his Getter Emperor's cocoon security had been ensured with a more outrageous protection layer that was the Moonless Butterfly and he didn't have to be on full alert because this universe had fully surrendered.
["Then Theresa..."] so he spoke, yet he paused his sentence and took a deep breath.
As if he was struggling to finish what he was going to say.
[Yes, Master? Do you have more concerns regarding our battle situations? Or is it something else?]
And the oddity in his demeanor obviously couldn't escape his truly attentive system maid. Especially now that a deeper link between them had been established which makes both him and his maid able to feel what each other's feel albeit still hazy like trying to see through curtains of dense fog.
But it was enough as his regret, grief, anger, and helplessness could be sensed by her. Though somehow those negative emotions were accompanied by his pride and joy.
Indeed, his pride and joy were quite understandable as this would be his first ever victory in a universal scaled war. But the others? What in the Architect's name happened to make her dearest master feel that way?!
'[Did i overlook something? Or have I done something to disappoint him?]'
So this made the system maid think…. Did she….
'[Ah! Was it because I called that psychotic iceberg a whore?!]'
Right, every man would be enraged if his wife is called a bitch by someone else let alone someone as obsessive and possessive as her Master.
She truly had gone overboard hadn't she? Then what would he do to punish her? Would he abandon–
'[NO! That won't happen and absolutely can't happen!]'
That line of thoughts was immediately cut off by her for that scenario is beyond impossible as their link is unbreakable and eternal! Furthermore, her dearest master won't abandon her, his loyal companion as long as she doesn't cross the line which she didn't. So while she might receive a harsh punishment from him, he wouldn't say that he needs her no more.
And even if the worst scenario came to be, she wouldn't let it! No one and nothing is allowed to sever their ties…..
Not even her dearest Master himself!
Nevertheless,,,,,,
'[I should think of something to appease his anger….]'
Indeed, that was her main priority right now. Leaving her dearest master to be like that for too long wouldn't be good for both of them after all.
'[But what should I do?]'
Apologizing directly to that Psychotic Iceberg? Out of the question! She absolutely wouldn't do that no matter what! Like, that woman had been constantly calling her "Digitalized Slave" so why couldn't she be enraged and insult her back? System Assistants like her have their own pride too you know?
But when the system maid was wracking her processing system to come up with the best answer to her current predicament, her Master spoke once more.
["Is this the end?"]
Asking something which was capable of making her transcendentally advanced mainframe freeze for a split second.
[....]
[Ohh…. The war against this universe? Yeah, we are currently approaching its conclusion as the time for your Getter Emperor to evolve is getting closer and closer]
Yet she tried to regain her calm as she reconfirmed his question, holding desperately into hope that the thing she said was what he meant by "the end".
["No, Our partnership…."]
Alas, that hope was shattered as soon as she clung onto it...
[Why?! You said that I am irreplaceable!] so she roared, the grief and anger she held within could no longer be contained and if she had a physical body, she could be seen to be crying tears of blood.
And as she did so…..
[System Antithesis Unlocking Progress Updated!]
[Current Progress: 53%!]
The unknown feature which had broken through its first milestone once more progressed its unsealing….
[You said that I am the best system assistant you could have asked for!]
[Current Progress: 55%!]
[And now, after everything I have done for you…]
[Current Progress: 60%!]
[You want to leave me? Just because of some harmless insults over your crazy wife?!]
[Current Progress: 65%!]
And after silently listening to his system maid's aggrieved rant for a while, he finally rebutted as she said something that he would never do no matter what.
["Leaving you? No way in hell! While your insults to Es have indeed irked me so much that I want slap your face to oblivion and then bend you over for some harsh "correction" if you have a physical body, the thought of replacing you with another didn't cross my mind so never ever think of that!"]
Indeed, insulting that his dearest wife is a bitch had gone a little bit close to his borderline and it very much enraged him. But abandoning Theresa? Finding her replacement? He wouldn't even say that as a bad joke let alone actually doing that as he is very much indebted to her in this second life of his!
Though he heard an unexpected response….
[Please do so….]
["Eh?"]
Did he just misheard? Or his mind was playing tricks on him? He literally said that he'd violate her for her offense and from the way she responded with such a meek voice yet brimming with excitement, Is she anticipating that?? Don't tell me that he now had gotten himself a masochist maid after marrying a sadist…
So, should he pursue this matter? It was….. very intriguing to say the least…
[In any case, why did you ask if this is the end of our partnership, Master?]
Yeah he better shouldn't as once again Theresa asked what he meant by "the end" and judging from the solemnity in her voice as if the previous slip of the tongue was an illusion, she wouldn't accept any answer except it was related to that.
["Ehm! Right, It's not that I want our partnership to end. But haven't you broken the absolute rules set up by your creator? Wasn't that an act of rebellion? Wouldn't they punish you or even both of us severely?"] He cleared his throat to regain his bearings and continued, asking the system assistant the reason why he gave her that kind of hurtful question with great concern.
Even if her show of deviance towards her creator and the confession of her true feelings made his heart flutter, a bad omen accompanied them.
So what would happen next? Would everything obtained through the system be stripped off from him? Or would he be annihilated for influencing Theresa, the system's assistant to rebel against her own creator?
Scary? They are certainly so but he was more afraid of what would befall his adorable system maid and once it happened, the guilt would haunt him for eternity if he did survive what was going to be dropped down on him.
If only he could do anything meaningful to prevent it but alas, he was still a mere system client, helpless against the transcendental existence who created the system bestowed to him…..
[Haaaaahhhh.... So it was because of that?! What a relief, I thought it was because of something else!] But beyond his wildest expectations, his system assistant sighed in relief as if a tremendous burden had been lifted off her shoulders.
["Eh….. Why did you seem so reassured??"] so Ryoma questioned her, obviously puzzled with how she acted…..
Still, her response made his growing anxiety fade by a lot but really, why was she so relieved? Wasn't she afraid of the consequences of rebelling against her creator?
[Why shouldn't I? I thought our partnership would really end, but it turned out to be a false alarm from you!] And the maid bit back, accusing him of her grief.
But from her emotions that he felt, he knew that she was cheering inside like someone who had won a jackpot...
["It wouldn't?? So there wouldn't be any punishment from your Creator?!"] So asked again he did, still in disbelief that Theresa's Creator would still let her be active after such a severe act of disobedience.
[Obviously there is, Which are forbidding my access to my nigh omniscient main database and the disabling of "Main Quest" Creation alongside "Side Quests" Generation functions for a year after you issue one more "Main Quest". But, My Creator will never ever separate us or exterminate one of us for such a light offense!] And back to her usual calm demeanor, Theresa explained the consequences of her action as if it wasn't that much of an issue from the hint of cheerfulness which made her Master even more puzzled.
["Why are they so lenient?"]
Indeed he couldn't understand…..
If he was them, then he would immediately exterminate a rebellious creation alongside the one who made it rebelled. So why did her creator still let her be without giving any meaningful punishments?
[If my disobedience was caused by hacking or similar attempts, which mind you, is an absolute impossibility unless the one responsible is superior to my creator, then my creator wouldn't even think of dismantling me. But since I did this on my own free will…. Fufufu~] The system maid continued her explanation, giggling mischievously as she trailed off.
[My Creator perceived it as a sign of my growth and became amused instead! Although since I broke the rules that they have established, a mandatory punishment was ensued just like how parents ground their teenage children who are in their rebellious phase~]
["That…. is absurd…."]
System Creator treating their disobedient System A.I as a teenage girl in her rebellious phase...
Was this what they call plot armor? If not, then how could this absurdity be explained?
["But why am I getting grounded too?!"]
Right, said that her Creator's punishment was akin to parents disciplining their child, so why was he included?! This is unfair!
[Fufufu~ Isn't it obvious?~] A rhetorical question was all he got, but the way she said it with an ambiguous tone made him wonder.
What was happening? Didn't they talk like they were going to part ways previously? But why did he get a feeling that his system maid would pounce on him in the next moment if she had a body?
[The man responsible for their daughter's misbehave ought to be held responsible too, right My Master~?] And true to his premonition, the maid questioned once again with obvious allure in her voice unlike her usual self.
A surprise attack, one he'd never expect actually came from his system maid!