Final Chapter (2)
The Teraforce combatants were flustered.
'Rolling across flat ground.'
No—was it really flat?
It felt less like the gravity vector changing and more like the world's axis tilting.
'Feels like falling off a cliff.'
They scrambled to respond with a gravity field, but the axis kept spinning like a compass that had lost its magnetism.
-Execution impossible. Requesting support.
Even the mothership loitering in the atmosphere was watching the ground battle closely.
"…This is awkward."
The fighters crawling across the ground were clearly not normal.
"A frontal engagement is impossible. That body's physiology and cognition are the most perfect anomaly."
Because it was an alien lifeform, it understood Kuan's thoughts more clearly than anyone.
"Activating Forcekind (Class-4 Close Encounter)."
Teraforce's abduction protocol used to study a planet's lifeforms.
"You mean take that human? We can't risk an operation that endangers the mothership."
"No."
Their wave-of-sight converted the sounds on the ground into images.
It shimmered like heated air as the atmosphere compressed, and the deepest trough formed where—
"Olifer Siina."
That was Kuan's single reason for moving.
"An enormous emotional wave. As long as that woman stays on the surface, the operation can't proceed."
"What if we pursue?"
"Pursue?"
Teraforce glanced at one another.
"Nice joke. We've studied humans a lot." It wasn't a joke, really, but it wasn't unreasonable for a comrade to think so.
'Well, a Teraforce combatant might manage something, but they can't touch the mothership.'
The commander issued an order.
"Bring her in."
Meanwhile, Crown, riding inside Kuan's body, felt a thrilling rush from the transcendent aerial maneuvers.
"Wow, I thought this was junk… turns out it's ultra-high performance."
'What to do with this.'
To the Illuminati who knew the outside world, the real-world consequences weren't crucial.
They usually steered humanity from a godlike perspective—war, resource control, pestilence—but…
'If there is no user, it might as well be left alone.' Yet because this world was so rare, a single nagging question held him back.
'All right, this time I'll play along.' Taking in Kuan's emotions, he cut through Teraforce without hesitation.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
'What now?'
At that moment, red lights began blinking on the lenses attached to the combatants' gauntlets.
-Gravity inversion. Prepare.
"Kuan!"
When he turned at Siina's cry, a crimson flare bathed her.
'Forcekind. They're going to take her.'
That couldn't be stopped.
Crown, knowing Teraforce's tech, lowered his sword calmly—but—
"Siinaaaa!"
Kuan was different.
"Ugh!"
A tremendous signal hit his brain; Crown winced and staggered.
'I can't control it.'
In an instant Siina was yanked into the sky and vanished into Teraforce's mothership.
-Siina! Siina! Siina!
'Calm down! There's nothing we can do! And those bastards—'
Kukukukuku!
A coarse atmospheric roar made the charging executioners all look up.
Crown did too.
"What the—?"
At the extreme of asymmetry.
As the world's axis trembled, the city-sized mothership lurched.
-Protect! Protect! Protect!
"Insane…"
Before he could finish speaking, control slipped away and Kuan's body rocketed into the sky.
Crown tried everything, but the single command "Protect" was irresistible.
'What is this thing…'
Why is it doing this?
'It endlessly destroys itself. Different from Garas. This actually moves away from reproduction.'
Love—
'What meaning does it have in this universe?'
Perhaps that question was the last unsolved task left for the outside world.
The survivors had finished preparations to depart for humanity's final war.
"Fight. We are the rulers of this world!"
Among the resistance gathered in the hall were the Parrot Mercenary Band that had once dominated the land.
"Sis."
An operator approached Marsha.
"Why are you here? The demons will be here soon. Hide somewhere safe with the other operators."
Even if she ranked first on High Gear, in reality she was just a clever girl.
"You'll come back, right?" If they lost this war, every living thing on this planet would lose its home.
"Don't worry."
Freeman grunted.
"I'll protect my woman."
"Pfft."
Marsha relaxed and kissed the operator on the head.
"Alright, I'll come back. I promise."
The operator forced a smile and descended into the tunnels; Marsha rolled her eyes.
"My woman?"
"Yeah? Who else is going to take you in this world besides me?"
Partly because of that—
"…This world really sucks." As the commanders burst into laughter, Marsha composed herself.
'Can the ground forces hold?'
According to the future intel she had seen, it would probably be close to this moment.
'Cell Buster.'
The Arctic.
Even the Ivory Tower, symbol of reason, had been reduced to a barren plain where a man and a woman arrived.
"Is this the place?"
Standing at the border, the Jinseong-eum in the room pointed up to the sky.
"It will begin from there."
When the Gitaru-man looked up, a huge gray mass like a moon was coalescing.
"Sing's calculations say five minutes. Please, block it for humanity. No—hold out as long as you can."
'Humanity.'
Lanstein took a few steps forward.
"Go."
After a brief watch, Jinseong-eum closed the ether wave and the Arctic wind blew.
Wheeeee.
Lin muttered.
"Feels empty. No audience—what's the point of a song?"
"Heh heh."
Lanstein laughed.
"When have we ever cared about that? Let's have fun our way."
"Ah—ah."
Before long Lin was loosening his throat and Lanstein tuned his objet, the Guitaru.
It could produce the sounds of many instruments at once, though the object itself had no lethality.
'Samon.'
Killing life was Lanstein's mental resonance magic.
"It's coming."
Lin looked to the sky.
As the Taeguk split, the perfect sphere that was the Anti-cell fell in a teardrop shape.
"They're coming to kill us first."
Lin's voice didn't reach Lanstein's ears.
-Dad. Dad.
He heard his daughter's voice.
-Play the guitar.
When the Anti-cell had cut through half the void, Lin straightened and looked around.
"Aren't you going to play?" -Dad, I love you.
'Why?'
Why live like this?
'Failed artist? Wife cheating? My daughter died of a cold?'
Just as the Anti-cell was about to crush them—
"Kick!"
Lanstein burst into a sudden laugh and unleashed aggressive guitar chords.
Zzzzzzt!
'Samon (Death's Fingerprint).'
The Anti-cell, buffeted by the high-speed arpeggio's soundwave, vibrated and detonated.
Lin did a gymnastics move and murmured.
"It's rising."
The explosion's shock boosted its altitude, but it split into two and fell.
Zzzzzzt!
The ever-rising high notes triggered another explosion; in an instant the number swelled to thirty-two.
"The audience grows."
Gitaru-man's crowd-control strengthened as listeners multiplied.
This was Fermi's proposed counter to the Anti-cell—the ultimate crowd-control technique.
"Now then—"
At 128 Anti-cells, Lanstein stopped playing and straightened.
"Shall we begin?"
He'd finished warming up.
On the ground, not far from the cathedral, the universe's strongest martial arts unfolded.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Hearing earth-shattering impacts, Mini returned to human size and crawled across the ground.
"Ariana, you okay?"
Her partner, the blonde beauty, was barely breathing through the blood and gore.
"Yeah. But… did we really lose?"
The two women scanned the battlefield.
Ikael's triangular Mara Ashur clashed with Girshin, spear against sword.
"They're all monsters."
Farther away, on the surface, the archangel Ikael—who remained on the ground—clashed with the strongest, Imir.
"Kuhahahaha!"
Kurururung!
On a land with nothing left to protect, Ikael's spirit entered pure combat mode.
'Flank. Rear. Flank.'
Tracking Imir's speed with her "bending sight"—not even afterimages remained—she gritted her teeth.
'Here!'
To twist her body 115 degrees required roughly twelve thousand amplifications.
'Increase!'
Ikael's fist snapped through something in the air.
"Ughhhh!"
Imir's jaw took the blow; his torso arced back as he flew dozens of meters.
"...Heh heh heh."
A mound of earth formed behind him.
"Nice. To get that destructive power from such a slender body—truly an archangel."
Ikael grabbed her aching wrist.
'Incredibly solid.'
"Honestly, heaven had its eye on you. Your fighting has always been elegant." "It makes me greedy."
Imir formed six arms, bent his knees, and the air grew heavy.
"What if I beat you until you die?"
When he pushed off, the ground collapsed as if a nuclear blast had gone off beneath it.
Imir arrived with matching speed and struck Ikael with six fists.
"Hk!"
"Yes! That's the face!"
Unlike Rian or Ozent, he tried to preserve dignity to the end—a contorted expression, not affection, but perhaps the desire to break it once.
"Here I go!"
A punch flew from behind like something coming from beyond distant space.
'Giantization.'
Before Imir's ever-growing fist, despair filled Ikael's eyes.
"Ikael!" Just as Ashur, who had just severed part of Girshin's body, was about to relocate via signal—
"Graaah!"
Girshin regenerated dozens of legs beneath his torso and enveloped him.
"You won't die alone!"
The writhing legs showed how desperate Girshin had been moments ago.
Ashur couldn't move.
'Damn! The signal!'
He could collect every signal in the universe, but the panel area had to be perfect.
"Ta-ha!"
At that moment, Ariana trapped Girshin's longest two legs between her armpits.
'Psychokinesis…!'
Giant swing.
Squeezing out the last of the signal, she threw Girshin and Ashur's body finally vanished.
"Kuh! How dare you…!"
Unable to balance with so many legs, Girshin's face was swallowed by shadow.
"Huh?"
Mini, having grown colossal, raised a foot and stamped Girshin like an ant.
Kuuuuuuung!
"Phew."
Mini shrank back to human size, kneeling and bracing on the ground.
"Hah, we won."
"But isn't that a DQ?" A bit of foul play.
"Who cares? That's the charm of pro wrestling."
"True."
Ariana giggled.
Meanwhile, Ashur, who had moved to protect Ikael, witnessed an astonishing sight.
Beneath a fist the size of a mountain stood an archangel one-thousandth its scale.
"Uriel."
Ikael saw, with her right hand, the back of the one supporting Imir's fist.
"…Why?"
Uriel only tilted his head slightly toward her and said nothing.
"Krkrkr."
Imir grinned.
"You knew, didn't you. If I beat what you love most, you'd show up."
The world's end has its pleasures.
Whatever belief you hold, you'll eventually clash with yourself.
'That's the strongest in the universe.'
Still, Imir felt unsettled.
Was Rian's final strike mere luck, or the sign of a new realm?
'Come quickly.'
Imir toyed with his fist and cocked his head.
"Shouldn't be boring."
Rewind, 293rd time.
After withstanding the solar wind, Shirone charged full speed toward Nane again.
"Argh!" Thirty-two seconds faster than before.
'Good!'
This was enough.
"Tree—"
But in Shirone's sight—
"Ah, no!"
"Kanzeon."
Nane, with a terrifying expression and bleeding tears, was killing Amy.
"Naneeeee!"
Shirone launched.
678th time.
'Faster! Faster!'
Time no longer mattered.
The problem was that Nane's life responded precisely to Shirone's tempo.
"Please…"
Gritting his teeth, Shirone arrived to see Nane with palms pressed in prayer.
"Grrr!"
Veins burst under Nane's bowed face; blood dripped.
"Why?"
Nane asked, and Shirone shouted.
"Why on earth!"
Was this really necessary?
He had lost loved ones hundreds of times and killed beloved ones hundreds of times.
"Shirone!"
Even Buddha was driven near rage.
"I will not give up! Accept the offering! Leave no pain in this world!"
"Aaaah!"
Shirone flew at him.
2,469th time.
At a point where time and space both altered, Yahweh and Buddha met again.
It was after Amy's annihilation.
They were within an instant of each other if they threw their bodies; both gazes were utterly exhausted.
"Let's compromise."
Shirone said.
"Kill me instead. Spare Amy. Let her live in this world."
Nane shook his head.
"That can't be. If you're separated from the outside world, your world might be perfect. But Shirone, if that world is stained by evil, then what? There will be nothing but pain."
"No matter what, it's our choice. And we will choose the good."
"Our?"
Nane smiled bitterly.
"You're not alone?"
Shirone gritted his teeth and clenched his fist.
"...We'll fight."
"Same here."
The compromise failed.
6,579th time.
Shirone was already crying.
"Ahhhh…"
After so many repetitions, his heart seemed composed only of sorrow.
'I can't do it.'
Honestly, he didn't want to go. He couldn't bear the heart-rending pain once more.
'I don't want to watch.'
Nane felt the same.
'Don't come here.'
Please don't come.
Whenever the collision time drew near, Nane's hands trembled.
'…Must I kill?'
Again.
Always a new past, yet his own hands smelled of blood.
The scent of the beloved woman's blood.
Yahweh and Buddha both asked the same in that instant.
'Shall we stop?'
But the aftermath would determine the fate of all humanity, not just themselves.
"I can't give up."
Their expressions twisted in unison.
"Nane!"
At light speed Shirone lunged and the palm of the One-Against-All Buddha struck.
Nane shut his eyes.
'Damn…'
Shirone broke into sobs.
"Aaaah!"
Wooden Kanzeon.
Luver asked.
"A sorrowful expression."
Nane, still in the cathedral, blinked as if pulled out of thought.
"…It's only an illusion, right."
Even this maddening pain.
'But my pain is the suffering of sentient beings. This world is already stained with evil.'
Where civilization had been swept away, only people turned to charcoal remained—those who couldn't die.
"Death Field. Terrible. I'm glad I returned so many myself. Is there no alternative?"
To the god's question, Luver bowed.
"I'll have Monga inject Samong—Death Dream. They'll choose between pain and dissociation."
A dream that lets one directly experience death, normally forbidden.
Nane gave a wry smile.
"Still a choice?"
"We can't touch the user's code directly. But much time has passed. Users must have realized what results staining the world with evil brings."
"…Do it."
When Luver looked at Monga, the pale child's face warped monstrously.
-Dream code: Samong.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
As the signal rode Drimo, the black doll began to turn to ash.
They chose dissociation.
"Form is emptiness."
Looking over the world of nothing, Nane said,
"Emptiness is form."
"Phew."
Where demon corpses stretched to the horizon, a white-haired woman alone remained.
Jecheon Great Saint Son Yujeong.
"There's really no end. People are dead—what's so enraging?"
Perhaps the demons needed something other than humans to vent their wrath upon.
"The next region is—"
She burned flesh and emitted a chakra cloud as she flew above the surface—
"Huh?"
As if grabbing at the void, she halted midair and landed with a poised face.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
The charcoal figures that still held human shape rapidly turned to ash.
'They're all leaving.'
Son Yujeong exhaled deeply.
'They have no choice.'
Having survived the Death Field several times, she knew the pain well.
As she prepared to leave, she frowned and turned in surprise.
"That is…"
Among the ashes where everyone had dispersed, one body kept form.
'Holding on?'
Closer inspection heightened her surprise.
'Young.'
The crouched figure looked at most seven or eight years old.
'How badly must they want to live?'
She reached out with pity, and the stiff coal began to tremble.
A signal not to touch.
'Not a child.'
Though the body was young, the mental strength was something even Son Yujeong admired.
'There must be a reason.'
She folded her hands behind her back and bowed.
"May fortune be with you."
As she stepped aside, the trembling body slowly calmed.
The Wizard ground his teeth.
'Not yet.'
Every breath scorched the body, but it was the only way to slip out of Satan's gaze.
'Havitz. Perhaps the reason extreme chaos could escape the Law was because it used… some authority of a god.'
A transcendent genius who had mastered the five major systems of the universe reached that conclusion.
'Not a god. A god would never compute like this. It's like… a hooligan son using parental authority personally.'
'That must be it.'
So the Wizard used Havitz's heart to bind him to this world.
'Don't provoke him clumsily.'
He's unlike a god; to win, he'd read even taboos.
'If this authority is blocked, he'll use another. He'll manipulate everything to destroy humanity.'
His stat growth matched or exceeded the Wizard's. Facing him now would only create unprecedented monsters.
'We must hold.'
He simulated every situation Havitz might handle.
'I will outpace Satan's evolution. When that work is done… we can land a blow.'
A move Havitz could never perceive.
'Super-gap.'
By the missing single frame.
"Five minutes to deployment!"
The resistance on the surface stared at the demons shimmering beyond the dust veil.
Everyone had gathered except a few, like the Ivory Tower's Kira assigned to VIP protection.
Kanis, placed in the rear, took Arin's hand.
Feeling that touch, Arin turned with a resolved look.
"Kanis, I've been thinking—us…"
"It doesn't matter. Sibling or not, it's irrelevant to me."
Arin's face fell.
"Then call me brother."
"Huh?"
"What I want is your happiness. Since Radum, that's all I've wished for. So—"
Kanis smiled.
"I'll always be by your side. As your brother." Arin confirmed Kanis's sincerity through his Hyo-gyeong.
'Ah?…'
The face filled with light was Kanis's true face, not the wounded mask.
'So this is Kanis.' With that certainty, Arin gripped Kanis's hand and nodded.
Heh.
The Harvester ascended.
"Kukuku."
A shadow with spear-like arms wrapped the two shoulders and faced forward.
"Now, the final battle."
The demon host surged through the dust.
Two days had passed in reality.
The resistance fought desperately, but the demons only multiplied.
Even the cold-headed Lupist was annoyed.
'Too many.'
No—the numbers had been large from the start and kept piling like leaves.
'We can't track Satan's position. Jinseong-eum and the Gunnists can't get a bead on it.'
Is that possible?
'They're using every foul trick.'
The only thing preventing the world from being closed at will was the Wizard's existence.
Kiaaaa!
Looking up at the monstrous cries, dragons and Teraforce fought in the air.
'Support seems impossible.'
It was close—the dragons were losing ground.
"Huh?"
And everyone saw it.
"What is that?"
From the distant sky, a gray wave rolled like water freezing.
"Anti-cell?"
Its size had shrunk since the first time, but its numbers seemed to reach into the trillions, quadrillions, and beyond.
Dum-dum-dum-dum! Dum-dum-dum-dum!
As Samon's signal connected, a fast-beat drum decorated the sky.
It was Gitaru-man's performance.
"Yeah—!"
Lin's voice started the song.
-This morning I slept in and they call me lazy. Oh my, sorry. No time to sleep after partying all day, hey.
Her song drifted even down to Panier's room beneath the cathedral.
-Playing till I pass out, that's my day. Music never ends even in sleep. We number a billion. I rule the dawn. Hey!
"Heh heh heh."
Even as demons infiltrated below, Panier couldn't help laughing.
'This is absurd.'
Resistance music—how passé.
'Now the singers are in charge.' But he didn't hate it.
'Honestly, I love it.'
Rewind, 10,874th time.
"Hmm."
Tormia's Immigration Policy Chief adjusted his glasses.
"An East Asian brother and sister who arrived sixteen years ago. Immigration was active then."
Shirone asked.
"Can you find records?"
"Who knows. The volume is massive. It could take days to search everything."
"Time's on our side."
Indeed.
"Hmm—if that's the case…"
The chief looked bothered but couldn't refuse someone who was a mage.
Of course the documents had been forged with material.
"Um—"
A man in the hallway entered; the chief hurried up to bow.
"Ah, Administrator."
A black-haired, black-eyed East Asian—rare in Tormia—had come in.
He asked Shirone.
"Are those two fraternal twins, perhaps?"
"You know them?"
"…This way."
When Shirone followed him into the administrator's office, a secretary brought tea and the conversation began.
"Why do you want to find them?"
"Not exactly to find them. I just… want to confirm if they're siblings. It's personally important."
"It's important to me too."
"Huh?"
The administrator lifted his teacup and faced the window.
"Indeed, much time has passed. I immigrated from a small country called Min in the East. It was during the height of civil war—local lords fighting for sovereignty."
Shirone listened.
"I got my footing and handled immigration. Still, my roots were in Min, so I kept an eye on its state. Of course it's gone now."
"I see."
"A general had fraternal twins. Coincidentally, his domain was in utter chaos. A nation that prized bloodlines, he had to choose: preserve the legitimate line for the future, or send the children away to save their lives."
"So he sent them to Tormia?"
"No. The general intended to keep fighting, win the war, and pass the domain on. But his wife opposed. She wanted to flee."
Shirone sensed something off.
"Could it be—"
The administrator asked,
"Are you familiar with the shadow warrior?"
"Yes. In crises, a person similar to the leader is sent in their place. Used often in the East."
"Oh." Shirone understood.
"The general secretly swapped one twin for a shadow warrior without his wife's knowledge. She emigrated to Tormia unaware. I was the one who helped her immigrate."
"I was paid, but since she was from my homeland I wanted to help. The gate was passed, but I don't know what happened after. The shadow warrior fact only came to light after Min's unification."
"What happened to the child left in Min…?"
"After the general's suicide, the child was beheaded."
Only one truth remained.
"So which of the man and woman who came here was the shadow warrior?"
"Hmm."
The administrator stroked his chin.
"This was a hot debate in Min. Considering legitimacy, they'd likely keep a son. But the general killed himself without revealing the truth. Those who came here likely died. The unifying king was brutal enough to chase bloodlines to the ends of the earth—maybe that's why they fell."
In the end they couldn't know whose child the general's had been.
'But—'
Shirone asked again.
"So the children who came here aren't siblings: one was a shadow warrior."
"Yes. That's the accepted conclusion."
That was enough.
"Thank you."
"When—?"
As Shirone rose, the administrator asked,
"Do you know them?"
He could have said anything, but Shirone smiled and shook his head.
"No."
Just friends.
Leaving the administrator nodding, Shirone stepped outside.
"Phew."
He felt somewhat relieved.
'Thank goodness. Kanis, Arin.'
In the Pyramid of Truth, those two had endured the wave of righteousness with all their hearts.
The scenes had been fragmented perhaps because the gods manipulated their origins.
'You won.'
He missed her.
After over ten thousand rewinds, his soul was exhausted.
'I can't fight.'
At some point he had stopped rewinding.
'I can't keep watching Amy die.'
He lived in illusion, meeting friends and tracing backstories.
But there remained one person he could never find.
Carmis Amy.
'Should I go?'
Seeing her alive would probably collapse everything.
'I want to see her.'
He missed her so badly even imagining her felt like cool water seeping into a parched spirit.
"Ah—"
Unconsciously, Shirone moved.
"Amy."
Alpheas School of Magic.
Walking the park searching for Amy, Shirone saw her sitting on a bench.
Her red hair tied tight at the back made his heart flutter.
'Yes, let's meet.'
Just as he stepped—
Seriel waved and ran up from afar.
"Amy!"
Feeling guilty, Shirone hurriedly hid behind a tree.
He heard Amy's voice.
"What? Why so late?"
"Hehe! Sorry! Overslept."
"Whatever."
They complained about graduating students amid busy schedules.
"End-of-month evaluations are the problem. Especially interpersonal combat. Scores are at stake, so even friendly moments get awkward."
Seriel grinned.
"Hehe, I know."
"What?"
"You're worried about fighting Shirone, right? Worried your relationship will get awkward?"
"Wha—no way. A test isn't personal. I don't sulk over that."
"Who says? What if Shirone sulks? That's the issue."
"Shirone would—"
Amy stopped.
"Would he really sulk?"
"Hmm."
Seriel grew serious in front of her friend.
"Be honest. Shirone, if it's about the test… if the test is truly important then…"
"I like him."
Amy was frank.
"I like him. That's why it's complicated. Being together makes me nervous and excited. Honestly…"
"A kiss, maybe?"
"Yeah. But I never want to go first. Not because I don't want Shirone to dislike it, but—"
"I know the feeling."
Seriel's eyes clouded with worry.
'Should I tell Fermi?'
Amy tilted her head.
"What? You seem more troubled than me—do you have someone?"
"No. Not like that…"
After hesitating, Seriel smiled bitterly.
"I'll tell you later. Later." In the end, Shirone couldn't meet Amy.
'Good.'
Even just hearing her voice might have shattered all his will.
'Why didn't I know?'
He knew then too, but the feelings couldn't be explained.
'I shouldn't have gone.'
He shouldn't have assumed he couldn't love her more from that point.
"I'm going to save her! I'll bring her back!"
He had to hold onto that hope or he'd give up everything.
"Amy."
A name worth his life.
"Amy."
The shape of his heart.
"Ae—"
Shirone stopped walking.
"Ugh."
As if realizing for the first time, the world without her felt painfully clear.
"Uoooo—eh."
He could only cry like a fool.
Miro's eyes flashed with killing intent.
"Come on!"
Beyond the endless wave of demons, Satan with a pitch-black body sneered.
"A really old-fashioned woman."
Havitz reached out and gave an order.
"Go, my dogs."
"Raaah! Charge!"
As disobeying meant eternal torture, the demons charged with blazing eyes.
The Thousand-Handed Avalokiteshvara incarnation struck the demons like lightning, but the numbers were overwhelming.
"How—?!"
Havitz activated the Death Field; thousands of demons popped and burned.
"Graaaah!"
Satan, who had long abandoned the notion of allies, extended the effect over the whole land.
"Ugh!"
Even the incarnation turned to black charcoal, relaying terrible pain to Miro.
'What on earth is this?'
Acting entirely on whim.
If Nane fought for righteousness, Havitz was pure wrongness.
"What are you doing? You claim to be the good side."
Miro looked up to find Havitz approaching.
"There he is, the villain boss." The faceless silhouette spread its arms and mocked.
"Iyaaaah!"
The incarnation unleashed a devastating barrage, but felt only pain.
Miro gritted her teeth and retreated.
"Ughhh."
Smoke rose from her trembling, burning hands; all she felt was pain.
'How can I win this?'
"What now?"
Satan's jaws split open.
"If you don't fight, I'll play with you."
"H—?!"
Miro's eyes flared.
"You bastard!"
The incarnation, furious, landed thirty million hits on Satan.
IZ IZ IZ TZ TZ IZ I
A miracle by time segmentation, but the return was agony in kind.
"Aaaahhh!"
Miro screamed.
"Pu-hahaha! What's that? A pathetic beam. Just like any other human." Satan's tone shifted into a child's; she didn't notice.
'Frustrating.'
Why couldn't she win?
'They spoke of extremes and utter wickedness.'
If each defines the other, at least they should be able to fight like merit and compassion.
Kneeling, Miro shouted.
"Why! Why do you do this!"
Havitz's answer was simple.
"Because it's fun."
His body grew tens of meters tall and he stomped.
"This is giantization."
Faced with Satan's ability to manipulate the world, Miro turned pale.
"I'll give you a mouth."
Havitz stomped and said,
"I want to hear you beg for death."
At that moment an immense air pressure, as if the sky itself collapsed, pressed down.
Kukukukukuku!
"What—?"
It felt impossible to endure.
"Uh?"
That overwhelming scale of pressure.
Satan, hastily shrinking, curled in and the ground was crushed.
Ku—
Demons in the radius were flattened; only Havitz remained standing.
"Grrr."
Gaold walked forward slowly.
"The planet's tough."
If normal planetary durability applied, the area would have become a sea of lava.
At the same time, Gitaru-man's music in the sky shifted into heavy metal.
"Oh…?"
Probably coincidence, but Miro's mind drifted to the life of the man who had arrived on the battlefield.
"Gaold."
Passing by Miro, he cast a cold glance.
"Leaving me and running off alone?"
"No—it's not that…"
Seeing Miro flustered like never before, Gaold smirked and advanced.
"Leave it to me."
Havitz snarled.
"How dare you surprise me? One more move and I'll burn you. Eternal torment awaits."
"Eternal torment? Fire?"
Gaold's teeth ground.
"Good."
A grin split his face as his massive pyro technique reshaped the scene.
Flare!
Havitz watched his fingertips and toes ignite in silence.
"Huh? This…"
A searing pain hit.
"Aaaah! It hurts! Aaa—!"
Gaold's Air Press-fueled punch sent Satan's body flying.
As Gaold advanced, hundreds of demons were crushed; when Satan charged again—
"I won't be the only one to hurt!"
Watching him leap with arms spread, Gaold's face twisted.
"Ha, ha ha." Fool.
'Pain is…'
This unprecedented Air Press crushed the earth.
'Not something to bear alone.'
The compressed ground's friction ignited a massive blaze.
Paaaaaarooooom!
Even as the flames surged, Miro thought.
'Why?'
Why does extreme human technique survive where extreme beams fail?
The Teraforce chief justice had said:
-You cannot vanquish evil alone.
'And also—
-To win is also a methodology of evil. When all aspects of good, evil, and compassion mesh, humanity will make its final choice. We must hold until then.' The flames were abruptly cut off.
"Huh?"
Miro turned to see Sein, Gangran, Sing, and Zulu walking toward her.
"You guys…"
Sein held out a hand.
"Finally found you. Well, certainly you—Satan, I mean."
Even without reacting to the barb, Miro looked past them.
An army of humans was charging.