The Lonely Goddess (Latter Part)

When had it all started? Not even she could remember at this point. She just barely remembered that she used to be a person, but that fact had been erased from history the moment she became divine. She was the only one who knew that she used to be human, and there wasn't even proof of that. It was so long ago that, as for what kind of twists and turns had led up to her current state, not even she remembered, but there was no doubt that she'd rewritten existing space and become a god in the end.

After that, the first thing she did after becoming god was to create an entirely new universe. Next, she created a planet with a suitable environment for creatures to live in before trying her hand at creating life. However, this was where she stumbled. She housed enough destructive power to make short work of the universe itself, but she had no ability to create a new life.

Why? Because to her, life was far too fragile. It was far more transient than what she was able to handle. The act of composing a life was so complicated, like a puzzle that needed to be completed to move forward. However, even touching one of the parts of the puzzle was hard for her. As she was, even if she wanted to create life, she would come out of the endeavor with nothing. With no other choice, she decided to move the living things she wanted from her former world to the one she'd made—named Midgar—little by little, and have them propagate and flourish in the new environment.

Time passed, and when species with similar intellect and forms to humans on Earth eventually sprouted forth, she was so happy she danced a little jig. She loved humanity. If they wanted something, she answered, and if they wished for something, she gave it to them. That never changed, even after someone ate the forbidden fruit filled with evil concepts that she'd forbidden them from ever touching.

I love you all. I want you to be happy. I will surely lead you to happiness!

With that wish, she granted humanity everything they wished for.

But… Why? I wonder why? The more I give, the more I fulfill their wishes…

Humanity's standard level of happiness and fulfillment continued to go up, and the higher it went, the less they were able to feel happy.

***

Someone was yelling in an awful voice without a shred of kindness to it.

A little girl was being yelled at angrily by a man with white wings who must have been her father, at least by blood.

Parents yelled at their children. It wasn't an especially rare thing; most people experienced this sometime in their lives. But this wasn't anger due to concern for his child. There was only a selfish anger and a man simply venting his resentment at a little girl.

"Did you seriously injure someone else's kid again?! What did I say?! Don't hurt other people!"

"But, Father, they were the ones who hit me first, and a lot of them threw rocks at me. I was just trying to defend myself…"

"Shut up!"

A sharp sound echoed through the area.

The young girl knew it was because of violence brought down upon her by the living thing that was her 'father'.

This always happens. This man never listened to what she had to say. He was simply playing at being her father, pretending to discipline her. But in reality, he only thought of himself.

That was why he so quickly resorted to violence if whatever she had been doing didn't please him. He would never have said anything out of concern for his child.

Basically, he was only keeping up appearances. If the girl did anything, his reputation would worsen. That was why he pretended to scold her like this, shouting angrily like an idiot.

"I don't remember raising you to be like this! Where did I go wrong?! Huh?! Tell me!" The man yelled in his awful voice, and the girl agreed inwardly.

Of course you don't.

After all, she didn't remember the man raising her at all.

All this man's ever given me are jeers and violence.

Where did you go wrong? Everywhere. In fact, I don't remember you going right anywhere.

"There are no parents who don't love their children."

Those were just simple, pretty words spouted by someone clueless who probably basked in their parents's love their whole life. They probably had a sage expression, too.

There were tons of parents who didn't love their children. Because they never wanted a child, or because the child was in the way, or because they were too noisy.

Or, because their wings were black…

For just those reasons, parental love could easily disappear.

The little girl never received anything even resembling love from the piece of filth that was at the very least called her father.

"…liar."

Leaving behind that single word, the girl ran. She didn't want to have to hear the man's voice anymore and couldn't find any meaning in continuing to talk to him.

That man is just a stranger. A stranger who just happens to share blood with me.

So I'm not sad. This isn't painful. These droplets of water running down my cheeks are not tears. They're not.

She ran.

She simply ran without even knowing where she was running to. There was no place for her in this village.

Just for having taboo black wings… For having black wings, she was alienated, neglected, and discriminated against. Even though it wasn't like she was contagious or would spread illness, she had rocks thrown at her, and if she ever fought back it was her fault.

Her only ally was her mother. But her mother was weak in constitution, and the girl didn't want to worry her needlessly.

But the presence of her mother was a saving grace to the girl, and if that didn't exist, then she would probably have long fled the village.

Why did this have to happen to me? Why? Just because the color of my wings is different?

There were angels other than her who didn't have white wings. They all lived clinging to each other as people under the same circumstances often do in a place the sun didn't reach, the exact definition of slums.

If she'd gone there, she probably would have turned out differently. But she didn't know what the thing called her father would do to her mother if she left the house. The violence pointed at her might have instead been pointed at her mother.

Why is the world this unfair? Why do we have to be this unhappy?

She couldn't stop herself from cursing god.

A great Goddess of creation? As if. Goddess of love? I'm gonna puke.

If there really is a god that overflows with love and mercy, then why is the world so full of unfairness?

There's no point in praying. No one will reach out to help.

No one will save me.

At such a young age, the little girl stopped relying on others.

Since nobody will help me, I'll just have to do it myself.

She was still living at home and was given the bare minimum of food, but she didn't know when that would stop. And more importantly, she had no intentions of continuing to live life like this.

That was why she wished to become strong.

She wanted to become strong enough to be able to wipe away all the irrationality and unfairness of the world.

I'm still young and weak, but one day for sure… I'll take Mama and get out of this miserable life.

The black-winged girl, Lunaru Fenris, vowed strongly to do so from the bottom of her heart.

***

This was the Endpoint, a place outside of the universe Yggdra had named. It was the final point of everything, as well as the beginning. All worlds and all timelines connected to this place.

Universes here were something like programs installed on a computer. There was a lot of saved data, each datum being a separate parallel world. Once someone left a universe, they would find countless more universes, or programs, all collated within folders. However, if they then looked past those folders, they would find that the folders were themselves contained in more folders. Past that, many more like them would be found if someone were to leave the computer itself.

The place Yggdra ruled over was something like this. Everything connected to this space, a world only for Yggdra that no one else should have been able to enter.

Naru and the other two's vision was smothered in white that seemed to go on forever. There was no point in wondering how far the place stretched, for it stretched on endlessly. This place was quite literally infinite. In opposition to the never-ending white, there were black points in several places, each of which was a universe.

Midgar itself was only a small part of one of these universes. It was nothing more than a small planet, existing quietly amongst many other planets inside a single galaxy amidst clusters of other galaxies.

This was the definition of completely altered scales. It didn't matter how monstrous Naru and her group was; that only applied to their small celestial body. Those accolades held no power this far away. At least, that was what Yggdra had thought. That was why she was currently the most shocked she'd ever been, so much so that her body physically shivered. Not only had her sanctuary been invaded, there were three of them. They were all arrayed before her, looking very determined. There was no concept of size in this space, as once Naru and the other two had crossed through the universe itself, they had become equal to Yggdra. They, who should have been nothing but specks in a vast universe, had undoubtedly come as true enemies.

"So you're Yggdra… It's our first time meeting like this, isn't it?"

On the other hand, not even Naru could hide her nerves at finally meeting the Goddess and basking in her sheer presence.

The Goddess's true form was an unbelievably beautiful woman with carnelian red hair and orange eyes. She wore a pure white dress with a celestial night cape draped over it and was haloed by light.

As for her stats, Naru tried looking at them but quickly realized it was pointless. Her stats screen did come up. It did. However, there was just a continuous string of nines, stretching all the way through this infinite space. Just a single glance was enough for Naru to realize how useless it was trying to calculate Yggdra's abilities. For now, it should be enough to just think that she has stats so astronomically high you'd only ever see them in star charts.

"I'm surprised. I never thought you'd be able to come here."

"I'm sure you didn't."

Though Naru acted calm, internally she was thinking that she was the one who was astounded. I figured she'd be different… I thought I understood that she would be in a whole other dimension, but… Her thoughts stalled momentarily. Now that we're here, I can only be in awe of how huge she is.

So each one of those tiny black things in here—every single last one of them—is a universe?

Now this is what you call inflation. Finally, Naru had reached the highest point.

"Am I right in assuming the reason you're here is to request a change to the script?"

"If you know that much already, then this will be quick. Even if you say no, we'll just force you to rewrite it."

In response, Yggdra asked if her script was really wrong. "Is it really that bad to have a common enemy for all humanity to rally against?"

Of course the world might have seemed harsh to those living in it. Yggdra knew that much, at least. However, that harshness is perfect. The pain is a good thing. Why? Because that's what humanity actually needs.

"Not even I would make the world like this on a sudden whim. At first, I thought that saving people and giving them everything they needed was the path to happiness."

Yggdra closed her eyes sadly as she spoke of the past.

Yes… I used to believe that continuing to save people, to give them what they desired, would bring about happiness. But I was wrong. If all you do is fulfill people, their sense of happiness and fulfillment will go numb. In a world with nothing but peace, people will be unable to recognize that peace for what it is.

For example, pretend there was a cake that needed to be given to two children who were having a birthday. One was poor, so poor that they had never once celebrated their birthday and struggled to have enough to eat day-to-day. The other was wealthy, able to eat as much cake as they wanted, and for every birthday, that child received an extra large birthday cake. Imagine that both of these children received the same cake. Only one of them would feel great happiness. What a delicious cake, the first child would say. This is the first time I've ever gotten a birthday cake! However, the other one would express nothing but anger. Are you kidding me? It's my birthday! What's up with this tiny cake?

Isn't it strange? Though they had been given a cake of the same size and flavor, the poor child would feel lucky while the rich child would feel unlucky.

Why does something like this happen? Because of the average level of happiness. The poor child's average level is low, so a small cake seems like the gift of a lifetime. Meanwhile, the rich child's average level is high, and they no longer feel happiness over something like a small cake. For that child, happiness has become such a given thing that they are unable to recognize their good fortune. Yes, the happiness people feel is not on an empirical scale. It varies greatly depending on the surroundings and circumstances.

"It's no good to simply give people happiness. If all they experience is peace, they'll just rot."

Back when Yggdra had done nothing but save people, the world was nothing short of a paradise. There was no starvation and no pain. Everything was dealt with by the Goddess, and not even the concept of a life span existed. Humanity was divorced from sickness and death, and they were able to receive anything they wanted. They were swaddled in the Goddess's love in a world with no war and no wealth disparity. It truly was a divine Eden, one that idealists dreamt of but was impossible in reality, the picture of a golden age.

Yggdra truly had once managed to realize what most people imagined heaven to be like. However, there was no limit to human greed. They took as much as they could, and the more she gave, the more their average level of happiness went up.

It's only natural to be given things. It's only natural to be saved. Once those thoughts took hold of people, their happiness became too commonplace, and they were unable to recognize their fortune. They simply accepted the Goddess's gifts while being unable to feel joy, and if even the littlest thing did not go their way, they became unhappy. It was a world where no one had to do anything, because even if they didn't, the Goddess would take care of it. They didn't walk by themselves, because if they wished for it, the Goddess whisked them anywhere. They didn't stand, because there was no need to. Neither would they lift things nor even eat on their own.

They simply existed in this paradise with no hardship, and because everything was granted to them, they did nothing. Humans could just lie down on some soft patch of grass or even a bed gifted to them by the Goddess.

Seeing humanity like that, Yggdra lamented everything.

No, this isn't how things should be. This isn't the world I wanted to make. I didn't want to make people like this. Those people… They were trying their best to live in such a painful world. They tried their best, but even then, they weren't saved. They were so pitiful that I wanted to save them myself. I just wanted to make those people happy, but this… This is just… Aren't they just puppets?

Yggdra didn't understand.

I'm not wrong. I've been doing the right thing this entire time! But then, why…? Why has humanity degraded this much? Why are their hearts so frozen?

At that point, she looked over at her original world in order to grab a breather. There, she saw something unbelievable—a single child struggling through poverty, feeling massively happy over eating a chunk of hard bread that couldn't be described as delicious even out of pure flattery. Yggdra's people would not even look at such food. They consumed much better bread as if it was their birthright, sometimes even throwing pieces away after just a single bite. However, none of those people felt happiness doing so. After all, it had all become natural to them.

Citizens of countries at war felt happiness over only some small moments of peace. This was something completely foreign to the Goddess's people. That sight was the most overwhelming to Yggdra.

"It seems you've all gotten the wrong idea," the Goddess said. "I don't actually want to make people unhappy. In fact, it's the opposite… I am trying to lead them to happiness. I want them to be happy."

I was wrong. Yggdra had realized her mistake, and she understood that what humanity needed was not peace and pure happiness. Ah, right. It's so obvious. Sugar is sweet, but anybody would come to hate sugar if they had candy covered in it every day. It's so delectable because of its scarcity. Sweet things taste best after eating something spicy, but if someone has only ever eaten sweet things, then they probably don't even think that they're sweet anymore. Happiness is just like that. There needs to be a difference for people to feel it. If someone is experiencing rock bottom, then even the smallest things will fill them with happiness.

I can make people happy! At the very least, I can make things much better than this rotten paradise. They think nothing, do nothing; they only sit still and wait for things to be given to them. How is that happiness? How is that human? People are human because they stand up to adversity and advance on their own feet. That is what makes humanity beautiful. Yes. It is people I want to make happy, not puppets.

"That can't be… So you are saying that everything you have forced onto the world was done for the sake of humanity, Yggdra?!" Satsuki, who'd had the longest relationship with the Goddess out of those there, raised her voice in anger. "That this was all done with goodwill instead of malice…? That you only released such misfortune into the world in order to make humanity happy?! Such a reason was why I was forced onto the path of a jester for so long?!"

This isn't funny… What the hell?! I don't intend to play the victim here. I lent a hand to the Goddess's Script, after all, and I made many suffer. I won't cover that up. But that reason… To think it was for such a ridiculous reason! All this suffering and all the lives of the heroes I'd killed were all for this…?

Satsuki was silent for some time. "This… All those people I killed… ! I… I… All those noble lives, just for this? Their futures, I…"

"You should not grieve, Tsukuyomi the Ouroboros of the Moon. They were happy. It was a lie, but the fact that they were able to exchange their lives for peace undoubtedly gave them serenity and fulfillment."

"STOP FUCKING WITH MEEEEEE!"

Satsuki flew into a rage, swinging at Yggdra.

This happened precisely because she'd continued killing so many for so long. All their futures, their happy moments, had been stolen by her for such a worthless reason. More than anyone else, the one Satsuki couldn't forgive the most was herself; she'd never even asked the Goddess why she was doing such things.

Satsuki swung her fist at the Goddess with newfound strength that was enough to destroy clusters of galaxies at once. Her fist surpassed the speed of light, and its destructive power was impossible to calculate. At this point, it would be downplaying the level of her attack to simply call it a 'blow'; it was the very concept of pure destruction made manifest.

Such an attack headed for the Goddess, but it seemed far too easy for her to stop, as she simply deployed an invisible wall.

"You are currently wracked by grief, Tsukuyomi the Ouroboros of the Moon. You are tortured by the weight of your sins…" the Goddess said, pausing. "But worry not. If you are suffering, that means you cannot go lower. From here on out, you can become happy. Now, rejoice!"

"YOOOOOOUUUU…!"

"I will never abandon my subjects. I wish for people's happiness from the bottom of my heart, so…"

Yggdra smiled and held her hand towards Satsuki.

Naru and Sakura reacted simultaneously, launching spells from their palms. However, the three of them were all transported to some sort of space right next to a group of stars several thousands of times bigger than the Sun.

"For tomorrow's happiness that will surely come. Fall to despair, world!" It was a hypernova. Explosions large enough to engulf the entire universe in flame occurred one after the other, with the three of them at the epicenter.

"Blow it away, Scales of Selection. Brachium!"

Naru intercepted the explosive flames of the hypernova with a destructive torrent of light. At this point, the very concept of time no longer existed, so Brachium's once-per-day limit could basically be ignored. Naru had set not only the galaxy but the entire galactic cluster as the target of her swirling destructive light.

If the enemy was going to destroy stars as an attack, then all she needed to do was wipe out all the stars in the area. An eye for an eye and brute force for brute force. Naru had no intention of doing something so boring as to use giant-killing tricks. This was a fight with the fate of the world on the line, a fight of pure destruction versus pure destruction. They would find out who was on top and force the other to obey.

There was only one strategy for Naru to take. In fact, it wasn't even a strategy. Beat them head-on! That was the only way.

When Naru canceled out Yggdra's attack, Sakura and Satsuki both launched themselves forward, pummeling the Goddess with a string of blows. Their speed was already infinite, and because their attacks landed the instant they were launched, there was no evasion. However, they were stopped by an invisible wall in front of the Goddess.

As if I care. It's too much work to think of a way around it. There wouldn't be any weak points anyway. There's no point in even thinking about it. The only way is to push straight through. Their only choice was to destroy it head-on. Why would there be any other solution in this ultimate battle?

"HAAAAAAAGGGHHH!"

"OOOOAAARRRGGGGHHH!"

Sakura and Satsuki's attacks rained down forcefully on the invisible wall. These attacks, which surpassed the speed of light, had also attained infinite mass, so these shock waves shook space itself. However, that didn't matter. At this point, neither side cared about incidental casualties.

Satsuki transformed into a dragon and unleashed a beam. It hit. The torrent of light raged onwards, instantly reaching the ends of space and extinguishing all the stars, planets, and even galaxies in its path. However, the Goddess was unscathed. There wasn't even a scratch.

"Maiden Who Shoots a Silver Arrow!"

Sakura unleashed the most powerful Moon element spell, and a silver arrow surged towards the Goddess. The sheer size of it was awe-inspiring.

The arrow was larger than a galaxy, and it barreled towards the Goddess. Just having the arrow pass nearby caused countless entire galaxies to disappear, but it never reached the Goddess. A smile still on her face, the Goddess had stopped the arrow with nothing but a single finger, and a single breath erased it as if she were blowing out a candle.

Naru raised her hands, activating the strongest secret art of alchemy in exchange for most of the universe.

"Come, you who destroys the source… Transmute! The Beast Who Strikes with Malice—Níðhöggr!"

What manifested from beyond the void was a black dragon so large that calling it gigantic didn't even come close to cutting it. Compared to the sheer scale of its body, even the ouroboroses were like microbes. Its undulating body seemed large enough to be able to swallow this universe in its entirety. Its glare alone caused stars to turn to dust, and a single breath could blow away multitudes of galaxies. It came from the core of the universe, a monster among monsters said to be forever eating the world tree—Yggdrasil.

Now it faced the Goddess, raising a roar that reverberated through the vastness of space.

"RROOOOOOOAAAAAARRRR!"

This roar alone caused cracks to appear in the universe, and the remaining few celestial bodies were all broken down to particles and destroyed. The dragon was so big it exhibited its own form of supergravity, and just its presence warped space destructively. It was a true calamity; the mere fact that it existed put the universe in danger. It was a beast of pure ruin.

However, Yggdra just giggled when she saw it. "How cute."

With a light smack, it was deleted.

The end of such a monster was disappointing and far too short. Its overbearing presence vanished as if it had never existed at all; Naru's biggest skill had been dealt with as if it were trash. Seeing this, even Naru was struck mute for a moment.

"Hee hee. You really are strong…" the Goddess said, pausing. "But something like that loses all meaning if I raise it up a stage."

Trying to hold a conversation while moving at a speed faster than light, causing everything to freeze, was a strange thing. Sound itself was basically frozen as well at this point, after all. However, one of the participants was the Goddess, who could bend anything and everything to her will. Therefore, bending laws like this was no problem for her, allowing such a paradox to act as if it weren't one at all.

Speaking in the middle of the vacuum of space was strange in the first place. Common sense did not apply here. Rather, at this point, not even a shred of common sense existed anymore.

Everything from this point on was and would be supernatural. However, there was still one thing that would be unchanged: the stronger one would prevail. Only this undeniable rule would never change, no matter where or when.

"Tch! Burn her to cinders, god-slaying flame. Hamal!"

Naru spewed fire from her palm, which halved the target's HP. It didn't matter how big the number was, it would all be treated the same with this skill. It didn't matter how large, immeasurable, or unimaginably incalculable the number was; it would be halved.

From there, Naru also activated Ex-Coalesce, combining the fire with Deneb Algedi to make the damage unrecoverable. The resultant black flames that would burn away gods swallowed Yggdra, but she was unmoved.

"Heeheeh. I added another hundred digits to my HP when I was hit, so your flames barely did anything to me," said Yggdra.

"Quick Raid!"

Sakura jumped in from the side, twirling to gain speed and unleashing a flurry of attacks.

Faster, faster, faster! I'm already on the far end of infinity in terms of speed. There isn't anything higher. But I don't care! If what I'm doing isn't working, then I just have to keep breaking limits! Surpass infinity to an even further infinity! I'll keep busting through these walls, surpassing my past self! That's the only solution!

"There is no limit to the strength that people can imagine," said Yggdra. "For example, take two different stories, and compare the strength of their two main characters. The character from the first story is strong enough to destroy the universe, but the character from the second story says that a universe is just a small cell in a part of an even larger megaverse."

As Yggdra spoke, the universe started to shrink. It got smaller and smaller, and eventually, it was as small as it could get, small enough for Naru and the other two to see the entirety of the universe at once. They were being shown that the universe was but a microcosm of something larger. Beyond that, there was an even larger space.

Unwilling to listen to the Goddess's leisurely lecture, Naru threw out an attack overlaid with skill, a poison that would never disappear, while Satsuki used her breath attack. However, the Goddess didn't stop.

"But this is where a third story comes in, and they claim that even the second story's universe is but a small cell of an even bigger one."

Once again, the universe shrunk. Thus, she once again showed them the sheer scale of things, where two nested universes were once again nested in a larger one.

"Even if there was someone labeled as the strongest among these characters in a setting this overwhelming, things would be flipped upside down by nothing but one word from the author, or in other words, God. That being that there was an even stronger character able to defeat the first character with but one punch. Just like that, another powerhouse would appear. Then that fourth powerhouse gets treated like a child by a fifth, who is then unable to react to the speed at which a sixth fights. Then the sixth character gets killed a hundred times over by a single forehead flick from a seventh, who can't even lift a finger against an eighth, who equals a ninth in strength. Then, even if there were a hundred of the ninth character they would get trampled over by a tenth, who can be erased in a single breath by an eleventh… Hee hee hee. Doesn't that sound rather common in fiction?"

Light gathered in Yggdra's hand. It was no normal light; it contained countless universes and held the power to destroy hundreds, thousands, or even billions of worlds. This was the dimension of gods; the scale of it all was just different.

"This is all just the product of childish arguments," Yggdra continued. "Imagine two young children. One pretends to attack with some sort of awesome beam, but the other defends against it with an equally awesome barrier. Then the first child claims that their beam can easily break through any barrier, causing the second child to insist that their barrier is an invincible one still capable of blocking it. That just causes the child on the offensive to get angry and stubborn, and they continue to selfishly insist that their beam can break the barrier, no matter how invincible it is. Then, the second child tries to insist that their barrier will never break, no matter what… There is no end to this."

Yggdra giggled again, showing her absolute confidence in her victory, her power.

I cannot lose. There's no reason I would. Even if there were, I could just go above it. I can make as many settings where I am the strongest as I please. Reason is nothing. Providence is nothing.

"I'll start by telling you this: my power is endless. I can layer setting upon setting. For example, even if you all managed to obtain some sort of ability or power to defeat me, I would be able to answer it by saying, 'Those abilities and powers will not work on me. I am strong enough to defeat you all with a single one of my fingers.' Do you think it is childish? Well, that's because it is. I won't deny it. But things like this are far more powerful than pretentious, unmoving settings that go on forever."

Yggdra's power spiked, causing a universe-sized explosion. Naru and the other two defended against it with all their might, either erasing the explosion or absorbing it as their own power.

However, that was when Yggdra flew at them, flinging the three of them away at the same time. They all quickly regained their footing and went on the offensive, but their attacks were easily evaded. These were attacks that should have left behind the process of having to hit, because they came with infinite speed.

"Infinite speed? Yes, that's amazing. So I'll respond with, 'To me, infinite speed is the same as one speed. I am still a hundred times faster,' " said the Goddess. "If you boast infinite attack strength, then I'll respond, 'There is another infinity behind that, which makes your infinity look like a one.' If you manage to surpass that, then I will just add another layer on top. If you continue to get stronger infinitely, then I will just get stronger at a thousand times that speed."

"Now, what will you do next?" she continued. "Use some sort of instant death power where you just have to look at the target? Use an ability to steal your opponent's powers? Make use of some sort of special attribute that always makes you stronger than your opponent? Turn back time altogether and make it so this never happened? Use some amazing power to go to a higher world in order to rip up your opponent's settings? Activate something that will nullify all abilities? Erect an invincible barrier that will reflect any and every attack at twice the strength? Manipulate the very concept of victory in order to make yourself always win, ignoring everything else? Cheat and implant the concept of defeat onto your opponent so that they will always lose? Make use of a pure and simple power that will pierce through everything to always kill the target? I don't care what you do. Please, come at me until you're satisfied. None of it will do anything, anyway."

Yggdra declared that all forms of resistance were futile as she scornfully laughed.

Then, a big bang erupted with her as the epicenter. It didn't just happen once. Over and over, universes were born violently enough to one-sidedly erase everything before them. More universes were born outside of those universes, and more outside of those. This was repeated maybe a hundred times. At that point, Naru and her two companions were so small they seemed like insignificant garbage before Yggdra trashed all the newly born universes at once.

"Apocalypse Times One Hundred."

Countless worlds were simultaneously destroyed.

The scale of everything was so big that this basically did nothing. Yggdra herself most likely wasn't thinking too deeply about things. Her power was so overwhelming that everything up until now seemed like child's play. This was why she was said to be omniscient and omnipotent. Of course, she was neither.

However, Yggdra did possess enough simplistic strength to kill anyone who was. She was incredibly immature, incredibly childish brat—but that was what made her the strongest.

Facing that threat, Naru and the others were forced into an unimaginably hard fight.

After Yggdra went on the attack, Naru and her group were forced into a purely defensive battle. However, no defenses worked, and their healing couldn't keep up. Any attack they launched was meaningless, and as hard as they might try to use their skills, they were all nullified. Naru's group had powered up a phenomenal amount since the start of the battle, but even then, they couldn't manage. Yggdra was just too ridiculous.

Yggdra spawned a universe outside the universe and another universe beyond that. Each universe was but a single cell of another one, which was in turn just another cell. After a dizzying hundred repetitions of this, a supergiant universe was born.

All of this was used by Yggdra as a consumable bomb. After starting a hundred big bangs, she destroyed it all with a big crunch. It was just way too much—way, way too much.

The scale of the fight was now so inflated it was becoming stale. What she was doing was just like selfish children arguing, saying, "Mine is way better than yours!" She was just making things bigger for the sake of it. She was using this childish non-logic as a brute-force response to everything, blowing all her problems away. All powers, speed, skills, everything was meaningless in front of what she was doing.

However, Naru laughed in the midst of this rough situation.

I see. She certainly is the strongest. She's incredible, but Yggdra is wrong about one thing . One simple, silly thing —but that thing will prove to be the most important truth here. She doesn't know that I too am a childish sore loser!

"Yggdra…" Naru said, trailing off.

"Hmm? What is it? Are you conceding already?"

"No, no. You were just going on for so long about your strength, so allow me to answer that with something of my own."

The corners of Naru's mouth lifted upwards in a fierce smile.

She's working on a much larger scale, but we're both standing on the same stage. We're both fighting as gods who have surpassed their worlds.

Then… Right. This is all just a competition of will. It's because I keep thinking useless thoughts like, "I'm at the limit of my strength," or wondering how strong I really am, that I get caught up like this. What's important here is just forcing things to be the way I like it. There doesn't need to be any reason or logic behind that. Those are just useless.

"You may be strong, but I'm stronger!"

As she spoke, Naru's power soared, surpassing the setting that Yggdra had laid down.

Supergiant universe? Who the hell cares. Infinite stats? That doesn't matter. You can overwrite anything? So what? "I am stronger than all of that." This simple line will counter everything.

Oddly enough, Yggdra was right. At this level, the concept of strength no longer exists. Concepts, providence, laws, and limits—all of these are decided by gods, so it follows that none of them exist in their dominion. We would have had to create them on our own.

What I have to do is paint over this pure-white canvas of a space and insist that I'm right. Yggdra could do it, so we can do it too! We came from the world that Yggdra made, after all, so normal laws don't apply to us!

Now that I think about it, that's probably why the laws of physics didn't apply to us at all. Of course we would be able to do things that would normally be unthinkable. We inherited Yggdra's power.

There's no doubt that Yggdra is the strongest. That's why the only thing that can defeat her is her own power. So from now on, it's a match of will and strength, one where the opponent says they're strong, and I say I'm stronger. This will just be a childish argument where we repeat that over and over. This is God's territory, so I can do it. I can do anything!

Naru's stats instantly switched to display infinity signs in every slot, and then those infinity signs started multiplying endlessly.

At this rate, simple physical force would solve everything. Naru's existence itself caused the supergiant universe currently around them to shatter into particles and disappear.

Naru punched.

Pure, distilled violence assaulted Yggdra, and the invisible wall protecting her broke, and she was sent flying. It was a Powerful Punch That Can Shatter Any Barrier that broke Yggdra's Amazing Barrier That Can Block Any Attack. The wind pressure from her attack continued onwards seemingly forever, destroying everything in front of it and even claiming one of Yggdra's arms.

"Ah, as I thought. You really have risen up to my level. Yes, I did faintly notice that things might turn out like this."

Yggdra instantly undid the damage to herself with a smile that made it seem like she was crying and laughing at the same time.

I never thought anyone would be able to reach here. I thought that no one would ever stand equal with me. I figured that all I'd ever do is play with puppets, moving small people as I pleased, and that I would be alone here forever. So… Why? Why was someone who was only supposed to be a puppet able to come this far?

"Seriously, nothing ever goes my way. I wanted to make thoughtless puppets, but they turned out the exact opposite. Nothing ever happens the way I plan it. You're all completely right. I'm just a deity who can't do anything right."

"Are you sure?" Naru questioned. Yggdra couldn't respond.

"Are you really sure that you never did anything right?" Naru asked, certain of the answer.

Yggdra's expression froze.

There was something that Naru had always wondered. Is Yggdra really just the careless, unthinking Goddess that we assume she is? She was too careless, too immature, too thoughtless. Thanks to that, Naru and her group had been able to carry out their plan properly and deceive Yggdra.

But maybe that was all because some part of her wanted this?

"That's not it. Your wish isn't something like that. What reason is there to use such roundabout methods to try and make me a puppet? No matter whom you ask, they'd say you made a mistake. What you actually want is the opposite, Yggdra. Your ability to force everything to be the way you want it, and the fact that you are alone, isolated by your power, causes you pain. You can't grasp a sense of reality. You don't feel alive. To you, there is only one true person alive in this place. It's as if you've shut yourself up in a room, playing with dolls by yourself while being hounded by a sense of loneliness. That's why you wanted someone to notice you and rise up against you. You wanted me to exist."

Yggdra felt as if something had stabbed her in the chest. However, that was just a feeling; nothing had actually stabbed her. In the first place, she was immortal. She'd created a setting where she couldn't be killed by anything. Even if she was struck by some supposedly god-killing weapon, she would be left without a scratch. She wouldn't even feel any pain.

So then… What is this pain? Why… do I feel so fulfilled?

"You wanted someone who wouldn't move just as you wanted them to, right? You wanted something to leave your hands and move on their own, didn't you? You didn't want to be omnipotent. You wanted at least one thing that your power could not do anything about. You wanted someone at your side who would not simply move as you wanted." Naru paused. "Well, be happy, Yggdra. Your dreams have come true. The despicable demon of your dreams who will oppose you is right here. The one you've always wished for is in front of your very eyes."

"Ahhh…" When she finally made a sound, Yggdra's voice was shaky, and she covered her face in her hands.

Ah, that's right. I remember now. This pain; this feeling. It's been such a long time since I've felt this. I've forgotten what it was like. How many millions or billions of years has it been…? Maybe tens of billions? I've forgotten.

This is… Right. It's delight.

I've been lonely. Ever since I was born, I was far too different from others, and I was completely separated from any and all laws. I was unable to stand on the same ground as others. While everyone else does their best just to live, I am the only one not truly alive. That was why I wanted to save them. I wanted to bring them all up as close to my level as possible.

That was what she truly wanted, but the height she wanted to bring people up to was just too great. When she had become a god, that distance only became worse, and her ever-increasing power drove her further and further into loneliness.

Though there were others who could speak and communicate their will, she herself was unable to join them. It was as if she were looking at characters displayed on the other side of a monitor, and when she tore her eyes away, she was reminded that there was no one there but her.

She was jealous of those small people. That was why she at least wanted to be involved in their stories, and she attempted to influence the world with a script. Desiring the satisfaction that came from granting their happiness, she continued a cycle of mistaken salvation.

However, all of it was just an act of consolation. None of it filled her heart. In truth, she'd always wanted someone who would stand right in front of her and defy her, just like what was happening right now.

Yeah, it's obvious to me now. I never wanted faithful puppets. I wanted someone who would walk on their own, think on their own, and show that they were their own person, even if they had to betray me… I wanted someone to chase after me—me, who became too strong and climbed so high that I could never go back—no matter what methods they had to choose.

I wanted someone to tell me that I wasn't alone…

"Come, poor girl who's been trapped in a prison by the name of omnipotence," said Naru. "You no longer have to save anyone. It's your turn to be saved by me."

For a moment, Yggdra was quiet, then she started laughing. "A… Ah ha ha… Ah ha ha ha ha…"

Laughter could be heard from Yggdra, even though her hands were still covering her face. Though it sounded like laughter, it also resembled crying… It was probably the first time in her life she'd ever had a happy cry.

"AH HA HA HA HA HA HA! AAAAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" Eventually, the Goddess lost control of her emotions, and she descended into a long bout of uncontrollable laughter that echoed through space and time. Just the sound of her laughter was able to put cracks in space-time as well. A parallel world somewhere was totally destroyed along with the dinosaurs in it, who were unaware of the reason for their death. A spacefaring civilization that had sprouted from Earth in a different timeline and had even waged interstellar wars was erased with no recourse. The very concept of time was ripped out by its roots, causing Hinata and the others, who were awaiting Naru's return, to stop in their tracks. The aftereffects of the Goddess's laughter alone had erased half of the universes connected to the Endpoint.

Eventually, the Goddess removed her hands from her face and spoke, seeming to have calmed down. "Hee hee hee… That's some talk. Are you sure you can do it? It may sound like boasting, but my temper is a bit… extradimensional."

"I don't mind."

Naru beckoned Yggdra, prompting Sakura, who had been waiting for the conversation to end, to heave an exasperated sigh. Satsuki let out some strained laughter herself, and the two of them looked at each other and nodded.

"This is it for us then. You can take care of this spoiled brat by yourself," said Sakura.

"I'd like to say that I feel I could handle the Goddess too…" Satsuki said, pausing. "But it seems to me that things are reaching a point where we cannot keep up. I'll leave the rest to you."

From here on out, the fight would take place in a realm for gods who could make everything go exactly how they pleased.

Sakura and Satsuki had already been fighting in this Endpoint at a level normal people would consider godlike, and they were holding their own. However, they had realized something after that laugh. The fight up until now—with those big bangs and big crunches and whatnot—had been fought with the Goddess still holding back greatly. She might not have even considered it fighting. From here on out, things would be even harder. The combatants would climb to the summit of infinity, piling infinity after infinity upon each other. It would be a fight without any upper limits.

However, while Sakura might attempt to keep up for Naru, she couldn't work up that much fighting spirit against the Goddess. She knew she would always end up slowing down. In a similar fashion, Satsuki was unable to believe that she was the absolute strongest, well, strongly enough. She knew she would always end up paying attention to any inconsistencies and contradictions, causing shadows of doubt to sprout. She would unmistakably end up dropping out in the middle, and that could not be allowed.

What was needed to win this fight was a selfishness that would not be outdone. They needed to absolutely hate losing. Only those who could truly believe they were the absolute strongest without a shadow of a doubt could stand against the Goddess. That was why, from here on out, only Naru and Yggdra would take to the battlefield.

Honestly, Sakura and Satsuki were frustrated. They didn't want to be left behind. However, they realized that they would be in the way, so they couldn't, in good conscience, attempt to stop Yggdra.

"I'm bored. I'll be going home first, so I'll be waiting for you." Sakura tried to hide her frustration with harsh words as she patted Naru on the shoulder. When she did so, she transferred all the mana, or experience, she had within her to Naru. With that, Sakura lost the right to stay in this place and was flung back to where she had come from.

"Sorry about not being able to fight with you to the end," said Satsuki.

"Don't worry about it."

Satsuki also transferred all the mana she carried to Naru before disappearing. 

Now there were only two people left: Naru and Yggdra. From here on out, it would be a clash of wills to decide who was stronger, so it had to be one-on-one.

If we were to fight three-on-one, Yggdra probably wouldn't accept the result. It'd give her wiggle room to make an excuse. That can't be allowed. She has to completely accept her loss, or this lonely Goddess will never stop.

"Now then, Yggdra. We're finally alone. No need to hold back…" Naru paused. "Come at me!"

"Yes… Let's start this thing!"

Naru and Yggdra both raised their hands, unleashing manifestations of pure destruction that had no name. There was no more need for skill names. Thinking of them was too much work.

Both combatants wielded infinite power, so they each one-upped their opponent's infinite power, going ever more infinite as the fight went on. Small attacks, like big bangs and big crunches, were no longer used. They would be useless, after all. With no need for skill names, they clashed with the purest expressions of power.

I'm strong, thought one.

I'm stronger, thought the other.

Then I'm even stronger than that, thought the first.

Naru continued to get ever faster, continuing to double the speed of light to increase the definition of speed itself without end. However, Yggdra accelerated at a pace that left such definitions behind in the dust. The next moment, Naru did the same thing back to Yggdra.

If Naru threw a punch with impossible power behind it, Yggdra would double up on it and punch back, which prompted Naru to add on another stack and return the favor. If one of them were to state that the other's infinity was just a one to them, then the other would just come back with an even higher level. The two of them used each other as footstools, trying to set themselves as the absolute powerhouse in the fight.

As this exchange of attack and defense went on, the two of them paid no heed to the heights they were reaching. They weren't interested.

Another universe was layered on top of the original. Then another was layered on top, then another, then another, then another, and then another. Universes were surpassed and became Multiverses, which were then also surpassed. Omniverse were then leapt over until Yggdra surpassed everything that could be perceived!

None of that mattered. At this point, there would be no end to this pattern. Either way, it was all basically worthless if it didn't leave a lasting effect on the opponent.

"Heh heh heh… Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Yggdra let out an innocent, childlike laugh before immediately throwing out a nasty, ruthless attack.

The ability to kill anything, piercing through all resistances as long as the attack is in the same space as its target. The ability to reflect any and all attacks. The ability to turn back time, invalidating something's very existence. The ability to always make me win, no matter what. The ability to bestow defeat upon the opponent. The ability to delete anything just by its being in my vision. The ability to cancel out all other abilities.

I destroyed the concept of attacking and sealed off all attacks, and then I did the same for defending as well. Not to mention all of the abilities of countless gods from myths. Even abilities that came straight out of fictitious works. I've used everything I can think of, and still, Naru hasn't disappeared. She hasn't stopped.

This is so fun!

"That's right… Enjoy it as much as you can, Yggdra. I'll take everything you can throw at me."

Naru smiled as if she were looking at something cute and lovable, but all the attacks that were being thrown at her were pure overkill.

Arm strength that will allow my punches to pierce through any ability and kill. Leg strength that will allow me to dash through any tricks. Eyesight that will allow me to see through my opponent's next move and her move after that. The grit to bounce back, no matter what is done to me. The control to steal all of my opponent's abilities and turn them back on her. The mental fortitude to declare that I am unaffected, no matter what settings are laid upon me. I'll use everything I have to overcome and surpass everything that is thrown at me, all to chase down Yggdra.

Clash! A universe contained within a dimension was erased, along with all its parallel universes.

Clash! A greater dimension, made of a nearly unlimited number of dimensions coming together, was unable to resist and was blown away.

Clash! Not even a supergreater dimension, made of countless greater dimensions, was able to withstand the fight as it was smashed apart.

Not yet. I haven't had enough yet. It still won't reach. My opponent in front of me is still fresh as a daisy. There's no damage at all, so I need to go higher. I need to reach greater heights! Until the end of the end of the end!

It was no longer even a fight. It was basically a game, only playable because they were both monsters who lived in an entirely different dimension. They were messing with each other.

The Goddess and her rebellious Angel laughed together from the bottom of their hearts as they clashed, and the aftereffects erased countless worlds.

***

A little before Naru and Yggdra ended up destroying time itself during their fight, Uzumaki Naruko was browsing her favorite website on her computer. Her pet cat, QB-chan, took up its place at her side, and was regularly getting in her way. Every time the cat did so, it was moved away, but it would quickly come back. Just what does this cat even want? she wondered.

Naruko had finally tired of the game she'd been hooked on up until now, Midgar Online, and now she had too much free time on her hands. Therefore, she'd taken on some job interviews and was currently just waiting on results.

After being interrupted by QB-chan for the seventh time, she happened to look outside while moving her pet. Outside, she happened to spy some children walking to elementary school. It was a completely normal scene out of everyday life. There was nothing strange about it, which made the girl think that she'd seen such a scene before. Either that or she'd been in the scene herself in the past.

Two of the children were playing around as they walked. That was all there was to the scene. There was nothing special about it.

"Gotcha!"

"I've got a barrier up! Doesn't count!"

For reasons unknown, children around the world always liked to play with barriers. According to a certain global survey, it seemed over ninety-five percent of men and women had experience doing this. This meant that out of one hundred, ninety-five of them had taken part in this strange game at least once. The reasons for this were, once again, unknown. The word "barrier" probably resonated with a child's heart somehow.

The girl was filled with nostalgia, thinking, I did that too, once.

Games like this always started with a touch and a barrier in response before gradually devolving into an anything-goes format. It was a pretty common development. There were no clear-cut rules like in hide-and-seek or tag, so all rulings were left to the players - the children-themselves. That was why there was no limit to things, and nothing was against the rules.

"Then here's a beam!"

"Beam Barrier! Doesn't work!"

"Barrier-Destroying Weapon!"

"Double-Layered Barrier!"

There was no end. This was just a game of words, and they could layer as many attributes and moves as they wanted. If the kids felt like it, they could bring out invincible barriers, beams that could break those barriers, and more. Even barriers that encompassed all of Earth or all of space could exist. Children were invincible in the world of imagination. They could do anything.

When would a game like this end? Would it just go on forever? No, that would never happen. There is always an end to everything.

The girl looked away from the window as her beloved pet, QB-chan, interrupted for the eighth time, leaving the girl scratching her head.

All things must come to an end. However, a cat's ability for interruption was infinite.

***

How long had the fight been going on at this point? Time no longer existed, so it would probably be accurate to say that not even a second had passed. To Naru herself, it felt as if she'd been fighting for a couple of hours at this point. Even so, the battle between the Goddess and her rebellious Angel was still completely even.

The battle was now in a temporary stalemate, with the two of them some distance away from one another, content to only glare.

They had a standoff in this pure-white space, but Naru was the first to make a move. She swung her arm, which held the twins sword Lifthrasir, a weapon that should have been left in Midgar.

The universe that contained Midgar was already gone, but this sword still existed. Only this sword, which legends said were able to survive even the end of the world, would always exist.

Naru brought both swords in the set together. By doing so, the swords amazingly changed shape and melded together into a longsword, as if they had been meant to be one sword this entire time.

In response, Yggdra waved her hand, grabbing onto two brightly shining swords and combining them into one, just like Naru had.

The two of them laughed, identical swords in hand, before quietly swept over the battlefield. Naru's golden cloak swayed, and Yggdra's celestial cape fluttered, even though there was no breeze.

They leapt forward and clashed. A blast too violent to merely be called a shock wave was created, and it spread to the ends of this theoretically infinite Endpoint. The wave traveled millions upon trillions of light-years, spreading out seemingly forever. At the center of all this, Naru and Yggdra clashed swords over and over, flying around in a circle. Things had taken a turn from the over-the-top, flashy fight from earlier, transforming into a relatively tame sword fight.

However, while things looked less flashy, every swing was lethally destructive. Their blades clashed, and many dimensions were destroyed. Their swords once again clashed, and multitudes of timelines were broken and shattered. They exchanged blows that sounded like thunderclaps, and cracks ran throughout the Endpoint. They entered a pushing contest with their swords, and every time one of them got knocked away, they came back the next moment with an all-out attack, sending sparks flying everywhere. At this point, it was unknowable how much damage the aftereffects of their fight were causing. Neither of the combatants cared either.

The two of them locked eyes. Naru's smile was belligerent and fierce, while Yggdra simply laughed like she was having fun.

"Hah!"

Naru swung down her sword, and Yggdra evaded by leaping away. Yggdra flipped her dress around, swinging her sword and sending a flurry of slashes at Naru. The flying blades of energy would never miss, and they would destroy anything and everything. They slashed through everything, closing the distance until blades once again clashed, creating more shock waves.

At first glance, everything seemed even. In fact, it was even. Both sides repeatedly insisted that they were stronger, so no difference could be formed between them. Now that the two of them had reached the heights of power, this fight could not be anything but even. It was an equation so simple even small children could understand it. Infinity was always equal to infinity; there was no other answer. At least, that was how it should have been.

However, Naru slowly started gaining the advantage in this sword-locked duel, and for the first time, Yggdra seemed somewhat anxious.

This is weird. I shouldn't lose. I shouldn't be being pushed back. I should have been raising my own power in concert with hers!

Of course, Naru also knew that, so she took that into account and raised her own power to respond to Yggdra's increases as well. That was why they should have been even.

So why am I being pushed back? Why am I losing?

"Play-fighting between children… That was what you described it as, didn't you, Yggdra?"

Naru applied even more power, further pushing Yggdra back. She was doing the same thing as Yggdra, simply layering her own settings and character building over her opponent's in order to make herself superior. However, Naru was doing so just slightly faster than her opponent.

Yggdra was raising the speed at which she got stronger. She was raising the scale of her power. However, Naru was one step ahead. Somehow, she was creating a gap in strength.

How is she doing this?

"By the way, going back to that example you gave of children trying to insist that they're stronger… Do you know who wins that argument?" asked Naru.

"There's never a clear result…" Yggdra trailed off. "Since both sides say the same things, there's no end to it."

"You're wrong. You know, back when my avatar was a child… Well, things ended when the slightly smarter child realized there would be no end to things, so they compromised."

Yes, this seemingly endless children's game actually did have a natural end—compromise. The slightly smarter, more grown-up child would realize that this could go on forever, and they would quickly lose motivation and just give up to put an end to things.

What Naru was implying seemed to have gotten through, and Yggdra's expression was steeped with further anxiousness.

"Y-you're saying I've compromised…? That I've given up?!"

"No, I'm pretty sure you haven't. You haven't given up. But your tenacity for victory isn't enough."

The gap in their strength widened. Now, Naru had completely surpassed Yggdra in power, and the sword in Yggdra's hands started to crack. It didn't matter how many times Yggdra added the property that the sword would never break; it was just overwritten with the plot point of its breaking. Even if she added a property for the sword to be repaired, it was quickly erased.

"You became satisfied. You felt fulfilled the moment someone appeared to truly oppose you. However, I'm rather selfish myself… I won't be satisfied unless I win."

Yeah, there needs to be a clear victor in this fight. There'll be no draw. I will never allow a result that only recognizes that 'someone is better'. There needs to be a clear best. There is only victory.

Naru's goals differed from Yggdra's. While the Goddess only desired someone to push back against her, her rebellious Angel aimed for something beyond that. 

"It's over, Yggdra. It's my… No."

Naru leapt away and brandished her sword. In that moment, Yggdra saw a multitude of shadows behind her. Among them, she noticed the forms of Sakura and Satsuki, who had withdrawn from the battle. There was also Hinata, her avatar, who was supposed to be her puppet, as well as the Seven Maidens of Midgar, the Chosen Hero Ruby and the rest of her party, other heroes from history, the demonfolk, humanity, demihumans, and even monsters and animals. It was the sum of all life that existed on Midgar. It was everything that Yggdra had been playing around with all this time.

"It's our victory."

Naru's sword cleaved through Yggdra's weapon, as well as her body, all in one attack.

The slash Naru unleashed flew off into the distance, cutting apart everything in its path. The slash, which seemed to threaten to cut apart the Endpoint itself, continued on its path, growing ever bigger until it eventually disappeared.

Of course, such a thing would not kill the Goddess. Rather, nothing could definitely kill Yggdra other than her own suicide. In fact, she might not even die by her own hand. Whether it be something that extinguished the soul entirely, erased all traces of her, or even made it so she had never existed in the first place, as soon as she got tired of not existing, Yggdra would simply make a sudden return, almost like a cockroach.

For a long moment, Yggdra said nothing, then stuttered, "Huh? Uh? N-no way… I… I just…"

"Yeah. You realize it yourself, don't you? You lost." With that blow, Yggdra's HP became 0.

It didn't matter that her HP was 0 though. Even if it went into negative numbers or the very concept of HP was erased, Yggdra still would not die. Yggdra could continue fighting if she wanted to. Likewise, if she wanted to stand up, she could.

However, none of that mattered. Yggdra had lost this contest of wills and selfishness. That fact meant that Yggdra now had no chance of winning anymore. Battles in this divine territory meant a contest of imposing one's selfishness. The more selfish one would win, while the one who was satisfied with the status quo would lose.

As of now, the hierarchy between Naru and Yggdra had been set in stone and would never change. Yggdra could no longer win against Lunaru Fenris. Never. In other words, it was complete and utter defeat. Yggdra had lost to Ruby mentally and Naru physically. There could be no excuses for this complete loss.

Faced with that fact, Yggdra felt sapped. Now that she'd accepted her defeat even once, she could no longer contend against Naru in a battle like this. It didn't matter how much she tried to insist that she was stronger. The fact that she'd once lost would remain in her heart. That fact would cloud her will and her belief that she was the strongest.

"Ah… Ah ha ha…" Yggdra let out a dry laugh.

What a terrible day. What a terrible, amazing day. I would never have even imagined that someone would come to oppose me, let alone rise above me. I can only be astounded. This woman… This Lunaru Fenris is an idiot so big that she can surpass gods.

As Yggdra was sunk in thought, Naru was in front of her, raising her fist in preparation for the final touches on her victory. Then, Naru brought her fist down on Yggdra's head. The impact raised a great noise akin to an explosion, and a shock wave spread outwards, the last of so many that shock waves themselves might die from overwork.

If the two of them had happened to be on a planet just then, Yggdra would have been pummeled through the ground and out the other side, only to be launched into space. Of course, given the weight of Yggdra's sheer existence, she would be unable to be in a normal universe. This hypothetical would be dependent on them being in a supergiant one able to house her. In short, that was just how powerful Naru's swing was.

"Th-that huuurrtttt?!" Yggdra said, shocked.

"Children who've done bad things need to be punished. Geez…" Naru trailed off.

"Do you know how hard I had to work to get that hit in?"

"As if. For now, uh… Yeah, rewrite that terrible script. A script that no one likes might as well not exist."

Destroying the Goddess in complete and utter defeat was something that Naru had aimed. If Yggdra had turned out to be an irredeemably evil scoundrel, then Naru would have to find a way to banish or seal Yggdra permanently. In the end, however, Yggdra was not actually evil. Rather, she was a well-meaning goddess who was more passionate than most, just very mistaken and lonely.

Of course, that didn't excuse all the things she'd done. However, Naru felt that giving her the benefit of the doubt would be all right. With no one next to her, Yggdra was utterly alone. There was no one to rebuke her for her mistakes, and no one to scold her. No one had taught her what she needed to learn, and the Goddess had simply continued to go around in circles, making mistake after mistake without anyone to correct her.

She was too strong, since she could crush entire universes by accident. That wasn't exactly an excuse, but eliminating her also wouldn't solve anything. In fact, her help would be absolutely necessary to fix and replace everything that had been damaged and lost in the fight. Therefore, she had to take responsibility for all the unhappiness she'd spread and save the victims.

"Oh, and transfer your authority as the Goddess of Midgar to Hinata. You should watch and learn how to become a proper God as you leave the management of Midgar to her for a while."

After smoothly dumping such an enormous task on someone who wasn't there and had no way to accept or object, Naru waved her arm and returned all the dimensions, timelines, and everything else that had been destroyed in the fight. She wasn't quite sure whether simply 'returning' lost timelines would work, but in the end, it did. It seemed that the saying "anything goes" truly applied.

"You help too."

Naru grabbed Yggdra, who was still in a daze, by the nape of her neck and dragged her along.

"Huh? Wai—-"

And that concluded the game between the Goddess and her rebellious Angel. It ended in checkmate after all the Goddess's pieces had been wiped off the board or stolen. Though the Goddess had flipped over the board, the floor had been flipped over on the Goddess, and in the end, she had been punished. The world had been freed from her script. From here on out, any scripts would be written by the people themselves.

As Naru thought of the future, she suddenly laughed.

Finally, with the battle at the Endpoint finished, Naru returned all the mana she'd absorbed to the universe and went back to all of the people who were waiting for her, to the world in which she belonged.

When they saw her, all her friends reveled in her victory. Sakura had her arms crossed, seemingly bored, but the corners of her lips were loose. Meanwhile, Satsuki simply nodded, satisfied.

Among all that, Hinata beamed with a full-faced smile as she spoke the scheduled line, though there were a thousand emotions behind those words.

"Welcome back, Naru."

"Yeah. Good to be back."

Ragnarök—the Twilight of the Gods had reached its end.

***

Dawn broke on the land of Midgar once again; the Twilight of the Gods—Ragnarök was over.

I looked over the scenery I'd now gotten used to from the deck of Argo, and my eyes narrowed. Though Midgar had once disappeared, along with the universe it was in, it was as if the whole thing had never happened. Nothing had changed from yesterday. After that fight with Yggdra, I had repaired time and space with her help, returning things to the same state as before the twilight happened.

But wouldn't you then think, If she could do all that, why didn't Yggdra just delete you?

Honestly, I wondered that myself. The reason behind that turned out to be both simple and silly.

The Goddess being too strong turned out to be a curse, as she was absolutely worthless at holding back.

No, wait. Now that I think about it, there were definitely signs.

Because her existence was so all-encompassing, she was basically unable to interfere with Midgar at all. That was the proof. If Yggdra were to try to wind things back, she'd accidentally go all the way back before Midgar was even created, or worse, before the big bang. If not for that, Yggdra would have rewound time the moment she found a bug like me in the system. It was an unexpected weakness for a Goddess touted as omnipotent. She was great at the large-scale, but it seemed that also meant she was bad at going small-scale and making fine adjustments.

In the Goddess's own terms, "It's kind of like trying to rewind a movie only a few seconds, but you mistake a button and end up going all the way back to the beginning." It wasn't a very good analogy.

Also, while I was reconstructing the universe, I returned all the mana I'd absorbed, so I was now back to my former strength. 

"So it's over?" Hinata, who was standing beside me, asked.

"Yeah," I answered.

Though few words were exchanged, they were filled with a lot of sentiment.

Over… Yeah, it finally is. All we did was make the Goddess lay down her script. That's all. But the process to make that happen was so long.

Now, Midgar is no longer in her hands. There will be no guidance from the Goddess from here on out. Even if there were, it wouldn't be useful, so we'll just have to find our way ourselves.

"Naruuuu! I believed in yooouuuuu!"

My friend Emerald Sustrai spread her arms wide as she jumped at me, but she never reached her destination. Penny immediately grabbed her head firmly, stopping her.

"Raagghh! What do you think you're doing, you piece of junk?!"

"I am just suppressing a pervert," said Penny. "I am doing nothing wrong."

"Just how am I a pervert?! I'll turn you into scrap!"

"Things will only take longer with you around, so I will send you back to the moon first."

"Yoooouuuu!"

Penny's mechanical arm separated at the elbow, and the forearm flew off into the sky still holding Emerald. As Penny herself said, it was headed for the moon.

At first glance, the moon looked the same as usual, but I'd actually made some adjustments as I was putting things back to normal. I'd moved my castle to the dark side of the moon. Why did I do something like that? Because I planned to live on the moon from now on.

I was still considered the symbol of fear throughout Midgar in the end. I'd destroyed this world once already. No matter how I tried to smooth that over, I couldn't avoid being feared by others. That was why I would withdraw from the world at large and try making a country on the moon while living a laid-back life.

While I was adjusting the moon during my reconstruction efforts, I'd tweaked it so that the environment would be survivable for living things. It still looked the same from Midgar, but that was just the effect of magic. There were already oceans and other proofs of nature on it. Other than that, though, it was still fresh, virgin ground, and I would have to get to work building towns and the like from now on.

Of course, if I were to openly declare myself as its ruler, people would only come to fear the moon as a symbol of ill omen, so I simply made it common knowledge that the Goddess lived on the moon as I made Hinata take the role as a new Goddess. In short, she now had the alias of Goddess of the Moon Kaguya. 

"And whose fault is that?" Hinata retorted.

"I know. It's mine," I casually responded as I looked down at the earth. We'd already dropped people off of the Ark, which was now hidden on the dark side of the moon.

The view was as peaceful as usual, but there was something that was different: they no longer feared the demonfolk. Obviously, the demonfolk couldn't remain on Midgar. They'd been the enemy of humanity for too long, so they had all been moved to the moon. 

"But are you sure about this, Naru?" asked Hinata. "If you act now, you will surely be able to achieve world conquest again."

"True. Such a thing would be easy… But the reason I even wanted to do so in the first place was to allow weak people to be able to live in peace without having to fear the demons. Now, all the demonfolk have been moved here, so my goals have all been reached," I answered with a hand wave, dismissing her concerns.

At this point, I didn't want control of the world. I had no reason for it. My last job for the outside world would be to take in those who would only cause sparks of conflict if left on Midgar, like the demonfolk.

 "Also, it seems that I'm not well suited to governing. At best, I can just use my power to force my way through… My method of leadership was to use power and violence to rule through fear instead of reason. I would just be a conqueror and a tyrant like that. I would never be thought of as a wise and benevolent ruler. Rulers like me would be in high demand during times of upheaval, but Midgar should no longer need those. Most importantly, I already disappeared from that stage once. I don't want to come back to that as if I couldn't let the title go." Naru paused. "It's time to let things be decided by those living in the present."

Though I said I would rule, I would probably be rather useless as a king times of peace. Invasion, suppression, and wreaking havoc by standing on the front lines myself were the things I was good at, and all of them were just different applications of force in the end. I think I'd be a great king in wartime. In times where victory was everything, no one other than the Goddess could outvalue me.

However, expanding territory during wartime and governing during peacetime were two completely different problems. By my estimation, I wouldn't even compare to the likes of Sakura in terms of governing ability. Being called the Devil King sounds cool, but in the end, the ones who get called that are just the unstable rulers who can only show their stuff with an enemy around. Killing my enemies until there were no more of them and creating a peace beyond those mountains of bodies and rivers of blood was the only thing I could do.

So what about after all the fighting? In a world without enemies, what happens to an incompetent king? Should I find a new enemy? Continuing to make enemies like that by saying, "I don't like X or Y," would only result in my finding myself alone.

Now, because of all I'd been through, I could definitely say this: it was a good thing I had lost to Weiss and the others. If I hadn't, I probably would have become the most terrible tyrant by now.

A peaceful world had no need of me as a king. In fact, it would be actively bad. That was the conclusion I'd reached after leaving this world once and gaining knowledge from Earth.

I stopped looking out at the morning view and returned my gaze to the deck of Argo. There stood the former members of Seven Maidens of Midgar—Pyrrha, Nora, Yang, and Blake. A little farther away stood Velvet, Coco, and Weiss—the living members—watching over us. Just by seeing this, I understood their decision.

For a moment, I was quiet. "You're all leaving, aren't you?"

"Yeah," said Yang. "We talked about it, and in the end, it didn't feel right to cling to the living world like this."

"We're just shadows of the pawst who should already be gone. We decided to be ourselves clawciously and leave," said Nora.

"H-hey, Nora, your tic."

"Whoops, pawdon me. Meow made a mistake. There's no need to mind it. It doesn't warrant such a big re-arctos."

"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

Yang and Nora acting as a comedic duo like that was a nostalgic sight. They said that even death couldn't cure idiots, and it seemed that the adage was true. Somehow, that made me strangely happy, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Our adventure is already over," stated Pyrrha, seeming calm. "We don't want to get in the way of the younger generation."

What an impatient bunch, I thought. Nothing bad would happen if they decided to enjoy life a little while longer, given that they were already back and everything, and if something bad did happen, I could just complain to the Goddess. But it was their decision, and also probably their way of making things right, so I decided to see them off instead of throwing a fit about it. It's going to feel a little lonely around here though.

"I managed to see you make it through to the end, after all. I don't have any lingering attachments left," said Pyrrha.

"I got to fight with you as a friend again at the end. That's more than enough for me," Blake admitted.

Pyrrha and Blake spoke as if a great weight had been lifted off of them. They must have really regretted that silly mistake from the past all this time. Since I'd kind of driven them to it, their regret seemed kind of misplaced, but it was great that they seemed satisfied.

"I… see… Then, at the very least, have a drink with me before you go," I said.

I snapped my fingers, and Hinata swiftly handed everyone a glass and poured wine into them. This is going to be the last toast I'll raise with them.

The Seven Maidens of Midgar all clinked their glasses against mine when I raised it, reminding me of all the time we'd spent together as if it were yesterday.

I wonder how long it's been since the last time I looked upon all seven of them as we shared drinks together and felt so at peace. In truth, I want to talk with them a little longer, but dragging things out will only make it worse, won't it?

I was quiet, then said, "Well then. Pyrrha, Blake, Yang, and Nora, we will probably never meet again."

This would be our final farewell. I knew that this universe had an afterlife, but it would be a long time before I went there. I was sure that by the time it happened, Pyrrha and the others would no longer be around. They would probably have reincarnated already and be living their new lives.

Souls had a cycle to them. I didn't know how it was on Earth, but that was how things were on Midgar. Thinking about it, this was only natural. Yggdra was lazy enough to try to repurpose the people here. There was no way she would go through the trouble of creating new souls. That useless Goddess had been reusing souls this entire time to populate Midgar. Give your shortcuts a rest!

So of course, they would no longer be Pyrrha, or anyone else I knew, once they were reincarnated. In other words, even if we did meet again in another life, we would not recognize each other.

"To our past together."

"And to our permanent parting." We toasted. With that, I downed all the wine in my glass in one gulp.

Long conversations were unnecessary when reminiscing about the past. One glass was enough. This last toast, washing away all the bad blood between us, was more than enough… I was content.

I swallowed down all the swirling memories in my mind along with my wine, and then Pyrrha, Blake, Yang, and Nora left.

A lot happened, but I can still say this about all of you. I'm glad I met you all. I'm glad I was able to meet you and go on adventures with you. I think that from the bottom of my heart. It feels kind of strange to be saying this to people who are already dead, but… Safe journey to you, my dear friends.

***

The Demon Queen's castle stood somewhat removed from Naru's castle. They had been given about half the moon as territory to build a country and were now living peaceful and fulfilling lives. The demonfolk were no longer hounded by murderous impulses killing humanity. Though that neither excused their past sins nor served to relieve them of their fear of Naru, time was slowly healing them of both.

Today, a certain event was taking place inside the castle that was situated in the middle of their country. For this event, The Demon Queen Satsuki was dressed in a black suit, while the Fairy Princess Nanoha was next to her in a pure-white dress. They stood before Naru, who was dressed as a priestess and reading aloud from a cheat sheet.

Many people would probably wonder why a celebratory occasion like this was being overseen by the infamous Devil King, of all people, dressed as a priestess, but Satsuki and Nanoha were the ones who had requested this. They didn't need to swear to the deity who had toyed with their lives so much. Such a deity wasn't worth believing in. So instead of swearing before a god, they decided to swear in front of the polar opposite instead—a Devil—as a show of their defiance.

"Do you, Satsuki, take Nanoha as your lawfully wedded wife, to love and to hold, in sickness and in health, in times poor and plentiful? Do you swear to walk the path of your lives together until death do you part? Do you swear to love her, think of her, and be with her upon the name of god?" asked Naru.

"No, not to any god. I swear to my wife and myself."

"And do you, Nanoha, take Satsuki as your lawfully wedded husband, to love and to hold, in sickness and in health, in times poor and plentiful? Do you swear to walk the path of your lives together until death do you part? Do you swear to love her, think of her, and be with her upon the name of god?"

"No, not to any god. I swear to my husband and myself."

The Demon Queen and the Fairy Princess's wedding ceremony was slightly different than that of humans. They would never swear or pray to any god, only ever swearing love to themselves and their partner.

After hearing their responses, Naru spread her arms and her black wings out.

"Everyone, do not entreat our god above for the sake of these two. Through their bond of wedlock, they no longer need the help of any god. O Goddess, creator of all that is in this universe, you have created people modeled after yourself and celebrated their love. But that is enough. These two do not need your blessings. Even without you, they will live in love and create a healthy family. Whether in happy times or sad, they will never forget to trust and be grateful for each other. Even without your support, they will work hard, and continue to love and comfort each other, even when experiencing trouble. They will be blessed with many friends, and because of the fruits brought by marriage, they will grow and lead even more fulfilling lives."

Naru's speech denied divinity, saying that they didn't need help or a script. It asserted that they could walk on their own and asked the Goddess to please not do anything unnecessary.

Having heard this speech from beginning to end, Yggdra's face was locked in a difficult-to-describe expression, but no one at the ceremony knew that.

"Well then, everyone, all together now: God is dead!"

At Naru's signal, all the attendees shouted that heretical line in unison. At the same time, the sounds of celebratory clapping resounded as the newlyweds walked down the path of flowers.

Seeing them, Sakura looked like she was about to die.

"Come on, shape up," Fate said. "Don't bring the place down after you got invited and everything."

"Yeah, I know… I know, but…" Sakura trailed off. "If Satsuki's happy, then I'm happy too… We should celebrate…"

"Having been watching them from my position," Sakura whispered, "Other people's misfortune is like honey, but their fortune tastes like dirt. Hey, Fate, we're drinking ourselves under again tonight."

"I'll join you until we both go down."

That day, two new couples were born at the wedding. Or were they?

***

A year had passed since those dreamlike but undoubtedly real events. Ruby had turned eighteen and spent her days studying in order to fulfill her dreams of becoming a police officer. She wasn't an officer yet though. She wasn't even old enough to take the public servant employment examination she needed to be able to become one. However, she was rather well-known these days.

During the course of the year, she'd ended up solving three cases that she happened to have stumbled upon, which was enough for her to be sent a letter of appreciation from the police.

The first incident had happened when she was walking through town with her friend. A man was assaulting people on the street with a blade while screaming, so Ruby stopped him.

The second had happened at night while she was walking her dog. She happened upon a fire and saved a child and an elderly person who'd failed to escape.

The third had happened when she went to the bank in order to withdraw some money. As if some higher power were waiting for just this moment, the bank was occupied by armed robbers, so she knocked them all out and handed them to the police.

I don't know if my luck is good or bad… I'm sure this is what people refer to as the devil's luck.

By some definitions, Ruby Rose attracted trouble. There was no way the world would let her achievements go, and she was forced into giving interviews all while being lauded on television as a super high-schooler. There was even a high-ranking police officer who had given her a push, saying that she should become a policewoman in the future.

In any case, her year had been all but average. Given the attention she was getting at a young age, she was a prime target for adulation and applause. At the same time, she'd become a target of envy from her peers. There were those who thought she'd somehow cheated those results, but in the end, she was simply working under different conditions from everyone else.

There was no need for her to fear the weapons of criminals, and they seemed to be standing still to her. Even though the fire she had jumped into had been hot, it hadn't exactly been unbearable in the end. Ruby had actually taken a bullet to the arm during the bank robbery, but all that resulted in was a bruise. All humans felt the need to protect themselves to some extent. However, Ruby was the only one who could completely ignore all of that.

When she charged into the fire to save the child, she was praised as a brave young woman.

That's wrong, she thought. It just didn't seem much like a threat compared to those fires in the other world that could scorch away the face of the planet.

When she had faced down the bank robbers who had holed up with their guns by herself, she was lauded as a young woman with a great sense of justice.

That's wrong, she thought. It's just that guns only look like toys to me. It wasn't like I threw caution to the wind in order to calm them down.

"Something is… wrong," Ruby muttered to herself as she walked down the road in her street clothes, holding a shopping bag.

She didn't have school today, so she'd gone out shopping and was just returning. Since she lived with her uncle, she always went out grocery shopping like this on days off, so she didn't have to.

Currently, she was worried about the power she'd gained in the other world.

I don't regret what I did. I'm glad I helped someone, I really am. But something is wrong. Was the future I wanted really supposed to be like this? This is basically like I'm the only one constantly up in some safe area as I do things. All my accomplishments are only because of the power I gained on the other side.

So what if I didn't have it? Would I have been able to do the same things without this power? Would I have been able to jump into a raging fire to save a child? Would I have been able to step in front of a bunch of criminals with guns? Aren't I just a shameful person who's cheating by using power she lucked into while feeling proud of it?

I rejected Yggdra, but in the end, I'm still just taking advantage of this power. It's only the scale that's different. Isn't that something I should be really ashamed of…?

Ruby paused. "I wonder what they would say?"

Having power also means having great responsibility. Power without responsibility is just a deadly weapon. Just like that certain heroic spider's uncle had said.

On the other hand, Ruby had never thought much about this power she'd gained without much effort. After all, this much power was almost nothing over there. Compared to the likes of Naru and Yggdra, Ruby was basically just a villager. Both Yggdra and Naru could have squashed her with barely a thought. That was why she hadn't been able to gain an accurate grip on things and couldn't understand the incredible power she'd returned with.

Ruby finally understood after returning, however, and with that understanding came the feeling that she was a huge cheater.

"If it was her…"

Ruby thought of a certain white angel.

I was young back then too. Well, that hasn't actually changed. Now that I think back on it, I probably should have talked more about things. I ran away like I was trying to cut off any lingering attachments, but all I did was not say things that should have been said.

Ruby was constantly rolling a certain question around in her mind. If she saw me like this, what would she say?

I think she'd say something like, "You're worrying as much as always, aren't you?"

At first, Ruby thought she was hearing things. After all, there was no way she should be hearing that voice on Earth. You're just hearing things, she told herself. It's just a convenient figment of your imagination.

Despite thinking this, she couldn't help but turn around. What she saw was just as she'd hoped… The white haired girl she'd most wanted to see was standing there, still looking the same as when she'd left.

Seeing Ruby stunned, the white haired girl in front of her spoke somehow bashfully, but also like a child who'd had her prank found out.

"I wanted to see you, so I came."

***

Five years had passed since the Twilight of the Gods. The events of that day had ended as a dream, just as Naru had said they would, and no one but Ruby and the other participants remembered any of it. One might think that this in itself might cause an uproar, because everyone had seen the same dream, but dreams only tended to stay in the minds of people who had just woken up. In the end, everybody eventually forgot that they had even seen such a dream, and by the time Ruby had woken up, everybody was back to living their normal daily lives, completely unchanged from before. Even Ruby herself had wondered whether it had really been a dream or not. Naru, Weiss, and the others remembered the events of that day, however, and they understood that they had been both a dream and not a dream.

"I'll be off then."

Ruby had turned twenty-three and had successfully found employment as a police officer upon entering society, becoming a deputy officer after passing the state employment exam required for general employment. Originally, she never wanted to try to qualify for some elite course and was fine with being a simple policewoman, carrying out her duties as one of the police while being helped by her seniors. However, she started to desire higher pay because she wanted to make things as easy as possible for her wife and their child

"Yes. See you later, dear."

Ruby's wife was there to see her off, looking just as young as when they'd first met—her wife by the name of Weiss was an angel. In her arms were their child, already making sounds.

"Okay, let's say goodbye to Mama Ruby."

"Dah!"

Cindy Rose. She was named after Ruby's former enemy and friend—Cinder.

The former Ouroboros of Heaven had been an enemy, but she was also the one who got Ruby to realize her love for Weiss. This was the least they felt they could do for the woman who had died while unfulfilled like that, so they entrusted her name to their child.

"Ruby, just so you know, I'm very happy right now."

"Yeah… Me too, Weiss."

Someday they would be forced to part. Even so, they had decided to hold the short time they had together all the more dear. Ruby would walk through life together with Weiss, and Cindy, swearing to love them both until the breath of mortal life left her body. Even if Weiss was forever young, even if Ruby had grown old, even then, they would continue through life together. They were sure they would never regret anything, no matter how things ended. That was what the two of them had decided, after all.

Weiss and Ruby exchanged a kiss before Ruby went off to work.

"Looks like the two of them will be just fine," Naru said.

"Seriously. Getting all steamy right from the start of the day…" Yggdra trailed off.

Naru and Yggdra were watching this scene out of a slice-of-life romance from the top of the next building. Will Weiss really be able to get used to the other world, on Earth? Will those two be alright? Those worries had driven Naru to drop in every once in a while to observe them, but it turned out that her worries were unfounded.

"By the way, Yggdra… you… why are you following me here?"

"W-Who's following you! I was bored so I thought I wanna go see what the Hero is doing, don't misunderstand, alright!"

"Yes yes…. Anyway, their trials are just beginning. The girl… Well, I suppose I should stop with that… Ruby, from now on she'll have to protect her family. That's a far harder task than protecting the world."

"It is, isn't it? But that woman will be able to overcome any obstacle. I'm sure of it."

Naru nodded before turning back to watch Ruby. She no longer looked like the unreliable girl she'd first met. Now, she looked like a woman who had overcome many hardships.

She'll be fine. She's no longer that weak girl who needed protecting. I'm sure she'll manage to protect Weiss and their child from now on in the battlefield of daily life.

With that conviction, Naru flew away.

A single feather from her black wings fell, eventually reaching the ground after brushing past Ruby's head. Seeing that, Ruby stopped for a moment and looked up at the sky before laughing. The look on her face was powerful and reliable, as if to say, "Leave it to me."