With a sweep of the brush, the vines imprisoning Shimazaki Yuna vanished, reduced instantly to ashes as if consumed by flame.
Altair instinctively moved to catch her but abruptly halted, recalling Hoshikawa Hikayu's earlier fate—if she recklessly approached, she might end up in the exact same situation.
Thus, it was Van Gogh who finally stepped forward, cradling Shimazaki Yuna in her arms, the two girls of strikingly similar appearance now held tightly together.
Though their features were incredibly alike, distinguishing them remained easy enough—Van Gogh's hair was vivid orange, her skin tinged a soft blue, whereas Shimazaki Yuna, despite wearing the face of "Van Gogh" herself and bearing fragments of her Saint Graph, was heavily influenced by the Outer God. Both her hair and skin were pristine white, as flawless as polished pearl.
"Yuna… Van Gogh and everyone have come for you," Van Gogh whispered gently into Shimazaki Yuna's ear.
She didn't know if her call could even reach Yuna's consciousness. Right now, Yuna had no capacity to respond.
Shimazaki Yuna was saved. Now, all they had to do was remove her from this place and allow Van Gogh to reclaim the portion of her Saint Graph that had been severed. Then, victory would be theirs.
But clearly, the Outer God had no intention of quietly allowing such a thing to happen.
As Van Gogh and Altair returned with Shimazaki Yuna to Meteora and the others, the countless vines surrounding them erupted in berserk fury, surging toward them like a tidal wave of green rage.
Their attacks were relentless and seemingly infinite, like humanity struggling futilely against the wrath of nature itself. Even merely preserving their lives required an exhausting effort—had Altair faced this onslaught earlier, she wouldn't have lasted half a minute.
Yet Van Gogh and the others didn't need to withstand every blow—they only needed to flee, escaping this nightmarish land that had transformed entirely into an alien realm.
Protected by Van Gogh, the vines couldn't harm them… at least, not immediately. And steadily, they moved closer to their exit.
"Why couldn't I be deified, too…?"
As they fled, Altair, who had taken over the responsibility of carrying Shimazaki Yuna since Van Gogh needed to concentrate on dealing with the vines, glanced at Van Gogh with barely detectable resentment in her voice.
Altair's [Holopsicon] power was immensely strong—even against Alicetaria and the others who'd attained divinity, her odds of victory were considerable.
However, Altair was a being created by Shimazaki Yuna under the Outer God's manipulation, and thus she attracted far more attention from that entity than other Created. Altair's existence itself was special; she could appear without a backstory and still acquire new powers effortlessly, whether they were first, second, or third-hand creations.
One could say the Outer God invested ninety percent of its attention into her alone, leaving only the last ten percent to all other fictional worlds and their Created.
Thus, in this alien space with altered physical laws, while Meteora and Blitz Talker's abilities were severely restricted, Altair could still adapt.
Yet because of that, these plants created by the Outer God could specifically nullify Altair's powers—otherwise, she could have simply teleported Shimazaki Yuna directly to herself, without any of this trouble.
To confront an Outer God, only another Outer God would suffice.
Only beings granted divine Outer Godhood by Van Gogh were immune to such interference.
If only Van Gogh had bestowed divine power upon her as well, Altair mused bitterly, this battle wouldn't have felt so frustrating and difficult.
"Hehehe… that's because, Altair, your compatibility isn't high… Or more plainly put… that being doesn't really like you."
Too direct. Blunt to the point of cruelty. Like plunging a knife straight into someone's heart.
"…Forget it," Altair quickly convinced herself, "on second thought, being liked by such an eerie existence might not be anything good."
Indeed, the favor and blessing of an Outer God inevitably invited disaster—but their dislike, even hatred, was surely far more terrifying, wasn't it?
Yet somehow, Altair never considered that particular point.
"!!!"
Suddenly, Altair's expression changed drastically.
Not only her, but Hoshikawa Hikayu, Blitz Talker, and Meteora—everyone's expressions twisted simultaneously.
In that instant, they felt all their strength vanish, collapsing helplessly onto the ground. Their figures flickered unsteadily, like distorted animation frames threatening to vanish altogether.
This was the Outer God's direct interference, rendering every Created completely immobilized, bypassing both Gaia and Alaya to impose influence on the real world.
The cost, however, was that this world's Gaia and Alaya found an opening to retaliate, severely delaying the Outer God's invasion. Even under the most favorable circumstances from now on, its plans would be delayed by at least several hundred years.
Yet to an entity accustomed to millennia-long cycles of activity and slumber on Mars, a few hundred years passed in a blink, hardly worth concern.
Whether Van Gogh chose to rescue Shimazaki Yuna or abandon everyone and flee alone, the outcome favored the Outer God.
And so, it waited… waited for Van Gogh to choose an unexpected third option.
Fighting alone—exactly Van Gogh's situation now.
Singlehandedly, she deflected every assault the Outer God threw, straining herself to protect Shimazaki Yuna and the others—but clearly, she couldn't sustain this for much longer.
The Outer God's attention remained mostly fixed on battling Gaia and Alaya, wary of other Outer Gods as well. The power it directed here was but a drop in a vast ocean, yet this mere fraction had driven Van Gogh and her allies to despair.
No path to flee, no route of escape.
The only solution seemed to be one:
Only another Outer God could oppose an Outer God.
If Van Gogh wished to save everyone from certain doom, she had only one choice left—her second Noble Phantasm.
"Wu-huhu... yi ni VI yi san er er jiu wo wu-huhu..."
"The entrance to Van Gogh's hope and despair... the futilely drifting traces of dreams..."
Utter foolishness—at least, so thought the Outer God of Flowers.
Certainly, this Noble Phantasm could break their predicament. Last time in the Imaginary Sea, "Van Gogh" used precisely this Noble Phantasm to escape.
But activating it, completing this painting, required one minute. One minute during which Van Gogh couldn't afford a single distraction.
Previously, Van Gogh had reliable allies to buy her time—but this time? She was alone.
The Outer God would allow no such chance.
Vines attacked more ferociously than ever, intent on interrupting her chant—
But then, abruptly, the unexpected happened!
Outside the flower-shaped cocoon, the night sky painted by Van Gogh suddenly brightened, silver moonlight engulfing everything.
This holy moonlight condensed into a single arrow.
"Moonshaft Check."
"Buster Arrow System—96% charged."
"Pile Drive Foot Lock—Connected."
[Gigas Machina]… or rather, what used to be it.
Now towering well over sixty meters and clad in silvery moonlight armor, the mecha resembled less a robot and more an enormous samurai warrior.
Once again, it drew its massive bow.
Inside the cockpit, a severely wounded yet somehow still-living Kanoya Rui groaned in agony, "Ow… so painful… I didn't die, but damn, this really hurts…!"
Why wasn't this person dead?
Hadn't it taken back all its blessings and his life force?
Then the Outer God sensed a familiar divine presence—not its own, but unmistakable:
Hastur, the King in Yellow.
Van Gogh smiled mischievously, reading the Outer God's confusion clearly.
"Well... isn't Van Gogh planning to fill in the cause afterward?"
[The Thirty-Third of Cosmos: Cause-and-Effect Reversal].
The "effect" occurred first—Kanoya Rui's divinity granted prematurely—and the "cause" would be supplemented later.
"You might nullify Altair's powers now," Van Gogh murmured, "but elsewhere, her abilities remain unaffected."
Kanoya released the arrow skyward, merging with the immense moonlight arrow, tearing through the flower-cocoon with a dazzling brilliance and godly precision.
"Then… let's call it this," he murmured. "You are... the [Golden Star-Piercer]!"
...
Standing later before her companions, Van Gogh finally reclaimed her Saint Graph from Yuna, but suddenly—
A wet, sickening sound.
Van Gogh's eyes widened.
A hand burst through her chest from behind, clutching her still-beating heart.
"The complete Saint Graph… finally mine."
Standing behind Van Gogh, the culprit revealed herself clearly, leaving Selesia and the others stunned, utterly disbelieving, as if trapped once more in a nightmare woven by an Outer God:
"Meteora! What are you doing—?!"
---
T/N: WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT
hi future me here, ummm im vetoing the normal update today so i can cliffhang you! yes!
if you wanna blame anyone blame SpyTL he gave me the idea to cliffhang people yes so you should go to his stories and say he sucks and that im soooo much better and everything yeah
bonus chaps
100 stones -> 1 chapter
200 stones -> 2 chapters
300 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
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