This is a story from long, long ago, so long that the person it is about doesn't even remember. In this story, no one was at fault, but no one was in the right either. She was just too powerful, unfortunately. That was really it.
Ever since she was born, or possibly even before that, she was too powerful. She herself knew that something was gravely off with herself. There was no fantasy in the world, just days of never-ending, unmerciful reality. People had no superpowers, and they could not use magic. Those who claimed they could on television were just those good at faking it. Fortune-tellers and prophets were all simply people extrapolating from the past to guess at the future, and none of them could actually do what they claimed. That was why they would strut around like a peacock reminding everyone of their achievement whenever they managed to be right, but when they were wrong, they would craftily pretend that they didn't remember ever making any such prediction.
People could not fly through the air, nor could they live without air. People could not produce fire from their hands either, nor could they combat aging. That was why all of that was confined to the realms of fantasy and fiction, only to be told of in fairy tales. All of this was simply a fleeting dream that could only exist in fiction, or it should have been.
She alone was different. In this world with no dreams and no fantasy, she alone had dreams; she alone was fantastic. She could use magic, and she had superpowers. She could fly through the air, survive being in space, produce fire from her hands, and if she wanted, she could stop growing at any time. She could even become younger at will. She had once tried burning herself to ash as an experiment, but even then, she'd never lost consciousness. All that had happened was that she'd lost her body. With her consciousness still remaining, she could get her body back in an instant if she wanted. Even life and death bent to her will.
Not even she herself knew why someone like her was able to be born. In fact, there was probably no reasoning behind it. After all, would anyone be able to answer if someone asked them if there was a reason the universe itself existed? No, surely not. There would probably be some scholars or religious figures who would try to answer the question with some convoluted logic, but without any proof, it would still be the same as if they hadn't answered at all.
There are always things that people cannot explain, as well as some things that will probably go unexplained forever, such as how the universe was created. If asked, the majority would probably answer with the big bang, but that invited the next question. Then what caused the big bang to occur? At this point, most would become unable to answer, but a minority of smart people would probably attempt to reason through an answer. They might say that something happened, or that there was some kind of coincidence, or maybe that some kind of component clicked into place. However, that would then invite another question. Where did such a thing come from?
By repeating this cycle, the conclusion that the beginning was nothing would eventually be reached. However, reaching that conclusion would erase all meaning. If there was nothing, then there would be no coincidence or component, and there would be no universe. Wouldn't the nothingness simply continue for eternity? After going that far, most likely no one would have a rebuttal, since this would be reaching into the area of philosophy.
Ultimately, there would always be unexplainable things if one inquired far enough, and she was probably one of them. She was something that could not be explained by reason. In fact, there might have been no specific reason behind her at all. She was from a completely failed place where human intellect could not reach and illogicality and inconsistency ruled. She may have been born because humans imagined God, or maybe humans were born because she had imagined them. She may have come from the universe itself, or it was possible that the universe came from her. Not even she herself knew which had come first. After all, she currently stood in a place where a sense of time could not take hold. She both felt that she could have been alive before the universe had existed and that she could have come after the universe had ended.
What kind of thing am I? Why was I born? Why do I exist?
Not even she could answer those questions.
In the end, it was probably all a coincidence, just like the universe that had sprung from nothing. Just like how a green planet called Earth happened to have been formed, and how life happened to have been born on it. Just like how fire and water existed and how time had begun as well. Just as how all things were born or formed, she was surely born as the concept of herself.
In other words, she herself was some sort of phenomenon, something that had even less of a chance of happening than the universe, a singularity that was able to be born and walk around on Earth. The biggest glitch ever to spring from the world.
She might have been the manifestation of all the unrealistic things that had been unnecessary when reality itself had been created. Maybe all the concepts and notions that had not been created in the world had taken human form and been born as her. This coincidence was basically impossible. It was as if someone had scattered computer parts all throughout the ocean, and they somehow came together and were assembled into a complete PC. There was an almost zero percent chance of it happening. However, she was born from such a happenstance. The impossible became possible.
Humans are beings who march towards death from the moment they are born. They lived with the fear of death their entire lives. However, she did not understand such things, and so she pitied humanity. No matter how much humans fantasized, they could never escape the cage that is reality. The only time they were allowed to dream was in their sleep.
How pitiful humans are, she thought. At the same time, she grew angry. Why does God not save these poor people? Look at how hard they're praying; it's almost comical. They're all wishing not to die. Why doesn't God reach out a hand to save them? Why, why, why?
Her questions were never-ending.
Why is the world filled with so much suffering? Why do people make so many mistakes? Why do they kill and hate each other?
People are scared, so they take up weapons. Though they seek peace, they cannot put down their weapons for fear of being attacked by others with weapons.
As long as the concept of conflict exists in people's hearts, then fear will not disappear either. If someone didn't have any means to protect themselves, they would just be killed, so peace and weapons go hand in hand. Deadly weapons and peace… though those two things are antitheses and will never mix, they've become synonymous. Just like that, people accrue weapons, gradually become stronger, and most likely they eventually fall, burned by the weapons that made them too strong.
People recognize the inevitability of this future, at least somewhat. That is why there are so many postwar, postapocalyptic novels and stories in general. However, they still are unable to let go. If they do, they will be destroyed by others who haven't, after all. There would be no protecting themselves. So, wouldn't this be the point where God should step in? If a child picks up a toy that would hurt them, is it not the job of the parent to take the toy away? However, God is doing nothing.
These poor, unstable creatures need strict guidance! But no matter how they pray or wail, God pretends not to see. No, he surely isn't even looking. She paused. If God really exists, then he is heartless.
At some point, she started to think like that. After years, decades, centuries of living amongst people, the dissatisfaction she had towards whoever had made this world grew ever stronger each time she came to know of the suffering that she was divorced from.
Living things die. They leave behind children as proof they were alive, and they continue to pass the baton to the next generation. The reason living things exist is in order to leave behind children. They lived in order to leave behind proof of their life. That was probably a necessary evolution in order to survive. It had to be done in order to allow creatures to adapt to their surroundings and maintain diversity. By having generations quickly change out, resources were not wasted.
There were many other reasons why this was done, and she understood that. However, she still felt it was cruel. Because they were gifted with knowledge, humans all died while crying about not wanting to die. The will of this world was for everything that lived to die. There was no salvation; from birth, the world itself told them to die, to not survive.
Why was the world made this beautiful but also this cruel?
At some point, she went out on a journey to save people. From the sick to the wounded to the suffering, she reached out the hand of salvation to all those she laid eyes on, continuing to pick them up. She was called a savior, a saint, and a goddess. She saved, and she saved, and she saved, but it was hopeless. There was no end. After all, people were made to die. In the end, it was as if she'd never saved them at all.
Because the world had been made this way, she was not solving the underlying problem. In order to save this world, in order to free everybody from their suffering, she had to flip the world over completely. That was why she decided to change the foundations.
Reaching the place was easy; she simply flew through the sky and space so fast that light was not even close to catching up, until she reached the end of the universe. It was impossible for a human-sized lump of matter to surpass the speed of light. Even if it did happen, it would be disastrous. However, none of that mattered to her. After all, she was a singularity. She was unbound by the laws of this universe, and she contained multitudes of different laws and providences within her. She simply rewrote the common sense of the universe, applied what laws were convenient to her, and forced them into place.
Normalally, cooling water would turn it into ice. However, if she said that the water would become fire instead, cooling water would then produce fire. Why? Who knows? She was able to do it, and that was that. The question of why never entered her mind at all.
"I can do it."
That was the truth, and that was all that mattered.
If someone saw the entirety of space at once, they would see that it resembled a brain, and that outside of that, there was nothing. There was just white that seemed to stretch on forever, and there was no god to be found. It was just endless nothingness.
"Ah… as I thought. There is no God."
She was disappointed at that. The salvation that humanity believed in didn't exist. There was no fantasy, and there was no dream. All there was was merciless nothingness.
I see. No wonder no one can be saved. No wonder no one stretched a hand out, no matter how people prayed. I mean, there's no one here. But from now on, things will be different. I can save them. I can stretch my hand out. If there is no God, then I will become God. If they pray, then I can be like the Gods from their dreamed-up myths, living beside them and listening to their wishes. After all, I can do anything.
"Okay, it's time to change things. I will save them. It's the end of this world with no God. From now on, I will love all of you. I will save all of you. From this moment, the true world begins!"
She laughed and was innocently happy.
From now on, I'll be God. I can save everyone. I can make them happy. It'll be fine. I will never abandon humanity. I will definitely make them all happy. I will save them!
A prisonlike world with no special powers is just boring, so let me split off another world. I'll use a piece of my power, mana, to make a new universe, populate it with stars and planets, and invite everyone there. People will be able to fly through the air and use magic, and I'll even let them have ESP. I won't put any fetters on evolution. If they don't want to die, then they can live for thousands or tens of thousands of years if they like. I'll even let them be immortal!
That's right. It will be sad if they just disappear after death, so I'll just create souls. That way, they can be reborn as many times as they like. I'll also prepare a place.Valhalla, I'll call it, to accept people after death and allow them to be reborn. I'll trap all the bad concepts, like violence, life spans, hating others, and bringing people down, in bad mana, and separate that to make a wonderful world where everyone can live in peace.
Everything started with a wonderful idea. She simply had a pure desire to make people as happy as possible. However, her ideals weakened at some point, buried under vast years of time. She forgot what she'd set out to do. All that remained was the desire to make people happy, but it had been bent and twisted. Finally, all that was left was rampant goodwill left beyond the edges of space, continuing to comically dance alone forever and ever without forgetting the ideal of making people happy but making grave mistakes on how to go about it.
***
Countless years later…
"Looks like the time has come for this to end," I said to Hinata as I watched the four battles that were in the midst of ending.
The Earth and Heaven Ouroboroses had died by Satsuki. The Fire Ouroboros was only half-dead, but there was no way Sakura and her group would lose now. At this point, Sakura would win even if she was alone. Meanwhile, the Wood Ouroboros faced both the Fairy Sisters Nanoha and the Fate simultaneously, and Ruby's group was already on the way, so it was only a matter of time before that battle was over as well.
However, the Goddess on Hinata's body was, of course, as calm as ever. After all, her most important pawn was still standing, perfectly fine.
Actually, I bet she'd still be calm even if I did defeat Hinata. In the end, this entire universe is nothing but a game to her, something to be frustrated over if you lose and maybe something you'd get so mad over you'd never play again. But that's all. In a game, it didn't matter how many of your characters were killed. It wouldn't hurt you in real life at all.
That was why I needed to destroy this universe—this game—once in order to get on the same level as the Goddess. If I didn't, I'd never be able to have a proper fight with her. In fact, I'd never be able to even meet her. This also meant that I couldn't afford to stumble here, at this stage, of course. After all, I had yet to even reach Yggdra.
"Totally unreliable, all of them. However, all of that ends here. Not even you can win against me."
"You're wrong. That's Hinata's body. You aren't even standing on the battlefield yet," I said.
"I see. You have a point. But this will be more than enough for you." As she spoke, the aura of pressure that the Goddess/Hinata gave off increased in strength.
She's attacking! I could tell this from the stirrings of the mana from beyond this planet, which wasn't on so small a scale as that which had been contained on Midgar. She was gathering the mana that comprised this universe itself. Indeed, this entire universe was nothing but a magic spell of hers, so there was an infinite amount of mana around.
"Now come, you, the ruler of the skies up above! You are the thunder that will break apart the stars. Zeus!"
The sky split, a titanic old man with a lightning bolt in his hand appeared. The old man roars and hurls the lightning bolt in his hand to me. At this point, a lightning strike was like child's play, but of course, this was no normal lightning. There was no way to know exactly how strong the current or voltage of the lightning was, but I could easily tell that whatever those measurements were, they would normally be impossible. Just as the Goddess had said, the lightning destroyed stars and planets; it was clearly powerful enough to erase planets entirely.
I raised my hand above my head to intercept the falling lightning with a shield. The atmosphere was acting as a sort of insulator against electricity, but that was, of course, easily broken through. Nothing like that could stop this, no matter if it was rubber, pure water, or the atmosphere. Whether it be reason, providence, common sense, logic, theorems, or law, all of it was, unfortunately, powerless. None of it meant anything. However, if the other side was coming with pure power, so would I.
I raised the strength of my shield, defending the common-sense—ignoring lightning by further ignoring any common sense. The lightning scattered across the sky, and a few moments later, some stars could be seen being burnt away. However, Midgar still existed.
"Slice into her, Unlimited Sword Works!"
This time, I was on the attack. Countless blades sprouted from beneath the Goddess/Hinata's feet, piercing up into the sky.
The Goddess/Hinata simply flew higher with that smile still on her face, but I merely swung my arm as if to follow her movement. When I did so, the blades moved, chasing the Goddess/Hinata. However, she slipped through the veritable cage of blades without a scratch, all while looking as if she were dancing, before escaping ever higher. I also took flight, chasing after the fleeing Goddess/Hinata and reaching her in the sky.
"You, the master of death, one who brings destruction. The ultimate end of all things… Kagutsuchi!"
Black fire spread from the Goddess/Hinata in all directions forming a giant black dragon. Sensing the unavoidable death those black flames brought, I didn't hesitate to pull back, though it was a little cowardly. I was immediately proved right. The blades I'd transmuted were destroyed without question, and after seeing them turn to charcoal, it was obvious that the black fire wasn't just dealing damage with heat.
"Assured destruction, huh?"
"No. Instant death, whether it be living or not."
After hearing the Goddess/Hinata's answer, I muttered an "I see" to myself. It most likely pierced through resistances as well, as if it was only natural.
I see. A terrifying skill. As long as it hits, that is. But aside from the effect of it, the fire itself wasn't much. At the very least, it was nothing compared to the heat of the sun; it was a weak fire that could go out with a slight breeze.
I threw out a light punch, and the wind from it blew away the fire as it headed for the Goddess/Hinata.
"Aldebaran!"
My fist buried itself in the Goddess/Hinata's gut, sending her flying. Sorry, Hinata. I'll heal you up later, so forgive me.
Aldebaran was skill able to destroy and nullify any and all abilities like that certain misfortune hero's fist. However, the Goddess was still inside Hinata's body. Well, that was only natural. After all, it wasn't as if the Goddess were using some sort of skill to possess Hinata. She was simply using someone who had been born as her avatar from the start. No power or ability was at work there. According to what Hinata had said, the Goddess would use a unique skill when possessing her, but it was a onetime deal that did not need continuous usage.
The Goddess/Hinata scolded me, saying, "That won't work," before moving on to her next skill. "Next, how about this? You, the saviors of the ancient world, who once slayed an evil goddess. Come, Asura and Indra!"
Heeding the Goddess/Hinata's call, the mana in the surroundings clumped together to form two human figures at once. Two somewhat eastern warrior-looking guys, one with blond hair and one with black hair, pincered me, ready to attack.
That's rather lukewarm. What's going on? Does she want me to kill them? She should already know that mere numbers aren't enough to get one over on me. Well, let's just take care of this with a skill. I decided on the one used by the divine gate guardian to eliminate all those who were unworthy—the Scales of Selection.
"Brachium!"
A light of extreme destruction swirled around me, turning the manifested figures into nothing but dust.
Brachium was a skill that dealt damage fixed at the damage ceiling. Right now, my damage ceiling was 999,999,999. Basically, a billion. I mowed down everything around me, including the Goddess/Hinata, who was near enough to get caught up in it. Still, it was only a mere one-thousandth of her total HP. I shouldn't really be talking, but her stats are ridiculous. There was no other way to describe them.
"First was from the Greek myth, next a Japanese god, and then anime and manga characters, really? All you're using are things from the other side," I said.
"Oh, I forgot that you know them too. Yes, you're exactly correct. The other side is filled with so many stories. It's never-ending fun. It's surprising how free and unlimited the human capacity for imagination is," the Goddess/Hinata said, happy. Spreading her arms out as she spoke, she seemed exactly like a child bragging about her toys, and I got the feeling that I was seeing a chink in her mad simplemindedness.
"What things would you like next?" the Goddess/Hinata asked. "You can name whichever one you like. I don't mind. Demons, Heroes, even Gods, I can summon all of them, anything a person could imagine."
After hearing the Goddess/Hinata's reply, one of the questions I'd held for a long time was cleared up. In the end, she's just aping them… And given the sorry state of that previous one, there's no doubt. She's…
"A power you can't reproduce… Would that be the power to create something new?" I asked with conviction..
The expression on the Goddess/Hinata's face froze. That reaction told me that I had said the one thing she didn't want to hear.
"That seems to be the limit of just aping powers. You've stood out enough that it's far too easy to understand what you can't do. This world itself is already something made from a warped, patched-together version of myths from the other side, but the living things are especially bad. There's nothing here that is totally original. Though there are some species that have evolved along their own lines, their roots are still traceable back to Earth."
For example, there were monsters that resembled dogs and ones that resembled cats as well. There were reptilian demihumans and bug monsters too. Not to mention fishlike peoples in the ocean, and the angels, who resembled birds.
"Like." "Resembled." "Basically the same." Those words could be applied to all the living things in this world. You didn't say that dogs "resembled dogs," nor did you do the same for cats. After all, they were all the originals of their kind. If I were to bring over a biologist from Earth who knew every single species on the planet, he would surely at least recognize everything in this world. Why? Because they'd been stolen.
"Pretty much anything a person could imagine? That's not true. It's more like you can only do what people can imagine, right? You do not have the power to truly bring about the unknown, the unprecedented."
This world's roots were firmly planted in Earth. It could be that she did actually have the power to create the unknown; she just had no imagination. Because the source of all her ideas and imagination was Earth, everything she put forth would resemble something from Earth in some way. All of that led me to one conclusion. Though I wasn't absolutely sure, and this was just a theory, my heart was screaming that this was the truth. The fact that she had titled herself the creator but could not create life was strange.
"Yggdra, you are not the creator. You existed as something else before you became a god… Am I wrong?"
The Goddess/Hinata was silent for a moment. "That's an interesting idea. I see, I see… That's not a bad development. So behind me, there would be a true god of creation who was the real puppet master… Hee hee… Is that what you wanted to say?"
The Goddess/Hinata tried to confuse me with an incredible statement, but that wouldn't work. There was no doubt that she was the mastermind of all this, as well as the one at the pinnacle of this universe. There was no one behind her and no existence higher than hers.
"Of course not. Are you stupid?"
"W-wha-?!"
"Yggdra, I believe that you were not originally a god. You are simply someone who left their original world for some purpose and became a god."
Yes, now that we'd come this far, there was only one answer. There was the twisted form that Midgar took, the living beings that made it up, the patchwork nature of its mythology, the copying of not just the other side's food culture, but culture in general, and most importantly, the fact that Yggdra hadn't laid a finger on Earth even though she was going so wild over here. It was as if there was something inviolably sacred about Earth. Yggdra viewed Earth as special. That was also why she always chose the main characters for her stories from Earth. She would pull in young men or women who were in no way suited for fighting and give them favorable treatment. Why was that? It was obvious.
"Yes. You are an earthling, Yggdra. You are not omnipotent or omniscient. You aren't even a true god. You're simply a wannabe god touting herself as one. That is your true identity."
Surely she was as close to immortal as could be. She didn't age, and she'd been alive almost forever by this point, after all. She also had an overwhelming amount of power, enough to destroy this universe she'd built. Given that, it would be appropriate to call her a god. At the very least, she had enough power to be one. At her roots, she was no different from me, however. For something divine, she was far too human and made too many mistakes.
After I pointed out her true identity, the Goddess/Hinata's heart went blank for an instant. She'd probably never expected anyone to guess right.
After some time of dazed silence, she eventually came out with a dry laugh. "Heh… Heh heh heh… Heh heh heh heh heh heh… How long has it been since anyone last called me human? I faintly remember something ten of billions years ago… It has quite the nostalgic ring to it. It's true. There was a time when I was called that, long ago." She paused, thinking. "Though even I myself can't remember how long ago that was."
With that, the Goddess/Hinata wiped the smile off her face as she looked at me. It was not playful like before. For the first time, she looked upon me as an enemy.
"The game ends here, Lunaru Fenris. You crossed a line you shouldn't have." The Goddess/Hinata was quiet for a moment. "Let us end this. I will at least allow it to happen at the hands of the Hero."
The Goddess/Hinata waved her arm. When she did so, the mana that had made up the ouroboroses quickly gathered at a single point. The mana's destination was the Ark, or rather, a single young woman inside it. Everything was flowing into Ruby as an exp. It was likely that the Fire and Wood ouroboroses would eventually also become exp. Only Satsuki, the Moon ouroboros, who was under my control, barely managed to escape this fate. Even so, that girl should have gained enough strength to fight me.
"You're right. The curtain will soon fall by the Hero's hand."
I agreed with the Goddess as I too looked over to the Ark, though both the Goddess and I meant something entirely different when we said it was the end.
Yggdra, you still don't understand. That girl is not the protagonist. She is someone who can try to find the right path, even if she has to give up the position of the protagonist to do it. The end is coming. It's the curtain call on this terrible play. And that is when there will be a brawl behind the stage, where the audience can't see.
***
Ruby was confused. She was sure that she had just been in the Ark, trying to calm the people who were inside. She remembered that much. It was debatable whether that actually counted as calming them, but we can just call it that for now.
However, she was now looking at the outside. She was now outside the Ark, watching Weiss as she fought desperately. She was facing the Wood Ouroboros Gaia, an unprecedented monster that could destroy planets and one strong enough that Weiss would not be able to remain untouched against it. Ruby was simply watching, unable to do anything. After all, Weiss was strong while she was weak. She was liable to die just from being outside the Ark, let alone while helping in a fight.
The planet had already lost its original shape, was swallowed by magma, and was suffering countless meteor impacts from the sky. Mountains were pulverized, the land split, the oceans boiled away, and the earthquakes never stopped as many other natural disasters frequently popped up all over. The world was truly ending. This was a time only talked of in myths.
Ruby would be lying if she tried to claim she didn't feel miserable. Rather, she always felt miserable due to her inevitable sense of inferiority. It was embarrassing for her to be so weak even though she held the title of Hero. To Ruby, the feeling of powerlessness was a nosy neighbor she couldn't escape from. Ever since she had witnessed Naru after coming to this world, that neighbor was constantly posing as her best friend, arm wrapped around her shoulders. On top of all that, this annoying neighbor had been getting bigger and bigger this entire time. Ruby had felt especially powerless, during her fight with Cinder.
In a sense, though, she'd managed to give up and accept the difference between herself and Naru and her group. They're all walking disasters in human form, so it's only natural to be weaker than them, she thought. You have to run from falling meteors. There's no way to win against fighter craft loaded with nuclear missiles. Anybody would surrender when faced with an entire army. None of that is an embarrassment. If a huge monster jumped out of the screen in a movie and started to attack, would anyone actually pick up a sword and fight if they were told to?
However, there had been one time when that wasn't the case. Ruby had fought an enemy she could have defeated but still lost. More than that, she had been taken as a hostage and ended up being a burden to Weiss. In the end, Naru had intervened, and it had all ended well, but Ruby had never cursed her own powerlessness more than at that moment. Before she'd noticed, Ruby found herself alone, balled up, surrounded by darkness. A sense of powerlessness shaped like Ruby herself started to talk to her.
"I'm so weak. I can't do anything, let alone protect something. What kind of hero even am I? Seriously, it's laughable."
Yeah, you're right. I'm a pathetic, useless hero. A laughingstock.
As if to pile onto this, another sense of powerlessness, this time shaped like Cinder, lay her arm across Ruby's shoulders.
"Aren't you jealous of those strong people? Aren't you envious? I also can't help but think, If only I had power."
"Shut up!" Ruby muttered aloud as she weakly waved her hand, trying to swat it away.
However, that didn't make the sense of powerlessness go away. Ruby's feelings of inferiority wouldn't disappear. In fact, those miserable feelings now became Roman and he promptly started to bounce around in front of Ruby mockingly.
"Hey, hey, how do you feel now, little red? How does being a hero who can't do anything feel?"
Shut up! Ruby stood up to punch him in the face before promptly curling back up again.
Light suddenly fell in front of Ruby. When she looked up, she found a holy-looking maiden smiling down upon her, who kindly held out her hand as she spoke.
"It will be fine, Ruby Rose the Hero. You are not weak. Your power is simply sleeping inside you. Now, take my hand. There is no longer any need for those feelings of powerlessness, inferiority, and pitifulness. You will fly to the battlefield and save everyone."
In that instant, scenes of her after becoming powerful played in Ruby's head like a movie. Using the power that suddenly welled up from within, Ruby became unstoppable as she leapt into action, and even if she was experiencing trouble, she would simply awaken a hitherto-sleeping power to make a comeback. Then, she would pile great achievement upon great achievement, gain the affection of many cute girls and handsome boys for no reason, and fall into a tug-of-war between them before being able to react.
It was a story with many common developments. Very common developments.
I'd be lying if I said I didn't want that. If I were at least useful, that would be infinitely better than my current state. I've always wondered why I was called to a world like this… I won't say that I haven't imagined a world where I was strong and could make great contributions… Even so…
After a moment, Ruby said, "I see. So you're the Goddess Yggdra."
This weakness is also a part of me, Ruby Rose.No matter how many bitter experiences that fact gives me, I'll just have to swallow them all. Even if we try to avert our eyes, reality does not just go away. And humans cannot run from reality.
"I'm sure I would become strong if I were to take your hand. But, I would lose something precious in exchange. Am I right?"
The Goddess remained silent for a moment. "You do not wish for power?"
"I do. Agh, dammit… I really, really do. I'd pay an arm and a leg for it."
Ruby was not like Sakura. The Cherry Blossom Princess was strong, strong enough to not need the Goddess's help, strong enough to take pride in it. Though they both craved power, their cravings were of opposite natures. Sakura had never felt any inferiority until she met Naru. She'd never felt powerless once in her life. I am strong, and Naru is stronger, since she can defeat me. So I will use my strength and multiply it, was how Sakura thought. It was simple, and because of that, it was strong. There was no brittleness to it of the sort that weak beings like Ruby would have. She'd thrown all that away while she had been in her mother's womb.
However, Ruby was different. She was not strong, and she was also terribly delicate. If Sakura's heart was like a several-meters-thick superalloy plate, then Ruby's heart was like aluminum foil. It could fold and bend any number of times, and the creases would remain no matter what. It was different from Sakura's heart, which would never bend in the first place. However, Ruby was still able to softly refuse the Goddess's hand with her heavily creased heart.
"I… don't need it. I'm weak, and honestly just pitiful, but there is something I can do because of that. I… I will not point my weapon at the wrong person. I refuse to."
I want power. I really want it. I wanted it so much I could cry. Part of me wants to take back what I said and ask for it, but that can't happen. If I did that, then I would no longer be myself. If I were to betray my own heart for power, I would be the same as an uncontrollable weapon. It doesn't matter how powerful a weapon is. If it hits people it shouldn't, then it's worthless.
The Goddess was quiet for a moment. "Hee hee hee hee hee."
Seeing Ruby's attitude, the Goddess tossed aside her affectionate smile for one that had her mouth curving like a crescent moon. Then, she started clapping as if praising Ruby before she grabbed her jaw.
"I see, I see! As expected of a true hero. What a wonderful mindset. I praise you for the strength of your conviction! Yes, I don't hate that kind of attitude, not at all. In fact, I find it wonderful that you're trying to walk on your own two feet, but that's exactly why it's so pitiful… Ah, what a poor child you are. Even though your convictions are so strong, your abilities do not match. That is so extremely unfortunate."
The Goddess didn't listen to one word of what Ruby had to say. Instead, she just continued the conversation on her own. She didn't do this out of hate for Ruby; she wasn't even mad that she had been refused. In fact, it was the opposite. From the bottom of her heart, she thought, Ah, what a wonderful girl just brimming with bravery! Yes, this is how people have to be! They should walk on their own feet instead of chasing after some wish or clinging to divinity. That is the strength of humanity, as well as its beauty.
However, that was exactly why she couldn't help but pity Ruby. Even though people like her were the most worthy of power, they would always end up refusing it.
She deserves to be saved. She should be saved! She needs to be saved, needs to be!
"Be at ease, child. I will not abandon you. You deserve happiness. Feel free to be a little more selfish. I will forgive you. Allow me to save you from your powerlessness."
The Goddess was attempting to be a forceful savior. She would not listen to those she was saving; she saved them because she herself wanted to.
This girl's wonderful. Truly wonderful, without exaggeration. She deserves happiness. I will make her happy.
That was the moment Ruby realized something. Up until now, she'd thought of the Goddess Yggdra as a villain who was playing around with the world as she pleased.
I was wrong… This Goddess… This way-too-awful Goddess is just way, way off base.
"Even if you do not desire it, I will bestow power upon you. Do not worry. When you next awake, it will all be over."
She was no longer even pretending to listen to what Ruby wanted. A puppet with no will would not be much in battle, but that was only if there wasn't an overwhelming stat difference. Now, however, things would be different.
After absorbing not just the ouroboroses but a part of the universe as exp, Ruby would become basically invincible. She would be strong enough to defeat Naru.
In order to force her aid on her, the Goddess lifted Ruby's jaw.
"Heed my order. Refuse her with your own will."
That was when another power that was already inside Ruby intervened, and she shook off the Goddess's hand.
Ruby turned around only to find Naru there. This was Ruby's inner psyche, though, so there was no way Naru should have been there. However, she had already worked her control inside Ruby. Of course, it wasn't to actually control her. She had done so in order to protect the girl from those who would control her regardless of her will.
"Wha-?! L-Lunaru Fenris?! Why are you here…?" the Goddess asked.
"Hmph. I figured you'd do something like this, Yggdra. It seems you really did try to force power on her… But it's too bad, isn't it?"
"Wai-wait a second! It can't be… Did you do that without her permission?"
"This girl, Ruby, is already spoken for. As long as you don't defeat me, you can't touch her."
"You fiend!"
The Goddess conveniently ignored her own actions as her shout echoed through the world of Ruby's inner psyche. At the same time, all the experience, or mana, that was flooding towards Ruby lost its destination. The Hero herself had rejected the script, so this was no longer a story. At this point, the Goddess's Script had completely collapsed.
"Why…?" Yggdra clenched her fists as she looked at Ruby.
I don't get it. I just don't. Why won't she accept the power? There're no demerits to it at all! It's free. There are no catches. I was just going to give her cheat powers that would allow her to defeat anything in this world! I told her I was going to save her. I said I was going to make things easy. So why was I rejected? Didn't she admit that she actually wanted it deep down? Didn't she say that she hated her weakness? So why not just take it? That would solve all her problems. Why would she meaninglessly take the hard, painful choice?
"Why?! I was trying to save you! It's hard and painful, isn't it? Didn't you want to change your current self?! Then why won't you take the power?! What's wrong with jumping on this new power without any thought and using it as your own with pride?!"
Ruby considered her response for a moment, then said, "I'm happy that you'd go so far for someone like me, but I don't need it. If I took it, I would no longer be myself, after all."
Ruby got up weakly before she looked the Goddess straight in the eyes. Her eyes were not filled with conviction. Ruby wavered a lot, and she was weak as well. She was just a frail girl who, even now, seemed like she was about to collapse. Even so, she was trying to walk on her own, and that was what made her human. Humans didn't need anything silly like cheats or hacks. Humans were perfectly capable of moving forward without them.
"If I were to take your power, I would then be moving as you desire. If I did that, I would just be a puppet. Even if I did gain power here and now… If you just gave that power to a puppet with no will or ego… Between me and that puppet, what would be the difference?"
"Well, that's…"
The Goddess couldn't answer the question. Rather, she knew the answer. However, she couldn't say it.
There was none. There was no difference.
If Ruby had accepted the Goddess's boon and moved as her script required, then she would just be a puppet. Put bluntly, anyone could fulfill that role. It didn't need to be Ruby Rose. It could even have been a simple mannequin with no mind at all. However, admitting that would mean shining a light on the Goddess's own contradictions. It would reveal the fact that she wasn't saving humans; she just wanted to feel like she was.
Having been confronted with this truth, it was as if everything the Goddess had done up until now was being rejected. In other words, it was a complete and utter defeat, even without a fight.
"Just give it up, Yggdra. It's your loss." Naru seemed as proud as if it were her own accomplishment as she patted Ruby's head. Yggdra had yet to be taken down. She had yet to even be challenged to a real fight. However, she'd just lost to Ruby Rose, even without such things. "This girl Ruby and you are just different."
"I… Are you saying that I am somehow… less than this powerless girl?"
"Lesser or greater is of no matter at your level. As I said, you're just different. You aren't even standing on the same stage as this girl."
Naru's thoughts were thus: Imagine a stage. If two men fought on this stage, you would think that the winner was strong. However, if one of them ignored the rules and took to the stage wearing full armor and armed to the teeth with guns and blades, would you still think they were strong? No, you wouldn't. That person would just be a cheater and a coward. You would consider them weaker than weak, a person who ran away from a fair fight.
"In my opinion, if there were a power in this world that would make anyone the strongest and undefeatable, and if there were someone who could use that power without shame, then that person would be the weakest in the world, one who was unable to actually fight anyone, someone who was just hopelessly weak. Wouldn't you think so?"
After a moment of silence, Yggdra responded. "What are you trying to say?"
"It's simple. You have not been saving people. You took people who would have been able to walk on their own, gave them power, and robbed them of that ability. You made them weak."
"You… of all people… are going to say that…?"
"I can say it because I am me. After all, I did that myself in the past," Naru admitted.
One thousand years ago, Naru had clung to power. She had drowned in it. Using power strong enough to let no one close, she had taken control of the world and filled it with fear. That was exactly why she'd lost and had been sealed. Naru had not been the strongest being in the world. She may have been the most powerful, but she had also been the weakest. As she was now, she could honestly admit that.
"Do you think so too…? Do you also think that what I was doing was not saving them…?"
There was a moment of silence. Then, Ruby said, "I think that you truly are kind. You truly wanted to save them; at least, that's what I think. But you're too powerful. You can't even understand what it means to be saved. I mean, you've never once been saved yourself, after all. And no one's ever been around to correct you either."
The Goddess was not some sort of villain. She was just deeply mistaken. So why was she mistaken? When had she become mistaken? Why had no one corrected her? All that was proof that she had never once been saved by someone else.
"You are the one that needs saving first, Goddess Yggdra!"
"Grk… Urggh…!"
Yggdra's expression warped and twisted as she looked at Ruby. She couldn't understand her. She was the most worthy of being saved; she was a pure human who should have been saved first and foremost. Even so, the girl had just rejected her and told her that she was the one who needed saving.
Just what have I been doing, then? Is she seriously saying that I've spent all this time, this eternity, simply going around in circles fruitlessly? I won't accept it. It's not true!
With that, Yggdra disappeared completely from the world of Ruby's inner psyche. For her, this had been an undisguisable, inexcusable rout.
***
"Hmm, seems to me that this is the end," the Wood Ouroboros Gaia muttered to herself in the midst of battle, seeming to have given up.
She had not yet been defeated. Though she was a little disadvantaged, there was still room for a comeback. However, she still looked up to the sky, seeming to have realized her own end. She could tell that the gigantic amount of mana that had made up the ouroboroses of Heaven and Earth had moved somewhere. The Fire Ouroboros, who was already pretty much dead anyway, had started to turn into particles as well. Gaia figured it was only a matter of time for her.
"What?" asked Nanoha.
"The curtains have closed…" Gaia said. "The curtains on this story of ours, that is."
The end was here. It was the end of the world, as well as the destruction of the story that lay beyond that. The time had finally come. After so many ridiculous events, the plot had gone so far off the rails that it could no longer be considered a story. All that was left was for her to tear the script apart.
Though she was loath to end this encounter with her daughters, Gaia still had one last job to complete before she disappeared. She looked at Fate and Nanoha. Then, a faint light emitted from the Wood Ouroboros's eye, which entered the fairy sisters's bodies.
"Th-this is…?" Fate asked, trailing off.
"I-I can feel the power…" Nanoha paused. "I'm overflowing with strength!"
Nanoha's SP was infinite once again, and her stats had gone up as well. On top of that, there was now something in her skill column that she'd never seen before—the skills of the ouroboroses, the arbitrators of the world, had been added to her list. At the same time, Gaia's body weakened, and she started to dissolve into particles of light.
"Wh-what did you do?!"
"I transferred as much of my power and authority as an ouroboros as I could to you two before severing our connection. With this, you two are no longer my avatars… Even if I disappear, I will not take you two with me."
Gaia's mouth twisted upwards as she grinned at them. Seeing that, Nanoha realized something. As I thought. She alone was somehow strange from the start… She alone had never wanted to kill Nanoha and the others. She had simply been messing around with them. In the end, all she'd done was tease and play around with her children. If it hadn't been for that, Argo would have been long sunk. In actuality, there had been many chances for Gaia to have done so. To her, Nanoha's rebellion and everything else had been akin to young children play-fighting with sticks. It was something to smile warmly at, not kill over.
"Don't you mess with me!" yelled Nanoha. "We're your enemies! Why did you…?!"
"Because I was happy. The two of you, who should have just been my clones, started to hold your own thoughts and opinions, and in the end, you chose a different path from me… That made me so happy, and seeing all that was so much fun…"
Ever since Nanoha's birth, Gaia had been watching over her. Even through her slumber, she could feel her pain and anguish, and now, she stood in front of her as an enemy. She had chosen her future with her own will. As a parent, there was no way that wouldn't fill her with joy.
"The Goddess's story has ended, so from now on, the story is all yours." Gaia paused. "Sorry for never doing anything befitting of a parent. Live well, you two."
"This isn't a joke! What are you even saying this late in the game?! If you say that… I… I… I never… You…"
I never even got to call you mother.
Nanoha didn't know if those words had gotten through to Gaia or not. Her enemy and mother turned into particles of light and disappeared fully, vanishing in front of Nanoha and the others anticlimactically. All that was left were her last words.
"How amusing…"
After watching her fully disappear, Nanoha fell to her knees.
"What the hell. That's so one-sided…" she eventually said. "If that's how you felt, why didn't you just say so in the beginning?! Why did you have to suddenly start sounding like a good person at the end…? How am I even supposed to react?!"
"She probably didn't want to have her determination waver. I… kind of understand how the Wood Ouroboros Gaia, our mother, thought," Fate admitted.
"Fate…"
"Parents are just selfish creatures."
Fate rested her hand on her sister's head, stroking her hair in an attempt to console her.
With this, all the ouroboroses were done for. The Fire Ouroboros Surtr was the last one left, screaming, "Nooo! I don't wanna disappeaaaarrr!" in an unsightly fit as he turned into light. However, he was quickly dealt the finishing blow by Sakura.
Midgar was dying, the ouroboroses had disappeared, and the story was no more. All that was left was a brawl that would be a part of no story. The last rites were up to the Goddess and the Fallen Angel.
As Fate kindly comforted her crying sister, she quietly looked towards the direction in which Naru probably was.
***
Kill stealing is one way of griefing in MMOs that is viewed as an active problem. The act of kill stealing specifically refers to when a third party suddenly swoops in to finish off a weakened enemy, thus taking the experience, materials, and money dropped by defeating it. Of course, doing so is considered extremely rude and not something good people should do.
That was what I had just done. I'd changed the directionality of the experience, or mana, that was trying to flow into the Hero, Ruby. Since she had refused what had originally been intended for her, there was no one who had a claim over the mana. Therefore, I activated my skill, and all the experience flooded into me.
"A—Whoa, whoa, whoa… Level 4000… 5000… 7000… 8000… I-It's over 9000! How far are you planning to go?!"
Given that this was experience from the ouroboroses, which were agents of divinity, the amount was on an entirely different scale from normal monsters. Not to mention, there were four of them. The Wood Ouroboros was weirdly light on mana for some reason, but my level still shot up like a rocket. No, wait a second. It seemed the Fire Ouroboros's experience hadn't come to me, so I only had three ouroboroses's worth, but… Well, whatever. Even then, my level reached 10000. I'd gotten a big boost, and it was still going up.
Now then, how will you respond, Goddess? You won't be able to deal with me while in Hinata's body anymore. You get it now, don't you? The only way to stop me is to fight me yourself.
"Xgate."
As a finishing touch, I activated Xgate, setting the entire world as the target. This world was already done for. It would soon disappear, so before that happened, I had to evacuate all the living things left here to the other side for a while. I was pretty sure that after all this, no one would insist on staying.
As expected, I succeeded in sending them off, only leaving a small number of people still with me. From what I could sense, those who had stayed behind were Sakura and Satsuki.
Sakura and Satsuki flew through the air before landing next to me. As I thought… They also have the right to challenge the Goddess.
"It seems I'm not alone, Yggdra."
"Grrr… Anyone and everyone is just ignoring the rules I set…"
I reached into a pocket and touched the Key to Reach the Heavens. It was about time for it to take the stage. I'm going to use it, Hinata. The final hand that you prepared, that is. With this, I'll put the king in check.
For a long while, the Goddess said nothing. "Yes, fine. I get it. I get it already…" the Goddess/Hinata muttered before heaving a sigh, seeming to have given up.
Then, she looked back up, staring at me with a bored look. At this point, she was out of pieces. We had crushed every single move she could make, so now, things were at an end. Having lost all chances of winning, she had no choice but to flip over the board.
The ground crumbled away, and finally, Midgar was no more. It exploded.
Our mother planet no longer existed, but in the midst of the explosion, we still faced off against each other, unmoved.
"This universe was a failure. To be honest, I find tossing away something I've taken so much time to raise like this hard to swallow, but there's nothing for it. I'll just have to take another couple hundred million years to build up another one."
The Goddess/Hinata was no longer smiling. Instead, she just seemed endlessly tired and apathetic. The curtains had closed, and now the stage would disappear. I was sure that she had put no thought towards what was next. Of course she hadn't; she didn't expect anyone to survive the destruction of the universe, and she was right in that expectation.
"Ragnarök," the Goddess/Hinata muttered.
The universe started to contract. The stars and planets all began flying at us at once, or rather, they'd been pulled towards us, as the universe itself was getting smaller.
However, I did not move. Similarly, neither Sakura nor Satsuki even twitched. Though I hadn't told them anything, they'd probably figured that I had some sort of solution to this. If that was the case, I had to live up to their expectations.
"That reminds me. You wanted me to return this, didn't you? That's fine. I don't need it anymore. Here you go. Please, share your fate with this universe."
After spitting out those last words, Hinata fell as if her strings had been cut. I caught her and immediately activated heaven-arts. Not even she would be able to survive if left alone in space, after all. As the shrinking that heralded the end of the universe continued, I lightly slapped Hinata's cheek, having finally gotten her back.
After a moment she murmured, "Mnwha? Ah, Naru."
"So you're awake, you sleepyhead."
"That's… Ah, right. So you did it."
Even while still groggy from her slumber, Hinata managed to look around and figure out what was going on. She was right. Everything has gone well so far. From here, Sakura, Satsuki, and I would be strutting our stuff. Unfortunately, all the others without the right to challenge could not participate.
I took out the Key to Reach the Heavens and activated it. When I did so, the ownership of the universe shifted to me. This universe had already been tossed aside, so it was free for me—the one with the key—to claim, though I still wasn't able to stop its destruction, of course.
"U-um, Naru! What should we do about this?"
"Calm down, Hina. The universe is just going to end a little," I said.
"Whaaaaa?!"
I laughed and activated my skill. This universe was the magic of the Goddess, and now that she'd abandoned it, it was mine. So naturally, it was within my right to absorb all of it.
"Gather to me, Goddess's power!"
This universe was a magic spell, and spells were made of mana. Mana was a piece of the Goddess's power, as well as exp itself. This all made a certain thing possible. I would fuse myself with the universe and reach the realm of divinity.
Yes, this was my final move. The plan was to absorb the universe the Goddess had left behind, reach the same domain as her, punch her, and send her flying. Also, I wasn't the only one absorbing the universe. Thanks to the effects of my skill Ascella, Sakura and Satsuki were sharing in the exp.
This was the right to challenge. Those still fettered by the limits of the world would never move beyond level 1000, no matter how much experience they took in. That was why being able to break through that limit was a prerequisite.
"Well done up to this point, my friends. From here on out, we will be going without you. Please, believe in our victory and wait for us."
I activated Xgate, the other side of which connected to the Ark, and created an escape route for them. From here on, the only ones to move forward would be Sakura, Satsuki, and I. Our friends began to disappear through the gate one by one, Hinata was the only one left.
"Naru… I believe in you. I believe you'll come back to us!"
"Yeah, I'll be back soon. Wait for me."
After receiving my promise, Hinata left this universe. Now, it was just Sakura, Satsuki, and I. We had also nearly finished absorbing the universe. Our levels are… No, I guess numbers like that don't mean anything anymore. At this point, levels would not be a good indicator of anything.
"Now, let's go! First, we start off with a light greeting; then we smash her in the face!"
"Sounds good. Make sure you sync up with us, Naru."
In order to signal the start of battle, I fired off a spell first. "Prophet Who Nocks the Golden Bow."
It was the strongest buff the Sun attribute had. On top of that, Sakura followed up with Maiden Who Shoots a Silver Arrow, and there wasn't only one arrow. Satsuki also cast the spell. Now then, Goddess. Are you ready? You are no longer a player who just manipulates the game from safety. It's time for the behind-the-scenes brawl.
"Fire!"
On my signal, two silver arrows flew off, literally piercing through space. The wall between dimensions broke, and a hole formed. We flew towards the hole, and all together, we escaped this universe. Then, we came upon a pure-white world that seemed to stretch on into infinity. Finally, we came face-to-face with the Goddess, who stood there dazed and in disbelief.