I was surrounded by a cold, empty area, like a blank slate prepared to be written on.
One which seemed eerily familiar…
I have seen this before, it isn't anything I saw recently…
Man, I just can't dismiss the past, can I?
A beach I once visited in my past life.
With its sandy shores leading to an edge.
An edge where flowing waters once sat, now stagnant
An edge which never seemed to end.
A place where echoes would never be heard and screams would be leaked into the abyss. Sounds swallowed by the darkness, not echoes nor cries, forever dwindling, floating about.
The beach was like a battlefield…
No, I'm wrong… It was one.
A glum place with the words brutal past conflicts written all over it.
Rusted swords stabbed into the shores and broken staves littered like a junkyard.
A glaring eye.
Hollow.
Black.
Void-like…
It stared at me, as if looking into my very soul.
I stood there like a stone statue, frozen in place, yet my breathing still calm. My eyes locked onto the divine being that stood in front of me, a god…
It's not that I haven't seen a god before, oh, I've seen plenty…
Plenty of them, some beautiful, some ugly, some abstract, and some are even my relatives…
Well, to put into perspective, this thing in front of me isn't none of those, it's all of them…
"So this is what they call the Void… I'm sure that thing under the world tree barrier is as scared as I am right now as well."
I don't have any support behind me.
If I lose this fight, the world is gone, my wives, my children, all sucked into this gaping hole of doom.
I'm the last line of the world's defences, a whole lot to put on my shoulders for just some normal dude who wants to live an isekai slow life.
A bead of cold sweat dripped down the sides of my cheek, "Guess it's just me and you big fella," I said, my wooden staff clenched firmly in my left hand and my long katana-like sword gripped in my right.
A chilling whisper echoed through the voidless abyss, "Thy ast no God, thou ast no deity… In thine own words… Shalt ye face justice of the void."
Oh damn. I thought, my arms lifted in front of myself, breathing calmly and slowly…
Holding my two weapons together I casted an incantation, muttering the shortened jumbled up form of the chant out of my mouth.
"Great Tree..." My voice cracked. "Through fire, ye shall be reborn—a crucible..."
Flames licked my legs. My hands trembled as divine heat swelled around me.
This isn't an incantation I would use in any normal bout… But damn this sure drains out a whole lotta mana.
"Melting all deities into one... May ye grant me thy strength—" I continued, my words spoken with strength, firm… I raised my weapon in the air, and a spear of golden light formed above.
"Rain upon the lands with thy golden threads..." Sparks erupted from the newly formed dark clouds. Golden lightning danced, striking the ground in jagged arcs.
"Wrap around my blade your sacred powers..."
Gold threads floated down from behind my high-held weapon, wrapping themselves around my single-edged sword.
In front of me, the being of darkness shifted its form, becoming human-like…
Is that…
Me?
It roared, screamed like a beast, its eyes red with killing intent…
Is this the Void's true power?
Mimicry.
I stared into my own very two eyes, they were the exact match, just red and murderous.
I gulped down a mouthful of saliva…
Can I win a fight against myself?
Copying my previous movements, the mimic moved, thrusting its arms down, it created a single-edged black blade and a black staff, both of which looked exactly like my own.
Calming myself with a deep breath, I rushed in, my sword at the ready and my staff prepared to launch a barrage of spells.
The mimic copied my movements without delay.
"Fucking annoying piece of shit, copying these as well," I grumbled as I manoeuvred my way across the sand, with each step I took scattering layers of sand behind me.
I didn't get any closer to it.
My original plan is gone now. If only I could have gained at least a little of the distance between me and the mimic, the plan would still be in play…
There is no such thing as a slow battle with a god, especially not one of such caliber as this one… In the realm of outer gods, each god has its own aspect of reality, each and every one fights over the place known as the primordial sanct, and this god is no different, with an ever-expanding domain over the abyss itself, if I had to take a guess… This god might just be able to rival the Primordial Light beneath the world itself.
Can I really beat a monster such as this one? Ehh, no time thinking about this, just gotta kill it before it becomes any stronger.
I lifted my staff, high and proud… Silently mumbling the chant for my incantation over closed lips.
Orbs of white and golden light appear from above me.
Bolts of blinding white light blast from the orbs…
The lasers cleaved through the space itself, every bolt of light shredding through the domain itself as if it were leaving a crack on reality itself.
The laser traced my mimic as it ran around, dodging every single one of my magical attacks.
The rain of flashing bolts never stopped, but none of them even got close to hitting the mimic.
If this continues on for any longer I might use up all my mana, even with my blessing I still haven't gotten enough mana to compete with a god…
I dropped down my staff, getting in position to dash forth, both hands gripping the hilt of my blade tighter than ever before.
I tried to move my body… But wait, what? It was like I was glued to the ground, to the sandy floor… I wasn't moving, held down by something strong, its grip tightening around my ankle.
Panicking, I uttered out a single curse, "Fuck."
I trembled as I saw the mimic arise from the black tentacles around my ankles…
"Did you think you could win in a fight against the void, I am endless… Eternal… Forever… As long as light exists, I exist along with it, not in harmony but in opposition. Just accept your fate and allow the eternal void to suck you in… It won't hurt, just close your eyes."
My mind was calmed… More like dead, struggling from its grip only meant more suffering, and losing the chance at a painless death…
Wasn't that all I ever wanted? A painless death with nothing to worry about.
Even in my past life… I wished for the same, didn't I?
What was I fighting for? Why am I even trying to escape?
My eyelids felt heavy… My eyes slowly drifted shut… Am I falling asleep?
Is this what a peaceful death feels like?
Thoughts flash through my mind. I wonder if I'm going to get reincarnated again? This life wasn't so bad after all. Then images… Memories… Of this life, of all the happy times, with Mother, Claire, Evalyn, Rias, Rena, Elena, Estil, Rose, Von, Father, Lyra, Harth, and all my other children… And Sylva as well.
Yes… That's what I'm fighting for…
All the people I love…
All the people of this very world…
Hisses echoed in my ears, as I snapped awake, I looked down at the black mimic of myself, its hand plunged deep into my abdomen.
I gasped in pain, even with my multiple layers of mana shields, it still managed to penetrate through with ease, it was like we were on a completely different level.
I shoved it away with force, its hand ripped out from my body.
Blood gushed out of my wound as it convoluted, throbbing with malice, a dark aura emitting from it…
It was like my lifeforce was getting sucked out bit by bit.
With my remaining strength, I dragged myself away from my pitch black doppelganger, holding my deep wound with my hand, as it yelled mockingly at me.
"Why struggle? Do you not wish to die? I'll tell ya, there isn't a way for you to escape alive, not unless there's a goddamn miracle, and for your further confirmation, no miracle would be coming to you in my domain."
I sputtered a mouthful of gooey, dark red blood.
Fuck… Was I too late? Was this really it?
"I'm sorry for not being able to stay with you guys any longer…" I muttered weakly in defeat.
I just wasn't strong enough to protect you guys… Pathetic… A man who can't even protect his family.
I shut my eyes, sounds fading, consciousness fading…
"Please, Gryne… Don't die… Not like this, not here." A voice echoes in my fading mind.
"Arxtree, please grant your champion his protection." Another begged as I felt teardrops on my face.
Rias? Sylva?
"Wake up… Gryne…"
Elena?
"Didn't you say you wouldn't leave me all alone? Huh? Was that all just an empty promise?"
Rena?
…
I really am quite the lucky one, aren't I? How did I come all this way… Just to fail…
It's really just my past life as ___ all over again, isn't it? How ironic…