Chapter 179: Tutorial, Please

The world fell into a tranquil state. It regained its long-lost peace due to the presence of one god. Even the black hole stagnated upon sensing his existence.

"Remember that sword strike."

At this moment, Mei did not have anyone by her side, only the increasingly faint presence that held her wrist.

She was reminded of the 'spectacular' attack done by Nobu during their first meeting. He was able to defeat a 'horrifying' creature in one strike. 

"You have reached a high level, but undoing this calamity requires more than that."

His voice became even fainter than before.

"Galahad? You…"

Thinking of his previous words, Mei felt her shock seeping in.

"Don't worry. This is not the end."

Knowing her worries, Nobu let out these words.

"Your main focus is to resolve their shadow and to save the world."

Nobu's projection into this world slowly disappeared. Before he fully departed, he thought of words to say to his second student, which boiled down to:

"Do your best."

"Gala…had?"

Mei could sense the overwhelming 'power' on her body. She knew that each of her plain strikes were even stronger than her peak.

However, she didn't focus on these things.

"Are you there..?"

There wasn't any response.

"Did you really…"

Her hands started trembling. She could not maintain a steady hold over her blade. 

Things are inexplicable to her as of now. Mei did not understand why Nobu disappeared all of a sudden, though she knew that he was gone.

The mentor who was by her side disappeared.

'Was it death..?'

'He said he'll be fine even if gods appeared in front of him.'

'To leave my side all of a sudden… was this a test? It must be…'

Clearing her mind, Mei's focus was finally regained into the black hole. The power inside her body followed her will. It supported her sole purpose during this moment.

Wielding 'Revelations'...

Sou-!

…she made a simple downward cut towards the black hole.

Crack-!

In an instant, space was 'cut down'. The black hole along with the space was disjointed into two parts—attached yet showing signs of sliding off.

Shatter-!

Bam-!

The world was dyed in a black light. Layers of space were peeled down like burning paper. Mei's surroundings were slowly reduced into a pure black space. From the high-rise buildings up to the familiar skies of Izumo, everything returned to darkness.

"When there is destruction, there is life; a rebirth after death."

That was one of Nobu's teachings that made a mark on her mind. The challenges in life serve to temper oneself, so long as one does not break. That level of tenacity could be seen in denizens of worlds facing imminent threat.

Now, Mei saw these words turning into reality.

"Origin and End."

The power inside her body started to move towards the two portions of her blade. 'Hatsugen' was able to evolve upon assimilating with fourteen 'authorities'. Coupled with the raw power given to her by Nobu, it was more than enough to elevate Mei to a whole another level.

Once the adjustment was complete, Mei held her blade in a reverse grip. Without hesitation, she stabbed it into the ground.

From the previous darkness, white light started originating from her blade. It cleanly spread to the dark space.

Moments later, her surroundings were dyed with white light.

"To interfere with space and time, departing from the conventional rules of the world…"

Due to Mei being 'new' to this power, she habitually used chants to better utilize it. This need would disappear once she masters it, but not now.

The white light started turning translucent. It looked similar to a translucent photo film that was slowly being rewound.

Then…

Click-!

Mei's world was returned once more. The familiar dreary skies, the smell of blood, and the ruins upon their final battle with the fourteenth sovereign.

Everything was reverted to moments before the shadow usurped everyone from this world.

"Huh… Mei?"

The first one to notice her abnormality was her father, Raiden Ryoma.

Seeing her father like this, she could feel her shock starting to recede.

"I succeeded."

As she kept muttering those words, she recalled the man who accompanied her for almost her entire life.

"Galahad…"

"What's wrong?"

"Chichiue." She noticed her father's concerned gaze. "It's…"

Before she could come up with an explanation, a shout interrupted them.

"What's that..?!"

"It's becoming larger… a meteorite?"

At these words, everyone tensed up. They were tired from the battle that occurred just now despite Mei taking most of the pressure.

"Don't tell me..!"

Ryoma thought of the 'meteors' that descended from Takamagahara. It wasn't until a long while did they discover that Takamagahara wasn't the 'origin' of the kamis—it was a planet with the same civilization as them.

Knowing most kamis descended in the form of meteorites, their tension could be explained.

A black spot started becoming bigger in their eyes.

Mei, who saw its true form, was surprised.

After all, it was not a meteor.

"A dragon..?"

It was a black dragon.

Crack-!

Bam-!

Akin to the second sovereign's strength, black slits appeared around the dragon. Space itself was being bent as it descended.

Strangely enough, its landing was completely peaceful. 

Hum-!

Well, not that peaceful.

A cloud of dust was blown over as it landed. Since everyone is an oni (genetically modified beings from the kamis), dust wasn't a problem to them—rather, the strong pressure emitted by the dragon was.

They immediately saw its true form. A black dragon spanning several buildings descended onto their battlefield. It didn't seem to care about the abandoned buildings as well as the remains of the kamis.

From the moment it descended, everything simply went into tranquility. It was as if a force beyond their cognition had appeared.

Shockingly—

"I did my best to restrain it."

—a girl's voice came out of it.

"A…"

"...dragon?"

The only unaffected person, Mei, received its gaze. The former immediately discovered that there were other people riding on its back.

Two… no, three goddesses came with it.

"Mn, I see. This place was really his final destination."

A voice came from behind her. When Mei looked back, she saw a girl with short golden hair carefully examining the sword on her sheath.

She squatted on the ground as she intently looked at it.

"This connection… if I could…"

"You are…"

Manaka's murmurs were interrupted by Mei's voice. To that, the former gave a swift reply.

"His girlfriend."

"..."

Mei thought of Nobu's background when he told her. He introduced himself as a 'traveler' at first, but later on revealed his true identity as a 'god'. As to why he was that easy-going compared to the impression of gods that she expected, it could only be attributed to his nature.

Nobu told her about his 'travels' between worlds. At first, Mei thought it was something across planets, but it seems like it is far more complex than that.

Strangely enough, everyone's attention was still focused on the black dragon, as if they did not notice Manaka's existence. This odd point was noticed by Mei.

Just then, the two other passengers came out. One of them was a goddess surrounded by stars, while the other one was a goddess with a fiery aura.

Thinking of Nobu's words to her, Artemis decided on her approach towards this world's denizens.

"Be not afraid. We came here not to cause harm."

Her voice calmed down the agitated crowd.

"Calamities… He mentioned its troubles." Hephaestus spoke.

"It is the wonders of different worlds. There are things that may overlap what he went through."

While the two goddesses became responsible for quelling the crowd, Manaka continued to swiftly analyze His final traces.

"I got it!"

Manaka stood up excitedly. Her eyes are currently emitting a sense of solace, as if an entire world itself is present within it.

She immediately reappeared beside the two goddesses. After whispering something to Melusine, the latter nodded.

The moment they got what they wanted, the black dragon charged towards the skies once again. Though, there was a familiar voice aimed at Mei.

"Continue charging forward. That is what he would say if he was present."

Staring blankly at the disappearing black dot, Mei felt somewhat lost.

"Just what happened to you…"

*****

The entry of someone even more powerful than IX, not to mention four foreign gods, took the attention of this world's gods.

Within the area of the blob of nothingness, a personification of IX, another 'blob' appeared. Unlike IX, it was completely blank, as if its presence itself indicated the 'end' in the most literal sense.

The two blobs entered into a staring contest, but if the transmission of their thoughts were revealed, things would become more evident.

"Explain."

The blank blob was intent on gaining explanation from IX.

"What should I explain? Everything becomes meaningless in the end."

IX was slightly surprised at the attitude of his "fellow". After all, both of them represent one concept: the end.

IX is the Aeon of the Path of Nihility. It shows that everything becomes meaningless as all things end. As to whether they wanted to steer towards a certain path, only IX knows themselves.

They were, in the end, influenced by their [Paths] that even they resigned themselves to everything. Nothing could shake them, unless their "fellow" got shaken up too.

Their fellow, Terminus, is the personification of the end, the bearer of the concept of [Finality]. Their most common 'authority' was its power over all the other paths.

Everything must come to an end; nothing is an exception. Even the giants of each [Paths] will meet their end and move onto the [Finality]. However, the way these Aeons approach Terminus and its authority differs. Some would be hostile while some would be neutral.

As for IX…

Simply put, IX does not give a flying fuck.

If it ends, it ends—then so be it.

Such a mentality was the reason why IX was treated differently amongst other Aeons. Its nonchalance was unparalleled throughout this world.

This was proven when even Terminus became shaken up by something, yet IX was not.

However…

It was the second time Terminus was shaken by something.

"The visitor whom you entertained."

"Oh, him? What's wrong?"

While the two blobs conversed, the certain feeling sensed by Terminus became stronger.

"He bears the beginning and the end. Why did He visit this world?"

Terminus saw Nobu's specialness, more so the disaster he is currently facing. What they did not expect, however, was his strength—his level.

It was far higher than anyone had ever seen in this world.

"I don't know."

"..."

Facing IX's innocent reply, Terminus did not pursue it any further.

This was nothing but a signal to the changes to come.

*****

Origin.

End.

These two concepts were something I taught to others. Its framework existed way back the time I entered Mei's world.

The moment I became aware of [Finality]'s authority, I was sort of inspired. Instead of fearing the [End], why not try its authority?

It was an absurd thought, yet I still chose to proceed.

Much to my surprise, it was actually working. 

Only, I lacked two things to fully realize it:

The power to manipulate the End into the Origin and the container to handle the two.

In the end, this was left to be one of the two trump cards I have against the End.

Since there is still a higher level than my current one, I thought I was moving into the right path.

But…

"Heuk…"

The [Finality Space] turned everything into mortals. Its force could be resisted, but it is akin to Sisyphus' struggle—no matter what you do, it would only continue to increase.

Drops of blood fell from my mouth. The taste of iron was something I lost several years ago. My enemies were no longer my match.

Yet, this struggle proved to be my hardest one.

"This is why… cough…I chose that way…"

I could feel all seven of my orifices bleeding. It was no longer a force that threatened my body; my mind is continuously overwhelmed with loads of information. It was a "zip bomb" sent by the [End] to finish off my ego first.

Unfortunately for it, this thing is destined to never succeed.

Throughout all parallel worlds, we were defeated through total annihilation. Mind games would not work against us… or at least the majority of us.

As time passed, all I could see was hopelessness against this calamity.

"Finality…"

Several presences finally came upon this space voluntarily. I knew they were coming a long time ago. They… we have no choice but to commit to this decision.

The first one to speak was the god with the image of a man with a thick beard. He is none other than Zeus, the current existing God-King from the Spirit Realm.

"Is this your final choice?" He asked. "You have a long life ahead of you."

His words weren't the same as the arrogant Zeus that I previously killed. I could see his insight, as proven by our previous meeting at "some point" in time.

"If only the end distinguished its targets."

This was the reason why I chose to sacrifice in every parallel world. When I reached this level, I saw the people I love die one by one. It was completely random—to the point that any form of manipulation or protection did not work.

So long as the [Finality Space] had expanded outside this metaphysical realm and into the physical realm, it would immediately bring death in proportion to the power that the God Kings could not block.

Since I am the strongest out of all iterations, the damage could be kept to 40% of humanity's population. It would not be as drastic as 70% or even 80% of it.

Still, the chance of "randomly" killing people I love exists.

It is the reason why I must achieve the best ending. With Miku's final miracle, the world will be able to see the light of dawn.

"Unfortunately, it does not." I said to him. "My choice remains the same."

"Young people nowadays… Your resolve is something else."

"Why, thank you."

Only one thought ran off to my mind at this exact moment.

'How should I crack Finality?'