Chapter 182: To A New Story

It was a mistake.

No, it's not exactly one. It was our fault for overlooking such an obvious thing.

Huff-!

I renewed my vision. The power of ten Worlds continued to run within me. Ever since the personification of the [End] into a dragon, its willingness gave itself a weakness.

It was just like the world—an existence without any subjectivity.

It lacked it to the point that I was able to take advantage of it just like this.

Drip.

[Sora] (Sky's Edge) was tainted with its black 'blood'. It continued to erode the concept of this blade into its [end], forcing it to break and slumber forever.

With my current strength, resisting it was still manageable. However, my current thoughts no longer concerned its lethality.

'Origin and End.'

'In another world, it formed the special concept known as Finality.'

'Everything with beginnings will inevitably reach their endings.'

'If so, does this power represent that level to which most Worlds could not reach?'

Countless realizations dawned upon me.

Within the parallel world that I visited, it could be said to have prospered due to the [End]. The concentration of magical energy reached a level that my world could not compare with. 

That was just the most basic change.

The most significant change was the appearance of never-ending mysteries. 

Upon winning against the literal concept of [End], the world seemed to have evolved. There is no longer any way for the future [endings] to happen. Mysteries would no longer be exhausted due to that mysterious power—something that originated from the [End].

At first, this does not seem noticeable. I put some thought to it before, but it wasn't as concerning as matters related to the [Finality Space]. I created two trump cards against it. One is my connection with Him and the other is my connection with Him throughout another world.

That way, the worst thing that could happen is to call for backup from another world.

It shouldn't be possible in the first place, but this special connection would've allowed me to do such a thing.

With the 'sudden plan' implemented by me, these two trump cards lost their urgency.

I didn't even know about the entire thing about 'merging' all ten Worlds within me, more so with the thing about Origin and End.

The only thing that could be seen here…

'Since I took the position of the world, doesn't it mean that I will benefit from this the most?'

Despite being preoccupied with these thoughts, my fight ensued. What involved complex battles turned into a simple but protracted back-and-forth clash between eleven Worlds and the [End] dragon.

If it was a Magister…

They would've been seriously injured since a long time ago. Just by looking at one of its scales, they would see an incomprehensible concept. It is similar to the information overload when a mortal looks at a god directly.

Their cognition does not support the truth behind 'gods', thus it turns into fear, which then ends up in an overload.

This could be considered as a disadvantage of giving form to the [End]. It is precisely the reason why I did not bring anyone else inside this space—for fear of things like this happening.

Clang-!

Bam-!

It was a continuous exchange of injuries. One moment, my arm would be gone. The next moment, the dragon's wings were cut. Things like this happened too many times. Both of us could recover to our prior states, which is why it was a protracted war.

I did not have anything to fear with the support of ten Worlds. The only question is who would outlast who.

Hum-!

A world-ending blade attempted to cut down the dragon's neck, only for it to fail. It did, however, disrupt the attack that it was about to send out.

Crack-!

A line of crack appeared within [Sora]. Our connection… My connection between the two goddesses nearly collapsed.

Hum-!

With a swipe of a finger, it was restored to its prior state.

Looking at the black dragon from the distance, nothing seems to have changed on it. Though, I could feel an extremely small change. 

'It became weaker.'

Since things turned out like this…

"It shall end like this."

*****

***

*

Who am I?

A thought comes to my mind. I am in a daze. I…

I…

I am…

BAM-!

The collapse of a colossal body of a dragon woke me up from my stupor. My irises shrank as I 'recalled' everything just now.

I am fighting against the nerfed dragon personification of the end. Time lost its meaning in such a fight, hence I lost track of time. It could be a few days. It could also be several years.

Looking at its 'corpse', I knew that the End had, ironically, met its end. This feeling came from my connection to the world—it is unknown to it that I had simply replaced the real world's role with my existence.

This connection allowed me to see its state.

The End is dead.

It is no longer active.

Just like all the other parallel worlds, it has met its end. The only difference was the degree of sacrifice carried out.

Our battle is the one who didn't sacrifice the most. The worst thing we did was to carry the majority of Miku's power to successfully complete the 'role-swapping' plan earlier.

The remaining one…

"Mn."

I felt it.

As long as all eleven Worlds sacrifice a portion of their power, they could make up for it. It could be recovered as time passes, making it the most cost-efficient method.

"It is done."

The sense of fragility never left my body. The ten Worlds within me gave me a seemingly endless source of power, but even it was drawn out in the face of the End. It has been a long while since I felt this 'tired'.

The feeling of drowsiness continued to cloud my mind.

It…

It seems like I will need to sleep.

Pchk-!

Stabbing [Sora] into the "ground", my knees finally gave in.

Sleep…

*****

The moment Nobu succumbed to his drowsiness, He could no longer sense the things that happened next.

Hum.

Bang-!

A crisp sound of explosion occurred. Ten 'figures' in the form of streaks of light were expelled from His body. They all remained on the footing the next second.

Just like Nobu, their outer 'appearances' weren't good either. They either lacked a certain body part, lost a portion of their glow, or even lost a part of their concept itself.

It has to be said that serving as the main fighting force against the End is no small matter. Nobu took most of the brunt. Even if he had the identity of their world as a result, the amount of damage he took caused him to be seriously injured.

Unfortunately, it caused him to not be able to react to the next few moments.

Gradually, the huge body of the End melted into the ground. The latter was similar to every other scenery inside this place—a floor made of pure darkness. Every step causes a slight ripple, which would be quelled in the end.

This darkness began crawling from the ground as they moved towards the stationary Nobu.

"That is…"

"The blessing."

The knowledgeable Odin took the liberty to point out. As soon as he did, the other nine Worlds knew what was going to happen.

After overcoming its natural end, the world will prosper. Even if it left numerous other Worlds half-disabled after the battle, the one who will benefit the most is the world itself.

In this case, Nobu will get most of the benefits due to Him replacing the role of the world.

To people of their level, it could only mean one thing: ascension to a higher level.

If God Kings (Worlds) are already this strong, how would the scene up above it look like?

Numerous God Kings explored the answer to this question, not only within this world but numerous worlds as well. However, seeing a special case such as a world's natural end manifesting is a whole another matter. Its rarity could be compared to a mortal who wanted to reach for a star.

Simply put, this opportunity is extremely rare.

"Do you have a way to stop it?"

Odin was the first one to question Him, the Abrahamic God in the Bible.

This question may be perceived as malicious within the context of beings below them, but everyone knew Odin's real intent.

Beings at their level are the most cautious when it comes to their sense of "Self". Nobu's way of keeping it was through his humanity, while the others keep it in similar other methods.

So long as they become eroded by their concepts and lose their "Self", what would be left is no longer "Them", but a sophisticated machine who revolves around a concept.

From a sane being into a cold machine, who would like it?

This same process is happening to Nobu.

He might have acquired the chance to reach a higher level, but with his current state, keeping his sense of "Self" is extremely difficult.

Perhaps, it would not be long before a "machine" that operates "revelations" and other concepts soon appears to this world.

This is the only true death amongst all God Kings. A cold, cruel death that others dare not even imagine. Their sense of self would cease to exist, becoming mere cogs in a cold machine. All their presents are cut from the future.

It is the thing that all God Kings avoid the most.

It was precisely the reason why Nobu took interest in the new world he saw. The world with Aeons experienced varying erosions of their concepts, something that was far different from the God Kings present in this place—beings who protected themselves completely from such erosions.

"...No."

Odin did not reply after that. The atmosphere turned serious as no one could do anything.

Hum-!

Just as Nobu was about to be completely covered by the darkness, a bright blue light shone from the back of his hand. That authority swiftly transferred the role of the world back to its original place.

Sensing this, the darkness stopped spreading on him. It was confused by the sudden changes, hence it was stuck between transferring its "blessings" to Nobu and the world.

It caused these "blessings" to remain stuck within this space.

"It was too late."

These were the collective thoughts of ten Worlds. The "blessings" had already seeped deeply on Nobu. The only thing that the blue light did was to leave a glimmer of hope for him—hope that the "Nobu" who wakes up is the same Nobu as before, not a machine centered to a concept.

In the end, the outcome will depend solely on Nobu.

"Hm."

Just then, He looked at the small gap within the former [Finality Space]. He could feel a form of connection between Nobu and the incoming people outside the gap.

At this moment, Nobu's vague senses finally took effect.

No words had to be said. From the moment He discovered the gap, everyone else within this space knew about it as well. He intentionally revealed this option.

As to why…

"From death to life. All of us already know the answer, no?"

Zeus' voice rang out. The other God Kings didn't take long to contemplate. Compared to their other 'possibilities' that got outright killed, their current situation is the best. 

If Nobu did not replace the role of the world…

If they faced the [Finality Space], they would have been too passive. Such a situation was the reason why they lost. They could only passively defend from the End's powers since it does not have any weaknesses.

If their power went to zero in such a scenario, Nobu's act of fighting the dragon made it so that they retained one. As long as a spark remains, a God King would not "die".

Such was the result of his sacrifice, thus it was only right to give it back to him.

In that case, the things left to do became clear to them.

The moment they came to a consensus, they immediately used up all of their available power. They risked their existence "dying" for the sake of a single man—the man who saved them all.

As for the power they willingly gave up…

"This is the place!"

…they were handed over to Nobu's last hope.

*****

A void of nothingness.

That was the first thing that came to the minds of the four girls who barged straight to the [Finality Space]. It was not just "darkness", but the concept of having "nothing". The strangeness of this place could be seen within a glance.

Nevertheless, Melusine continued to 'swim through' this place. Her size as one of the strongest dragons of her world, Albion, was immeasurable. The concept of 'distance' could be forsaken with her speed.

The next moment, they saw who they were looking for.

""""Nobu.""""

Their landing went smoothly. Manaka, Artemis, and Hephaestus slowly floated to the ground while Melusine transitioned back to her human form. She was about to touch Nobu when Manaka grabbed her wrist.

"Not now."

Her words prompted them to examine their surroundings. Apart from the 'faint presences' left by the dragon he defeated, there was nothing else.

Scratch that.

"It's you."

Manaka's eyes peered through the 'veil'. She immediately saw His presence. Due to her connection with [The Root] of her world, she was familiar with the strongest existences.

His identical aura to His version over there already stated His identity.

"There is not much time." He stated. "His fate lies in your hands."

The figure of a man emerged out of nowhere. His form was made out of bright golden light. He is always changing from the state of a light to flames, just like His form seen by Moses who liberated His people from Egypt.

He is present everywhere. This made it seem like there were four figures of light standing in front of the girls.

The moment His fingertip touched their foreheads, the rite of passing the combined power of ten other God Kings were finished. It also enabled them to 'understand' what truly happened inside this space—from the beginning to the end of their battle.

A moment later, he disappeared. His life was included in the 'sacrifices' made by nine other God Kings.

"...Nobu."

Upon being granted their experiences, Artemis' chest tightened. Her other self from another world does not exist since she chose to die along with Nobu. 

"He needs our… no, everyone's help." Hephaestus muttered.

It was not only Artemis who felt it. The other Hephaestus also chose the same. They were the only two wives who "married" Nobu moments before their deaths. They were the ones who acted swift enough to accompany Nobu to his inevitable end.

They had already done it once. 

Why would they even think twice when such a thing happened again?

The two goddesses acted decisively. They accompanied the kneeling Nobu and took both of his arms to their embrace.

"...Never again."

Melusine was the third one to act. She no longer compressed her feelings within her chest. She decisively embraced Nobu from his back.

The moment they touched him, the three turned into motes of dazzling golden lights.

"...Am I destined to be the last..?"

Manaka saw everything as her eyes turned dull. She was, in fact, the one who wanted to rush to his side. However, with her current power, she thought that she could help him more.

As such, she was destined to be the last one to arrive at his side.

"Hey…"

A second later, a blue light blitzed straight from the [Finality Space]'s gap.

The origin of the world.

The final miracle made by the world.

Nobu's most trusted assistant who has been by his side since day one arrived.

"Can your current self only do this?" Manaka asked.

Miku's long twintails swayed as she shook her head. She placed both her palms on her chest as she presented her final resort.

"I will break my promise with goshujin-sama." She said. "The final bit of power was meant to merge all parallel worlds into this main world. It will complete the transformation of the world, or so it was supposed to be."

Due to the 'memories' passed by the desolate Miku (other Miku), she already knew everything. That included the sudden change of plans presented by Nobu's other self. The latter knew that only the Nobu with the complete possession of the Holy Grail could pull this off.

The main reason why his other iterations did not have the grail was due to its uniqueness. All the other parallel worlds, save for this one, are considered to be subsidiary. This world was the "main possibility", the one "true" world where the "true ending" would be seen.

By merging all the other parallel worlds to it, it would transform and become much more prosperous than before. That transformation was supposed to be instantaneous with Miku's powers, but now, it could only kickstart a gradual transformation at most.

If she chooses to use that remaining bit of power…

The transformation would no longer happen.

"Goshujin-sama's safety is more important than it."

Nobu already gave his life to the world. It is not wrong for the world to give its life to Nobu in return.

Most importantly…

"I love goshujin-sama."

Her sudden declaration made Manaka speechless. Knowing Miku's relationship with Nobu, it isn't wrong to say that she is a strong competitor. Though, she did not think about it much as of the moment.

"I will help you pull the sentiments of everyone else. That, coupled with your remaining power should be enough."

After saving others countless times, it is now Nobu's turn to be saved.

*****

Revelations.

The intent to reveal information that is out of reach.

When… intervene, people become enlightened. The purpose of… presence is to show others another possibility.

Dreams.

The reason why life slumbers. People become submerged to dreams. When that time comes… will present them a choice.

Sword.

The weapon to kill.

When people seek to further their purpose, it becomes… turn to appear.

…

It is best to describe… as a dictionary. It is… who operates untold numbers of concepts. It is… responsibility to maintain…

What… considered…

To…

…

A missing puzzle piece.

A gaping hole.

It was unknown how much time passed. Everything remained the same. There is no difference.

Until now.

…

What am I lacking?

It was a sudden thought. Immersed in the sea of concepts, my role was to maintain them. 

Elation treads the path of laughter.

Nihility tackles the path of meaninglessness.

Preservation walks onto the path of protection.

Such is the flow of nature. There is nothing wrong with it.

Yet, my beliefs begin to contradict it.

…

What am I lacking?

…

Everything remained the same. If…

…

What am I lacking?

…

Everything became clear.

I…

The final puzzle piece…

"...Nobu."

"Teacher."

"Sirius."

"My prince."

"My beloved."

"Hero."

"My loyal knight."

Voices from all over the place invaded this holy sanctuary. I am being violated. The concepts I hold are slowly being eroded.

Revelations.

The intent to reveal information that is out of reach.

When I intervene, people become enlightened. The purpose of my presence is to show others another possibility.

Dreams.

The reason why life slumbers. People become submerged to dreams. When that time comes, I will present them a choice.

Sword.

The weapon to kill.

When people seek to further their purpose, it becomes my turn to appear.

…

What am I missing?

…

One by one, I could feel the warmth of others on my body.

"I see."

The final puzzle piece.

I.

Me.

My.

The words that denote the sense of self.

In other words…

"Myself."

Crack-!

Shatter-!

The false world started collapsing. I am not a concept nor a machine that runs it. 

I am myself.

Sir Galahad.

Akasaka Nobu.

I am not a concept.

I am a person!

Hum-!

As the false world began to collapse, the path above was presented in front of me.

The origin and the end.

What lies beyond that was finality, but it was only a half-truth. There is something that exists beyond it.

It is none other than…

*****

Letters.

Words.

Sentences.

They are the basic components of a story.

Beginning.

End.

They are the two far ends of a single thing. The two exist together as one.

Fate.

The thing that determines how one exists. Throughout all worlds, it was the thing defied the most. Any form of pre-determined fate is fought against—thinking that their fate should lie within their hands.

Time.

A ruthless thing. Although, its ruthlessness would disappear in the hands of the capable. They could cause conflicts and disjunction if they were on the right level.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

A blue-haired woman calmly strolled from within the dreamland. Her inexhaustible blade remained sheathed. Her existence itself blended into the environment naturally.

Despite being uninvited to this planet of dreams, she was able to bypass its protections. It could only be attributed to her powers being related to dreams.

"End… to which none is an exception."

Her voice was filled with melancholy. The woman, Mei, thought of the events from thousands of years ago. What would've been countless lifetimes for others was the length of her life.

Time had seemingly frozen from the day of departure. It was the time that her teacher—a god—left the world. The only thing left was his remaining influence, something strong enough to be considered by the paragons of this world.

To that, a new [Path] was introduced to this world. Even without Him, this path strangely worked out to a select few. Only the chosen people could stride in this path, but all of them were guaranteed to become Emanators.

Unfortunately, only Mei met the requirements after all these times.

"The undercurrents of time began to erode its serenity."

Her current location, Penacony, was dubbed as the 'land of dreams'. It used to be a prison front for another huge organization within the cosmos. After a huge struggle and reshuffle, it turned into what it was today.

It was through the guidance of her power that she arrived at Penacony. The god… rather, the Aeon she was under held numerous authorities. His existence is an unprecedented one in this world.

His most prominent authority was revelations, and then dreams. He also held the authority of sword, wisdom, and knowledge.

With vast authorities, he should have been the enemy of this world throughout all these times, but he did not become one. 

Just the fact that Finality and Nihility came by his side explains everything.

In the face of a powerful yet enigmatic Aeon, many people visited Izumo, his place of descent.

Unfortunately, all of them returned empty-handed. Only Mei was his Emanator throughout thousands of years. This made her identity extremely special.

Sword of Revelation.

'The moment she unsheathes her blade, all secrets will be revealed.'

That was the thing that marked into the minds of the denizens of this world.

What they did not know, however, was her perception of the changes within her god. Three thousand years ago, she sensed a faint but strong authority within her. It was a completely new authority. She doesn't know why, but she has the thought that it exceeds all the other authorities.

This was not only her trump card, but a glimmer of hope to those who knew her teacher.

Since the time he "left", numerous strong people from beyond the sky (otherworlders) appeared one another. Their presence was felt by everyone in this world. 

Their common connection was, unsurprisingly, Nobu. They came here to track his whereabouts.

Be it the enigmatic Tower Lord, Crimson Demon, or Thunder Sprite, they all left their mark on her world.

One of the biggest marks was left by the Lion King. Her strength alone allowed her to directly clash with the Aeon of Elation, Aha, when it tried to probe and mess up their search.

That was the only time Aha learned how to quiet down.

Since then, the knowledge about an 'unknown Aeon' appeared.

"This place… Why..?"

Mei encountered quite a few 'interesting' events within Penacony. Several battles occurred for the grandest secret that the Planet of Festivities holds—its hidden darkness.

It was as if she was reading a story.

"Story…"

Penacony is the land of dreams. A form of "dreamscape" could be visited by the people in reality. This was the selling point of this planet.

At this moment, Mei was in reality.

"Huh?"

Just then, words began appearing out of thin air.

{The origin and the end. There is something that goes beyond them.}

Flap-!

The sound of turning a book's page resounded in her ears.

It was not just her. Some of the special people within this world also heard that noise. Its existence was far-fetching, to the point it reached all the worlds that he visited before.

Everyone who was related to him…

Some people who were extremely special…

They all saw the words in the sky.

{The concept of infinite is not enough. What is something that could go with it?}

At this moment, these words drew their attention.

A certain king, who was sitting on her throne, finally smiled after all these years.

A girl with fierce red eyes held the spear given by her teacher. Her eyes widened upon seeing these words.

A girl with an obsession with the sword stopped her sword training. A glimmer appeared in her dull eyes. Her friend shook her shoulders crazily as if anticipating the return of someone.

An elegant pink-haired girl was tuning her guitar when she was sent to a daze. Then, contrary to her hundreds of years of training, she smiled foolishly akin to her past self.

A golden-haired girl dropped the paintbrush on her hands. A faint smile appeared on her lips as she looked at the person she was painting.

Everyone knew who was returning.

{Stories.}

The words kept appearing.

{Stories may be seen as finite, with a clear beginning and end.}

{However, it goes beyond that. It continues to go despite reaching its epilogue.}

{Similarly, it already exists before its prologue is written.}

{All the stories throughout countless worlds, be it colorful or monochrome, exist beyond one's imagination.}

{It is the only thing that has no definite beginning nor end.}

The sound of a book closing resounded to their ears.

Vaguely, they saw a silhouette of a man in black coat. His golden pupils pierced through the book before landing his gaze on them.

This time, it was no longer words, but his voice.

"As long as I exist, so do stories."

God of Stories.

His title appeared within their minds.

A being that goes beyond the beginning and end, one that surpasses finality…

Stories.

"A story may reach its epilogue, but it will not stop existing."

Pop.

His…

No.

A part of the story may end, just like mine.

However…

It will continue moving forward.

That is how things are supposed to be.

"Nobu. It's been a long time."

"Sigh… How should we explain?"

The voices of Artemis and Hephaestus resounded in both my ears. I could only smile wryly. The explanation part would definitely take a lot of our time. The former's face asked me concernedly, while the latter heaved a sigh. Without the need to hide her face, Hephaestus no longer wore her 'blindfolds'.

"They will understand."

The clueless Melusine stood calmly. I could tell her 'happiness' reached its peak once she became one of the five who pulled me out of my delusions.

"It's not that important."

Up until now, Manaka claimed sovereignty to my neck. Since Artemis and Hephaestus took my right and left arm, she simply floated along my back. This left Melusine stumped.

"Everyone will be glad to see you, goshujin-sama."

The girl with long blue twintails led the way in front of me.

Just like that…

"Let's go see everyone."

…we headed to another part of our story.