The Festival Conclusion

Long ago, during the age of Genesis, God wiped humanity from the face of the earth, throughout the infinite multiverse. He flooded the world, he destroyed entire universes he disliked, and he laid waste to the innocent who have sinned. Humanity was at his mercy, begging for it to stop.

They begged. They pleaded. Yet he wouldn't halt his actions. God continued his rampage for centuries until every single human was gone.

But, humanity didn't go out without a fight.

No. They rebelled.

Humankind and their collective belief had formed something known as Collective Consciousness. A collective belief that all of humanity shares. Common ideas, attitudes, and beliefs.

This rebellion was powerful, thus, they shared the same belief in creating a weapon. All of humanity wanted an ultimate weapon that could prevent God from influencing their world, and seal him away from the Multiverse, also known as the Mortal Domain.

They called this weapon, Overlord.

A powerful blade that was manifested from the belief, and hope of all of humanity. Overlord was created from the fear of God destroying the world and for the hope of it acting as a weapon to rebel against him.

However, despite their grand creation, none of humanity could wield this blade.

It was too powerful, merely holding it will erase you from the collective consciousness, and unconsciousness, where Jungian Archetypes reside.

But, there was one boy who wielded this blade.

Some called him the Ruler of mankind. Some called him the Father of Humanity. Some referred to him as Emperor.

But his real name was Maverick Lionheart, God's Executioner.

He obtained this blade because it found him worthy of wielding it.

His power defied the world order.

Even Lilith's Nihilism, and the Mighty Great Kings, who transcended the boundaries of Data Cores, systems, and the order of the world are no match for this blade.

The Great Kings may have escaped causality completely, but to Overlord even that is irrelevant, as it can still operate on cause and effect to beings who transcended it.

A sword that was the pinnacle of power. That was Overlord.

My Dark suit slowly appeared back on my body as I discarded my holiday outfit.

"Fall into my hand, Overlord."

I lifted my hand into the sky as a massive black portal swirled above me, releasing a ghoulish sound that represented humanity's innate beliefs.

Overlord was sealed between the subspace of the Mortal Domain and the Spirit Domain.

"No… this can't be… that blade, it's… The Blade of Humanity!"

The Frost Queen was shaken, unable to muster any words after she chattered her teeth.

Overlord was used to seal away the Spirit Domain long ago to prevent otherworldly entities from interfering with not only the humans but the abnormal race as well.

The entities in the Spirit Domain were cruel, so I was the only one who took action.

"I won't let you!!" The Frost Queen still had her Primeval technique activated, so she sent multiple slashes towards my body.

Their effects were devastating, having the ability to destroy my molecular structure, but it was futile.

Her slashes had shattered away with the wind.

"Everything you do is useless, Frost Queen. Humanities Beliefs, and hope, lie within this blade."

"No… I can't be defeated by you! I won't be defeated by you! You will not take my life, Maverick Lionheart!!!" It conjured multiple swords made out of ice, holding them with its four limbs, "Die!!" The primordial charged at me in a fit of rage, but I merely stood there.

"Didn't I tell you… that it's useless?!"

I lifted Overlord with one hand, slashing forward.

All of her swords shattered into pieces as a massive gash appeared across her chest, spilling dark-blue blood.

They gagged on their blood, falling to their hands and knees.

"Overlord overwrites all concepts in order to defeat its opponent." Holding the blade low in my hand, I turned around with a frowning expression, "It overrides all logic and possibilities to be the victor. Such is the creation of humanity."

"I can't… regenerate?!"

The Frost Queen realized her wounds were permanent, and more life threatening than before.

Unlike Void Nebula, Divine Energy, Supreme Grade Weapons, and my Phantom Eyes, which could prevent the Primordial's regeneration, Overlord was infinitely greater.

Otherworldly magic was being imbued into the blade as it started to glow in a dark hue. Grasping it with both hands, I hung it low by my side, preparing to end this battle.

"Curse you, Maverick!!"

The Primordial turned around and lunged at me with a massive spear formed from ice, but little did it know; that all harm directed towards me from someone of the Abnormal race will have their action thwarted.

As if fate had intervened, the Frost Queen coincidentally lost all of her power.

Her spear of ice vanished, and her Primeval Technique ceased to function.

She looked at her hands, baffled.

"…What a monster… Maverick Lionheart… you're truly a monster!"

Lifting Overlord above my head, I swung it forward at the lunging Primordial.

Overlord could slash through the truths of the world, destroying all facts and certainties.

It was true that the Frost Queen had fused with countless other versions of herself, but Overlord destroyed that truth and created its own.

Now the truth was the complete opposite.

The innumerable versions of herself had vanished, destroying her connection with them entirely, and leaving the original Frost Queen alive.

"Gahhh!" She fell onto her body with a massive slash through her chest. The battle had reached its conclusion, "…Is this… how I truly die?"

I hung Overlord low in my hand and approached the dying Primordial.

Her body started withering away into particles.

"Primordial, answer me before you die. You mentioned someone by the name of Haleth, one of the three witches of calamity. What do you know about her?"

The Frost Queen looked at me with an eerie smile, stating, "Haleth, the witch of annihilation. She is the only one I will respect in this cursed world! Every Primordial knows of her, and every Primordial admires her, unlike you filthy Great Kings!"

"Is that so?" I said.

"This is my first time hearing about her." Angelica slowly landed on the ground next to me.

"Same for me as well." Lucifer landed right next to her, crossing his arms.

From the looks of it, they sealed away their inner power with Monarch Drive. Wise choice, otherwise the universe would turn to ash.

"Overlord is your only chance of defeating her! Hahaha, the way you're now, she will easily thwart you, Maverick Lionheart!" The Primordial started laughing at me as it withered away into nothingness, leaving not a trace of its body.

Overlord was my only chance of defeating her? A blade that could destroy endless worlds across the Mortal Domain, and lay waste to the Spirit World?

Who was this Haleth person?

She piqued my interest.

"Angelica, Lucifer, I thank you." I smiled at my friends as Angelica slapped my back a few times, "You're darn right! I deserve plenty of thanks!"

Lucifer nodded his head with a slight smile, "It's been quite some time since I had such a thrill in battle. Not to mention, witnessing Overlord in action was truly spectacular."

"Kuhuhu…" I chuckled, "I haven't held it in quite some time after I used it to seal away the Spirit World. But it is a shame, the two of you could've used your King Grade Weapons if you waited long enough for Monarch Drive to replenish all of your sealed mana."

"That is true… but she was using her Primeval Technique so we had no choice but to accelerate the process and give you our mana." Said Angelica.

"Indeed." Nodded Lucifer.

"I suppose so." I grinned, holding Overlord above my head, watching as it slowly ascended to the sky, back into the portal where the Collective Consciousness remained, "Now we can finally rest at ease."

"Hey, you three! Are you guys alright?!?" Minegishi was heard shouting as the entirety of Phantom Mutiny came running our way.

They were worried sick, especially Emerald who glared at me in anger.

Yikes…

"Brother." She approached me and tugged on my cheek, pulling me to eye-level with her, "Fighting recklessly out there, are you mad? You could've used Monarch Drive from the beginning and ended the battle if you so wished."

"…I understand, I apologize for my actions, sister! So please, don't bring me too much pain!!"

Her pinches hurt worse than the Primordial's attacks.

She was a different type of monster…

"Man I'm freaking jealous… that fight was sick as hell, we could've got in on the fun." Crimson crossed his arms, frowning as Carmine sat on his shoulder, saying, "Master, it was best to let the Great Kings handle a threat like that. They kicked the ass!"

"Carmine… don't put 'the' in front of ass. Just say 'They kicked ass'."

"…Hmm, human slang confuses me." Muttered the fox.

"What a splendid battle, if things got too rough, we would've had to interfere either way." Christopher stood there with his hand against his hip, and waist arched to the side.

"Pfft, you're always so confident Christopher, but that's what makes you so charming." Angelica covered her mouth with her hand, snickering at the blonde.

"Fumu," Christopher released a half-suppressed laugh, "As someone who created a majority of the Phantom Mutiny's armory, and clothing, it's only logical that I take pride in my strength."

"Yeah… sure, but sometimes you're too overconfident about yourself." Muttered Minegishi.

"Just like you're overconfident about your chances of getting a girlfriend, Kuma?"

"You're really pushing my buttons… Sandman."

("Finally… everything's back to normal, the group is talking like they always do. But man, this Christmas was one hell of a ride… never do I wanna go through something like this again.")

"Emperor, are you listening to me?!"

I almost forgot Emerald was talking to me for a second.

"Oh… right, yeah, I understand."

***

Standing in the middle of a snowy terrain, blood dripped from their blade as they were shown slouched over, heavily panting.

It wasn't only one of them, but multiple.

Four players were shown surrounded by piles of corpses that stacked higher than most cliffs.

<Announcement. Snowlands Festival has finally reached its conclusion.>

"We… made it!" One of the players said, smiling in relief.

<Winner of the Snowlands Festival has been decided. Lucia gathered most snow crests out two million players, claiming her as winner this year's festival. Her reward will be decided by judges!>

"WOO-HOO!!! Yeah!! I did it! I won, I really won!!" Out of the four players who were shown exhausted, Lucia was one of them. She jumped up and down, cheering at her accomplishment.

"I can't believe it… we ended up being saved by the winner of this Festival…" muttered an archer-class player

"I guess we're lucky…" Said the Gunner-class player.

"What a time to be alive…" Said the Knight-class.