Cut Ties.

—

[Eleven months later.]

Sighing after eleven months of developing a highly probable conjecture without using the Sonic Screwdriver, Yoriichi shook his head at their compassion, which still aimed to do what was best for this world without implicating their creation in total destruction. Taking the Sonic Screwdriver from his kimono one last time, he looked up and handed it to Loki, who was already drinking tea with him, free from holding the Marvel multiverse together.

"Why?"

Sighing, he simply explained, "I did not want to dig the grave of my Tao."

"It is true, what everyone said. You are the Son of God."

Shaking his head, Yoriichi said, "Son of Heaven, Son of God, Heavenly Chosen—whatever it is, I am not worthy to bear that title."

"Yet, your actions are…"

Looking at the Sonic Screwdriver gently, he stated, "No. Everyone can do the same thing I did. In the new world, the possibilities are endless. I am just the best candidate for the current moment. Even now, I am still rejecting the idea of emptying myself and becoming one with the Tao because I still want to play. I have a feeling that Order and Chaos will pass the baton to someone else in the new era after me. So, this is the last time for everyone to title me as such."

"Wait a minute… Did you? What about our friendship?"

"If we are fated to meet on the endless road, we will become buddies once again."

"Ah… I see… Then, I will see you on the endless road, friend."

Seeing Loki stand up to hug him, Yoriichi also stood up from the tea table and embraced him. Tapping twice on his back, he then broke the hug and said, "See you later too, friend."

Erasing all of his karma, fate, and destiny that were connected to everyone except his selfish chosen one, Yoriichi then saw Loki looking around confusedly, unable to see him completely. As Loki flew up toward the sky to return to Ciri's world and convene the meeting with thousands upon thousands of representatives, Yoriichi sighed, knowing his duty was done.

"Is there nothing we can do?"

Shaking his head, he answered Rita's question, "No. There is nothing. This is the only way for me to protect those who are dear to me."

Letting out a bitter breath, knowing this was true after taking the path of Comprehension, Margarita finally nodded and said, "Okay then. Help me erase my karma, fate, and destiny as well."

Seeing his Dao Companion's conviction, he nodded and erased everyone who knew Margarita, except Ember. Even Moiraine and Narishma were erased without exception. 

"Richard. Did we need to cut ties with Olivia and Andrew as wells?"

Turning around and walking back toward the tea pavilion, Yoriichi silently sat beside Nadine. After a few seconds of ruminating on his capabilities, he replied, "It depends. If my understanding of fate, karma, and destiny expands faster than this world's breakthroughs, then I can activate two additional permanent calculations. But if my progress stalls and I fall behind in the race toward infinity, I am not confident that I can maintain it forever, especially with you guys to consider."

Having complicated thoughts about this, Jaina suddenly choked up. After being comforted by Yoriichi and his wife for several minutes, and realizing the truth of the situation—especially for someone like her who is a jack of all trades—she finally asked, once she had calmed down, "I-i can forsake everything and focus solely on the Path of Comprehension and Soul Technique, you know?"

Gently caressing Yoriichi's childhood sweetheart's head, Margarita shook her head and said, "No, dear. Don't be as stubborn as we are, going against the heavenly way. We are just fools who still want to control our family's destiny by any means possible."

Pausing, she then cheekily remembered something, "Moreover, just like you said, be like water and follow the Tao to the places that people reject, and you will find the highest good."

Her cheeks red with embarrassment, Jaina replied in an inaudible voice, "Stop it."

Seeing Jaina, his childhood friend who introduced him to the world of Xianxia and Chinese literature, acting like this, Yoriichi laughed and shook his head, never considering how cute his sweetheart was. Sighing and appreciating Yoriichi's fusing existence, which had made him more mellow and gentle, he then asked her, "So? Do you want to remove them as well?"

Thinking hard about the questions, Jaina, after a couple of minutes in silence, finally said, "Yes."

Nodding his head, he wanted to remove Jaina's karma, fate, and destiny that were connected to her but paused after a couple of minutes, contemplating the possibility. Looking Jaina in the eyes, he then asked her, "Say, Jaina, in a possible future, do you want to go out and explore on your own, like what Ciri and Lanfear did?"

Knowing that Yoriichi's two other lovers would also experience the removal of karma, fate, and destiny, since they were not as fixated on him as his wife Margarita was, Jaina answered, "No, I just want to study, experiment, and cultivate. And… I don't have any connections besides you guys and Olivia and Andrew."

"Well, there's no need to remove your connection then."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because your permanent calculation will be so minor that it doesn't need to be added to my existence wave function. Just look at you, dear. After being in this world for eleven months, you've only met one person in Novigrad—and that's me."

Reflecting on how the three existences of her variants had fused into one in her mind, unlike Yoriichi, who predominantly Richard, and knowing that this fusion was also what had caused her heartache and led her to become a shut-in, Jaina just nodded silently, rubbing her cheeks in embarrassment.

"So she doesn't need to? But all my calculations say that all three of us need to be removed from the world if we want to win the race against the world factorial breakthrough."

Frowning, relaxing, frowning again, and relaxing once more, Yoriichi let out a sigh and said, "I don't know. I'm going completely blind this time. Calculations and even my gut feeling tell me we'll lose the race if all three of us don't work together. But… I don't know. Maybe it's just because I want to…"

Nodding her head, Margarita said, "As long as Ember is within our sight, it's okay if we are never able to calculate the ceiling in the future."

—