"Looks like the time has come for this to end," I said to Hinata as I watched the four battles that were in the midst of ending.
The Earth and Heaven Ouroboroses had died by the Grimm King Indra and the Chosen Hero Ruby. The Fire Ouroboros was only half-dead, but there was no way Azura and her group would lose now. At this point, the Queen of Heroes would win even if she was alone. Meanwhile, the Wood Ouroboros faced both the fairy sisters Morgana and Altria simultaneously, and Ruby's group was already on the way, so it was only a matter of time before that battle was over as well.
However, the Goddess on Hinata's body was, of course, as calm as ever. After all, her most important pawn was still standing, perfectly fine.
Actually, I bet she'd still be calm even if I did defeat Hinata. In the end, this entire universe is nothing but a game to her, something to be frustrated over if you lose and maybe something you'd get so mad over you'd never play again. But that's all. In a game, it didn't matter how many of your characters were killed. It wouldn't hurt you in real life at all.
That was why I needed to destroy this universe—this game—once in order to get on the same level as the Goddess. If I didn't, I'd never be able to have a proper fight with her. In fact, I'd never be able to even meet her. This also meant that I couldn't afford to stumble here, at this stage, of course. After all, I had yet to even reach Yggdra.
"Totally unreliable, all of them. However, all of that ends here. Not even you can win against me."
"You're wrong. That's Hinata's body. You aren't even standing on the battlefield yet," I said.
"I see. You have a point. But this will be more than enough for you." As she spoke, the aura of pressure that the Goddess/Hinata gave off increased in strength.
She's attacking! I could tell this from the stirrings of the mana from beyond this planet, which wasn't on so small a scale as that which had been contained on Midgar. She was gathering the mana that comprised this universe itself. Indeed, this entire universe was nothing but a magic spell of hers, so there was an infinite amount of mana around.
"Now come, you, the ruler of the skies up above! You are the thunder that will break apart the stars. Zeus!"
The sky split, a titanic old man with a lightning bolt in his hand appeared. The old man roars and hurls the lightning bolt in his hand to me. At this point, a lightning strike was like child's play, but of course, this was no normal lightning. There was no way to know exactly how strong the current or voltage of the lightning was, but I could easily tell that whatever those measurements were, they would normally be impossible. Just as the Goddess had said, the lightning destroyed stars and planets; it was clearly powerful enough to erase planets entirely.
I raised my hand above my head to intercept the falling lightning with a shield. The atmosphere was acting as a sort of insulator against electricity, but that was, of course, easily broken through. Nothing like that could stop this, no matter if it was rubber, pure water, or the atmosphere. Whether it be reason, providence, common sense, logic, theorems, or law, all of it was, unfortunately, powerless. None of it meant anything. However, if the other side was coming with pure power, so would I.
I raised the strength of my shield, defending the common-sense—ignoring lightning by further ignoring any common sense. The lightning scattered across the sky, and a few moments later, some stars could be seen being burnt away. However, Midgar still existed.
"Slice into her, Unlimited Sword Works!"
This time, I was on the attack. Countless blades sprouted from beneath the Goddess/Hinata's feet, piercing up into the sky.
The Goddess/Hinata simply flew higher with that smile still on her face, but I merely swung my arm as if to follow her movement. When I did so, the blades moved, chasing the Goddess/Hinata. However, she slipped through the veritable cage of blades without a scratch, all while looking as if she were dancing, before escaping ever higher. I also took flight, chasing after the fleeing Goddess/Hinata and reaching her in the sky.
"You, the master of death, one who brings destruction. The ultimate end of all things… Kagutsuchi!"
Black fire spread from the Goddess/Hinata in all directions forming a giant black dragon. Sensing the unavoidable death those black flames brought, I didn't hesitate to pull back, though it was a little cowardly. I was immediately proved right. The blades I'd transmuted were destroyed without question, and after seeing them turn to charcoal, it was obvious that the black fire wasn't just dealing damage with heat.
"Assured destruction, huh?"
"No. Instant death, whether it be living or not."
After hearing the Goddess/Hinata's answer, I muttered an "I see" to myself. It most likely pierced through resistances as well, as if it was only natural.
I see. A terrifying skill. As long as it hits, that is. But aside from the effect of it, the fire itself wasn't much. At the very least, it was nothing compared to the heat of the sun; it was a weak fire that could go out with a slight breeze.
I threw out a light punch, and the wind from it blew away the fire as it headed for the Goddess/Hinata.
"Aldebaran!"
My fist buried itself in the Goddess/Hinata's gut, sending her flying. Sorry, Hinata. I'll heal you up later, so forgive me.
Aldebaran was skill able to destroy and nullify any and all abilities like that certain misfortune hero's fist. However, the Goddess was still inside Hinata's body. Well, that was only natural. After all, it wasn't as if the Goddess were using some sort of skill to possess Hinata. She was simply using someone who had been born as her avatar from the start. No power or ability was at work there. According to what Hinata had said, the Goddess would use a unique skill when possessing her, but it was a onetime deal that did not need continuous usage.
The Goddess/Hinata scolded me, saying, "That won't work," before moving on to her next skill. "Next, how about this? You, the saviors of the ancient world, who once slayed an evil goddess. Come, Naruto and Sasuke!"
Heeding the Goddess/Hinata's call, the mana in the surroundings clumped together to form two human figures at once. Two somewhat eastern warrior-looking guys, one with blond hair and one with black hair, pincered me, ready to attack.
That's rather lukewarm. What's going on? Does she want me to kill them? She should already know that mere numbers aren't enough to get one over on me. Well, let's just take care of this with a skill. I decided on the one used by the divine gate guardian to eliminate all those who were unworthy—the Scales of Selection.
"Brachium!"
A light of extreme destruction swirled around me, turning the manifested figures into nothing but dust.
Brachium was a skill that dealt damage fixed at the damage ceiling. Right now, my damage ceiling was 999,999,999. Basically, a billion. I mowed down everything around me, including the Goddess/Hinata, who was near enough to get caught up in it. Still, it was only a mere one-thousandth of her total HP. I shouldn't really be talking, but her stats are ridiculous. There was no other way to describe them.
"First was from the Greek myth, next a Japanese god, and then anime and manga characters, really? All you're using are things from the other side," I said.
"Oh, I forgot that you know them too. Yes, you're exactly correct. The other side is filled with so many stories. It's never-ending fun. It's surprising how free and unlimited the human capacity for imagination is," the Goddess/Hinata said, happy. Spreading her arms out as she spoke, she seemed exactly like a child bragging about her toys, and I got the feeling that I was seeing a chink in her mad simplemindedness.
"What things would you like next?" the Goddess/Hinata asked. "You can name whichever one you like. I don't mind. Demons, Heroes, even Gods, I can summon all of them, anything a person could imagine."
After hearing the Goddess/Hinata's reply, one of the questions I'd held for a long time was cleared up. In the end, she's just aping them… And given the sorry state of that previous one, there's no doubt. She's…
"A power you can't reproduce… Would that be the power to create something new?" I asked with conviction..
The expression on the Goddess/Hinata's face froze. That reaction told me that I had said the one thing she didn't want to hear.
"That seems to be the limit of just aping powers. You've stood out enough that it's far too easy to understand what you can't do. This world itself is already something made from a warped, patched-together version of myths from the other side, but the living things are especially bad. There's nothing here that is totally original. Though there are some species that have evolved along their own lines, their roots are still traceable back to Earth."
For example, there were monsters that resembled dogs and ones that resembled cats as well. There were reptilian demihumans and bug monsters too. Not to mention fishlike peoples in the ocean, and the angels, who resembled birds.
"Like." "Resembled." "Basically the same." Those words could be applied to all the living things in this world. You didn't say that dogs "resembled dogs," nor did you do the same for cats. After all, they were all the originals of their kind. If I were to bring over a biologist from Earth who knew every single species on the planet, he would surely at least recognize everything in this world. Why? Because they'd been stolen.
"Pretty much anything a person could imagine? That's not true. It's more like you can only do what people can imagine, right? You do not have the power to truly bring about the unknown, the unprecedented."
This world's roots were firmly planted in Earth. It could be that she did actually have the power to create the unknown; she just had no imagination. Because the source of all her ideas and imagination was Earth, everything she put forth would resemble something from Earth in some way. All of that led me to one conclusion. Though I wasn't absolutely sure, and this was just a theory, my heart was screaming that this was the truth. The fact that she had titled herself the creator but could not create life was strange.
"Yggdra, you are not the creator. You existed as something else before you became a god… Am I wrong?"
The Goddess/Hinata was silent for a moment. "That's an interesting idea. I see, I see… That's not a bad development. So behind me, there would be a true god of creation who was the real puppet master… Hee hee… Is that what you wanted to say?"
The Goddess/Hinata tried to confuse me with an incredible statement, but that wouldn't work. There was no doubt that she was the mastermind of all this, as well as the one at the pinnacle of this universe. There was no one behind her and no existence higher than hers.
"Of course not. Are you stupid?"
"W-wha-?!"
"Yggdra, I believe that you were not originally a god. You are simply someone who left their original world for some purpose and became a god."
Yes, now that we'd come this far, there was only one answer. There was the twisted form that Midgar took, the living beings that made it up, the patchwork nature of its mythology, the copying of not just the other side's food culture, but culture in general, and most importantly, the fact that Yggdra hadn't laid a finger on Earth even though she was going so wild over here. It was as if there was something inviolably sacred about Earth. Yggdra viewed Earth as special. That was also why she always chose the main characters for her stories from Earth. She would pull in young men or women who were in no way suited for fighting and give them favorable treatment. Why was that? It was obvious.
"Yes. You are an earthling, Yggdra. You are not omnipotent or omniscient. You aren't even a true god. You're simply a wannabe god touting herself as one. That is your true identity."
Surely she was as close to immortal as could be. She didn't age, and she'd been alive almost forever by this point, after all. She also had an overwhelming amount of power, enough to destroy this universe she'd built. Given that, it would be appropriate to call her a god. At the very least, she had enough power to be one. At her roots, she was no different from me, however. For something divine, she was far too human and made too many mistakes.
After I pointed out her true identity, the Goddess/Hinata's heart went blank for an instant. She'd probably never expected anyone to guess right.
After some time of dazed silence, she eventually came out with a dry laugh. "Heh… Heh heh heh… Heh heh heh heh heh heh… How long has it been since anyone last called me human? I faintly remember something ten of billions years ago… It has quite the nostalgic ring to it. It's true. There was a time when I was called that, long ago." She paused, thinking. "Though even I myself can't remember how long ago that was."
With that, the Goddess/Hinata wiped the smile off her face as she looked at me. It was not playful like before. For the first time, she looked upon me as an enemy.
"The game ends here, Lunaru Fenris. You crossed a line you shouldn't have." The Goddess/Hinata was quiet for a moment. "Let us end this. I will at least allow it to happen at the hands of the Hero."
The Goddess/Hinata waved her arm. When she did so, the mana that had made up the ouroboroses quickly gathered at a single point. The mana's destination was the Ark, or rather, a single young woman inside it. Everything was flowing into Ruby as an exp. It was likely that the Fire and Wood ouroboroses would eventually also become exp. Only Indra, the Moon ouroboros, who was under my control, barely managed to escape this fate. Even so, that girl should have gained enough strength to fight me.
"You're right. The curtain will soon fall by the Hero's hand."
I agreed with the Goddess as I too looked over to the Ark, though both the Goddess and I meant something entirely different when we said it was the end.
Yggdra, you still don't understand. That girl is not the protagonist. She is someone who can try to find the right path, even if she has to give up the position of the protagonist to do it. The end is coming. It's the curtain call on this terrible play. And that is when there will be a brawl behind the stage, where the audience can't see.