The universe was sliced, and the galaxy flowed.
That was the only way to describe it.
Kail let out a hollow laugh as he gazed at the Milky Way flowing before him. Watching the stars glittering in various colors instead of blood made him start to doubt if what he was seeing was reality.
‘It’s… probably not a dream.’
Every time he touched the Evil God’s body, his own body crumbled bit by bit. Without even feeling pain, everything felt surreal. Slowly, without agony, he offered his body to the Evil God.
At this rate, one of them would have to die completely for it to end. Kail was certain of that.
“You brat… your patience is quite strong.”
—Die, I said dieeee-!
Looking at the Evil God who had been cut so many times that it no longer cared about direction, Kail quietly gripped his sword. The hand holding the weightless sword of his heart trembled.
He had already long surpassed his limits. The place he now stood was somewhere humanity had never reached, and the opponent he faced was a god capable of shattering planets like toys with just a flick of a finger.
Far beyond any limit.
Beyond the event horizon.
Kail took yet another step forward.
“—Why don’t you just dieeeee-!”
A single star streaked across the universe. The tail it left behind began to fill the empty dark space.
Before long, Kail was surrounded by the light of the stars he had swung.
A dazzlingly beautiful sight. But Kail had no time to admire the scenery as he continued to stack blow after blow with his sword.
Stacking swords to reach the gods.
***
It hurts. My whole body hurts.
Even the slightest movement of a fingertip sent waves of pain through his muscles. Despite this, Kail gritted his teeth and swung his sword.
—Why do you go so far?
A voice similar to the Evil God’s, but more mechanical, echoed. Strangely, Kail felt more human emotion from this mechanical voice.
So, even amidst mindlessly swinging his sword, he managed to answer.
‘Why? To catch that bitch.’
—Why are you doing this?
‘What the hell are you saying… I’m so busy…’
—You and the woman you love could escape to another place. You could run forever. Even going to another world is possible for someone like you.
Upon hearing those words, Kail realized that the person speaking to him was no ordinary being. This voice knew the secret even the Evil God hadn’t noticed — that he came from another world.
Finally recognizing the owner of the voice, Kail stopped swinging his sword and turned his head.
There stood a girl who looked exactly like the Evil God, but with inverted colors. Kail roughly guessed her identity and let out a hollow laugh.
“Well, while I’m busting my ass working instead of someone slacking off, the least you could do instead of cheering me on…”
—So, why are you trying so hard?
“Why? Just because! What other reason is there?”
If it had been the old Kail hearing these words, he would have sneered as if to say, “Don’t lie.” At best, they were just residents of a game world. Data fragments at most.
He would have found it untrustworthy to sacrifice himself for such beings or to genuinely feel affection for mere data fragments.
But the current Kail was different. Having married Yuri, had a child, and swung his sword countless times —
“This place is where I live now.”
He had already assimilated into this world. Upon hearing Kail’s words, the Sovereign God smirked and nodded.
—Alright. Then protect what’s precious to you.
Kail Meyer —
As soon as the Sovereign God spoke those words, divine power erupted from its body and began to be absorbed into Kail’s. With his eyes tightly shut against the blinding light, Kail soon realized his body had grown to rival that of the Evil God.
“Eh, eh-?”
—Thanks to that side crossing the line, I can intervene now. Though I was delayed due to system restrictions…
The Sovereign God cursed the system while looking at the now-gigantic Kail. It wanted to intervene directly, but even now, with the Evil God having crossed all boundaries, direct intervention was impossible for her.
Just as a police officer cannot kill a criminal simply for attempting to kill a person.
However, Kail was different. He was a resident of the planet, born in this world, and thus could claim ‘self-defense’ against the attacking Evil God.
—Yooouuu-! Damn youuuu! Even you, even you interfere with meee!
Seeing Kail grow to match his eye level, the Evil God screamed wildly and threw a punch.
But Kail sneered at the sight and swung his sword.
Shwaaak-! Space tore open, revealing the dark void beyond, and the Evil God’s arm was sucked into the empty void.
—Eh, eh-!?
“I fought you when I was small… Now we’re the same size?”
A sword as massive as his enlarged body appeared in Kail’s grip. Holding a sword large enough to slice through the universe, Kail pointed it at the Evil God and spoke.
“Got anything else to show me? If not, I’ll finish this.”
—H, how dare a human-!
“The human you’re losing to.”
Kail smirked and tightened his grip on the sword.
The Evil God, seeing Kail, stretched out both hands.
—I won’t save you! Humans like you all deserve to die-!
“Look, your true feelings are showing.”
The power of creation. The colossal explosion that birthed the universe erupted from the Evil God’s fingertips.
Facing the explosion that would reset everything to zero, Kail silently swung his sword.
‘It’s over. You damn fool.’
Meyer-style Eightfold Art
Universe Slash
Next, the universe briefly went dark.
***
“You, you bastard! How dare you lay a hand on His Majesty-!”
“B, but this person defeated the Evil God…”
“Evil God or not! How dare you touch the bloodline of our great Emperor!?”
The late-to-react administrators approached Arthur, who stood before Bellion’s corpse, pointing fingers accusingly.
Arthur, who had just cut down his friend turned Apostle of the Evil God and was lost in contemplation, started waving his hands frantically at the approaching administrators.
However, the administrators persisted, and seeing this, Star Tail emerged from Arthur’s body and pushed them away.
—Don’t bother Mom!
“Eh, eh-!? A, a dragon speaks!?”
“S, Star Tail? Go back inside…?”
—I don’t wanna! These people, I’ll burn them all-.
As the enraged Star Tail prepared to breathe fire at the administrators, the Evil God’s motionless body slowly began to collapse.
Thinking the Evil God was moving again, people screamed and scattered in all directions.
Arthur, aiming to buy some time to evacuate the people, merged with Star Tail once more and flew toward the collapsing Evil God. He froze upon seeing Kail falling from within the crumbling body.
“—Kail?”
“Oh, Arthur? What’s with that look?”
“No, where have you been until now…”
No need to ask where he’d been until now. Seeing the collapsed Evil God and Kail emerging from its body gave a rough idea of the situation.
“Could it be… Kail, did you do this?”
“Ugh- I thought I was gonna dieeee…”
—Dad!
“Oh, Star Tail. So that’s why Arthur looks like that…”
Kail embraced Star Tail, who flew into his arms, and stroked various parts of the dragon.
Seeing Kail wobble around while holding Star Tail, Arthur belatedly realized that his limbs were trembling.
Given that Kail, an Aura Master, couldn’t possibly struggle under Star Tail’s weight, it was clear evidence of the intense battle he had just fought.
“Kail…”
“—Kail!”
Good work. As Arthur moved to approach him, he paused upon hearing a familiar voice from afar. Yuri, her belly slightly protruding, was flying toward them using magic.
Yuri, who had flown in using magic, tackled Kail and fell atop him, tears streaming down her face as she hugged him tightly.
“Kail, Kail…”
“Ouch- Were you that worried? Never seen you like this.”
“How could I not worry, you idiot…”
Unable to stop crying, Yuri sealed Kail’s mouth with her lips. Watching this, Arthur retreated with the squirming Star Tail in tow.
He mustn’t interfere between the two. That was all he thought.
‘…They look good together.’
While watching the two roll on the ground kissing, Arthur felt a warm ache in his chest.
The realization that there was no place for him beside Kail — especially between the two of them — brought a sense of longing.
He wanted to be there too, by his side.
“Mom, are you okay?”
“Eh, eh?”
“I’m here for you, Mom!”
“…Thank you, Star Tail.”
Whether she noticed his sadness or not, Arthur gently held Star Tail’s paw and stayed put until the two finished.
***
The battle was over.
The Evil God was dead, and peace returned to the Empire.
“—The Imperial Palace must take responsibility for summoning the Evil God!”
“Take responsibility!”
Though it might not necessarily mean the current safety of the Imperial Palace.
