All things have an end.
Every story has a conclusion.
Something without an end cannot be called a creation, and something without a conclusion cannot be called a story.
“…”
“Uh, I’m feeling strange…”
Then, what if this universe and world were merely someone’s creation? Would the end of the world look like this?
It was a vast universe we arrived at, leading to such absurd thoughts.
The universe? Honestly, I don’t know much about it. It’s just an endless darkness with a few stars twinkling here and there.
Beyond the door, there was nothing but that kind of space.
An endlessly dark and lonely space.
The boundary between inside and outside the door blurred, and even the place where we stood was enveloped by the darkness of the universe.
We took care of the unconscious Demon King first, then gathered in a circle, leaning back-to-back.
For quite some time, we remained silent, unable to find words. Everyone must have been overwhelmed by this scene.
Finally, it was Blackheart, the ancient dragon, who spoke first.
“This is so stupid… Hey, what exactly were you guys trying to fight?”
As if responding to the ancient dragon’s muttering, a voice echoed in our minds.
‘Come on, come to the deepest part of the Demon King’s Castle.’
“Where are you speaking from?”
“Let’s hear it out.”
The voice continued uninterrupted.
A sticky voice reverberated endlessly in our heads, whispering and shaking us.
At that point, I judged.
This wasn’t worth listening to any further.
We didn’t come here to have a conversation; we came here to eliminate him.
“…Why don’t you just come out and fight? We’ve already taken down all your minions.”
‘I must admit, I’m impressed. You’re quite something.’
“Is that all? Your turn is coming up soon, yet you seem pretty relaxed.”
‘Even so, your complexion doesn’t look too good, my friend.’
“There’s nothing I can do about that. So hurry up and come out. You didn’t summon us here to play around, did you?”
‘True, that’s right. Then…’
Clap clap.
A rabbit doll walked out, clapping its hands.
What a nauseating face.
When the magical girls finally saw the true form of the rabbit, they flinched.
“That’s…”
“Dad…is that really Uncle?”
“…Tch, I’m starting to feel annoyed.”
Seeing Iris openly expressing her irritation, the rabbit puppet extended its hand.
“Our Noah. Shall Dad stroke your hair for once?”
“…Get lost.”
“Or would you rather go eat ramen with Dad? You used to love Noah Ramen, didn’t you?”
“…Shut up.”
“How about going to the amusement park with Dad-”
“SHUT UP!!”
BOOM!
With a punch accompanied by starlight, the rabbit doll exploded. It happened in an instant. As the cotton flew like snowflakes, Iris muttered under her breath.
“…You’re not my dad. I’ve decided that. To me, I never had a father in the first place.”
Though she said that, her voice was thick with tears.
“…Get up. I know very well that you won’t die this easily.”
“Haha…you’re being too harsh. I don’t remember raising you this roughly…”
“…This is because of you. I fought incredibly hard to earn money for your treatment.”
“As expected, the brainwashing education to make you a good child worked perfectly, didn’t it?”
“…”
“Look, isn’t your gaze wavering even now?”
“…No, stop talking already.”
Noah shook his head violently.
“I’ll see how far your resolve goes.”
Right at that moment, another mocking laugh was heard.
“Now, take a look.”
The rabbit doll’s belly was torn open, revealing something unpleasant-
“I never imagined it would come to this.”
Hollow, hole-like eyes stared at us, while disgusting tentacle-like appendages swayed like willows. Snow-white hair and pitch-black body.
Around it floated repulsive masses that giggled and drifted.
The thing that emerged from the torn doll was hardly human.
The rabbit doll, though somewhat eerie, only had two eyes. But now, looking at us with countless eyes,
it cast malevolent glances everywhere.
That wasn’t all.
‘To you, I say this place shall be your grave.’
The unpleasant voice was almost a curse, making us want to rip our ears off just by hearing it.
Even when we covered our ears, the voice echoed in our minds.
‘I am the destroyer of the world and death incarnate.’
It was a massive, overwhelming wave.
That thing was a force that fiercely crashed in, turning the world into ruins, and I was merely a small ferry before it.
When I regained consciousness and opened my eyes, I saw a wall.
I was crushed inside a small cube-shaped room.
‘This is fate. No matter how much you struggle, you cannot escape. You can only follow. You can only flow. That’s why it’s fate.’
It was suffocating.
Trying to breathe, but was I really inhaling oxygen?
It seemed like oxygen, but as I drank in something indiscernible, my lungs began to ache.
The experience of having one’s survival instinct as a living being ignored and trampled upon. The thorough disrespect of being deprived of the right to continue living.
Was this slowly tightening grip destiny? Was it destined to lead to a bad ending?
After all the struggles, after doing villainous deeds to fight for Noah’s sake, was this my fate?
If this truly is fate…
“…Ha.”
QQQ or whatever.
Crunch-!!!
“Ughh…Fuck! This hurts like hell!”
The excruciating pain of breaking my fingers brought me back to reality.
“Snap out of it!!!”
I swung the tentacles around like a whip.
The heavy tentacles swept away the magical girls, who rolled on the ground and struggled to get up.
“Ugh…What just happened?”
“It seems to be a mental attack.”
“What is this? This doesn’t make any sense…”
Stella’s muttering summed up everyone’s feelings. We were just having a conversation, and yet, everyone was dazed and panicking.
Seeing the figure that resembled swallowing all the darkness of the world, Iris gritted her teeth.
“…How could I ever think of someone like that as my father…”
“Welcome to my domain. A special power prepared especially for this decisive battle.”
“Special power…”
“Noah…or rather, Iris. Have you ever thought about where your starlight power comes from?”
“My power?”
Confused, Iris’s voice was answered by a laughter “Kukukuku”.
“It originates from me. You are not only a copy of her…but also a copy of my abilities. More precisely, a copy of ours.”
“…So, what’s your point?”
“You can’t win.”
“What?”
“Does a copy think it can defeat the original?”
Just as Iris was about to refute those words,
“Let me show you directly. The true form of your power.”
“…Ah…”
“…Run, run away!”
It was a meteor.
Though the term “sky” feels awkward in space, it’s accurate to say a meteor fell from the upper sky.
From the distant horizon, many meteors began to pour down, like a torrent of meteor showers.
To sweep away all the insignificant beings beneath it.
“…Tch!”
The first to react was Stella, with excellent vision.
“With starlight…!”
The starlight released like an arrow collided with the meteor, causing an explosion.
Next was Blackheart.
“Slash it!”
Summoning the form of a dragon rather than a snake, he sent a blade of energy afar to cut through the meteor.
I also tried using the tentacles, but it was useless. All I could do was create a small protective barrier.
Naturally, with fewer hands, Iris threw starlight with her fists, but she was gradually reaching her limit.
It was difficult to resist this overwhelming violence.
Finally, Iris ascended high into the air.
Closing her eyes and gathering strength, she unleashed…
“Big Bang!”
A massive explosion.
A light enclosure formed, painting everything white, and it acted like a defensive wall, eradicating everything it touched.
Still…
“Alright, let’s do it again.”
The meteors fell twice, thrice in succession.
“Ughhh…AAAAHHHH!!”
A scream erupted from Iris as she blocked them. It was a sound rarely heard.
The Big Bang was a momentary yet enormous explosion. Maintaining it for several minutes must have placed an unimaginable burden on her body.
She had no choice but to endure to protect everyone. My tentacles pierced her body like needles to transfer magic power, but…
“…Cough…!”
Even I felt the strain. Blood trickled from my clenched teeth, and tears of blood streamed from my eyes—a clear sign of depletion.
Just as the metallic taste vibrated in my mouth.
“…It’s over…”
Iris finally managed to endure and eliminated all the falling meteors.
That was certainly something to celebrate, but…
“The real battle is just beginning.”
The monster had barely used any magic.
Realizing this, we kept our guard up, noticing the surroundings growing darker, obstructing our vision.
A huge mouth approached to swallow us whole—
The enlarged monster transformed into a predator simply by opening its mouth, advancing to devour everything in sight.
Just as it was about to close its mouth.
“Brat! Four above, four below!”
“Yes!”
SWISH!
The tentacles pierced through the top and bottom of the monster’s mouth. The mouth that was about to close was forcibly held open, unable to shut easily.
All we could see were disturbing teeth and endless darkness.
“Who gave you permission to eat people?”
Blackheart slashed the gums with his sword, forcing the monster to retreat and close its mouth.
“Not bad.”
“Tch. Now I understand why that pink one irritated me. You sure know how to piss people off.”
“Consider it a compliment.”
Apparently, there would be no more idle chatter, as the monster flicked its fingers. The nearby floating masses gathered on its hand and emitted a sudden flash of light.
Flash!
“…!”
The flash narrowly missed my head, but what caught my attention wasn’t the near-death experience.
‘It sparkled.’
“Alright, here we go again.”
“Auntie, watch out!”
Noah rushed in front of me as I stood still. Though blood flowed red from the arm that intercepted the flash for me, it revealed something crucial.
“Essence…!”
The moment that word came to mind, a thought flashed through my mind. Since this creature was alive and made of magic, essence must exist within it. Ultimately, the core wouldn’t be much different.
What needed to be done was to destroy and remove that essence. Just like how shattering the heart kills any strong creature.
Even if it doesn’t die, it should take significant damage or lose its ability to use magic.
I whispered telepathically to QQQ.
‘Hey QQQ, look up when that thing shoots.’
‘Up? Okay.’
‘Yeah.’
‘Got it.’
Once again, the flash appeared, and this time Stella stepped forward with her bow to intercept it. Although she momentarily blocked the flash,
“Oof!”
Blood splattered as it grazed her left shoulder.
“…! Got it!”
Her sacrifice wasn’t in vain.
‘Up there! There are three stars that catch your eye!’
‘Three? Yes. One of them is likely the essence.’
‘Yes. I’ll inform everyone.’
Upon hearing QQQ’s words, the magical girls nodded.
‘Simple task.’
‘What is it?’
I answered Iris’s question.
Three stars.
Three magical girls.
Only one is real.
In other words, destroying all three means at least one will be correct.
‘Destroy them. An eye for an eye, a star for a star. It’s up to you. Dodging alone won’t defeat it.’
‘But…’
‘Please. I’ll hold on somehow. Go ahead.’
Everyone hesitated. They were unsure whether they could reach the essence disguised among the stars and whether I could hold out alone.
However, continuing like this would only result in an endless war of attrition. Understanding this, they quickly set off toward their targets.
“…Hmm?”
“What are you staring at down there? Trying to peek at the girls’ underwear?”
“No, I’m surprised. I didn’t expect you to figure out the strategy so quickly.”
“Well, we’re good at strategies. Want to join the fun?”
“Hmm…I wonder if they’ll actually reach their target correctly.”
The monster smiled grimly.
“Before that…”
“…Grrr!”
“I’m truly curious. What reaction would someone trusted have if they turned into a murderer aiming to kill me?”
Again, his voice echoed in my mind.
I quickly pierced my shoulder with a tentacle.
Pain surged, and my senses snapped back to reality.
“Persistent, aren’t you?”
“If necessary, I’ll break my fingers to endure. If that’s not enough, next is the arm. If the arm doesn’t work, it’s the leg. And if even that fails, I’ll give you a massage of the intestines!”
“Why go through all this trouble?”
Reason?
That’s simple.
“Because I can’t stand the sight of you.”
A grown adult whining and tormenting kids for personal gain.
“Do you know how much Noah suffered because of you!?”
“I don’t care.”
“Yeah, I get it. That’s why…”
Sssshhhh…
“It makes you even harder to look at. Troubling other people’s kids like that.”
A tentacle crawled out, aiming at the monster.
“Let the kids handle the flashy stuff…and let adults fight dirty and despicable.”
