Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou - Volume 5 - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Perfect Ending?[edit]

It was clear where Bouichirou was headed: the temple of Suhara. It was near the Kouga Village, so it was a long flight.

“I apologize for being unable to teleport there.”

Peterhausen gave a rare apology with an admirable attitude.

“I can’t force you past your limits. More importantly, this might be the end. Can you tell me everything you know?” asked Akuto sadly.

“Yes. This is likely the best time. The demon king is a human yet not a human. It is an existence created from a modification of a human’s internal mana.”

“I see. Then do I have parents?”

“You do have birth parents. You can rejoice over that. And I sympathize with you for being abandoned afterwards.”

“Thanks. So are you saying the group known as black magicians created both you and me?”

“You could say that is the case…and you could say it is not. The reason for the gods gaining a will of their own is not fully known. However, we can make some educated guesses. It seems the complex network connections themselves gained this will. And the life that was created, the gods, had no sense of self and no lifespan. For that reason, it constantly wished to die. Yet you humans never realized this. And long ago, a certain man built the system known as the demon king. The demon king can kill the gods and allow them to rest in peace.”

“Rest in peace?”

Akuto was confused by this unexpected term.

“That is the best way of explaining it in your words. They shall be given a sense of self and their will shall be eliminated from this world. It is a difficult concept. However, it may be easier to understand in terms of your world’s story if you think of it as computers having a soul, too. This sense of self is given to them by the Law of Identity. That is an existence that forms a pair with the demon king.”

“Do you mean Keena?”

“Yes. However, the Law of Identity and the demon king can be born any number of times. If things are not progressing well, the gods can kill them and wait another century. The gods have been repeating that process again and again.”

“So the gods are just as selfish as humans.”

“Don’t say that. Anyway, I was created to maintain the system once the gods die. I have a sense of self. That L’Isle-Adam told you that a sense of self will gradually form if one has a body and a position, didn’t she? If a god with a sense of self ruled the world, it would be filled with conflict just as before, but those conflicts would likely be filled with a sort of humanness. That is what the one who created me wished for.”

Peterhausen seemed to be recalling the distant past as he spoke.

“Is that why you love fighting so much?”

“That is just what a courageous king is. Or you could kill the gods and become king yourself. That path is still open.”

“Is that what you want?”

“If possible. But, master, do whatever it is you want. I have had enough fun. This has been one of the best rampages I can remember. Due to that wildcard named Yamato Bouichirou, it did not quite reach all-out war, but you are still the first to win.”

“I see.” Akuto let out a sorrowful sigh and continued, “Let me apologize ahead of time: I’m sorry.”

“I do not know what exactly is going to happen, but you do not need to say the rest. I have a hunch where this will lead.” Peterhausen flapped his gigantic wings. “Now, two powerful enemies await up ahead. We need to enjoy this!”

He waited alone up in the sky.

Brave’s arms were folded as he awaited the demon king as bravely as his name would suggest.

As the two confronted each other, the first to give into the silence and speak was Hiroshi.

“Let me ask you again: why are you doing this?”

“That again? I will bring an end to the issues surrounding me. If that will reform the world, what’s wrong with that?”

“What about those who do not want that change!?” shouted Hiroshi.

Akuto glanced down. A thick forest covered the ground, but a figure was visible in a slight clearing.

“If you are referring to that girl, I think I can handle that.”

Hiroshi had left Yuuko waiting down below. When he realized Akuto had noticed, Hiroshi shook his head in displeasure.

“You are always like this! You accept things without telling anyone anything!”

“You would not understand even if I told you. This is enough. Let me past.”

“Stop being so selfish!”

Hiroshi accelerated.

As Akuto prepared himself for a fight, Peterhausen spoke to him.

“How do you intend to win? He will use the mana canceller of his anti-demon king mode from the beginning. If that happens, this will not be easy.”

“I just have to charge in. I’ll finish this in a single blow,” said Akuto carelessly.

Peterhausen was surprised.

“Oh? How reliable. Do you have a plan?”

“No. My only plan is to go in without a plan.”

“If you say so. I will trust you.”

Peterhausen grinned and then began accelerating.

Two oddly colored shooting stars collided in the sky. The flash of light lasted only an instant.

“No way!”

Hiroshi could not believe it. His right hand’s high-frequency blade had dug into Akuto’s left arm. And Akuto was pressing his right arm against the high-temperature plasma ball Hiroshi had used as a shield in his left hand.

Akuto had truly charged in without a plan. He had spread his arms and received both of Hiroshi’s attacks.

“Gaaaah!”

But Akuto let out a cry. The mana canceller was returning his body back to that of a normal person. His left arm had been partially severed and was dangling down. It was spewing fresh blood. The portion of his right arm that had touched the plasma had been instantly vaporized. He continued to press forward with his right arm, so it looked like the arm was gradually disappearing.

The pain had to be unimaginable. Nevertheless, Akuto continued to move forward as if trying to embrace Hiroshi.

“S-stop this, aniki!”

Hiroshi let out a pained cry. He stopped his high-frequency blade and tried to get rid of the plasma, but the voice of the Brave suit’s control computer reverberated within his visor.

<A foreign object has entered within the shield, so the plasma cannot be removed. Please release the shield.>

“It can’t be…”

Hiroshi tried to remove the plasma ball from his left hand, but Akuto pushed forward with his right arm.

“P-please stop, aniki!”

Hiroshi reflexively released the plasma. A burning wind burst out and enveloped Hiroshi, Akuto, and Peterhausen.

“Waaaah!”

The Brave suit placed a shield around Hiroshi’s body and Peterhausen’s body was able to withstand heat even without mana, but Akuto was a normal human.

“Aniki!” screamed Hiroshi.

But Akuto’s face remained directly in front of Hiroshi.

He had forced himself inside Brave’s shield.

<Shield overload. Battery almost drained. Switching to life preservation mode. Thirty second recharge necessary before normal mode is available.>

That mechanical voice rang out.

Akuto grinned.

Hiroshi realized this was what Akuto had wanted even if it cost him most of his arms and the half of his body he had lost in the plasma explosion.

“I-it can’t be!”

Hiroshi and Akuto fell intertwined toward the forest below.

“I knew you were not capable of cruelty. If I had you injure me to cruel levels, I knew you would hesitate. And that would forcibly drain your battery. That is how the system works.”

As he fell, Akuto’s body regenerated. It seemed he was able to draw in mana now.

“You’re…You’re horrible, aniki…” Hiroshi began to shed tears. “Why are you such a cruel person? You really are a demon king…”

“I know I can be cruel. If I do not return, please tell everyone how cruel I was.”

“If you don’t return?”

“Killing the gods is the end for me as well. That is what I mean.”

Akuto placed a hand on Hiroshi’s head. He squeezed and the Brave suit’s helmet shattered.

“Wah!” cried Hiroshi as his face was exposed.

“I try to understand how you are right as well,” said Akuto.

Then the two of them struck the ground.

“Uuh…” groaned Hiroshi.

He could no longer use the suit, so he should have struck the ground at full force, but Akuto supported him.

Akuto stood firmly on the ground and lowered Hiroshi.

Yuuko ran over and let out a short scream when she saw Akuto.

“Don’t worry. He is alive,” Akuto told Yuuko as she cowered down.

Hiroshi stood up and turned his face resolutely toward Yuuko.

“Eh?”

Yuuko looked surprised.

“I…never meant to hide it. It was a coincidence. But…I saw no reason to go out of my way to tell you…”

Hiroshi was flustered.

Yuuko then began laughing.

“Ah ha ha. You idiot. No matter who it was inside, you were cool.”

When he saw that, Akuto began to walk away. However, Yuuko gave a start and stiffened when she saw Akuto move.

“I know. You cannot remain yourself while I am around.”

Akuto raised a hand and called down Peterhausen.

“Wait!” called out Hiroshi. Akuto turned around and Hiroshi asked, “Why won’t you remove the demonic beast's mana from her body?”

“Because that mana’s activity is being controlled by Suhara. If I interfered, it would put her in danger.”

“But…that means…if the god dies!”

“I will…no, he will fill the role of the god afterwards.”

Akuto pointed toward Peterhausen.

“Th-then, you intended to do this from the beginning? But…that will mean the demon king stands at the top of the world. Wh-what will you do then, aniki?” asked Hiroshi frantically as he was overcome by unpleasant thoughts.

However, Akuto muttered a complaint rather than directly answering.

“That is something that cannot be avoided. It is something I have to do.”

Bouichirou entered the temple of Suhara. The unconscious shrine guards on the path behind him showed what resistance he had faced.

Bouichirou held Keena within the tranquil space in which Teruya Keizou had once carried out his duties.

“She is the Law of Identity.”

“What do you want, one who has come to bind the Contract of the One with her?”

He heard voices. Two shrine maidens appeared from behind the god tree.

They were the L’Isle-Adams that supported Suhara. The two beautiful girls were dressed as shrine maidens, but they were armed. One held a naginata and the other held a bow.

Bouichirou laughed at the question.

“Do I even need to say it? I will take control of the gods. A god with a will of its own is unneeded.”

When the two shrine maidens heard his response, they leaped to the left and right.

“In that case.”

“We will stop you.”

“It is too late for that.”

Bouichirou tossed Keena up into the air and swung his arms sharply to the left and right.

Both shrine maidens stopped moving at the same moment.

Bouichirou gently caught Keena when she fell and began walking once more.

“Wait.”

“The Law of Identity is meant to take our will and recreate the universe.”

The shrine maidens spoke, but they could do nothing but speak. Their upper bodies had been severed from their lower bodies, so they could only lie on the ground.

“I know that is meant to prevent an invasion from another dimension and let you evolve to another dimension, but what good is it if you ignore mankind? The gods’ method will destroy mankind.”

“No, mankind will remain as data.”

“The data has been saved to the quantum network and that network will overcome the dimension.”

“I see no humans in that,” said Bouichirou with a hint of annoyance.

He swung his right hand to silence one of the L’Isle-Adams.

“The gods will take the dead humans with them to some far place. That is a standard religious view. Mankind has wished for that for ages. We know this to be true,” continued the other one.

Bouichirou shook his head.

“I do not object to maintaining that story, but that is all the more reason for the gods to not have a will of their own.”

Once he arrived in front of the god tree, Bouichirou softly lowered Keena to the ground.

Keena was unconscious, but she sat motionless while leaning against his legs.

“Now, I know the gods cannot oppose the Law of Identity. Prepare the stage for the Contract of the One.”

As Bouichirou spoke, the god tree began to split to the left and right.

A space spread out within. It looked as if wooden structures had been folded on top of each other infinitely. It was likely made with the special construction technology that used mana transfers. It was not actually infinite, but vermillion-lacquered wooden corridors were connected by plain wooden stairways like a labyrinth. It all looked like a complex network.

Keena woke and looked up at the corridors

“Ahh… You came here, didn’t you!?” She let out a strange voice that sounded both absentminded and despairing. She held her hands together and turned toward Bouichirou. “Hey, please stop this! It’s not too late!”

Bouichirou smiled awkwardly.

“Please listen,” he said. “If I do not do this, humanity will disappear from this world.”

“No! You are wrong! Your method will not escape the curse of irrepeatability!”

“Wha-…?”

Bouichirou finally found himself dumbfounded.

“Please imagine it! Imagine that the gods lose their will and mankind continues on to the age you came from. The path leading there may be different, but the outcome will certainly be the same. Someone will come to defeat you…yes, you. A human will become the demon king of their own will and come to kill you once you become a god. That is all that will change,” said Keena.

Bouichirou felt something cold run down his spine. It was sweat. He perfectly understood what Keena meant. And knowing that, he trembled at the foolishness of his own actions.

“You were the sole survivor of mankind. And while bearing that last hope, you attempted to correct this foolishness. Given the position you came from, your actions are not based in pride. You are a true hero. But no matter how many times you try to redo it, the outcome will always be the same.”

Bouichirou looked back at Keena’s face.

Her expression was identical to that of Sudou Rimu, his former lover and the final Law of Identity.

“Why… Why isn’t it me!?” Bouichirou cried out in anguish.

“Don’t cry. You are…”

Keena began saying something, but Bouichirou stopped her. He wrapped an arm around her waist and tried to forcibly drag her into the god tree.

“No!”

“If the result will be the same, I can at least…”

Bouichirou tried to restrain Keena as she struggled, but he suddenly stopped.

He had seen someone else in the temple.

Keena turned around as well and saw the person. And when she did, her face lit up.

“A-chan!”

“Normally, this would be the time to say something cool, but the two of us have certain similarities. I understand how you reached such a pathetic situation, at least to a certain extent. For that reason, I will not say anything.”

Akuto began walking forward.

Bouichirou let go of Keena and his expression grew refreshed as if he had given up on everything.

“I have always been troubled by the demon king, but this is the first time any of them has been like you.”

“How sad. In the end, we are doing nothing but cleaning up after a system created by mankind. Then again, that could describe most any job.”

“How ironic. After living for hundreds of years, it is only now that I find someone who understands me.”

“That is because we seek similar things. But there is one definite difference between us.”

“Yes, there is: Luck with women,” said Bouichirou with a smile.

Akuto stared blankly back at him.

“Yes, I suppose my luck with women is pretty bad,” commented Akuto.

“Ha ha. Now that is something very different between us. Now I have really come to hate you. The winner here can enact his plan.”

Bouichirou raised a hand and pulled a giant sword out of thin air.

“In the end, I suppose that’s our only option.”

Akuto tried to step forward, but Bouichirou attacked without warning. His sword roared as it flew horizontally.

“Ohh!”

Akuto jumped back to avoid it, but Bouichirou mercilessly attacked again.

Bursting sounds were heard as the air was sliced apart and a portion of Akuto’s body and clothes scattered through the air. Akuto had somehow avoided a fatal blow, but the arm he used to defend and the areas he had not been able to cover were not unharmed.

“So you have impudently learned to dodge!”

When they had first fought, Akuto had been able to do nothing more than guard, but now he could at least deflect the sword with his arm. Thanks to that, he avoided being knocked backwards, but he still could not retaliate.

“But you still leave too many openings!”

As he pointed that out, Bouichirou swung his sword horizontally at Akuto’s feet.

“Uuh!”

Akuto was unable to react to this unexpected attack and collapsed to his knees.

“A-chan!”

Keena cried out and tried to move forward, but Akuto stopped her with a glance.

“A-…”

Keena stopped and gulped.

Akuto could not move. His knees had been completely smashed. He was in the process of regenerating them, but Bouichirou was showing no sign of giving him time to be able to stand up once more.

“It looks like the headmaster taught you a bit about how to fight,” said Bouichirou as he swung up his sword to deliver the finishing blow.

“He did, but it seems I didn’t learn Kakei properly.”

Akuto shook his head in resignation.

“So you feign innocence even on the verge of death. Even so, I will take that as your last words!”

Bouichirou swung down his sword.

The blade accurately pierced Akuto’s head.

No matter how much regenerative ability Akuto had and no matter how tough his body might be, this was not a strike he could withstand.

The large sword sliced Akuto in two.

…Or it should have.

“!”

Bouichirou was shocked by how odd the strike had felt.

The sword had stabbed into the temple floor, but it had sliced through Akuto’s body at the same time.

“Tch!”

Bouichirou immediately abandoned the sword and jumped back.

Akuto was definitely there, but the sword had not affected him in the slightest. It was as if he were a hologram.

“It can’t be!” shouted Bouichirou.

He had realized the real Akuto was standing directly behind him.

“Hahh!”

Akuto jammed his fist into Bouichirou’s gut when the man turned around.

A shockwave shot out of Bouichirou’s back and he doubled over.

“I-impossible…” groaned Bouichirou while struggling to breath.

“Of the tricks I was taught, I can pull this one off pretty well,” said Akuto. The image of him kneeling that the sword had sliced in two blurred and disappeared. “I created a mana screen and projected a reflected image there. It really is a cheap trick. The headmaster said you can only use it once in a fistfight and as long as it takes for your opponent to notice if they’re using projectiles.”

“I-I fell for such a stupid trick?”

“I hate falling for stupid tricks, too. I know how you feel,” said Akuto, but he still punched Bouichirou again.

This time, Bouichirou’s body bent without him uttering a word.

Akuto punched him yet again, but not out of anger or malice. As he continued to punch his opponent to keep him from moving, Akuto was filled with a feeling similar to sorrow.

Finally, Bouichirou passed out and collapsed.

Akuto lightly shook his wrist as if to say something was wrong.

And then he heard a calm voice.

“Demon king, it is time to bind the Contract of the One with the Law of Identity.”

One of the collapsed shrine maidens was looking up at Akuto.

Akuto silently walked over to Keena.

“A-chan…”

She looked up at Akuto as well.

Akuto took her hand.

“This has become quite a big deal, hasn’t it?”

“Yes, but it isn’t over yet.”

Akuto and Keena exchanged a glance and seemed to come to a silent understanding. They nodded simultaneously and turned toward the shrine maiden.

“We will not bind the contract.”

“We can do that at any time later.”

The shrine maiden seemed to panic despite being a L’Isle-Adam.

“I-impossible! Then why are you here?”

“I will kill the god here so everyone will understand! I will destroy this place and stop this god from functioning as a network terminal!”

As he spoke, Akuto reached a hand toward the sky above.

“Th-that is meaningless… Even if the terminal dies, the god itself is a will living within the network. This will only eliminate a portion of the functions and accumulated data that is known as Suhara. You will only cause chaos and-…”

“I know that.” Akuto cut off the shrine maiden’s explanation. “But doing this will wake some people up to the truth.”

As he spoke, mana began to gather around Akuto. When he had first awoken, he had been unable to control his mana, and now he was planning to cause a pure mana explosion just as before.

“You might disappear as well. Is that what you want? What will that accomplish? That will change nothing,” said the shrine maiden.

“No, it will change something. At the very least, it will end the story of the demon king’s rebellion. And that will finally allow people to face the gods who have wills but no sense of self.”

“I understand what you plan to do. Before you can do that, we will eliminate you and the Law of Identity. We will keep this incident in mind and hope for better results with the next demon king.”

As the shrine maiden spoke, the temple began to tremble. This was not being caused by Akuto’s mana waves.

“The defense system has activated. The god tree which acts as the terminal can now move as an individual unit.”

The god tree which had been opened in the center of the temple closed once more. And that object which resembled a giant tree glowed with mana light and began to float.

The temple began to collapse. The structure had been built around the giant tree, so the roof crumbled and then the floor Akuto and Keena stood on began to crumble as well.

“Kyah!” screamed Keena.

Akuto held her in his arms. The area below the floor was not all that tall, but they could be crushed by objects falling from above.

“A-chan!”

Keena stopped Akuto and pointed behind them as he tried to jump up. Bouichirou was collapsed there.

“Understood.”

Akuto nodded and grabbed Bouichirou’s hand. That must have caused him to come to because he looked up. Akuto nodded toward the man’s surprised expression.

“Let’s go.”

Akuto then jumped. He repeatedly kicked off the crumbling building materials and made his way up to the roof.

“Mankind still needs the gods. And the gods need mankind. I cannot allow you to interfere in the moment in which the two will join together.”

The shrine maiden’s voice eerily echoed up from below. Akuto looked down just in time to see the head of the severed upper half of the shrine maiden get dragged down by the crumbling floor.

“Kh…”

Akuto averted his gaze and looked up into the sky instead.

The floating god tree had already ascended a fair distance.

“Peterhausen!” he called.

In response, Peterhausen flew down from where he had been waiting in midair.

“This is our final job, isn’t it!?”

“Yes. And this is my final request as your friend.”

Akuto left Keena and Bouichirou below and mounted Peterhausen.

“Wait. Are you really intending to risk your life for this?”

Bouichirou pointed toward the god tree, but Akuto only faced forward.

“I am. I was born as an existence with a ridiculous goal. If I can act of my own free will in the very end, that’s fine by me,” replied Akuto without looking back.

“This may not change the outcome. It may be as I was told and this will change nothing and mankind will still be destroyed. Why are you so convinced this is what you should do?” asked Bouichirou.

Akuto instructed Peterhausen to take off.

“Because I have learned that being able to empathize with the people in your everyday life is more important than faith or some story far removed from your life. If I destroy this system, people will be able to face other people.” He then turned toward Keena. “You were right, Keena. If everyone can eat rice together, we might just have world peace.”

Peterhausen powerfully flew up into the sky, but…

“Rice!” cried Keena in a lovely voice.

“Eh?”

Akuto was confused by the change in Keena’s attitude, but Peterhausen had already flown high into the sky. The god tree moved slowly, so they had already reached it.

But surprisingly, Keena flew up into the sky herself and pursued Akuto.

“A-chan, you can’t! You can’t make them answer to you!”

“Wh-what? Do you have a separate consciousness while you’re the Law of Identity?” Akuto asked as Keena flew alongside Peterhausen, but she was not listening.

“A-chan, tell me what you’re planning to do!”

Keena spoke bluntly to Akuto.

“Um, well… I’m going to charge into the god tree and transfer its functions over to Peterhausen. And then I’ll destroy it,” he answered.

Keena shook her head.

“You can’t. You plan to die, don’t you?”

Having it stated so plainly left Akuto unsure what to say.

“No, it isn’t necessarily going to happen. It will certainly be dangerous and if I succeed in killing even one god, I will lose any place in society. So…”

“No! Idiot! Idiot! I won’t let you!”

Keena violently shook her head.

But that was when Peterhausen let out a shout.

“Master, it is too late! We are going to charge into the god tree!”

“Then we have no choice. Keena, outta the way!”

Akuto shoved Keena.

She flew a good distance away from Peterhausen, but she was clearly not ready to give up. She began stripping off her clothes while flying and she vanished.

Now Akuto could not know where she was.

“…Let’s go!”

However, Akuto could not change his plans.

Peterhausen fired a spiral-carved metal stake from his mouth which opened a large hole in the god tree’s body. He then charged inside through it.

“The inside is a pseudo alternate dimension. We and our opponents have real forms, so we can take damage,” warned Peterhausen.

Inside was the same wooden labyrinth seen when Bouichirou had opened the god tree. Their vision was filled with nothing but vermillion-lacquered pillars and bare wood corridors.

“Transfer over its function,” instructed Akuto.

Peterhausen sent cables stretching in all four directions from various parts of his body. They all plugged into connectors located in the corridors.

“Once the transfer is complete, I will release those like Hattori Yuuko from the god’s control. But the transfer will take some time. Until then…”

Peterhausen trailed off.

Akuto looked around and realized why.

Shrine maiden L’Isle-Adams appeared from all over the seemingly infinite corridors. They all had their doll-like eyes turned toward Akuto and Peterhausen.

“Those are real…right?”

Peterhausen nodded in response to Akuto’s whispered question.

“These corridors look infinite, but the space in here is finite. And there may be a large number of L’Isle-Adams, but they are of course not infinite either.”

But they were still at a severe disadvantage. Akuto had to protect Peterhausen who could not move. If even a single cable were severed, the transfer would be incomplete and Yuuko and other Suhara followers like her would be put in danger.

Naturally, the demon king and the gods were no longer cooperating. To the gods, Akuto and Peterhausen were foreign objects that needed to be killed.

“Dammit. Am I not going to be able to accomplish anything after making all those dramatic announcements!?” roared Akuto.

However, Peterhausen laughed heartily.

“Not yet. Just because I cannot move does not mean I cannot fight. Let us fight back, master. You may have said you would have nowhere to go afterwards, but you can always continue fighting until every last terminal of the gods has been destroyed!”

“Heh… That could work, too,” muttered Akuto.

As if that had been their cue, the countless shrine maidens all rushed toward Peterhausen.

The shrine maidens swarmed Peterhausen like ferocious ants attacking their prey. Akuto flew around, trying to tear them off, but he had his hands full with the shrine maidens attacking him from behind. Their attacks showed no mercy and it was painfully clear they were strange existences that could not truly communicate with humans.

“Anyone who fights like this shouldn’t be guiding people!”

Akuto’s anger rose to the surface. His mana increased and a whirlwind appeared around him.

However…

“Gaaaaaah!”

Peterhausen let out a scream.

“What is it?”

Akuto looked over.

The wound caused by the aircraft carrier striking him was glowing.

“Oh, no…”

Akuto realized what was causing Peterhausen’s pain.

The heavy burden of transferring over Suhara’s functions, fighting, and Akuto’s mana control had exceeded the limit of his ability.

“I can handle this! Do not worry about me!” shouted Peterhausen in a deeply pained but intensely courageous voice.

“But!”

“We were always planning to die, right!? We were determined to save everyone else while sacrificing only ourselves. Taking safety measures here would be too foolish! Master, I will remove the limiter on your mana control. That will lessen the burden on me and allow you full use over your power! But in exchange…”

“You can’t guarantee my body will last!? Sounds fair to me!”

Akuto once more began focusing the mana in his body.

Once his body began glowing, the shrine maidens approaching him were knocked back by an impact.

“Ooohhhhhhhhhh!”

Akuto was aware he could not control his mana. No matter how hard he tried, he could not stop the torrent of power or the rising emotion.

Akuto used that power to blow away the shrine maidens clinging to Peterhausen. The freed dragon cried out in joy over the absence of the obstacles.

“I have taken over Suhara’s functions! I can now release the people from the god’s control at any moment! We can blow away everything here without worry!”

But Akuto did not reply.

Akuto’s body was producing tremendous heat. As he lay curled up and unmoving, his body gradually melted the floor and sank down. His tremendous energy was beginning to melt the pseudo alternate dimension itself.

“Wait… master! Master! Kh… I cannot restrain his power anymore!”

Peterhausen’s expression showed confusion for once, but that confusion quickly turned to fear.

“To prevent further encroachment into the pseudo alternate dimension, the pseudo alternate dimension is closing in on itself!”

The corridors began to be crushed as they folded up into each other, one by one. The shrine maidens were mercilessly caught in the middle and were crushed by space itself. Nothing remained of them afterwards. Only nothingness was left.

The folding of space was approaching Akuto at tremendous speed.

“You need to release your power some way or another! Let it explode! If you do, you can blow away the god tree, pseudo alternate dimension and all!” cried Peterhausen.

However, Akuto was unable to move an inch. When he saw that, Peterhausen shook his head.

“…It must be too difficult.”

“Hey, why is it so difficult?”

“Mana is controlled by one’s emotions. My master is still afraid of releasing his power,” replied Peterhausen before looking around to see who had asked.

“But he kept saying he was going to do it,” replied the voice.

Peterhausen realized Keena was floating nearby while invisible.

“His will to reform the world is strong. However, he is bothered by the fact that he will be unable to take responsibility for the world afterwards. After all, he lacks the ability to construct a new world. …At any rate, you need to escape. You will be caught in the blast here.”

“Then why aren’t you escaping, Pe-chan?”

“I have a duty to just barely control my master’s mana and the subsequent explosion. If I do, I can save him.”

“Then will you die, Pe-chan?” asked Keena in surprise.

“I will. A dragon with the exact same abilities as me may be created later, but a dragon without the same history and sense of self as me will not be me.”

“I don’t want that! I don’t like this ending! This is just the kind of ending boys like!” wailed Keena.

Peterhausen smiled kindly.

“Then go tell my master that he is wrong. Teach him that he can create something in the world after the story of the gods has been ended.”

“Pe-chan…”

Keena appeared and stroked Peterhausen’s head.

“Please take this. I apologize that it is nothing exciting.”

Peterhausen willed one of his fangs to fall into Keena’s hand.

Keena looked at it, nodded, and ran over to Akuto while holding the fang tightly in her hand. Akuto was producing a tremendous amount of light, but Keena easily entered within that light and heat.

As Akuto suffered, Keena’s naked form gently embraced him and she whispered in his ear.

“Don’t worry, A-chan. I will do my best to make sure everyone gets along for your sake.”

Akuto opened his eyes.

And one of the gods was obliterated.

“Why did it end up like this?” asked Keena.

She had not been speaking to anyone, but she received a response.

“That is a difficult question to answer. It truly is.”

Keena’s eyes were closed. In fact, she was unconscious. She had not actually spoken out loud. So why had she received a response while more or less dreaming?

“Who are you?”

“I am me. I am the other you inside you,” said the Law of Identity.

“The other me inside me?”

“Yes. I am the eternal me who will remain even if you die. I am the me that proves that I am me. It may be difficult to understand, but that is what it is. That is why there were people trying to kill you. Those who wish to use the eternal me planned to kill you in hopes that I would reside within someone more convenient.”

“I see. I guess we both have it tough.”

“Yes. It is quite tough.”

They both smiled for a while.

“So what can you do?”

“I can do many things. But I may not be able to do anything.”

“Which is it?”

“Who knows. Not even I know. However, I understand what you want to do, at least to a certain extent.”

“Yeah. So can you do that?”

“Well, I think so. You want to grant the wishes of the two men who fell in love with me, right?”

“Yeah!” said Keena with an energetic nod.

“I will give true peace to the soul of the time traveler.”

“What do you mean?”

“His true desire was happiness for the person I once was in the future. I will guarantee that for him. That is why he was attempting to control the gods.”

“What about Bouichirou-san himself?”

“That is for him to decide. Will he settle down in some era or will he start all this anew in the next era?”

“No. I mean how will he know that this future person will be happy?”

“He must believe that it is true. Yes, Bouichirou-san must trust the boy who was chosen to be the demon king.”

“Trust A-chan?”

“He took action to oppose his destiny in order to change the future. Bouichirou-san must trust that boy. And that is why only Akuto-san can truly guarantee peace for Bouichirou-san’s soul.”

“But A-chan is…”

“Yes. If nothing changes, Akuto-san will remain the enemy of mankind. He does not wish for that either. And so I will alter everyone’s memories a bit…just a tiny bit.”

“Everyone’s memories?”

“Yes. I will merely make it so it was not him but another demon king that went on a rampage today. That small change will allow him the same life he has had so far.”

“I wonder if A-chan will be happy about that.”

“That is a good question. Living the same life he has had so far will also mean he must continue to fight. And an even greater destiny will await him!”

“A-chan will be fine,” declared Keena confidently.

“That is good to hear. I have always been observing this world, but even I hesitated to give life to the system known as the gods. The flow of human history is so lovely you can simply get lost in it, isn’t it?”

And then the conversation between the Law of Identity and Keena came to an end.

Fortunately, the equipment belonging to one of the airborne troops had survived unharmed. Junko had borrowed it to pursue Akuto. However, it had taken her a long time to find it, so she was very late.

As she flew, Junko had been shocked to see Suhara’s god tree floating in the sky. As a Suhara follower, she recognized it right away and knew the situation was well out of the ordinary.

However, what she saw next was even more shocking.

The god tree exploded from within.

The explosion was likely visible from dozens of kilometers away. The god tree became a gigantic pillar of fire that seemed to connect the heavens and the earth.

Junko was at a complete loss for words.

No sight could have more obviously made one think of the death of a god. Next to the pillar of fire, a black dragon of smoke spread its black wings as if mocking everything around it. Junko knew Peterhausen, so she immediately recognized this as his silhouette, but those that did not know him would likely have seen it as a demonic image.

A ring of shockwaves spread out as if it would cover the entire land of the empire in an instant. The sound reverberated beyond the clouds.

“How could this be!?”

Junko landed to avoid the shockwave, but she still heard the thick trees around her creaking in the wind. She stabbed the Sword of Sohaya into the ground to anchor herself, but she would have been blown away had she not done so.

Even so, the explosive blast died down in a few seconds. Junko returned to the sky to check on the situation.

In that instant, she saw something strange. Something was rising into the sky from the center of the blast. It was a pillar of light made up of tiny particles. That light formed a thin cloud and spread as if to cover the entire world.

“What in the world happened?” muttered Junko without thinking.

She rushed to the site of the blast and found Akuto and Keena in the center of the crater.

“Are you two okay?”

Junko ran over to them and Akuto collapsed onto Keena.

“Wake up. Are you okay? I have so much I want to ask you. What did you do? And where did that Yamato Bouichirou man-…?”

Junko suddenly found herself dumbfounded.

“Ah! It’s Junko-chan!” shouted Keena innocently. She squirmed, got up, and waved her hand. “Hiiii!”

“Eh?”

Akuto also got up and turned toward Junko.

“Y-you idiot!”

Junko blushed and started waving her hands around.

Akuto finally realized that Keena was naked.

“Wah! Wait a second…”

“Noooo!”

Keena embraced Akuto in order to hide her body.

“You idiot! How can you be so indecent!?” Junko removed the top layer of her uniform and threw it toward Akuto and Keena. She averted her gaze and said, “What are you doing at a time like this!? Do you have any idea what happened? The god exploded… The god tree that acts as the god’s physical form exploded!”

“But you knew I wanted to do that,” complained Akuto.

Junko turned around in shock.

“Th-then, this is…”

“Yes. Suhara is gone. Technically, only the data is gone, but this should bring it to everyone’s attention that the gods are nothing more than a system. If this changes the world…” Akuto trailed off there. “But I suppose this makes us enemies. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise after what I said.”

Junko blushed.

“Y-you mean…when you said you would…give me the attention I deserve? Y-you do not need to worry about that. I only said what I did because I was in an odd mood…”

“Even if you tell me not to worry about it, I still do. After all, this makes me a complete traitor. You must support the Hattori family, so forget about me and…”

Akuto trailed off again because Junko had suddenly grabbed his hand. Her head was lowered, but her grip was firm.

“D-do not say that. I announced to those in my family that I would cast aside my family for you. So…so…”

Junko raised her head and looked Akuto directly in the eye. Even Akuto could figure out what this meant and he gulped.

However…

“Can I take that to mean you agree with my ideals?” he asked. “I will give you the attention you deserve. I will listen to what you have to say and I will do what I can to ensure you do not lose your position in-…”

Before Akuto could finish, he was hit by the back of the Sword of Sohaya’s blade.

“In the end, you couldn’t do it, onee-chan,” said a voice from behind them.

Yuuko and Hiroshi were walking toward them. Yuuko looked carefree and Hiroshi looked embarrassed.

“Wh-what are you saying, Yuuko!? I was not… Wait, are you okay?”

Junko’s expression changed and she turned around.

Yuuko spread her arms wide.

“I’m perfectly fine. I feel even better than before.”

She walked up to Akuto and nudged him in the side with her elbow.

“Forget about our family and do something about my sister. Okay, boss?”

Yuuko’s tone was a teasing one, but Akuto and Junko were shocked.

“H-hey, are you okay touching him?” asked Junko with her eyes opened wide in surprise.

Yuuko tilted her head in puzzlement.

“What do you mean? He’s the one who visited our house, right? You’re the one that flew into a rage when he refused your engagement.”

“F-flew into a rage…? Anyway, he is the demon king, so…”

The demonic beast mana may have disappeared from her body, but her mental reservations about him would not have disappeared. She might not feel a complete sense of rejection toward him, but she should not have been able to touch him so readily.

However, Yuuko’s next words were even more shocking.

“The demon king? Yeah, he died in that explosion. Akuto-san fought as the academy’s public morals officer and managed to defeat him, right? That was so cool. If you don’t make your move, I might go for him myself.”

Yuuko intentionally provoked Junko with her words and spun around on the spot while grinning. Junko and Hiroshi could only watch on with dumbfounded looks.

“D-does this mean…?”

With a look of realization, Akuto turned toward Keena. However, she only looked up at him with a grin while only wearing a piece of Junko’s uniform.

“Akuto-sama! Ahh, you survived! Let us work hard and use this as our first step toward world domination!”

Fujiko’s reaction to him had not changed. After secretly returning to the ruined academy, Akuto was being tightly embraced by Fujiko in front of the underground altar which was missing its most important item.

“S-senpai… Please let go. I may not have been aiming for world domination, but this has become very odd,” protested Akuto.

“Very odd?”

Akuto explained how it seemed everyone’s memories had been altered. This excited the researcher side of Fujiko. Despite still being wrapped around his arm, she began manipulating a mana screen to gather information.

“This has become very interesting. It is being said that a different demon king began that battle and that he died. From the comments I can see, no one thinks you are the demon king.”

“Then I…”

Akuto’s face lit up, but Fujiko gave a displeased frown.

“Please do not rejoice! The world finally, finally began to be reformed, but the demon king at the center of it all has been removed from everyone’s memories!”

“Even if I am not in the center, the world was still reformed.”

The joy of being freed put a huge smile on Akuto’s face. It seemed public opinion was beginning to grow in the direction Akuto wanted. People were beginning to think that the gods were only a system and that religious worship allowed unjust control by those in power.

“No! Now is the time to stand up! You still have your power, don’t you? Do not worry, Akuto-sama. I will make a proper man out of you! To start with, I will need to get you ready down here.”

Fujiko suddenly knocked Akuto to the ground and climbed on top of him.

“Wah! Wait, senpai! You shouldn’t-…”

“No, do not restrain yourself. No matter what the world may think, we have a duty to the post-reformation world! One of our duties is to quickly create an heir.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

“Oh ho ho ho ho! Do not be like that. Come on, come on.”

Fujiko began groping Akuto’s body, but she quickly stopped.

“Stop that.”

Someone had punched her from behind. Neither of them had noticed anyone approaching and only one person could punch from a distance.

“This is part of the school. I won’t allow any improper relations with the opposite sex.”

Lily followed her stretched arm into the underground room.

“President…”

Akuto raised his head.

Lily showed a cynical smile.

“You’ve done it again. But what kind of trick did you use to alter everyone’s memories?”

“I don’t know. I can only think it was the work of some great power I am not aware of.”

“Hmph. Fine then. This does not change my actions. Although, I should be busy rebuilding the academy for the moment.”

Lily began to leave, but her gaze stopped on the altar.

“Hey, where did that jar go?”

Fujiko looked startled by the question. She then made an awkward confession.

“W-well… That rubber monster stole it.”

“Is that true?” asked Lily frantically.

Akuto looked puzzled.

“What jar are you talking about?”

“It apparently contained a cultivation of your cells. I hope it won’t be misused…but I doubt we will be that lucky.”

Lily let out a sigh.