Chapter 20 — That Sounds Like You Are Just Being Lazy, but I Get What You’re Trying to Say
The squid descended from the sky, bringing Hanakawa and Degul. Next, the queen of Himeln appeared, followed shortly after by Hiruko and Luu.
“What is going on here?” Yogiri muttered.
“So many things happening all at once,” Tomochika agreed.
“I guess we have to start by dealing with that queen.”
“Hey! I’m glad you’re happy about reuniting, but isn’t this situation kind of dangerous?” Hiruko said as she pointed at the queen, starting to get a bit panicked.
Though the rest of them had been distracted by Luu’s arrival, the queen had continued making her preparations. She was creating more and more pawns for herself. The allies she was making came in all shapes and sizes. They weren’t all the same either. Some of them were born with basically no powers at all, while others were mind-bogglingly powerful.
“Can’t you do something about her, Hiruko?” Yogiri asked.
“She’s a bit much for me. Ma could probably handle it, though.”
“Okay, Luu, then. Can you deal with her somehow?” Yogiri asked. Hiruko claimed Luu was the stronger of the two, but Yogiri didn’t have any idea how strong she was. From his perspective, Luu gave off a more graceful image, one that didn’t evoke thoughts of strength as much as Hiruko’s energetic assertiveness.
“Probably, but are you not going to do anything?” Luu replied.
“I don’t really want to get involved.”
“That sounds like you are just being lazy, but I get what you’re trying to say.”
Yogiri’s power could stop any opponent. It afforded no pride or dignity to the enemy. If there were other ways to resolve the situation, he preferred to try those first.
“Okay, I’ll deal with her, then.” Luu stepped out in front of Yogiri.
What would she do? How would she defeat the queen? Yogiri was rather curious to see, so he watched carefully, but in the end she never did anything.
“I am the UEG, the god who will wipe out all life in this world! To make things short, you are all guilty of a grave sin, so repent with your deaths!”
A girl appeared with that declaration before Luu could make her move.
◇ ◇ ◇
The UEG flew over to the island where the queen of Himeln waited. Looking down from the sky, she immediately saw an enormous insect on top of the otherwise featureless island. It took her a moment to realize that was the queen. She had learned through her information gathering efforts that the queen of Himeln was an ordinary human. But there was no one else who gave the impression of a queen. Though her form was different than expected, that insect must have been the queen Elisabelle.
“Hmm. She must be quite determined to accomplish something if she is willing to adopt such an unsightly form.”
Elisabelle’s ability was to produce powerful children. However, even she was not able to choose what powers they would be born with. It was effectively up to luck, so there was only one way to guarantee favorable results: increase the number of trials. In order to produce a large number of children, she had taken on an enormous form and gathered a tremendous amount of energy.
Elisabelle’s ability placed a heavy emphasis on random chance. There was no way to control what kind of person would be born, but in exchange, it was capable of creating beings that could go toe to toe with gods.
“So, what opponent has forced her to go to such extremes?”
Following Elisabelle’s gaze, the UEG found a familiar god. Though she was a god herself, the UEG’s memory of the time she was imprisoned was vague at best. She did remember that a number of gods had worked together to seal her away and that this other goddess was one of them. A god on the same level as the UEG herself. One of her enemies. One who was responsible for the UEG’s own defeat. In short, she was a top priority for revenge.
“I thought she perished long ago. I am surprised to see her here. No, she is not in perfect condition, is she?” At this point, the UEG couldn’t care less about Elisabelle. Her goal of wiping out all life in this world was little more than her throwing a tantrum. Taking revenge on the goddess came long before that.
“I suppose I should finish what I have started, though. I will not be able to relax if I keep changing my plans on the fly.”
In a loud voice, the UEG declared her intent to wipe out all life in the world. She had already decided that this declaration needed to be made before killing anyone, and she wasn’t about to change that now. Lifting both hands, she unleashed countless bullets of light.
The light rained down on the floating island, the brilliant downpour destroying everything indiscriminately. Whenever the light struck a target, it exploded with a burst of extreme heat, vaporizing everything in the area. The overwhelming assault covered the entire island, too large to dodge and too powerful to defend against.
Elisabelle, her repulsive offspring, the ancient squid, and even the earth that made up the floating island were annihilated. When the rain of light finally abated, the island itself was gone. All that remained was a tiny sphere of light, incomparable in size to that of the attack she had just unleashed. It was a defensive barrier. The goddess had deployed it to protect those around her.
“I imagined she would be able to manage something, but I never expected her to protect the humans around her.”
The UEG was capable of destroying universes with ease. Her attack had been more of a probing strike, but the fact that there were survivors beyond the woman herself took the UEG by surprise.
Dropping to the same height as the goddess, the UEG approached.
“Hah! It has been quite a while, has it not? Uhh...hmm...what was your name, again?” Her memories of the time before her imprisonment were still vague. Though she roughly remembered that this goddess was involved, she didn’t really know who the woman was or where she was from.
“That’s what I’d like to ask. You said you were the UEG? I remember you having a different name...but I can’t recall it, so maybe I’m wrong.”
“Nevertheless! There is no mistaking that you were involved in my imprisonment! I think.”
“I don’t really know. I can’t remember things very well. The most I remember is that I feel like we’ve met before.”
“Is that not strange?! How is such a grand event not a vivid memory for you?!”
“Well...the part of me that holds my memories is missing, so I only have a vague recollection of the past. Do you have any proof that I was involved?”
“Proof? Err...I suppose not. I only had the vague impression that you were responsible.”
“For such a ‘grand event,’ you don’t seem to remember all that well either.”
“No, I am quite sure you were involved.” The UEG felt this was true, but she had no memory of what had actually happened or how this goddess was related.
Though she had both the arrogance and power to bulldoze her way through any situation, the UEG would never lie to herself. In short, without solid evidence, she couldn’t bring herself to take revenge on the goddess. As a being who transcended time and space, one might imagine she could simply check for herself, but that was also impossible. With her memories of that fragment of space-time so vague, its existence was too uncertain for her to interact with.
“What is with this stupid conversation?!” Unable to bear the vague, plodding conversation, a girl behind the goddess spoke up, drawing the UEG’s attention to the rest of the group.
The goddess had protected five others: the small girl who had complained, a boy the UEG found rather fetching, a somewhat more plump boy, a woman in men’s clothes, and another goddess who seemed to be a child of the first.
“Well, without evidence, I cannot say I am entitled to revenge against you. However, I have already declared my intention to wipe out all life in this world, so the fact that I must kill you does not change! What is your name?”
“I’m Luu. Daddy gave me that name.”
“‘Daddy’? You mean that plump boy?”
“Is that supposed to be a joke?”
“Yes, of course. You mean that young man over there, no? He seems the type to be attractive to gods.”
“Huh? Am I mistaken or have I just been thoroughly insulted?” the rounder boy asked, but he was already beneath the UEG’s notice.
“Now then, let us conclude this discussion. I may have no memories, but you are not a being I can take lightly...I think. I do not know why, but I cannot stand you! We must be fated to do battle upon our reunion!”
“That’s no good. I’m not in perfect shape, so if we fight, I’ll probably lose. But do you mind if I take daddy somewhere safe first?”
Despite her claim, Luu didn’t seem weak enough to be defeated in an instant without offering any resistance. That was a fact. The UEG wouldn’t be able to defeat her that easily.
“Hmm. If I allow you to take them somewhere else, finding them to execute later will become a waste of time. Instead, why not use them to draw forth your serious side?”
The UEG turned to the people Luu was protecting. They were in the way. If Luu had to fight while protecting them, she couldn’t go all out, but the UEG wasn’t so soft as to give Luu time to evacuate them. So she decided to kill them immediately. If Luu was serious in calling this human boy her father, she would be forced to pursue the UEG to avenge him. Though she still had confidence in her own supremacy, the UEG thought that having Luu fight for real would make it a proper battle.
Luu floated in the air, using a sphere of light to protect herself and her companions. It was a barrier that rejected all influence from the outside, only allowing that which Luu permitted to pass through it. It could defend against an attack of any caliber, but to the UEG it was little different than a thin sheet of paper. Though it encapsulated the concept of ultimate defense, the UEG could unleash an attack with the concept of ignoring any defense. That would bring them close to the paradox of the unstoppable force and immovable object, but there was no need to ponder the particulars. The more powerful god would prevail.
In the end, the heart of a battle between gods was just a numbers game. No matter the process, in the end, the one with greater power would win. There was no room for clever strategizing.
The UEG waved a hand, tearing the barrier Luu had created to pieces.
“Now then, let us avoid being circuitous about this. I will begin by taking the life of your beloved ‘daddy’!”
And then, the world went dark.
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