"Is he running away?"
"Hmm, I knew he was no match for Muku."
Origami and Mukuro spoke calmly. They trusted their abilities, so seeing that other Yuki flee didn't surprise them.
"No, he isn't... He's just fulfilling his mission."
Yuki shook his head as Kurumi stepped up beside him.
"Is it really okay to let him go, Danna-sama?"
As the Spirit of Time, Kurumi knew what that other Yuki was about to do, and it worried her. She bit her lip, wanting to chase after him, but Yuki stopped her.
"Don't. This is inevitable...."
He pointed toward the sky, where an enormous mist was covering the world, the sun, and the entire solar system. Kurumi swallowed hard at the sight, and she wasn't the only one. All the Spirits felt it. The aura of Requiem was too vast, too heavy, and above all too chaotic. Instinctively, they drew closer to Yuki, seeking protection and reassurance.
"You did well. Be free.... You deserve it. Rest...."
Taking Yuki by the arm, Mayuri looked up at the sky as tears streamed down her face. At last, her Hero would rest. It had taken so long, but he would finally be free. No—he had been more than a Hero...
A being without glory. His actions would never be rewarded. No one would idolize him. He had suffered more than anyone, yet he endured to the very end and became the world's final defense. A being who would never be remembered because he never truly existed. He was only a ghost of time who asked for a second chance and failed. A Champion who won even though it meant dying, saving the World and ushering in the beginning of a new era by resetting the Timeline.
"Have a safe journey...."
Still surrounded by his women, Yuki watched as his other "self" left the Domain. He ignored Requiem as it entered the solar system and raised his thumb toward his other self.
First Timeline Yuki was the Last Paradox.
Once he ceased to exist, the first Timeline would never have existed, and the World would begin a core-level rewind.
The second Timeline would change its history and become the only Timeline.
The entire World would undergo a massive transformation, and above all...
The Cosmic Requiem would also cease to exist.
First Timeline Yuki was the only thing keeping the first Timeline in "existence," and by extension, keeping The Beast alive. That was why Requiem wanted so desperately to devour him—to stop being an incomplete existence dependent on another. And that was also why First Timeline Yuki wanted to defeat his other self.
Because if he did, he would take his place, and the entire World would change.
Buzzzz
A light spread across the entire World, and the Crown that protects the world collapsed....
Ding
[Congratulations on saving the world. You have destroyed chaos, and the light of Order shines once more.]
[World 375273 is deeply grateful for your help and is indebted to you and your Spirits of Order.]
[The Guardian Beast of World No. 1223234 weeps for you. Your sacrifice touched the deepest part of its soul, awakening emotions that had slumbered for millions of years. It adores you and wishes to accompany you.]
[The Empress is satisfied with your work. She has sent rewards for your Spirits of Order.]
[Do you wish to accept?]
[Yes] [No]
[Congratulations. Your Spirits of Order have obtained one million Karma points.]
"My baby, you saved me again...."
The will of the comatose world opened its eyes. It wept and, deep within its consciousness, thanked its most beloved child, who had once again sacrificed himself for her.
Its core rewound and began to function. It knew what had to be done. It couldn't fail again like it had thirty years ago. Its child's efforts could not be wasted....
All of this unfolded before the Spirits' eyes. History itself was rewritten...
"Ohhhh!"
For the girls, it was the first time witnessing such a change. Est and Eggy, in the Spiritual World, weren't as surprised, having gone through the same thing when Yuki reset the entire mortal sub-world of Toaru.
Even so, it was a sight worth seeing....
When everything ended, Yuki and the girls appeared at the Itsuka Residence. Because history had changed, the way Yuki met the girls had changed as well. According to this new "history," Yuki was ready to activate the Kerk System. After all, the girls had joined him—except, of course, Kotori, Origami, Yuzuru, Kaguya, Tohka, Yoshino, and Miku....
"Huh? We're back..."
"Looks like it..."
It all felt like a dream, but every Spirit knew what had happened. There was no way they could forget something like that. They hugged one another and smiled, happy that everything was finally over....
"Danna-sama, are you all right?"
Amid all the happiness, Kurumi noticed something wrong. Yuki's eyes were empty, and he only reacted when she called out to him.
"Of course I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Danna-sama...."
A tear slid down Kurumi's cheek. Yuki's carefree smile felt like a knife in her heart. She knew that smile. It was the same one he wore when he lost his clone in God Eater....
Once again, Yuki had lost his past—and a part of his soul.
This time, Kurumi knew exactly which memories he had lost. Everything he had gone through, he had done for them.
Their deaths were something Yuki could never accept. That was why he returned to the past again and again to fix it, until he finally achieved victory.
A sacrifice for each of them. Such heavy love made Kurumi feel warm—and guilty at the same time....
Yuki was following the same path as the Hero of the Void, gradually losing his identity and his soul, until nothing of him remained. Only instinct would be left, just like the Demon King....
Unable to endure it any longer, Kurumi broke down and hugged Yuki tightly as she cried.
"K-Kurumi?! Why are you crying?! Are you okay?"
With Kurumi in tears, the ceremony to invoke the Kerk System had to be postponed. Yuki had to calm not only Kurumi, but all the Spirits as well, who, like her, had begun to cry.
The mixture of sadness and relief was contagious....
"We begin...."
"""Yes...!"""
The girls formed a circle and initiated the resonance. Because history had changed in this new reality, there were no battles. Instead, there was a search for the disappearance of humanity thirty years ago, the connection between the Spirits, and the truth revealed through the consciousness of the Mother of All.
Yuki had lost all his memories, from both the first and second Timelines. Those memories vanished along with First Timeline Yuki and The Beast. Someone had to pay for victory.
And that someone was First Timeline Yuki.
The Mother of All knew this. That was why she worked tirelessly to create a plausible history, allowing the Spirits to unite with Yuki without creating discord or Paradoxes. To achieve that, Mayuri, Mio Takamiya, and Requiem were hidden within the Kerk System that Yuki was about to activate.
Kurumi and the Spirits awakened their "memories" of what had happened, which was why they felt so empty. What they had gone through to fall in love with him no longer existed, and only they knew the truth.
Yuki, on the other hand, was given different memories, filling the "void" left behind by his ghost of time.
As their boyfriend, with no memory of any of it, he followed the "story" created by the World as if it were natural. Perhaps Yuki himself unconsciously accepted this arrangement, or perhaps First Timeline Yuki had planned it too and reached an agreement with the Mother of All in case he failed. Everything was confusing, and Kurumi's head ached from it all.
(Maybe it's better this way....)
Even so, Kurumi didn't blame the will of the World. What Yuki had gone through wasn't easy, and perhaps First Timeline Yuki had been right....
It was better if he had never existed. Forgetting everything and leaving behind only power meant no pain, no regrets. And above all, as a Champion, he never lost. Still, it hurt Kurumi and the girls, because only they knew the truth. But for Yuki's happiness, they continued the story. After all, they would soon leave this World....
In the history of this new reality, after Yuki joined Nia, Kurumi, Natsumi, and Mukuro, he realized that his mortal body couldn't survive at the Stellar-Order scale.
He was a High-Low Destroyer.
That was the highest he could reach with a mortal body. Even after being strengthened by the Apocalypse Virus, this was the limit of how much Order energy his body could withstand.
It was like a battery on the verge of exploding from overload. Because of that, he didn't join the other Spirits and had to seek another alternative.