"I think you all should calm down and let Rei Ao finish speaking."
Seeing these ex-colleagues making such a fuss, even Hiiragi Shinoa found it over the top.
"Calm down?"
Jujo Mito suddenly laughed—a kind of near-breakdown, hysterical laugh.
"You're saying we should be 'calm' toward a demon who's killed so many people? You traitor to humanity!"
"Sigh."
Shinoa heaved a sigh.
"Do you not understand human language? I said nobody has died. At least, not yet."
"Those people and vampires all disappeared," Endo Yayoi said, pushing her glasses up, her voice cool and low.
Shinoa nodded. "Yes, because Rei Ao used his power to send them away—probably since they were in the way."
Then she gestured to the unconscious girl in her arms.
"You should recognize this girl. Given who she is, even she wasn't harmed by Rei Ao, which is proof enough."
"The ones who truly harmed her are certain higher-ups in the Imperial Demon Army," Shinoa added, meeting the others' gazes sharply.
"…"
Yukimi Shigure and the rest felt a chill at her words, and bowed their heads. They knew the ruthless facts of the 'Seraph of the End'—a cruel human experiment. Lacking the strength to stop it, they could only remain silent.
Only Sangu Mitsuba looked confused.
"The Imperial Demon Army hurt her? Shinoa, what do you mean?!"
Her older sister Sangu Aoi shot her a look, trying to keep her from asking further.
"Heh," Shinoa sneered. "What's there to hide?"
"All this fuss: the mighty Imperial Demon Army using children for human experiments, crafting powerful, controllable weapons—that so-called monster you just saw."
Mitsuba's eyes shuddered. These words tore at her long-held faith in the Army.
She glanced at her sister, seeming to ask for confirmation. Aoi's expression, though, was heavy with resignation. In that instant, it was clear:
What Rei Ao said was true.
"This… can't be…"
Mitsuba couldn't accept that the Army supposedly protecting humanity would do such a thing.
"Tch, that's just how despicable humans are," Krul sneered. "They're forever greedy and shameless, their desires endless."
She wouldn't miss any chance to put down the humans she despised.
"As if you vampires are any better! Were it not for your oppression of humanity, the Imperial Demon Army wouldn't have turned to these methods!" Yukimi Shigure glared back at her.
"Oh?"
Krul showed no anger.
"You do realize your demon-gear is all made by sealing vampires inside, correct? Still think your side is righteous?"
"What?!"
Not to mention Mitsuba, even Aoi and the others had no idea about that. Right as they felt like demanding answers, the sky split open without warning.
A brilliance more dazzling than the sun spilled down from the rift, accompanied by an indescribable pressure.
Aoi nearly collapsed to her knees. Jujo Mito's sword clattered to the ground, and Yukimi Shigure turned ghostly pale.
"Wh-What is that…?"
Endo Yayoi trembled, pointing to the sky.
From within the rift, a being beyond words slowly emerged. It had no fixed shape—at times it seemed like countless bands of light bundled together, at times like a gargantuan eye.
"Damn it, another monstrosity?!"
Krul's face turned grim. She'd already knelt once before. And now again? Where was her dignity?
But a hand landed on her shoulder, and instantly, the crushing pressure lifted. She turned and saw Rei Ao's right hand. He was looking upward, expression calm.
"Heh, so the moment I touched this world's boundary, you pop out—pretty anxious there, 'God'?"
Nobody else understood what he meant. But as soon as Rei Ao made contact with the boundary of the world's core essence, a 'god' manifested.
[Intruder…]
A voice boomed in everyone's mind, not so much heard as directly vibrating in their souls. Jujo Mito and the others felt sheer terror: as if they were eavesdropping on the ultimate secret of the world.
[You crossed the Boundary…]
"Boundary? With your feeble power, you dare speak of boundaries?"
[——!!!]
"God" radiated fury. A monstrous wave of power and pressure erupted.
The earth quaked violently. Far-off mountains crumbled. The sky turned blood-red and issued a wrenching wail. Burning meteors appeared out of thin air, hurtling down onto the battlefield below.
"Oh God…"
Hanayori Sayuri slumped to the ground, face drained of blood. This was already far beyond human comprehension—true end-of-the-world horror.
Mitsuba closed her eyes in despair. Faced with such force, humans weren't even as good as ants.
But Rei Ao merely breathed out gently.
"How dull."
Raising his right hand, fingers spread, he slowly closed them.
"Freeze!"
A wave of law-based energy rippled forth.
In an instant, the entire world paused. Meteors froze in midair. The destructive force unleashed by this so-called 'god' halted as though someone hit the 'pause' button. And that being itself began to crystallize.
Not mere surface ice, but a conceptual freeze that shattered it at a higher level of existence.
[No… impossible…]
Even "God" felt terror. For the first time, that absolute voice quavered. Rei Ao flickered, appearing in the air right before it.
Looking at the sky-occupying shape, now half-frozen, he extended his hand, calmly resting it on the cracking surface.
"I want to become the Only God of this world. To do that, first, I've got to deal with the current occupant, right?"
His fingertip flicked lightly.
"Farewell."
[Nooooo!!!]
That 'God' shattered, fragments of light scattering into the sky. The rift mended. Meteors and all disasters vanished. The doomsday spectacle was as though it had never been.
~~~
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