-Continuing the previous clash-
A high-speed clash unfolded as their speeds no longer remained confined to the world of Lastnine; they had raced from one world to another countless times, traversing realms beyond any possible count. Every slash and every blow that landed caused an explosion that completely shattered the structure of the surrounding worlds, causing both the worlds and their reverse sides—the anti-worlds—to collapse entirely. When a world or its anti-world was destroyed, the other half would inevitably follow.
Mary wielded her staff, firing countless beams of light that erased every human and abstract aspect of Ahinel, but the woman regenerated at godly speed and delivered a punch straight into Mary's stomach, shattering the entire world's structure along with Mary herself. Yet Mary's unyielding determination to kill Ahinel granted her complete immunity to all attacks, even in that state.
Speed was no longer about keeping up—it had become a matter of who could adapt faster. Every strike unleashed destroyed everything around them.
Mary grasped a layer of fiction in her hand, forged it into a sword, assumed a stance, and charged at Ahinel, slashing her in half. But Ahinel only laughed, regenerating instantly, grabbing Mary's head and hurling her through countless worlds. Then Ahinel fired a beam of light that caused total, flattening destruction, wiping out innumerable worlds within its range.
Mary emerged from the devastation and charged at Ahinel once more, slicing her in half. This time, Ahinel's fate and causality had been severed.
Mary shouted:
"Your destiny ends here!"
Ahinel spun around in rage, glaring at Mary, and snarled:
"Don't get so cocky, you little brat!"
Ahinel attempted to regenerate, but she realized she could not—she could no longer restore her own fate and causality. Shock overtook her. Mary struck from behind with a blow Ahinel could not deny, forcing her to dodge. Mary then bent the world itself, erasing Ahinel from every concept of existence, from all information, stories, and laws. Ahinel no longer existed in time or space; no aspect of her remained.
Yet she reborn from the void with a demonic grin. With a single strike, she completely shattered Mary's sword and inflicted corrosive damage across Mary's body, causing her to scream and collapse.
Ahinel laughed triumphantly and declared:
"You think your power—and that half-breed's—is enough to kill me?! Never! Emperors like me can never truly be killed. What you've been touching is only the shell; what lies within is merely a projection from a higher realm!"
Suddenly, a wave of illusion and terror crashed over Ahinel. She slowly looked up and saw only a shadow—a shadow whose existence was absent. It stood independent of everything, beyond all influence, yet Ahinel felt it was everywhere at once, across every timeline, every past, present, and future, every possible moment. It was as if Ahinel herself was merely a collectible before "Creation."
Creation is all within one.
Creation is one within all.
Every infinite world depended upon that black shadow.
Those words echoed in Ahinel's mind because they were immutable truth. Every concept that opposed it, every law that denied it, every piece of information or plot that tried to refute it—all were nothing but deception, lies, subjective delusions that Creation could erase at will, along with everything that had "happened" in this very story.
But then the shadow vanished, returning everything to its original state—yet leaving Ahinel in utter terror.
She looked down at Mary and whispered to herself:
"D-damn it… Is there something even more omnipotent and omniscient? I thought… we were the pinnacle…"
Ahinel slowly forced a sneer.