I didn’t even think it was possible that they’d bid a valuable chip like Locklore on this ridiculous plan. But it might be the only plan that could break Locklore free from the higher beings, the only plan that could ensure its survival.
“What is it, Kanata? You’ve gone quiet,” said Veranta as he looked at me.
I wanted to tell him what I was thinking, but I realized that if I did, the higher beings would overhear.
I took a deep breath and calmed myself before saying, “I have a plan that will protect Locklore from the higher beings. If it fails, it’ll be the end of the world. I know this is a crazy thing to ask, but…I need everyone to follow along without me telling you anything.”
-2-
NAIAROTOP
“STOP! Zoras, stop!”
Naiarotop was transfixed, desperately begging as he stared into the dimensional rift, watching what was happening with Kanata and the others.
On the opposite side of the rift was Zoras, declaring he would use his own soul to cancel out Zero’s curse.
Kanata had defeated Zoras. But Zoras left Zero’s curse in play, which should have finished off that infuriating traveler. It would have dragged all of Locklore down with it, but, so long as this satisfied you know who, then Naiarotop would receive minimal punishment and might even get a chance to reestablish his reputation.
But at the very last moment, Zoras decided to side with Kanata. What was he thinking?! Naiarotop had no idea. He never imagined this could happen.
He’d used the magic chains he had in place for insurance, so he could limit Zoras’s actions…but Zoras managed to break through with his own power. Zoras understood far more about magic than any of the higher beings had suspected, including Naiarotop.
“Stop, please! It’ll really be the end for me if you do that! Stop! Staaaahp! I’ll make you a lower god, I’ll make you whatever you want to be, please just don’t do that!”
Naiarotop cradled his head in his hands, though his eyes were still glued to the spatial rift.
“What is with these people?! No matter how much they struggle, we’re still going to destroy Locklore! How could destroying a measly ant nest get me in so much trouble?! You all need to just shut up and die!”
But Naiarotop’s begging was in vain. Zoras was just changing his soul into a curse on the other side of the rift. There was a flash of blinding light, and Zero’s curse was canceled out, left to fade away.
Naiarotop’s legs gave out beneath him, and he fell to the ground.
It was over. It was all over.
Zoras was his last option, and he was gone. His double-layered plan had been perfect, but now even Zero’s curse was erased thanks to Zoras’s betrayal.
“How could this be…? How could they…?” muttered Naiarotop in shock.
He tried to stand, but the sheer despair he felt sapped his body of all strength.
He made no attempt to move for a while—he just sat there, stunned.
What should he do now? He couldn’t think of a single idea. He didn’t even want to think about it.
He’d played all the cards in his hand. There was no way for him to effectively interfere anymore. And if they erased Locklore, forcefully cutting off the story with no conclusion, then the other Higher Gods would be angry. Worse, even the highest god was paying attention.
If they let it keep going, they’d be run into the ground because they couldn’t cover the cost of maintaining Locklore. This was the only conceivable end-state if Kanata and Lunaère were left to their own devices. The higher beings were easily bored, and now that Kanata and Lunaère had defeated the secret final boss of the game, there wasn’t much excitement left to be had in watching battles between lower-level opponents.
He was utterly stuck. No matter what he did, he was a failure. This sloppy ending would mean all Higher Gods involved would lose trust in Locklore’s management, and management was done for. And at the end of it all, they would have angered the highest of gods.
“Veranta, Reniement, Lucifer, Zoras, you are all useless morons! I am your god! How dare you drag me down! How ungrateful, how shameless it is to demand freedom for a world created by the power of the higher beings! Don’t be absurd!”
Naiarotop slammed the ground with his fist, then slumped down and lay there for a while.
His master, a Higher God, hadn’t contacted him. Naiarotop imagined not even his master had considered what they should do in this situation…probably because there was nothing left to be done. That was why the Higher God kept saying failure was not an option in this fight.
But now that that problem had become a reality, Naiarotop needed to quickly manage this failure and find the path that would result in the least amount of damage. Unfortunately, the overwhelming despair he was feeling kept him from actually doing anything.
Naiarotop stayed there on the ground for a bit, doing nothing, but then a spark of motivation hit him. He reached out a shaking hand and opened a rift in space.
On the other side of the rift were countless rows of words: the gods’ social media platform, Divinitter.
Most of the gods that took a liking to Divinitter were the difficult kind who had too much time on their hands because they were all-powerful. Their ultimate pleasure was derived from seeing others’ unhappiness and failures. They were most likely writing snide comments after seeing Zoras, Locklore management’s last pawn, both fail and then betray them. Naiarotop knew that was what it would be like before he even looked.
Obviously, Naiarotop didn’t want to look at comments like that, but he couldn’t ignore them. He had to check what they thought of Locklore now, and of him, the person in the firing line of their criticism.
#IneptNaia
so he screwed up the plan then everything got leaked? Lol
I think Locklore’s management’s panicking cuz we’re watching.
we’re watchinnnnng
#IneptNaia
It was like Naiarotop was a free, all-you-can abuse punching bag. His head and stomach hurt more and more as he kept reading. His previously dull feeling of despair hardened until it overtook him.
So. He brings in some dude that hates Locklore to destroy Locklore, then that guy betrays him like it was nothing? It’s astounding how little dedication he inspires in others.
Is Locklore seriously over?
The world is screwed thanks to Naia’s incompetence.
If they keep messing this up, all the worlds they manage are gonna be destroyed since no one’ll trust them.
Multiple worlds are screwed thanks to Naia’s incompetence.
This is getting really exciting now! I wonder what Locklore’s management will do next!
pretty sure no one wants to know that more than them
As usual, no one was thinking of the impact of what they said on Divinitter. It was just a one-sided deluge of self-absorbed statements.
“Look at them all, spewing their drivel…worthless, every last one of them,” said Naiarotop, covering his face with his hands. “It doesn’t matter, not with how things are… Locklore is done for. They all know about my agents and my pawns! Kanata, Lunaère, Veranta… I’ll bring a calamity down upon them that will make them rue the day they were born!” he screamed.
Then, when he looked up, he saw that the mood on Divinitter had changed.
What?!
whats kanata doing?
Is that to us?
I think it’s to Naia.
Uh…what does it mean?
seomthing crazies about to go down!!
Divinitter was awash with confusion. All the insults toward Naiarotop that had saturated the platform had disappeared without a trace.
Naiarotop followed the feed for a bit but couldn’t figure out what was going on. The only thing he knew was that Kanata had done something to completely change the higher beings’ attitude—something so unexpected they had no choice but to pay attention.
“What…is happening…?” He couldn’t take in the situation at all.
“My servant,” came the voice of Naiarotop’s master, from no specific direction, just as he was about to stand and see what was going on with Kanata. “Be glad, your head still remains attached to your shoulders by a bare thread. This is your last opportunity to make up for your most recent failure.”
“Master… What do you mean…?” said Naiarotop as he looked toward the spatial rift that showed Kanata. The traveler stood on Locklore, shouting up to the sky.