“What the heck happened?” Ende gazed, dumbstruck, as she watched Yuichi unchain Mutsuko.
Without being under Mutsuko’s influence, Yuichi shouldn’t have had the abilities to do the things she wanted him to. Even now, there should be no shared worldview effects between the two of them.
Yet Yuichi had dispatched the Evil God with ease.
The fact that he had crushed its core meant that it would never revive again.
The Evil God was now dead.
And Yuichi and Mutsuko were approaching.
The next thing she knew, Ende was walking the spiral corridor towards the exit.
“What’s going on here?” Ende came back to herself and asked Mutsuko, who was walking beside her.
Yuichi was walking a little ways ahead of them, perhaps as a security measure.
“Oh, that?” Mutsuko asked. “It was one of those shonen manga ‘my true power has been sealed’ things, of course!”
“Huh?”
“Yu’s a... what-do-you-call-it... natural talent.”
“Um, that’s seriously not enough explanation...” Ende said.
He clearly did have natural talent, but it was impossible to think that it would be enough to defeat a god.
“Here’s how I saw it!” Mutsuko declared. “If I raised him to just be able to do anything with ease, he wouldn’t turn out very good, right? People have to work as hard as they can, grit their teeth, face setbacks, and rise again! And since that’s what I thought, that’s how it turned out!”
The worldview of a Worldview Holder was greatly influenced by that person’s thoughts and wishes. This was probably why Mutsuko’s worldview was “An Unforgiving World That Rewards Only Effort.”
“I can’t accept it!” Ende burst out. “‘Natural talent’ beat the ‘Protagonist’ of a story? It defeated an evil god who’s been around since the dawn of civilization?!”
“Actually, you can use Soul Reader, right?” Mutsuko said. “What did it say when you looked at Yu?”
“It just said ‘Yu’! It didn’t mean anything!”
“That’s how you see him when I’m the central figure, right? What about from other points of view?”
Ende activated Soul Reader and looked at Yuichi, who was walking ahead of them. Unlike Yuichi’s Soul Reader, Ende’s was complete. She could turn it on and off freely, and see more detailed information.
The words over Yuichi’s head now said: “The Last One Standing: Humanity’s Line of Defense. Guardian of the human-centric world we currently live in. He fights against those who attempt to upend the world order and rework it to be centered around gods and mythical creatures.”
“That’s way too big! What the heck?!” Ende exclaimed.
“Gods, yokai, monsters, fantasy world people... those are all impossible daydreams created by the imaginations of totally ordinary humans,” Mutsuko said. “They wouldn’t exist if there were no humans around. In their own mythologies, they existed before humans did... but could they continue to exist if humans went away? Are they really that stable?”
“So Yuichi has the power to deny their existence?” Ende asked.
“It’s not anything quite that grand, I don’t think. Say there’s a world where people can use magic, and one where people can’t. What happens if the two bump into each other?”
“You end up with a world conflict. The two fuse, with the weaker world absorbed by the stronger. In most cases, the more special world is more powerful. So if that happened, the magic world would overwrite the normal one.”
“Yeah. It might seem that way at a glance, and Yu doesn’t deny the existence of gods, yokai, or magic either. But it’s not all as one-way as you’d think. Fusion means the two worlds mix together to create a new world. And Yu doesn’t think for a second that there could ever be an enemy he can’t beat.”
“You mean... Yuichi Sakaki has created a world where he’s invincible?”
“Not quite that far,” Mutsuko said. “But he can make sure there’s always a chance that he can win. And if there’s a chance that he can win, he will win!” Mutsuko’s confidence seemed to be eternal and absolute.
“What the heck...? Then what’s the point of the Unforgiving World That Rewards Only Effort?” Ende complained.
Ende had assumed that worldview was the reason Yuichi Sakaki was so strong. In a world where those who put in effort were the strongest, he could always beat those who didn’t put in effort.
“That’s so he’ll train!” Mutsuko declared. “And when he’s unleashed, his effort combines with his natural talent and makes him even stronger!”
“You make it sound so simple...” Ende still couldn’t really accept it, but since Yuichi Sakaki really had won, she had little choice but to do so. “Well, I still have questions, but fine, I guess. So what are you, Mutsuko Sakaki? Why do you know all this? Why did you push that over-the-top training on him?”
“Ha ha! If we ever get a second season, I’ll tell you then!” Mutsuko then ran up to Yuichi, leaving Ende befuddled. “I can’t believe you used the saber, Yu! I’m so happy! I just knew you’ve wanted to use it since the first time I showed it to you!”
“Shut up! I didn’t know what I was gonna be facing down here, so I just decided to take all the most dangerous stuff I could carry!”
The weapon that Mutsuko had created, called a saber, was affixed to Yuichi’s forearm. It was a blade that traced up his forearm all the way to his elbow, and flipped open when triggered. He’d apparently come here with it equipped, and used it to finish off the Evil God.
“Aww, why are you taking it off?” Mutsuko complained. “There’s no need to be bashful!”
“It’s in the way! It’s still non-retractable!”
Yuichi stripped the annoying saber off his arm and threw it onto the ground.