A fracture ran through Libra’s sacred mark, and I felt the red light in it weaken. The last secret technique plunged through Libra, and with a push, the two of us flew into the giant, glowing sphere. Somewhere behind me, I felt as though I heard Roxy calling my name. But I couldn’t stop.
I was suddenly warm and comfortable. I wanted nothing more than to stop thinking about the reality of the moment and the battle I was fighting. Then I noticed another change in Libra’s sacred mark—it was starting to repair itself. Libra himself was healing from all the damage he’d taken, too.
“God has chosen me…” Libra murmured. “I am the chosen one. This is the end.”
The dual blades were riddled with fractures, ready to break completely, but Infinity Revolt Brionac was still activated.
“But it won’t be my end. It will be yours, Libra!”
I would not let him heal or regenerate. I plunged the sword in deeper, and I heard my beloved sword—which had been with me from the start, through thick and thin—shatter completely.
“It’s been a hell of a ride, partner,” said Greed.
“For you and me both,” I replied. “I only ever got this far because of you.”
“You’re going to end things. Are you sure about this?”
“As sure as I always am.”
Looking outside of the giant sphere, I saw that Roxy wept. She understood what I was going to do. She was the kindest person I had ever known. All I wanted was for her to survive and be happy.
All the souls that had escaped harvest due to the battle between Libra and I encircled Roxy and, as if in response to my own wishes, began to draw her back to the world we called home. She couldn’t fight against them, and I watched as she was pulled away into the distance.
“Fay! Fay!” she cried. “I…”
My journey had truly begun the day I set out to save her. Though that same journey had brought us here, my desire to see Roxy safe had never wavered. In the end, I never got to tell her how I really felt, though.
I moaned. I was a fool. I knew I should have told her. I looked out to the other side of the sphere, hoping to catch another glimpse of Roxy, but she was gone. It was my one mistake I had never learned from, right up until the end. It was something Greed was fond of teasing me about.
“I guess I’ll leave with one regret,” I muttered.
“That’s okay, though, isn’t it? It’s in keeping with your character, anyway.”
“Yeah… I suppose it is.”
Aside from that, I had no regrets.
Now it was time to unleash the true power of Gluttony.
Devour it all!
I devoured the souls that had been built up over thousands and thousands of years. I devoured the failed god that had raised and harvested them, too. It was what Gluttony had always wanted to do, ever since the day it was born. As its bearer, it was my responsibility to see this through. Perhaps this was, in its own way, not unlike the sacred marks and the Divine Revelations that empowered the holy beastfolk.
I could not escape my destiny.
Destiny… Why did my mother name me Fate, anyway? I wish I could have asked.
My chest grew warm. A scarlet light began to glow, swallowing up the failed God. I felt my own reality slipping. I was losing myself. I had gone further than any one person could ever go on their own. I had made the impossible reality.
Aaron had told me to return to the royal capital, and I wanted to do that for him. I wanted all the people I had met to live happily for as long as their lives would let them.
The stats and skills of countless souls flooded into me. I couldn’t stop them. It was so overwhelming that I felt as though I’d forgotten how to breathe. I couldn’t even close my mouth. I was being constantly fed souls, and all I could do was gorge myself. All the power within me flowed into the Infinity Revolt Brionac.
“Fate!” shouted Libra one last time.
Whatever he had been about to say was drowned by his death cry. He couldn’t handle the overwhelming power, and it erased his sacred mark entirely. He, too, disintegrated. And as he did so, I saw his expression relax.
So it was true. Libra was a prisoner of Divine Revelation, just like my father.
The dual blades combined into a sword of pure light, cutting through this very realm, this prison for souls. The flow of harvested souls from outside stopped and reversed, flowing back to where they had come from.
The world here was beginning to crumble and break down, and my partner was gone. I had used all the power I had. In doing so, the dual blades reverted back to the form of the original black sword, then broke from the center outward and shattered completely.
“You were always impatient and quick to complain. And you were the best partner I could have asked for. Thank you, Greed.”
Once I had spoken, I felt as though I heard the sword respond from somewhere distant.
“No thanks necessary. I was nothing more than a weapon.”
I’ll try, just like you did. I’ll push a little further.
I hadn’t devoured everything yet. The failed god still remained. The more I ate, the more I lost. All of my memories—everything I never wanted to let go of—began to slip away…
Aaron… You gave me the title of Blessed Blade.
Myne… I’m sorry I can’t be with you any longer.
Eris… Thank you for opening your heart to me and showing me who you really are.
Everyone at the royal capital and the Barbatos estate. Everyone who believed in me and is awaiting my return.
All of my memories slipped away, one after another. People’s names, their faces… Everything disappeared.
Roxy…
This was a memory I did not want to lose. Her name, her face… I wanted to remember it all!
I… I…
“I don’t want to lose any of it!” I shouted. “All of it is so important to me!”
I didn’t want to be a hollow shell.
“Then all you need to do is call for help. You are not fighting alone.”
A powerful, graceful voice came from my side. It was Roxy’s voice. She was standing next to me. Had she somehow escaped the flow of souls and returned?
“I’ll support you, Fay,” she continued. “I don’t want to merely be protected. I will play my own part.”
“Roxy…”
“What you cannot do alone, we can accomplish together.”
I felt suddenly calm and at ease. The flow of wounded, suffering souls changed. The red light emanating from my chest altered, too. It became gentler in color, strengthening me.
The souls within my Gluttony reached their hands up to make things easier for me, lightening my burden. They formed a circle including Kairos, Micuria, Rafale, and even my father. Even people I did not know lent me their power.
“It will be okay. You are not alone, Fay.”
“I believe in you. All of you.”
Roxy and I stood there as the world crumbled around us. It was us and the souls who had offered me their power who watched the end of this God and the world it had created. Everything was as red as the setting sun. A ray of light pierced the red horizon, revealing a clear, blue sky beyond. The souls danced freely, taking off for wherever it was they wanted to go. Was this the form that this world had always been meant to take?
Gluttony skill activated.
I heard the voice within me. It, too, had been with me from the start, but what it said next was different than usual. And now I knew whose voice it was. I had heard it in my dream, the moment I’d come here.
You did great, Fate. I always believed in you.
Mother… It was you all along. You were always watching over me.
Tears streamed down my cheeks.
“Fay?” Roxy asked, worried.
“All of you… You all taught me so much,” I said. “Thank you, Roxy.”
“What happened? Why this all of a sudden?”
“I love you, Roxy.”
“Wh-wh-wha…? You say that here? Now? At a time like this?” She stammered in surprise. Then, finally, she beamed at me. “I love you, too, Fay.”
We kissed as a new light shone upon the world, souls of different colors dancing around us in celebration.