The pause that followed felt deliberate.
“—but you are not among them. You will weaken. And only Seiichi-sama will continue to grow stronger. That is all.”
Wait. I don’t remember having powers like that. And did they just casually say I’m getting power from people in other dimensions?!
Gyogyon’s face paled, then flushed deep red with realization.
“T-Then that would make you… omniscient and omnipotent!”
“Don’t lump me in with something so trivial.”
“Trivial?!”
Omniscience and omnipotence are trivial?! How?! What’s above that?! What could possibly be more?!
Apparently, Gyogyon was just as appalled as I was, because he shouted with righteous fury.
“How much further do you intend to mock me?! Omniscience and omnipotence are everything I’ve ever desired! That is my dream! With that alone, I could reign as the one true supreme god! And now you—”
“A dream so small,” the announcer cut in coldly. “Omniscience and omnipotence are merely servants—slaves—to Seiichi-sama.”
“Seiichi, you…” Al said, slowly turning toward me.
“Don’t look at me like that!”
I swear I didn’t know! I didn’t ask for this! Why would I want omniscient slaves?! I wouldn’t even know what to do with them!
I mean, let’s be real… I would have just left them on idle and forgotten they existed.
For someone supposedly omniscient and omnipotent, I felt like I was still missing a lot of critical information.
Then, as if a switch had been flipped, the announcer’s tone softened. It became calm, gentle, even reverent, as it addressed me directly.
“Seiichi-sama, you don’t need to worry about a thing. Of course, you are capable of anything you wish, but all the burdens of such tasks fall to us. Anything you desire, we will carry out or assist with to completion. You don’t even need to exercise your power. Omniscience and omnipotence will act on your behalf.”
That’s terrifying!
This went way beyond helpful; it was full-blown worship!
And what did it even mean for “omniscience and omnipotence to act on my behalf”?
Whose story is this?!
Also, how was a being like that supposed to live in a normal world, as a normal person?
“But of course. We know this is what Seiichi-sama desires.”
The announcer’s voice rang out again, this time tender and almost apologetic.
“We would much prefer that Seiichi-sama never need to raise a sword himself, but he seems to want to act personally. Our role is simply to support him and ensure he lives in peace and happiness. We would never do anything he dislikes.”
This is… horrifyingly generous treatment!
I mean, what could be scarier than everything ending before I even understood what was happening? If that was the kind of world I lived in, of course, I’d want to be at least somewhat in control of it. Anyone would, right?
Then again, I’m starting to doubt if my “normal” is even real anymore.
“In any case,” the announcer continued coolly, speaking now to Gyogyon, “no matter how much you struggle, no matter what power you obtain, your defeat is inevitable. Be a good sport and return to your little corner of the cosmos.”
While the rest of us were still trying to mentally catch up, the voice dropped that final line like it was nothing.
And that was when Gyogyon finally snapped.
“You dare mock me?!”
“!”
Tentacles exploded from Gyogyon’s body, far more than before, and not just from his back. They burst from his arms, face, and even his legs, making his entire body squirm and swell with them. It was disgusting.
Unlike earlier, these new tentacles unleashed wild laser blasts from their tips, tearing toward us in a chaotic frenzy.
To make matters worse, the alien ship hovering silently over Eikyō finally began to move. It shifted in the air as turrets unfolded from its hull like fangs. One by one, glowing cannons emerged, building up a violent storm of energy.
“Hey, Seiichi! What the hell are we supposed to do now?!” Al yelled, eyes locked on the incoming storm. “That voice earlier was related to you, right?!”
“There was a lot of weird, complicated stuff being said,” Saria added, tilting her head.
“Mhm… I didn’t understand any of it,” Origa murmured.
It’s okay, Origa. Neither did I.
That quiet thought flickered through my mind like a coping mechanism. But there was no time to sit and think things over; the situation was spiraling fast.
Gyogyon’s rampage wasn’t slowing. And now, with that alien warship preparing to fire, Eikyō itself might be obliterated.
“Wait, if this keeps up, Eikyō’s going to be destroyed!”
“And worse, Muu-sama’s still up there!”
Yaiba was right. Lady Muu still floated in midair, suspended and vulnerable. We had to get her out of there now.
It seemed neither Tsukikage nor Yaiba could reach her suspended state, floating helplessly in midair. So I casually kicked off the ground and leapt upward.
“S-Seiichi-dono?!” Yaiba’s voice cracked with panic as I shot skyward.
In the blink of an eye, I reached the spot where she hovered, still trapped inside that transparent sphere. I reached out and touched it.
Man, this thing’s in the way.
The instant that idle thought crossed my mind, the barrier shattered into glimmering shards and vanished into the wind.
Yeah… I’m starting to understand what the announcer meant earlier.
With Lady Muu now freed, I gently wrapped my arms around her and began descending. But of course, Gyogyon noticed.
“I won’t let you escape!”
Tentacles flared out from his body, twisting together into a single massive cord. At its tip, a dense orb of energy began to condense so tightly compressed that it vibrated with destructive force.
And then, he fired.
But—
“Yeah, we’re really over this kind of thing.”
I couldn’t help the words that slipped out.
And just like that, the crackling sphere of energy stopped mid-flight, then fizzled away with a sheepish “oh, uh, sorry” kind of vibe and vanished before even touching me.
Poof.
“What just happened?” Gyogyon gasped, the color draining from his face. “H-How can this be?! I possess Mu-Yu power, enough to rule the entire universe! So how? How?!”
“You’ve made one critical mistake.”
“Huh?”
Staggered by the failure of what was clearly meant to be a final attack, Gyogyon barely managed a dazed response as the announcer’s voice echoed once again, this time with cold amusement.
“Did you truly believe you could steal power from someone Seiichi-sama holds dear?”
“N-No. It can’t be…”
“That puffed-up arrogance, thinking our little theatrical display meant anything, believing you had seized power, when all you held was an illusion. The sight of you gloating was truly… pathetic.”
“Ah…”
“Farewell, pitiful fish, flung ashore and left to gasp for air.”
“Ahhh!”
Gyogyon’s scream tore through the air, but his voice quickly faltered, and his strength vanished as suddenly as it had surged. Just like the bizarre creatures and self-styled Four Heavenly Kings before him, he collapsed in the middle of his rage, choking for breath until he finally fell still, knocked out by sheer oxygen deprivation.
“Okay, but what was that?” I muttered.
“That’s our line!” Everyone else yelled in unison, a perfect chorus of exasperation and disbelief.
And just like that, the battle was over.