“The Song of the End?”
“Yeah. It’s something the demons are all frantically trying to put together.”
Several years have passed since we successfully channeled the divine. Battles still raged not far from the town, but humanity was still far in the lead thanks to…her. Mankind was taking more territory from the demons by the day.
We sat in her room discussing the state of things. I paid no mind to the messy state of the place; what she told me held all of my attention. “A magic spell that will end the world? That can’t be real…”
“It will be. Having connected to the great power of the Akashic Record, I can tell. The demons haven’t reached the point of being able to cast it yet, but they absolutely will one day. And once they do, the world will meet its end.” She had a grim look on her face.
“Can’t we stop the spell somehow?”
“No. We’ve been in checkmate from the first move.”
“…Its existence in the Record means it must eventually be completed in our world.”
“Right.” She nodded deeply, then made a big stretch. “Even with power equal to a god, some things remain impossible. Makes you wonder what the point of channeling the Akashic Record even was.”
It wasn’t like her to be so negative. “Why not look into the Record for something we could do?” I suggested.
“Impossible. You said it yourself when we first set upon this path. The human form can’t handle the strain of searching the Record that deeply.”
“I have an idea for that.”
“Denied.”
“…I haven’t even told you what it is yet.”
“It’s written on your face. I can tell you’ve come up with something insane.”
“It’s what mankind needs.”
“…Fine. I’ll be gracious and at least hear you out.” She fixed her posture and sat up in her chair.
“If it’s too much for the human form to bear, then we simply need to abandon the human form.”
“…By reducing an individual to pure concept?”
“Right.”
“I see. If one were nothing but energy, they would be able to search the Akashic Record without a problem. It’s not a bad move.” She was surprisingly on board with the idea.
“You’re not against it?” I asked.
“Why would I be? It’s a good plan. I didn’t think you of all people would suggest it, though.”
“I-I see. I thought you would be at least a little against it… I’m kind of disappointed to be honest.”
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
The two of us exchanged looks, clearly misunderstanding something. Eventually we wizened up and realized where we weren’t seeing eye to eye.
“…Just to be sure,” she began, “but the one to undergo this process would be me, right?”
“What are you saying? It would be me.”
“Don’t be stupid!”
“There’s nothing stupid about it.”
The two of us argued afterward, neither budging an inch. One of us had to go through with this, but neither of us wanted it to be the other. In the end, we failed to reach a consensus.
“…This is a waste of time,” she said.
“I concur.”
Things were dicey between us for a while thereafter. The others at the Base thought we were just having another one of our lovers’ spats, but it was serious. We both knew the fate of humanity and the world lay upon our shoulders.
…Although, looking back on it, it might have really just been an ordinary lovers’ spat.