Graham had made them visible by gathering these invisible cogs and fitting them together.
“Although,” I said, conceding, “I don’t know if you had always been a single mind or if you were actually multiple separate existences from the start.”
I spread my arms and slowly released my magic power.
“Return everything you stole from this world, Equis.”
Zzt. Zzt. The voice spoke from deep within my source, noise echoing in my head.
“Your final hope...”
The eerie voice seeped through me, slow and viscous like slime.
“Your final hope has already vanished. I warned you. Your only hope was to re-create the world and remove me from it.”
The eerie voice had taken on a mocking tone as it spoke through me.
“And that path is now gone.”
The ground rumbled loudly, intense enough to shake even the air.
“The siblings of creation and destruction will now perish with regret in their hearts.”
The pyramid-shaped temple slowly floated into the air. Within the gate, the glowing silhouettes of Delsgade and Everastanzetta shrank to a humanoid shape.
“No...” Misha mumbled.
“Turn back now. You’re my body. Listen to me!” Sasha yelled.
But they continued to turn into their divine forms—into the Goddess of Creation, Militia, and the Goddess of Destruction, Abernyu.
“Everything shall be as outlined by the world. Delsgade and Everastanzetta. You may have believed that fusing the castles would allow you control over them, but the same idea applies to me.”
Misha’s and Sasha’s fingertips slowly moved. They were desperately trying to resist, but it seemed the other side had stronger control.
“The cogs of the world are buried in the divine body. In their attempt to steal back their orders, they will lose their sources and return to their rightful form as order.”
A magic circle was drawn at their fingertips, aimed at the Moon of Creation and the Sun of Destruction.
“Contaminant of this world, the one who fits nowhere, you are correct. The gods of this world have cogs implanted in them. Cogs that kill the heart. But this time all unnecessary contaminants will be removed from them so they can become true gods. They will be the order of this world.”
Silver moonlight and rays of darkness shone on the magic circle. Misha and Sasha rose into the air as though pulled towards the moon and sun. As Sarjieldenav and Altiertonoa began to move towards each other, another magic circle formed between them to restrain them, tying Misha and Sasha to their divine bodies.
The moon, sun, and two magic circles. The four circles fit together like cogs in the sky, and with the magic power of the Goddesses of Creation and Destruction, began to turn. The moon and sun overlapped further, accelerating the Solar Eclipse of the End.
“Recall the days of destruction. You are Abernyu, the Goddess of Destruction, one who destroys everything in view of your Divine Eyes. The time has come to use that power again.”
“Don’t you dare speak of that. I’ll never do it again! Never!” Sasha shouted.
“Recall the moments of creation. You are Militia, the Goddess of Creation, one who creates even this conclusion. Your Divine Eyes can only watch on as all is lost.”
“You’re wrong...” Misha muttered.
“I am a nameless being,” Equis said. “The one and only will of this world.”
“Hmm. You can go on about the world all you want, Equis,” I said, staring at the shining light piercing through the dark clouds. “But do you really think you can take the hearts of my followers with a mere cog?”
I kept my eyes on the light as the conflated power of the gods swirled and gathered at a tremendous scale. Equis was definitely behind that light; the once-invisible cogs had gained a vague outline by joining together. I stared closely into the abyss of that light, searching for a true form.
“If the goal of this latest move of yours was to lure me out, then you’ve made a mistake,” I said. “I wouldn’t bring two dead weights along with me.”
If I focused on Misha and Sasha, Equis could get away. So I ignored the two of them and devoted myself to staring into the abyss.
“Did you think love and kindness could make miracles?” Equis asked. “If so, I will remind you of the cold despair that is order. No matter how the humans pray, demons lament, or draconids rage, the will of the world does not yield. All people, good and bad, will equally meet their end.”
Light gathered at the cog-like magic circles restraining Misha and Sasha. The Moon of Creation and Sun of Destruction overlapped even further.
“Goddess of Creation, Militia. Goddess of Destruction, Abernyu. Destroy. With your own hands, go and destroy this world you love. And your hearts will crumble.”
“Screw you! I’ll stop you myself. This is ridiculous!” Sasha shouted.
Misha and Sasha gritted their teeth as they attempted to move their divine bodies. But although they could struggle against Equis’s compelling force, the solar eclipse only accelerated further.
“I won’t hurt the earth...” Sasha murmured.
“Prayers will go unanswered. Emotion will lead nowhere. Contaminants will be removed from the cogs, and the world will revolve correctly.”
Among the noise of the world coming to an end, Equis’s voice rumbled through the Divine Realm.
“Never...” Sasha murmured. “I never want to go through that again!”
While restrained by the magic circle, her hand slowly reached towards Misha.
“The world is not kind,” Misha said. “That is what I once believed. I thought I had created a sad world. But...”
She reached for Sasha’s hand.
“That wasn’t the case,” Misha said.
“Our hearts won’t be controlled by some insignificant cogs!” Sasha shouted.
“That is both correct and mistaken,” Equis replied. “Your hearts need no controlling. All that’s needed is for a small hole to be opened, and through that hole the contaminant can be removed for the ‘insignificant’ cog to take its place, to revolve and revolve until eventually it grows into immense despair.”
Blades shot out of the magic circles, stabbing into Misha’s and Sasha’s chests. A small cog of light appeared in their hearts.
“Agh... Urk...”
“This...is nothing...”
Despite being stabbed, Misha and Sasha still reached for each other.
“I told you.”
Just then, the magic circles started glowing, executing their order. The Sun of Destruction and Moon of Creation had completely covered each other.
“I am the world, and the world is not kind nor smiling.”
The Solar Eclipse of the End was happening. As the magic circles turned, a darkness capable of consuming everything began to form and condense in front of it.
“Revolve, revolve. O world—”
Ominous light more terrifying than the rays of the Sun of Destruction was just about to burst—and then came the flicker of a pure white light.
“Revolve.”
Silence fell. The flicker of light turned into a flash, and the Sun of Destruction separated from the Moon of Creation a little. The solar eclipse had rewound slightly.
“What was that...?” Sasha asked, staring wide-eyed at the Sun of Destruction.
A small wound appeared on Sarjieldenav.
“Heaven Splitter?”
A white blade glittered with divine radiance. The solar eclipse had been prevented by the holy sword of the legendary hero—by a single slash of Evansmana.