In a deep darkness...
At the bottom of a heart devoid of light...
Was a collar named despair.
A collar that tore apart the hearts of the sisters that had cogs implanted in them.
What was reflected in their Magic Eyes...
What was reflected in their Divine Eyes...
Was a sky of destruction and creation, dyed in blood.
“Stop it...” Sasha mumbled.
The pillager’s cog dug deep into her heart, turning with enough force to tear her in two. As it turned, it let out an eerie creak, each creak signaling, little by little, that something was breaking. What spilled out from the break were shards of feeling—the meager wishes of a small girl who was once the Goddess of Destruction.
I only had one wish.
I wanted to see this world with my own Eyes.
“Say, ————. You said you hated me, right?”
————? Who was that?
Who was I talking to?
I don’t know. I never had anyone to talk to.
Memories spilled out. With one slow creak, the cog in her turned.
“What does hatred feel like?”
I can hear a voice. My voice. My words are being repeated in my head.
“Do joy and happiness exist before hatred? I don’t know that either. All I know is that somehow, joy and happiness become anger before transforming into hatred.”
“But I don’t know any of it.”
“Because all of it gets destroyed before I can even get close. I’ve heard how beautiful flowers are, but what do they look like?”
“I’ve heard that mountains are grand, but how big are they really?”
“How about a house? A bed? A chair? A book?”
“What does a kiss feel like?”
The world is full of things I don’t know.
Things I’ll never see, living things.
I always wanted to see them.
And yet...
“I’ve destroyed a lot. Demons, humans, spirits, sometimes gods—I’ve destroyed them all. Every end in this world has happened in the palm of my hand.”
“After all, it’s the Goddess of Destruction’s order that causes people to break and their sources to fade.”
“The same goes for the Sun of Destruction. When it shines in the sky, its rays burn and destroy. Dozens, hundreds, possibly even more of your comrades have fallen to its power.”
“Your” comrades?
Whose?
“So tell me, ————. Why do people live? Everything comes to an end someday. Everything ends, always. So what difference does it make if it ends today, tomorrow, or in a hundred years?”
“Did you think there was hope? Did you think there was a continuation? If so, that’s hilarious. Nothing remains, you know? So trying to survive so desperately is just foolish.”
That’s right, it’s just so foolish.
I’ve...
I’ve been so foolish.
“The world cannot smile because I’m watching it. These Eyes only reflect the end. At every moment, there is only sadness to be seen—only tears that remain. That is the undeniable truth.”
“Can you overturn that, ————? Can you really destroy me, the Goddess of Destruction?”
Say. Who are you?
If you’re there, talk to me.
Otherwise I’ll...
“Like I said just now, I’ve been waiting this entire time. While I destroyed and destroyed others, I prayed for someone to come here who hated me. Someone who could slash apart Sarjieldenav and appear right in front of my eyes.”
“It’s boring being alone in this dark sun, you know? There’s no one to talk to. But even if I go outside, nothing changes.”
“All my Eyes can reflect are despair and sadness. Nothing can exist before the Goddess of Destruction but the end of all things. If I tried to walk upon the earth, the world would be destroyed in a single night.”
“There’s so much I want to know. The shapes of flowers, and the size of mountains. Joy. Happiness. But these Divine Eyes can never look upon them.”
“That’s why I thought if there was someone very strong out there, I’d be able to look at them.”
“I imagined us being able to talk. I knew whoever came would hate me, and that they’d have come to destroy the Goddess of Destruction’s order. They’d come to stop all the sadness of the world.”
“And I knew that I would fall in love with that person. If such a person existed, there could only be one. No one else could be my partner.”
“I waited a long, long time. It felt like an eternity. I’ve destroyed lots and lots in that time.”
Ah, that’s right. That’s right.
I remember now.
“And then you came.”
No one came.
No one ever came for me.
Creak... Creak... The cog turned, and in the background of her memories the noise echoed faintly.
“I’d like to walk the earth with these Eyes of yours and see something other than sadness.”
It was all a lie.
It was all my fantasy.
I can’t remember anything.
This world is...
“I’d like to see this world smiling.”
The world isn’t smiling.
Because I...
Sasha opened her eyes. And all she saw was despair.
“Ein Aer Naverva.”
Destroyed it.
The scene before her burned into Abernyu’s Divine Eyes. It was the sky of destruction. She saw a blinding light and a figure with a sword in hand. The blinding light was the light of the end released by Sarjieldenav’s solar eclipse—Ein Aer Naverva. Lay had stabbed Evansmana into the Sun of Destruction and was resisting the evil light of ruin with everything he had. But not even the holy sword that could sever fate itself could completely overthrow destruction.
“Evade!” the hero screamed.
The three ships of the Sky Fortress below charged into the Ein Aer Naverva while hearing his cry. Nigitt’s ship was the first to be shot by the light.
“Nigitt!” Rouche shouted.
“There is no evading!” Nigitt shouted. “Behind us are Dilhade and Azesion, the sacred lands our Demon King of Tyranny has protected with his life!”
The next ship to be hit was Devidra’s. The already worn-out ship crumbled helplessly.
Stop it.
“Lord Anos... Forgive me for failing to obey your order to live,” Devidra said. “But at the very least... I will protect this peaceful era!”
The sources of Devidra and the other demons approached destruction. They glowed with an intense, near-blinding light, as though they were strong enough to defy destruction. But instead of using that magic power for their own survival, they poured it into the wards protecting the earth from the light of the end.
Devidra, who once detested the humans. Subordinates who couldn’t let go of their hatred. The peaceful world they reincarnated into must have blinded them—perhaps that was why their bodies moved to protect it of their own accord.
But even that wasn’t enough. As though to mock Nigitt’s and Devidra’s sacrifice, the cold light of the end pushed both of their ships back down to earth.
Right below them was Misa. A thorn had pierced a vital point of her source, so while she could move her arm towards the incoming threat, she was unable to control her magic into doing what she wanted. Her power as a spirit had been cut off. Black particles scattered from her body, turning her from the fake Demon King Avos Dilhevia to her regular form.