The Light of The End

The Skekaku duo had obeyed their leader's orders and gathered Tanaka's merry band of friends in the wasteland, their usual training ground.

「–So, what’s the deal with Boss?」

「Beats me. He just flew off somewhere in a hurry. Just what he was thinking.」

Kaku-san shrugged his shoulders at Curryman's question.

「… Considering the uncharacteristic action of my always calm and collected friend, and the fact that he’s had us gathered here, I guess there’s only one possible answer.」

「Don’t tell me…., according to what God of Creation-sama had told us, I believe we should still have a little more time, though.」

「It could be that something unexpected has occurred. I don't want it to be true, though.」

Hero Yashichi and Hero Kamui shifted to tense expressions.

「This is bad. In the end, I haven’t put up any proper preparations at all.」

「Toby-sama. We have the rikishis bestowed upon us by Sage-sama, so it will be alright. No matter what happens, this Moonlight Custom Unit One will surely protect us!」

Eclair was brimming with excitement as she struck her signature power with the rikishi in her hands. On the other hand, Toby became even more depressed.

「…No, I did have the cursed sword fixed, but I didn’t receive another rikishi.」

「Say what?!」

Seeing Toby and Éclair’s state, Ganash snorted.

「Hmph, what’s there to be so flustered about? The battle against the incarnation of Destruction is something we’ve long expected, isn’t it? Even if it happens sooner than expected, it doesn’t change what we have to do. This time, I will be sure to stick my blade into it!」

「Barking is something that can be done by anyone. If you're a man then just keep your mouth shut and sharpen your fang in wait.」 「Back at you, haven’t you gone so weak to the point of even losing your ability to bark?」

Ganash and Torte seemed to be incompatible as usual and started their usual quarrel.

「Look, they’ve gone at it again. Why don't you do something about it, Hero-dono?」

「Oh you…. Haa, why does it always have to be like this…?」

Mikoto, being urged to mediate by Merlin, heaved out a sigh. As her kind heartedness was the same as usual, she was about to move toward those two to mediate.

However, at that moment. The world was enveloped by a powerful pressure. A few people who could not bear it fell to their knees.「T, this is….」

「Not good! It’s really started, huh. Everyone wait a minute!」

Kaku-san employed defense type support magic. This magic that was imbued with the power of God began to protect everyone from the malice of the God Destruction.

「—is this the aftermath of the battle of Gods? We are able to manage somehow, but the people of the town are…. No, let alone that, the world is….」

「Most likely they've fallen unconscious. Speaking of those who are still able to move other than us, they are mostly likely those few who strongly inherit the blood of heroes.」

The superior spirit Zonmer quietly answered Kugel's concern about this desperate situation. The sheer scale of the battle of Gods left Kugel in awe.

「This situation, where with the God of Creation is battling the God of Destruction, and my friend is guarding the barrier, sure is the perfect chance for the incarnation of Destruction, huh.」 「However, we have no idea of where and what the incarnation of Destruction is going to perpetrate.」

「I'll do something about that.」

Hearing the worries of the heroes, Zonmer was about to try detecting the incarnation of Destruction using Grand Magic. However–.

「No, looks like there’s no need for it. Everyone brace yourselves.」

Hero Yashichi unsheathed his sword and took a precautionary stance. Following him, everyone also watched out for the surroundings.

Time continued to pass without anything seeming to happen. However, before they knew it, while it might be negligible, tremor appeared in the ground.

As time went on, the tremor gradually became stronger and stronger, until it became difficult even to simply stay standing.

「It's coming!」

Suddenly, the ground collapsed, blowing up sand and soil as if an eruption had occurred.

What appeared was the Incarnation of Destruction who possessed jet-black body. While it was not as large as the gigantic incarnation that Tanaka defeated the other day, it was larger than the incarnations they'd faced before. 『Found you–, those who are related to God of Creation. It's convenient that you’re all here. Before I destroy world, I shall deal with all of you at once.』

Its face was still as inorganic and featureless as usual, but it gave off an eerie feeling.

「Easy to say. But don't think you can pull it off so easily!」

With the expression on his face turning into a ferocious one, Ganash laid bare his fighting spirit against the Incarnation of Destruction.

『This battle is not one to decide the outcome. As the conclusion is staked at God of Creation-sama’s battle, after all. Our task lies in stopping the incarnation of Destruction from destroying the world during the battle of Gods. And in order to nail it down at this place, be sure to survive no matter what.』

「Yeah!」

Everyone responded to Zonmer's telepathic communication.Thus began another battle with the world at stake.

◇ ◇ ◇

The void of nothingness–.

The two mighty beings, the God of Creation and the God of Destruction, were clashing head-on to settle their long-standing karma.

In this space where distance and time were ambiguous, there unfolded the battle of annihilation, where the God of Creation and the God of Destruction, who similarly had turned themselves into gigantic masses of energy with a will of their own, were clashing their energies in order to vanquish each other's existence. Due to how much of a simple battle it was, the conclusion was absolute. As both of their energy was similarly being vanquished, their own existence gradually vanished. The last one standing would be the victor.

『Looks like the time to settle everything has finally come, God of Destruction!』

『That’s not something someone who has hidden for so long could say!』

In this world of darkness, explosions-like light shone and vanished all over the place.

『The world that has been calmly existing in the presence of this God of Destruction—the grudge toward you who’s the cause for this all! Feel free to bask in this power of destruction I’ve accumulated and perish.』

The collision of energies became even more intense. The glow became even larger, and also continued to increase in number.

『I see…, that obsession is the root of your power, huh. And what a repulsive purity of energy. It's no wonder my barrier was conquered earlier than I expected.』

『If you get it, then quickly perish at once. Your long-lasting deeds serve only to further increase my power. I shall never allow anyone to escape my destruction destiny! Even if it’s those who take the name of Gods!』

Along with its fury, the God of Destruction wielded grudge energy. As such, the annihilation process, the pace of the annihilation of the God of Creation’s side of energy seemed to accelerate.

. However, the God of Creation didn’t seem to be perturbed at all.

『Back at you, you better not underestimate me. How much anger I feel as the creator of the countless lives who perished in that battle… I shall show it to you!』 It was only for a short while that the God of Destruction had the upper hand, and the pace of annihilation of the two was once again equal. If anything, the power balance between the two was reversed as it was.

『The reason I continued to polish my power for so long is for the sake of this moment. I've been saving up my power, vowing to those who perished at that time that I will surely annihilate you in the next battle!』

『Impossible…. Against such a foolish thought, my grudge is….』

The quality of the God of Creation's energy changed. Its purity was that of an exceedingly high purity that the God of Destruction’s was incomparable to it. It began to overwhelm the other to the point in case that the same amount of energy collided, the God of Destruction’s would be the one who was one-sidedly annihilated.

『To begin with, you are misunderstanding something. In the past battle–, if we had continued to fight as we were, I would have surely won. The one who’s been able to keep their life for so long is you!』

The existence of the God of Destruction was becoming smaller and smaller as time went by.

『The reason why I suppressed my anger towards you at that time was because I prioritized protecting the world in order not to lose those who survived. This time, now that I have someone to protect the world, I shall no longer show mercy. I'm going to completely annihilate you just like this!』

The battle had become one-sided. The God of Destruction was one-sidedly losing power in each clash of energy.

『Impossible…. Are you saying that I, the God of Destruction… will be defeated by a mere youngster such as yourself….?』

『Hmph, I don't know how much of an ancient God you are, but such a thing doesn't matter! I shall not leave a mad God who’s trying to annihilate everything as is! I shall end everything with this!』

A more intense glow shone in the void of nothingness. This light was incomparably larger than the energy collisions up until now, and was something that signed the end of the battle of Gods.