"Mirokuji——!!"
Mirokuji Yūya, deified by Van Gogh's Noble Phantasm, was killed off this carelessly?
He hadn't even managed to figure out the enemy's ability, dying without accomplishing anything.
Selesia was still frozen in shock, but the others immediately leapt into action.
Altair's saber; Blitz Talker's bombs; the cannon-like moonlit arrow fired by Kanoya Rui's [Gigas Machina]; and Mamika Kirameki's seemingly weak yet divinely powerful pink arrow.
These tremendous attacks couldn't harm even a single strand of "Meteora's" hair. She merely waved her hand gently, and all of them vanished as if erased by an unseen supreme power, not even leaving behind a trace.
"I told you already. You never stood a chance from the beginning."
"Meteora" mocked them openly. Then, in front of everyone, she tilted her head back, opened her mouth wide, raised Van Gogh's heart high above, and let the dripping blood flow into her mouth. Astonishingly, she then shoved the entire heart into her mouth, swallowing it whole without even chewing once.
In that instant, her eyes burned with feverish excitement.
Overflowing, overflowing, overflowing!
The love of God, the blessing of God—all of it was now here! All inside her body!
She could feel unrivaled strength surging within her body and soul, as if the entire starry sea could revolve around her at will.
Yes! Right now, she was supremely powerful, supremely blissful! Right now, she was omnipotent!
The fools opposite her still seemed determined to fight back...but it no longer mattered.
Even before gaining this new power, they were no match for her—much less now?
"As expected, you're all just foolish, primitive creatures, unable to grasp the vast difference in our strengths."
"Meteora" didn't even seem to move, yet everyone who had tried to resist lost their arms simultaneously.
Though they'd witnessed this technique against Mirokuji before, when it happened to themselves, they were still utterly unable to respond.
No warning signs at all.
Kanoya Rui not only lost his own arms, but even [Gigas Machina] lost its arms. But even without arms to draw its bow, his mecha still attempted to fight.
"You bastar—!"
Kanoya Rui didn't even get to finish his sentence.
Because his [Gigas Machina] was instantly twisted into a distorted heap of metal—and as for the fate of its pilot, no further explanation was needed.
Predictably, a second later, the twisted [Gigas Machina] burst apart into countless particles of light drifting toward the sky. With its master dead, there was no way it could remain alone in this world.
"No more unnecessary noise. No more blemishes on this grand performance. Your roles have already ended. What you should do now is shut your mouths, and make your exits quietly and gracefully."
Altair, Blitz Talker, Mamika Kirameki… bleeding profusely, their arms gone, they knelt powerlessly on the ground. Without sparing them another glance, "Meteora" walked past each of them, one by one.
Every time she passed someone, their head would vanish instantly—no horrific scenes of blood and brain matter splattering everywhere; just silently disappearing, as if swallowed by something invisible. Then, just like Mirokuji and Kanoya, their bodies shattered into countless glittering fragments, ascending gently to become stars in the night sky.
Finally, "Meteora" casually eliminated the remaining conscious Created—Selesia and Hoshikawa Hikayu—with the ease of stepping on a few ants, before arriving in front of Van Gogh.
"You see now? This is the price for your petty cleverness. You thought you could deceive God himself, unaware that to the divine you're nothing but a chess piece. Your every move, your life, your death—all of it is decided by the gods."
"Meteora" wasn't in a hurry to kill Van Gogh. After all, there was nothing Van Gogh could do now. The divinity granted by the Wind Outer God had long since exhausted itself, while the divinity from the Flower Outer God had been fully stolen by "Meteora" herself. Even her remaining life force was rapidly draining away—death was near.
"Look at you now, how pitiful, how miserable. As the first follower chosen by my Lord, the one standing in my place should've been you. Despite monopolizing so much affection from my Lord, you wasted his gifts for mere insects. You rebelled against him using his very own affection. How utterly foolish."
"Meteora" was jealous of Van Gogh—jealous that the Flower Outer God favored her so deeply, jealous of how much affection and blessing she received, jealous that even though Van Gogh had disrupted the Flower Outer God's plans, he had simply found her "interesting."
Thus, she didn't rush to kill Van Gogh. Instead, she wanted to savor victory, stepping upon her fallen rival, killing the companions Van Gogh valued right before her eyes, and finally using the power taken from Van Gogh herself to bring forth her god. She wanted Van Gogh to despair at her own helplessness.
"And now, both the affection and the blessing of my Lord are mine. The friends who trusted you died because of your stupidity. The world you wanted so desperately to save will belong to my Lord. Tell me, how does it feel?"
"Hehehe…"
A weak laugh—so faint, "Meteora" might've missed it had her hearing been any worse.
Her own smile instantly vanished. She hated that laughter.
Why are you laughing? Your precious friends died because of you; the world you desperately fought for was destroyed because of you. Why can you still laugh?
You should be sobbing uncontrollably in grief, or completely shattered by despair.
"Meteora" wanted to see such scenes. Only then would her jealousy be thoroughly satisfied. Only then could she truly prove to her God that she surpassed this so-called "First Chosen."
"What's so funny? What did I say that amused you?"
Hearing her question, Van Gogh painfully raised her head, staring at "Meteora" through dimmed, cloudy eyes, smiling faintly as she softly whispered:
"Van Gogh… just remembered… that in stories… most villains… end up dying… due to arrogance… and talking too much…"
Bang!
Van Gogh's head vanished instantly.
But unlike before, "Meteora" didn't use her eerie power to make Van Gogh's head disappear. Instead, she smashed Van Gogh's head apart with raw brute force, like smashing a watermelon. Red, white—various colors splattered everywhere, painting a distorted flower upon the barren ground.
Earth became canvas; blood, bone, and flesh its paints, forming the grotesque image of a flower.
"Meteora's" chest rose and fell slightly, her expression icy cold, an oppressive atmosphere surrounding her.
Breathe in, breathe out… repeatedly, until she calmed herself—but her expression remained bitterly displeased.
"A villain? No, you're mistaken. In this story, my Lord and I are the protagonists. The stars, the universe, fate itself—they all revolve around us, centered on our will."
"What a pity. Had you not said such arrogant nonsense, you might've lived longer, might've even had the honor of witnessing the descent of our great God firsthand, basking in His glory one final time. Knowing my Lord's favor toward you, perhaps He would've even spared your life… Of course, even if you survived by sheer luck, you would've lost all His affection and blessing. And I, by aiding His arrival, would surely receive even greater favor, surpassing you forever."
Imagining such a glorious future, "Meteora" wore an expression of fanatic excitement once again.
She couldn't wait for the story to reach its end. To receive her God's praise and love, to spread His gospel across this world, to show the ignorant creatures here the majesty of her God.
With Van Gogh's complete Saint Graph, the Outer God's full blessing, achieving this would be effortless—far easier than Shimazaki Yuna, who possessed only fragments.
The unconscious Shimazaki Yuna, Hakua Shō, Alicetaria, and Charon—they'd been granted divinity but were already severed from the Outer God by Van Gogh's Noble Phantasm. Thus, "Meteora" ruthlessly executed them all without hesitation.
It didn't matter. They had only been pawns from the beginning, meant solely to exhaust Van Gogh's divine strength.
Finally, "Meteora" tore apart the illusory sky painted by Van Gogh, destroying that shadow world completely, returning to reality and summoning hordes of monsters—the Outer God's kin.
She saw her God's kin effortlessly crush humanity's armies, their prideful weapons useless, even nuclear missiles ineffective.
She saw the planet engulfed by otherworldly plants—flowers, moss, trees, vines, spreading godly essence and reshaping the world.
She saw humanity fall into eternal slumber without pain—the merciful end granted by the Outer God.
And finally, she saw herself praised repeatedly by God, surpassing even Van Gogh.
Yet suddenly—
"Um… Hello? Long time no see? That's what I should say, right? Since it must've felt like a long time to you… Hehe… care to sit down with Van Gogh and have some tea?"
A girl who shouldn't exist here stood smiling faintly before her.
Clytie Van Gogh…
Why…is she still here?
---
T/N: WHATTTTTTTTT??????? WAS SHE JUST ILLUSIONED, AIZEN'D
bonus chaps
100 stones -> 1 chapter
200 stones -> 2 chapters
300 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
discord.gg/wisetl
patreon.com/wisetl