Darkness.
Boundless darkness, enveloping Mercy’s shattered consciousness.
The searing pain in her body had vanished.
Not because she had healed, but because her senses had gone completely numb, stripped away into dead silence.
She could no longer feel her limbs, no longer sense the flow of energy within her, no longer even perceive the outline of her “self.” She was like a wisp of smoke, floating in an abyss of nothingness, sinking, diluting.
So tired…
An exhaustion she had never known seeped from the deepest part of her soul, like icy water, threatening to swallow the last flicker of her waking thoughts.
Just sleep.
No more fighting.
No more responsibility.
No more heart-wrenching partings.
Eternal peace seemed so close, so reachable.
[Warning!
Host consciousness activity is detected dropping sharply!
Strongly advise maintaining awareness!] A familiar, slightly urgent electronic voice cut abruptly through the silence.
Was that…
the system?
Mercy’s scattered thoughts barely managed to gather a glimmer of focus.
Yes, she had a system.
That “cheat” that the unreliable pink-furred fox-eared girl had shoved at her, the one that gave her three free random items every day.
Was that voice the tsundere system spirit Daria?
So even she could get worried…
[Hey!
Stupid host!
Don’t give up!
Have you forgotten your promises to Mom, to Robin, to Sunday?!] The system’s voice came again, carrying an impatient, almost scolding tone.
[Hang in there!
A high-dimensional existence is casting its gaze upon you!
Hold on!] A high-dimensional existence?
Casting its gaze?
Mercy thought dimly.
Was it that Gopher Wood from Penacony?
The one with “immortal” qualities, who promised to take care of her siblings?
Had rescue already arrived?
Then…
she could rest now?
Just as her consciousness was about to be swallowed by darkness once more— Suddenly, a light blazed before her.
It was not a warm, gentle light but a searing, violent, destruction-tinged dark-golden radiance.
It forced away the darkness and “nailed” her ephemeral consciousness back into a perceptible form.
She “saw” it.
An existence of such majesty and terror that words could not describe it filled her entire field of vision.
No, it filled the entire “space” she could comprehend.
It was a being with inhuman features, though its core silhouette vaguely resembled a human male draped in an ancient robe.
His skin was as black as the abyss of the cosmos, as if branded with the debris of countless dead stars.
A mane of silver-white hair flowed like molten metal, yet radiated an extreme cold.
Most terrifying of all were his eyes, burning like the cores of stars, devoid of any emotion.
They held only a pure, indifferent gaze upon the end of all things.
His divine form bore wounds that were shocking to behold.
Where his arms were severed, the broken pieces floated nearby, as if frozen in an eternal sculpture of destruction.
And at the center of his chest, a massive, unhealing golden wound ran straight through, gushing with molten, destruction-radiating golden blood like magma.
This wound was said to be the mark of his birth, the very manifestation of the concept of “Destruction” upon his form.
Nanook, the Aeon of Destruction.
Mercy’s soul trembled.
Not from fear, or at least not entirely.
It was more a fundamental sense of being crushed by a being of a higher order.
Before this Aeon, who governed the Path of cosmic endings, her power, which had nearly reached Emanator level, was as insignificant as a speck of dust.
Everything she was—her struggles, her sacrifices, her will to protect—might be nothing more than a fleeting ripple in the long river of the Path in the eyes of this being.
No words were spoken.
No language was exchanged.
A flood of “understanding,” vast enough to instantly shatter any mortal soul, poured into Mercy’s consciousness like a breached river of stars.
It was the true essence of “Destruction.” The birth, flourishing, and decay of stars was destruction.
The rise, glory, and fall of civilizations was destruction.
The blooming, struggle, and withering of life was destruction.
Order established and then broken was destruction.
Hope kindled and then extinguished was destruction.
Even her recent battle, fought for the sake of “protection,” in which she had slaughtered countless Antimatter Legion forces and ultimately burned herself out, was itself the most thorough expression of destruction.
She had destroyed the Legion’s minions, destroyed the original form of the battlefield, and ultimately destroyed herself.
This ultimate act perfectly aligned with the Path of Destruction.
So He cast His gaze upon her.
So He bestowed…
a “blessing.” The flowing golden divine blood, as if drawn by some force, transformed into countless streams of searing energy and surged toward Mercy’s consciousness, or rather, toward her “existence” as defined by the system.
This power was overbearing beyond measure.
It did not seek her approval or her understanding.
It only sought to assimilate her, to brand everything she was—her memories, her emotions, her will—with the mark of “Destruction.” To transform her into another traveler upon the Path of Destruction, or perhaps…
a new weapon of destruction.
“No…” A faint thought, like a candle flickering in the wind, lit up in Mercy’s consciousness.
This power was immense, far beyond anything she had possessed before.
If she accepted it, perhaps she would not have to “die.” Perhaps she could continue to “exist” in another form.
Perhaps she could gain the strength to take revenge on the Legion…
But at what cost?
Forget her mother Emily’s gentle, resolute voice singing in the firelight?
Forget Robin’s sapphire-like eyes, pure and trusting as they looked up at her?
Forget Sunday’s prematurely serious gaze, which had held concern and trust when she unleashed her power?
Forget the scent of blood her father Claude had brought back, a harbinger of disaster, and the weight of responsibility behind his silent back?
Forget who she was, Mercy, an older sister who longed to protect her family?
No!
Never!
“I destroy…
in order to protect!” Her consciousness roared, resisting the all-pervasive erosion.
“My fists strike at the enemies who threaten my family!
My sacrifice is for the future they deserve!
This is not the destruction you want!
This is not destruction for destruction’s sake!” The golden energy of destruction burned like a branding iron at the edges of her soul, trying to melt her resistance.
It whispered, tempted, and mocked: “Protection?
Such a fragile excuse.
Everything you protect will eventually return to nothingness.
Your mother has turned to ashes.
Your home has become scorched earth.
Everything you cherish is moving toward its destined end.
Embrace destruction.
Embrace the truth.” “Even if everything will eventually end, the warmth and light along the way are real!
Mother’s song truly comforted us!
My siblings’ smiles truly existed!
The heart with which I fought for them is real!” “Real?
Soon, these useless emotional memories will be erased.
You will possess something more real.
Power.
Pure, unending power.
You will no longer suffer.
You will no longer waver.
For you will become negation itself.” “Then what difference would I have from those mindless Voidrangers?!
Without a heart that protects something, the strongest power is just an empty shell!
I refuse!” “Refuse?
How can a tiny will resist the tide of the Path?
Your actions have already set you on this road.
Your destination is already decided.
Accept it.
Become part of destruction.
This is the reward for your ‘outstanding’ acts of destruction.” The golden energy surged more violently.
It began to materialize, as if forming shackles to bind and reshape her consciousness.
Mercy felt her “self” being peeled away.
The warm memories of her past began to blur and fade, replaced by endless visions of destruction and finality.
Just then, a cool energy, originating from the same source as her own power yet far deeper and more mysterious, spread silently around her.
It formed an invisible barrier, tightly guarding the core of her consciousness.
That was her soul’s essence, the foundation of her existence as “Mercy.” It was the system!
[Hmph!
What a troublesome host!] Daria’s voice carried a hint of exhaustion, but still retained its tsundere edge.
[Even daring to resist an Aeon’s blessing…
But at least you have some backbone.
You didn’t let that golden big shot fool you.
With the system running on overload, I can only protect this core spark of yours.
You’ll have to hold the rest yourself!
Don’t forget you promised to live!
Even if it’s in another form!] “Daria…” Mercy’s heart warmed.
The cooling energy helped her nearly shattered will to reform.
The system protected the core of her soul from complete corruption by the destruction energy.
But the outer layers of her consciousness, along with the forcefully implanted understanding and energy of the Path of Destruction, continued to wage a fierce battle.
It was like a silent but deadly tug-of-war within her consciousness.
Time, in this special dimension defined by an Aeon’s gaze, had lost all linear meaning.
It could have been an instant.
It could have been an eternity.
Mercy held fast to that sacred ground of her soul, guarded by the system, where her most precious memories resided.
She revisited those scenes over and over: running through the park with Robin and Sunday.
Her mother gently brushing her hair.
Her father, on those rare occasions when he came home, lifting her high in his arms.
And finally, her mother, burning her life to sing that hymn, pushing her siblings toward her, her final glance filled with trust and entrustment.
“I am not a messenger of destruction…” Her consciousness stood like the most resilient stone, unshaken by the flood of destruction.
“I am Mercy…
sister of Robin and Sunday…
daughter protected by Mother with her life…
My strength comes from love and returns to protection…
Even when I wield destruction, my heart faces the light!” She no longer tried to completely reject the understanding of destruction.
It was, after all, part of the universe’s laws.
But she resolutely stripped it, twisted it, reshaped it.
She confined “destruction” to “destruction of threats.” She seized the power to define this force for herself.
“I can borrow your power…” she declared to that silent Aeon, which only radiated waves of destruction.
“But my will belongs to me alone!
What I destroy will be only the obstacles that stand in the way of my protection!
This is my ‘Path.’ This is Mercy’s ‘Destruction.'” As if sensing this will, so different yet so powerful in its extreme conviction, the raging flood of destruction energy faltered.
Nanook’s burning golden eyes seemed to shift, ever so slightly.
It was not emotion.
It was more like…
acknowledgement.
An acknowledgement of a rare “phenomenon.” “This…
deserves…” He saw a tiny individual, in the torrent of His Path, not drifting downstream but attempting to swim against the current, even trying to carve out a tributary of her own in the flood, flowing in a diametrically opposite direction.
This act itself might contain some ultimate form of “destruction.” The destruction of the very concept of a predetermined Path.
The golden light began to recede like the tide.
The majestic, terrifying figure grew faint.
The destruction energy poured into Mercy’s consciousness did not vanish completely, but it no longer tried to assimilate her.
Instead, like a tamed beast, still fierce and dangerous, it temporarily lay dormant.
It coiled around the periphery of her soul, forming a delicate, fragile balance with her own [Martial Artist] energy and the system’s protective power.
The overwhelming, all-encompassing “understanding” ceased its flow.
The last thing left was a cold, emotionless thought, yet one that seemed engraved into the very laws of the universe: “Walk your destruction…
until…
the end…” Darkness descended once more, but this time, it was not a despairing plunge into oblivion.
It was more like an exhausted rest after a fierce battle.
The last thing Mercy felt was the system’s sigh of relief, and Daria’s almost inaudible muttering: [Finally…
made it through.
Stupid host.
Don’t play it so big next time…
You almost scared the system into a crash…] Then, her consciousness slipped into deep slumber.
Time…
drifted silently through the gap between reality and consciousness.
Awaiting her was an unknown awakening, and a future she had forcibly twisted from a “blessing” meant to consume her.