In the space that exists between time and space, ●●●●● was talking with a World Creator she is relatively close with. The reason was that she wanted to entrust the world recreated by ●●●●● to that World Creator.
[……It’s not like it would increase any sort of workload on me, so I don’t really mind, but you’re doing that even though you’ve gone to the trouble of recreating it?]
[Hmm, recreating it is also a kind of resolution for me, but I don’t really have the capacity to think about anything else right now…… Well, I’m not really the type of World Creator who interferes with my world in the first place, so leaving them alone would be fine! That also kinda gives me an uneasy conscience though……]
[I see…… That aside, what’s with your face?]
[Good gracious, my face just kinda abandoned its job, tahaa~~ Look at me, I’m the cool type now!]Looking at ●●●●●, who was speaking brightly but had a face that didn’t even twitch like a Noh mask, the World Creator had an indescribable expression on their face.
Some time has passed since Ultimate God Nebula has been brought to her end, she who was an absolute existence for both them and ●●●●●, and the World Creators who once gathered under Nebula’s wing have gone their separate ways.
No one holds a grudge against Shallow Vernal. Nebula challenged the apocalypse with her own pride. As absolute as she always is, she held no regrets for her actions, and they knew that she was great until her very last moments. For this reason, for outsiders to hold a grudge against Shallow Vernal is an act of insulting the battle Nebula is proud of…… Having understood this, although all those who were under her command were filled with sorrow, no one was driven by hatred.
That said, since the loss of the Absolute, the Ultimate God Nebula, there’s no one suitable among them to lead the multitude of World Creators, so the World Creators have each gone their separate ways, and many haven’t been in contact with each other for a long time.
[So, you’re going around different worlds?]
[I don’t have any purpose or goals after all. If I go around different worlds…… I may find something…… Tahaa~~ It’s that “self-searching” I hear about~~!]
In a sense, ●●●●●’s bright voice has been broken by Nebula’s end. It isn’t that her personality has changed. Except for the fact that her expression no longer changes, she’s the same person she used to be.However, the wounds left in her heart are impossibly deep. She lost the one she reveres, and if she could, she would like to disappear immediately…… but she can’t.
Nebula had made it so ●●●●● survived. Having escaped the apocalypse…… ●●●●●’s current existence is Nebula’s final gift to her. Therefore, she could only keep moving forward. To stand still or to disappear…… would be a blasphemy to her precious master……
Bidding farewell to the World Creator, ●●●●● starts walking. She who was supposed to be brought to her end, now that her world has been recreated, she has become someone with nothing left…… With an empty heart, just like a corpse that only walks forward, she embarked on an aimless journey through countless worlds.
With no purpose and a life that held no meaning, only a reason not to stop, ●●●●● has traveled through many worlds like a ghost. In the process, she had the opportunity to reunite with other World Creators who had also served Nebula in the past and reminisced with them.
Just hearing that, it may sound like her journey wasn’t a bad one, but ●●●●●’s heart remains as still as the expression on her face, and even though she tries to be cheerful…… acting how she used to be, she’s as empty as if a large hole has opened up in the center of her heart.
[……Ahh…… I see…… Here too…… In this world too…… Anywhere…… Nebula…… isn’t here either.]
Occasionally, when words of weakness slipped from her mouth, tears would fall from her eyes that no longer reflected light, but that was all she could do. Nothing about her situation improved.
Not knowing how many years had passed, she wandered through countless worlds for hundreds of millions, even trillions, of years…… but the turning point came after so many years had passed.
[……Eh? Shallow Vernal…… That monster lost?]
[So I heard. That said, it apparently wasn’t with a direct battle, but…… what’s his name again…… Ah, right, right, a child named Miyama Kaito, a species called human from a world different from the one created by Shallow Vernal, brought about a significant change in Shallow Vernal…… Heck, I even heard that he had become lovers with Shallow Vernal.]
[Haaaahhh!? Eh? Wait, lovers? Eeehhh…… That apocalypse monster actually has emotions!?]
[Not sure if she had emotions or if she developed emotions, but that aside, that’s what I heard.]
The story that she heard from a World Creator she’s acquainted with in a world she visited during her aimless journey brought astonishment to ●●●●●’s heart for the first time in a long time.
Even as she listened to the story in detail, everything she heard brought her surprise, and although her expression remained unchanged, ●●●●● was captivated by the tale for a while.
[……That’s surprising. I did hear Shallow Vernal creating a world of her own from a World Creator I visited 2 worlds ago, but I didn’t expect things would turn out like that. Tahaa~~ That said, that’s one heck of a child.]
[Unn. I was truly surprised when I heard it too. However, regardless of the outcome, if it managed to thwart that Destruction God of Apocalypse…… Ahh~~ Sorry, it’s nothing.]
[Unn?]
[No, I was about to say that this might alleviate some of Nebula-sama’s regrets, but even thinking about regrets would be disrespectful to her, isn’t it? I’m sure Nebula-sama wouldn’t have minded though……]
[Indeed. Rather, I feel like she’d be quite fond of this Miyama Kaito. If Nebula-sama were still around, I might have invited him to join our ranks. After all, just hearing about him has already captivated me quite a bit!]
[Even if you say that, with that face of yours……]
[Tahaa~~ That’s too harsh! Well, that aside, I’ve heard quite an interesting story. Thank you very much.]
[Unn. Then, if fate allows, let’s meet again in a few hundred million years~~]
After thanking the World Creator for telling her the news, ●●●●● moved from that world to the next one.
The next world she arrived at was quite a lush green world, and she gazed at the world blankly from a scenic spot. As she thought of visiting this world’s World Creator later, ●●●●● recalled the story she had heard in the previous world.
[Good gracious, that was quite an amazing thing. To win that Shallow Vernal over…… Hmmm, I’ve been deliberately avoiding that place, but maybe I should visit Shallow Vernal’s world and check out that child. He does seem like someone Nebula-sama would be inte…… res…… ted————— Eh?]
It was truly just a casual act. Feeling a sense of emotion stirring within her for the first time in a long while, she took out the necklace entrusted to her by Nebula, feeling a sense of nostalgia, when her eyes, which had not moved since then, trembled greatly.
After all, the necklace that she took out…… faint it may be…… but it was still shining……
[……The necklace…… is shining? No way…… I- I mean, this is…… something that held a fragment of Nebula-sama’s power…… E- Even though…… it has always been dim…… Ahh…… Ahhhh……]
Her body shook. Her mind was desperately trying to organize the information, but her heart was so shaken that she couldn’t think straight.
However, the most important words…… as if desperately informing herself, were squeezed out of her mouth.
[……Nebula-sama…… has resurrected?]
<Afterword>
Makina : [In a way, the one who accomplished all this was me, right?]
? ? ? : [Well, I guess so. After all, you had……]
Makina : [After all, it was my world where the miracle that is my beloved child was born!!!]
? ? ? : [Ah, that…… I thought for sure you were referring to the proposal you made to Shallow Vernal-sama about creating a world…… No, but considering Kaito-san’s existence as the Singularity, you aren’t exactly wrong…… Hmmm.]
