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Finally finished with his nudist antics, Azure God gripped the hilt of Amadeus, still embedded in the floor like my own sword, and reset his stance. In response, I raised «Gilles de Rais» and mirrored him.

So here we were again, face to face and ready to clash. But this time, something had changed.

I quickly organized everything in my head, starting with his so-called indestructibility. I’d been skeptical from the start, and after landing a few attacks—slashes, punches, even kicks—I was nearly certain his body wasn’t truly indestructible. He was just regenerating instantly. The proof was in how he flinched and staggered when hit. That kind of reaction wouldn’t happen if there were no real impact.

Lubbock had said the same. He felt resistance when his ultimate move, Meteor Vanisher, connected. All nine swords landed guaranteed critical hits. But even then, Azure God barely seemed fazed, apart from a tear in his clothing, and responded with a counterattack. Piecing it all together, I concluded his regeneration simply outpaced the damage. He wasn’t immune, just healing faster than we could hurt him.

It was like trying to empty a massive river with a bucket. No matter how much water you bailed, more kept flowing in. The only options were to evaporate the whole river or block every single stream feeding into it. But if Meteor Vanisher couldn’t do it, I doubted my strongest technique, Swan Song of the Chirping Wind, would fare any better. And even if I tried, he’d probably just cancel it. To put it simply, I had nothing left that could work.

Then there was Amadeus. Honestly, it hadn’t been as terrifying as I’d expected. If Azure God was telling the truth, he wasn’t trying to kill me. Just hurt me enough to keep me alive and helpless, so he could play with me however he wanted. That explained why he wasn’t using Amadeus seriously. Against my paper-thin defenses, a real swing would end things instantly.

If he ever did decide to swing Amadeus for real, there’d be nowhere to dodge in this confined space. I’d be pinned down in an instant. But so far, all his attacks had been straight-line swings. That was the only reason I could keep up. It might’ve looked like I was outmaneuvering him with speed, size, and agility, but all of it was just buying time.

“What’s wrong? Finally ready to give up your pointless struggle?” Azure God rested Amadeus on his shoulder, his voice drained of all feeling. “You’ve realized by now, haven’t you? All paths lead to the same end. Just throw away your sword, strip down, and submit. That way, we can avoid unnecessary bloodshed.”

“Oh, please. I’m not about to let you defile me. I’m walking out of here the same way I came in, and I’ll marry someone I actually love. You? Not a chance.” I said it like it was nothing, but the truth was, I had two possible plans in mind. Both were dangerous, and neither guaranteed my survival. It was a full-on gamble.

For a second, my thoughts spiraled. In a desperate corner of my mind, I even considered ending it myself. After all, his goal was to take me alive and humiliate me. Killing myself would throw his entire plan off. But I pushed that idea away. They’re waiting for me. I have to survive. No matter what.

I have to win and make it back to everyone. As that resolve hardened, my stare sharpened, locking onto Azure God.

“Idiot. I didn’t think you’d be this much of a fool. Then again… maybe I should’ve seen it coming the moment you chose not to open the black door.”

“You’re still stuck on that? It was clearly just an illusion. I died in that accident. I was never even supposed to meet you. So tell me…how much of that fantasy was real anyway?”

I threw the question out casually, mostly to poke at him. He’d been obsessing over my choice in that last vision from the mist, bringing it up like some lingering grudge he just couldn’t bury.

“And I’m saying everything had already been set in motion… never mind. Grudge, huh? I won’t deny it. I was disappointed when you chose the path I didn’t want you to. Maybe that’s why I resent you. Or maybe it’s just a warped form of affection. Either way, I think I’ve earned the right to complain.”

He talked of bitterness and betrayal, but his voice remained infuriatingly calm, like none of it ever truly reached him.

I couldn’t tell if he was underestimating me or just that confident, but either way, it worked to my advantage. The longer he talked, the more time I had to think…and maybe, just maybe, I could find an opening to use one of my trump cards.

I kept up the act, listening with a calm expression while I focused inward, letting myself feel the shifts happening inside me.

“Seriously? Now you’re pinning your screw-up on me? Ever heard the saying, ‘Do your own dirty work’? You’re supposed to be a god, aren’t you?”

“Unfortunately, I’m just another cog in the machine. True omnipotence doesn’t exist. The uncertainty principle, wave functions, probabilities…they all ensure that no being can ever be fully omniscient. Not even Laplace’s Demon.”

“Huh…?”

“What I mean is that every world has its own anomalies. You can be a demon, or even a god, but you still can’t predict the outliers.”

“Honestly, isn’t that a good thing? You’ll never be bored if things don’t go your way all the time. What fun is there in a world that follows your every whim?”

Azure God gave a faint, crooked smile at my words. “And that’s exactly what makes you fascinating. You’re the light I once idolized. But now… I loathe you beyond words.”

“Okay, seriously. Can you not blame me for everything? You’re sounding more like a brat throwing a tantrum.”

“Fair enough. It is a tantrum. But you’re the one who gave the final push. You’re not the main culprit, but you’re the accomplice who made me pull the trigger. So I’ll have you carry that burden.”

“Now what?”

“Hmph. Let me get back to my explanation.”

◆◇◆◇

I was a shut-in NEET. You already know that part.

But after hearing your words and being inspired by your presence, I finally pulled myself together and started working at Technos Crown. I lost nearly fifty kilograms in the first year. It was exhausting, not just physically, but mentally, mostly due to how terrible I was at communication.

Up until then, I had only ever known how to act like a ‘kind and helpful’ person online. In reality, I was a mess. I could barely function around other people. Trying to step into the working world when I couldn’t even handle everyday life on my own? It was pure hell.

Sure, the workload was brutal, but that wasn’t the worst part. The real agony was the people. I didn’t know how to interact with others in real life. I couldn’t connect, couldn’t form relationships. Every single day felt like torture. And the coworkers didn’t help, most of them looked down on me, treating me like trash just because I was a gamer, calling me unfit for society.

Even so, I pushed through. I told myself it was a way to atone for the burden I had placed on my aging parents. But they didn’t see it as real work. Just because it was a game company, they dismissed it outright, said I was just playing around. To them, I was nothing but a bum, trash better off dead. Don’t make that face. It’s fine now. The resentment and the pain… they’re just relics of the past.

Maybe that’s why, at the time, the only thing I could cling to, the only thing that stopped me from completely falling apart, was the memory of the day I met you.

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