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As soon as they entered the room, the man with the shield stepped forward and raised it with a swift and practiced motion. A well-coordinated party, I thought.

Among the group still frozen in surprise, the saintly-looking girl was the first to recover. Her clear, commanding voice carried across the room.

“Who are you? Why are you here?”
“Me? I’m Finis Deacontiral. I don’t quite remember my exact age, probably somewhere in the hundreds of millions by now. I decided, on a whim, to laze around in this world for a while. From your perspective, I’d be what you’d call a higher-dimensional being. Or to put it simply, a god. Whether that means anything to you… Well, nice to meet you, I guess.”
“A god?”

Apparently offended by the self-proclamation, the saint snapped back, her voice edged with outrage. I chose to ignore the tone.

“Something like a god, yes. You can call me one if you like, but the title isn’t important. What matters is my name, Finis Deacontiral. If that’s a mouthful, just call me Finis.”
“What kind of blasphemy, what do you take the gods for—”
“Lulisia, calm yourself,” the hero cut in, halting her before she could finish.

The saint took a deep breath, then stepped back, forcing composure. “Understood. I leave this to you,” she said to the hero. He nodded, gaze firm as he met mine.

“Then, tell me, why are you here?”
“Because this is my house. Zygos and I were in a cooperative arrangement, so I simply lent him the place.”
“…So you’re our enemy, then.”

He raised his sword. It was a fine piece of craftsmanship, one that could probably cut through a dragon, maybe even bring down an Orichalcum golem if wielded properly.

“Who knows? If you want to see us as enemies, I won’t stop you. But as far as we’re concerned, there’s no reason to fight anymore. Zygos included, our purpose here is already fulfilled.”
“Fulfilled your purpose…? But the Demon Lord is dead. The world is being restored to its rightful state.”
“Hmm… ahh… I’m too tired to explain this. Lullus, can you take it from here?”

I was tired of this conversation. Heroes were rarely interesting conversationalists anyway; Zygos had been a much better company. Leaving Lullus to take care of things, I propped my arm on the coffee table and rested my head on it.

“You never change, Master Finis. Explaining is tedious, but fine. I’ll be brief. The world has been restored to its proper form. And because of that, it will now properly vanish.”
“What do you mean, vanish!?”
“It’s simply reaching the end of its lifespan. Just as people die after a certain age, worlds, too, have lifespans. That time is near. That is all.”
“Then what was the Demon Lord for!? Wasn’t he created two thousand years ago to destroy civilization and bring ruin!?”
“Zygos was a being created by the world itself 2000 years ago, to oppose the humans who were shortening its life. Master Finis lent the Demon Lord her power, and thanks to that, the world has survived until now. Had that not happened, the world would have collapsed about 1900 years ago. From the world’s perspective, Zygos’ side was the one of justice. What humans did was meaningless.”
“That’s impossible! Our efforts, our progress, they couldn’t have been for nothing! You—”
“You may believe whatever you wish. But if you stay so fixated on us, you’ll leave yourself wide open.”
“What are you talking abou—uh…”

Before he could finish, the hero’s eyes rolled back, and he crumpled. I lifted my head just in time to see Fumitsuki standing behind him, looking quite pleased with herself. Apparently, even the hero of this world couldn’t sense a god’s attendant while she was in stealth mode. What a convenient power that was.

“Good work, Lulu. I’ll go dispose of these.” Fumitsuki said.
“Of course. I doubt there’s any danger, but please take care.”

Fumitsuki hoisted the five unconscious humans as if they were bags of trash and left the room. Lullus turned back to me. “What shall we do now?”
“How long do we have to speak?” I asked.
“Not much. A brief conversation at best. This isn’t my specialty, after all.”
“That’s fine. Let’s talk while we can. I’d like to see the look on his face.”

We moved to the next room. Zygos lay there, his body split diagonally by a sword strike. He wasn’t breathing, but thanks to Lullus’ power, he hadn’t quite died yet. When she released her power, Zygos coughed violently, blood splattering across the stone floor. One look at the crimson spreading beneath him told me he didn’t have long.

“How do you feel, Zygos?” I asked.
“…It’s complicated. Embarrassing, in a way. But… satisfying, too. Tell me—what will become of the world?”
“It will fade gently away. Not perfectly, but well enough. You’ve fulfilled your role. Rest well.”
“I see… I see. It’s been… a long journey.”

I stayed silent as he savored the words. He should have let himself go then. But instead, he looked up at me one last time.

“And you, Goddess Finis? How do you feel?”
“Honestly? It feels… emptier than I expected.”
“That’s… a shame.”
“No. Even realizing that much is enough. It’s a kind of enlightenment.”

He didn’t respond. Despite what he’d last said to me, he looked content, then went still, his face calm and serene. I watched him quietly, a strange mix of nostalgia and envy stirring within me. Then I decided to take another nap.

◇◇◇

“Say, Fini,” Fumitsuki asked as we gazed out at the dissolving world, “why did you help Zygos in the first place?”

There wasn’t much to see anymore, only the expressions of despair on the heroes’ faces as they realized the world continued to crumble even after slaying the Demon Lord. That image lingered. But still, why had I indeed helped him? Given my usual tendency to accelerate world endings just so I could sleep sooner, helping to delay one must have seemed out of character. But the truth wasn’t anything profound. I was put on the spot with her, looking so hopeful for an answer.

“We’re called gods, and we call ourselves that, but we aren’t truly omnipotent.”
“You always say the god of endings has it rough, Fini,” Fumitsuki said.
“It might be more accurate to call us mechanisms that create worlds. We’re not as emotionless as machines, but we’re bound by what we are. We can’t help but do what aligns with our names —and we find satisfaction in that.”

That was why the gods created worlds that reflect themselves. Some found fulfillment simply in creation. Others wanted to spread magic or knowledge within their worlds. When they needed to weave in concepts beyond their domain, they borrowed powers from other gods or created worlds together from the start.

“Then what am I exactly?” I wondered aloud.
“You’re the god of endings… and of contracts, right?”
“Let’s set the contract part aside. The problem lies with the ‘god of endings.’ If my reasoning is correct, I should take joy in endings, find peace in them. But no matter how many world endings I’ve witnessed, it never feels quite right. Though… not all of them felt wrong, either.”
“You mean… when a world fades away naturally, of old age?”
“Precisely. I, too, reached that conclusion. So I decided to lend a hand myself, to see what it would feel like. The result wasn’t quite what I hoped, but that’s fine.”

It wasn’t disappointment, exactly. More so, a feeling specific to a god. After all, if the god of endings could do something about this, then they would’ve done something about it long ago.

“Master Finis, it’s done,” Lullus said after coming back.
“I see. Then let’s go home and sleep.”

In the end, that was what a god of endings really did. Drift between dreams, hoping the next world we woke to would be a pleasant one.