The Nameless

White space.

At first glance, it seemed like an empty space, but it wasn’t.

It’s uncomfortable to see. It’s uncomfortable to move. It’s uncomfortable to breathe. It’s uncomfortable to continue thinking.

No, it’s uncomfortable just to exist here.

Why?

I continued my fragmented thoughts to find the reason.

1 second. 2 seconds. 3 seconds.

After another 5 seconds, I realized.

Divine Power.

It’s because of the Divine Power filling this space.

It’s different from the Divine Power Rubia used.

Perfect Divine Power.

That Divine Power is pushing me away.

It’s rejecting me.

It’s denying me.

It’s trying to kill me.

I know this feeling.

Red sky, red earth, black sun.

The place where she, ‘I’, built a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

I felt a similar sensation when I stepped into that world.

But it wasn’t this uncomfortable.

The pressure is different.

It far exceeded my expectations.

I let out a faint sigh.

I gripped the hilt of my sword.

I continued my uncomfortable steps.

In the void where even the concept of time seemed to have disappeared.

In the pure white space where even my presence was faint, I kept walking.

I didn’t set a direction. I just walked forward.

After a long time.

Rustle— I heard the sound of fabric brushing against itself.

I turned my head to the left. There’s nothing there.

I turned my head to the right. Same thing.

Slowly, I looked straight ahead.

–

It was there.

“Hello?”

A place that was empty until just now.

A place with a faint horizon that barely allowed me to distinguish between the sky and the ground.

There.

The Nameless One was sitting on a huge throne, legs crossed.

“You came faster than I expected.”

A presence that seemed to exist and not exist in this place. But, a presence more intense than anything else.

Seeing that figure, Noah was certain.

The Nameless One has completed apotheosis.

The Nameless One’s eyes curved.

“Oh my, you recognize me? How admirable. That’s right, I have completed apotheosis. Perfectly, without a single flaw. I wonder who I should thank for being able to do this?”

A gently raised hand was placed on Rubia’s chest.

“It’s all thanks to Rubia. Of course, it’s also thanks to Noah. Rubia was complete even before I took over. She became strong enough to withstand my Aura without breaking. My beloved. She became this perfect with just the thought of protecting Noah, you know? Just a shell. But thanks to that, I was able to complete apotheosis without any problems. And I was able to create a perfect Divine Realm like the one we’re in now. This, um. I should thank Rubia for this. Who knew that a brief deviation would lead to such a great result. Hehehe.”

A laughter filled with mockery.

At the same time, an armrest appeared where there wasn’t one before.

The Nameless One, with her arm on the armrest, gracefully rested her chin on her hand.

“So. How is it?”

And, she raised her other arm and slowly waved it.

“I changed my clothes while waiting. Into clothes that best suit this Divine Realm. And, into clothes that Noah would like. Rubia would hate them, but doesn’t Noah like them?”

Like the white space, a pure white dress.

The fabric of the dress flowed down with the Nameless One’s movements.

Where it flowed down, the short skirt, which didn’t even cover half of her thighs, was faintly swaying.

Clothes that Noah was familiar with.

Clothes that existed in Noah’s memory.

“In Noah’s memory, in that world where we only enjoyed our world as a game, those are the clothes Rubia was wearing for the last time, right before she died. Pretty, isn’t it?”

Noah didn’t answer the question, she just quietly stared.

At first glance, eyes that had lost their will to fight.

But, that’s not how it looked in the Nameless One’s eyes.

Is she looking for something? Is she thinking about something?

“Hmm…”

I don’t know. I can’t read her. Something that shouldn’t be possible in the first place. If I had completed apotheosis, I should have been able to feel the thoughts and emotions of every being in this world.

But, I couldn’t read or even predict Noah’s thoughts.

“End. Is it because End’s power is dwelling within her? How fascinating. I never imagined that End would be Noah from another iteration. How did she deceive me? How did she blind me? How, how.”

I was puzzled by that for a moment.

“Well, what’s the point of thinking about it? They’re all useless now.”

The Nameless One, with an uncomfortable look on her face, tapped the armrest and smiled.

That kind of thing is no longer useful.

The fact that the Sword of Victory permanently consumed half of her divinity.

The fact that the Spirit Master sealed her consciousness and cut down her Aura.

The fact that the confirmed future was changed by the miracle achieved in exchange for the key fragments.

The Nameless One thought that none of that mattered to her, who had completed apotheosis.

And so, she smiled.

Smiling, she looked at Noah.

Following her, the Nameless One’s Divine Realm looked at Noah. The will of the world, the world itself, looked at Noah.

“You’ve worked hard. I believed that Noah would reach this place, but it’s refreshing to actually see it like this. How about Noah? Are you proud? You must be proud. Because you overcame all the despair you’ve experienced so far. You must be proud. And, you must have thought that this was the end. If I can just overcome this obstacle, everything will be over. Now I can be happy. I am the protagonist. I can make this story have a happy ending. I will achieve it no matter what. Thinking that—”

The Nameless One, sticking out a bright red tongue that contrasted with the pure white space, licked her lips and swallowed a sweet breath.

“You must have had hope.”

A languid sigh escaped from her voluptuously glistening lips.

“Haa… I love those kinds of people so much. Using hope as a light, they overcome all hardships and adversities, shining brightly as they navigate through the darkness where they can’t see ahead. But, but you know. There’s something even better than that.”

A sigh with a bewitching scent tickled Noah’s nose. A dizzying fragrance rushed in. A seductive voice stimulated her mind.

“When the light that illuminated the darkness is extinguished in a place where you thought it was the end. When you collapse right before reaching the end. When the only hope that made you stand up until now is shattered. When it’s trampled on. When it’s taken away. When I take it away with my own hands.”

Then, the Nameless One, who had risen from the throne, embraced Rubia’s body with her hands filled with joy.

“At that time. The expressions people make. The voices they utter. The eyes that have lost their light. The gasping breaths. The emotions they feel. The struggles of their bodies as they deny reality. Those are even better. So, lovely, so cute. Really… I feel like I’m going crazy.”

So.

“Please, despair. Despair miserably, wretchedly. More pitiful and filthy than anyone else, get down on the ground and struggle hard. Like that, keep, keep, keep, enduring, enduring, struggling, and if you finally break down. Then… I will lead you to paradise. So that you can be with me forever by my side. You will definitely be happy. Because, unlike Rubia, I can give you everything you want.”

Kugung—! At the same time as the Nameless One’s words ended, the white space shook. The Divine Realm, the world, moved.

“Be sure not to die, and please entertain me.”

Countless wings spread out behind the Nameless One. Behind those wings, countless Halos floated.

“Got it?”

The brilliant Halo. The geometrical patterns engraved on it were distorted. They became eyeballs. They became faces. They became tongues. They became mouths. Hands, arms, torsos, now an indescribable being writhing sticky in the Halo.

Crack- Then, the writhing mass of flesh split open. It split open and showed its teeth. It stuck out its tongue. From the tongue, again, lips, teeth, tongue, lips, teeth, tongue.

The teeth, the tongues, the lips that continued to multiply like that. They screamed horribly.

The screams of all the beings that had passed through this world.

Screams, roars, lamentations that seemed to be a mixture of all of them.

The Nameless One, who was breathing roughly and groaning as she listened to those screams, reached out her hand.

The screams stopped.

Instead of screams, a corrupt power filled with hatred.

The despair of the souls trapped in the cycle of reincarnation.

This world itself. Poured down on Noah.

Noah, who was quietly watching it,

Opened her mouth for the first time.

“Finally, I found it.”

And, she moved.

At the same time.

Crack—!

Half of the wings that were rising behind the Nameless One were torn off miserably by Noah’s hand.

“…Huh?”

The smile disappeared from the Nameless One’s face, who didn’t understand the current situation. A foolish sound flowed from her mouth.

Only for a moment.

Crack crack—!

Again, Noah’s hand tore off the Nameless One’s wings.

The Nameless One’s face, feeling terrible pain, contorted. Pain? I shouldn’t feel pain. Because I am a perfect being, because I have become a god who encompasses everything, I shouldn’t feel the pain that mortals feel.

But, why, why do I feel pain?

Crack- The Nameless One, biting her lip, reached out her hand towards Noah. Following her, the world, the Divine Power, the Halo, the countless arms extending from the Halo, bound Noah’s entire body.

Noah, whose entire body was bound so that she couldn’t move a single finger, calmly looked at the Nameless One’s eyes.

No, she looked at the lips below, which were bleeding. And said.

“…Don’t treat her so carelessly.”

“Wh, at—”

At that moment.

Along with the pain of having her neck cut off.

The Nameless One’s soul, her power.

Her very existence.

Was torn from Rubia’s body.

[What, the hell…]

The Nameless One, who picked up the body that had been disgracefully rolling on the floor, examined her condition.

The divinity that had completed apotheosis was still there. The Halo that had risen behind her was also still there. But the torn wings did not regenerate.

And.

There are no hands. There are no feet. There is no torso. There is no head. It’s blurry. It’s not clear. Does it not exist?

It’s the same as before she parasitized Rubia’s body.

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

I didn’t calm down my heated head.

I moved my Divine Power to create arms. I created legs. I created a torso. I created a head, a face, wings behind my back.

A form made of a soul that had lost its flesh.

That form was exactly the same as Rubia’s.

In that state, I turned my head.

To the place where I had been until just now.

There, Noah, who was hugging Rubia’s body preciously, was smiling brightly.

[Damn, it… You human bastard…]

The Nameless One, speaking in an unpleasant voice that was impossible to tell whether it was a monster or a human because her vocal cords were not fully formed, scratched her neck nervously and glared at Noah.

Crack- Crack- Every time her fingers and nails scratched her neck, the skin, blood vessels, and muscles fell off, but the Nameless One didn’t care and continued to glare at Noah.

But Noah, as if she didn’t care about the Nameless One at all, was only wiping the blood flowing from Rubia’s mouth and holding her in her arms.

The Nameless One, watching that scene, finally couldn’t hold back her anger. She screamed with her badly torn vocal cords and unleashed her Divine Power.

“…Now, I don’t have to control my power anymore.”

At the same time, ―Kwajik. Noah’s fist burst the Nameless One’s head.

Divine Power goes wild. The Halo rotates. It rises. The will of the world returned the Nameless One’s existence, its form, to its original state.

The Nameless One instantly regained her original form.

As soon as her head and eyes were restored, what she saw was.

Bang!

Her body was bursting like a balloon.