A warm, exhilarating energy surged through me, a rush of power that made my senses sing. My divinity, my physical strength, my magical abilities, even the very essence of my soul… it was all expanding, growing, reaching new heights. I could feel Asuna experiencing the same phenomenon, a shared grin passing between us as we basked in the power boost of the Hyuman World.
But that didn't stop me from enjoying the moment.
"YOU!" Megami shrieked, her voice a shrill, grating sound that echoed through the throne room. "Since you are deities as well, albeit sub-par in the looks department, I suppose I must greet my guests from afar due to the required etiquette. I am Megami, Goddess of—"
"I don't give a damn," I interrupted, my voice laced with a bored amusement. "You know, I'm really curious as to why my very capable daughter—"
"Yes, thank you, Father," Yui chimed in, her voice a smug purr. "My analytical skills
are divine. Appreciate me more."
I chuckled, shaking my head at her blatant fishing for compliments. "Ahem, my very capable daughter, whose capabilities in gaining information are divine, happy?" I shot Yui a playful wink. "Called you the 'Pimple Goddess.'"
Sensing I'd absorbed enough of the Hyuman World's power to make this a bit more…
interesting, I raised my hand, focusing my will. I activated my Logic domain, its power surging outwards, tearing at the illusion that cloaked Megami's true form.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then, her carefully crafted visage shimmered, the illusion cracking and distorting. It held, partially, but the glimpse I caught beneath was…
"Oh my god!" I burst out laughing, unable to contain my amusement. "You somehow partially resisted that, and yet somehow you look like a very bored child started drawing a bowling ball made of fat, got bored halfway, decided he would give it arms, a head, and a face, give that face polka-dot welts, and then give the picture to the fugly-god and ask him how far he could go with that!"
Megami's face, the portion that was still visible, contorted into a mask of furious indignation. I ignored her, my laughter echoing through the throne room as I continued my impromptu art critique.
"He told the child, 'Don't worry, young one, even with this, we can go EVEN FURTHER BEYOND!' So he created a shit-golem, told it to get shittin' in your current shape. The result is…
that." I gestured towards her partially revealed form with a smirk. "But that's not all! For you see, I am an intelligent god. It's even one of my domains! So when I see that the removal of your shapeshifting failed, I
must find out… that since this isn't even your final form, what does
Golden Megami look like?!"
With another wave of my hand, the full, unadulterated truth of her divine form was revealed.
"Cthulhu is indeed looking for the bowling ball made of the lamentations of Azathoth's worst nightmares that he borrowed and then lost!" I roared, my laughter echoing through the throne room. "Do you want me to return you?!"
The walls of the throne room shattered, dissolving into motes of light as the space around us warped and twisted. We were no longer in a lavishly decorated chamber, but adrift in a vast, star-strewn expanse. Planets, distant and swirling with vibrant colors, hung in the void, their light casting an eerie glow upon the crude dirt platform we now stood upon.
Megami, her true form a grotesque parody of the absolute limit that could ever be ugliness, glared at us with fury blazing in her eyes. The sight of her, combined with the dirt platform and the cosmic backdrop, triggered a wave of nostalgia, a flashback to a classic game from my past.
"I apparently have finally met a JRPG final boss," I said, a grin spreading across my face as I gestured towards the ridiculous setting. "Did Ringabel not kick your ass hard enough, Ouroboros?! Are you going to be eating any Horizons? Are you fat because you are Ouroboros, the Serpent Who Eats the Horizon?! I was certain they
killed you!"
My words, a mix of genuine curiosity and playful mockery, were met with a shriek of rage that seemed to shake the very stars around us.
"HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT NAME?!" Megami roared, her voice a distorted cacophony of anger and fear. "I BURIED THAT IDENTITY AND FLED! I CAN'T BE FOUND HERE!"
And then, as if summoned by her outburst, a portal shimmered into existence, tearing open the fabric of reality. A grayish-blonde man, his features etched with a grim determination, stepped through the portal. A woman with ankle-length black hair, her eyes blazing with righteous fury, followed close behind. A gray-haired playboy whose hair was closer to white, with his expression a mix of amusement and anticipation, sauntered through the portal. And finally, a blonde woman, her gaze cold and calculating, emerged as the fourth.
"We finally found you!" the black haired woman I recognized as Agnes from bravely default declared, her voice ringing with a triumphant finality. "You won't get away this time!"
Asuna, Yui, and I stared at the newcomers, our jaws slack with disbelief. This… wasn't what we'd expected. Not at all.
"THAT WAS A JOKE! I THOUGHT OUROBOROS WAS A DUDE!" I exclaimed, my voice a mix of shock and confusion.
"NO! Hold the phones!" I burst out laughing, unable to contain my amusement at the sheer absurdity of the situation. "No wonder you have fairy servants, are a massive asshole, and usurped a world not your own— you're on the
run! HOLY SHIT! Lemme just play the boss music! Not that it'll last long since they clearly kicked your ass before, but yeah!"
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Nil0qRve4k
With a flick of my wrist, I conjured a holographic display, the iconic Bravely Default boss theme blaring through the throne room. Megami, her face contorted in a mask of rage and fear, had her eyes dart between both of our groups.
"Go on, Ringabel and fam, go ring that bell!" I said, gesturing between the newcomers and old, hidden, and ugly. "I'm just gonna watch for funsies."
The four heroes from Luxendarc – Ringabel, Agnes, Edea, and Tiz – turned their heads towards me, their expressions a mix of confusion and annoyance. But they didn't linger. They had a job to do, a score to settle. And they were clearly in a hurry.
They moved with a speed that even my now even further enhanced perception could barely track. They were a blur of motion, a whirlwind of blades and magic, their attacks so swift and precise that they made the Campione look like clumsy amateurs. Megami, her defenses crumbling before their onslaught, shrieked in rage and pain as they tore her apart. It was over in twenty seconds.
The Bravely Default crew, their task complete, turned back to us, their expressions now an inquisitive. Ringabel however, had a scowl with a weary curiosity hidden within. Tiz, his gaze fixed on Ringabel, who was already eyeing us with a speculative glint in his eye, shook his head.
"Do we really need more problems right now?" he asked, his voice stuffed so full with exhaustion that I couldn't help but wince.
Ringabel shrugged, his usual swagger momentarily subdued. "Alright," he said, and with a snap of his fingers, the portal reappeared.
Edea, her blonde hair whipping around her as she turned to leave, started speaking to her friends. "Can't believe that's finally hand—"
The portal closed with a snap, the four heroes vanishing as quickly as they had arrived. Asuna and I stood there, stunned, the remnants of the boss music echoing through the now-empty throne room.
Megami was gone. The Hyuman World was ours. And we hadn't even lifted a finger.
"Well," I said, breaking the silence. "That was… anticlimactic."
"I still want an actual vacation," I declared, stretching my arms with a sigh. The whole Megami debacle, while entertaining in a cosmically absurd kind of way, had left me feeling drained. "Who wants to skip the planet-grabbing and just mess around for a while?"
Asuna, still basking in the afterglow of the Hyuman World's power boost, nodded enthusiastically. "Mhm, yeah," she agreed. "Sounds good to me."
Yui, perched on the armrest of her obsidian-and-gold throne, chimed in with a cheerful, "Yup! Don't wanna go back yet."
"That indeed sounds like a good plan," I said, a smile spreading across my face. "The Best Daughter is indeed requiring a break."
Yui beamed, her eyes sparkling with delight. "Aww, thanks, Papa!"
With a snap of my fingers, I activated my Time Manipulation domain. A wave of energy, invisible to the naked eye but tangible to my divine senses, washed over our cluster of worlds, enveloping them in a pocket of temporal stasis. Time, within our little empire, ground to a halt. The bustling cities froze, the churning oceans stilled, the very stars themselves hung motionless in the sky.
"Vacation time," I declared, a sense of contentment settling over me. "As long as we want."
