How long had the fight been going on at this point? Time no longer existed, so it would probably be accurate to say that not even a second had passed. To Naru herself, it felt as if she'd been fighting for a couple of hours at this point. Even so, the battle between the Goddess and her rebellious Devil was still completely even.
The battle was now in a temporary stalemate, with the two of them some distance away from one another, content to only glare.
They had a standoff in this pure-white space, but Naru was the first to make a move. She swung her arm, which held the twins sword Líf and Lífþrasir, a weapon that should have been left in Midgar.
The universe that contained Midgar was already gone, but this sword still existed. Only this sword, which legends said were able to survive even the end of the world, would always exist.
Naru brought both swords in the set together. By doing so, the swords amazingly changed shape and melded together into a longsword, as if they had been meant to be one sword this entire time.
In response, Yggdra waved her hand, grabbing onto two brightly shining swords and combining them into one, just like Naru had.
The two of them laughed, identical swords in hand, before quietly swept over the battlefield. Naru's red cloak swayed, and Yggdra's celestial cape fluttered, even though there was no breeze.
They leapt forward and clashed. A blast too violent to merely be called a shock wave was created, and it spread to the ends of this theoretically infinite Endpoint. The wave traveled millions upon trillions of light-years, spreading out seemingly forever. At the center of all this, Naru and Yggdra clashed swords over and over, flying around in a circle. Things had taken a turn from the over-the-top, flashy fight from earlier, transforming into a relatively tame sword fight.
However, while things looked less flashy, every swing was lethally destructive. Their blades clashed, and many dimensions were destroyed. Their swords once again clashed, and multitudes of timelines were broken and shattered. They exchanged blows that sounded like thunderclaps, and cracks ran throughout the Endpoint. They entered a pushing contest with their swords, and every time one of them got knocked away, they came back the next moment with an all-out attack, sending sparks flying everywhere. At this point, it was unknowable how much damage the aftereffects of their fight were causing. Neither of the combatants cared either.
The two of them locked eyes. Naru's smile was belligerent and fierce, while Yggdra simply laughed like she was having fun.
"Hah!"
Naru swung down her sword, and Yggdra evaded by leaping away. Yggdra flipped her dress around, swinging her sword and sending a flurry of slashes at Naru. The flying blades of energy would never miss, and they would destroy anything and everything. They slashed through everything, closing the distance until blades once again clashed, creating more shock waves.
At first glance, everything seemed even. In fact, it was even. Both sides repeatedly insisted that they were stronger, so no difference could be formed between them. Now that the two of them had reached the heights of power, this fight could not be anything but even. It was an equation so simple even small children could understand it. Infinity was always equal to infinity; there was no other answer. At least, that was how it should have been.
However, Naru slowly started gaining the advantage in this sword-locked duel, and for the first time, Yggdra seemed somewhat anxious.
This is weird. I shouldn't lose. I shouldn't be being pushed back. I should have been raising my own power in concert with hers!
Of course, Naru also knew that, so she took that into account and raised her own power to respond to Yggdra's increases as well. That was why they should have been even.
So why am I being pushed back? Why am I losing?
"Play-fighting between children… That was what you described it as, didn't you, Yggdra?"
Naru applied even more power, further pushing Yggdra back. She was doing the same thing as Yggdra, simply layering her own settings and character building over her opponent's in order to make herself superior. However, Naru was doing so just slightly faster than her opponent.
Yggdra was raising the speed at which she got stronger. She was raising the scale of her power. However, Naru was one step ahead. Somehow, she was creating a gap in strength.
How is she doing this?
"By the way, going back to that example you gave of children trying to insist that they're stronger… Do you know who wins that argument?" asked Naru.
"There's never a clear result…" Yggdra trailed off. "Since both sides say the same things, there's no end to it."
"You're wrong. Well, things ended when the slightly smarter child realized there would be no end to things, so they compromised."
Yes, this seemingly endless children's game actually did have a natural end—compromise. The slightly smarter, more grown-up child would realize that this could go on forever, and they would quickly lose motivation and just give up to put an end to things.
What Naru was implying seemed to have gotten through, and Yggdra's expression was steeped with further anxiousness.
"Y-you're saying I've compromised…? That I've given up?!"
"No, I'm pretty sure you haven't. You haven't given up. But your tenacity for victory isn't enough."
The gap in their strength widened. Now, Naru had completely surpassed Yggdra in power, and the sword in Yggdra's hands started to crack. It didn't matter how many times Yggdra added the property that the sword would never break; it was just overwritten with the plot point of its breaking. Even if she added a property for the sword to be repaired, it was quickly erased.
"You became satisfied. You felt fulfilled the moment someone appeared to truly oppose you. However, I'm rather selfish myself… I won't be satisfied unless I win."
Yeah, there needs to be a clear victor in this fight. There'll be no draw. I will never allow a result that only recognizes that 'someone is better'. There needs to be a clear best. There is only victory.
Naru's goals differed from Yggdra's. While the Goddess only desired someone to push back against her, her rebellious Devil aimed for something beyond that.
"It's over, Yggdra. It's my… No."
Naru leapt away and brandished her sword. In that moment, Yggdra saw a multitude of shadows behind her. Among them, she noticed the forms of Sakura and Satsuki, who had withdrawn from the battle. There was also Hinata, her avatar, who was supposed to be her puppet, as well as the Seven Maidens of Midgar, the Chosen Hero Mikazuki Ruby and the rest of her party, other heroes from history, the grimmfolk, humanity, demihumans, and even monsters and animals. It was the sum of all life that existed on Midgar. It was everything that Yggdra had been playing around with all this time.
"It's our victory."
Naru's sword cleaved through Yggdra's weapon, as well as her body, all in one attack.
The slash Naru unleashed flew off into the distance, cutting apart everything in its path. The slash, which seemed to threaten to cut apart the Endpoint itself, continued on its path, growing ever bigger until it eventually disappeared.
Of course, such a thing would not kill the Goddess. Rather, nothing could definitely kill Yggdra other than her own suicide. In fact, she might not even die by her own hand. Whether it be something that extinguished the soul entirely, erased all traces of her, or even made it so she had never existed in the first place, as soon as she got tired of not existing, Yggdra would simply make a sudden return, almost like a cockroach.
For a long moment, Yggdra said nothing, then stuttered, "Huh? Uh? N-no way… I… I just…"
"Yeah. You realize it yourself, don't you? You lost." With that blow, Yggdra's HP became 0.
It didn't matter that her HP was 0 though. Even if it went into negative numbers or the very concept of HP was erased, Yggdra still would not die. Yggdra could continue fighting if she wanted to. Likewise, if she wanted to stand up, she could.
However, none of that mattered. Yggdra had lost this contest of wills and selfishness. That fact meant that Yggdra now had no chance of winning anymore. Battles in this divine territory meant a contest of imposing one's selfishness. The more selfish one would win, while the one who was satisfied with the status quo would lose.
As of now, the hierarchy between Naru and Yggdra had been set in stone and would never change. Yggdra could no longer win against Lunaru Fenris. Never. In other words, it was complete and utter defeat. Yggdra had lost to Ruby mentally and Naru physically. There could be no excuses for this complete loss.
Faced with that fact, Yggdra felt sapped. Now that she'd accepted her defeat even once, she could no longer contend against Naru in a battle like this. It didn't matter how much she tried to insist that she was stronger. The fact that she'd once lost would remain in her heart. That fact would cloud her will and her belief that she was the strongest.
"Ah… Ah ha ha…" Yggdra let out a dry laugh.
What a terrible day. What a terrible, amazing day. I would never have even imagined that someone would come to oppose me, let alone rise above me. I can only be astounded. This woman… This Lunaru Fenris is an idiot so big that she can surpass gods.
As Yggdra was sunk in thought, Naru was in front of her, raising her fist in preparation for the final touches on her victory. Then, Naru brought her fist down on Yggdra's head. The impact raised a great noise akin to an explosion, and a shock wave spread outwards, the last of so many that shock waves themselves might die from overwork.
If the two of them had happened to be on a planet just then, Yggdra would have been pummeled through the ground and out the other side, only to be launched into space. Of course, given the weight of Yggdra's sheer existence, she would be unable to be in a normal universe. This hypothetical would be dependent on them being in a supergiant one able to house her. In short, that was just how powerful Naru's swing was.
"Th-that huuurrtttt?!" Yggdra said, shocked.
"Children who've done bad things need to be punished. Geez…" Naru trailed off.
"Do you know how hard I had to work to get that hit in?"
"As if. For now, uh… Yeah, rewrite that terrible script. A script that no one likes might as well not exist."
Destroying the Goddess in complete and utter defeat was something that Naru had aimed. If Yggdra had turned out to be an irredeemably evil scoundrel, then Naru would have to find a way to banish or seal Yggdra permanently from Midgar. In the end, however, Yggdra was not actually evil. Rather, she was a well-meaning goddess who was more passionate than most, just very mistaken and lonely.
Of course, that didn't excuse all the things she'd done. However, Naru felt that giving her the benefit of the doubt would be all right. With no one next to her, Yggdra was utterly alone. There was no one to rebuke her for her mistakes, and no one to scold her. No one had taught her what she needed to learn, and the Goddess had simply continued to go around in circles, making mistake after mistake without anyone to correct her.
She was too strong, since she could crush entire universes by accident. That wasn't exactly an excuse, but eliminating her also wouldn't solve anything. In fact, her help would be absolutely necessary to fix and replace everything that had been damaged and lost in the fight. Therefore, she had to take responsibility for all the unhappiness she'd spread and save the victims.
"Oh, and transfer your authority as the Goddess of Midgar to Hinata. You should watch and learn how to become a proper God as you leave the management of Midgar to her for a while."
After smoothly dumping such an enormous task on someone who wasn't there and had no way to accept or object, Naru waved her arm and returned all the dimensions, timelines, and everything else that had been destroyed in the fight. She wasn't quite sure whether simply "returning" lost timelines would work, but in the end, it did. It seemed that the saying "anything goes" truly applied.
"You help too."
Naru grabbed Yggdra, who was still in a daze, by the nape of her neck and dragged her along.
"Huh? Wai—"
And that concluded the game between the Goddess and her rebellious Devil. It ended in checkmate after all the Goddess's pieces had been wiped off the board or stolen. Though the Goddess had flipped over the board, the floor had been flipped over on the Goddess, and in the end, she had been punished. The world had been freed from her script. From here on out, any scripts would be written by the people themselves.
As Naru thought of the future, she suddenly laughed.
Finally, with the battle at the Endpoint finished, Naru returned all the mana she'd absorbed to the universe and went back to all of the people who were waiting for her, to the world in which she belonged.
When they saw her, all her friends reveled in her victory. Sakura had her arms crossed, seemingly bored, but the corners of her lips were loose. Meanwhile, Satsuki simply nodded, satisfied.
Among all that, Hinata beamed with a full-faced smile as she spoke the scheduled line, though there were a thousand emotions behind those words.
"Welcome back, Naru."
"Yeah. Good to be back."
Ragnarök—the Twilight of the Gods had reached its end.