With the end of the fifth day of the Six Kings Festival, Kaito and Alice’s date ended, and they returned to the Central Tower. After eating dinner with Kuromueina and Isis who were waiting for them, Kaito went to the hot spring to recover from the day’s fatigue.

  Tomorrow, on the festival’s sixth day, Kuromueina will have a date with Kaito, so according to the rule that they decided upon after consulting with each other beforehand, Kuromueina and Kaito would be taking a bath alone that night.

  After seeing them off to the bathhouse, Alice told Ein that she was going to go out for a while and left the place.

  Once outside the Central Tower, Alice began to move at a speed that could be described as overwhelming, and arrived at her destination in the blink of an eye.

  The place she arrived at was on the sea, about 1000km away from the island where the Six Kings Festival was being held. In that place stands Eden, quietly gazing at the sea.

  [So, you’ve come.]

  [……I was quite surprised when you suddenly sent a telepathic message to me though.]

  [I thought you might want to verify your answers. Or perhaps, you still haven’t finished your research after these few days? In that case, I would have to lower my evaluation to you.]

  [You just have to agitate me every single time huh…… I’ve already finished it long ago.]

  Alice replied to Eden’s mocking question with a rather displeased expression on her face. Alice doesn’t really have a great impression of Eden, but she knew that she had the most useful information for this matter, so she just kept her irritation to herself.

  [……Based on the magic formula on the Summoning Magic Circle, analysis of the residual magic power, the materials used, and several other factors, the Summoning Magic Circle was created “about 19000 years ago”…… At that time, let alone the Human Realm, there weren’t any magic techniques that allowed one to summon creatures from another world even in the Demon Realm. So, there should have only been two people who could have created it at that time.]

  [Keep going.]

  [It would be either Kuro-san or Shallow Vernal-sama. However, at that point in time, Kuro-san wasn’t involving herself with the Human Realm at all. Considering the time frame, it’s also hard to imagine that Kuro made movements that I wasn’t aware of. If that’s the case…… It was Shallow Vernal-sama who created that Summoning Magic Circle, wasn’t it?]

  [……Good work. Your answers so far are correct.]

  The first time the Hero Summoning Magic Circle was used was when the First Hero was summoned, but the magic circle itself seems to have existed much longer ago. And for it to be made by the hand of Shallow Vernal herself……


  With a faint smile on her lips, Eden affirmed Alice’s words.

  [……There are two things I’d like to ask.]

  [I knew you would have a question. No, should I say that your questions are less than I expected? Alright. I’ll answer to the best of my ability.]

  [However, there’s one other thing I’d like to ask beforehand…… The only thing you can’t answer is what concerns the match between Kaito-san and Shallow Vernal-sama…… Recognizing it as such isn’t wrong, right?]

  [Yes.]

  [……Well then, let me ask you. What exactly is Shallow Vernal-sama? You once compared the true nature of Shallow Vernal-sama as the Epilogue. I’m not really clear with what you meant by those words.]

  [……I see…… Yes, that’s right. If you’re going to eventually challenge someone, one must know who they’re facing, isn’t it?]

  When Alice asked with a serious expression on her face, Eden nodded once…… and shifting her gaze to the moon in the night sky, she slowly began to speak.

  [……First of all, let’s get your perceptions straight. If you perceive that I and Shallow Vernal are evenly matched in power, abandon such a thought immediately.]

  [……What do you mean?]

  [……Compared to the past Shallow Vernal, “I’m no better than a fly”…… No, in the first place, there is no one who can oppose her.]

  [Huh? P- Please wait! You are undoubtedly a God who created a world…… You should have power close to omnipotent……]

  [Omniscience and omnipotence mean nothing before Shallow Vernal.]

  [Wha……]

  Alice couldn’t hide her astonishment from hearing that Eden, the pinnacle of a world, was no match for Shallow Vernal.

  [She’s someone who would suddenly appear before a world, and bring the curtain of this world’s story to a close. Let’s see, I guess it must be appropriate to say that…… what suddenly appears before these worlds is the “phenomenon” called Shallow Vernal.]

  [……Phenomenon?]

  [Let me give you a brief description.]

  As she said this, Eden-san made a book appear in her hand, casually opened it and showed it to Alice. On its page, there is a drawing of what seems to be a universe.

  [For example, let’s assume that the beings depicted on this page…… are infinite identical beings in an infinite multidimensional universe, with even higher capabilities of omniscience and omnipotence. One of them can erase multiple galaxies with a single breath, and obliterate worlds with a casual wave of their hand. How would you…… defeat such a being?]

  [……An infinitely omnipotent being huh…… I honestly couldn’t think of any. I might be able to pull off their authority and take them down one of them, but they’ll just make up for it soon enough…… With its infinite numbers, it’s impossible for me to defeat all of her bodies at the same time. I mean, in the first place, is it even possible to defeat such a being?]

  [I, at least, wouldn’t be able to beat such a being. Well then, as to what Shallow Vernal would do against such a being…… it’s very simple. All she will do is this.]

  Saying that, Eden “closed” the book.

  [……That is Shallow Vernal’s power. “End a story”…… Faced against an omniscient and omnipotent being, even with all the omniscience and omnipotence this being had, she would end their story. Faced with a being that exists in an infinite multidimensional universe which is more omniscient and omnipotent than other Gods, she would end the story of this being that exists in an infinite multidimensional universe which is more omniscient and omnipotent than other Gods.]

  [……………….]

  [If a world is described as a book, then Shallow Vernal is a being…… no, the phenomenon that can close it. There is no story that never ends. Whether it is tragedy, comedy, or stagnation…… There is an end to every story. Therefore, no matter who it is, no matter what kind of being it is…… They’re no match for Shallow Vernal. No matter how long you try to delay it, everything will eventually end.]

  [……And…… that’s why…… She’s the Epilogue……]

  [For example, suppose an omnipotent being had the ability to “nullify the abilities of Shallow Vernal”. Then, what will happen is that…… “she would end the story of the being that has the ability to nullify the abilities of Shallow Vernal”.]

  As lightly as if she were singing and as sonorously as if she were looking up to the heavens, Eden continues to speak. The story of Shallow Vernal, the system that ends the story……


  [Well then, what do you think would happen if there was a being that had completely obliterated Shallow Vernal’s very being at the beginning of their encounter, without giving her a chance to use her abilities?]

  [……”She would end the story of this being that has completely obliterated Shallow Vernal-sama”?]

  [Yes, that’s right. It may seem contradictory, but that will definitely happen. The moment Shallow Vernal appears is the Epilogue. No matter how long you stretch your story out, it will end someday. She is the phenomenon that brings the end itself. When the book is closed, the story comes to an end. When the curtain is pulled down, the stage is over…… You may go back to the start again, but it will be the reader who decides whether your story is opened again. If we are to be compared to the characters of a story…… She would be the reader.]

  […………………]

  [No matter how powerful, omnipotent, omniscient, or whatever being you are beyond that…… All of it holds no meaning to her. All of it holds no worth in front of her.]

  [That is…… No, but if that’s the case…… Why is it that Shallow Vernal-sama created “this world”……]

  Alice, whose mind had not yet caught up with the content of what Eden had told her, muttered. Thereupon, the book in Eden’s hand disappears, and looking at Alice, she starts talking again.

  [……Creating a world of my own, when the world finally began to stabilize…… Shallow Vernal suddenly appeared before me. I was greatly shaken upon her appearance. I mean, isn’t that obvious? My world was still but a young baby. Even if I know that a world inevitably comes to an end sooner or later, it was still too soon……]

  [……So, what did you do?]

  [I abandoned all the shame in my body, rubbing my face on the ground and begged. “I don’t mind if you bring me to an end. But please overlook my very young world and my beloved children”…… Not knowing if a phenomenon could understand me, or if she had any intentions of understanding me, I desperately continued to speak. Especially since I knew that I would never be able to oppose her……]

  [However, you still exist like this today.]

  [……Yes, I have had “two good fortunes” on my side. The first is that as she ended many worlds, the phenomenon called Shallow Vernal was beginning to have “something like a heart”……]

  Serious words, said without any hesitation. It was easy for Alice to understand that Eden wasn’t telling a lie. Even this powerful God is someone who has no choice but to beg for her life…… Shuddering at the true power of the being called Shallow Vernal, Alice waited for Eden to continue.

  [……That must be why, I suppose. Before she brought my end, Shallow Vernal asked me, “Is it interesting to create a world?”. It was just a really small question, wasn’t it? But if I had answered wrongly, Shallow Vernal would have emotionlessly brought me and my world to an end.]

  [……But you didn’t make that mistake.]

  [Yes, that was my second good fortune. Faced with such a question, I quickly replied, “If you’re interested, why don’t you try making one of your own?”. Thereupon, she muttered “Interested…… I see, this emotion is what one calls as interest huh.”. As a result, my world had been spared from being brought to an end…… And as someone with experience creating a world and the one who recommended creating a world to her, she was consulting me about various things, and we had formed a somewhat friendly relationship with each other.]

  [I see…… Shallow Vernal-sama then created this world, right?]

  [It is as you say. However, even though I have known her for a long time, I still didn’t know what she was thinking. I wasn’t able to comprehend it. For some reason, after she had created her world, she just “nonchalantly threw away” the power that could even be said as ultimate.]

  [……Huh? Wait, w- what does that mean!? She gave up her power?]

  Her power to end the story, a power that is too over the limits that even the word “strongest” looked lackluster…… And yet, Eden said that Shallow Vernal threw that power away.

  Alice was dumbfounded, but Eden didn’t seem to mind her reaction, continuing with her story.

  [When she created the world, she “split her soul in half”, giving her power into her, and dropping it into the world she created. As a result, Shallow Vernal had now weakened to the point that she is only someone whose power is “near-omnipotent”.]

  [……Does that mean……]

  [It looks like you’ve already guessed her true identity. Yes, it is as you think.]

  [……The power to end a story…… is now possessed by Kuro-san……]

  Yes, the current Shallow Vernal doesn’t have the power she once had. Because she nonchalantly handed over her strongest power to her own half-body……


  [……Even so, that power only belongs to Shallow Vernal…… Even if that half-body holds it, she would never be able to fully master it. She will probably only be able to “end certain beings that she herself had created”.]

  [……………….]

  [Now then, here’s where a lot of my speculation comes into the mix. Why did Shallow Vernal do it, and what was it that she wanted…… From here on out, let’s talk about “the story that leads to the present”.]

  It all started with Shallow Vernal, and the story of he who she loves…… also converges towards Shallow Vernal.

  In the darkness of the night, standing above the vast sea…… Alice was now about to touch the deepest part of this world.

  **********