Chapter 778: We Must Fight Together

{We, the Divine Realm Alliance...... invite you and your world to join us.}

According to what they had said.

My fate had entered a course that could not easily be changed.

No matter what happened, I would become an existence worthy of their vigilance.

But.

That was only my fate, not the fate of the world I belonged to.

Even if I was fortunate enough to walk the path of destiny they spoke of.

There was no telling whether this world would still remain at the end of it.

Or whether the Legion would be able to accompany me along that fate.

But.

“......You’re saying you’ll protect us.”

{We help one another so that we may live together. That is what an alliance is.}

That was precisely the point the proposal it had made was aimed at.

This world, which might collapse at any moment regardless of what became of me.

It was offering to connect that world to theirs and protect it.

'Honestly, it is an attractive offer.'

How long had we wished for a protector who could safeguard our world?

But.

Whenever I thought a similar opportunity had appeared, it had turned out to be a trap more than once.

{Distrust. I can see the doubt within your heart.}

Then.

As though sensing my suspicion, it continued.

{Even after I, Avaritia, swore upon my name, you still cannot believe me?}

“......Sorry, but I’ve nearly been conned in some very elaborate ways more than once in my life.”

{How unfortunate. Yet...... I understand.}

It looked down at me.

{But that doubt is unnecessary. For I speak no falsehood.}

“I know that swearing on your name carries tremendous meaning. But.......”

{I will not ask you to believe me. Therefore...... believe in the Alliance.}

“......?”

When I looked puzzled.

It pointed toward the worlds in the sky and spoke.

{Your soul must already feel it. The worlds I showed you, and the scenery of those worlds, are by no means false.}

That much was true.

The scenery of the many worlds reproduced by that golden light.

Those were not mere illusions.

No matter how powerful that being was.

The presence of those worlds was far too specific and certain for even it to reproduce from nothing.

Dozens, hundreds, perhaps even thousands of diverse and beautiful worlds.

It would have been impossible to express all those worlds as mere illusions.

'Those connected worlds definitely exist.'

They possessed a realism that could only be shown by reproducing worlds that truly existed exactly as they were.

Regardless of whether I could trust that being’s invitation.

The Alliance itself certainly seemed to exist.

And.

{The Alliance is a union of those who wish to live together. But sadly...... it is not easy for those born from different origins to trust others. Just as you doubted me, those within the Alliance may also harbor doubts about one another.}

Those enormous worlds.

The very fact that such worlds had formed an alliance was, in a way, nothing short of an unbelievable miracle.

{Distrust gives birth to cracks, and cracks bring about collapse. That is why the Alliance fears cracks above all else.}

Even ordinary humans doubted one another.

And there were countless cases where those suspicions proved correct and betrayal followed.

Yet they were great divinities and the worlds under their protection.

For such worlds to trust one another and decide to remain together...... would ordinarily be close to impossible.

{That is why we placed a single restriction upon ourselves.}

“A restriction?”

{An ancient covenant extending to every divinity within the Alliance, and even to the bloodlines of those divinities......}

There was a definite reason.

Why something that seemed so impossible had truly happened.

{We cannot speak lies.}

“.......”

{The moment one becomes capable of speaking lies, doubt is born. We are those who wish to live together. Therefore...... even the great divinities accepted that restriction, wounding their own perfection in the process.}

To prevent division caused by suspicion.

They had eliminated at the source any problem that could create doubt.

They prevented lies so that they could not deceive one another.

'That is why...... it told me to believe in the Alliance.'

An alliance that ordinarily seemed impossible to exist.

The fact that the Alliance truly existed was itself proof that they were telling the truth.

“......I don’t understand.”

{Do you still distrust us?}

“No. That’s not what I mean.”

Right.

There did not seem to be any major problem with what it had said.

That they had restricted themselves from speaking lies in order to preserve the Alliance.

That it was speaking only the truth and dealing with me sincerely.

I began to think that perhaps all of it really was true.

What puzzled me was something else.

“......You accepted that restriction even though it meant wounding your own perfection?”

The being before me.

Avaritia appeared to be an extraordinarily powerful divinity.

And yet, it had placed a restriction upon itself that prevented it from speaking lies.

“Why?”

It had said that it was to preserve the Alliance.

But there was an even more fundamental reason.

“You said it was an alliance formed so that you could live together.”

The more fundamental reason lay in why they had to preserve that Alliance at all.

I was merely an extremely weak human.

And there was no need to say much more about this world called Earth, which was already half ruined.

It would not be strange for people like us to seek an alliance.

Was that not why we had even accepted the otherworldly races that had flowed into this world as allies?

'But that being is different.'

Its own power was immense.

And the world protected by such a powerful existence seemed incomparably larger and more prosperous than Earth.

“Why do beings as powerful as you...... why do worlds that enormous need to live ‘together’?”

{.......}

“Why do those capable of surviving alone need an alliance?”

I could not help but wonder.

But...... the very moment I asked that question.

{You have quite an unpredictable side.}

The golden soul that had expanded to an enormous size.

That soul began to shrink.

The size of the brilliantly shining giant gradually decreased.

{A moment ago, you treated me as though I were similar to an existence beyond comparison with me...... and now you evaluate me so highly.}

“......?”

{I am grateful, but reality is different.}

As I watched it.

I realized one thing.

{Why do you think we invited you into the Alliance?}

A giant possessing immense power.

The giant had seemed filled with pride in that brilliant power.

{Because we are also in a position no different from yours.}

But not now.

{We, too...... are beings struggling to avoid a destruction that has already been ordained.}

The golden giant that had appeared so overwhelmingly powerful.......

Looked utterly dejected.

***

The golden giant possessing immense power.

The sight of that giant shrinking into itself.

I stared at it blankly with my mouth open.

“......You’re the same as us?”

It possessed that much power.

I had thought that meant it would never need to worry about something like destruction.

“There are laws in this universe from which nothing can ever escape.”

“.......”

“Even the ruler of an enormous world. Even an absolute being who governs every law within that world cannot escape them. And among those laws, there is one we hate more than anything else.”

But I was wrong.

There were laws even such extraordinary beings could not escape.

“The very simple law...... that everything has a beginning and an end.”

Still looking utterly dejected.

The being, which had already returned inside the prince’s body, spoke.

“......An end?”

“The only difference is when that end arrives. Everything that is born will one day meet its end. We cannot escape it...... nor can even the greatest existence in this universe.”

A deep sense of despair was visible on its face.

It was an expression ill suited to something called Radiant Gold.

I could only frown and ask.

“Why does an end have to exist? Are your worlds invaded by zombies like ours? Or are you invaded by even stronger beings?”

“No. Of course, some worlds are destroyed for such reasons, but not every world is.”

“Then why.......”

“Because although the method differs, the end of all things has already been determined. Let me ask you in return. Were all the worlds you witnessed destroyed by invasion?”

I could not help but flinch at those words.

Because there had been plenty of worlds that were not.

'Morzan destroyed Morzan’s own world.'

Although Morzan’s death and the damage done to that world’s design had been caused by an invasion.

That world had clearly survived and continued to exist even after Morzan’s death.

What destroyed it was not invasion, but Morzan’s rage.

'The same was true of Belsnickel’s world.'

A life-form born in that land.

Belsnickel drove out even the god who had already existed there and put the world to sleep within an eternal winter.

“The reasons for destruction are as numerous as the worlds themselves...... no. As numerous as every living being in the entire universe.”

“.......”

“A world that has attained a certain degree of strength no longer needs to fear destruction through invasion. But...... even so, a destruction destined to come awaits it someday at the end.”

It spoke with sorrowful eyes.

After hearing that, I could only stare with my mouth open.

Because.

'......Right now, the best we could do was resist the destruction immediately before us.'

If we somehow endured this invasion.

I had thought we could overcome this destruction and escape that dreadful fate.

But...... that was merely one disaster immediately before us.

'Even if we overcome this destruction.'

Just as Morzan’s world had not been destroyed by the invasion.

Yet had later faced destruction for another reason.

'......Someday.'

Another destruction would come for a different reason.

And.

It was saying that there was absolutely no way to avoid that destruction.

“......No. That can’t be true.”

I gritted my teeth and glared at it as I spoke.

“Even this invasion I’ve experienced could have driven us to extinction in no time. But we resisted somehow and survived.”

“.......”

“The worlds I saw, their destruction also had definite causes...... and there were definitely ways they could have overcome them.”

The destruction of the Endless Forest might have been overcome if those immortals had not turned away from Mirinae’s suffering.

Morzan’s destruction could have been avoided if those life-forms had cared for one another.

Luca’s homeland could also have overcome its crisis easily if its creator had only raised its creations to be a little stronger.

“Even if destruction comes for another reason, there must be some way to overcome that as well.”

Even if another destruction came, and another came after overcoming that one.

There would ultimately be a way.

If that way could somehow be found.

Although it would be extraordinarily difficult...... the world could continue without end.

“......Countless beings have thought the same.”

But.

It gave me a sorrowful smile after hearing my words.

“Yet those who held that belief also eventually met their end. For that is the law of this universe.”

“They merely failed. Among the worlds that still remain, there may be one capable of overcoming that law, may there not?”

I could only grit my teeth and deny its words.

Because.

'Even after struggling this hard, all we would achieve was surviving for a single moment.'

No matter how hard I tried.

Even if those efforts bore fruit.

To think that all I would have done was survive one brief moment, and that this world would ultimately have to face destruction someday.

'I can’t accept that.'

There was no way I could simply hear something like that, accept it, and move on.

And.

“We feel the same.”

As it looked at me.

It smiled with satisfaction.

“......?”

“Yes....... If the law says that all things must eventually decline and disappear, how many would quietly accept such a law?”

Only then did I realize.

Why it had offered me an alliance.

“But all of them eventually faded away. This universe is vast and boundless, and that law is absolute. Because even great divinities could not resist a law that stood above them.”

“......So?”

“But that does not mean we can accept defeat. Therefore...... just as you said.”

The destroyed worlds I had seen.

Those worlds had certainly been destroyed, but there had also clearly been ways they could have overcome that destruction.

Therefore.

“We who have ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) not yet been destroyed must attempt everything we can to overcome it.”

And.

The method the Alliance had discovered.......

Was simpler than I had expected.

“The worlds that faded away...... those great divinities were certainly powerful, but in the end, they fought this vast universe alone.”

It clenched its fist.

Grinding its teeth, it opened its mouth.

“Those who fought alone in solitude all lost. Then there is only one conclusion that can be drawn from that.”

“.......”

“We must fight together. We extend our hand only to those who have realized this law.”