"Chairman, although it's not the best time to disturb the long-awaited family reunion of the Crowleys, your mission is not yet over."
Gently parting the layered phase filters, Selene peered through the rift at the silver-haired girl enjoying a tender moment with her daughter, Lilith Crowley, in Academy City—and very unromantically interrupted their affectionate scene.
"A temporary purge of Magic Gods achieves nothing on the grand scale. Even if every Magic God falls, as long as the path to ascend to godhood remains open, the world is not truly freed from the sparks of phase collisions and the droplets that fail to become miracles."
"Perhaps less than twenty years from now, some once-in-a-century genius will emerge from some forgotten corner of the world and, through their own effort, cross the abyss and claim the Magic God's throne."
"And then your so-called world, untouched by divine blessing or wrath, will be nothing but a fantasy. It's treating the symptom, not the cause."
"You may have been the greatest magical genius of the eighteenth century, but what about the twenty-first? Humans are fragile—but it's best not to underestimate them."
Academy City, District 7, Route 39, Konoha Avenue, commercial street, infant supplies store.
The silver-haired girl pushing a baby stroller stopped in her tracks, her grip tightening suddenly on the pink baby towel she was holding.
"Dad… was it that collaborator of yours? To bring me back… what did you pay?"
As a naturally sacred being, Lilith Crowley could not see things from an ordinary perspective. Sensing her father's shift in mood, her tiny hand moved away from the bottle. Beside the pink swaddling, a red toy trumpet floated in mid-air without wind, carrying a soft, quivering infant voice.
Even with a mature mind, her body was still that of the newborn from a century ago, her vocal cords undeveloped. No matter how pure her soul or how divine her nature, without channeling her voice through the toy trumpet or the mouth of another wooden figure, she could not speak.
"Mmm…"
Her emotions swiftly reined in, the girl-shaped Aleister returned to her usual calm composure, a gentle smile gracing her face again. "Lilith, don't worry. I've already accomplished the most impossible of miracles."
"This is my vow to you—a father's vow. Lilith, I will give you a pure world."
As she spoke, only five or six steps away, the air twisted. Reality's barrier tore open, and a swirling, prismatic black cavity emerged.
Without hesitation, Aleister released the stroller's handle. The wooden nanny figure—modeled after her former wife in her male days, Rose Edith Kelly—like a celestial maiden or a noblewoman in a gown, took her place.
"Dad…"
Aleister's eyes widened as she felt her daughter's tiny fingers grip her own. That pure, smooth touch made her afraid to move, for fear of hurting her.
"Lilith… wants to live with Dad."
Turning her head, the little life wrapped in the blanket reached her small hand toward her father, clutching his finger tightly.
"Lilith…"
...
"This…"
The atmosphere was like the tragic parting before a fatal mission—the wind mourned, the hero would not return—the words of farewell, the expression of sacrifice.
"I mean, you really don't need to be so down."
Looking at the silver-haired girl she had carefully plucked from reality through the rift of an Infinite Division spell, her eyes dim and expression screaming you may take my body but not my heart, Selene was speechless.
"I'm not here to kill you. Am I really, in your eyes, such a heartless, cruel, and violent person?"
"Huh?"
Standing upon the sea of stars, Aleister looked up in surprise at the colossal, godlike figure before her, as if formed from a vortex of constellations.
Selene… wasn't going to kill her?
That was completely unexpected. Based on Selene's nature, Aleister had calculated a very high probability that Selene would simply eliminate her afterward—once and for all—removing any future threat.
After Selene resurrected Lilith, Aleister had been ready for Selene to take her life at any moment. She had no intention of resisting.
After all, her Blasting Rod was gone, the "Crowley's Hazards" was gone, Aiwass was heavily damaged, and the AIM diffusion field had already been used. Selene had the same authority she once held.
Facing a fully scientific Magic God without any magical counterpart to restrain her—what was Aleister supposed to fight with in her current state?
More importantly, Selene had brought Lilith back. Aleister could not gamble that Selene had left no contingencies. If she resisted even slightly, and Selene erased Lilith's soul and very existence… Aleister couldn't even bear to imagine it.
As for Selene's claim of letting her be—Aleister only smiled coldly.
Others might not know Selene, but she did. After all, she was, in some ways, Selene's half-mentor.
"You've never harmed me or my family. And if you don't go looking for trouble for me in the future, then… yes, most of our connection is rooted in mutual interest, but I still remember the help you've given me. This much-publicized bond between pioneer and successor—I'm willing to maintain it forever."
Selene added, "Both in public and in private."
Seeing the teasing gleam in those two 'stars' before her, Aleister felt awkward… and a little relieved.
Because, truth be told, she had once drafted postwar plans that involved eliminating Selene—and yes, using Selene's family as leverage had crossed her mind. But Selene's flawless defense and the eruption of World War III, with its blinding chaos, had given her no opportunity.
Fortunately, she had been smart enough to erase all traces of those plans once she realized the war was unavoidable and that she would have to fight alongside Selene.
If Selene had discovered those old schemes… the result would have been catastrophic.
"This is your form after devouring Magic Gods and seizing their authority?"
Knowing Selene wouldn't kill her—at least not yet—Aleister quickly adjusted her mindset and took in the sight before her.
The power was visible to the naked eye.
Those 'true' Gremlin Magic Gods, to an ordinary person, might look like nothing more than elaborate cosplayers unless they acted. But Selene's form? An ordinary person would drop to their knees at a glance.
The light of the constellations curled and spread over the body of the divine cosmic figure, planetary rings draped like the celestial skirts of a goddess. Earth itself would be but a speck in that grandeur—and Selene but a speck among specks.
"Ah, the authority and scale of a Magic God make it difficult for me to directly interfere with the real world. If I touched it, reality would just… boom, blow apart."
A lie, of course—Selene saw no need to share more truth.
Aleister understood—the Selene I ruling in the real world was merely a clone.
Unlike those reckless Magic Gods who charged in with their true bodies, Selene was far more cautious.
Those so-called 'true' Magic Gods had been weakened by multiple techniques—including the Infinite Division spell—leading to their downfall at Selene's hands.
Now that she herself was a Magic God, Selene had clearly learned her own lesson—keeping her true body hidden atop the overlapping phases of the world's firmament and sending only avatars to act.
At this point, Aleister, who'd had no thoughts of resisting anyway, fully gave up the idea.
Her absolute limit would be managing to destroy Selene's avatar in the real world—only for Selene's true body to wipe out her entire family in retaliation. No point resisting—better to accept and survive.
Selene's ability to reap the rewards… if only she'd known sooner… ah well…
"What do you need me to do?"
"It's not about what I need from you. It's about fulfilling your own wish. Remember what I said? Not just treating the symptoms, but the cause. Only then will you truly have fulfilled your duty as a father."
"You want to cut off all paths for future Magic Gods?"
"Don't make it sound so ugly. I call it protecting the world's mother. Look at this world…"
Selene brushed the void, and within the boundless ripples came a sudden explosion of unmatched light and heat. The countless phases—its 'surfaces,' 'lines,' and 'points'—appeared pure and flawless before Aleister's eyes. They layered over the world like filter paper, shaping its very form.
"Covered by layer upon layer of phases, the world has long lost its original face. I can almost hear her crying—it's pathetic."
Selene had the right to say this; she hadn't created these phases—they were all seized from other Magic Gods. She couldn't destroy them either, because they were the world now. Shattering them would shatter the world.
"You and I will work together to cut off the ascension ladder to godhood. I'll remain outside the world's barrier, stabilizing the phases and locking down every path to Magic Godhood. But that's not enough—I need you inside, to break the conditions for the Magic God ascension ritual in the real world. Think of it as inserting a virus."
Selene leaned closer, her clear eyes shimmering. "For someone who once stood one step away from the Magic God's throne, this shouldn't be difficult, should it?"
"…Do I have a choice? This is the best option among the ones I have."
"Then, Chairman, just like before… let's work well together."
...
Aleister left—carrying both the relief of surviving and the resignation of knowing the world had now become the private garden of a complete Scientific Magic God.
As she had said, she had no choice. Revenge, shattering phases, erasing magic, changing the world—none of that mattered compared to her daughter.
For Lilith, she could be a pioneering savior of the world—or its destroyer.
Selene had given her a promise she couldn't refuse. Even if that promise had no binding force and depended entirely on Selene's will to honor it, Aleister had to believe in her.
She told herself that the family-loving Selene, who had painstakingly rebuilt the Holy Roman Empire and named her younger brother Ferdinand as heir, was a good person…
When the infinite firmament fell silent once again, Selene stood alone. After a long moment, she opened her hand to reveal the bound AIM diffusion field, murmuring:
"Hmph, and there's still the core and security system of Aiwass to deal with. 'Angels' and 'Demons' will need some cleanup as well."
"Tch… does this make me the world's babysitter? Tell me—does fussing over everything make me a creation goddess who loves her children?" Selene mocked herself, speaking to the world of Index.
If the world had a consciousness, perhaps it would be weeping now in the arms of the only one who cared for it.
"All is arranged. Now, it's just a matter of letting things run their course."
Selene had no worries about Aleister—after all, she'd left an insurance policy in Academy City.
Kamijou Touma.
Selene didn't believe Imagine Breaker just happened to reside in him; she believed that the dreams of all magicians were drawn to the light of the soul of the one known as 'The One who Purifies God and Slays Demons,' and thus had chosen him.
She had taken everything of value from the world of Index; the scraps she left held no interest for her.
Kamijou Touma's unpredictability made him perfect for handling most incidents.
Aleister causing trouble? Just send in the 'helpful high schooler.'
Maximizing returns didn't mean hoarding everything—sometimes a little extra work could achieve the same effect. Selene just didn't usually have the patience.
"If, even with all this locked down, a new Magic God forges another path and ascends… what a genius they'd be. I might actually look forward to that…"
Shaking her head, she cast one last glance at Earth—Vienna, Academy City, all flashing before her eyes. "So this is… the lightness of relaxation." Her lips curved in a bright smile. She turned, took a single step, and vanished.
"I wonder how many documents have piled up for me to sign…"
Her voice faded, leaving only the vast lattice of violet-red currents wrapping all dimensions, all elements, all phases. The substance called Honkai seeped into every weave, anchoring spatial transit wedges. Flickering passages emerged—leading to a solitary violet-red universe steeped in the aura of fallen Magic Gods.
A new world coordinate had been forged. Should a new Magic God arise, this would be the 'Ancient Magic God' Selene's invitation.
...
Cold, dark, silent, beautiful.
The deep void of space was as changeless as ever—until the stars themselves seemed to tremble. In the once-dark expanse, firefly-like lights flickered, and violet-red spots swelled, crackling with tiny bolts of lightning.
Riiip—!
Brilliant plasma trails lit up the intruders breaking the stillness of space—heavily armored, adorned in Gothic grandeur, bristling with exposed weapons, each marked with a gleaming double-headed imperial eagle.
"Imperial Inquisition, Sixth Expansion Hall, 2341st Exploration Fleet reporting—new inhabited universe discovered. Alert the nearest Astartes expeditionary fleet…"
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