"""...Exhausted..."""
"What are you saying right after waking up... is what I'd like to say, but since the story is that you were literally 'fighting' while you were asleep, I suppose it can't be helped..."
Exactly.
Honey, now that you understand, please promptly bring drinks and light snacks for everyone. We're starving.
Seeing Honey off with a wry "Yeah, yeah" as she left the room, we flopped down however we pleased on the comfortable beds to rest.
...We were tired, sure, but it was also true that we'd been sleeping until just now, so... we weren't actually sleepy. What a strange sensation. For the time being, we were just resting our heads and hearts.
Man... that was one long battle.
I'd been sure the fight was over when Uta-chan charged in and punched clean through Tot Musica's head, but... who could have guessed it would keep going from there?
I mean, at that point we'd already blown off all four arms, and the last remaining head was smashed to smithereens by Uta-chan's final strike. Of course you'd think it was over.
Then the torso started writhing, and a new face formed on it... then the legs grew thicker and the arms regenerated and another face appeared on top. Nobody expects the thing to keep transforming and reviving one after another like some kind of DeathMoor.
After the Third Form came the Fourth Form (face on the torso), Fifth Form (thicker legs), Sixth Form (arms sprouted), and Seventh Form (two faces, full-on DeathMoor style).
And just when we finally managed to beat that one, it molted and revived, and started turning its body into Smoke to dodge attacks. What even was that, seriously (Eighth Form).
When we smashed that to pieces and thought we'd won, next it broke through a dimensional wall and emerged from the other side as just a head and two hands (Ninth Form).
I figured if we took out the head it'd be over, so we destroyed that first, only for the left hand to use some kind of magic to revive it... What kind of first-sight-kill trap is that? Give me a break, you DeathMoor.
Beat that too, and this time it emerged at human size (Tenth Form)... smaller than any previous form, simpler in appearance, yet absurdly powerful.
Well, shrinking from a massive form down to human size is a classic pattern for a major power-up, so I'd expected it, but... even so, when everyone except me got knocked out and I had to hold it off alone until they recovered, I honestly didn't know what to do. Thank goodness Uta-chan could use healing abilities too.
Its fighting style was also a surprise. I expected Frieza-sama, but it turned out to be Kefka-sama. The piano-key arms transformed into tentacles whipping around in every direction... fast, powerful, and infuriating.
Even then, I figured human size had to be the Final Form and it'd end there, but... it didn't end, did it?!
This time it went into some kind of berserker mode like a certain Unit-01 (Eleventh Form), blocking attacks with an octagonal shield of light, letting out roars that shook all of Uta World, hurling red lances, explosions that turned into crosses of light, arms becoming light for a Rocket Punch...
After that it transformed several more times, and ultimately took on a form of absolute despair so enormous it could stomp on and hurl galaxies. To fight that, Uta-chan created a super-giant robot on our side too, all of us piled in, and we clashed Drill against Drill...
In the end, just like in the Original Work, we charged straight at Tot Musica's main body with a Matryoshka Attack...
"Uta-chaaaaaan!! Gooooo!!"
"Song is, music is...! My... soooouuuul!!"
The Lagann carrying Uta-chan flew from the Gurren I was piloting, and from there Uta-chan herself launched forward... piercing through Tot Musica, who had been waiting at human size... and it was finally, truly over.
By the time we finally woke up, the morning sun had already begun to rise.
We'd gone to sleep around 10 PM, so... that meant we'd been fighting for about six hours straight. But it definitely felt like we'd been at it far longer than that.
Maybe it was just my imagination... or maybe we really had fought for dozens of hours, and time flowed differently because it was a dream. Either way, whatever.
Lying there on the fluffy bed, my body strangely drained of strength.
"Hey... Sue-san."
"?"
Uta-chan, apparently lying next to me, spoke up quietly.
"...It got through, right? What the Demon King wanted to know."
"...It'll be okay. I'm sure of it."
In that final moment.
We who had "sent her off" shouldn't have been able to see anything, and yet... somehow, we could see Tot Musica, wearing a satisfied expression, sending Uta-chan, the victor, out from Uta World back to the real world.
The expression itself was the same as always, but... those eyes, I think, looked like something heavy had finally been lifted.
And... when Uta-chan said "Music is my Soul"... that thing definitely looked happy. And it wasn't just that.
Along with that being, I distinctly felt two more presences... emotions of joy upon hearing those words.
People who surely were no longer here, no longer anywhere in this world, and yet... had surely been by the Demon King's side all along. That's what I felt.
So, surely, everything would be okay.
***
I'll give a brief account of what happened afterward.
First, since that night, neither of us... neither I nor Uta-chan... have dreamed of Tot Musica again.
We haven't been invited into Uta World, and even if Uta-chan creates an Uta World, Tot Musica doesn't appear there uninvited. Things went back to normal.
Uta-chan fully recovered her spirits and returned to her role as the Songstress of Gran Tesoro, just like before. She sings and dances with energy every day, thrilling everyone who comes to watch.
Despite a gap of only a few days while she was down and depressed, her singing voice is magnificent, with no sign of that hiatus at all.
As for Uta-chan's recovery, Gordon-san was of course delighted, and so were Tesoro, Stella, and the others who had been worried.
In fact, they seemed even more pleased that she was now singing with an even better expression than before.
Surely it was because she'd finally put closure on "that night," which had been stuck in her heart all this time.
Her feelings toward Shanks and the others, her bond with Gordon-san, her entanglement with Tot Musica... all the messy, muddied things she'd left unsettled were now cleanly resolved. Because she could now walk forward into the future with her head held high, she was smiling with such vitality.
Watching that Uta-chan, Gordon-san too... there were many moments where tears welled up in his eyes.
Back on Elegia, it had been just the two of them... and for years, he'd watched Uta-chan in a state where her Soul seemed to have left her, still reeling from the shock of being abandoned by Shanks and the others.
So when he saw that same Uta-chan laughing and singing here on Gran Tesoro, even that alone had made him happy. But now, after she'd truly and completely settled her past, becoming genuinely free, and he saw her singing with such joy... I suppose he was just overwhelmed with emotion.
At this point, alongside Shanks, he was practically a father... no, more like a Grandpa, maybe. That's kind of where he stands. Good for them both.
So things were mostly back to normal, but there was one thing that had changed significantly from before, and it's important not to forget.
That is... Uta-chan had become a "Stand User."
...That's a joke, of course. More of a figure of speech.
Uta-chan didn't actually gain the ability to use "powerful visions" or anything like that. The truth is, it's because of Tot Musica.
Or rather, it IS Tot Musica itself.
Like Uta-chan, Tot Musica had settled its past through that all-out battle that night. But it wasn't as though clearing away its lingering attachments caused it to pass on peacefully.
Actually, quite the opposite... it ended up staying by Uta-chan's side at all times.
Normally, it resides within Uta-chan's heart (inside the Uta World that exists there). Even in that state, Uta-chan can communicate and exchange intentions with it simply by focusing her thoughts.
And when Uta-chan calls upon it, or when danger approaches her, it materializes and appears standing right beside her. Truly a Stand by Me.
When Uta-chan actually showed me, and Tot Musica (human-sized) oozed into existence just behind and to the side of her with a menacing "ZWOOOOSH!!"... the impact was so intense that sound effects practically thundered through my brain on their own.
And while the scale shrinks proportionally to the size, all the attack methods we saw during that battle are apparently available. Physical attacks of course, beams, restraints using Sheet Music, light projectile notes, Rocket Punch, the great avalanche slam, all the way up to Giga Drill Break.
On top of that, when Tot Musica materializes, it's as if Uta World overflows into the real world, allowing Uta-chan herself to fight using her Uta World Powers.
Of course, it's not like she has the near-omnipotent level she has inside that world, but she can transform music into power, materialize things from her imagination... that sort of thing.
Though she has no desire for "fighting power," and there's probably no occasion for her to wield it anyway, so it likely won't see much action.
In fact, she herself is more interested in exploring whether she can "use it for stage performances," and has apparently already been consulting with Tesoro and Stella about it.
As a side note, when Tot Musica uses Giga Drill Break, the piano keys that form its arms twist into a double helix shape to create a Drill. And when it spins, instead of a metallic grinding "GYURURURURU!!" sound, a beautifully clear tone rings out like a melody as it rotates... That's how it was during the final battle. As expected of the Song Demon King.
End of side note. No special meaning. I just remembered and felt like mentioning it.
It can also materialize at its original size, not just human-sized.
In that case, it'd be the same Tot Musica we fought that night... or rather, since it's now free of hesitation and doubt, it would fight to protect Uta-chan with even greater power than before. Reassuring and terrifying in equal measure.
Uta-chan, or rather Gran Tesoro, just acquired one incredible defensive asset.
The one drawback is that since the materialization is ultimately a manifestation of the Sing-Sing Fruit's Powers, fighting drains Uta-chan's stamina proportionally.
This materialization of Tot Musica most likely corresponds to the Sing-Sing Fruit's Awakening.
According to what I heard from Papa, an Ability User's Awakening "occurs when the user's spirit catches up to their Powers."
For Uta-chan, that makes perfect sense. She's a born musician who loves song and music more than anything, and on top of that, she even reconciled with Tot Musica. Of course she'd "reach" that level. Hearing that explanation, everything clicked.
One more report.
Regarding Tot Musica's Sheet Music... we burned it, as a memorial service of sorts for the Song Girl and Paper Girl of old.
The Sheet Music was originally created to seal away Evil Totto Musica... and now that such a being no longer exists, it's no longer needed.
With the sentiment of "You don't need to worry anymore, you can rest now," we committed it to the flames.
As the smoke from the burning rose into the Sky... for just an instant, in my mind's eye, I thought I saw the figures of two girls, smiling and holding hands, looking happy.
Only Uta-chan and I could "see" that... but it probably wasn't just our imagination.
That said, it was true that the Sheet Music had been what kept Tot Musica sealed, or rather, contained, within Uta World.
Without that "wedge," Tot Musica's power is too great, and it would manifest in the real world. But that's been properly addressed, so there's no problem.
Because I, the current generation's Paper-Paper Fruit Ability User, created new Sheet Music.
It wasn't that hard to make. Through the old Sheet Music, I could sense the Paper Girl's memories and feelings, so I just had to trace along those.
Also, back then, the Paper Girl had created the Sheet Music at the cost of her own life, but... no issues there whatsoever. Not a single second has been shaved off my lifespan, so rest assured.
Not to brag, but the level difference as an Ability User is just that significant. I've already achieved Awakening, and most importantly, Tot Musica, the very one being sealed, cooperated fully. There was basically zero burden.
Well, I did need to use Awakening to create it, so it took a decent amount of stamina, but still.
In any case, a brand-new Sheet Music of clean white Paper was properly completed... and Uta-chan is now keeping it safe and sound.
Also, like the old Sheet Music before it, the new one can act semi-autonomously according to Tot Musica's will. And since I'm the one who made the Paper, it's tougher than most metals and sharper than most blades.
Complete with self-defense capabilities against theft and other threats. What, nobody asked? Ha ha ha, just a bonus feature.
And so, the centuries-spanning entanglement involving Uta-chan and Tot Musica, Elegia, the Sing-Sing Fruit... and, incidentally, even the Paper-Paper Fruit... has reached a turning point with this incident.
Having lived a life filled with nothing but tragedy and despair until now, Tot Musica will, of course, properly reflect on its past and acknowledge what needs acknowledging, but from here on, together with Uta-chan, Gordon-san, Tesoro, and the others, it will get to fully enjoy what "fun music" really means.
And should enemies appear in their path, should anyone threaten Uta-chan and the others, this time Tot Musica will rise of its own true will, and fight to protect them.
As I offer my blessings that the life of the Song Demon King, which opened its curtain alongside tragedy, has finally, in the truest sense, found days of living with music...
May the "New Era" ahead be filled with happiness.
...Just kidding.
To be continued...