Dominus’ sweat would now last the end of the world. The antithesis of imagination moved in glee before his eyes. To think someone could even exist within humanity. If the Gods were at his side, they might as well have left him long ago.

His breath worsened by the second. “Think, Dominus, think!” He pressed against his temples. For minutes, he banged his head on the beanbag chair. His lids closed tighter. Luckily, it clicked again upon seeing one of his collections fall.

He gasped internally. “That’s it! Killing Hokori was easy from the start!” He closed his once more and summoned a black notebook on his lap. With a pen at hand, his smile returned.

Moments ago, the mentioned man’s opponent had no smiles to show. The Anti-Sp*r*l now only had rage and fear—everything to lose. All the more reason to raise its arm higher and deliver the ultimate attack.

The red-armored Hokori grinned before a purple energy drill dwarfing the cosmos. “Holy shit. That’s way bigger than in the show.” He dropped his stance and crossed his arms. “Lay it on me, fam! You got ten seconds.”

The enemy’s rage flared more upon his mocking tone. With every essence it had, it had lost its massive suit for its attack to grow. Then, the arm thrust with all its might. Innumerable galaxies around it faded to darkness; space itself began crumbling.

He opened an eye before contact. “Hmmm… seems like I gotta count, after all.” Muscles tensed, and he caught the drill tip with both. Even in space, he experienced massive drag. It did not stop him in the end. In fact, the opponent’s eyes widened upon his success.

“One….”

He chuckled with an even wider grin. “It tickles.” His hands kept turning red and skeletal but returned brand new repeatedly. They became armored again, and it had become trivial for his mind. He moved the gigantic drill high in the stars.

“Two….”

The cosmic entity staggered and became dumbstruck that the attack merely prolonged its fate. With its suit gone, going on the melee was the last choice. Even as its fists moved within nanoseconds, the human before it still grinned.

“Three….”

Hokori ended the barrage with a double palm thrust to the sides. With the Anti-S***l’s arm between his, he had bent it the wrong way. Its agonizing howl echoed throughout space.

“Four….”

He ushered his barrage at its face and stomach. A double-cross for the former and an elbow for the latter. His red armor now had spikes everywhere. He grabbed its head to the knee and brought it back up with a knuckle sandwich.

The cosmos suddenly turned into nothing but white space as the Anti-Sp***l’s body leaned backward. As if in one timeframe, Hokori threw a lariat to the middle. The entity’s upper half was no more, and its other did not fare better.

“Five….”

In Swilvane, everyone sighed and cheered in sheer relief. The engulfing stars melted away, and the World Tree stood tall again. Behind some nurses and doctors, a man failed to express a smile. “Kudos to you, Dominus.” He phased through several walls.

The “tree’s” dungeon floors returned. Hokori scratched his head with droopy eyes and mouth. “Dang it… I overdid it again.” He squatted to look at its remains or lack thereof.

Dominus dropped the black notebook he had for merely ten seconds. Still, every page got filled with his opponent’s name. He exited his spectator room and went to the floor.

Instead of a scuffle, he threw the book. “Tell me,” he panted. “Why didn’t that work on you!? It should have!”

“Ow.” Hokori felt his face and turned. “If ya want answers, just ask, bruh. Ain’t no need for rudeness.”

He shook his head. “No… Oh, no, no, no.” The orange veins he had before pulsated faster. As a bright aura grew around him, he showed the impossible—a Zenith Corpus state twice a day. Imagination peaked again. Hokori raised an eyebrow before him.

The mana he leaked turned the floor beneath him into coarse gravel. It felt like walking on cotton. His skin began cracking. “You’re not going anywhere.” He clenched his fists. “Not until I beat you fair and s—” His eyes lit up as he heard churning.

Copious red splattered on Hokori’s face. He moved his spear hand deeper. Dominus held his mouth even as it leaked from the nostrils and lids. Alas, a waterfall came out when it went the deepest. His body shook violently.

Hokori pulled out his arm and pushed him on his back. His orange veins disappeared, but the flaking of skin commenced.

Dominus grunted on the ground. “It hurts…” his voice faded. “It shouldn’t be.” He went louder as his arms flew with the wind like ash.

Hokori sat beside him, arms on raised knees. “Of course it does. Your Core exploded, not cracked. A consequence of injectin’ this shit in your system.” He grabbed the syringe from his pocket.

The World Tree’s top slowly turned into white dust. A clear blue sky shone above the dungeon floor. Even with the misery, Dominus smiled with lowered eyes. “So cruel of you, man. I wanted to show you power at the centillion level. I imagined it so vividly.” He failed to get air.

Hokori looked up and smiled as well. However, he threw a jab at his face, yet it did not send him flying. He went to the lower floors. “Don’t get the wrong idea, bruh. You’re human garbage through and through.

He stopped in his tracks and sighed with closed eyes. “The D**th N*t* did work on me. So did Yh**ch’s power. Too bad my body always says otherwise.” He continued walking down. “Gotta say, Dominus… you’re the second-strongest I’ve known.”

Still, on the ground, he kept his smile. Now, his lower half flowed with the wind. For a moment, he recalled his beloved’s eyes. Tears had no end but no sorrow. His heart warmed.

“You’re right with every word, Hokori. I am a monster. Even now.” His head was the last to go.

“I’m still a monster. Because I wish I could’ve warned you.”

The whole fictional world trembled like no tomorrow. The faux fay flew higher only to become white dust. Brigade mages evacuated Coelestians to airships, and the real fairies accompanied each for protection, with Titania on the lead.

Out of the falling World Tree, nine carpets flew to the sky. The Minagawa couple rode together once more as their daughter rode with her siblings.

Feuer pulled up his Every Hub to read a long message. “My apologies, brother,” he looked at Hokori from above. “I’m afraid I won’t have time for your ‘karaoke nights.’ Hagel seeks my aid.” He flew to his airship alongside his comrades.

“Take care, y’all!” He waved and turned to Haruto with a loud throat clear. “I finally got the song down to a science, boy. Wanna hear?”

His eyes squinted a little. “What are you talking about?”

He cleared again and took a deep breath. His Every Hub boomed with an energetic J-pop song.

“Kurai sekai tsuyoku ireta!!!”

Even as a cruel joke, he never went off-key. Yukino thoroughly bopped to the beat. Haruto covered his ears throughout the ordeal, and Tokino smiled with a sigh. “Never change, honey….”

Hours later, in the airship, Yukino played Tower of Hanoi with Kenkō. This time, her big brother joined in and won close to zero. “Quit it…! It’s not a competition, Yuki.”

She giggled. “I know, Big Bro. I just love your face right now.” Her words turned him redder.

For the first time, Tokino read all by herself in the library. Haruto did not seem to look away from the window.

It was a non-tear jerker this time—Jennifer Niven’s All the Bright Places—or so she thought. Waterworks poured the most during the ending, yet she smiled. “Good for her. Good for her.” She gasped and dried her eyes quickly as her brother stepped in.

Hokori gave off a serene smile. “Ain’t nothin’ wrong with dat, kid. Crying’s the soul throwing out the needless burden. My first mom told me so.”

She smiled back and laughed softly. “Quite a coincidence. Mine said similar things to me before I became a woman.” She looked at Yukino from afar. “I hope I’ll pass it on.”

He chuckled. “And ya have my best wishes forever till the end. How ‘bout you, boy?” He turned to Haruto. Seconds in, he got no response and raised an eyebrow. “Boy?” Once again, nothing.

Tokino closed her book and held his shoulder. She even shook him politely, but his eyes remained unmoving. Before she could foresee it, her brother aimed at his cheek. He got thrown from his chair.

“Hey!” Her eyes narrowed a little. “How could you? Just because we’re family doesn’t mean—” She heard Hokori shushing with a finger raised.

He called everyone else to look at Haruto’s predicament. His words about paraplegia would never sit well with them. Yukino expressed worry from behind her sister.

“I don’t get it,” Kakunō squinted. “Dominus is dead. Why is his magic still working?”

Hokori shrugged. “Eh… Magic is probably like Nen. But since everything’s returnin’ to normal, it won’t linger for years.” He opened his Every Hub. “This’ll be a gold mine for the research mages.”

He followed him behind. “So, any clue what character he’s become?”

He stopped and chuckled. “Yes indeed, fam.” He pulled out a butter knife via blood runes. “If I’m right about this, Imma roll on the floor.” He turned it invisible and aimed at Tokino’s face.

She could foresee it unlike before, but it still flew too quickly. Many questions fired into her mind. She blinked in reflex—but heard a clang. Opening again, she gasped.

Haruto had no feeling from the neck down yet swung his new sword within a millisecond. It turned from gold to silver on the floor over and over. “Don’t hurt…” he said faintly. “Don’t hurt my A**na.”

Yukino and her sister squinted over the name. Tokino covered her mouth. On the other hand, Hokori did just what he proclaimed. After rolling for a minute, he ended his noise and stretched.

“Oh, my Buddha.” He walked closer with a grin. “And here I thought the fanfic shenanigans came to an end.”

Tokino ran toward him in distress. “Fix him,” she asked with sweat. “Or tell me how to. I-I beg of you!” She panted in place.

He held her shoulder and walked past her. “No need for worries, kid. Your boyfriend just turned into the one guy I mock him being. Some ‘memory recalling’ bullshit fixes him. But I got a better idea.” He cracked his knuckles and turned Haruto on his back. Everyone observed closely. “Watch this, y’all! Dad called this the ‘Uzume touch.’” He raised his fist high.

Before the deed, Haruto’s eyes regained movement. He sat confused upon seeing his surprised wife. “Toki—” Before he knew it, he heard a crunch below his spine. From that moment, he knew Hell.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!” Despite being inside, a flock of murder condors flew away.

Hokori sighed in satisfaction. “See? It worked!” He turned to his niece and siblings, who stood horrified.

Haruto curled into a fetal position on the floor. Tokino kneeled and held his shoulders. “Honey? Honey, are you okay?” She carefully made him sit.

He panted excessively. “I… I can’t feel my legs.”

Kenkō turned to Hokori with narrowed eyes. “What the fuck, man!? You made it worse!”

“Nope,” he shook his head and walked. “I just did it wrong. Oh, here’s the right spot!” Before they could do anything, he threw another punch.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”