The primordial world was the gods' playground.
Thanks to the god of radiant morning, the world teemed with vitality, and the toys bound by threads of fate gratefully accepted their birth, praising the gods and willingly participating in their role-play.
In the endless flow of tedious time, the toys were placed and lived according to the gods' will, never permitted anything beyond that.
The beginning and end of a toy was decided solely by its master, so not a single one dared to even imagine escaping.
The merciful goddess of night, grieving this state, imbued her hot breath with mercy, and one toy that had fulfilled its purpose stood completely alone.
"I live because I wish to live, and die because I wish to die—this is my will."
By accepting death, life continued. The first 'authority of death' manifested as life.
Thus, the toy that opened its eyes while standing there called itself the goddess's incarnation, an agent who had received a share of death's authority.
The agent declared boldly:
"Birth was the gods' will, but death is the will of life."
Enraged by this, the morning god planted a spool containing his authority among the toys, and the threads of fate grew thicker and tougher, binding everyone more tightly.
The goddess's agent lamented and declared:
"We will not live for anyone's glory."
When the agent shattered the god's spool, countless threads of fate fluttered in the void. That scene, some said, resembled the wingbeats of a butterfly just emerged from its cocoon.
It was the beginning of a struggle that would continue through vast ages, as the gods' authority scattered across the earth.
* * *
Crossing the bridge connected to the main tower, a sheer cliff appeared.
The river winding beneath the cliff glowed blue.
I stood there staring down at it, then lifted my head. The sky, though the sun had tilted slightly, was relatively clear.
"A cliff behind the fortress."
Xenon exclaimed in awe at the vast natural scenery before him. To his eyes, it probably looked only beautiful and magnificent.
But I imagined black rain that never fell upon this landscape or red skies, overlaying such images.
This place was exactly where I had seen in my dreams. The cliff where the Captain had thrown himself after his final confrontation with Samuel.
"But what exactly are we doing here?"
No matter how much I looked around, there was nothing but a desolate cliff. After looking about for a while, Xenon eventually turned to me and Samuel with a puzzled expression.
I had nothing particular to say. Because I didn't know what to do either.
"Even after coming all this way, nothing comes to mind."
I muttered to myself and glanced behind me. Samuel had been watching me steadily for some time.
His expression was deeply complex. Perhaps because we had reached the place where he had parted with the Captain of the past?
"Is there something you wish to say, Sir Samuel?"
"I will tell you about the final authority."
Samuel took a deep breath and drew the sword at his waist in one motion. Before I could react to his sudden action, Xenon stepped in front of me and immediately assumed a defensive stance.
"What are you doing?"
At Xenon's sharp reaction, Samuel frowned. Yet he did not sheathe his sword.
"Before that, I have something to ask."
"What?"
"About the rest you desire."
I didn't quite understand what he wanted to ask.
We were facing the final authority—why discuss my rest now?
"Are you asking if I want to die?"
If I wanted to die, would he kill me right now?
I looked carefully at the sword Samuel had drawn, making a cautious guess.
Given Samuel's attitude toward me all this time, it was a guess with no persuasive power at all.
Hadn't he always wanted to prevent my death, if anything?
"Your resurrection was forced. It wouldn't be strange for you to still desire death."
There was no time to ponder this question of unknown intent.
After thinking briefly, I answered honestly.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't desire death."
The first to react to my answer, before Samuel, was Xenon.
Xenon unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, then belatedly glanced at me and subtly turned his gaze away.
Yet seeing how he couldn't hide his flushed complexion, I thought it would really be a disaster if I were to die after all this rest was over.
"Is that so."
I had been momentarily distracted by Xenon, but I snapped back to attention at that answer.
For some reason, Samuel's face was quite dark.
"Why didn't you tell me that in the past?"
Samuel glanced down at the sword in his hand and gave a bitter smile.
"If you had wanted to live, I would have..."
The blade of the sword Samuel held began to glow white.
"I would have gladly offered even my soul."
* * *
Unable to stand alone, she took in knights.
The first knight chosen by the agent was the puppet of birth. He was a faithful servant of the gods who lived as the threads of fate led him, a devout sword.
The reason for choosing him was quite simple. It was a bold choice to declare war on the gods.
"How insubstantial these chains called threads of fate truly are!"
She obtained the strongest knight first, but in truth, she had not wanted him to stay by her side.
Originally, she intended to send the gathered knights throughout the world to fulfill their respective roles.
However, her strongest knight insisted on staying by her side.
The agent, who had initially refused, soon changed her mind.
No matter how much she wielded the goddess's authority, it was not easy to face the gathering followers of birth alone.
The first knight, once the puppet of birth, knew well how to deal with enemies and was skilled at it.
"No one can force the direction my sword tip takes. I will protect you."
The first knight's sword was wielded only for the agent.
So the agent always felt relieved whenever he drew his sword. She knew better than anyone that sword would never harm her.
* * *
"So now, are you trying to vent past frustrations?"
Instead of answering my light question, the sword's glow gradually intensified. It was Samuel's divine power, which I had seen several times.
As a man possessing the most powerful divine power in the temple, the energy was remarkable just from infusing it into his sword.
Xenon immediately deployed a protective barrier and subtly took my hand, pulling me toward him.
"If anything happens, I'll warp us."
Keeping his eyes on Samuel, Xenon whispered to me. I blinked, listening to his words, and whispered back.
"Xenon, are you going to lose?"
"Absolutely not!"
He jumped up, denying it, and looked at me with a wounded expression.
"How could you think I would lose...! I'm the next Tower Lord!"
Even hearing it again, the title didn't resonate with me at all.
However, regardless of my acknowledgment, the fact that he was the Tower Lord's disciple was true, so I decided to apologize for hastily judging his skills.
"No, I just wondered since you were preparing to run first."
"If Lord Anelli gets caught up in the fight? If we fall from this cliff, there won't even be bones left to collect."
Indeed, if a fight broke out, the situation was unfavorable in many ways. Xenon and I had our backs to the cliff, while Samuel had his back to the fortress.
Still, having a river below rather than rocky cliffs might increase our chances of survival?
"There's a river below the cliff."
"River or ocean, don't you know that falling wrong will snap your neck? One hit."
For me, whose severed neck had already reattached once, those words weren't particularly frightening.
But there was no need to add to timid Xenon's worries, so I quietly nodded.
"Right, I understand. But we won't fall."
"Of course! I won't let you fall!"
Xenon made unsolicited promises to hold me if I fell and absorb the impact himself.
Finding that rather endearing, I wanted to watch a bit longer, but I decided to tell him the truth.
"I mean you won't have to fight Sir Samuel."
I gently patted Xenon's back and turned my gaze to Samuel.
Samuel's sword was now glowing so white that the blade itself was barely visible.
Yet that sword did not feel threatening to me at all. Instinctively, I knew it was not a sword meant to harm me.
"Isn't that right, Sir Samuel?"
Even if that sword drank all the blood in the world, it would never taste mine.
* * *
The agent, originally a toy that had fulfilled its purpose, extended her life through the goddess's authority.
This meant that if, as the goddess willed, all authority disappeared from this world and only the natural order remained, the agent's life would naturally end as well.
Her soul was formed solely from death's authority, so originally, it had never existed.
While saving the twelve knights of the Round Table and traveling throughout the world, she wondered. These thoughts, this will, these actions, these emotions...
Were these truly her own?
Or were they the goddess's, having descended by borrowing her body?
Could the agent, a fragment of the goddess, be said to be identical to the goddess? If so, could she be said to 'exist'?
Could she truly be said to have escaped her position as a god's toy?
"Goddess, have pity on endless ennui!"
"Please, mercy, the end of glory!"
Was what they praised the freedom gained through death, or the goddess who is death?
As her doubts grew, the agent instinctively realized the danger. She sensed that the deeper she pondered, the more she would sink into a mire.
She didn't want to think. She wanted not to think, to focus only on performing her given duties.
"Thanks to you again, new people have been saved. Their lives will now be free from the threads of fate."
But perhaps that had already become impossible.
Facing the first knight who looked at her with trusting eyes, she realized.
"Someday when all duties end... I want to travel this world. Normally, without worrying about anything."
That she had begun, at some point, to dream of a life of her own.