Three updates today. Three chapters.
The final chapter.
"So? Did it turn out satisfactory?"
"Yes, well. I'd call it a passing grade, at least."
A garden in full bloom, flowers strutting their beauty in every direction.
Seated at a table at its center, two women were enjoying a tea party.
One was the Evil God D.
The other was a woman in a maid uniform, as poised and refined as a proper Yamato Nadeshiko.
"And so the world was saved by the self-sacrifice of a single deity. A happy ending, indeed."
"There are still the scars of war, but by and large, it's a happy ending, yes?"
"I'd say so."
"Even so—if it was possible to sustain both the world and humanity all along, shouldn't they have done that from the start? It's practically the same as starting the war for nothing."
"Ah, that wasn't possible."
"How so?"
"First, as a baseline condition: before the war, there wasn't enough energy. To sustain both, they needed to replenate the shortfall from somewhere. That's why they drove the war's casualties and the Black Dragon Gyuedieisutodiesu to their absolute limits, wringing every last drop of energy out of them."
"Oh, I see."
"And because both armies fought like their lives depended on it—thanks to the war—their Skills and Statuses grew in the process. Which meant the energy that could be harvested afterward exploded in kind."
"Mmm. But originally, wasn't the plan to proceed quietly without starting a war?"
"I think either way would have worked. For That, saving the planet and saving humanity both ultimately served the Demon King
"So she would've been fine even if she'd gone ahead quietly and half of humanity ended up dead."
"I suppose. That would've been less interesting for me, though, so I intervened."
"You and your terrible taste, as always."
"How cruel—calling me, the kindhearted soul who let Demon King Ariel say a proper farewell to Goddess
"Ah, that was a nice touch. Demon King Ariel must have felt rewarded by that."
"Goddess Sariel was fated to die the moment the system released her. After supporting the system all that time, a farewell greeting seemed like a fair parting gift."
"Your idea of recompense is one sentence to Demon King Ariel and one sentence to the Black Dragon Gyuedieisutodiesu, each? Couldn't you have given them a little more without consequence?"
"It's precisely because it was one sentence that something was conveyed."
"Is that how it works?"
"Anyway, the story of that world has reached its conclusion. It was entertaining enough."
"Told you it was in bad taste. That world still has a rough road ahead, doesn't it?"
"Of course it does. Humanity has to find a way to survive in a world where Skills and Statuses have suddenly vanished. What awaits them is an era of upheaval."
"And into that era of upheaval, the reincarnators are thrown."
"That's life for you. You never know what'll happen. They could push through the chaos and make something of themselves, or they could fade into obscurity. They could fall along the way. Each of them will walk their own path."
"So hands-off."
"Until now, they'd been living under That's protection—essentially playing on easy mode. Between their previous lives and this one, they're well past thirty, so they'd better handle their own affairs. I'd find it boring otherwise."
"Now *that's* the real reason, isn't it?"
"Of course."
"Well, in any case, thanks to That, the reincarnators have been left with their energy intact. They're certainly worse off than when they had Skills, but they're still stronger than the average person. That's undeniable."
"Yes. Unfortunately, Yamada used up all his mercy and probably won't have any more chances to shine. But I have expectations for the other reincarnators. They should keep entertaining me going forward."
"Will any of them actually meet your standards?"
"At the very least, I have high hopes for Sofia—she was the sole survivor on That's side. Something tells me she'll make things happen down the line."
"…Fair enough."
"That said, the big event is over. I don't intend to watch as closely as before."
"You won't have time for that anyway. Get back to work."
"…Yes."
"A little peek during breaks like this, I'll allow."
"…Yes."
"Now then—what are we going to do about this? Like I said, we don't have time to dote on things."
The woman in the maid uniform rapped her knuckles against the bug cage.
"Well, I'll hand it off to some suitable subordinate. It'd be a nightmare trying to recover its power after being weakened this much. I can't exactly keep it under constant watch."
"A reasonable decision."
"So—understood, Shiroi?"
Understood, my butt!
How did I end up trapped inside a bug cage?!
Yes—this bug cage, so utterly out of place at a tea party, is where I currently reside.
In the form of a tiny spider, small enough to sit on a fingertip!
When I collapsed the system, I was actually still alive.
Wringing out every last bit of energy wasn't a lie.
Except it was only the energy in this mini-body's split form!
I'd already spent everything else on the other split bodies, so every single one except this mini-body is truly gone.
And the energy residing in this tiny form is proportionally minuscule.
If someone flicked it with a finger, it would simply go *pop* and that'd be the end of me.
But that's precisely what works in my favor!
Because if I went this far, even D would be convinced I was dead!
Yes—I executed the fake-death strategy.
In that battle, I drained my energy to the absolute limit, making it look like I'd collapsed from exhaustion.
I really did drain everything, and thanks to the unexpected development of my main body getting taken out by Yamada, I genuinely nearly died.
But that actually made the whole thing more convincing, didn't it?
A pathetic little spider like this? Even D couldn't possibly figure out that I was faking death!
…That's what I thought. So why—*why*—am I trapped in a bug cage?!
How…? Why…?
"Oh, please. Did you really think I'd let a fascinating existence like you slip away just because you pretended to be dead?"
Eek!?
Something about that was genuinely terrifying.
And as if to prove it, the woman in the maid uniform was looking at me with pity in her eyes!
"We'll be spending a long time together from now on, so let's get along, won't we, little spider?"
H-h-ha… haa…
I faked my death precisely *because* I was terrified of this exact outcome…
It looks like my ordeal has only just begun.
Guh! But I won't give up!
Someday, I'll escape those clutches!
And for that, I need to regain my strength first!
No—I need to recover the power I lost!
My adventure starts now!