Infinity in the Void – Freedom in the Abyss

""Open, Gate of Akasha!"", we both yelled at the same time.

"The Imprisoned Arsenal, Ouroboros Omniscia!!"

"The Blade of Duality, Muramasa's Perfection!!"

I summoned the coffin of infinite weaponry, and Sinclair chose the katana Mitsuki had before. What a funny coincidence.

"So you got it from the real me.", she smiled, testing out her katana, "Well, what can I say? I love myself too much~ it is the best toy in my collection."

I nodded, "It is indeed fun. So, how are we going to do this then?"

Fighting her would be a death sentence since she is an older version of me. She knows what I can do, and even more.

I have to lead her away from a direct confrontation. But...

"How would you change my mind?", she teased, "This Dungeon is quite messed up, making you fight a losing battle. So, as a handicap for me~ and another gift for you, Charlotte."

She threw away Muramasa's Perfection, and she dawned herself with a pair of jet-black thruster wings. Excalibur...

"I'll only be using the Black Wings of Glory, Excalibur. And your objective is to catch me by any means necessary."

"Fine.", this is better than nothing, but knowing her... knowing me, it won't be that simple.

"Here is a tip.", she snapped her finger at me, "I can feel The Golden Order's influence in you, so this should be easier. You can fuse temporary two parts of the Akashic Records together for another power."

"What?", I was surprised.

"Yeah, that's the right reaction.", she nodded to herself, "the Eight Points of Akashic doesn't simply stop there, it is a whoooole spectrum. I discovered this, like, ten years after I wiped out all life on Earth."

Right, she solo'ed the entirety of Earth, that doesn't just include humanity... she fought Eldritch Gods...

"So, how do I do that?"

"Now now~ I did say I'll give you a tip.", she wiggled her finger at me, "But it would be more fun if you find it for yourself, right?"

I smiled a bit, "Yeah, you are right."

Shame, but I guess I need to keep myself busy.

"Oh, and before we start, try entering the Konami code into Ouroboros Omniscia."

The Konami code... I opened the console, yes, it has one in the back.

"How much utility did you put into this thing?", I asked as I opened up the controller scheme.

"I am tempted to answer 'yes', but I'll say everything.", she mused, getting over here to watch me.

I just rolled my eyes. Her humor is my humor, not my type of humor no, so she isn't that funny to me.

"It is kinda weird.", I spoke up while still switching to the controller... the UI is a bitch.

"What is weird?", Sinclair asked.

"We tried to murder each other just a bit ago, and now we are talking like we are friends.", we are not friends.

"True.", she shrugged, "We just don't give much of a fuck."

I nodded in agreement, "Anyway, why the Konami code?"

I took out the controller and started to enter the Konami code.

"Because everyone does it.", then she added, "Oh, and please remember, the missile launchers can overheat and that will temporarily shut down the coffin. That happened when I was carpet bombing the Slavic region."

"[Neurolink Mode: Online]", it spewed out a bracelet, which I took and wore on my left wrist.

"Huh, neat.", this let me connect to Ouroboros Omniscia without the need to push the buttons or voice command.

"Right?", Sinclair beamed, "This was very fun to make! Probably my proudest creation after Lust Breaker."

"Lust Breaker?", I because curious. I don't think there was ever a Relic like that.

"Yup, this baby right here!", and from her Gate of Akasha, she pulled out... a vial containing some sort of pink liquid.

She let out a sadistic chuckle, "This is the thing that destroyed most of Asia, Lust Breaker, or Liquid Apathy as some call it. I managed to reverse-engineer Euphoric Crystals, instead of making people go crazy from all the drugs, it reduces all motivation to zero, basically turning people into glorified plants!!"

Even I, a sadist, was horrified. To reduce humans to plants... that is evil, but not outright kill them? Giving some people hope to cure it? That is downright atrocious.

"...Why go that far?", I asked quietly.

"Because, Charlotte~", she let her Akasha consume the vial, "I went mad! I was a psycho!! All thanks to Romulus~ I can't defeat the others due to not having the last fragment! Desire? I got it after grave robbing Gilgamesh, but the problem is the half Romulus had!! Compared to the others, I cannot kill an endless tide of beasts fast enough or last long enough against an army of golems!!! Hahaha~! I needed to destroy Romulus!! I needed to bring ruination!! Reducing what HIS empire left behind!! To reduce his bullshit barrier low enough to reach him!!"

That was... something.

Sinclair took in a deep breath, then she was back to normal, "Sorry about my tangent. Hah, having breakdowns with someone around is very therapeutic. You should try that sometimes."

I chuckled, this is more fun than I thought, ignoring the world made of corpses that is, "Nah, I don't think I'm at the age of getting depression. Also, this is more of self-therapy."

"I guess you are right! Haha!!"

As she was still laughing, I used Desire to thrust my knife—

—Only to get blasted by six jet thrusters"I was waiting for that!!", Sinclair laughed, clapping her hands.

"Tch.", I threw Ouroboros Omniscia aside. Those thrusters would've burned my face off.

I definitely don't need another scar.

Yeah... dealing with myself is very difficult. My knife almost reached her due to Desire... but she was fast enough to dodge point-blank attack.

And even then... I felt something distorting the space around her.

"You are wondering the weird distortion you felt, right?", she chuckled, "Well, I won't say anything~ as I don't want to spoil your growth!"

Then why the fuck did you mention it in the first place?!

"Oh well, I'll turn it off...", she looks around with a confused look on her face, "Shit... I don't know how to turn this off..."

While she was doing her own thing, I fired a barrage of missiles, keeping it running... mixed in some Justice.

And that bitch just dances in the sky, somehow avoiding the rain of weapons and missiles. And the missiles are homing ones!!

I know I am overpowered, but Sinclair is a whole other monster!! She is me!!!

Hah...

"Reverie."

"Oh? You are consuming the corpses? That is a fun way to bolster your gauge!!"

While Sinclair was distracted by the missiles...

"I am Charlotte Silvi."

From my gem, Reverie began to leak out, joining the pool underneath.

"Ruler of the world."

Inky black hands began to reach out and grab onto me... slowly dyeing my outfit black.

"Ooh, that is an interesting take on Reverie.", Sinclair commented.

Shut up...

"Souls of the Void, Spirits of Infinity."

The hands consumed me, covering me in darkness.

"The Bottomless Pool of Dreams and Aspirations, where all Ambition comes forth."

I blasted them away, now with my outfit completely black. My hair was dyed to an ebony color, and my eyes reflected the infinite possibilities of humanity— clear white like crystals. Well, this is new.

"The Wonders of Humanity are Beautiful..."

The Reverie floating around condensed, flowing with the wind into a scarf similar to Sinclair's.

"Scarfs are always the best!", she exclaimed. To which I nodded in agreement.

"Just as they are Horrific."

Then a silver book formed, floating around me.

"This is my Reverie."

I stopped the barrage of missiles because Sinclair didn't get touched ONCE!! This should be numerically impossible, and I have a source!!

"What can that book do?", Sinclair landed in front of me, like, directly in front, not even half a step away.

"Oh, I can summon anything made by humanity. Like nukes.", I smiled, "Can you survive a nuke?"

"Not sure, but I outran one before.", she shrugged.

Damn...

"So how does it work?", she continues.

"I just entered the Keyword...", I grabbed the book and opened it, "Like God Slayer."

The words were registered into the book...

"I can summon as much as I want to a certain extent.", after my soul was condensed... Reverie lost its time limit but was replaced with another limit.

That limit? I can only summon up to eight hundred and eighty-eight items in a day.

"Or... I could do this. Additional Keyword: Sure Hit.", electricity began to crackle, escaping from the book.

And then I threw the book at Sinclair—

Bonk!

The book hit Sinclair in the back of her head, since it teleported.

"Huh?", even she was surprised by it.

Me too. I honestly didn't think it would work. I know I am bullshit, she is even more bullshit. This is pretty anticlimactic.

"The alternative to summoning is that I can imbue the book with the maximum amount that contains the Keywords."

We just stare at each other for a while.

...

Pfft!

""Hahahahahaha!!""

We both burst out laughing!!

"You should've seen your face!!", I started first!

"Yeah! It must've been pretty dumb!! Hahahaha!! I thought I was prepared, but I am unpredictable!!", she continued to laugh!

"I didn't even think it would work!! The next thing I was going to try was Malice's AoE!"

"Oh? Mine is a single target, so how wide is your AoE?", Sinclair seemed to have calmed down.

"Well, I don't know. I've been limiting myself a lot with Malice so...", I smiled.

She too smiled.

""Let's test it out!!"", we shouted at the same time.

"I am Charlotte Silvi, Master of Mankind.", wisps of blue flame awaken around me.

"Ooh... these are pretty cool!", and yet she is casually touching them.

"Souls of the Void, Spirits of Infinity."

They burst into pyres, consuming me.

"Ember of Ambition alight, Consume all in my Path of Glory."

My hair lit on fire, trailing down with blue wisps.

"The Origin of Evil and Destruction."

My eyes turned a clear silver, ignited with the blue flame of evil lit in my pupils. Accompanied by sparks of electricities. And I can feel the flame expanding.

I can feel my mind becoming... elated, letting the hatred and fury flow through my body.

"The Inferno of Human Passion! Blazing the Trail for all to follow!!"

The corpses underneath me began to burn up, sinking me down to... the dirt floor. Huh... so it isn't just corpses.

Not that I care, besides the pungent smell that was burning away.

"Huh, never thought I would see the ground again.", Sinclair quipped, "And I guess I might as well show you mine."

"I am the Trailblazer of Evil and Destruction!! Ignite, my Passion to bring Ruination!! Let this Encore be your Finality!!"

And she burst into flame— nothing changed...

Hah... anyway.

"This is my Style of Wickedness!!", and finally, I dawned a burning blue capelet on my left shoulder.

"This looks fire! Pun intended.", Sinclair giggles.

I just rolled my eyes, "Nothing changed about you though.", I pointed out.

"Yeah, I'm at the stage where I don't feel the need to change my form. Since I have no more audience~", she shrugged with a chuckle.

I have to admit, Sinclair is really creative in how many ways she can say she destroyed the world.

"I'm like Ultimate Ben 10k!"

"Who?", I asked.

She just stare at me, "Damn, did 9/11 caused Ben 10 to not exist? There goes my favorite cartoon."

After sighing at the unfortunate loss of her favorite cartoon, she smiled, "Now, how do we go about this then?"

"Escalation Level Zero: Beat of Hatred.", the blue flame instantly erupted around me.

"Oh, this is pretty hot.", Sinclair commented, brushing some flame off of her body.

"Escalation Level One: Melody of Destruction."

The flame instantly expanded, covering up to eight kilometers... damn, I would've destroyed the academy if I wasn't holding back.

"Escalation Level Two: Path of Ruination."

Oh damn, fifty kilometers. That is quite an upscale

"Escalation Level Three: Dance of Annihilation."

By now, it is over a hundred kilometers... yeah, I am basically a nuke at this point.

"Escalation Level Four: Encore of Entropy."

Yeah... the magnitude is now outside of my calculation range.

"From this point onward, I can't expand more, just amplify the effects of my flame."

Meanwhile, Sinclair was flying above me, looking around.

"Yeah! I thought my Inner World would always be littered with corpses! The grey dirt is a bit bland though, mais c'est bien~", she danced around in joy. Yeah, leave her be.

"Can you show me what yours look like?", I asked her.

"Of course!!", she then aimed her finger gun at somewhere far away, "Escalation Level Zero: Beat It!"

And a tiny beam of red plasma shot out of her fingertip. Well, that was underwhelming—

BOOOOMMM!!!

Damn, she just shot a nuke from her fingertip, my hat almost flew off from the shockwave. I am currently not fast enough to outrun a nuke.

Since after looking at myself... yeah, I have basically zero defense. I'm a high-quality Glass Cannon.

"Before you ask.", she landed in front of me, "Yes, all of my Escalations are named after songs. I might get copyrighted by some sort of interdimensional monster if I say any more."

"Anyway! I think we had enough fun~", she clapped her hands, dispelling my Malice.

"What the fuck?"

"We are the same person, I know how to end your performance~", Sinclair booped my nose, "I just clap and at the right distance and frequency, it triggers something within your brain!"

Hah... I can't with this woman.

"Oh, there it is.", Sinclair floats behind me to get her katana.

"Have anything to say to me?", she smiled as she picked up the katana, placing it on her neck.

"No, not really...", I was silent for a moment, "Just... keep on watching me, Sinclair."

I smiled back. We nodded at each other.

"Adieu, Charlotte!", and she sliced her own head off.

Well, that was horrifying, to say the least. Seeing myself cutting off my own head... not sure how to feel.

And with her suicide, the world around me crumbled... now I was back in an empty room made of marble bricks.

Oh, the blue screen popped up.

Huh, another title. I don't have any comment about it, just that... it is pretty self-explanatory. And Romulus really had Plot Armor! What the fuck?!

But in the end, I had fun, Sinclair is fun. I still hate her though.

Continuing on from this room, I found myself facing an obstacle course...

Sawblades, spikes, hidden traps...

But most of all...

I can feel, Romulus is on the other side of this tunnel. He is in my reach...

"In the Name of Humanity.", I chanted, awakening Quirinus.

Getting into position, I was ready to throw the lance.

"Carve the way!! For the Future of Humanity!!!"

ZOOOM—!!

I sent the spear flying at supersonic speed, destroying the traps that got in the spiraling spear's way— and it left in the air crackles of energy, white sparks remaining still.

I've been thinking for a while about what I should call Desire's power. I can't just call it time skip, it is too uncouth for me... and so, this is...

"Manifest Destiny!"

And I zipped across the tunnel, following the traces of electricity. Thus avoiding all the traps laid for me.

I grabbed Quirinus, feeling its tendrils binding to my arm once again...

Clank!!

And I clashed against Romulus inside his throne room, that bastard...

No...

There is something wrong here. The sword he held in his hand—

He pushed me away, forcing me to rebalance myself.

That golden sword shining like a torch that lit up the night... it's...

"Welcome, Silver Princess of Humanity.", he smiled, fluttering his glossy bronze hair, and he spoke in a tone full of authority, in absolution, "I, The Progenitor of Civilization, Romulus the Son of Mars, challenge you to a last stand."