Chapter 1962: I’m Back, Everyone |
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"..."
"..."
"..."
Michael, Camael, and Maria drifted through the silent emptiness of space.
They were too exhausted to move.
Maria let out a deep sigh of relief. It was finally over.
Yet as she looked at her companions, she saw Michael and Camael weeping, mourning the loss of their father and all five of their siblings. That final attack had delivered an irreversible death—even her authority could not bring them back. They were truly gone forever.
Across the ninety worlds nestled within Maria’s Cosmic Realm, the Great Beyond erupted with celebration. Trillions of beings cheered wildly, raising arms, paws, claws, tentacles, and every other limb they possessed. They shouted and wept with joy, embracing one another regardless of race or origin.
"Huh..."
A soft, genuine smile touched her lips.
This feeling... this profound relief.
It was almost frightening how light she felt.
"It’s truly over..."
Maria closed her eyes for a moment and gazed into the Great Beyond, the vast dimension within her. There, she saw her family celebrating, calling for her to return.
"Alright."
She nodded with a warm smile, then turned back to Michael and Camael.
"You two, come back. Where else would you go?"
"...Right."
"Let’s go."
The brothers supported each other as they flew toward her and stepped through the gate she opened before them.
At the same time, Maria surveyed the surrounding space.
"I made sure not to destroy any worlds with intelligent life... well, any with life at all if I could help it."
She sighed.
Even so, at least a hundred planets and dozens of stars had been annihilated in the colossal battle. She was still processing the sheer scale of it all.
"I need to rest..."
Maria reached out and grasped the Universe’s Roots, carefully anchoring the Great Beyond within them. The immense dimension began to merge with the universe, finally stabilizing.
"It’s better to leave it here than to—" She paused. "Hm?"
Deep within the dimensional layers she touched, Maria sensed countless others beneath. Extending a finger downward, she discovered another universe as vast as the one she currently occupied.
"I see... Not all worlds inside the tower belonged to the same universe."
She quickly realized the tower was actually a Multiversal Cosmic Relic of staggering size, existing across multiple dimensional layers simultaneously. It had plucked planets with intelligent, advanced, or even simply sentient life from countless realities.
"For now, it would be best to position the Great Beyond between the layers of many universes. That way it can absorb Cosmic Essence, grow stronger, and develop resources for everyone."
Maria nodded with quiet satisfaction and reinforced the Great Beyond’s dimensional walls to her utmost limit, creating an impenetrable barrier of over a billion layers.
"This should... Ugh... I’m too exhausted. Time to rest."
Feeling heavy with sleep, Maria shrank back to her original human size and entered the Great Beyond. Navigating the immense realm was challenging; countless worlds stretched out in every direction.
"Where is everyone? Yggdrasil...? Yeah..."
Yggdrasil stood at the heart of the Great Beyond, its rivers of Cosmic Essence flowing endlessly as it connected countless lands. Above it floated Seleneum like a second moon, while in the far distance, space twisted into an endless spiral of crimson flesh.
"Meat? Wait... Oh, that’s Floor 31—Corpusum..."
She had once tried to speak directly with the entity that formed this world but had only managed to strike a deal with its representatives—a noble family of beings shaped from the world’s own living flesh. They had fulfilled their role and returned home.
Even now, Maria wasn’t entirely sure what Corpusum truly was. It appeared as an endless mass of flesh, a living being whose form blended seamlessly with space and time, seemingly infinite.
Corpusum wasn’t the only world that defied understanding. In the distance, several light-years from Yggdrasil, Carnavalis continued expanding into an ever-growing carnival filled with clowns. The Bulkvoid was equally strange—an entrance into an endlessly repeating warehouse and supermarket where faceless workers moved as busily as ever.
And deeper still lay Hell, where the Seven Archdemons ruled over their seven layers beneath the rest of the Great Beyond.
All these realms now existed together. Some worlds had begun merging or intermixing, while the largest remained self-contained within their own dimensional pockets.
"It’s good enough for now," Maria murmured, "but I’ll need to find solutions for certain things later..."
She nodded and continued onward until she reached Yggdrasil—and then her town.
Friends from every corner of her Cosmic Soul Realm had already gathered. Festivities were in full swing; people ate, drank, danced, and sang with unrestrained joy.
As Maria descended, however, everyone fell silent for a moment, staring at her in awe.
"Hello, everyone... I’m back."
"MARIAAA!"
"WOOOHH!"
"OUR SAVIOR!"
"YOUR MAJESTY!"
"IT’S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU BACK!"
The cheers erupted like thunder. Maria giggled, cheeks flushed with embarrassment as their love for her seemed even stronger than before.
"Thank you, everyone. Without your help, none of this would have been possible..."
She floated gently toward her home, where her large family waited.
Her wives, her husbands, her children, her siblings, and her mother.
"Maria!" Lucifer called warmly. "You’re finally back!"
"Mamaaaaaa!" Nyx, despite being fully grown, flew straight into her mother’s arms and hugged her tightly, just as she had as a child.
"Heheh! Yes, I’m back!" Maria laughed softly. "It felt so quick, but that fight must have taken a while, right?"
"We helped as much as we could," Emeraldine said, "but the battle lasted around three years here." .
"...?!" Maria coughed in surprise. "What?! A-And everything was fine? Nothing went wrong?"
"Time dilation in the Great Beyond slowed this world’s time," Scarlet explained with a wide, radiant smile. "Only a few days passed for us. Now come here and give me a kiss!"
"Hahah! Okay, okay," Maria giggled, relaxing as she kissed Scarlet’s lips. "I love you."
"I love you too! I love you so much!" Scarlet hugged her fiercely, refusing to let go.
"Hey, Scarlet, don’t hog our wife all to yourself!" Nia said boldly, stepping in to embrace Maria and kiss her as well. "Well done, my love. Truly, well done!"
"You did it. You saved everyone," Emeraldine whispered, hugging her tightly. "I love you so much. I’m so glad you found me back then..."
"I’m so happyyyyy! It all ended so well!" Alma laughed brightly, almost unable to contain her joy. "Liam! Liam! We did it, my son!"
"Aw, girls, you’re all so wonderful! I love you all too!" Maria said, kissing each of them one by one.
"Maria, well done," Jonathan stepped forward with a warm, proud smile. "This is incredible... A true new beginning. The Tower is gone, and now we’re free to shape our own lives, unbound by fate."
"Indeed. Thank you," Lucifer added softly. "For finding me in that dungeon, for caring for me, and for loving me... I owe you everything, Maria."
"Aw, you two don’t have to get all emotional like that... Come here!" Maria pulled both husbands into a warm embrace and kissed them. "I love you both. And I’m so happy you’re finally getting along!"
"Hmph. Kind of..." Lucifer muttered, still a touch prideful.
"Hahah, he only acts like that in front of you," Jonathan chuckled, patting Lucifer’s shoulder. "Two years ago he called us sworn brothers."
"W-What?! I never said that, you stupid human!" Lucifer barked.
"Alright, alright. Just keep getting along, okay?" Maria giggled, patting both their shoulders.
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