"So, that's how things turned out. Do your best."
...What is?
Hey, what do you mean, "that's how things turned out"!?
Can you blame me for spacing out when we're in the middle of a battle?!
I mean, D suddenly started talking inside my head while I was in the middle of brawling with Black!
And what they had to say was absolutely insane.
Wait — install Taboo on all of humanity?
Wait — by praying, they can send power to me or Black?
Wait — a clash of ideology between the Demon King and the Pope?
...What the hell is all that?!
How did things end up like this while we were struggling through a fight?!
No wait, the cause is actually pretty clear!
D, it's you, isn't it!
What kind of stuff did you pull while we were away!
Unbelievable.
If you're going to call yourself an outsider, then stay an observer until the end!
You're clearly interfering up to your elbows...
In the face of this outrageous situation, even Black has stopped moving.
It's a chance to attack, but I feel like holding my head in my hands too, so let's call it a temporary ceasefire for now.
"I imagine this isn't easy to accept right away, so I'll take questions."
Maybe because both Black and I had frozen, D showed a sliver of kindness.
I really wished they'd use that kindness toward keeping things simple instead.
"You distributed Taboo to all of humanity — is that what you're saying?"
"Yes."
Ah, Black is holding their head in their hands.
Can't blame them for that.
Even I found it pretty hard to deal with mentally — by now, the surface must be an utter hellscape of suffering, right?
"Taboo is technically a Skill, but where exactly did the energy for this come from?"
Ah!
Now that you mention it, yeah!
Taboo is a type of Skill, so it should contain a corresponding amount of energy.
Distributing it to all of humanity should require an enormous amount of energy.
You shouldn't use up the energy remaining in this world for something like that!
"Rest assured. That energy came out of my own pocket."
Huh.
At least that's a relief.
...Relief?
Out of your pocket?
That D, spending energy, deliberately, for this world's sake?
"Though I suppose you could say it was originally energy from this world to begin with."
As if to clear up my doubts, D drops a bombshell.
Originally this world's energy?
Where on earth did that energy come from?
"The explosion that gave rise to the Reincarnated."
...I knew it — can they read my thoughts or what?
They used to say that me becoming a god meant they couldn't read my thoughts anymore, but...
Well, whatever.
More importantly, let's talk about where this energy came from.
The explosion that created the Reincarnated — that must be the one that happened in the classroom on Earth.
The one the Hero before last and the Demon King before last supposedly caused.
Because of it, this world's energy took a massive hit, and the Reincarnated who got caught in the crossfire ended up reincarnating in this world.
But that was an attack launched to kill D — or rather, the Administrator.
Wasn't all the energy consumed for that attack?
"Doesn't it seem strange that an attack meant to kill a god, the Administrator, had only enough power to blow up a single classroom?"
...Now that you mention it.
An attack to kill a god — to kill the Administrator.
And it only had enough power to blow up a single classroom — something about that doesn't add up.
With that kind of power, it couldn't even kill an Araba-class dragon, let alone a god.
And yet, that attack caused a massive decrease in the energy stored in this world.
The power of the attack and the amount of energy consumed don't proportionally match.
"In other words, I collected and stored the surplus energy."
Ah, Black swayed on their feet.
Can't blame them for feeling a little dizzy.
The attack on D that the Hero before last and the Demon King before last pulled off.
It was originally supposed to hit Black, but the goddess
Black seemed to carry a tremendous amount of guilt over that.
So hearing that D had been quietly collecting that energy — it's no wonder they'd be shaken up.
But this is actually fantastic news.
It's probably not all of it, but even having part of the lost energy return to this world is something.
...I'll just close my eyes to the fact that it's become Taboo.
At that moment, Black suddenly noticed something.
"Wait! You said all of humanity!? If the system collapses in this state, what happens to humanity!? Taboo is also a Skill, isn't it!?"
Ah.
Oh yeah, that's right.
Taboo is a Skill too.
When the system collapses, Skills get ripped out of every living creature in this world — not just humanity.
We'd calculated that the shock of that would kill roughly half of humanity.
If it were just death, that would be one thing, but some would likely suffer soul collapse too.
And the more Skills you have, the higher the chance of dying.
Since Taboo is a Skill, having it stacked on top means...
"Naturally, more people will die."
Right?!
Ah, Black has dropped to their knees.
...Yeah, well, uh, stay strong.
"There's no need to worry — you just need to win and prevent the system from collapsing."
Wait.
That basically means I have to win, but it also implies that if I lose...
If you say stuff like that, Black is going to go all out!
"Ah, right, right. Even if you win, I won't seek revenge, so rest assured."
Black abruptly raises their head.
"But you said you would never forgive anyone who harmed your kin."
"I did say I would make her my kin, but we haven't formally entered into a covenant yet. In other words, she's been promised the position of kin, but she isn't one yet."
Uh, hmm.
Well, I suppose that's true.
There's no bond between D and me yet.
"If you perish here, then so be it. It simply means you were unable to become my kin."
That's infuriating!
...You know what?
I feel the same way, you know? It's not like I want to become D's kin or anything? Absolutely not? Definitely not! I don't, but when you say it like that? It just? Pisses me off?!
Fuh, fufufu.
Well, look at you talking like that.
Fahahaha...
Conclusion: I absolutely cannot lose.
We both now have even more reasons not to lose.
I square off against Black once more.
"My concerns about what lies behind me have been eliminated. I bear no personal grudge — if anything, I have more to be thankful for. But still, I must defeat you."
In response to Black's renewed declaration, I wordlessly beckon them to come.
"Here I go!"
And so, we resumed our battle.
"Do entertain me."
...While being watched by an evil god spectator.
This is so awkward!