"The time has come." Flann suddenly announces when I make my way to my room with Hestia. The daughter of Mithra follows me everywhere and never seems to sleep, so I haven't been paying much attention to her presence lately. That's why her speaking up without being talked to startles me.
"What?" I turn to look at her, to find that her eyes have become windows to space. They show a myriad of stars as if giving a glimpse into another universe. "Woah!"
I'm so surprised that I nearly drop Senka. Hestia raises a hand and wordlessly summons a black spirit spear, ready to shoot Flann if she makes any wrong moves. It doesn't seem like an overreaction after everything we've gone through, and the only reason I haven't done the same is that I'd instead go with swallowing her whole than leave any room for error.
"Thank you for your hard work." The androgynous blonde girl seems to be possessed by someone else, as she shows a genuinely grateful expression. She then turns toward the window, and I follow her gaze directed at the full moon illuminating the night sky. "Now, it is time for the endgame."
On the moon's surface, a gigantic thirteen is written in red Arabic numbers - something that hasn't been used since the time of the Old Humans. There can be only one explanation for this; the Crawling Chaos disguised as Juzual has decided that with most of the false gods dead and Zenlith rendered powerless, her time to make a move has come. And the number is definitely a countdown to something.
"And what is that endgame?" I ask Flann, guessing that Chaos-Juzual is possessing her somehow.
"To put an end to this whole farce." Turning back to me, the blonde replies coldly, all the glee she showed moments ago gone as if blown away. "The moon will crash into this world, and not even Exla will be able to do anything about it."
So that's what the number is about; it's showing the number of days until the moon is going to collide with Earth. And I don't need to have seen any of those disaster movies to know that the result will be the complete annihilation of all life on the planet. Depending on impact velocity, it may even shatter both celestial bodies.
"... ok?" The whole planet exploding is something straight out of science fiction, but it has never made me feel anything when I saw those scenes in movies either; the threat is real, but it doesn't register. I guess it's easy to lose sight of things when the scale is too grand. Threaten my girls or my people directly, and it would be a whole different matter. "Umm... any way to talk you out of doing this?"
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"Do you even know who you are talking to?" Suddenly, Chaos-Juzual-Flann's tone changes into a more casual one, even coming across as slightly sassy. "I am the Witch of the End. My purpose is to bring an end to everything."
"And here I thought you were a Crawling Chaos." I tilt my head and reveal that I'm aware of the truth.
"So, you knew." Growing serious again, Chaos-Juzual-Flann looks up at me with a calm expression. "Well, our interests just happened to align."
"Why is it that when a Crawling Chaos wants to commit suicide, they have to take everyone else with them? Can't you do it silently and alone?" The latter is a rhetorical question, but the former is a serious one that I feel quite exasperated about. Mataku's goal in life seems to be the exact same thing, though his scale pales in comparison to this moon-dropping plan.
"Because life is meaningless, but nobody wants to die alone." Comes the reply almost immediately.
"Edgy." Senka shoots this comment off without even a second of delay.
"Yeah, what she said." I agree with a sigh. "Well, thank you for telling me in advance. I'll definitely do something about it."
"I look forward to seeing you try and fail." Chaos-Juzual-Flann replies, a sinister smile creeping onto her face.
"That expression unexpectedly suits Flann. It's pretty sexy." I point at the blonde girl, getting a nod of agreement out of Senka and Hestia. Even though I prefer to be the one on the attack, that face is one I could fall for as well. I feel compelled to do something to her after this. "Anyway, are you done?"
The possessed girl blinks her eyes in confusion, unable to grasp why none of us seem at all concerned about the impending doom of this whole planet. Then she shakes her head as if having come to a conclusion.
"I see that you have already made peace with yourself." It was the wrong conclusion. But what more can I expect from a person who seems to be an edgy teen?
"Yeah yeah. Can we have Flann back now, please?" I don't particularly need to talk to her right now - except to ask her to show me some more emotions after seeing her like this - but I think there's no more point in talking to Chaos-Juzual at this stage. She has made the first move; now it's time for us to make ours.
"See you all in thirteen hours, then - if we are all lucky and can wave to each other before the collision." With these last words, the windows to another galaxy retreat into Flann's pupils and disappear, upon which the blonde girl looks up at me in surprise.
"Is something the matter?" She asks, apparently unaware of the mental takeover just now.
"Hey... did she say thirteen hours?" I exchange an uneasy look with Senka and Hestia.