Nishi stood facing her father, her eyes locked on his. She had prepared for this confrontation for months, but still felt the tremors of nervousness in her chest.

She knew that what she was about to say could change everything. And yet, she couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“Well, that explains things,” Nishi said, her voice laced with frustration. “After all my efforts, accomplishments, and experiences, I always feel that something is amiss.”

She paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. “I feel there’s a black hole, a great void, an emptiness in my soul. What I lack are the fatherly wisdom and motherly love.”

Nishi’s father, Yasuaki, looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, I did experience some motherly love. But when death took it away from me, you didn’t replace it with your love.” Nishi’s fists clenched at her sides as she spoke through gritted teeth. “That’s why I cannot truly love or be a true friend to someone else. Nobody taught me how. No matter how much I tried, I always ended up losing. In my career and my love life, I’m just an empty ghost in a shell. I never truly feel… alive.”

The room fell silent for a moment as Nishi’s words hung in the air. Yasuaki broke the silence with a sigh. “That’s where you’re wrong, daughter. Even without parents’ love, orphans can still live fully. That’s because they seek love, wisdom, and hope from other sources, either the divine one or in my case, the diabolical one.”

Nishi’s forehead creased in confusion as she looked at her father. “Ah, why didn’t I think of that? What a fool I’ve been!”

Yasuaki smiled, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Well, it’s not too late for us to correct that. Since the devil has brought you along with your friends here, why don’t you join me? That way, you can fill that void within you. We can work together, father and daughter to harness that infinity power, to be the living god and goddess in Terra Everna.”

Nishi fell silent for a while, her mind whirring with conflicting thoughts. Could her father offer her the love and guidance she craved? But then she remembered the pain, the lies, and the deceit that had driven them apart.

“I don’t want to be a goddess, but yes, I’ll join you, Father,” Nishi said, her voice shaking with uncertainty.

Her friends, who had been standing by silently until now, all spoke up in protest.

“No, Nishi! Don’t listen to him! He’s your father, but he has a serpent’s tongue!” Shiori exclaimed.

“I’d rather die stopping this madness than live eternally and be tortured in guilt,” Shingo added.

“Sorry, but I don’t receive absurd gifts from people, especially the ones who didn’t introduce themselves at the start,” Gale said.

Yasuaki chuckled at their reactions. “Oh? Where’s my courtesy? I must greet your friends too, Nishi-kun. My name is Yasuaki Abe, and I’m the Director and Head Scientist in this facility. Well, since you are all here, why don’t you join us too? And we’ll share infinity power and eternal life!”

Chiyo stepped forward, her expression serious. “Nice to meet you, Abe-san. But we still can’t accept your offer.”

“The reason being, like Shingo said to Jinbei earlier, the divine or diabolical infinite power can only be harnessed by forces of the same kind. If not, that infinite force will destroy its wielder and harnesser, and that’s a fact,” Mariko stated firmly. “But in reality, it will also destroy a great many things. This facility, the JMC, the whole of Daitoshi City, and more.”

Yasuaki had a different perspective. “With the infinite force in our hands, we can fix them all,” he said confidently.

Shingo was quick to point out the dangers of their plan. “What about the millions of lives lost during the process?” he asked.

“We’ll be almighty, so we’ll resurrect them all,” Yasuaki replied, his tone unwavering.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Shiori, however, was unconvinced. “You made it all sound easy and simple, but our answer is still no. It’s not that simple at all!” she said with conviction.

Shingo echoed her sentiments. “We’ll stop you and this madness. Even the Source won’t spare you just a spark of his force with that kind of thinking!” he declared.

Yasuaki, however, had a different solution in mind. “But the dark side of the force will!” he exclaimed. “Have you heard of the mythical legend of Mayadenava, the Demon of the Universe?”

Keiji chimed in, providing more details about the legend of Mayadenava. “Mayadenava was born from the swirling, concentrated accumulation of the dark energy from the Source’s negative thoughts and actions,” he said. “Mayadenava’s desire for a domain of his own drove him to conquer Terra Everna. As a start, he attacked the small, sacred island of Rainusa in the Antapada Region. Luckily, the Source countered by summoning two divine entities, Barong and Rangda. Together with the heroes, they finally sealed Mayadenava up and sent him back into chained position near the Black Hole.”

Mariko was taken aback by Yasuaki’s admission. “Don’t tell me you want to harness Mayadenava’s power, Yasuaki-san!” she exclaimed.

“It’s exactly Mayadenava’s infinite power we desire!” Yasuaki declared.

Chiyo was firm in her response. “All the more reason for us to stop you,” she said.

The response, however, was more casual than firm. “Well, you are welcome to try anytime, but our countermeasures will be… severe.”

The listeners posed their stances in response. So far, things went accordingly as predicted.

But Shiori had other questions in mind. “Oh, I just remembered. So it was your team who experimented on me and disabled my telepathic ability,” she said, recalling a painful memory. “And it was you who took me to your house to live with your daughter. But there’s one thing I must ask you. Did you abduct me and kill Miura Sensei… as Hannya?”

Yasuaki’s response was cryptic. “I didn’t intend to keep it secret forever when I ‘saved’ you from the human enhancement lab back then. However, if you want me to answer the last question, you must defeat me in a fight first,” he said.

Shiori was undaunted by the challenge. “No problem. Come, let’s attack him together, my friends!” she exclaimed, rallying her team.

But suddenly, Nishi appeared between Yasuaki and the infiltrators. “Over my dead body,” she declared, her eyes blazing with a fierce determination.

“Move aside, Nishi. You know your father is evil, yet you stand for him,” Shiori said, trying to reason with her friend. “I know you’re a righteous person, so I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I have chosen my path,” Nishi replied firmly. “It’s better for me to live a full life in darkness than living an empty life in the light. If you’re my friend, join me! If not, you’re my enemy, and I must destroy you!”

Shiori was taken aback by Nishi’s words. She couldn’t believe that her friend had become so brainwashed by her father’s evil ideology. She turned to Ryonoken for help, but he shook his head.

“It’s no use, Shiori. In this kind of situation, the only way is to beat her into her senses,” Ryonoken said.

Shingo, who was standing next to Ryonoken, added, “We’ll take care not to overdo it because, deep down, she is still your friend, Shio.”

Before Shiori could say anything, Yasuaki already conjured several enhanced human clones. The grotesque, zombie-like half-developed clones broke out from their incubators all around the room, so it appeared that they were surrounding Shiori’s team. Seeing that, Yasuaki gave the order to attack.

“Brace yourselves! Try not to hurt Nishi if you can!” Shiori shouted while unsheathing her katana, Mikazuki-Munechika.