(MC POV)
"MASTER!!!"
Nine figures leapt out of the hole and immediately latched themselves on me.
I frowned, it's been a long while since I actually came into contact with anyone. In fact, I don't even allow that to happen anymore.
By all accounts, I should have just swatted these nine people away from me, but yet I hesitated for some reason.
Who are they?
The girl with the golden hair in front of me looked up, "Master, let's go home."
Why is she calling me 'Master'? Who are these people? Why do her eyes…
Memories of a time long forgotten came rushing back to me.
Memories of when I once loved and was loved, when things were so much brighter and filled with meaning flashed past my vision.
I gasped, "Lian… Lian LI?"
"Master!" She cried again, burrowing her face in my chest.
That prompted the rest to jump in too, even Brendan had joined the group hug.
How stupid, I almost thought all of this was meaningless, how could I have disregarded all their feelings for me like that?
I can't believe I almost threw all that away just because of such a short time in isolation, what a blunder.
At that moment, I recalled everything that had happened within this alternate world, including the ones that I was 'instructed' to forget. To think that I was tricked into believing everything that had happened here…
"How did you find me?" I asked them.
"The potions," Brendan explained. "It allowed us to track the real Master even after more fakes appeared to misdirect us."
"Fakes?"
Tsuki nodded, "Whoever was keeping us here kept creating fake Aniues who kept trying to distract us. Sometimes they would even bring you over for a short while before replacing you with a fake one to make us think we got you."
Ah, that explains why they sometimes acted differently than normal.
Whoever kept me here must also have been using them as references to create fake versions of my disciples to keep me here.
But I know that this is finally real.
I hugged my disciples back, basking in the warmth of our group hug.
And like any scenario where such a heartwarming scene was involved, someone just had to interrupt it.
"YOU TRASSSHHH!!"
All of us turned towards the direction of the shrieking.
And there, floating in the endless expanse of space and staring at us with eyes filled with hatred, was none other than Takeda himself.
Holy shit, this guy's still alive?
"YOU TRASSSSH!!!!" He shrieked again, pointing a finger at… Eh? He's not pointing at me but my disciples? I thought he was utterly infatuated with them and despised me or something?
We watched on as his hands began to burn, except those flames were iridescent in colour.
"For so long I've tried! I've tried and tried and tried and tried!! So many FAILURES!!! And I was so CLOSE!!! I WAS SO CLOSE!!! YOU BUNCH OF TRASH JUST HAD TO COME RUIN IT!!!!"
His rage leaked out a shockwave of pure power that rippled across the universe.
My disciples paled and even I wasn't unaffected.
The power that hit us felt like death, no, it felt like you were reaching the end of your life and there's nothing you can do to prevent it.
It reminded me of watching the people I knew die.
I immediately got in front of my disciples, shielding them from the deranged boy.
The flames on his body had travelled to his shoulders now, slowly consuming even more of him as he raged on.
Takeda continued his tirade, "Year after year! Centuries after centuries! Millenia after millenia! An incarnation after an incarnation!! I've been through all of them to get to this very moment!! How dare you pieces of TRASH RUIN EVERYTHING!!"
I reached out my hand, "Takeda-san, could you please calm down a little?"
The boy looked taken aback by my words before looking down at himself.
He sighed, "Ara? Ah… Of course. I did not realise I was still in this detestable form…"
The flames consumed him fully before dispersing, revealing a person who was… Me?
No, it looked like the female version of myself except that her hair was completely white with two pairs of horns jutting out from the sides of her head. Not to mention the fact that her eyes were iridescent too.
She was wearing what I recognised to be a traditional Japanese Miko attire, though it was accompanied by a pair of golden earrings dangling on each ear.
Even though she was wearing a garb that revealed almost no skin, she looked like someone had taken everything perfect in the universe and molded them together to form a person.
In other words, she was a perfect beauty.
Tsuki gasped, "You! I remember now! I met you before I met that stupid god! You planted something in me and made me forget about it You! You… You… You're beautiful…"
Err… That was unexpected… I mean I do admit she truly is beautiful but it seems like she had all my disciples charmed now.
And it's not like she's using any brainwashing Techniques, she really was just that beautiful.
The woman ignored Tsuki and turned to me, "You were so close… This close to perfection and you let yourself stray… No, this can still be salvaged… Accept that everything is meaningless and pointless, that everything possesses the same value, become who you truly are!"
I frowned, "You're asking me to give up everything that I am?"
"No, I am asking you to accept who you truly are."
"That's not who I am. This, right now, is me. And I won't give it up for anything else."
She frowned, "They are momentary distractions, nothing more. As evidenced by your mentality when they left you."
"Then I'll let them stay with me till the end of time."
The woman shook her head, "They won't be here forever."
"As long as I exist, they will."
I could tell my words irritated her by how her jaw clenched.
She shook her head, "It seems like another reset is in order… This time, I will not fail. I will need you to disappear again..."
She stretched out her hand to me and my instincts told me I was about to die.
Before anything could happen though, a bolt of Divine Lightning was shot from behind me and blasted her in the face.
The attack did absolutely nothing to her but she turned her attention to Lian Li who stood beside me.
"Insolent cur… You dare?"
"You will not take Master away from us, not again. We're done of your stupid tricks," Lian Li declared defiantly.
The woman's eyes glowed, "You do not know who you are dealing with."
Lian Li growled, "I am my Master's first disciple. My place is with my Master and nowhere else. If you wish to take him from us, you will have to get through me first."
Manami floated up beside her, her tails outstretched and tensed, "Ara, ara? Don't forget about me. As Master's fated mate, there's no way I'll let some hussy take Master away from us."
Eris came up on my other side, her sword drawn, "Same goes for us! We ain't letting you do what you want with Master! You'll have to do it over our dead body!"
Diao Chan appeared beside the swordswoman, "I agree. Who do you think you are to decide what Master should or should not do? Master is the master of His own fate!"
Brendan sighed and floated forward as well, "I, of course, won't allow anyone to do whatever they want with the Master I hold so much respect for, even if I have to forfeit my life to prevent it."
Kiyomi made her way to her sister's side, "Master is the absolute of this Universe, someone like you isn't fit enough to demand anything from Him."
Elaria was the next to step forward, not even bothered that she's currently floating in the vacuum of space right now, "Onii-sama is not yours to own! How dare you even presume to decide what Onii-sama wants for him?!"
Tsuki joined her side as well, "That's right. I still have to pay you back for the audacity of using me against Aniue! Pretty or not, we all know your heart is as black as it can be!"
If the woman in front of us was surprised by my disciples' defiance, she did not show it.
"Are you all determined to go against me no matter what?" she asked.
"OF COURSE!" All of them answered in unison.
She scowled before snapping her fingers.
In an instant, I found myself unable to move or talk, my entire body seizing up as though frozen solid.
My disciples cried out in worry, all of them moving to try and save me without knowing how.
Not even paying attention to their efforts, the woman waved her hand in my direction, "Myriad Dragon, get these pieces of trash out of here. Do not let them come near me."
That was when we all realised there was one person who did not step forward to defy her.
Cai Hong looked up from where she had been hanging her head all this while.
My little dragon locked eyes with me for a few seconds before sighing, "Yes, Mother…"
In an instant, she had transformed into a full sized Myriad Colours Dragon and swung her tail in an arc, smashing my disciples away from me.
All of them disappeared into the black void of space in an instant.
I thought I would be hit too but her tail had simply phased through me without affecting me.
The woman floated towards me and the dragon Cai Hong did nothing to stop her, merely keeping watch to prevent my disciples from coming back.
The woman stopped in front of me and placed her hand on my chest, giving me a small smile.
"Now… This too shall End…"
