Chapter 1280: Shiro's Universal Law
As time passed, their battle raged on with no end in sight. For each attack she felt, she suffered the same damage.
But she endured.
She will not let everything she worked for, everything her past selves had worked for go to waste. Her life was not her own as her own fate dictates the fate of the cycle.
Letting out a shout of anger, Shiro jammed the spear into Anima's stomach as she endured a stab to the eye from Anima's blade.
Lifting Anima up with her spear, she threw Anima towards her throne before jumping up and throwing Gungnir.
"It's not enough! In this realm, I cannot die!" Anima shouted out as emotions finally appeared in her voice.
A tier 10 magic circle appeared in front of her as she parried the spear and jumped towards Shiro.
"It is universal law that Anima will continue the experiments until a satisfactory result is obtained! I will not die, no matter the injuries, no matter my fatigue, I will not die! Do you understand such a fate?!" She shouted out as Shiro could sense the grief in her eyes.
Dodging Anima's attack, Shiro threw Anima over her shoulder before attempting to stab her once more.
But Anima managed to cleave her blade up, shredding Shiro's spear wielding arm.
"Every Shiro had come to this realm with the singular goal of killing me. Their universal law being that of destruction! But they all failed! But I will applaud your efforts for none have endured as long as you have!" Anima laughed as her hair was disheveled from the countless fighting.
But Shiro didn't respond as her vision was hazy from fatigue. She had long lost track of how long she's been here but it didn't matter.
As long as Anima remains, she will never stop fighting.
"So come! Let us put an end to this, you and I!" Anima shouted as her aura flared.
For the first time in eons, she felt alive. She wanted to savor this moment as much as she could. She didn't know how long it'll take for another being of this caliber to challenge her to such an extent.
So many times through this clash did she feel the threat of death upon her throat. How close she was to the embrace of nihility.
"I will remember you, for you have proven that there is still a chance for death to welcome me." Anima smiled as she was truly grateful for Shiro.
Charging within Shiro's range of attack, she parried Shiro's spear before piercing the blade through Shiro's chest. Pulling back her hand, she plunged her hand in and took hold of Shiro's core.
"Farewell my clone."
However, Shiro only hugged Anima tightly.
Sensing that something was wrong, Anima tore out Shiro's core and jumped back in caution. Crushing the core, she watched as Shiro tensed up before falling limp.
Kneeling against the reflection separating this realm in two, Shiro dropped her spear as her breathing started to slow.
"You finally dropped your guard…" Shiro muttered slowly as circuits burst out of her body, threading into the realm.
Furrowing her brows, Anima looked around in confusion.
"During our clash, I believe you asked me about my Universal Law. The law I established when I ascended to tier 10." Shiro asked as she saw that she was alone. There were no corpses near her and a smile formed on her face.
She is the first that will die at this stage.
"After our first fight, where you told me I was merely one of many, I understood. That from that point onwards, there will always be a Shiro that has done the same. The same goal of seeking to destroy. So I wondered to myself, what will be different? What will cause me to take a different path to what I have done before…" Shiro spoke slowly as she could feel herself losing strength.
"So I simulated potential outcomes. The choices that 'I' would make. It wasn't easy, you know, trying to find something that might work. But then a friend of mine told me something and it clicked within my mind. I understood that the other me's at this point would've also heard the same so I gambled."
Tilting her head back, she looked at Anima who was still holding the pieces of her core.
"I gambled with my final choices and allowed someone I know to make my Universal Law." Shiro laughed as circuits appeared next to her and slowly converged into a being that shouldn't be in this place.
"I'm flawed like the rest of them. It makes sense I can't defeat you since I'm a clone. I didn't know if the other me's would've done this but I have someone I can rely on. A big sis to cover my back."
"To fracture your own soul so I can make the Universal Law for you, tsk tsk. I have quite the pain in the ass of a little sister. But I suppose being a pain in the ass is on brand for you huh, Shiro." The figure smiled as her form solidified and Anima realized who it was.
"My Universal Law was incomplete when I arrived. Since I split my soul in two, I prepared two parts of my Law. The first part, my part, is to simply endure against you. To keep fighting until I can't fight anymore. To push me to my absolute limit. I knew that I couldn't kill you, every Shiro has failed up to this point." Shiro laughed.
"And so my little sister called out to me, her big sister, to figure out how to craft a Universal Law against the original soul." Kuromi shook her head as she borrowed Shiro's power and a tier 10 magic circle appeared around the realm.
"You know, I was always the better mage compared to my little sister. She only knew how to fight and shoot."
Flicking her wrist, countless arrays appeared around them as mana converged towards their location.
"It's hard to overwrite everything that Chaos has done, I assume that even if Shiro made her Universal Law to be one that replaced you in this position, it would still fail since it was designated to Anima, the original soul. So I had a hypothesis and Shiro gambled on it." Kuromi explained as Anima was forced to try to fight against the current situation but crimson circuits burst out of Shiro's shattered core and restrained Anima in place.
"You mentioned yourself. Every Shiro has come to this place with the intent to kill. But you never mentioned me being involved and that's when we knew we were on the right track. So I present this Universal Law with three souls as offering." Kuro chanted as Shiro simply watched with a smile.
"Shiro will partake in the Garden Project, the main soul Anima will slumber until Chaos' law is fulfilled."
Upon confirming the law, the realm started to warp as Anima felt a wave of lethargy wash over her.
She realized what they had done. As they could not fight against Chaos' Law, they could only build upon it. Their only benefit was that Shiro was a clone of Anima so the law was loose regarding her position.
"The requirements of Chaos' law is fulfilled while you continue the project as I slumber. This is the same outcome desired as the previous Shiro's who wished to replace me but the context is different… Anima never disappears but rather shall be placed in a death like stasis until the end." Anima laughed.
"It's a shame to say but I never thought of this. I'm a flawed being after all, I could only think of killing you and replacing you." Shiro laughed as her body started to repair itself.
"Fufufu, alright. I have no more words other than to hope you can endure what I had to endure. If you can bring this experiment to a close, we will meet again. And perhaps we can enjoy a friendly conversation." Anima smiled as she felt peace at last. After Eons, she can finally rest.
"Yeah, hopefully it won't be too long." Shiro nodded as Anima collapsed on her knee and fell into a slumber. Her body, now drifting in the endless void with nothing to disturb her.
With just Shiro and Kuromi in the conceptual world, Shiro could feel chains slowly forming around her limbs as she was now taking Anima's role in Chaos' law.
"Sorry I couldn't think of anything better. This was the only way I could see you getting the result you desired." Kuromi apologized but Shiro shook her head.
"It's fine, it's what I wished for to begin with. Even if I didn't take over Anima's role, I can't go back anymore after reaching tier 10. Thank you sis." Shiro smiled as Kuromi gently knocked her on the head.
"You're welcome. It's the big sis' role to help the little sis when they're in trouble. But I can't stay for long since your soul is already repairing itself." Kuromi sighed as she sat next to Shiro.
Her figure was already breaking apart as chains solidified around Shiro.
"Take care of yourself Shiro. Just know that I'm always next to you." Kuromi smiled as she gently kissed Shiro on the forehead before disappearing.
Smiling softly, Shiro nodded her head before looking towards the now empty throne of solitude within this realm of nothingness.
From this point on, she will witness everything that happens. She is the creator and the destroyer. Until Chaos' law is fulfilled, she sits upon Anima's jail of solitude.
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