Unlimited Ambition

"Ah...it really is. We're friends, aren't we?" Gu said with a hint of helplessness, "Can't we trust our friends a little more?"

"I was blind before! I was supposed to believe you?! I'm not an idiot!"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes: "It's pointless. Senior, you should know that if I wanted you dead, you would be dead already—not just you, but all the shrimps and crabs behind you. So I don't need to lie to you. Really."

"What a joke?!" Men, women, and children behind Tsuruya-senpai all started cursing, saying all sorts of things.

"Shut up!" Gu's eyes turned cold—then he pointed his right hand behind him, and heard a "Ah!" from the void. Tachibana Kyoko, whom I had met a few days ago, appeared. I had also destroyed all her spiritual energy, and then grabbed her by the collar and threw her forward.

"My patience is limited. To be honest, I really don't want to kill anyone." As he said this, he broke all four of Kyoko's limbs. The girl didn't even utter a sound before passing out.

"What exactly do you want?!" Tsuruya-senpai asked angrily.

"Just look at it, isn't that enough?" Gu said with a hint of helplessness. "Senior, you shouldn't be this stupid."

"Look?!" The senior was stunned, and then she saw a crystal mirror floating in mid-air. Inside the mirror were Sasaki and Kasuga, engaged in a fierce battle.

"How could this be?!" Senior Tsuruya exclaimed in shock, watching as the two on the screen fully unleashed the power of the dimensional plane, causing the sun and moon to change color and stars to shatter with every move. Her expression changed again.

This happened in the vastness of space, and it's unclear which part was affected. It certainly wasn't the solar system. The two girls seemed completely unaffected. They were simply wearing their school uniforms, seemingly oblivious to vacuum radiation from their breathing and talking.

"Speak! What exactly did you do to Kyon?!" Kasuga roared furiously, launching a series of fireballs with the power of a ten-thousand-ton nuclear bomb at Sasaki. Sasaki, however, neither dodged nor evaded. An invisible wall of light appeared before her, completely blocking the flames.

“You’re really weak… Kasuga.” Sasaki didn’t answer her question, but said, “You didn’t listen carefully to what Kyon taught you, did you? This is a matter of life and death. No wonder Kyon has been so angry lately.”

"It's none of your business!!" Haruhi shouted, while continuing to use the methods I had taught her, unleashing all sorts of powerful magic.

However, it was all in vain.

"I've already told you, it's no use. It seems that even after a year, you're still the same as before, unwilling to listen to anyone. Indeed, entrusting Kyon to you was a mistake."

"Nonsense!"

The two continued their conversation while exchanging barbs.

"It was Kyon who chose me! You vicious woman whose mind is twisted by jealousy!" Kasuga cursed.

"What did you say?! You were the one who used foul tactics to seduce Kyon first!! You shameless woman!!"

"Being a mistress? You're shameless!!"

"Kyoroi said he'd be happier with me!"

"Yeah, right! It was clearly me!!"

Of course, starting from the second half, I decisively turned off the light mirror. That is, from the part where it says, "Nonsense! It's clearly Kyon..." Because it was just too embarrassing.

"Now you understand, right?" Gu wiped the sweat from his forehead without making a sound, then smiled brightly.

I was greeted by a sea of ​​disdainful looks.

Chapter 42 The End of the World for Haruhi Suzumiya

Let's rewind to six months ago, to that day when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. Let's examine closely what exactly happened:

Actually, starting four years ago, when I learned that the dimensional power I sought resided within Haruhi, I began to formulate a plan—of course, definitely not for that damned democratic hell. It was for myself—I still have things to do. Like reversing time, killing some gods I don't like, saving girls from the previous, and the one before that, and the one before that. Things like that.

However, I have no other choice. The actual method to obtain this dimensional power is very simple—just kill Haruhi. Then, as the dimensional power leaves Haruhi's body, guide it slightly, allowing it to reside within me. Then, gradually digest it. That would be complete.

But I couldn't bring myself to do it. Even with just any cat or dog, you'd develop a bond after a few years. Let alone a lively, adorable girl like Haruhi, with a great figure and beautiful looks.

So I have been observing, imitating, and exploring. And I have made some progress, just like the subspace that is trapping Mikuru now, which is one of the abilities I have gained from observing this plane.

But that's not enough. Absolutely not enough. In fact, I have already explored a power system that can theoretically rival Death. But this requires a major prerequisite: my power must at least reach—no, surpass the level of an ordinary god.

To obtain the energy of a plane's supreme god, the simplest way is to kill that god. But that's incredibly difficult. Regardless of the supreme god's immense power, the fact that they represent the rules and laws of that plane makes them an excellent weapon—like Haruhi, who can achieve any goal she desires simply by "thinking" about it, whether good or bad.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, those capable of fighting a plane's main god, besides the main god himself, are either freakish beings like the Goddess of Death, Bellica. There's no need to even consider anyone else.

But this plane is simply too amazing! Because there is no "main god" in this plane, the power of the plane flows freely among ordinary people through "possession." Such an opportunity is simply once in a lifetime for me!

Therefore, I will never give up.

But I must also ensure Chunri's life.

For the past three years, I had no good ideas, and all I did was observe—I had even given up hope at one point. It wasn't until we fell into that subspace the size of the Milky Way because of Haruhi's foolish actions, and Haruhi's health was affected and the power of the plane was faintly fading, that I suddenly had a flash of inspiration—and everything became clear.

Exactly. Since only the power of a plane can counteract the power of another plane, why not just divide the power of this plane into two parts and let it fight itself?

I applauded my own bizarre idea. And then, I actually did it. I didn't even need to deliberately search for it. Sasaki became the perfect candidate; at the very moment Haruhi was on the verge of death from overuse, I saved her life—afterwards, half of the dissipated dimensional power was transferred into Sasaki's body.

After that, a slight mental suggestion was given to Sasaki. A reasonable deduction formed in her mind. With just a slight push from behind—and soon enough—a cult worshipping Sasaki was established. Sasaki's confidence swelled to unprecedented heights. Following this was the instruction given to the two of them separately, awakening their powers—why did Kasuga refuse to continue her studies?

Because she was never prepared to become a god. She could already feel the dimensional power within her—a terrifying power indeed. With just a thought, a single intention, it could destroy the world—a monster?!

Haruhi was just a little girl with a curious mind; she didn't want to be treated as a god ruling the world, or as a demon being scorned by the whole world—therefore, she chose to hide her power and never touch those things again—and that's why she and Koku had a big fight.

During this time, Kasuga would go home early from school, deliberately avoiding meeting her. After this, Yuki's influence came into play. Through Yuki's hints and guidance, Kasuga discovered Sasaki's existence—and similarly, Kasuga also discovered the power within Sasaki.

What will Kasuga think after this? She knows very well the bond between Koga and Sasaki—a bond no less strong than her own—coupled with Koga's unusual behavior these past few days. This is enough for any normal person to have some bad thoughts.

After that, I vanished. Vanished from the mortal world—not for five hours, but for five days—I had gained a slight ability to control time—of course, only to speed up or slow down its flow. And the precision of my control still needed improvement—but it was enough.

So, after I completely transformed Mikuru, stripping her soul entirely from time and space, the world was already in complete chaos.

Kasuga and Sasaki were fighting a desperate battle. They both believed the other had either "hidden" them or killed them outright. In this situation, neither was willing to sit down and talk. The ending would likely be tragic.

Both of them have learned a great deal from me. Even without the power of the dimensional barrier, they are now high-level mages. They could be evenly matched—of course, Kasuga is probably slightly weaker than Sasaki because of her strike these past few days. But definitely not by much.

One is strong and the other is weak, but the gap can't be too big—then, if the weaker one wants to win, it has to pay a certain price—for example, its life.

In the end, Haruhi will likely realize that continuing like this will never lead to victory; at best, it will only result in a draw. She might even be defeated by her opponent.

The fiery and arrogant Haruhi could never accept such an outcome—therefore, she would kill Sasaki—at the cost of her own life.

And at that very moment, I would appear just in time, recovering as much dimensional power as possible at the very instant they were about to die, while doing my utmost to heal their souls—in this intensity of battle, don't even think about physical survival—in fact, the bodies of these two children are already completely destroyed.

But souls are different. I'm now considered an expert on souls. Even in the worst-case scenario, when their souls are beyond repair, I can preserve their important memories and thoughts (about me), sealing them within soul fragments. Then I'll recreate new bodies, mend their souls, and resurrect them.

"So that's it. There's absolutely no need to worry—look, I even have several backup plans." I pulled Tsuruya-senpai to a secluded spot, set up a soundproof barrier, and then explained the whole story.

Immediately afterwards, Tsuruya-senpai's eyes rolled back and she fainted.

"Eh? Are you anemic?" Gu said as he cast a high-level healing spell to save Tsuruya-senpai.

"Scum! Degenerate!! Worse than an animal!!!"

As soon as Tsuruya-senpai woke up, she pointed at me and started cursing.

"Huh? Although what I did was a little excessive, in the end no one will get hurt, right? Ah, maybe a little. But no one will die, right?"

With trembling hands, Tsuruya-senpai pointed to the apocalyptic street: "You call this 'no one will die'?! The whole world is in chaos!! It's not just one or two people who are dying!!"

"Does this have anything to do with me?" I asked.

"you?!"

As a result, Tsuruya-senpai fainted again.

Well then, let me count them. Mikuru, my younger sister, Yuki, Tsuruya-senpai... these are the only girls I have any connection with, right?

That's it. These are the only ones.

Mikuru is still asleep in the subspace I created. My house has dozens of layers of defensive barriers; attacks from the outside can't get in, and my sister and mother can't get out either. Yuki, with her wings outstretched, is fighting against hundreds of other information-integrated thought entities and the androids created by the Sky Canopy. Tsuruya-senpai is lying right in front of me.

Alright, there's no one else here—and with Haruhi's eyes blazing with ghostly fire, about to unleash her "Banzai" charge, it's time for me to prepare for the aftermath.

"Yukari Yakumo! Come help me quickly!"

no response.

"Come out quickly! I've already seen you!"

Still no response.

What a jerk... He messed up at the crucial moment...

"Alright! I owe you a favor!"

"Ah... Uro-chan, you owe me a favor... really?" Suddenly, a gap appeared next to me. Yukari Yakumo peeked out from there and said this.

"That's right, that's right. I owe you a favor." That's what I said.

“It’s ‘you’ who owes me a favor.” Yukari Yakumo quickly saw through Gu Wan’s wordplay.

“Alright, Wright Baldwin, I owe Yakumo Yukari a favor—after this, as long as Yakumo Yukari’s requests are not unreasonable, Wright Baldwin will help her fulfill them—only once.”

"One hundred times."

"twice!"

"Ninety-nine times."

"...Alright, there's no time to haggle anymore—how about three times?"

"Deal—wait, only three times?" Yukari Yakumo seemed a little unhappy.

"Alright, alright, that's about it. Life can't always go as planned." While saying this, I picked up Tsuruya-senpai and handed her to Yakumo Yukari: "Take her to your Gensokyo—and those two women from my family too—my cheap mother's memories must be...cleaned up."

"Kyo-chan is really heartless—"

"--must!"

"Alright," Yukari Yakumo said, feigning helplessness.

I was still a little uneasy: "Then, the degree to which you complete the task will be linked to the favor I owe you. If you give me a discount, I will also give you a discount."

"Stingy." Yukari Yakumo rolled her eyes.

"Alright, and this child too." Gu retrieved Mikuru from the subspace and handed her to Yakumo Yukari. Yakumo Yukari did the same, tossing her into the gap.

After that, Yukari Yakumo's expression became somewhat unnatural: "Why is this child's body like this?"

"How is it? My cooking skills are pretty good, aren't they?" I said with a light laugh.

"You turned her into this?" Yukari Yakumo's expression suddenly turned ugly.

"Oh dear. Don't make such a scary face." Gu chuckled lightly. "Or perhaps it's because you're thinking about what happened to you?"

“You can be really annoying sometimes,” Yukari Yakumo said.

"Actually, I think so too." I chuckled. "This is the only way I can think of to save her life."

“…Indeed.” Yukari Yakumo’s expression darkened for a moment, then returned to normal. “However, when this child wakes up and finds that everything she knew has disappeared, and she herself has become this monster, will she truly feel happy?”

"And you, Zi, do you feel happy now?"