After spending a few hours engrossed in my usual research, the heavy lab doors hissed open. Daiwa practically stormed into the room.
"Mother! Can you *please* tell him to stop following me?!" she vented, pointing aggressively behind her.
Towering over her was a seven-foot-tall superhuman clad in thick, specialized power armor designed to tank heavy artillery without a scratch.
I didn't even look up from my monitor. "It's for your protection, Daiwa. I can always have Z23 follow you whenever I need a lab assistant. For now, he is assigned to protect you."
"Ugh, Mom! I don't want this giant guy shadowing me everywhere I go!" she groaned, glaring at the stoic armor-clad figure.
"No," I replied flatly, refocusing entirely on my console.
"Mother!"
Daiwa tugged hard on my lab coat sleeve, desperately trying to force my attention back to her.
"You better behave, Daiwa," I warned, my tone leaving no room for argument.
"Ugh!" Letting out a frustrated huff, she finally gave up and stomped out of the lab, pouting heavily.
I simply shrugged it off and got right back to work.
Meanwhile, Daiwa spent the rest of her afternoon trying every trick in the book to lose the giant space marine. But no matter where she hid, or how clever she thought she was being, he found her instantly every single time.
"Ugh, stop following me!" she shrieked, sprinting down another corridor.
When she wasn't running, she was actively venting her frustrations to anyone who would listen. Back in the main laboratory, however, Z23 and I were currently busy testing a brand-new ability I had recently acquired.
"With this, I can summon Gaster Blasters," I noted aloud, feeling a sudden surge of heat as my left eye ignited in a brilliant flare of red and yellow light. "And I must say, the output is incredibly powerful."
"Could you perhaps *not* test them on me?" Z23 grumbled. He was currently pinned to the floor, completely immobilized beneath a cage of manifested bones.
"Yes, yes, my bad," I said dismissively.
With a snap of my fingers, the bones vanished into thin air. I offered Z23 a hand, pulling him back to his feet. "Anyways, I think it's time for a break. Let's go find Daiwa."
We turned to leave the lab, but as I took a step forward, my foot slipped. The ground beneath me didn't catch my fall. Instead, the space tore open, revealing a swirling, cosmic portal right where the floor should have been.
Before Z23 could grab me, I plummeted straight in.
When I finally opened my eyes, the sterile white light of my laboratory was gone.
"WELCOME! TO THE NEXT ROUND OF RAGNAROK!" a booming voice echoed through the air.
I shook my head and looked around, realizing I was standing dead center in a colossal, circular colosseum. The stands were packed with thousands of spectators shouting at the top of their lungs.
*You've got to be kidding me,* I thought, rubbing my temples.
"ROUND EIGHT OF RAGNAROK! BEELZEBUB VS... wait, who is this?!" the announcer, Heimdall, stammered, pointing his horn directly at me.
"Call me Agnes Tachyon," I called out, taking a moment to survey the massive arena before finally locking eyes with the man standing opposite me.
He looked incredibly depressed, carrying an aura of absolute misery.
"So, I'm guessing you're my opponent?" I asked. He didn't answer. "Not talking? An emo-looking guy, huh?"
"Just give up. You won't win," Beelzebub replied coldly. He raised a dark staff tipped with a sinister skull.
"Mhm... nah," I smirked, pointing a finger right back at him. "Matter of fact, I was getting quite bored. So, are we doing this or what?"
Seeing that he wasn't going to make the first move, I shrugged. "Not going first? Very well."
Before the words fully left my mouth, Beelzebub moved. A shockwave tore through the air. I reacted on pure instinct, tilting my body just enough to dodge his opening strike. The sheer force of his attack bypassed me entirely, slamming into a nearby stone pillar. The massive structure cracked instantly, sending dust into the air.
"Wow... that was very interesting," I said, a genuine smile spreading across my face. "Vibrations?"
"You are annoying," Beelzebub muttered.
"You know, you're a lot like someone I know. I assume you drink a lot of coffee too?"
Instead of an answer, Beelzebub charged. His hand cloaked itself in a sinister, crackling purple energy. I spun out of the way of his swipe, gaining some distance before turning to face him fully.
"You've given me a reason to finally use this," I purred, gathering a massive reserve of energy into the palms of my hands. "I was wondering when the right time would be. But now... let's dance."
Taking a deep breath, I unleashed the technique.
"IDLE DEATH GAMBLE!"
I screamed the command, and the reality of the arena dissolved into a blinding white void. Suddenly, we were entirely encased within a massive, shimmering Domain Expansion. Giant, spectral pinball machines manifested out of thin air all around us, their lights flashing in a chaotic, neon frenzy.
"Hahaha! It seems today is my lucky day!"
The digital slots spun wildly before locking into place. 7-7-7.
"Hahaha! Jackpot!"
A violent, pulsating surge of infinite magical energy erupted straight from my core, enveloping my entire body in a blinding aura.
"What the—?!" Beelzebub stammered, his eyes widening.
Before he could process the shift in pressure, I closed the distance and threw a heavy punch. The impact sent him flying clean out of the dissolving domain. However, as the dust cleared, I noticed he had managed to mitigate the worst of it by raising a dark, vibrating shield.
"You won't be able to touch me," he declared coldly.
"Hahaha! You didn't know?" I laughed, the infinite energy overflowing from my skin.
"Hitting the jackpot grants me exactly four minutes and eleven seconds of absolute immortality!"
Heimdall's voice exploded through his horn, completely stunned. "Y-YOU HEAR THAT, FOLKS?! AGNES TACHYON CLAIMS THAT FOR FOUR MINUTES AND ELEVEN SECONDS, SHE IS EFFECTIVELY IMMORTAL!"
The stadium erupted into absolute chaos.
"WHAT?!" the gods and humans in the crowd screamed in unison.
"Hold up... is she actually telling the truth?!" one of the spectators yelled, gripping the railing in disbelief.
"Come on!" I said.
Beelzebub wasted no time, charging ahead with terrifying speed. He bypassed my guard, thrusting his hand straight into my stomach. The blow landed flush, but I didn't even flinch. I just looked down at him, my eyes wild.
"Kneel before your new master," I whispered.
With a brutal upward hook, I caught him right under the chin, sending him stumbling backward before driving a harsh kick directly into his gut.
"Agh!" Beelzebub coughed up a splatter of blood, quickly resetting his stance. But as he looked at me, his eyes narrowed in shock.
The gaping wound in my stomach was already knitting itself back together, disappearing within seconds.
"What...?" he muttered.
"WHAT IS THIS?! AGNES' INJURY IS COMPLETELY HEALED!" Heimdall roared into the microphone.
I grinned wildly, practically bouncing on my heels as the infinite energy pulsed through my veins.
"When the world is empty, light dying quick, you know you're out of options, played out every trick... Sucks, bro!"
In a flash, I dashed right into his blind spot. But before my fist could connect with his face, he raised his hand, summoning his defensive barrier just in time.
"Now's your chance! C'mon, let's duke and dance, bruh!"
"Aghhh!" Beelzebub let out a rare shout of frustration, unleashing a rapid, unrelenting barrage of vibrating strikes. I dodged the majority, but one sharp thrust managed to pierce right through my torso.
The wound regenerated the exact millisecond his hand left my flesh. Countering instantly, I threw a devastating straight right, smashing his face and knocking him back across the dirt.
"You're on my level, but we're not the same. It's a pointless drive nothing compares to what I can do now!"
With a thought, a massive Gaster Blaster materialized beside me, its jaws snapping open as it unleashed a blinding torrent of energy. Beelzebub braced himself, summoning his shield to block the devastating beam head-on.
"There's no higher power saving you," I laughed, the smile never leaving my face. "Did it have to go so wrong again? Did you have to play this song and game? This dance is tired, getting old!"
"If you want it, come and get it!" Beelzebub screamed, his composure completely breaking.
He dashed forward, his movements a blur as he managed to land multiple devastating slashes across my body, culminated by a brutal strike that literally sliced me in half. Yet, before the two pieces of my body could even hit the floor, the infinite magic snapped me back together. Fully healed, I threw my weight forward, headbutting him square in the nose and sending him reeling back.
"Tired?" I mocked, wiping a stray drop of blood from my chin.
"I'm still not done. I'm gonna stop your fun," Beelzebub muttered. Suddenly, a small, dark smile appeared on his face. "Though, I think I've already won."
He pointed toward the sky. The imaginary timer in my head hit zero.
"Your timer is done," he said.
My breath hitched. The infinite aura faded from my skin.
"If you climb along this path, I will stand in the aftermath!" I screamed, refusing to back down as I charged him with everything I had left.
"Do you honestly believe anyone's redeemed? Or is it a pipe dream, hoping for the happily ever after?" Beelzebub asked softly, raising his staff.
The air grew heavy. A massive, suffocating black orb of pure, destructive vibration enveloped the entire arena. For a split second, there was total silence and then, it exploded.
The shockwave blew away the dust, leaving the arena heavily cratered.
"...AGNES TACHYON... SHE SURVIVES!" Heimdall screamed, his voice cracking under the sheer impossibility of it.
Standing in the center of the wreckage, my clothes torn and covered in soot, I spit out a mouthful of dirt. "Gotta give it all I've got!"
"I will NEVER stop!" Beelzebub roared, charging forward with his staff bared.
"Think I'm gonna drop?!" I yelled, meeting his charge head-on.
"I will stand on top!" he shouted, leveling his weapon directly at my chest.
As we closed the final distance, our voices echoed together over the roar of the stadium.
"Advancing nevermore," we countered.
"Of all you once adored," we roared.
"Without realizing," we strained.
"That you've dropped your guard—"
"AT LAST!"
With a final, deafening crash,
A/n: so which fun world you want Agnes tachyon to go?