After Crushing the Final Boss, I Got Infinite Mana and Returned to Earth ～With Cheat-Level Power, I’ll Rule Both the Game World and the Real World～ - Chapter 21 & 22: [THE END]

Chapter 21: Is That a Confession?

“Honestly. You only ever call for me when it’s convenient.”

Even as he complained, Diabel’s body expanded several times larger in an instant.

The nobles in the banquet hall screamed and scattered like startled pigeons, trampling one another in their desperate rush to escape.

The only ones left were Diabel, the assassins, me, and Lucia—who knelt beside me, tears streaming down her cheeks.

She could’ve just run away like the others… but that thought clearly never crossed her mind.

“Prince Georg!! Please, stay with me!!”

“Gah… ah…”

“Prince Georg!! Prince Georg!!”

I wanted to tell her to run—to get out while she still could—but my lips wouldn’t move.

And while I was struggling just to breathe, Diabel had already leapt into action.

“Gwah!?”

“W-What is this dragon!?”

“It wasn’t in the intel!!”

“Don’t panic!! The target’s already down!!”

“Forget the dragon! Withdraw!!”

The assassin who tried to flee was swatted midair by Diabel’s tail.

The sickening crunch of bones and flesh echoed through the hall, the air filling with the metallic scent of blood.

“Hmph. Can’t have any of you running off to spread the word. Very well, then—allow me to demonstrate the culmination of my power, refined through countless Japanese anime and manga!! —D◯main Expansi◯n!!”

Diabel unleashed something that looked like barrier magic, sealing off every possible escape route for the assassins.

Caught completely off guard, they scrambled to form a defensive line—but yeah, that wasn’t going to help.

Even running at less than half power, Diabel was still that Evil Dragon capable of wiping out the world if he ever woke up in a bad mood.

One assassin got bitten clean in half by those massive jaws.

Another was skewered straight through the chest by his claws.

And another? Roasted into a crispy black lump by a single breath attack.

It wasn’t even a fight—it was a massacre. The assassins were gone in seconds.

“Prince Georg!! Prince Georg!!”

Meanwhile, right beside the kaiju-sized dragon currently turning the banquet hall into a war zone, Lucia was entirely focused on me.

Did she not see the cinematic-level murder happening two steps away? At this point, I was starting to worry something might be a little off up there.

Then—her trembling hands, still clutching my shoulders, began to glow with a warm, golden light.

“T-This light!?”

“Oh? So she really is blessed, after all. And with a healing blessing, no less—how rare. Seems even the gods decide to clock in once every century.”

“B-Blessed…?”

“The gods are lazy creatures. Most of the time, they couldn’t care less about humans. But once in a blue moon, they hand out divine blessings. A pity, though—those blessings make for excellent snacks for demons. That’s probably why one decided to latch onto you.”

As Diabel calmly explained to Lucia about divine blessings in the middle of what looked like an R-rated battlefield, something clicked in my mind.

Right—Final Stories did have characters with divine blessings, didn’t it?

Looks like Lucia had been one of them all along.

“Healing blessing… then—!”

Lucia gently placed her hands over my wound and closed her eyes as if in prayer.

It was like she just knew what to do—instinct taking over.

The gash in my stomach, which should’ve been fatal, sealed shut completely.

The burning in my throat faded as if it had never been there.

Even the poison coursing through my veins dissolved, and I could feel my magic flowing smoothly again.

“You saved me, Princess Lucia.”

“N-No, I’m just… I’m just so glad you’re safe!! If anything had happened to you, I’d have followed you straight into the grave!!”

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she threw herself into my arms.

Her soft chest pressed against me in the process—and, well… not bad. Not bad at all.

“So, Georg. What now?”

“Diabel? What do you—ah, I see.”

The reason for his question became clear a moment later.

When I focused, I could hear countless footsteps echoing through the corridors.

Seconds later, a troop of soldiers stormed in through the grand doors—dozens of them, fully armed and armored.

At their head stood Gerald.

“Seriously… Just when I thought Georg was already taken care of, a giant dragon shows up out of nowhere. What the hell happened—”

“How cruel of you, Brother Gerald. Poisoning your own sibling and sending assassins after him? That’s quite the hobby.”

“W-Why are you still alive!?”

“I had help—from my lovely fiancée.”

“L-Lovely fiancée!? World’s cutest wife, you mean!! You’ll make me blush!!”

“…Georg. This girl’s kinda terrifying.”

Diabel pulled back a little, looking slightly put off as Lucia’s cheeks went pink.

I decided to ignore that for now and turned toward Gerald—the man who’d clearly been pulling the assassination strings.

“Could you tell me your reason, Brother Gerald?”

“…Because you’re dangerous. Your very existence will cast a long shadow over this world. We have to erase you before that happens.”

“I see. —Torch.”

With a single spell, Gerald’s head exploded like a popped balloon.

He was family by blood, sure—but guilt? Yeah, that emotion didn’t even try to show up. Guess I’d never really considered him family in the first place.

With that done, there was only one thing left to handle.

“Diabel, I’m going somewhere for a bit. Please take care of Lucia.”

And before anyone could respond, I vanished—teleportation magic lighting up the air around me.

My destination: the magic academy.

More specifically, the office of Headmaster Arshiel Grimoire.

“Professor Arshiel, may I have a moment?”

“Wah!? Y-You surprised me… Hey, you can’t just barge into a lady’s room like that, you know?”

“Sorry. I just need to ask you something important.”

I flashed a calm smile as I stepped closer—ready to press for answers.

“The one who supplied the poison Brother Gerald used on me… was you, wasn’t it, Professor Arshiel?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You knew I could manipulate time, didn’t you? Weren’t you afraid that even if the assassination succeeded, I’d just rewind everything at the last moment?”

“…”

As far as I knew, only one person in this world was aware I could manipulate time—Arshiel.

Her response to my accusation was—

“Hm~ no idea what you’re talking about, really.”

“…So you’re just going to play dumb, huh?”

“I honestly don’t remember doing anything like that. Unless you have proof.”

Fair enough. I didn’t have any solid evidence.

And knowing her, she wasn’t the type to leave traces anyway. Right now, it was just my gut telling me she was fishy.

“Alright then. If you don’t know, I guess I was mistaken.”

“…Huh?”

“Anything else?”

“Um, well—I thought maybe you’d press more about motive, y’know?”

“Is that a confession?”

“…NOPE.”

“Oh, good. I was worried—if I got rid of you, Lune would be sad. But this is the last time. There won’t be a second chance. I won’t give you any time to cover up evidence.”

I wasn’t some bloodthirsty maniac who killed people for fun.

But if there was a reason—especially one I could prove—then yeah… I wasn’t exactly the forgiving type either.

“Then, Professor Arshiel, I’ll be counting on you from now on, okay?”

“Ah—y-yeah. Right.”

And with that, the assassination attempt against me finally came to an end.

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[Afterword]

A Random Tidbit

Honestly, I really wanted to write a scene where the micro-bikini loli’s head gets blown clean off.

But she was just too cute, so I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Sorry.

If you thought, “Yeah, I really didn’t need to see a micro-bikini loli getting her head blown off,” please drop those ★s.

And if your thoughts were something like, “Lucia’s totally crazy lol,” “So Gerald’s done for already!?” or “Whoa, the afterword’s a bit scary,” —then please leave a comment, bookmark, rate ★, or drop a review!

Final Chapter: Let’s Save That Story for Another Time

The day after the whole assassination fiasco, I brought Lucia home with me.

“And that’s the story of how Lucia—my fiancée and life-saver—came to stay with us.”

“I-it’s a pleasure to meet you, Mother-in-law! And… my dear little sister!!”

““Whoa!! Super gorgeous girl alert!!””

Before I could even blink, Aoi and Saori had whipped out cameras from who-knows-where and started snapping Lucia from every possible angle like a pair of hyperactive paparazzi.

Lucia, not understanding what was going on, smiled awkwardly and tried her best to stay polite despite the chaos.

Of course, when those two started aiming for shots under Lucia’s skirt, I had to intervene and shut down the “investigation.”

“I still can’t believe Onii-chan’s marrying a girl this pretty!! And she’s stacked too!! Total winner move!!”

“I wanna know what your first night together was like!! Come on, spill it! For research!!”

“Eh!? T-That’s, um, not yet…”

“Alright, you two, maybe chill on the pervy photoshoot and the R18 interview session—”

Just then—

Ding-dong!

The doorbell rang, followed by a strange voice from the entryway—neither distinctly male nor female.

“Excuse meee!! Anybody home!?”

Looked like we had a visitor.

But both Aoi and Saori swore they weren’t expecting anyone.

I figured it was just some random salesperson, so I went to open the door—

And that’s when Diabel suddenly screamed.

“Stop, Georg!! Ignore them!! I’ve got a really bad feeling about this!!”

“Yes?”

“Excuse meee!! I’m not leaving until you open the door!!”

“Ah, coming—”

“Georg!! W-Wait, listen to me!!”

I ignored Diabel’s frantic yanking and went to the front door. When I opened it, a child with an androgynous look stood there, grin wide as if they’d just rented the place.

“Nice to meet you—I’m God!!”

“Georg!! It’s a creepy cult recruiter!! Drive him off at once!! And call the police!!”

“Well, well—long time no see. Good to see you’re doing well, Diabel.”

“…Is he someone you know, Diabel?” 

“Yep. I’m his creator.”

“Noo!!”

Diabel bared his fangs and snarled at the child who’d calmly announced themselves as God.

What on earth could make him react like that?

“Listen, Georg. That guy’s trouble. Don’t listen to a word. Kick him out now. If needed, finish him.”

“…What could someone have done to make Diabel hate them this much?” 

“Didn’t do anything, really.”

The child said it with a blank face, and Diabel absolutely lost it.

“Because He does nothing, that’s why I hate Him!! A god who won’t save people should just rot away!!”

“I created you to save the humans possessed by demons, remember? I’ll admit, I didn’t expect you to keep eating demons nonstop until you exceeded your limits just because you couldn’t ignore their cries for help. But that’s exactly why you’re fascinating.”

“And me?”

“You, of course. Even the Holy Dragon—the system I designed to purge that world of its bugs, the so-called ‘demons’—went insane from the sheer amount of energy inside him. Yet here you are, perfectly sane. Tell me, are you really human?”

Rude. Seriously rude.

Which part of me screamed non-human, exactly?

“So what brings you here today, ‘God’?”

“Well, I was browsing MeeTube and saw those videos from your world.”

“Oh, the ones that went viral?”

“Exactly. I was surprised, you know? That world wasn’t supposed to exist anymore.”

“Wasn’t supposed to exist…?”

The strange phrasing made me tilt my head.

Seeing my confusion, the self-proclaimed god smiled like a teacher about to explain quantum physics to a toddler—and began putting it in words even a mortal could follow.

“You see, Final Stories itself was originally something I made—based on real events from that other world.”

“I see. I always thought I’d been reincarnated into the world of Final Stories, but… so it actually existed first?”

“Exactly! And that world was supposed to end once you broke the seal on Diabel—the Holy Dragon gone berserk—since the one meant to be the ‘main protagonist’ had already died.”

“But because I regained my past-life memories, the story changed, didn’t it?”

“Talking with you is such a relief!! You catch on so fast! Yes, exactly. Thanks to you, that world’s going to keep existing for a few thousand more years now. Honestly? Total management nightmare. So I’ve got a favor to ask.”

“What kind of favor?”

“You can keep living freely in that world, but I’d like you to take care of exterminating the demons—well, ‘bugs,’ technically.”

…Hmm.

Since demon meat actually tasted pretty good, I didn’t really mind cleaning up a few of them.

But then the so-called god said something next—something that made my blood boil.

“By the way, if you refuse, your family might end up in danger.”

“…Was that a threat?”

“Whoa, those eyes just went completely dead. Terrifying. But hey, don’t get me wrong—I’m not doing anything to them. It’s just, if you leave the demons unchecked, the world’s balance collapses. Then the universe’s balance follows, and before you know it, neighboring dimensions start falling apart like a bad Jenga tower.”

“…I see.”

“Exactly! And I really like Earth—it’s got so many fun cultures. I don’t want it to break. But I’m also a god who really doesn’t want to work, so I’m leaving the cleanup to you.”

Since the so-called god clearly had zero intention of lifting even a divine pinky, refusing wasn’t really an option.

“Understood. I’ll accept your reque—”

“I heard everything, Onii-chan!!”

Before I could finish, Aoi burst into the room, practically sparkling with determination.

And judging by the guilty faces peeking from behind the doorway, Saori and Lucia had been eavesdropping the whole time too.

All three of them spoke at once, eyes blazing.

“We can’t just sit here!! I’ll master advanced magic ASAP and help you, Onii-chan!!”

“Mama will lend a hand too!!”

“Lord Georg, I shall follow you anywhere!!”

“Aoi… Mom… Lucia…”

To the three who had just volunteered themselves with heroic enthusiasm, I said only one thing—

“No. It’s too dangerous—so the three of you are staying home.”

“See? That’s exactly the kind of thing you always do…”

“Ahaha!! Rejecting your whole party at the end—classic!!”

And so, to make sure no danger ever reached my family, I began my new routine as a divine exterminator—hunting demons day after day in the name of God’s lazy management.

Just like with Lucia, I ended up saving more and more people possessed by demons… and somehow gained a rapidly growing crowd of overly passionate worshippers along the way. It was… a lot.

As for Earth—well, thanks to a certain Irene and her American “big-shot” friends, I somehow got dragged into a few global-scale incidents too.

But hey, that’s a story for another time.

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[Afterword]

A Quick Thank You

I kinda lost track of how to wrap this up, so it ended a bit abruptly. Forgive me, Clemens.

And seriously, thank you all so much for reading until the end!

★ New Series Announcement! ☆

Lately, I’ve been writing too many stories without enough eros, so the next one’s going full throttle!

New Title:

“All the Heroines Fell to the Dark Side… What Do I Do!? ~The Case of the ‘Loser Demon Lord’ Who Tried to Save His Corrupted Favorites and Ended Up Being Worshipped Instead!~”

Please check it out when it’s up!

And if you thought, “Lucia’s photoshoot cracked me up,” “Diabel’s actually a good guy,” or “I’m definitely reading that new one!!” —then don’t forget to drop a comment, bookmark, ★rating, or review!