With Kuro joining us, the three of us settled in for tea. Something from my earlier conversation with her had been lingering in the back of my mind, so I decided to voice it.
"I’ve been thinking... based on what Canalis-san said and how Kuro reacted, you really are incredibly powerful, aren't you, Tiana-san?"
"Hmm... well, I certainly think I'm strong to some degree, but once you reach the Almighty Class or higher, comparing raw power doesn't really mean much. Beings in this tier hardly ever start fighting in the first place. But speaking of people you know, Machina-chan is also quite formidable. Her strength is heavily oriented toward defense, though, so it might be harder to grasp at first glance."
"The Earth God? I’d always assumed she was on the same level as Canalis-san or Electrone-san. Is she actually above them?"
"She is. Canalis and Electrone wouldn't stand a chance against Machina-chan. Then again, as I said, she’s so defensive that even if Machina-chan were to win, it would take an astronomical amount of time."
According to Tiana-san, Machina was clearly on a different level—significantly stronger than Canalis or Electrone. Kuro looked surprised, but I had more or less shared her initial perception.
Now that I thought about it, I seemed to recall Machina once saying, "I only call myself Almighty Class because there aren't any other words for it, but I'm actually above that." It seemed she hadn't been exaggerating.
Of course, from my perspective, the gap in their power was so vast that I couldn't even begin to perceive a difference.
"Machina-chan has entrusted her Right of Existence to someone else," Tiana-san continued. "It's as if she’s handed over the power of life and death... To put it in extreme terms, Machina-chan is completely defenseless against that one specific individual. The person holding that right could erase her as easily as picking a flower. Conversely, I think Machina-chan feels that if it's that person who ends her, then that is her heart's desire."
"She gave the power of life and death to someone else...?"
"And that creates a tremendously solid defense. Only the holder of that right can destroy Machina-chan. She has set a condition where anyone else—even Machina herself—cannot interfere with her main body or destroy it. To put it simply, if the Almighty Class Machina cannot do it, then no other Almighty Class being can, either. That’s how this incredibly absolute Existential Defense is established. If she had entrusted it to a follower or someone purely on her side for tactical reasons, it wouldn't be nearly this strong. It only works because she entrusted her very existence to someone she loves and trusts from the bottom of her heart. It's a miracle born of the belief that if she ever strays from her path, she wants them to dispose of her without mercy—and that she would gladly accept it."
In all likelihood, that person was Alice. Machina placed absolute trust in her. She trusted her so much that if Alice truly decided it was time for her to be destroyed, Machina would likely welcome it with a smile. And it was through that absolute trust that Machina gained a defensive capability so formidable that even Tiana-san took note of it. Not that Machina had likely intended to gain such power; it was simply the natural result of her devotion.
"That’s why Machina-chan is so strong," Tiana-san concluded. "I’d have to get quite serious to even hope to pierce that defense."
"...Wait, so you can pierce it?"
"I believe I can... but an attack of that magnitude would probably catch hundreds of millions of worlds in the crossfire. It isn't the kind of strike you can pull off while holding back or trying to manage the aftereffects. So, if Machina-chan and I were to actually fight... I’d say I’d win eighty percent of the time. However, there’s a twenty percent chance I’d lose because I’d hesitate to go all-out and cause that much collateral damage. While I was indecisive, she could wear me down. I can be a bit of a waverer sometimes, you see."
Tiana-san gave a bitter smile, but her point was clear: in a vacuum, she could win one hundred percent of the time. However, because her power was so overwhelming that a serious fight would result in an appalling scale of destruction, her own kindness might prevent her from going all-out, leading to a war of attrition she might lose.
"I see... Hearing that makes me realize all over again how powerful you are, Tiana-san."
"Well, my case is strictly within the boundaries of 'strength.' I would still lose to Shallow Vernal one hundred percent of the time."
"Because of that cheating ability, right?"
"Yes. Epilogue (The End of the Story) exists outside the realm of strength or weakness. Even with omniscience, one can't fathom or perceive it. We don't know what kind of power it is, how it moves, or how it exerts its influence. Nothing is known except for what we've heard through rumors. You cannot defend against or resist what you cannot understand. It’s... well, it’s in a league of its own."
Epilogue (The End of the Story)—the terrifying power Shiro-san was said to possess. If even Tiana-san spoke of it this way, it truly had to be a force on a completely different dimension from the Almighty Class.
Looking back, that wyvern she obliterated purely for a performance demonstration seemed more and more pitiful by the second.
Machina: "Epilogue (The End of the Story) is an out-of-the-question power that can't be compared to anything else. Even those of us with omniscience have no idea what it actually is. We only know it as the 'Result' that ends everything; we can't sense its activation, see it, or understand its process. That’s why even with my omniscience, I was genuinely surprised when Shallow Vernal resurrected Nebula."
Serious-senpai: "Come to think of it, Alice and the others said they 'didn't understand anything' when Shiro used it at the housewarming party. It really is the apex of mystery-killing, isn't it?"
Machina: "The only one who understands the Epilogue (The End of the Story) is Shallow Vernal... no, actually, since Shallow Vernal doesn't seem to know about the Little End of the Story <Little Epilogue>, perhaps the only thing that truly understands the Epilogue (The End of the Story) is the Epilogue itself."