It appeared suddenly in one of the countless worlds. Initially, it took no action at all, merely observing that world in silence. Once it had seen all there was to see, it brought that world to an end—with terrifying ease.
Information regarding this entity was relayed to the creators of various worlds by a deity possessing the power of omniscience. At that stage, however, it was not recognized as a significant threat. To most creators, erasing a single world was well within their capabilities. To those existing beyond the laws of reason—beings of omniscience and omnipotence, beings who exceeded even the concept of omnipotence, beings who could not be described even by the word infinity, existences capable of creating high-dimensional planes at will—there was nothing noteworthy about it.
They believed dealing with it would be simple. At that time, they still believed so.
But then, those beings of omniscience and omnipotence, those who exceeded omnipotence and defied infinity, those who could weave high dimensions like cloth—they all met their ends alongside their worlds, vanishing into nothingness.
By the time the entity had wandered through and ended over a thousand worlds, it finally began to be recognized as a true threat. Consequently, the creators of worlds began to exert their full power to eliminate it the moment it appeared within their domains.
Beings who were certain they had killed it, those who believed they had sealed it, those who had crafted abilities specifically to nullify its power, those who had supposedly erased it from causality, and even those who had successfully fled—they all met the same end.
By the time it had ended over ten thousand worlds, it had become the ultimate despair, feared above all else by the creators.
It wasn't that attacks wouldn't land, but even if they did, it was meaningless. It wasn't that one couldn't run away, but even if they did, it was meaningless. It wasn't that it couldn't be defeated or sealed, but every effort was ultimately futile.
The moment it appeared, the story of that world had already entered its final chapter. No matter how much one struggled, the end would inevitably come.
It is no longer known when or where the name originated, or which world’s language birthed the term, but before long, it came to be known as Shallow Vernal, the God of Destruction of the End. And the ultimate power it wielded to finish everything was called Epilogue—The End of the Story.
The creators of worlds prayed desperately that Shallow Vernal would never grace their worlds with her presence. They understood that once she appeared, there was nothing left to be done.
When the number of worlds ended by Shallow Vernal exceeded one hundred million, the creators felt relief from the bottom of their hearts upon learning she had stopped ending worlds and had begun to create one of her own. They swore a solemn oath never to interfere with that world.
As Shallow Vernal herself once said, the first emotion she ever harbored was a question. Originally, she lacked even the concept of thought. She had never wondered why she was ending countless worlds, or why she observed each one in its entirety before bringing the end.
The statement by Eden describing her as "Shallow Vernal as a System" was remarkably accurate. Shallow Vernal ended worlds. She was an existence designed for that purpose alone, devoid of meaning or objective—or so it should have been.
However, at one point, Shallow Vernal abruptly harbored a question, as if waking from a deep slumber. The creators of the worlds she had ended thus far—those transcendental beings—all possessed a will to some degree. Even if they had no grand purpose, even if it could not be called a heart, a will existed in all of them.
If that was the case, did she not possess one as well?
Normally, the moment she harbored such a question, it would have been obvious that she possessed a heart, but Shallow Vernal did not understand that yet. She wanted to know what this difficult-to-express "something" born within her was. Thus, she posed her question to Eden, the creator of a world she happened to visit.
As it turned out, Eden gave the right answer, leading Shallow Vernal to try creating a world of her own. Had Eden failed in her response, Shallow Vernal might have dismissed her question as unnecessary and returned to being a mere system that only ended worlds.
From that point on, Shallow Vernal began to build her world. Eden exchanged many words with her while offering advice. It can be said that Eden currently knows the existence known as Shallow Vernal better than anyone else. In fact, most of the speculations Eden shared with Alice were correct.
However, there were parts she missed. Or rather, it was natural for her to miss them, as even Shallow Vernal herself was unaware of the truth. Eden had predicted that Shallow Vernal might have wanted to end her own existence, but in reality, even if Kuromueina had used the final Epilogue, Shallow Vernal would not have vanished.
Epilogue is indeed one of the essences of Shallow Vernal. However, she possessed another absolute power. If it were to be named, it would be Last Story. Shallow Vernal is the End of the Story, but she is also the Last Story itself.
Shallow Vernal will not vanish as long as another existence remains. Only after ending every other story in existence can her own story reach its conclusion. Therefore, no means to defeat her exists. Shallow Vernal is a phenomenon that can only end as a result of her own final actions.
That was likely why she had ended so many worlds in her infancy. She instinctively understood that the conclusion of her own existence lay only beyond the end of all other things.
If Kuromueina had used the power Shallow Vernal gave her during the ancient war between the Demon and God Realms, the answer would have been simple: both Kuromueina and Shallow Vernal would have vanished for a moment, and then Shallow Vernal alone would have reappeared. Had that happened, Shallow Vernal would never have realized she had a heart, and she might eventually have ended the world she created.
But that was not how it went. Kuromueina spoke passionately to her, and Shallow Vernal finally acknowledged that she had a heart.
Everything up to this point is a tale of the past—the events leading up to the existence known as Shallow Vernal gaining a heart. From here on, it is a story that connects to the future. It is about the actions Shallow Vernal took once she gained that heart. It is the story of the very first wish harbored by the Incarnation of the End.
A hundred years after the battle with Kuromueina, Shallow Vernal was observing the world from her Sanctuary. It had become her daily routine since realizing she had a heart. While watching the shifting world, she murmured softly.
"...It is 'him' again, isn't it?"
Since her battle with Kuromueina, a specific existence had begun to appear in her visions: a good-natured young man with light brown hair. And in those visions, she saw herself speaking to him. She did not know who he was or why she kept seeing the same scene, but she was certain of one thing: this person was vital to her.
"I do not understand. What must I do to meet you?"
She wanted to meet him. However, that future was terribly unstable and unclear. She could only see a single scene, leaving her with no idea how to reach him.
Initially, it might have been mere curiosity. But the desire to meet the young man gradually began to drive her actions. First, she created a third world within her realm—the Human Realm. She knew from the worlds she had referenced that the young man in her visions was a human.
So, Shallow Vernal created humans. And then, the future that had only shown a single scene began to reveal more. She saw herself laughing with the young man. To her, who did not yet understand how to laugh, it was a shocking sight. Shallow Vernal became convinced: this young man was the one who would teach her about the emotions she could not grasp.
It did not take long for the desire to meet him to transform into a burning, parching craving. It was the first wish she had ever harbored, and the first future she had ever truly desired.
Another thousand years passed, and Shallow Vernal hit a wall. She had created the Human Realm and the human race, along with Elves, Dwarves, and many others. The Human Realm was developing, and the population was growing, yet the future remained unstable.
How could she meet him? What would it take for him to appear before her?
While she was at a stalemate, her next move came from an unexpected source. Through Kuromueina, who had become her friend, she met a peculiar existence named Shaltier. Upon learning that Shaltier was a visitor from another world, Shallow Vernal reached a breakthrough.
Perhaps the young man was a human from another world.
With that realization, she created a Human Summoning Magic Circle and placed it in the Human Realm. The first circle she made was designed to invite humans from Eden’s world. The change was dramatic; her future visions became clearer than ever before. She began to see the factors required to bring him to this world.
Consumed by this goal, Shallow Vernal began to collect those factors with more fervor than ever. She manipulated the development of the Human Realm from the shadows, created the gates connecting the three worlds, and established the legend of the summoning circle to be used when a Demon King appeared. She moved unseen, sharpening the future into a vivid reality.
Nearly 19,000 years had passed since she first saw him in her visions, and finally, the summoning circle was used. Regrettably, the one who appeared was not the young man, but a girl named Hikari Kujou. However, the future was steadily moving in the direction Shallow Vernal desired.
When Hikari Kujou visited the God Realm to establish the Friendship Treaty, Shallow Vernal agreed to it effortlessly. She only did so because it was a necessary factor to invite him.
And then, the moment finally arrived. When the treaty was signed by the representatives of the three worlds with Hikari Kujou as a witness, the future became radiantly clear. The path for the young man to visit this world was finalized.
From that moment on, Shallow Vernal was in high spirits. Her clarified future vision revealed his name: Kaito Miyama. She could finally see their future together with perfect clarity.
When the premise changes, the meaning of her actions changes as well. Kuromueina once told Kaito that the number of people Shiro had ever been interested in could be counted on one hand. That was a mistake.
Shallow Vernal had no interest in Shaltier or Hikari Kujou. The only person she ever sought was Kaito Miyama. She had only paid attention to the others because they were factors needed to bring him here; she did not even remember their names.
Shallow Vernal wanted only Kaito. She had waited for his arrival for eons, in love with him long before they ever met.
The thousand years following the finalization of his arrival were perhaps the happiest of her existence. She spent them heart-fluttering, watching the future that was certain to come.
But the future she had craved—the first wish of her long life—did not come to pass as she had seen it. Ironically, it was thwarted by the only person she acknowledged as a friend.
Shallow Vernal stood before the magic formula known as the Cradle of Forgetfulness, her eyes quietly closed. She did not believe what she was about to do was right. She understood it was wrong—a betrayal of her friend Kuromueina and her beloved Kaito.
Even so, she could not give up. She could not discard the very first wish she had ever made, or the future she had hungered for.
She did not yet know how to suppress the emotion known as jealousy, born in her heart for the first time. Wavering and agonizing, Shallow Vernal nevertheless steered toward the Terminus of the Story. The future that should have been brilliant was now shrouded in darkness.
Serious-senpai: "Marvelous... As expected of the God of the World, I can't help but weep at such overwhelming serious power!"
???: "...To have been in love since before they even met, that's just terrifying... Is there nothing but yanderes among the gods of this world?"
Shallow Vernal — Mostly her fault