"The Omniscient and Omnipotent Demon Lord—the absolute endpoint of the earliest serpent worship. The first worship, and the last. An imitation of Infinity. All things in the world come from It. The supreme god of matriarchal society. Concepts derived from It include Egypt's Isis, China's Nüwa—push it far enough and even that wrestling-obsessed Feathered Serpent God you just met. Oh, and that slightly silly little girl called Ishtar counts too."
Inori spoke slowly.
"Serpents, infinity, matriarchy… Babylon's already basically patriarchal by now (right?), but you ruled Uruk as a woman, so you still fit that category too. In any case—pretty compatible with you, don't you think?"
As she spoke, Inori spread her hands.
"Of course, there's no way I could actually turn you into the Omniscient and Omnipotent Demon Lord… because you don't have the 'caliber' to shoulder that fate. But that doesn't mean we can't exploit loopholes. Frame it as reincarnation, a consciousness born from It, an avatar—anything like that works. Your divinity is way higher than it 'should' be for exactly that reason."
"…You said fate was random."
"Yeah. Pick a world at random where there's a legend about the Omniscient and Omnipotent Demon Lord, but no actual person matching it—then just slot you into that identity. In the end, even though there are plenty of derivative gods, the Omniscient and Omnipotent Demon Lord is closer to a concept. Basically no world actually has a cheat-code monster like that for real… In this world, only the Root qualifies for that name."
"Then what's the point?"
Reincarnation, avatar, born consciousness—whatever the label, even if Ophis were truly placed in the position of the Omniscient and Omnipotent Demon Lord, she still wouldn't automatically be invincible. She'd only have the title.
In a sense, without power to back it up, that hazy, intangible "godhood" was less useful than a position like Lord of Uruk—something with actual authority.
So Ophis couldn't understand why Inori had done it.
"It's a compatibility issue. Once you're wearing that identity, your adaptability to my power shoots up—and the fusion speed doubles right along with it. And it's an identity carved directly into fate, you know~ Your Spirit Origin will rise a lot because of it too. Way better than that busted treasury, which at best lets you use it for a short while."
Inori bobbed her head as she explained, then looked down at the bustling scene below.
"Originally, what you became afterward didn't matter—Gilgamesh, Solomon, some random beggar on the roadside. Picking the King of Heroes was just maximizing benefits… but honestly, I didn't expect it to work this well."
As she spoke, Inori looked at Ophis.
"At least you met some interesting little guys, right?"
Ophis was silent for a long time. Then she lifted her head.
"Then… you said the time limit's up. That means the fusion is going to finish?"
"Yep."
Inori admitted it without hesitation, then drifted over to sit beside Ophis.
"Because you're reviving, your body instinctively tried to fuse some of my abilities while rebuilding you, so it pushed harder. Even I can't hold out much longer now."
She said it, but there was no shadow on her face—only calm acceptance.
"You felt it too, right? Absorbing me won't make your power 'increase'… Infinity doesn't really 'increase,' anyway. But you'll gain other abilities. Like that power over fate you suddenly had earlier—that's what you got from fusing a portion of my power. That's also why you could see futures I couldn't, later on."
"…Two questions."
"Hm?"
"First, why me. Second, why not just replace me."
Inori clicked her tongue.
"Two pretty standard questions. Fine—first one: simple. Because you're Infinity."
"Infinity?"
"That's right. You probably don't realize it, but even among Ouroboros, as far as I know, there are only two whose primary concept is 'Infinity'—you included. And I killed the other one myself. I'm guessing you're not interested in my dragon-slaying achievements, so let's cut to the point… have you ever thought about it? What's the limit of Infinity?"
"…The limit of Infinity?"
Ophis paused, then a kind of understanding settled in.
The question was absurd on its face—but if she paired it with that obsession Inori carried…
What Inori meant by "the limit of Infinity" was omniscience and omnipotence.
But—
"It's a paradox. And even you can't be sure."
"Of course. That's why I'm just trying. If it fails, so what? I'm going to die anyway, aren't I?"
Inori smiled carelessly, not bothering to dig deeper into it.
"As for the second question… you're right. I can seize your consciousness and take your place. I'll be honest—I did consider it. But unfortunately, Ouroboros is a perfect race. Even if an outside consciousness replaced the original, the whole wouldn't be perfect anymore, which goes against my goal. So I didn't."
Hearing that, Ophis nodded. The look in her eyes as she regarded Inori turned complicated.
From Inori's perspective, she was only using Ophis—and she'd even entertained the idea of taking her over. But it was also undeniable that Inori had helped her in countless ways, and now had pushed her a long way forward in terms of capability.
And for Ophis, the matter of being used or having her body taken over…
She didn't actually care all that much.
So toward Inori, Ophis was still deeply grateful.
"No more questions? Then we shouldn't waste time—let's start the final step."
Inori's tone—as if she couldn't wait to die—left Ophis at a complete loss for words…
"My knowledge and memories are way too heavy for you. If I just dump them into you, I'll probably turn you into another me. My path has already proven a failure, so I can't allow that. I'll select what's useful to you, compress it into a bundle, and put it in your head. If you need something, you can pull out whatever data you want from inside."
Inori spread her hands again.
"Honestly, I've already affected you a lot. Ouroboros is supposed to be a yin-yang balanced race—there shouldn't even be gender. But you're not just physically female; even your figure matches mine… The fact that your personality is the complete opposite is honestly a miracle."
As she spoke, Inori pressed her forehead to Ophis's.
"As for how to use the abilities, you can figure it out yourself. But I can help you name one, at least. How about Sha Naqba Imuru—The Omniscient and Omnipotent Star'? Sure, it doesn't live up to the name yet, but hey—your 'aura' just leveled up, right?"
"Alright. This is the end. Congratulations, omniscience and omnipotence—this is fate's blessing."
Under Ophis's complicated gaze, Inori's body dissolved into golden motes of light and flowed into Ophis, vanishing completely at last.
---
T/N: HOLY ITS SHA NAQBA IMURU!? WHAT COULD BE CONSIDERED PROBABLY TYHE MOST BROIKEN ABILITY GIL WAS THAT HE DOES NOT USE TO THE FULLEST BECAUSE HE'S SO ARROGANT (I LOVe hiM) O M G
i wish i had sha naqba imuru so i can destroy in yugioh
"Even in something like a card game, the very minimum requirement to play against him on equal terms would be to draw the precise hand required."
U ACTUALLY NEED TO TOP DECK EVERY DRAW TO EVEN PLAY AGAINST HIM ON EQUAL FOOTING, MINIMUM REQUIREMENT!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT DOES THAT MEAN DOES HE ACTUALLY PRINT WHATEVER CARD HE WANTS? OR WHAT?