"Dad…" the petite girl muttered as soon as she appeared.
Her gaze was completely fixed on me, ignoring everything else. Neither the destruction caused by our battle nor the [Queen]'s presence seemed to enter her eyes.
To her, nothing else was important now that she found me.
"She is…" The [Queen] furrowed her brows and distanced herself from us. She could feel the terrifying strength hidden inside the little girl's body. Thus, she knew Emilia would be a troublesome opponent.
As for me–
"… Emilia."
With a complicated smile, I uttered her name.
Immediately, her shoulders twitched. Her blood-red eyes turned slightly misty, and her fox tail started to wage softly.
With tears in her eyes, she opened her mouth slightly.
"Dad…"
And charged towards me.
"Dad!"
The fox girl smiled excitedly. Without putting up any defenses, she rushed towards me and jumped towards my chest, like a little girl happy of seeing her father after a long period of absence.
In all honesty, I wanted to stop her. Even if I knew she was not going to hurt me, my body could not help but get ready to counterattack at any given moment.
But Emilia did not notice it, or perhaps, she decided not to notice. That was how much trust she had on me.
Without caring about anything else, she hugged me tightly and put her head on my chest.
"Dad… I missed you… So much…"
Her eyes were filled with tears, and her voice was filled with love and longing. She seemed nothing like a dignified immortal wielding absolute power.
No, she was just like a little girl happy about finding her dad again.
Once more, my expression turned complicated.
Emilia...
Involuntarily, I patted her head, combing her golden-red hair and scratching her fox ears slightly.
Emilia shivered. Feeling the warmth of my hands, she closed her eyes involuntarily and put on a happy smile.
"... As expected, dad is still so warm."
I put on a troubled smile, my feelings a mess.
Emilia… Perhaps she is the person I owe the most in my several lifetimes.
I owe her so much. So much…
Unfortunately, she and I seemed destined to never be together.
Each time we met, we ended battling for one or another reason.
Most of the time, it was due to Emilia's extreme possessiveness.
Plus, even now, I could not see her as my daughter.
To me, she was just a dangerous immortal that could threaten my plans.
... No. I'm sure she will try to interfere with my plans.
"Is anything wrong, dad?"
Looking up, Emilia saw my troubled expression and tilted her head.
But one second later, an expression of realization appeared on her face.
Then, her expression became ice-cold.
"… I see. I understand." Nodding slightly, she separated herself from me and turned around, looking towards the other person in this alternate dimension with a chilling and enraged gaze.
"Whore, who are you!? How do you dare to attack my dad!?"
The [Queen] was furrowed her brows slightly and narrowed her eyes.
She then chuckled coldly and shook her head.
"I heard that [Immortal Soul] was being chased by a crazy stalker. [Incarnation of Endless Power] was it? Nice to meet you, you can call me [Queen of Timeless Destruction]."
"… I will not repeat my question again, whore. Who do you think you are to attack my dad!?"
The [Queen] frowned. Staring at Emilia, she seemed to notice something.
This girl was completely uninterested in her. To Emilia, her identity was of no importance.
"You are very impolite child, you know?"
"… You don't want to answer, huh." With a chilling voice and immense killing intent that seemed unsuited for such a cute girl, Emilia took a step forward, releasing her powerful aura at the same time. "Well, it doesn't matter. I just need to kill you anyways."
Instantly, space around her shattered.
It was as though the fabric of space could not endure the immensity of her power. Her power was so overwhelming that space itself was unable to take it!
Then, Emilia kicked the air.
And her body flew towards the [Queen], leaving only destroyed space behind her.
The [Queen] narrowed her eyes. Facing Emilia's charge, she waved her hand calmly.
That gesture was enough to invoke the Universe's Laws. In an instant, time and space distorted, becoming much longer and creating a gulf beyond the concept of distance between Emilia and her.
Unfortunately, Emilia did not care about that. Her expression did not change in the slightest even in front of that display of power.
And she had the right to behave like that.
Because when her body made contact with the gulf the [Queen] created, the gulf shattered instantly.
Time, space, and reality shattered like a piece of glass, unable to endure Emilia's outrageous power.
Just like that, Emilia appeared in front of the [Queen].
"Die!" She declared, sending a punch filled with incalculable power towards her.
*Bam!*
The [Queen]'s body shattered. In front of Emilia's overwhelming power, she was unable to put the slightest resistance!
But in the next instant, another her appeared behind Emilia!
Clenching her fists, The [Queen] shattered the space around them and used the shattered shards of space as arrows that flew towards Emilia!
Emilia snorted. Endless energy surged out of her body, sweeping the shards of space away. Then, her second hand threw a punch that destroyed hundreds of kilometers of space, including the place where the [Queen] had been standing just now.
Such a powerful attack displayed the limits of pure power.
Yes, the concept behind Emilia's attacks was very simple. Physical strength.
However, her physical strength was way beyond what any mortal could achieve.
It was not something that could be imagined by mortals. It was a power able to destroy stars and worlds.
If the current fight would have occurred in the real world instead of the alternate dimension I created, perhaps the world would have been turned into fragments already!
That was how powerful her attacks were!
But even in front of that power, the [Queen] did not fall.
As soon as Emilia destroyed her, another her appeared behind Emilia. Then, another, and another, and another.
A total of ten [Queens] appeared, each one looking at Emilia with indifferent expressions.
Then, they extended their hands towards Emilia.
"[Cage]." The [Queens] said.
Time and space shivered. Immediately, countless dimensions superimposed and surrounded Emilia, creating a giant cave filled with distorted space-time.
Emilia snorted. Gathering energy on her hand, she changer towards the walls of the cage and unleashed a punch, creating a hole through it!
But when Emilia went through the hole, she realized she was inside the cage again.
"This is…" Emilia frowned.
"A maze." The voice of the Queen came from outside the cage. "No matter how many times you break it, you will appear inside it again. I admit that you are very powerful, little girl. But you are just that, powerful. I have thousands of methods to deal with someone like you."
When I heard that, I shook my head bitterly.
Certainly, this is a good idea. But if Emilia was so easy to stop, why did I spend so much time sealing her?
And as though confirming my thoughts, Emilia smiled.
"Really?"
Immediately, endless energy surged out of her body, filling the cage.
The energy quickly expanded and turned into a giant sun. But then, the sun started to compress, turning smaller and smaller until it fell on Emilia's palm.
Next, Emilia clenched the sun on her hand and-
*BOOOOMMMMMM!!!*
She unleashed a punch, blowing the cage into pieces.
Walking out of the cage, Emilia stared at the [Queen] with a mocking expression.
"I think that your cage was a bit too feeble."
...
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