Several threads emerged from my head, every one of them representing the contract with one of my women.
The contract with Raven, the contract with Dina, the contract with Daisy, the contract with Louise…
They were the proof that our souls were joined as one, and that we would be together forever.
Right now, though, these threads were being targeted by Ysnay.
She used her finger to stroke them gently, as though they were something very valuable. Then, she heaved a sigh.
"How I envy them." She said.
"Is it a reason to steal what is theirs?" I asked coldly.
Ysnay chuckled and looked straight into my eyes.
"I'm an Immortal, Willian. As long as it allows me to achieve my goal, I don't mind resorting to anything. Plus, you can restore the contract with them later, so they are not losing anything."
My expression became slightly complicated.
Yes, we are Immortals. Beings like us don't care about what others think.
For us, anything is allowed as soon as our goals can be achieved.
Ysnay knows that her current actions angered me, and she knows how much I want to kill her right now, but she doesn't care.
Because that is unimportant as long as her long-cherished wish can be accomplished.
"I'll start, my love. Please, don't hate me for this." She smiled softly and kissed my lips, before grabbing one of the threads.
With a glance, I knew who that thread belonged to.
Aunt Dayana.
Ysnay then grabbed her own thread and got ready to connect it to mine.
She was just one step away from accomplishing her goal. She just needed to cut off Dayana's thread from mine, and then connect my thread to hers.
She had tried to do the same during her first plan, but she failed when I resisted. This time, though, I couldn't resist unless I wanted to destroy the world.
It's a checkmate.
Or at least, Ysnay thought so.
But when she waved her hand to cut Dayana's thread, her expression froze.
"… I can't cut it? Why?"
"Surprised?" I asked with a smile.
Ysnay looked at me with a frown before nodding in understanding.
"So you prepared a countermeasure for this."
"You already used this method before, after all."
In her first attempt, Ysnay used Bringer of End, Queen of Timeless Distortion, and my daughter Emilia to tie up my movements and attempt to replace one of my lovers as my soul partner.
Unfortunately, she failed after I broke her setup.
Her second plan was similar, but it failed again, and she did not manage to steal any of the contracts either.
It seemed like the end of it, but despite that, though, I decided to prepare countermeasures just in case she tried the same again.
And it looks like my preparations were useful.
"You used your soul energy to strengthen the threads of fate between you and your lovers beforehand. That way, I will need to spend a lot of strength if I want to break them."
I chuckled and nodded.
"I'm not good at fate as you, so a lot of my energy was wasted. But after I invested twenty percent of my soul energy on it, the threads were reinforced to the point where even you can't cut them easily."
"I see. But even so, it's just a matter of time before I succeed. At most, I will just need a bit more time before I can accomplish my goal."
I smiled and did not reply, making Ysnay frown.
"… Could it be that you found a way to free yourself from my trap? No, my trap is not that easy to overcome. What are you planning then?"
I kept silent, just looking at Ysnay with a mocking gaze.
Ysnay's eyes narrowed. She stared at me for several seconds before sighing.
"It doesn't matter. This is my last opportunity. Even if you have a plan, I can't give up now."
After saying that, she started to cut the threads of fate again.
It was very hard; after all, the threads of fate had been reinforced using twenty percent of my entire soul energy. That amount of energy alone surpassed Ysnay's mana pool.
Even so, Ysnay's mastery of fate was greatly superior to mine. She needed much less energy than that to wear down the threat of fate. Plus, now that she was the Will of the World, she could use the world's reserves of mana as hers.
Slowly, she wore down the thread of fate, weakening it until she could break it.
Half an hour passed, and then one hour, and two hours, and three hours.
Finally, the thread of fate had been weakened enough that it could be broken anytime now.
Ysnay's expression remained calm, but I could feel her excitement through the fluctuations of her mana. She was like an athlete about to complete a long marathon.
Finally, she was going to achieve her goal!
But when she was about to cut the thread.
*Spurt!*
A sword pierced her heart, and the powerful spatial force in it destroyed her body completely.
"W-What?"
Surprised, she turned around with her last strength, only to see a cat girl looking at her with an ice-cold expression while piercing her back with Reality Render.
"… Impossible." She muttered. "You should not be strong enough to kill me."
"Big brother and I are one and the same, Witch. As long as he allows it, his power is my power, and there is no difference between us."
Ysnay's eyes widened in surprise, but then, she smiled bitterly.
"I see. It looks like I lost again."
"You did." Raven nodded.
Then, she beheaded her.