Chapter 52 – The Final Conclusion
"Faputa..."
Vueko muttered.
All around her is destruction.
Belaf's long body was crumbled, and parts of it were dotted amongst the rubble.
Blood and guts littered across the entire grounds. And standing in the middle was Faputa, who had an unreadable expression.
"Vueko... one of the only humans that mother loved. Faputa is thankful that you didn't get in the way. Faputa doesn't have to kill you. It make's Faputa very happy!"
"Faputa... are you..."
"Faputa is very happy now, as Faputa has completed mother's wish for revenge sosu!"
"Yes, but what are you going to do now?" Vueko looked around the place. There was literally nothing salvageable left.
"Faputa doesn't know, but maybe Faputa will continue living for mother. Ooh! Faputa knows! Faputa will go with Reg to explore the Abyss! Vueko, come with Faputa sosu!"
"Come with you? After this? I don't know..."
"HEY! Faputa! It's time to leave now. She will attack any second." Misaka flew into the conversation, literally. She then grabbed onto one of Faputa's hand.
"Do you hear that Vueko? You need to leave now otherwise you might die nosu. Faputa doesn't wish for you to die as you were mother's friend. Grab onto Faputa's hand and we can go together! We can explore the abyss together!" A very optimistic Faputa held out another of her arms at Vueko, who had a hesitating look.
"Live?"
"Yeah! Come on, Faputa doesn't have much time left!"
She kept shaking her hand, indicating to Vueko to grab onto it, and she did, but a bit weakly.
In her line of sight, she then saw cracks spreading across the bridge that linked the entrance to the rest of the 6th layer. It was pure destruction, and she instinctively knew touching it meant death.
"Come on Misaka. Let's go!"
Soon, Misaka rose into the air, carrying Faputa who was carrying Vueko.
Just as they began to hover, for some reason, Faputa felt Vueko's grip weaken.
"Vueko?"
"You know Faputa, maybe some part of me want to live, but after all these years, I may have weakened."
"What are you talking about? Faputa doesn't understand. You need to grab onto Faputa's hand now!"
"...Although living is good and all, it is painful to live with all the things I've been through. I cannot forget all the things that happened. Living with such memories is maybe more painful than death."
"Hey HEY VUEKO!" Her grip was extremely weak right now. In fact, if it wasn't for Faputa she would've slipped out, but then even her grip started to slip because of the sweat she produced from worrying about her.
"I have weakened. I still remember the days where I wanted to be strong and explore the Abyss. I still wonder what's down there, but now... maybe... just maybe... I can rest a bit."
With a simple slip, Vueko relaxed and retracted her hand, and landed a half-meter drop onto the floor.
The cracks were already beginning to spread now, and were getting closer and closer;
"VUEKO!! MISAKA LET FAPUTA DOWN!" She screeched and squirmed in her hands.
In fact, Misaka also was going to forcefully bring her up even if she didn't want to, but seeing Vueko's face, not fearful or angry, but relaxed and peaceful, she hesitated, and with a deep breath she flew higher and further with just Faputa.
Maybe, she really does want death?
"Hey HEY WAIT!" Resisting with all her might, she wanted to go pick up Vueko but Misaka's grip said no.
"VUEKO! VUEKO!" She screamed and cried. Apart from the one Misaka grabbed, all her other arms reached out for Vueko – someone her mother truly loved.
Tears dropped down her eyes and all the memories of her mother with Vueko surfaced in her mind.
She wasn't acting on 'Faputa's' will, but also Irumyuui's. Her wailing was paired from both people who loved Vueko.
The distance between them was increasing, and to Vueko, Faputa's screams were getting quieter and quieter.
Misaka had to grit her teeth and fly on, even when her heart was in pain seeing the wailing Faputa.
Eventually, they flew above the cracks which were picking up speed and destroying the bridge. For some reason quite slowly despite being a heaven-shattering weapon. Maybe... Medea...
On the other hand, Vueka was also crying.
Seeing the desperate Faputa, and how much care and sorrow she was showing for her, disappear into the distance was heart-breaking for her.
"Faputa..." She fell onto her knees and sobbed into her hands.
"Hey hey, no need for all this meaningless crying." A very familiar voice was heard.
"Wazukyan?"
"The one and only."
"What? But... why did you not escape?"
"Use your brain won't you. I am also a Narehate, so I can't leave even if I wanted to. But anyway, why didn't you leave? You had the choice."
"I wanted to... but..." Her tears fell again.
Seeing this, Wazukyan sat down and embraced her. They both sat on the ground peacefully. The cracks were now at the entrance.
"It's okay..." He gently comforted her.
"I-I just wanted *sob to be with her *sob when she goes." She threw a couple words here and there in between cries.
"Yeah I know... I know... everyone wants to be." He patted her back, "but it's a bit late now to regret. We cannot change the past."
Her crying died down.
"This is the end?"
"This is the end. Ironic isn't it? It's also how it first began."
"Mm."
"Look on the bright side, we may meet her on the other side."
"Impossible. Hell and heaven does not meet."
"Oh- of course. Then, at least we'll meet."
"Yeah, everyone here will meet in hell..."
The cracks reached them, and physics defying pain spread across their bodies. A second later and their bodies crumbled into dust, returned to the wind.
Then, the cracks picked up pace.
All the bodies, all the rubble, all the buildings. Everything about the village was consumed by this force.
All the signs of civilisation here. Every trace that represented the village and the Narehates living there were destroyed, like they never existed.
The only way they could be remembered were through the words of delvers, and the voices of the deceased.
Eventually, the place was gone, and Irumyuui was finally saved...
... (A/N everything past this point is purely my imagination. In MiA, it is not canon and I made everything up.)
Seeing this, Rimuru stood up.
"What? *snore"
He smiled at Ciel and teleported.
Flying over the Abyss, he disabled flight and turned on invisibility.
With light and easy steps, he began climbing down the Abyss.
He passed through the 1st layer easily. He paid little attention to the skeletons.
He passed the 2nd layer and took notice of the hideout.
At the Great Fault, he waved his hand and time rewinded. All the chaos that Misaka caused was undone. The natural wildlife and every habitat was healed and returned to a normal state.
Free-diving off the Great Fault, he landed in the 4th layer, the Goblet of Giants.
He walked specifically to an area where an orb piercer lived, but instead of engaging with it, he ignored it and dipped down into the water.
After a second, he retracted his hand and picked up a white whistle, the very one that Bondrewd had made out of his own body.
"I'll be borrowing you!" Talking to no one in particular, he wiped out the residue consciousness inside it, making it a pure empty whistle.
He then injected a bit of his infinite amount of souls, so it recognised itself as Rimuru's.
Nodding at his handiwork, he set off again.
At 9000 meters marked the famous Garden of the Flowers of Resilience.
Stopping here, he appreciated the view for a minute and left.
At the 5th layer, the sea of corpses, he found the track of blood that Bondrewd left.
Although invisible since it has been cleared by the native creatures, it couldn't escape Rimuru's senses, and he followed it to the base, well – the remains of it anyway.
Once again waving his hand, the ritual site was returned to what it once was. It regained it's former glory and mysticism.
Walking to the centre above the hole to the 6th layer, he calmly extended his hand out with his palms down.
Putting in a little strength, a suction strength akin to a black hole spread down, and seconds later a pod surfaced.
Nodding to himself, he stepped through the membrane and put his white whistle in the centre and sat down.
Without interfering, he felt the pod sink down, and he relaxed a bit. Keep in mind it's only been an hour since he's arrived at the Abyss.
A couple hours later, the capsule stopped and he stepped out to reveal the 6th layer, the Capital of Unreturned.
With two steps he arrived at the place where Irumyuui was destroyed. The old village.
After looking at it a bit, he focused his eyes and saw Medea and Misaka with the others they rescued. He also saw the two leave them, and when they were at a hidden corner, their bodies dissipated into particles.
He paused their time, and sat down and waited for Riko's group to leave.
A week later, they finally set off for the 7th layer, the Final Maelstrom.
Rimuru also woke up at this time, and flew high into the sky.
Not even black holes and star energy could faze Rimuru, let alone the force of the Abyss.
He blinked, and his eyes were replaced with clocks. In the sky, a golden clock formed, and the two hands started to go anti-clockwise.
He gave Riko and the others who descended, the passive skill [Time Control Immunity] without them noticing. It doesn't stop the force of the Abyss or anything else, it just stops them being affected by Rimuru's current spell.
As the clock went anti-clockwise, all the events that occurred here began to go back.
The explosion in the sky, Faputa killing the Narehates, Medea's Enuma Elish.
Faputa stealing Prushka.
Riko and her group arriving.
Everything was turned back. And this time, Rimuru drew a line in the air, and a mysterious thread extended infinitely. Only he could see it too.
On it, one could see an infinite amount of little threads, and one of them was glowing. This indicated the current timeline he was in.
With a swift *snap, it was deleted.
This meant that Medea and Misaka's interference with the timeline was cut. Rimuru was now the only anchor for this timeline.
If Rimuru leaves, the timeline will automatically be destroyed, and everything that happened here will only be remembered by him.
It would also be Riko and the others since Rimuru gave them [Time Control Immunity], but he took it away.
Looking at the bustling village full of life again, he smiled and walked off.
Half an hour later, he arrived at the entrance of the 7th layer. This was the final known layer of the Abyss. Not much is known about it, but there were many rumours about it transmitted from the Last Dives of generations of White Whistles.
The entrance wasn't impressive. It was a wide hole about 50 meters deep, and at the bottom was a small opening.
When Rimuru crawled through it, he saw an endless ocean. But that wasn't what everyone else would see. It was because Rimuru was so strong that the Abyss just didn't work on him.
According to everyone else, it should be a view of complete darkness. Only the first couple meters of the water should be seen.
At the edge, he saw a small ship with a hole on it.
Figuring it out, Rimuru climbed onto the ship and put the white whistle into the hole. Then, the ship grew a transparent membrane, and instead of sailing it dived down.
3 hours later Rimuru saw strange figures swimming in the waters. It seemed like they wanted to get onto his ship, but with one stare from Rimuru they all swam away fearfully. It seemed that although he was invisible, they could still sense the intensity and the danger of the glare.
Another while later, he passed through some sort of barrier and the first thing he saw was many rings in the sky.
Noticing the path the kids took, he also silently followed them.
Until he reached them, and passed them.
It seems like Faputa also joined their journey...
Now, it all relied on Rimuru's keen adventuring sense.
He walked on what he deduced to be the correct path. He passed many monoliths, and ancient structures.
The rings still shone in the sky, and after an hour, he arrived at a hill.
There was a small ring on the top of the hill. It wasn't a steep hill, in fact it was quite wide. One could guess the goal was to get the ring, but the troubling part is that the hill was 10 meters high.
This literally made it nigh impossible to get, but Rimuru just walked without a problem.
He looked at the ring. He was going to take it, but didn't want to affect the kids' adventure, so he just made a 1:1 copy.
As soon as he wore the copy, the force of the Abyss appeared but he didn't resist and was swept up in a current.
The next thing he saw was a vast land of darkness.
There was dark mist surrounding a mountain range and Rimuru noticed that the mist was actually very poisonous. In fact, just breathing it in would be enough to instantly kill, and not even the bones would be spared. He found out that the white whistle in his hands seemed to repel the mist.
The only place they didn't affect was the mountain range, and flying over it he could see a complex of buildings, or factories to be exact.
He also took notice at the robots just like Reg that were roaming about.
I guess robots aren't affected by the mist...
Sneaking in, he saw multiple people, probably scientists, monitoring many screens. The technology they had was far more advanced than the people of this world had.
This new development interested him, but he still had somewhere to go.
He walked past them without being noticed and ended up in a room which looked to be off-limits.
To his surprise, inside were bodies of white whistles who were still alive, and Riko's mother was one of them.
He didn't really care about this however and looked at the more important thing – a map.
He memorised it, and then flew out.
This time, he didn't walk but flew towards the entrance to the ninth layer, since it was actually very far away.
The 8th layer was definitely the biggest so far.
3 seconds later he arrived at an ominous door.
The density of the black mist here is the strongest, and the white whistle in his hands couldn't repel it nearly as well as when it was more dilute.
The door stood lonely amongst the vast lands. It was 3 meters high and 2 meters wide. It was slightly open, but the subtle movement could not escape Rimuru's eyes.
Slowly, ever so slowly, it was opening wider.
The force of the Abyss is also the strongest here. Could it be the last and final layer?
Well, Rimuru still had to find out, so he slipped into the door.
And out on the other side, he arrived in a room. It wasn't impressive at all.
In the middle was a small glass orb with a small crack inside of it. All the force of the Abyss and the black mist was generated from this orb, and littered around the place were robots, the same design as the ones on the 8th layer.
So... this is the final layer of the Abyss? The secret to everything? Not very impressive. I thought it would be some sort of secret ancient organisation or something... it's just a sealed evil god...
Indeed, inside the orb was a creature that radiated evil.
When Rimuru enhanced his senses even further, he could now feel the life-force of all those that died in the Abyss flowing into the orb.
So an evil god was injured and is now here to recuperate in order to break out of a seal? He made the entire Abyss system just for that? Borrrriinnngggg! It's sooo cliché! Where's the plot twist?
Slightly annoyed, he turned off his invisibility.
This shocked the evil god, but before he could even respond Rimuru sent him to Tempest Prison, assigning him the number of 99.
She'll teach you a lesson for messing with me. You know what? In fact... no. Every timeline.
Pulling up the string of timelines, he made himself stretch infinitely and every single copy of the evil god was combined into one. From now on, no such thing as an evil god existed. In a sense, the god was completely destroyed.
"Phew. That's better, but what now? Without it the Abyss would just collapse... well, I mean. Just because this timeline would go when I leave, maybe... just for them... I'll be kind and give them an appropriate answer."
For every other timeline, Rimuru recreated Ivaraj, and split him into infinite pieces. He then copied the aura and strength of the evil god and put it on each fragment of Ivaraj.
Basically, he replaced the evil god with another evil god.
Apart from this timeline. It would disappear anyway, so Rimuru might as well do something meaningful.
It was then that Ciel's voice sounded.
Remember, all that is lost will be returne-
"Shut up."
...
"Is this it? The ring is the key for the next layer?"
"I don't know but we might as well try."
"Faputa doesn't have a good feeling about this."
"Why?"
"Faputa senses a very strong force from the ring."
"I also sense it. The force field around it is very strong. Putting it on might..."
"We've come this far, there's no turning back now."
Riko put the ring on without hesitation, and the entire group vanished.
The curious thing was, all their equipment and other supplies were left behind. Only their figures disappeared, including Reg.
...
On the other side, they arrived at what looked like to be a blank room.
On one side, it was Riko, Reg, Nanachi, Faputa, Prushka and Meinya.
For some reason Prushka seemed to be in her human form.
And on the other side...
Wazukyan, Belaf, Maaa, Moogie, Majikaja, Vueko, Mitty, Pakkoyan, Irumyuui, Lyza, Prushka, Poriyon, and everyone else who were part of their journey to this point.
They were also in their human forms.
"What?" They were all equally confused.
"Everyone's here?" Tears formed in Riko's eyes. She completely ignored the fact that she was meant to be descending into the Abyss.
Vueko looked at Wazukyan and grinned, "so much for not seeing each other."
"What can I say? It must be a miracle of God."
"Irumyuui... you're... human." A child rushed into Vueko's arms.
"VUEKO!" They both hugged each other warmly and cried in each other's arms.
When she saw Wazukyan, Irumyuui gave him a death stare, stuck her tongue out and pulled her eye down, giving a cheeky look.
A group of children then approached them.
"You are...?" Irumyuui immediately recognised them as her dead children, and was swarmed onto the ground with the sheer amount of people calling for her.
Wazukyan stood to the side of this chaos.
He just smiled awkwardly and watched the others interact.
Everyone seemed to be happy, and that was all he could truly wish for. Here, there existed no such thing as cruelty and suffering.
He saw everyone interact. Faputa was busy licking Irumyuui, and showing off Reg to her.
Riko was being patted by her mother on the head, and she gave her an embrace.
Nanachi was crying in Mitty's arms.
Prushka and Meinya were with the people of the village of to the side, chatting. Her father wasn't here, but she wasn't sad about it.
It must be a miracle of God indeed...
...
Screw the natural laws, this is a much happier ending.
Rimuru watched them talk and cry. It was until when they all became tired and fully caught up with each other that he moved.
With one last look at the timeline, he smiled and left.
When the last anchor leaves, everything collapses and the timeline will cease to exist. There are no exceptions unless one strong enough wishes it.
Rimuru didn't.
The reunion between people disappeared in an instant.
They were all erased.
No one knew what happened, and they will never know, but even if they did, they would willingly accept it.
And so, in the other infinite amount of timelines, the same suffering will continue repeat and repeat, but at least, for this one, they were happy at the very end.
Sending people off in peace with no regrets really does give you a good feeling.
I have to thank Hu Tao for that...
...
(A/N so there you have it. The Made in Abyss arc is concluded
I was going to make the Rimuru part and the Faputa part into two different chapters... but screw that I made it all into one :D
thanks for reading!)