Part one hundred ninety two— The Empire She Built

　Kazuhiko grew powerful with unnerving speed.

　Nao, meanwhile, discovered something considerably stranger about herself.

　Perfect Copy.

　At first, it had been little more than simple mimicry.

　Then it evolved.

　And evolved again.

　Eventually, Perfect Copy became capable of claiming Ultimate Skills, Ultimate Attacks, entire authorities from anyone she faced.

　Anyone except Kazuhiko himself.

　His own resistance kept him permanently beyond her reach.

　When the war against Demigra finally came, Kazuhiko handled the Demon Lord's generals while Nao faced Demigra directly.

　And Demigra made the fatal mistake of never understanding what her ability truly was.

　With every attack, he revealed more of himself.

　Every ability he displayed became another weapon added to Nao's growing collection.

　She killed him.

　And took everything he had.

　During that same war, Kazuhiko encountered No. 3 and No. 7.

　Rather than fighting him, the two demons recognized something worth serving.

　He gave them names.

　Frederica.

　Finn.

　From that moment forward, their loyalty became absolute.

What nobody yet knew, the memory reminded her as it began to fade, was that the Frederica and Finn who would later face Himari were only clones.

The true pair were still elsewhere, waiting.

Working quietly to free the real Kazuhiko.

　Albert offered Nao any reward she wanted.

　"The North and the East," she said.

　The nobles immediately objected.

　Kazuhiko simply gestured toward Frederica and Finn, standing ready behind him.

　Albert agreed.

　And the Shimizu Empire was born from that single grant.

　Nao's collection of copied power grew from thousands into millions.

　Eventually, she stopped counting entirely.

　The unpredictability itself became her greatest weapon.

　No enemy could ever know what she might reach for next.

　Years later, Kazuhiko fought Skorne directly.

　The battle was fierce enough to force the Frost Dragon into his true combat form.

　Kazuhiko still lost.

　He was sealed inside an absolute prison whose surrounding mist alone was enough to freeze soul, body, and energy upon contact.

　Nao found Skorne.

　She defeated him.

　Then she demanded that the seal be broken.

　"I cannot," Skorne told her. "Once created, it cannot be removed."

　Nao killed him for that answer.

　Then resurrected him.

　She stared directly into his eyes.

　"I don't care how long it takes," she said. "You will break that seal."

　Before she left, another Kazuhiko appeared.

　And told her the truth.

　He was a clone.

　A contingency the real Kazuhiko had created specifically for this circumstance.

　The actual Kazuhiko was still trapped inside a prison nothing had ever managed to breach.

　Not long afterward, Vorath arrived to retrieve Skorne.

　The battle that followed was enormous.

　But Vorath lost nothing.

　Instead, he found something in Nao worth cultivating.

　A contract.

　An offer.

　Nao accepted.

　From there, the Shimizu Empire continued to grow into one of the most dangerous powers in the world.

　The Kazuhiko clone.

　The cloned Frederica and Finn.

　Nao herself.

　Vorath.

　Skorne.

　All of it built upon a foundation none of her enemies ever fully understood.

And still, after everything...

　The memory faded further.

There was one thing she never managed to copy.

The real Kazuhiko.

Always just beyond her reach.

　Nao's vision cleared one final time.

　There was no rain.

　Only the battlefield.

　Jiro's hand had already withdrawn from her chest.

　Blood continued spreading across her clothes.

　Her soul was fading now.

　Properly.

　Every memory returned at once.

　Her parents.

　Her aunt.

　The bridge.

　The hospital.

　Their mother's funeral.

　The summoning.

　Midway.

　Demigra.

　Frederica.

　Finn.

　Skorne.

　Vorath.

　The empire she had built from nothing but grief and stolen power.

　Nao smiled weakly.

　Tears finally slipped down her cheeks.

　She wasn't looking at Jiro anymore.

　"Big brother..."

　Her voice broke.

　"Please."

　Her trembling fingers reached forward.

　"I don't want to die."

　A tear fell.

　"Big brother..."

　Her voice became barely audible.

　"Save me."

　Then she whispered something else.

　Words only Jiro could hear.

　His expression cracked with genuine shock.

　"What—"

　Nao smiled once more.

　Small.

　Almost peaceful.

　Then she died.

　Silence.

　For several seconds, Jiro simply stared at her body.

　Then—

　A flood of information poured into him.

　Skills.

　Abilities.

　Ultimate Skills.

　Ultimate Attacks.

　Authorities.

　Millions upon millions of copied powers.

　Perfect Copy itself.

　Everything Nao Shimizu had ever accumulated.

　All of it transferred into him at once.

　Jiro's eyes opened slowly.

　He had it.

　All of it.

　Before he could even begin to comprehend the scale of what he had just claimed—

　The world stopped.

　Every battlefield.

　Every soldier.

　Every particle of wind.

　Every flame.

　Every falling drop of rain.

　Ashford.

　Tearmoon.

　Myrath.

　Senna.

　Ivy.

　Himari.

　Chloe.

　Sophia.

　Mirabel.

　Jiro himself.

　All frozen in place.

　Time itself had ceased to exist.

　Far away, inside the Infinity Dimension, Kai stood face to face with a version of himself.

　And he was only beginning to understand that this being was considerably more than another timeline's echo.

　He was the creator.

　The creator of countless worlds.

　Countless universes.

　Earth.

　Japan.

　Every parallel reflection of everything Kai had ever known.

　All of it had been created by him.

　The God of Creation smiled.

　"Your journey has been interesting."

　Kai couldn't move.

　The stranger slowly raised one hand.

　"But now..."

　His eyes met Kai's.

　"...we need to talk."