The Fall of Kazuma's Light

Kazuma

(They died because I wasn't strong enough. Because I made the wrong call.)

Aqua

Kazuma, you've been staring at that same beer for three hours. At least drink it!

Megumin

I've got it! A new explosion technique that'll definitely cheer you up!

Darkness

M-master Kazuma, if it would please you... I could let you punish me for our failure...

Kazuma

Enough! All of you, just... stop. Your party leader is trying to process the fact that people died following MY orders.

Kazuma

(They think this is about guilt? No... I'm calculating exactly how to never be this weak again. Even if it means becoming something they won't recognize.)

Kazuma

I'm taking a solo quest. Don't follow me.

Aqua

That... that wasn't an illusion. My sacred water reacted to it!

Megumin

(The footprint... it's not melting. The frost is spreading toward Kazuma's direction.)

Darkness

Whatever that thing is, it's not natural. We have to stop it before it reaches Kazuma.

Aqua

Goddess's Revelation! Show me what that shadow truly is!

Megumin

My explosion magic can track magical signatures. If that thing is made of mana...

Darkness

My armor... it's turning black. The shadow's not following Kazuma. It's... it's coming for us!

Aqua

(This presence... it's not demonic. It's something far worse. Something that predates gods and monsters alike.)

Megumin

The explosion formula... it's rewriting itself. Whatever Kazuma became, it's using my own magic against us!

Kazuma

(Let them fight my shadow. By the time they realize it's just a fragment, I'll have already crossed the point of no return.)

Aqua

(The katana remembers me. It's aimed directly at my divine core...)

Darkness

Aqua! Don't move—I'll block it!

Megumin

(The katana's surface... it's not just reflecting futures. It's calculating them.)

Aqua

Sacred Turn Undead! My purification spells aren't working!

Darkness

(The katana isn't cutting—it's rewriting. My armor's becoming the very darkness I sought to fight...)

Megumin

Wait... it's not trying to kill Aqua. It's trying to possess her divine essence!

Aqua

(Kazuma... you didn't become darker. You became something that eats light itself.)

Darkness

Megumin... Aqua's eyes. They're not possessed. She's still in there, but she's... she's becoming the thing Kazuma feared most.

Megumin

(If Aqua becomes a dark goddess... then I'll be the one to stop her. Even if it means using the forbidden explosion that killed my sister.)

Aqua

(These blades... they're singing my name in Kazuma's voice. Every mistake I've ever made as a goddess...)

Darkness

The blades aren't solid! They're made of... regret?

Megumin

(The forbidden spell is ready. But if I cast it here...)

Aqua

Stop! Please! I know I failed as a goddess but don't make me remember everything at once!

Aqua

(The starlight... it's not healing. It's recording. Kazuma's turning my divinity into data.)

Darkness

My armor! It's... it's becoming part of the circle. The blades are using our equipment against us!

Megumin

(The sigil is feeding on Aqua's divine energy. If I cast it now... I'll kill a goddess.)

Megumin

Darkness! Get Aqua out of the circle! The explosion will consume everything divine in range!

Aqua

Too late, Megumin. The circle isn't Kazuma's. It's mine. I've been waiting for this moment.

Darkness

(Aqua's voice... but those aren't her words. The goddess we've known this whole time... was never Aquamarine.)

Megumin

The forgotten goddess... the one who was erased for creating the explosion magic... you're not Aqua at all!

Aqua

(Kazuma figured it out. The real Aqua died in that last quest. I've been wearing her divinity like a mask, waiting for the perfect moment to reclaim what was stolen.)