Too Many Protagonists

“Sir Tokiito, we congratulate and confer upon you the title of Grand Marquis as well as Supreme Magus. For your role in defeating the Demon Lord, I as King also offer my daughters hand in marriage.”

The young man with dark hair gave a slightly self-effacing grin and a nervous laugh while raising an arm behind his head.

“If she’ll have me I would of course accept.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Sota-dono, ever since we first met when I was tied up in the cave and you saved me from those heinous ogres, I’ve had feelings for you. I was just always so nervous. I feared it would distract you from your quest, so I made a promise with myself and the other girls what I – err – we would wait until you’d defeated the Demon Lord. Now that has finally come to pass. You would make me and the rest of us the happiest girls in the world if you would spend the rest of your life with us.”

The young man with dark hair gave a slightly self-effacing grin and a nervous laugh while raising an arm behind his head.

“I kind of suspected, with the way you would get all heated when I accidentally wandered into the women’s hot springs. I couldn’t be sure though. I, too, happen to like all of you. You’re my family. I look forward to spending the rest of our lives together as well.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Alden, I’m so glad that I, your childhood friend, could see you one last time before the end. It seems I lost all my spiritual energy during the battle. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry everyone. I lived so much longer than I had any right to and now I’ll finally be at peace knowing that I was able to support you as much as I did. I hope we’ll meet again in the next life.”

The girl with dark hair disappeared.

The chestnut haired man with a scar across his cheeks slammed his fists into the ground causing a shockwave that broke the concrete floor. Tears followed.

Several feminine figures moved in and placed their hands on his shoulders, equally distraught.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Mahiro, I would never in my life have thought the day would come when the Devil King would be deposed and yet you heroically stood against him and won. I am at a loss for words. I hope that these lands will see a peace that last for a long time to come and the suffering we’ve endured become a distant nightmare.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I’ve returned!” A young boy with pink skin and two giant horns walked triumphantly past the gate’s threshold. A group of four women clung to each other behind him.

A huge crowd gathered around him, cheering. They were made up of dozens of different monster races.

“The dark god has been defeated by Master Mace!” One of the girls in his group announced. An even louder hurrah was chorused by the crowd.

“Peace has been restored and the future prosperity and freedom of our monster notation has been guaranteed!”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I grow tired of this! There are too many! Gah!” A statuesque older gentleman with hair the color of stone slammed his translucent stone fist into the table.

“I concur. It is indeed getting out of hand.” Another statue like translucent gentleman agreed.

“I have reached my maximum tolerance as well.” A female statue added.

“Still, we have agreed to simply watch. None have become powerful enough to be considered a threat.” The first, a long haired statue, complained.

“I’ve heard a reincarnation call Diavolo the Damned has managed to cross into a lower pantheon. He’s quite a handful, I have heard.”

“A member of the Greater Divinity gave him a blessing.” The female statue contributed.

“Well, now. Even the Greater Divinity are getting swept up in this. Is there no end to the monotony?”

“We’ve also seen the birth of several God-Slayers in the past few years. More than we’ve seen at once in thousands of years.” The female statue was just as expressionless as her comrades despite the implications of the information being exposited.

“These reincarnations are mostly Japanese. Do we know why that is?”

“I theorize it is simply because they were the ones to popularize this sub-genre. They have created many new gods as a result. The number of Manufactured Gods could soon overwhelm the Lower Pantheon Gods, I would surmise.”

“Several hundred Demon Gods have emerged as a result and as a result there are nearly twenty times that many heroes. It is troubling.”

“I don’t care about the numbers! It’s just boring! On the Omniversal scale everyone below the Greater Divinity is just a blip.” The long-haired statue once again struck the table.

The three of them paused. They sat around a small circular table floating in the middle of a star filled space. Their forms flickered in and out. When the statues flickered out one could see a giant eye projecting the image, just for a second.

“It’s getting out of hand. These narratives are so repetitive. I was entertained at first. I enjoyed seeing the different twists each protagonist brought to the table and the creativity of each of the gods within the confines of the genres tropes. It was fun while it lasted, but now…now!”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I knew you’d come back to me!”

A blue-haired girl ran up to a boy with literal porcelain skin. His left side was missing.

“I made a promise to you and the others.”

“I remember when we first met, it was so awkward.”

“Awkward for you? I assure you I never wanted to be sat on by a girl in that context!”

Her face suddenly got all red. “Why’d ya have to bring that up.”

“You brought it up first! His left side slowly repaired itself as they talked.

“No one believed me when I first told them about the talking dungeon toilet, but once I got to know you, I didn’t care. And then you helped me get strong enough to save my clan.”

“And you helped me get strong enough to save the world, so I think we’re even.”

“Not quite.” The blue haired girl kissed his cold porcelain lips. She pulled away, “You’re such an idiot, Toii”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Even the toilet gets a HAREM! How- in what universe does that make sense?”

“In much the same way as the Manufactured Gods are created, the universe adapts to the principles created by it’s inhabitants, I would guess.”

“I am equally as horrified as |}{.” The name spoken by the female statue could not be spoken aloud as it was simply impossible to reproduce verbally.

|}{ tapped his finger loudly on the table, “Perhaps” he paused for a moment before continuing, “Perhaps, we make an amendment and pass it to the Creator.” Despite them all resembling statues their faces somehow became even stiffer, “I do not take this lightly. Lots of small tears can add up. It may be prudent to disallow Cross-World Incarnations.”

“A large portion of the divine realm is heavily invested in these stories, it will cause some commotion, I believe.”

“The Greater Divinity, in particular, will be likely to make a fuss.”

|}{ puzzled for a second, “It isn’t ideal, no. Well, we can’t really do anything about the ones who have already crossed over, so tell them they’re free to do whatever they want with those still left.”

“Hmm.”

|}{ cocked his head to the other male statue, “You have something to say on this matter, {}|?”

“It may be only a small chance but a few of those may gain the right to ascend. As already stated there have already been cases.”

“That is a problem of The Greater Divinity’s own making. As I said, they are free to deal with things as they see fit.

“If I may add, it’s been made clear just how easy it is for any god to grant blessings and fortification to the humans, and just how adaptable human souls actually are to those changes. Meanwhile it is becoming clearer, the rigidity of the Gods below.” The female statue warned.

“You think they stand a chance of making it here?”

““No.”” They replied in unison.

“However,” {}| began to clarify, “I think what {|} is getting at is, they could make it into the Upper Courts and even the Greater Divinity might not be out of the question. Losing one of the Greater Divinity to an outsider could have effects just as damaging as the tears you’re worried about.”

“That is an interesting dilemma. It’s unlikely but bears consideration. Do either of you have a solution in mind.”

{}| pursed his lips, “What if we gave a blessing to someone?”

There was silence. They didn’t need air to breathe and yet they reacted as though all the oxygen had been sucked from their lungs. A moment passed until finally |}{ spoke.

“That could upset the balance of the entire universe. There’s no guarantee but it would greatly increase the likelihood of them entering into the Greater Divinity.”

“But they would be under our control.”

“We’ve never had any support from the Divine Realm, this could be an opportunity.” Added {|}.

“This is nonsense. We are simply charged with observation and maintenance of the Omniverse. It would be overstepping our role.”

“Getting rid of other reincarnations yields more divine matter than monsters or Demon Lords. Think of this as a two birds/one stone situation, I entreat.”

“There are many reincarnations who are immortal, it might be a mercy to have someone with the power to defeat them.”

|}{ sighed, “You are beginning to win me over, but if we do go through with this it must be done without the Creator or The Divine Realm finding out.”

They then began to devise a plan to eliminate all the reincarnations and usurp a member of the Greater Divinity.