The Art of Gold Digging

Ch.???- Gold Digging

Amy was done with everything. The Goddess, Abaddon, or even the protagonist group. Basically, she was done with this world.That's why, as she sat in the Nightmare's Academy room where they had made their temporary makeshift camp, surrounded by ice barricades, and her resting companions' tired expressions. She decided that she truly had had enough.

She slowly stood up, took the blooedge in her hands, and approached the sitting Crow wrapped in shining blood from the ritual.

Crow, hearing her steps, looked up, then, with a tired but polite expression, spoke. "Can I do something for you, Amy?" He said in a low voice, with traces of tears still visible on his face.

"Are you tired?" Amy asked, her expression hidden by her hair.

Crow blinked, tilted his head, then opened his mouth to aid something, but hesitated. Eventually, after a lot of opening and closing, he spoke. "Yes, I'm quite tired."

Amy smiled at his response and gripped the sword in her hand tighter. "Then let me help you."

Then, in the next instant, Amy cleaved the sword through Crow's heart.

The moment Amy’s blade pierced Crow’s chest, time seemed to stop. For an instant, there was no sound. Then, like glass shattering, the ritual circle fractured. Cracks of crimson light spread across the ground, glowing brighter and brighter before exploding.

Crow’s body convulsed as the energy collapsed around him. His eyes flickered with confusion.

“Amy…?” he managed, his voice weak, disbelieving.

She gave no reply.

With a sharp motion, she pulled the blade free. 

Silence followed. It lingered just long enough to feel wrong. Then Amy began to laugh.

“I’m done,” she shouted. “Do you hear me? I’m done with this—done with all of it!”

The others stood frozen. None of them moved. None of them understood.

“Amy… what are you—”

Lyra's question was never finished.

In the space between one heartbeat and the next, Amy vanished.

What followed was not a fight. It was a massacre. With her eyes shining due to the activation of her ability, and blooedge in her hands, Amy's movements blurred. 

Iris barely had time to turn before a crimson arc swept past, and she dropped. Then Ash fell, never seeing the attack that ended them. By the time the others reacted, it was far too late. 

Within moments, it was over.

The corpses of Zayd, Lyra, Ash, Lain, Crow, and Iris lay scattered across the ground.

Amy stood at the center of it all, her chest rising and falling as she caught her breath. Everything was silent apart from her heavy breathing.

Then the atmosphere shifted.

It wasn’t subtle; it changed all at once.

She had descended.

Light gathered above her as she floated towards the ground. The Goddess appeared with an expression utterly blank. She looked at the scene before her, at Crow’s fallen body, at the others lying still.

Then her gaze settled on Amy.

“…Why?” she asked.

The question didn’t feel like a demand, but as something deeper. Amy could tell by the faint shinning on the Goddess's eyes that this matter was of deep importance to her.

Amy turned to face her slowly. There was no trace of her earlier frenzy now. Only a quiet, unsettling calm.

“Idiot,” she said.

The Goddess frowned slightly at her answer. “…Idiot?” she repeated.

Behind the Goddess, something moved.

Amy’s lips curved into a faint smile.

Then a dagger impaled the Goddess from behind, making her widen her eyes.

“…No,” she murmured. Understanding came all at once. “…You tricked me.”

“Too late,” Amy said with a grin.

Behind the Goddess was Zayd, with blood all over him, yet not showing any signs of pain.

Just after Zayd's unexpected action, the others stood up. All covered in blood, yet completely and utterly alive.

For a brief second, nothing happened, then the Goddess staggered.

Her gaze dropped slowly to the wound, as if she couldn’t quite comprehend what she was seeing. The light that accompanied her form flickered, unstable.

“…How…?” she asked, her voice shaking.

She sank to her knees.

Amy stepped closer, looking down at her. From behind her, Libris appeared in human form, wearing a smug smile.

“We told them everything,” Libris said. “About you. About this world.” They paused, just long enough for the next words to land. “About the fact that this is a manga.”

The Goddess’s expression fractured.

“…What?”

Amy gestured lightly toward the others. “Libris made sure you wouldn’t notice,” she continued. “They masked everything. The injuries, the deaths… even their presence. You saw what you expected to see.”

Libris gave a small shrug, as if it were nothing worth explaining.

“Arrogant creature. You never questioned it,” Abbadon suddenly mataralize from somewhere, standing on Amy's left side. “Because you believed you were in control.”

The Goddess trembled; she had never felt something like this before.

Fear.

Amy turned slightly as the others moved to her side. One by one, they reached out, their hands finding each other’s. Abbadon was on her left, and Libris on her right.

She tightened her grip and smiled. 

The other returned her smile. In special Lain, who flew her a kiss.

“In the end,” Amy said, her voice softer now, “you could have all the power you wanted.”

The Goddess looked up at her, weakened, fading.

“But you could never win against the heart.”

“…What… heart…?” she asked.

Amy’s expression softened—just a little.

And then, together, all of them spoke.

“““The Heart of Gold Diggers.”””

The Goddess cried, and with a final exhale, she died. Defeated by their Art, she had no choice but to admit her mistake… the A Mistake.