Chapter 659: Everything Is Worth Nothing

(MC POV)

The next few years went by like a blur.

With Takeda's mysterious disappearance, Tsuki became student council president uncontested and she kind of forced me into the student council with her as well.

Sometimes those End Shadows would appear and I would go and hunt them with Nishimura and gang.

My disciples enjoyed a relatively normal school life, if you count the times we went dungeon diving under Tsuki's behest as normal.

Lian Li became known as the 'Golden Girl' for both her distinctive hair colour and her intellect. Under my tutelage, she quickly became one of the brightest minds within the school.

Manami and Kiyomi were both admired for their grace and beauty, becoming idols for quite a number of people as the 'perfect ladies'.

Eris became the sports prodigy, beating everyone at almost every sport imaginable. She ended up focusing her time on kendo and quickly took the kendo world by storm with her abilities.

Diao Chan was obviously widely admired by her unparalleled beauty. Tons of agencies ranging from idol, acting and modeling came to try and recruit her though she rejected them all since they required her to be away from me.

Brendan took an interest in modern medicine and was already doing his research papers while still in highschool. Quite a number of pharmaceutical companies were already keeping an eye on him.

Tsuki and Elaria still had their little sister rivalry, competing against each other for the spot of my 'best little sister'. Both of them were geniuses in their own right so there was no actual need for me to worry about either of them.

Cai Hong is as cute as always. Got to give her some head pats.

As for my side of business, the Ryu Alliance was quickly taken down after I stormed their headquarters. Anyone that went against us was killed and everyone else was absorbed into my Family, effectively making me the only Yakuza Family in this side of Japan.

It wouldn't take long before I eventually went off to conquer the other Yakuza families and bring them to the fold as well.

Business was good.

Graduation came and went with Tsuki as the valedictorian.

All of my disciples wanted me to get the position but I had declined it, since I'd rather they have that honour than some old man like me.

They eventually decided to let Tsuki have it since this was originally her school after all.

Since all of my disciples chose to pursue higher forms of education, I ended up joining them in going to university as well.

Lian Li showed her genius in physics while Manami and Kiyomi pursued the Arts. Eris unsurprisingly went after a sports degree whereas Diao Chan surprisingly went after law.

Brendan stuck to his interest with Medicine which was to be expected of course. Then there's Elaria who went after engineering and Tsuki who dove into business studies.

And then there was me who just stuck around in general studies, I was just there to accompany them after all.

The most surprising thing, however, was Cai Hong coming out as a genius in all studies, becoming one of the youngest student to attend University.

Can you believe that? My little girl, an absolute genius. Papa is so proud!

University went by like a breeze and all of them decided to work for me, either joining in on my trading or yakuza companies or setting up their own to support me.

At this point, my influence had grown to a global scale and there were no other Yakuza organizations in Japan aside from mine. The others were either destroyed or absorbed into mine.

Even though I told them they could just simply live their lives here easily, they still wanted to help me in some way. I couldn't be more proud.

Life was good, everything was absolutely right, we didn't have to worry about anything in the world and our lives couldn't be any better.

Until they started growing old.

It started slowly, but the issue became more and more prominent as the years went by.

Grey hairs started to appear and they grew weaker as the decades went by, even for Manami and Kiyomi when they were supposed to be the longer lived ones.

But yet, I remained the same.

I tried everything I could think of, be it Techniques, Spells or even Science, but nothing I did could stop them from growing older and older.

My Techniques did not affect them, anything I could make using my powers were also ineffective. I even made Avalon and the Fountain of Youth and neither did anything for them.

Manami and Kiyomi were the first to go, being the oldest amongst them.

I held on to both their hands as they smiled at me from the bed, the monitors slowly flatlining. Sisters till the end, the two of them passed at the same time with a smile on their faces, their hands never letting go of mine.

Then Diao Chan went next, my Witch thanking me for all that I've done for her and made me promise to cremate her just so she can 'suffer' one last time.

Eris passed after her, the only regret she had was that she could no longer cook her delicious meals for me. Her eyes closed permanently after she had eaten the final meal I prepared for her.

Elaria was the next to leave, lamenting over the fact that Tsuki got to spend more time with me as my little sister, but she was proud to claim that this proved she was older for some reason. The very next day, Tsuki followed her as well, grinning at me and saying that she could finally say she was the best little sister without someone else to correct her.

Then it was Lian Li's turn, her eyes never lost that golden sparkle even on her deathbed with her hand clasped in mine, not even when she had breathed her last. She just stared at me with her usual adoration and made sure the last thing she saw before the darkness claimed her was me.

And lastly... There was Cai Hong.

My little Cai Hong.

She had grown into a splendid lady but still retained her childish innocence in front of me. Yet she watched her sisters pass with me and spent the last decade of her life quietly with me too.

Until it was eventually her time to go as well, merely saying that she was just going to take a nap before falling into her final sleep.

She had never stopped calling me "Papa".

Hiroto and Yumi were also gone, so were Nishimura, Fujiwara and Maeda.

Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta were also gone.

Everyone I had known and loved, they had passed before I did.

I contemplated suicide, but all of them had said the same words to me before they passed.

"Live on, if not for yourself, then for us."

Those words became like a curse for me, for I could not die even if I wanted to.

I made new friends and found new love, but all of them ended the same way with leaving me behind as I was immortal.

I watched the world continue to turn, until humans had managed to reach out and dive into the vastness of space.

I took the chance to follow humanity into space, meeting new friends again and exploring entirely new worlds. Then the process repeated once more.

A long time has passed since, it's hard to keep track of the time when the unit of measurement isn't constant throughout the universe with time being relative and all, but I eventually grew tired of everything.

I saw no point in forming new relationships, I saw no point in existence at all.

Despite how far I've travelled and how much I've seen, the suffering remains just as fresh as the day I lost everyone.

Eventually, I just didn't care anymore and I simply watched.

Nothing had value to me, everything was the same. I had no ambition, no want or need and nothing excites me anymore.

Everything just felt so pointless.

I've seen the rise of civilizations and their fall.

I've seen empires rising up from the ashes before their demise.

I've seen the formation of planets and life sprouting on them, only to end in destruction either at the hands of its inhabitants or simply from its natural lifespan running out.

I've seen the birth and deaths of stars.

I've seen the birth and deaths of galaxies.

I've seen it all.

And everything just felt so dull, so meaningless.

I had everything, but they were worth nothing in my eyes.

Somehow after I came to that conclusion, a sense of peace enveloped me.

Yes, everything was worth nothing. There was no doubt anymore.

And thus, even my feelings for those I had loved, they were also worth--

*Crack*

I swivelled my head around to look at the small crack in what seems to be empty space.

*Crack*

The crack got bigger, like someone hitting a piece of glass with a hammer.

*Crack!*

The space shattered to form a giant hole in space, allowing a group of nine people to come diving out of the hole.

"MASTER!!!"