[337] Waves of Law (2)
The Ice Queen slowly raised her hand and said, "Weak humans, kneel before me."
When her voice turned deliberately solemn, the tourists cheered and applauded.
"Nice voice! Very convincing."
"Hey, Your Majesty! Look this way too. Take this chance to shake hands with the Ice Queen—ugh!"
A man suddenly clutched his throat and dropped to his knees.
The same thing happened to people all at once.
Their faces flushed as if blood had rushed to bursting point. They sucked in air desperately, but their breathing grew harsher and harsher.
Only Shirone and his group remained standing normally.
Shirone watched the change in the crowd. Before he knew it, their necks were adorned with necklaces studded with conical spikes.
Liria frowned and muttered, "Those are law-wheels…?"
A law-wheel is an exorcist's anti-demon tool that embodies the principle of the Law in its form; the closer its shape is to a perfect circle, the more potent its effect.
Common imitations only mimicked the appearance and, at best, soothed the mind and body.
But a genuine law-wheel carried by an exorcist could only be crafted by a weaponsmith who had reached near-nirvana.
To Liria, the wheels hanging around the people's necks were authentic.
You couldn't judge the perfection of the circle with the eyes, but seasoned exorcists could sense a circle's quality with spiritual sight.
"A binding law-wheel. It's not of this world. Be careful. If you get swept up in the Wave of Law, you'll end up like them."
When everyone struck by the Wave of Law went weak-kneed and dropped to their knees, the wheels loosened and they could finally draw breath again.
Ragged breathing filled the area.
"Ugh! Gah! What is this? Who put this necklace on me?"
"Hey! Somebody, take this off!"
Jocre felt a chill run down his spine as he watched the terrified people shout.
The pattern of the law-wheels was an embodiment of the Ice Queen's own memory, but the way they tightened around throats had been his idea.
The Ice Queen could change the world's rules.
He had doubted such a thing was possible, but seeing everyone kneel made it unmistakably real.
The legend of the Ice Queen that had loomed over the era eight hundred years ago had been no lie.
"It worked! It actually worked! I never thought a day like this would come."
If this kept up, ruling the world would no longer be a dream.
Besides, having lain dormant for eight hundred years, she remembered none of her past.
The mage who had once terrorized the world had become a child who could be coaxed with a single candy.
"I'll take the Ice Queen for myself."
Once this was settled, he planned to charm her gently into becoming his woman.
Dating someone over eight centuries old might sound odd, but he thought he could win her. Above all, she was beautiful.
Not even Amy—who had coldly rejected him five years earlier—could begin to compare.
Lost in that daydream, Jocre turned, and the Ice Queen asked him, "Is this how I should do it?"
Her dependence on him, asking even about the smallest details, made Jocre smile with satisfaction.
But he didn't want to offend her, so he bowed as if to a real queen and answered, "Yes. Everyone will submit to Your Majesty."
Liria realized that most of the traits shaping the Ice Queen's personality had Jocre's influence.
"So it came to pass, just as the prophecy said…"
Like most descent myths, this time the Ice Queen had met a single human and was dragging the world toward an abyss.
Shirone watched the gruesome sight of hundreds kneeling with a sickened expression.
"What on earth is this? It doesn't feel like ordinary magic."
Not knowing the Law, the question was natural.
This wasn't an equivalent exchange.
There was no way to force hundreds of people to wear choking law-wheels merely because they refused to obey.
Not even Chief Igirin of Heaven's Office would issue anything this grotesque.
With no time to explain, Dante said briefly, "It's an ability called the Law. Be careful. That woman has the power to change the world's rules."
"Change the rules?"
Shirone's first thought was the Akashic Record.
But no being short of an Infinite Mage could twist rules on that scale.
That left one possibility.
It had been an Akashic-like entity from the start.
"Some kind of… conceptual being?"
Liria opened her eyes wide and looked around.
Determining the essence of a spirit that had entered a human body by sight alone was impossible unless you worked in spiritual disciplines.
This child knows the Law…
Most people live unaware that the world operates according to overarching rules. That Shirone knew the mechanics of the Law—knowledge passed down to only a few in the temple—was astonishing.
"That's right. It's a spirit beyond ordinary classification—what they call a demigod. You who don't know the Law can't defend against it. Don't stray from my side."
Amy raised her fist and shouted at Jocre.
"You! What are you plotting?"
"Hahaha! Plotting? Do you still think this is a joke? We'll conquer the world."
"Shut your mouth! You want to get hit for real?"
Jocre snorted and announced to the crowd, "All hail the Queen. If you disobey, the Queen's Law will kill you."
As the law-wheels tightened around throats, people turned a sickly blue and pressed their hands to the ground, coughing.
Then, squeezed out in broken voices, they cried, "L-long live the Queen!"
"We will follow the Queen!"
When the faces of those worshipping the Queen returned to calm, Shirone finally grasped the severity of the situation.
Jocre's command was being enforced by the Law. Unlike magic that targets specific individuals, the Law readjusts the balance of the whole.
As praises for the Ice Queen rose like a blade into the sky, Jocre tasted a thrill he had never known.
It felt as if everyone were worshiping him.
"How's that? This is my power. If you come under me now, I'll spare you that fate."
Jocre had expected Shirone's group to tremble, but contrary to his hopes no one moved; they all watched the situation instead.
Dante stepped forward with his hands in his pockets and a sidelong gait. "Hey, are you out of your mind? Do you even know what you're doing?"
"Hah! You think I'm crazy? No way! Can't you see how they are? You'll end up like them in the end."
"You just almost killed hundreds of people."
Color drained from Jocre's face.
"Rule the world? Do you even understand what that means? Can you really take responsibility for those words?"
"Guuu—!"
Jocre couldn't answer.
Becoming ruler of the world is an ambition any man might entertain. But in the end he was just a human who didn't want to go to prison and hated the idea of dying even more.
The Ice Queen could change the rules, so if he put collars on people they would obey out of fear of death.
That was the entirety of Jocre's calculation.
But if they refused—
They'd be corpses with broken necks.
Of course no one wanted to die, but once he imagined it an unbearable dread surged over him.
"Can I really conquer the world?"
Maybe, as Dante said, he'd lost his mind for a moment.
As he thought this, Vivian's voice cut in. "Hah! So what of it? According to us, nobody dies! Then the first sacrifice will be you!"
Jocre looked blankly at Vivian. Her expression had hardened overnight.
"When did you think you were the protagonists of the world? We're the ones in control here!"
Vivian—
Jocre understood when he saw her.
She was ready to lose everything to seize the one chance life had given her.
Yes. There was no turning back. Once they'd come this far, they had to see it through.
Great enterprises required courage.
Regaining his composure, Jocre stepped forward with his hand extended. "Kneel, Amy. Apologize to me. If you don't, I will kill everyone here."
People shocked by Jocre's words raised their heads. They already felt the wheels tightening.
"Hey! Kneel! You'll really die if you don't!"
"You damn brats! Do as you're told! Apologize!"
The tourists didn't care what Shirone's group had done to Jocre.
If they didn't obey, everyone would die.
Even if they'd done nothing wrong, obedience to Jocre seemed the only sensible choice.
"Beg! Beg them for mercy! I have a wife and kids! Isn't that reason enough?"
"Please spare me! I'll do whatever you say!"
No one in Shirone's group moved.
If they gave up the initiative here, they would be forced along by Jocre's designs from now on.
Amy glared at Jocre with cold eyes. "Why me? Why do you insist on my apology? Because I wouldn't accept your heart?"
When Amy struck the nerve, Jocre's face flushed.
The embarrassed girl from the skating rink was nowhere to be found. This was a battlefield; caring about personal feelings was a luxury.
"It's working. He really wants me to apologize because of that? Pathetic…"
Provoking Jocre wouldn't produce any clear advantage, but to create a variable they had to rattle him.
As planned, Jocre couldn't hide his embarrassment. Anger welled up at the thought that his narrow heart had been exposed.
"Shut up! If you don't obey me, everyone will die! Do you really not care if everyone here dies?"
Dante said, "If people die, it will be because you killed them. We did nothing. Be the murderer and spend the rest of your life running."
Dante meant it.
For a mage, distinguishing good from evil isn't always the foremost concern. In a situation with no solution, sacrificing some people could be preferable to an irreversible catastrophe.
"Amy, don't let that scum sway you. He's too gutless to follow through."
Jocre shouted threateningly.
"Hah! Really? You'll kill us? Gah!"
The frightened tourists hurled abuse at Amy.
"You damned bitch! Are you really going to kill us all? Kneel and apologize!"
"Please, spare me! We'll all die like this!"
Amy bit her lip.
Her judgment agreed with Dante's. Even if she complied, larger demands would inevitably follow.
But being singled out made her acutely aware that the lives of hundreds depended on her decision, and her blood ran cold.
"Buy time. I'll do as they say for now."
When Amy stepped forward, Jocre's mouth curled.
"Of course. What could you possibly do to resist?"
At that moment Shirone grabbed Amy's shoulder. She turned in surprise, and irritation flared in Jocre's eyes.
"What are you doing? Even if everyone dies, you're just going to protect your lover's pride?"
Shirone didn't bother to deny it.
"Right. There's no reason Amy should follow your orders."
Jocre's face twisted.
They call it the cool detachment of a mage? No—this was plain arrogance. Protecting a lover's pride could never be worth more than hundreds of lives.