[461] The Call of Ra (3)
Imir's true body dwelt deep beneath Helheim.
Tens of kilometers below the sea of ice, not even light reached, yet Suoi—the creature that lived symbiotically with Imir—drifted about and gave off a faint glow.
Like Helheim's other lifeforms, Suoi had a quasi-immaterial nature, slipping freely between solid molecules. Through its unique ability of quantum transmission it fed him information about everything in the world.
Perhaps the only place in Heaven that could bind Imir's body was that forever-unmelting ice of Helheim.
Imir did not agree.
No physical force could bind him.
If it could be destroyed, he could destroy it.
Only the Law—his Law—stood at the vanguard of the war, and he simply knew the time had not yet come.
Suoi drifted out from between Imir's pupils and, within its translucent form, projected various scenes.
Whether events in Heaven, affairs beyond Heaven, or matters in worlds far removed, Imir's eyes remained indifferent.
Then dozens of Suoi that had been drifting together overlaid their images and showed a man's combat.
The boy who carried a great banner—no, now a young man with the frame of a grown man—was contending with countless foes.
Information from Suoi was only information.
Imir trusted his judgment, and his judgment had never been wrong.
"Not yet."
One corner of his mouth lifted.
Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!
With that alone, a colossal fissure two kilometers long tore open along the abyssal ice wall.
"Not yet, indeed."
Imir merely waited.
* * *
Kariel busied himself preparing to exterminate humanity.
Watching the Great World Engine's many devices dart about, Yuriel turned his gaze to Miro, who was chained beneath the galactic mirror.
Miro—who had accompanied Arius after receiving a divine baptism and who sat with an impassive face lost in thought—met Yuriel's eyes and gave a faint smile.
In that instant Yuriel realized something.
Although Miro was that loathsome human who rent open space-time and humiliated angels, the anger in Yuriel's heart had not blossomed into hatred because awe clung to him.
It wasn't leisure or overconfidence. It was something like non-attachment—the absence of clinging. Perhaps the ultimate mental state a human could reach.
"This is the first time I've felt curiosity about a human," Yuriel said.
"What are you thinking about?" he asked.
"Thinking? What thinking?"
Miro propped her chin and answered.
"I mean everything. I'm curious about the thoughts running through your head right now."
"Hmm."
Miro pulled her index finger from under her chin and pointed at Yuriel.
"You're handsome. Do you have a lover?"
Her gaze swept the Great World Engine.
"Aren't these angelic devices a bit crude? They're ugly, badly made. What's that pathetic archangel running around so much for? In reality are they hungry but not fed?"
She rattled off the thoughts that came to mind and smiled slyly.
"If you begged to be let go, maybe you'd release me because of my beauty?"
Yuriel landed in front of Miro.
A four-meter-long paradise rod coalesced from light and spun rapidly.
Paradise Rod — Destructive Art: Celestial Silver Wheel.
Woooooo!
As the rod swept in with a fearsome roar, Kariel looked back in surprise before Miro even did.
The instant the rotation ceased, a keen, pressurized shriek sliced through eardrums.
Yuriel planted the paradise rod upright beside Miro's temple and, in a solemn voice, said, "Know your place. It won't go well for you if you make me angry."
"But…"
Miro, still smiling, half-closed her eyes as if drowsy and asked, "Why did your heart skip a beat?"
...
Angels had no hearts, and in any case Yuriel didn't even know what "your heart skipping a beat" truly meant.
Still, he couldn't retort—because the more he tried to unsettle Miro, the more unnerved he himself felt, as if he were the one being shaken.
Yuriel retracted the paradise rod and flew to Kariel. He, too, wanted Miro gone as quickly as possible.
Kariel, watching the central control device's screen, said, "I told you—don't provoke her. She's the one who humiliated Heaven's army."
Yuriel had to admit it.
How many humans could penetrate a noble angel's mind and elicit any reaction at all?
Kariel indicated his troop reports. "So, how's your side?"
"One wing, second wing, third wing—all intact. And the ordinary angels under my command as well."
"I see."
While Kariel wore a satisfied smile, Yuriel glanced uneasily at Miro.
What on earth was she thinking?
"Kariel."
"Yes?"
Yuriel kept his eyes on Miro as he asked, "What does 'your heart skipping a beat' mean?"
* * *
After her audience with Anke Ra, Ikael took the elevator of light downward.
She no longer needed to be confined to the penance chamber.
Seeing the outside with her own eyes after so long, a gentleness returned to her gaze.
The world was beautiful because everything came from the world.
She might have forgotten something. But because it was already forgotten, it brought no pain.
A lightness.
All sin had been erased.
And that was directly tied to the authority of the Archangel Commander that once made every living thing tremble.
Her pleasant smile gradually faded as she scanned the landscape.
Before she knew it, the solemn bearing of the Archangel Commander returned. She fixed her gaze forward and spoke shortly.
"Ashur."
Clang!
Dozens of panels embedded themselves before Ikael, and Ashur appeared.
As Ikael's power opened according to the Law of her retinue, his ability swelled to heights incomparable to before.
"Your servant answers your call."
Ashur's voice brimmed with power; a sharp gleam flashed in his eyes.
Even being Archangel Ikael's third-rank Mara filled him with supreme pride.
"Kariel?"
"As feared. He has mustered the White Ranks and is gathering the forces of the other archangels. They seem likely to depart for Purgatory within twenty-four hours."
"Convey everything you know."
Ashur, who governed signals, could transmit information faster than speech.
But the task was so exalted he felt awed.
"Lady Ikael, I—"
"There is no time. I permit mental bonding."
Overcome, Ashur bowed his head.
Numerous panels unfolded and merged into Ikael's radiant form, as if being absorbed.
The information Ashur had gathered flashed through her mind; every fact became clear as daylight.
Ikael lowered her eyes.
It was not hard to decide where to begin.
"Haa."
Her eyelids slid shut and she drew in a breath.
The next moment her eyes snapped open with ferocity and a shout of wrath burst forth.
Ka~ri~el~!
"Grrrgh!"
Ashur, nearby, ground his teeth to suppress his fear.
Ikael's voice amplified monstrously and spread in concentric rings from Heaven's central arboretum to other skies.
Ka~ri~el~!
Beings from the First Heaven to the Seventh Heaven heard Ikael's call and fell prostrate.
Fairies, giants, even ordinary angels—none could resist the voice carrying her fury.
Ka~ri~el~!
The echo pierced iron, shook buildings, and even reached the Great World Engine at the edge of the Seventh.
Ka~ri~el~!
"Waaahhh!"
Kariel's face dissolved like paint in a wash of every dreadful emotion, and he began to wail.
Whatever the situation, Ikael was coming. The Archangel Commander Ikael was on her way.
Moving at near-light speed, Kariel seized Miro and Arius and shot upward.
Before he could even activate an ability, they pierced the ceiling and vanished. Afterimages streaked to the galactic mirror where Yuriel stood; with a boom Ikael materialized.
Air was forced aside and the Great World Engine trembled as if from an earthquake.
...
Yuriel looked at Ikael's profile standing before him.
A gaze brimming with sovereign confidence—the Archangel Commander of old he had known.
"Yuriel."
"High Archangel Commander."
Yuriel immediately bowed.
"Where is Kariel?"
She had likely entrusted full authority to Anke Ra; there was no way to lie.
"He has gone to the Second Heaven."
The city of the fallen angels—the best and only place Kariel could hide.
"Will you guide me?"
Ikael shook her head.
Kariel could be seized at any time.
What Ra desired was to delay the war until an answer was heard.
So the first person she needed to meet was not Kariel.
"We are going to Purgatory. Yuriel, relay my orders to the other archangels. From now on, no actions without my permission. If anyone disobeys, I will invoke the authority of the Angelic Commander."
"I will obey."
Yuriel accepted the order and then looked up again. "Will you go to the rebel headquarters?"
"Yes."
Ikael's eyes sharpened. "I will meet the light of Sector 73—Shirone."
* * *
At dawn Gaold returned to the Rebel First Command—of course with the surviving members of Cage B Team.
Shirone and the others, who had stayed up waiting for Gaold, ran out to meet him.
Gaold looked exhausted, but thanks to Saint Moriak's healing he had no serious wounds.
Sein was first to show interest in the cargo Cage B Team had brought: a container full of large Tagis.
When Sein left with the rebel engineers, those who remained all checked Gaold's face.
After hearing of his painful past, they could no longer treat him as they had before.
Gaold roughly expected their reactions but waved them off.
"What are you doing? Not assembling the Tagis? War starts now. We strike within twenty-four hours."
Kangnan approached.
"You okay?"
Gaold raised an eyebrow.
It was unexpected for Kangnan to drop the edge from her voice and speak with genuine concern.
"Why you? Have you sulked or something?"
Aside from Miro and Sein, she had stood by Gaold the longest, but this was the first time she'd clearly learned his past.
"Why me? If I'd been curious, I would've asked sooner."
Heh heh.
Gaold hooked his thumb toward Cage B Team.
"Work them over a bit. I almost dismantled them, but they'll be useful when needed."
As chief of staff, Cage B Team was no weak link. If their target hadn't been someone at Gaold's level, the outcome might have differed.
Wiiiiiiing!
A siren wailed from the rebel headquarters' command room.
All eyes turned as a soldier ran in shouting, "Air raid! Enemy air raid! It's coming at incredible speed!"
They looked to the sky, but there was nothing to see.
"What is that?"
Even the soldier looked stunned.
By radar it should already be within visible range.
Gaold frowned. "Prepare."
No sooner had he spoken than Kangnan took a combat stance and something crashed down before them.
It had descended so fast that although its form appeared, it took everyone a long moment to fully register it.
Meanwhile the assailant spread wings of light wide and looked over the rebels with chin held high.
"Th-that is…"
Only a single angel had invaded the Rebel First Command.
Pure white beauty, a face suffused with sanctity, straight arms and legs, a slim body.
Shirone felt as if his heart had stopped.
Archangel Ikael was looking at him.