[493] That Afternoon (1)
Under the noon sun blazing over Arabot, Shirone and Ikael stared at each other for a long, silent while.
The Valhalla Action still spun above Shirone's head, and Ikael's eyes watching it were ice-cold.
'Destroy heaven?'
According to the theory of magic Shirone had explained, it wasn't something that was absolutely impossible.
If that was true, then this time she had to kill him.
Ikael's delicate fingers tensed, curling like a predator's claws.
Still, she couldn't strike—because the moment she showed murderous intent, Shirone's Direct Perception would read her temperament.
'No, that's not it.'
Shirone had said that if Feope were revived, he would not destroy heaven.
It wasn't especially difficult for Ikael, and the Shirone she knew didn't break his word.
Accepting the offer was the wiser choice than gambling on an uncertain assumption.
'No, that's not it either.'
Ikael frowned.
Shirone's Ataraxia was an ability she had directly passed on to him when she possessed him. While she had merged with his mind, she'd felt much admiration, pride, and a poignant sorrow for him.
'I can't remember.'
Most things surfaced clearly in her mind, but that aching sorrow did not.
'What do I want to do with that boy?'
Her thoughts began to scatter again.
Ikael could not put into clear words the feeling she had toward Shirone.
Love?
Calling it merely love felt painfully shallow.
Unable to probe the deeper places of her feelings, Ikael finally made a decision.
'I must kill him.'
She could not trust Shirone.
No—what she couldn't trust was herself.
Trying to analyze someone with imperfect memories was never a good idea.
'I'll do what I can do.'
Having decided, Ikael spoke.
"All right. I will revive Feope. But you must keep your promise."
"If it only saves Feope, I don't care."
Shirone looked down at the small fairy in his hands with pity.
He still wasn't sure whether this was the right decision.
But Feope had wasted an almost-eternal lifespan to save him and had shriveled into a pitiful state.
'I must save Feope.'
Right now, that was all that mattered.
"Put the fairy down in front of me. Amplifying life force is an exquisitely delicate procedure."
That was the biggest reason Ikael had refused to make the trade earlier.
Once Ataraxia activated, she would have to concentrate her entire mind on Feope. If Shirone—wielding Direct Perception—found that opening, he could strike a fatal blow.
It wasn't a strategy to use in front of someone you couldn't trust.
"Don't worry. I won't do anything until Feope is alive again."
"Please…."
Ikael answered in a flat tone, and Shirone, still wary, eased forward.
"Kill him. Kill him. Kill him."
Watching Shirone close the distance, Ikael kept repeating the same thought in her head.
If the gap closed even a little more, even if he sensed her temperament with Direct Perception, she wouldn't be able to react—her heart would be torn out.
"Now!"
Shirone walked calmly.
"Now!"
Even as he approached Ikael and slowly bent to place Feope on the ground, she did not move.
"Now! Now! Now!"
Only then did Ikael realize.
'Now….'
What had been whirling in her mind like madness was nothing but thought.
"You cannot kill me."
Shirone set Feope down and stepped back slowly, looking at Ikael with sad eyes.
He hadn't been completely unaware of Ikael's intent.
Maybe it could have gone that way… so he hadn't let down his guard—but at the same time he thought it didn't matter.
If Ikael killed him, then the very reason he'd risked his life to come to heaven would disappear.
But Ikael ultimately could not kill Shirone, and that was enough for Shirone.
So many people had already been sacrificed, so many lives ended, just for him to meet her.
"Fine. End it here."
Contrary to Shirone's thoughts, Ikael grew even more inscrutable.
"How do you know that? Why do you say I can't kill you?"
Words that had gathered in his throat rose, but Shirone swallowed them.
If Ikael had already lost her memories, whatever he said would only come back to him as wounds.
If there was a single hope…
"I don't know either."
"But you…."
"Truly, I don't know. That's why I came to meet you. But you can't tell me anything."
Shirone clamped down on the sorrow swelling within him.
"Why won't you try to remember me? You could do it."
Ikael fell silent.
It wasn't that she hadn't considered what Shirone suggested.
If Anke Ra hadn't fully reset things but had only excised memories, Ikael might be able to recover them.
But that would be a direct defiance of Anke Ra's will—more than a mere recoil, it would be something far worse.
Hurt again by Ikael's silence, Shirone looked down at Feope and stepped back.
Saying nothing had been the right choice, after all.
"That's enough. Save Feope. If you do, I'll do what you want."
Ikael's gaze turned to Feope.
If she could neither kill nor refrain from killing, making a pact with Shirone was the best option.
"...Very well."
Ikael knelt slowly before Feope, placed her hands on her knees, and closed her eyes.
Chiiiiiiiiiiing!
Her sacred halo expanded and the Ataraxia—her emblem—rotated, flashing brilliant, iridescent colors.
Shirone half-closed his eyes and watched, enraptured.
He could use Ataraxia too, but no one could rival the beauty of the original.
'Amplify life force…'
To revive Feope.
Bringing a fairy back after it had spent its lifespan was as difficult as granting a new life, but for Ikael, who treated amplification as a fundamental principle, it wasn't impossible.
'It will still take time.'
Ikael emptied her mind and reached out to Feope.
'Shirone will keep his promise.'
Once she made that decision, a strange calm settled over her.
Her head still ran through countless variables, but the moment she trusted Shirone, a quiet, joyful certainty filled her so completely that she found herself smiling faintly without meaning to.
Her expression chilled almost at once, and with emotionless eyes she focused on channeling her power.
Kukukukukukuku!
Then the ground began to tremble from the west of Arabot.
Shirone, snapping to attention, turned that way and his eyes trembled with shock.
An indescribably dark, dank energy rolled in from afar.
Sensing the temperament through Direct Perception, terror rose through Shirone's whole body and goosebumps broke out.
Black dots, like pixels, swirled and cast a filthy darkness around whoever spread that dread.
"Paiel?"
The archangel of annihilation, Paiel.
Even Ikael had not expected him; unease shook her eyes.
If Ikael—of Amplification—had been the first to emerge among the great eight concepts, Paiel of Annihilation marked their end.
A clash between two archangels over the same incident was a rarity in heaven's annals.
And the Law of Outcome always sided with annihilation.
"Paiel! Do not come any closer!"
Paiel's purpose was singular; his intent in appearing here was obvious.
Victory or defeat in war meant nothing.
Paiel had come to end everything.
"Archangel Ikael…."
Even from a distance his voice rode the black vortex and echoed through Arabot.
Shirone fought desperately to steady his mind and suppress the rising dread.
Paiel's appearance itself was unremarkable.
At about 1.7 meters tall, he might be called a dwarf among angels. He wore a white robe, but his face, hidden by a hood, was utter darkness.
"From this moment I deny you."
Hooooooo!
At last, a face emerged from inside Paiel's hood.
Could that be called a face?
Only wickedly slashed eyes and lips jagged like thorns were illuminated in the dark.
Hooooooo!
The surrounding darkness contorted and projected the hooded visage; his sacred halo transformed into an inky ring, spinning like spilled black ink.
"Hrrrr!"
Just being exposed to that force made Shirone feel his life force drain; his teeth chattered.
Armand's tendrils withered like dry leaves, and a chill like ice water ran through his bones.
"Obliviate, Ikael."
As Paiel hurled himself forward, Ikael sprang aside.
Amplification versus annihilation—who would have the advantage was obvious without even clashing.
From a hundred meters away, watching Ikael, Paiel glanced at her briefly and then turned his attention to Shirone.
"Foolish Nephilim. To think you would destroy heaven for the petty desires of a mere human."
Paiel raised his hand and Feope's body slowly lifted into the air.
A horrible thought struck Shirone. He spun the radiant ring of his Valhalla Action faster and shouted.
"No! Put Feope down!"
"All life is annihilated. It is merely the natural order. You are no exception."
"Don't you dare touch Feope. If you do, I'll kill Ra—whom you cherish so monstrously!"
Paiel tilted his head as if regarding Shirone's ring.
He had already confirmed by divination what result the Valhalla Action would carry out.
But he had no particular attachment to the destruction of heaven.
He simply could no longer bear to watch the Angel of Amplification be corrupted.
"My only outcome is annihilation."
"Noooooo!"
As Shirone screamed, Paiel clenched his fist.
Black smoke seeped into Feope's body, then turned to black powder like ash and scattered away.
"Feo, Feope…."
Shirone stared at the powder, stunned.
It was annihilated.
No chance of revival, no chance to grant death its due—vanished from the world without meaning.
"Ugh! Hngh!"
Shirone ground his teeth and clenched his fists.
He had no thought of holding back tears, no thought of not appearing weak before his enemy.
What sprouted deep in his heart was a bitter, blazing rage.
That seed spread at terrifying speed until it filled Shirone's head.
"I will not forgive you."
Judicial Radiant Ring—Valhalla Action.
As Valhalla Action triggered, Ataraxia unfolded in an instant and Shirone vanished from his spot.
"Foolish Paiel! Do you mean to endanger Ra?"
Hearing Ikael's cry, Paiel turned from the spot where Shirone had gone.
The hooded face still smiled in the dark, but his voice was cold and solemn.
"You are the fool, Ikael. Do you still not understand what waits at the end of this war?"
"What do you mean—!"
Flash!
Before Ikael could finish, a massive crimson light shot up into the sky in the distance.
Estimated power: 2.19 million kilobursters.
One of Shirone's most devastating spells, the Punishment of the Gods, had begun to activate.