[547] The Great Direct Path (3)
Death Knight.
Not a common sight, but to the ageless woman who had lived through ten thousand years, there were a few anecdotes that could explain Rian's phenomenon.
In the history of war, some knights fought as if they had transcended death.
Their will to live remained so strong that even after dying they would not close their eyes—an expression of will that could only be explained as a peculiar kind of Law.
"This is the first time I've seen something like this."
She had even seen a man whose head had been severed keep swinging his sword for over three minutes before finally collapsing.
But the deathlike state Rian displayed moved with an activity on a completely different level.
"Rian…."
Watching him fight like that, Shirone felt a nostalgic ache no memory could replace.
"That's right, he was like that…."
Rian had been that kind of friend.
If he threw his life into a charge, it was never to harm her.
"I don't understand any of this. What am I supposed to see?"
If, as Rian said, this world were a lie, how could she explain the friendship she remembered?
"I can't hold out for long anyway."
The ageless woman came to that conclusion.
"I'll die before I can get here."
No one could survive being hit by that many rounds, so Shirone bit his lip and let go of the thought.
The sacrifice of one person could restore the world.
This world had to be real.
If it wasn't, then what had the love, longing, happiness, and joy of those who'd lived here meant?
Universal love was the best choice Shirone could make while trapped.
When a shockwave that shook the heavens came from behind, the ageless woman turned her gaze to the battlefield where Shura and Miro were fighting.
"She's getting the stuffing beat out of her."
The manifestation of Guanyin striking Shura wildly from every direction made one's spine chill at the sight.
"Ugh, so annoying!"
But it was Miro who scowled and pressed the attack.
Except where the two Prajna clashed, mucus had seized the south and was flowing east and west up the pyramid.
"Does that mean time isn't on my side?"
Miro glared at Shura and ground her teeth.
The three-dimensional depiction of Guanyin looked like it surveyed the world from the peak of the sky.
But in the mental domain Miro perceived, it was four-dimensional—an all-around, blind-spotless view.
Extreme scale opened space-time.
So Guanyin's strikes could come from anywhere, and the speed of the successive blows was not bound by time.
"Guanyin Thunderfall."
When Miro swung her hand, thousands of overlapping palms of Guanyin drove down from the sky.
Shura set the seal and lifted the serpent's eye, activating her ability.
Gestalt of Union—Divine Strangulation.
In an encircling motion, inverted crosses the size of people were born, bending like rubber and assembling into a seamless sphere.
Then the Guanyin Thunderfall barrage slammed so violently it cracked the ground.
"Huh, this is really annoying."
The inverted crosses studded with red jewels disassembled, revealing Shura grinning with a long tongue.
"Been stuck behind that dimensional wall too long? Miro's out of practice."
'How dare you mouth off when this is your patch,' Miro thought, but had to give Shura credit. This was Shura's turf.
No matter how capable Miro was, squaring off with a Law-user who manipulated falsehood in the Apocalypse was like a lion diving into the sea to fight a shark.
"I need to destroy the pyramid."
The key was dispelling the Law surrounding the pyramid, but Miro was not the one who could do that.
"I know what you're thinking."
Shura's serpent form rippled as she spoke.
"You plan to bind my ankles and make someone else break the Law."
Miro said nothing.
"But we're not the only enemy. Can we break through this and make the timing?"
When she turned to where Shura pointed, the entire desert had been consumed by mucus.
"Damn it!"
Marsha cursed.
They were already barely dodging the guardians' attacks, and now mucus was surging from the ground to swallow her.
She'd stabbed the dagger of insolence into several guardians, but waiting for exhaustion would take too long—the mucus was expanding too fast.
"Don't interfere with our mission."
Exser, who had batlike abilities, flew above Marsha and swung twin blades.
As Marsha launched herself and tumbled over the mucus, slime shot up like awls along her path.
"What am I supposed to do about that!"
Marsha gritted her teeth and rose, and Targan, the demolition specialist, opened the crater of his fist.
"This is the end!"
Boom! Gas detonated and blasted the area, throwing Marsha's body as she narrowly dodged.
"Hnggh!"
Just before crashing, mucus rose into a wall and caught her.
The slime quickly flowed to bind her limbs, then surged back like reflux and lifted her dozens of meters into the air.
"Let go of me! Get off!"
After frantic struggling, Marsha glanced across the pyramid.
Fermi, trapped the same way, met her eyes and shrugged.
"This is insane!"
With everyone's feet bound, only Rian remained.
"That—!"
Marsha turned north; her eyes trembled with shock.
'I will not stop!'
Seeing the base of the pyramid covered by mucus, Rian redoubled his speed.
But the mucus surged like a current, trailing at his heels.
"Fire! Even if you don't kill him, shoot! Shatter him with bullets!"
The combat units launched a full assault.
"Arghhhh!"
Each time Rian's sword flashed, a subterranean being was split into pieces. (164 kill)
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Grenades detonated everywhere and dozens of fragments lodged in the palm of Rian's left hand that covered his face.
Bullets zigzagged and one snapped his ankle with a sickening crack.
"Krrrgh!"
Rian's face twisted as he stamped the ground with his right foot.
Pulled forward as if by a tether, his body plunged into the enemy lines and the slaughter began.
"Aaah! A g-ghost!"
Blood-soaked, Rian's face had become a perfect yaksha.
"God…."
Priest Bebeto stood with his mouth open in disbelief.
An undying body.
The immortality of flesh that only those recognized by the sun could possess was being recreated before their eyes.
"Prepare, Shirone."
When the mucus from east and west reached the summit, the ageless woman said it.
But there was nothing Shirone could do to prepare.
All he could do was savor the last moments as the slime crept up from his ankles.
All the doubts that had thrown him into confusion vanished like lies the moment the mucus clung to him.
I will make a beautiful world.
"Goodbye, everyone…."
Blood-tears streamed from Rian's eyes.
"I'm sorry, Shirone!"
Enemy blood raining down mixed with those bloody tears and ran across his face.
"In reality, too, you would have fought like this, sacrificing everything!"
The veins in his heart, unable to handle the blood flow, began to burst.
"That's why you fell into a place like this!"
Smille's hallucinated voice sharpened.
"I couldn't protect you!"
"Stop him! I said stop him!"
As they neared the pyramid, concentrated fire spiked to unprecedented levels.
A grenade exploded behind Rian, and he popped up with shrapnel in his back.
He barely landed, but with his left ankle gone he lost his balance and dropped to one knee.
"Now! Grenade! Grenade!"
"My heart…."
Rising, Rian—his eyes a rim of white—glared at the enemies and leapt forward.
Establish the kingdom of conviction! (211 kill)
"Arghhh! (213 kill) Shoot! (215 kill) Shoot! (218 kill)"
Let unbending will (219 kill) and even greater pride be infused into the blade! (221 kill)
"Don't come! (223 kill) Don't come! (225 kill)"
Grant the courage to choose what is right (226 kill) and an iron resolve to never waver before that courage! (229 kill)
"Spare—! (231 kill) Save—! (233 kill) Gah! (234 kill)"
Always stand with the weak! (236 kill)
"We're all going to die! (239 kill) We're all gonna die! (240 kill)"
So they do not yield to the logic of the strong! (244 kill)
"Retreat! (246 kill) Fall back! (248 kill)"
Lead your sword with the spirit of chivalry alone! (250 kill)
"Grrr, grr."
At the head of the mucus barely keeping pace with Rian, countless life-forms sprang forth like ambushers leaping from hiding.
Watching Rian's relentless charge that pushed everything like the whole world, the ageless woman spoke in a calm voice.
"…Maha is surging in." (257 kill)
The slime that had tracked only Rian's path from the edge of vision formed a flawless Great Formation with not the slightest disorder.
Because it had been that way up to now and would be so from now on, she did not hide her emotion.
"I'm afraid, yaksha."
She had never felt such dread simply from knowing something was approaching.
"Run! Rian, run!"
Marsha shouted, thrashing.
Even Fermi, who had watched his steady advance with disdain, couldn't help but cheer this time.
"There's not much time. The union will start soon."
Bebeto screamed.
"Arghhhhh!" (273 kill)
Anyone would feel chilled to the bone thinking that the yaksha who'd pierced death was charging at them.
"Just a little more!"
After killing 273, Rian's blood-smeared vision suddenly cleared.
At the pyramid stood a King Kong, pounding its swollen chest and roaring.
"Come on! Let's see who's stronger!"
As Rian gripped his greatsword, the front of the mucus transformed into a gigantic beast and bit his left arm.
"Guh!"
Despair for Miro; ecstasy for Shura.
"Grrr, grrr!"
The mucus fed the beast, swelling it as if to seize its last chance.
"It's over. This is impossible."
Fermi thought the same as Marsha.
'How stupid. What is that conviction, to ignore tactics?'
But Rian still pressed forward, his severed left arm swinging back.
"Not… yet."
Even if everyone said it was over, even if they denied any chance of success—
'Because I couldn't protect you!'
There was one voice he could never deny.
"Not…!"
That voice was—
"It's not over!"
His own voice.
Axing—Deny.
"Kraaaang!"
With a roar, Rian swung his shoulder, and the beast's slime tore away along with his left arm.
"Uoooooo!"
Tons of mass launched like a cannon; King Kong spread its arms to take the impact.
"I'll take you! I am the strongest of the subterraneans…! Ugh!"
On impact, King Kong's cry was swallowed; buried in slime, it flew and smashed into the pyramid.
Kraaaaang! (274 kill)
Left arm torn off, Rian bared his teeth from the recoil of Deny and grimaced.
"Krrrgh…!"
There was no time to recover, so with his severed ankle he drove into the ground and began to climb the pyramid.
'Shirone! Shirone!'
Finally, when the top of the pyramid came into view, he kicked the steps with his right foot and leapt up.
"Shironeeeeee!"
Looking up at Rian suspended in the sky, Bebeto sobbed, tears and snot streaming down his face.
"Ah, my God."
The sun enveloped Rian.
(End of volume 22)