[581] The Probability of R (4)
"This is...."
Surrounded by light, Eden felt a sanctity made manifest for the first time in her life.
No one would think like that in the face of such a powerful mass wave unless it was an ultimate defensive spell.
There was no pain and no shock, yet the light's output—impossible for a mere human to produce—transmitted as a tremor through the thin membrane of her shield.
At the edge of that transcendent vibration the output suddenly spiked and Eden's mind went white.
"I have to get out."
She couldn't tell whether the Scramble Royal's out-of-bounds ruling set a height limit, but if she stayed like this she felt she might be flung all the way into space.
"God...."
Eden fixed herself in place, occupying exactly the space of her body.
"Why are you angry?"
As friction increased, the vibration outside the shield intensified.
It sounded like crying.
Not an animal, not a human scream—something else wailing.
"Huuuuugh!"
As long as a god existed, Eden's shield could not be destroyed.
"It's getting stronger."
But holding a body suspended in space was an entirely different matter.
"I let my guard down. Damn it...!"
Amid the blinding light whose output kept rising, Eden realized Shirone's calculation.
"She meant to blow me away from the start!"
The chains of the Law that had been holding her snapped, and her body slid from its coordinates as if it had vanished.
"Ah...."
When she came to, the trembling like sobbing had vanished.
Beneath her was a vast sea of clouds, and above the night sky hung a huge moon.
"Beautiful."
Everything made by a god was beautiful.
Even as gravity pulled her down and she tore through the cloud sea, accelerating toward the ground, her gaze did not waver.
"Don't worry."
The god will protect her.
"...."
When the flash died away in the silent mountains, Shirone looked up at the sky.
He belatedly followed with his eyes the pure-white figure falling in the most natural posture.
When she struck headfirst the ground boomed and dust rose from a deep crater.
A moment later Eden appeared, not a hair out of place.
"Truly, this woman...."
A monster.
When he'd heard about her from Iruki it hadn't felt real, but seeing it now made the hairs on his neck stand up.
"The tactic was good. But you thought too easily."
- On the Scramble Royal's out-of-bounds judgment, the height limit lies beyond the range affected by the gravity field.
If she'd simply blasted her away at the start, who knew what would have happened. In any case, next time Eden wouldn't go down so meekly.
"Perhaps I should be content with having gotten the Scramble."
Eden wouldn't attack, so there was no reason to linger.
"I need another countermeasure."
As he turned with that thought, Eden called out.
"Wait a moment."
Shirone looked back, puzzled.
"The amplification magic you used just now—how does it compare to when you faced Gaold? Is it stronger?"
It didn't approach the power it had before she went to heaven.
"Probably. Why do you ask?"
Eden fell silent, lost in thought.
"You seem concerned about Gaold. Why? Because he's from the same Yore order?"
Eden's expression hardened.
"How dare you throw the word 'heresy' around."
"Heresy?"
"He's one who abandoned God. Driven mad by mere fleshly desire."
Shirone's brow narrowed.
That might be one way to interpret it, but Gaold's love for Miro was genuine.
"Why say it like that? If God truly exists, then human emotions are God's creation too."
"Of course. But only under God's guardianship. Gaold killed countless lives and even threatened all of humanity for the sake of a single woman. Purely to sate his own desire. Erased from the Yore order's records—a disgrace that should not even exist. That is Gaold."
"Is that your omnipotence?"
Eden placed a hand over her chest with conviction.
"All things are guided by God. Therefore I need not rely on anything, and I am invincible."
"You're not invincible."
Shirone thought so.
He hadn't found a logical refutation, but if Eden truly believed that, then even an Absolute Barrier wasn't absolute.
"Don't you feel any pity for Gaold's suffering?"
"Pity?"
Eden twisted the corner of her mouth.
"There is no room for pity for one who pays the price for abandoning God. I am stronger than Gaold. I'm proving that right now, aren't I?"
Shirone remembered Gaold holding Ataraxia back with the Vacum Press in the Mage Association's underground secret bunker.
Unlike Eden's calm face, Gaold had shown the very pinnacle of agony.
Being human—being a living thing—meant being subject to the full range of terrible emotions.
"Gaold...."
Perhaps that's why he found himself rooting for him.
His suffering felt weightier than a god who might or might not even exist.
"It's not over yet. No matter how great a defensive spell is, unless it's divine there's nothing absolute."
"It is divine."
Eden pressed a hand to her chest.
"That's why it is absolute."
Realizing the point could not be compromised, Shirone fell silent.
"Come whenever you want. God will neither run nor hide."
Eden turned and vanished into the forest.
Back at her hideout, all she could do until the next Scramble was call the god's name.
"Eden. And Gaold."
Between the peace a god grants and human suffering, Shirone did not know which mattered more.
* * *
The second Scramble of day six was summoned, and participants—each with assigned missions—moved busily.
Dorothy also increased her pace to collect as many Scrambles as possible.
"I need to get two, no—three."
Otherwise she couldn't catch up with Pisho's speed.
Woooooom!
Jonah's keen senses picked up a vibration in the air.
'High frequency?'
As Hickery scooped her up and shot into the sky, the trees behind them popped and exploded.
'Hershi.'
A sound-based offensive spell—the Kaiser Gun.
By amplifying a unique vibration frequency to shatter objects, it took time but had the unseen advantage of bypassing vision.
'Why now?'
Hershi's hand showed ⓡⓡⓡⓡ.
With the total number of Scrambles dwindling, it was unlikely she hadn't opened them.
'She's planning to burn through my hand.'
To stop Hershi's Kang, Dorothy had no choice but to use the Scrambles Hickery had stashed.
'Then!'
Prepared to risk it, Dorothy assumed a combat stance.
'Cannon Kick (←→→ + Attack)!'
Hickery lunged with a back-kick stance, snapping trees, and the hiding Hershi revealed herself.
'She isn't setting up a Kang. Is she aiming for something else?'
At that moment Hershi dodged Hickery's attack and took a twin-pistol pose.
'Double Kaiser Gun.'
Two waves resonated and Hickery's frame shuddered.
"Damn!"
From the start her real target had been the Scrambles Hickery had collected.
Wave-type attacks, especially those that ignore durability, are iron's natural enemy.
"We have to neutralize her quickly!"
Double Super Rocket Punch (→→→ + Attack, Defense)!
Two rocket fists tore through the forest with murderous force, but Hershi's tracking ability was formidable.
"Hitting an enemy's weak point is basic, basic tactics."
As Hickery's body shook as if about to explode, Sona's magic was forcibly canceled.
'Cancellation?'
"Hitting an enemy's weak point is basic, basic tactics."
When Iruki appeared in the sky, Hershi flung herself in a panic.
"Ugh!"
The rocket punch kept tracking.
'Her core's already been analyzed. Sona is no longer possible.'
Stripped of her search function, Hershi felt isolated in the dark.
'Air Suit!'
All she could do was layer as much basic defensive magic on her body as possible.
'Operation mode (Attack + Move), maximum output (→→→→→→).'
When Dorothy's rocket punch smashed into her abdomen squarely, Hershi's face crumpled like paper.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Watching Hershi topple and fly away, Iruki shouted,
"Master Card!"
If Hershi was taken out, the allied team would lose its brain.
'Then we can win even with Eden there.'
As Iruki and Dorothy dashed into the forest, the scenery suddenly warped into something grotesque.
Jincheon Sorcery—Lewd Demon.
"Ughhh!"
What met their eyes were not human bodies.
It was the primeval lust born when a single-celled organism first split into male and female.
"Ugh! Ugh!"
When the hallucination faded, Iruki drew a harsh breath.
'Amazing. Not an ordinary illusion.'
Dorothy watched him and swallowed audibly.
"Ah...."
Coming to his senses, Iruki said, "At least it's a success. Keep collecting Scrambles. If we hit the target, the momentum will shift."
"Okay. O-okay."
Just as Iruki was about to leave, Dorothy called.
"Iruki."
"Hm? Huh!"
She suddenly kissed him and Iruki's eyes flickered.
With nothing agreed upon their lips broke apart at the same time; Dorothy, cheeks flushed, hurriedly said,
"I'll make sure we succeed."
Watching Dorothy teleport away, Iruki looked around as if briefly disoriented.
"Ah, I have to go to Sabina...."
A flash shot up in the exact opposite direction from Dorothy.
* * *
"Damned Cancellation."
Hershi clutched her aching belly and grimaced.
She'd blocked it, but it felt as if her abdominal muscles had been torn.
"You all right?"
Hershi glared at Anchul.
Thanks to Anchul's magic she'd survived the crisis again, but she still wasn't satisfied.
'She's definitely strong. Apart from Fermi and Lycan, there's probably no one who can subdue her.'
Meaning stronger than most of the school's teachers.
"Do you actually plan to do anything? Don't you know you'll pay for it if you lose here?"
"I'm doing at least as much as the others, I think."
"That's not what I meant."
"Yesterday I cast a Mental Projection on Neyde."
Hershi fell silent.
Come to think of it, Neyde had shown no movement since yesterday.
"So what? You expect praise for that?"
Anchul sneered.
"You'll understand one day. Even that alone means I've done my part in this match. So don't hold a grudge."
"Wait! What do you mean—!"
Before Hershi could finish, Anchul teleported away.
* * *
The third Scramble was summoned.
'I can't stop Eden right now. Rather than gamble, collect at least one more Scramble.'
With no guarantee Eden would give ground like she had this morning, Shirone skirted the coordinates where Eden was likely to be.
"Huh?"
Sacred mist settled around them and an eastern-style tomb split open.
Jincheon Sorcery—Midheaven Realm.
He heard the coffin creak and Anchul walked out of the grave.
"I've been waiting, Shirone."
Already burned by illusions once, Shirone tensed.
'Anchul's hand is....'
As if reading his thought, Anchul produced a Master Card and tossed it to the ground.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm not going to attack. I want to talk."
A secret pact he'd heard from Amy surfaced in his mind.
'If Anchul defects it's certainly advantageous. But....'
Shirone's decision matched Amy's.
"Pick up the Master Card."
"I haven't said anything yet."
"I don't want to hear it. I don't know what you intended when you joined this, but let's fight fair."
"You'll need my help. If you investigate Istas alone, you'll die."
"If you're talking about rumors from the higher-ups, I don't care."
"The Great Purge. If you were the one who led the third reset, then it's not unrelated to you."
Shirone's eyebrows twitched.
'Who the hell is this woman?'
Anchul, who'd been scanning the area, stepped forward cautiously and pressed her lips to Shirone's ear.
Even with sorcery blocking the area, keeping secrets was a spy's basic skill.
"Istas is...."
Shirone's eyes widened and his heart pounded at Anchul's words.
He sorted his thoughts and slowly opened his mouth.
"....What do you want?"
"Companionship. Come with me into Istas."
Having annihilated the Midheaven Realm, Anchul tore the Master Card in half and vanished into the forest.
"When the match ends, come find me. I'll be waiting."
Anchul.
Scramble Royal—forfeit.