[690] The Eyes of God (2)
A gleam of light coursed along Meirei's thin, elongated body and in an instant shot up into the sky.
She traced that pillar of light to dizzying heights and, with fingers bending like rubber, formed a hand sign.
"What is that?"
Everyone craned their necks as her avatar swelled until it seemed it could overturn the very heavens.
Terapos Avatar Technique — Great Avalokitesvara.
A size not inferior to the avatar Miro had shown when she faced Satan in the heavens.
A huge, lidless eye fanned across the crown of her head, and a map shimmered in its surface.
"From now on I will separate your good from your evil."
The Terapos are a people who守 order, with the ability to collect and analyze every sound in the world.
Just as one cannot speak of humans without sight, to the Terapos sound is the world's truth and core.
And at this moment every sound on the planet where Shirone lived was being gathered by Meirei's ears.
"The wisdom of the Chief Justice. The order of the Law."
Light flashed in Meirei's two eyes, and a single standard was applied to every human living in the world.
The counts of good and evil were tallied at lightning speed.
Good: 0
Evil: 8,724
Through the true power of God's frequency, the voices of over three billion hearts resonated and thundered inside her mind.
Republic of Yakma.
- I want to be the only superior one. I want everyone to look up to me.
- That guy's hopeless. He has no skill but acts so proud. If it were me...
The mass of thoughts pouring in simultaneously from around the globe was sorted at incredible speed by the Terapos Chief Justice's standards.
Good: 1
Evil: 278,687
Republic of North Aimond.
- It's mine! I'll take it all!
- Crush them mercilessly! If they've sinned, they must pay! My fault? ...What do you know about me!
Good: 12
Evil: 4,562,479
Kashan Empire.
- I'm a good person. There's no way I'm not good. So all of you are the bad ones!
- Why won't you cut me some slack? I'm the cooler one! I'm the best! You fools who don't know that!
Good: 376
Evil: 67,285,541
The Mediterranean.
- Fail. Fail. Fail. Fail.
- My thoughts are the only correct ones. Because I'm smart. You're stupid.
Good: 1,225
Evil: 128,546,699
Eastern Zhongtian—monks' mountain range.
- By giving myself up with all my heart...
- Courage against evil is not winning by fighting but immersing myself in suffering.
Good: 21,318
Evil: 1,589,746,587
Gustav Empire.
- Make mistakes so I can mock you, so I can be at ease. God, let the author make a mistake.
- I will make you suffer. It doesn't matter. It's not me who gets hurt.
When judgment on all humanity had finished, the final score surfaced in Meirei's mind.
Good: 48,893
Evil: 3,159,963,587
"Sufficient."
Those who passed the standard for good didn't even make up one percent of the population, but the choice still lay with them.
Are humans evil beings?
If so, how could one explain the remaining 48,893 humans in the world?
As long as even a single virtuous person remains, humanity cannot be defined as wholly good or wholly evil.
Rather, as beings who choose good or evil for themselves, they will strive endlessly for the future of humankind.
"Humanity is not yet ripe for annihilation. By this Chief Justice's judgment, I will erase the Ra Enemi incident."
The Avalokitesvara avatar shifted its hand sign and swung both arms wide; an immense number of light sources overlapped.
Terapos Avatar Technique — Avalokitesvara's Demonic Erasure.
A clear, pure sound—inaudible to human ears—spread toward the surface.
The Law, which borrows the power of good to weaken the power of evil, was delivered across the world through the Terapos's formidable avatar.
The balance recoverable at a ratio of fifty thousand to three billion was slight, but it was more than enough to erase the Ra Enemi incident.
"Ugh..."
Shagal stared up at the sky, dazed.
The horrific memories that had been slipping between reality and illusion began to dissolve, leaving only his original memories.
There were no new memories to fill the void left behind—only the time spent wandering in darkness.
"Waaaah! Waaahhh!"
Seeing Shagal scream in a frenzy of frustration and grief, Shirone understood the severity of the backlash.
'So this is what Meirei meant by aftershocks.'
Likely many others around the world were reacting the same way as Shagal.
As Ra Enemi's memories faded, the kar he had accumulated through human experience began to drop, if only slightly.
The Other World's army halted its assault, and Igor and Barshiva, who had been locked in deadly combat, stepped apart.
"What... what is this?"
"Barshiva, the master of this world is still us. If we lose control, we can't protect anything."
Ra Enemi had promised Barshiva the Other World's independence, but that memory, too, had already vanished.
Igor glanced at Shirone and said, "We will return. Your matter is yours to resolve. We fought together today, but next time..."
He cut himself off.
The beings of the Other World and humans of reality are fundamentally incompatible; if this repeats, there will be no avoiding war.
When the Other World's forces withdrew, what remained were horrific corpses and Shirone's party, stained with blood.
Meirei descended to the ground after finishing her avatar art.
"I have erased the Ra Enemi incident. You must take responsibility for this as a representative of humanity."
"You sure waste no time."
Shirone had been prepared for that.
"Then why do I still remember it?"
"The Avalokitesvara's Demonic Erasure wipes out everything controlled by evil. If something wasn't being controlled, the memory won't be erased."
"I see."
As the Ra Enemi incident vanished, the landscape of the Other World slowly cleared.
The implanted brain-state was undone, and Meirei returned to her girl form, one hand pressed to an ear.
Through God's frequency Ra Enemi's voice reached them.
- Find me, Hexa.
Ra Enemi would not show himself to the world until he reached one hundred percent kar.
- I will be where you seek me.
The voice ceased, and Shirone checked the survivors' condition.
Venetia was dead. Shagal was nowhere to be seen—likely already gone.
When Etella, Kuan, Rian, and Lupist approached, Meirei spoke.
"I will return. I don't know what future awaits you, but please make right choices."
Lupist said, "Since you're here, why not stay a little longer? Ra Enemi hasn't completely vanished, after all."
"Terapos preserve the order of the universe through sound. They intervened directly because Ra Enemi ignored that order and manipulated cosmic events. Barring another universe-scale incident, there won't be physical interference like this."
"Hm."
Lupist neither agreed nor disagreed.
He'd love to use the Terapos for the Kingdom of Tormia, but they were far too dangerous to handle.
"Hexa, the Terapos has recognized you as humanity's representative. I entrust the rest to you. If needed, I will contact you."
As she finished, Meirei's pupils returned to human eyes.
"Oh? Where is this place?"
She appeared to remember nothing, and Shirone's group stared at her in blank silence.
"You don't remember anything?"
"I think I was blown away by the explosion when I defended against the life-flower energy beam..."
'So it changed back then. She completely fooled us.'
It would likely be classified, but Meirei would be recruited by the kingdom as the only person capable of communicating with the Terapos.
Etella asked, "What do we do now? Ra Enemi's memories are gone, but he's still in a human body in this world."
Kido answered, "Do we really need to look for him? He can't manipulate incidents anymore, so it'd be meaningless."
Ra Enemi's method of collecting experience operated on a scale impossible without primeval design.
Shirone said, "Even so, the ability of sensory-memory is useful. Ra Enemi might use it in other ways."
"Are you really going to search for him?"
Lupist sneered.
"You should've learned from this. If we're careless, Ra Enemi could grow into a catastrophe. Humanity would be at risk."
"We still have to find him."
"Why?"
"Because it's the Ivory Tower test."
Not because they needed to pass the exam.
"My view is the same as the Ivory Tower's. Even if humanity is endangered, we must fight to the end to drive Ra Enemi out."
'Kar, huh...'
In any case, Shirone wasn't part of the Magic Association, so Lupist couldn't stop him.
"Do as you like. I'm going to the life-flower. I might be able to retrieve the seed. I'll handle the mercenary matter."
"I'm sorry about Jane."
"...She's not the only one who died. I'll get in touch."
As Lupist launched himself into the air, Meirei bowed slightly to Shirone.
"I'll follow the association chair as well. If you become an Ivory Tower resident, please be sure to visit."
As long as Meirei received the Terapos oracle, their connection wouldn't end here.
"All right. Take care, and see you next time."
While Shirone exchanged farewells, Kuan limped over to Rian.
"Hey."
The moment Rian turned, Kuan drew his sword like lightning and swung it vertically.
The blade whooshed past the space between Rian's brows.
"Understood?"
"...Yes."
The afterimage of a single stroke containing countless subtleties still burned on Rian's retina.
It was clearly a technique hard even to imitate, but Shirone understood the lesson Kuan intended.
"Practice."
A gift from a man who had once been an instructor.
"Ah, thank you."
Kuan turned without replying, and Etella touched Shirone's shoulder in parting.
"Take care, Shirone-kun."
"Are you going back? Um, we still haven't paid the reward, you know?"
Etella smiled and shook her head.
"I didn't come for the money. I carry my teacher's will in my heart, so I'm fine."
"Are you returning to school?"
"For now. But... I'm still not sure."
She still harbored hatred for Shagal and doubted whether she could teach in this state.
When everyone left, only Rian and Kido remained at Shirone's side.
After an awkward silence, Rian glanced at Kido.
"Aren't you coming?"
"Me? I should... I'll go."
For humans the whole world was a stage, but for the goblin Kido, wherever he went he was still just one of the Ain.
"If you don't have a destination, want to come with us?"
At Shirone's offer Kido's ears actually perked up, but his pride wouldn't let him accept immediately.
"Hmph, what would I do following humans..."
"You can't hide forever. Come with us. It'll be fun."
"R-Really?"
Rian readily agreed.
"All right, let's go fight Ra Enemi together. The more powerful allies, the better."
Kido liked being called a powerful ally.
"Kihihihi! Fine! Then I, personally, shall lend my strength to the humans!"
Kido swung his spear in a flamboyant pose.
"By the way..."
Although the Radum mission had ended, heavy feelings still flowed through their hearts.
"Shirone, what is this world?"
The mischief had left Kido's face as he recalled how Anke Ra had been born.
"I don't want to be sure. But maybe we are..."
Shirone looked up at the sky and said, "living in someone's dream."