[712] What Is Gained (1)
The laws that had flowed down into the lowlands formed layers in the labyrinth's depths, like liquids of differing densities.
There were seven strata in all, though Nane had no way of knowing that yet.
Another question rose in Nane's mind as he took in the scene that embodied painfully human suffering.
'What is a human?'
What was happening on the first underground level was perhaps the most powerful violence that could be inflicted on human dignity.
"Uaaaah! Please, stop!"
The monk who followed the will of goodness, the mage of cold reason, the swordsman of conviction—all of them cried out in the same desperate howl.
'Why must they suffer?'
Humans writhing in a hell made by other humans was the irony of this world.
'In this hollow world that vanishes when you close your eyes.'
"Heh heh heh, a new recruit at last."
The denizens of the inner world, who lived on Paitaros' first underground level, waddled forward with excited faces.
None of them had limbs that looked intact—more like they'd been patched on—and each carried a hideous hook.
Tools that looked like the meat hooks a butcher would use dutifully performed their roles amid the surrounding flames.
"Welcome, human. I will tear your mind apart."
Nane did not understand their language.
Once you clearly perceive the laws of the world and what must be done, the meanings of words fall away.
"Send those pitiful mortals out."
The residents—who had long reveled in human voices—understood Nane's words.
"Outside?"
They stuck out their tongues and burst into laughter.
"Ah, a very amusing toy has arrived. Do you know what those who say that end up saying?"
A wide-eyed denizen mocked a human voice.
"Please, spare me!"
The denizens laughed until they clutched their bellies, but Nane simply moved on with calm steps.
"Perhaps the truth I seek lies at the end of this hell."
Ra Enemi would be waiting for Nane in the deepest part of Paitaros.
"Is it not also my karma to save them from the hell humans made?"
A denizen thrust its hook forward.
"If they can endure it, I'll send them. But I guarantee you will beg with blood in your eyes as well."
"There is no pain I do not know."
As a hook was raised and brought down, sparks flew before Nane's eyes.
'Why was I born?'
Fate—the cartwheel of Law.
'What surpasses the great wheel of reincarnation?'
Karma value: 99.999 percent.
* * *
Jin Seongeum's party, having entered Jessica's Pyramid, looked up at a ceiling dappled with clouds.
"There's a sky."
It was an artificial sky.
Mun-gyeong, captain of Sambo, pointed toward a horizon that stretched endlessly.
"This place is really vast. The rumors weren't exaggerated."
To a giant it was merely a city, but by human standards it was the size of a kingdom.
"Size means nothing to me."
To Jin Seongeum, who had realized the aether wave, space was like an infinite rubber band she could stretch or contract at will.
"Do you really think Ra Enemi is here?"
"It doesn't matter. We'll search the whole world if we have to."
If Ra Enemi existed, she would eventually be forced to show herself to Seongeum.
"One look at the giant's city should be enough…"
When Seongeum focused her mind, aether waves transmitted and countless objects were sensed.
"First things first."
Aether Wave — Spatial Compression.
The landscape ahead crumpled and surged; a distance of nearly four kilometers collapsed in an instant before them.
"What are you people!"
Outside the boundary where two incongruous landscapes met, a band drew weapons and glared at Seongeum.
With a single step she arrived at Jessica's first base camp and looked around.
"I am Jin Seongeum, princess of the Jincheon Empire. From now on, Jessica is under my occupation. I ask for your cooperation."
While Sambo's guards waited sternly for an answer, the hunters who had been camped there blinked.
"Princess? The Jincheon Empire?"
The hunters' leader shrugged.
"Heh heh heh. Hey, did you hear? She says she's a princess."
It wasn't that they didn't believe Seongeum, but titles from outside the maze meant nothing in Jessica.
"Hey, idiotic princess. Do you know where you are? Do you know how many we killed to take this base camp over a year?"
Where Seongeum turned, piles of bones—easily two hundred—rose like small mountains.
"That's unfortunate."
"What?"
"My destination is the end of the maze. This is none of my concern while you dilly-dally here. Tell me what you know and I'll let you pass quietly."
"This is maddening, seriously."
Even without recalling the hunters' maxim that information is almost everything, there are still codes of honor.
"Guys, let's loosen up—"
Just as Sambo's soldiers felt the hunters' murderous intent and drew their weapons, Seongeum spread her hands and stepped forward.
"Don't interfere. This is my fight."
That was the condition; as Sambo hesitated, the hunters seized the moment and leapt at Seongeum, swinging their swords.
"Die, stupid woman!"
Dozens of blades flashed like streaks of light.
"Ugh!"
The instant the cuts finished, every hunter's throat but the leader's was cleanly severed.
"Wh—how…?"
The leader couldn't believe his eyes.
The swords that should have struck Seongeum vanished mid-swing and reappeared behind their wielders, slicing their own throats.
'Invincible.'
The word surfaced in Mun-gyeong's head.
'If you bend space, any attack becomes useless. The one who will unite the world is Jin Seongeum of Jincheon.'
Having dealt with the hunters, Seongeum stepped toward the leader, who trembled with a pale face.
"Speak what you know."
"Eek!"
"Be honest with your information and I'll spare your life."
The leader examined his slaughtered comrades' bodies and, resigned, began to speak.
"This is a giant's ruin."
According to their investigation, Jessica was divided into ten zones radiating like concentric circles.
"The structures grow larger the further in you go. They said from the sixth stage it shrinks again, but we couldn't confirm. However, the quality of excavated ancient weapons becomes markedly superior."
"Ancient weapons are irrelevant. The ten zones seem to correspond to the Steps of Myth."
"That could be."
It was only natural that Imir—the only one in Heaven's history to break through ten stages—came to mind.
Seongeum passed the leader and said, "As promised, I'll spare your life."
Relief was brief; seeing his comrades' severed throats made the loss hit him hard.
'You damned bastards! Leaving only me alive—do you want me beaten to death by your families?'
He and his brothers had forged a bond deeper than kin over a year of battles. This wasn't a joke; they had cut their own throats.
'I'm going insane!'
Rage boiled over.
'No—endure it! What kind of life did I pull through? Just endure, like garbage… like maggots…'
The fallen sword tempted him with its hilt, and before he knew it his feet braced.
"I'll kill you!"
The leader leapt, spirit-filled sword descending vertically toward Seongeum's crown.
Aether Wave — Curvature.
Space bent, and the central portion of the blade arced up like a mountain.
"…"
Landing in the strike's posture, the leader stared at the blade curved to Seongeum's height and shook.
"Damn it…! What the hell is this!"
He wept bitterly as he awaited a disgraceful death.
"Are you resentful because your comrades died?"
When Seongeum slowly turned, the leader lifted his face twisted with anger.
"Kill me!"
"No."
Seongeum knelt before him and gently placed her hand on his head.
"Live."
The leader's face went blank.
"I said I would not kill you. Whether you take revenge or devote your life to it, I will not kill you. That is Jin Seongeum, Princess of Jincheon."
Only Jin Seongeum could make such a promise—that no matter what harm was done, she would never take a life.
'How high up must this woman be?'
Rising again, Seongeum sensed the next boundary with an aether wave and cast spatial compression.
Space surged once more, and they took a second step into the exploration of Jessica.
Watching the landscape snap back like a rubber band, the leader washed away his grudges.
'Revenge…'
It was a dream he could no longer even entertain.
* * *
Maze Andre — World No. 847.
Shirone arrived at the city called Codename and found himself chased by a flood of people with numbers etched into their foreheads.
"They're the Countless! Catch him!"
Among the 19,000 worlds, some seemed to have evolved independently without interference from other worlds.
Codename was a realm of perfect inequality.
"How dare you refuse number 427,621!"
Everyone in this city was assigned a number at birth according to their value, and no two numbers were the same.
From the greatest, number 1, up through 427,620, hierarchy was dictated by number.
'What a mad world!'
The pursuers, armed and numbered in the two-hundred-thousands, belonged to the city's middle class.
Shirone teleported to the roof of a brick building and then leapt into an alley.
A beggar leaning against the wall flinched and checked Shirone's forehead.
"Your code is…"
In the brief moment Shirone had to adapt to this world, he checked the beggar's forehead and saw the number 417,631.
"Scum! You inferior worm!"
The beggar grabbed at Shirone's clothes.
"Give it to me! It's all mine! Give me food! And from now on you work for me! Bring me money!"
At that moment the pursuers heard the commotion and their armor clattered as they filled the alley.
"There he is! Grab him!"
"Eek! Two thirty-thousand!"
The terrified beggar flattened himself and bowed his head.
"Spare me! I'm a lowly beggar! Please don't kill me!"
Shirone pulled his collar tight and bolted down the alley; the pursuers paid no heed to the beggar and gave chase.
'What the hell is with these numbers?'
From what he'd learned so far, numbers in this city were absolute; even murder wasn't necessarily a crime.
There were special cases where numbers could be reassigned—either exchange or acquisition.
Exchange was when a superior swapped numbers with an inferior, typically decided by duel.
Acquisition was far more extreme: an inferior could claim a superior's number by taking the superior's head and registering it with the authorities.
'I can't keep running like this.'
To exist as one of the Countless was a crime itself here, and everyone who saw Shirone set their eyes ablaze and charged.
"Out of the way! Move!"
What made escape difficult was the strange abilities the residents used.
'I can't sense any Spirit Zone…'
Mounted knights leapt high and hurled fire at him, and pillars of flame erupted from the ground.
"Idiot! What if the higher-ups get hit?"
"Sorry! Please spare my life!"
Shirone scoffed at such hollow words and launched himself—when suddenly a shop door burst open.
"Oh no…!"
Armand's bodily enhancement forced him to stop abruptly, and the girl let out a shrill scream.
"Ah! What—?"
Though irritated by Codename's rules, Shirone couldn't stop his eyes drifting to her forehead.
'This is really driving me crazy!'
The girl's smooth forehead bore the number 97.