[745] Age of Upheaval (1)
"Foolish sentients."
Rage swept through Nane's eyes as Nane looked up at the sky from deep within the forest.
"Do you truly believe there is hope in this world?"
A heart may be larger than the universe, but isn't humanity the sort of being that would betray even that heart as easily as turning over a palm?
Is it natural for living things to be selfish?
"That, too, is only an illusion born of being trapped within the self called 'I.'"
"Lord Nane, how about striking the South Pole?"
Shura spoke.
"…Someday, that will have to be done."
If there had been any Law that could be removed on the spot, the radius of the psychic domain would not have contracted so precipitously.
The terrifying obsession living things have with life.
'Beron, Shirone, Miro….'
The Kar value, already over ninety-nine percent, was sucking the remaining truths of the world in like a black hole.
But nothing could ever be perfect, so it was crucial to discover what had been overlooked about humans.
"A great chaos will come to the world. The Law will inevitably come to me."
They would learn how cruel humanity could be, and why this world must be closed.
* * *
"Just a little more!"
Even as her blood vessels burst and she wept tears of blood, Miro's gaze remained fixed on the Law that governed the world.
The radius of the psychic domain: 4.4 kilometers.
'We have to shrink it another hundred meters! No, even ten meters!'
It was estimated that roughly three hundred humans could survive for each additional meter of radius.
Oooooo—
The monks of Jungcheondong bolstered the Law with the lowest tones humans could muster.
Miro's eyes opened wide.
'No! This is it!'
If she pushed any further, Sion's Law would be destroyed and all they had achieved would be for naught.
"See it through!"
The totem, seized by flames, rose into the sky as seven hundred pillars of fire.
"It's set."
Those seven hundred pillars of flame—pillars that would never be extinguished as long as Sion remained—would block the expansion of the psychic domain.
"We did it. We actually did it."
While the Law-keepers looked up in disbelief, Miro's expression was sharp.
"How infuriating…."
Final radius of the psychic domain: 1.43 kilometers.
A radius four hundred and thirty meters wider than the original goal meant roughly one hundred thousand additional deaths.
"Getting this far against Nane is an achievement. You can be proud."
Armin tried to comfort her.
'No, honestly, I didn't expect we'd make it this far.'
This success wasn't won by depth of state alone.
It was the clear result of seasoned skill—the kind that had once held back Heaven's entire army with dimensional barriers.
"It's okay. We haven't accomplished anything yet."
Miro proclaimed to the world.
"The real fight starts now."
Project Sion.
The name of humanity's last Law-based line of defense against Nane's influence.
* * *
As the psychic domain contracted, the nations' armies, acting under the Temple's orders, pushed demons back from the guideline.
"Fire! Fire!"
Sealing the altar was impossible for now, but they had to buy time to erect barricades outside the psychic domain.
Even with the ultra-fast barrier construction method developed by the world's greatest architects, it would take thirty-six hours.
To keep the demons of the otherworld tied up in their passages even briefly, the Temple chose a brutally simple method.
"Don't hold back! Pour everything in and go!"
From a full 360 degrees around the psychic domain, thousands of archers simultaneously fired enchanted shells.
It was a spectacle.
All supplies were provided by the Temple, and roughly nine million tons of magical ordnance were to be distributed to the nations over those thirty-six hours.
'What an extravagance!'
Converted into currency, it amounted to 1.3 trillion gold, and the soldiers did little more than snap bowstrings toward the bombardment points day and night.
A commander lifted a telescope to the altar.
'It's a strategy only the Temple could order. And it's certain.'
There were probably discussions among the demons in the otherworld, but for now they dared not emerge outside.
The commander lowered his telescope slowly.
'But there is a limit to material supplies.'
Grotesque steel frames were rising at terrifying speed where the sun was setting.
'Everyone is fighting.'
Shirone surveyed everything happening on the planet from Taeseong's vantage.
Taeseong's expression was resolute.
"Miro managed it in the end."
"Yes. It's a pity. If we'd pushed a little more…."
"Sion would have been destroyed instead."
Shirone knew that, too.
What left a residue of regret was the pitifully small number of people willing to act for the good compared to the population.
'I must do it.'
Shirone said as he looked at Taeseong.
"I can't just stand and watch. I'll go down to the surface. I'll seal the altar."
"Of course. But Shirone should act only after the barricade is completed."
He wanted to leave immediately.
"Shirone, a star must not act for the advantage of any single nation or person. If you preemptively seal a nation's altar, human strife will only worsen."
Shirone clamped his mouth shut.
"Shirone must operate beyond human life, in a transnational capacity. You must not kill someone from a desire to save another. Sowing discord only serves Nane's purpose."
What broke him was that there were people he longed to see.
"…I understand."
Family, friends, lovers.
Taeseong looked at Shirone with pity—Shirone, who had set aside personal ties to shoulder this great burden.
"Take this."
Taeseong raised both hands, and a five-pointed star pendant symbolizing the stars appeared and floated to Shirone.
"What is this?"
"It's the key to Planet Hexa. For you, Shirone, it's largely symbolic, but you shouldn't wander without it."
Using Material, one could disassemble Hexa's key down to the atomic level and obtain its blueprint.
"Thank you. I'll treasure it. I doubt I'll need Hexa for now, but I'll keep it safe."
Taeseong understood Shirone's feelings.
No matter how far one reached into the realm of Infinity, returning to this world could not make one heartless.
If anything, with only the heart left, the longing for loved ones would be stronger than ever.
"Go down now. Luber and Mini are waiting. They'll show you a place to live."
Shirone displayed Yahweh's Light in the palm of his hand.
"All right. I'll see you at departure."
The stars were not barred from coming.
There simply wasn't a way to meet them, but Shirone could come to Taeseong at any time.
'I am going down.'
As when he had arrived at the Earth Cathedral, the Law opened the path and Shirone vanished in an instant.
Taeseong smiled, thinking Luber would have prepared gifts for Shirone.
"It's the least I can do for someone who sacrificed for humanity..."
It was a sad smile.
"May you have pleasant dreams..."
Under the Earth Cathedral, at the top of the physically tallest Ivory Tower, Luber and Mini waited.
"Did your talk go well?"
"He was a good person."
Taeseong had been warm, like a mother.
"Yes. I'll show you your lodgings."
They rode an elevator to the 400th floor. Outside the door lay a small village of rice paddies and fields, mountains and streams.
"A star doesn't necessarily live in an isolated space. You just move into a spare house."
"Yes. I like it."
Civilization is usually built within nature; the Ivory Tower held nature within civilization.
'How enormous must that building be?'
They had entered by magic circle, so it was a pity they couldn't see the Ivory Tower from the outside.
Shirone's house was a two-story wooden building with a red roof and an old-fashioned charm.
Mini asked, "Will you leave as soon as the barricade is finished?"
Only Shirone could seal the altar, so she planned to provide support elsewhere.
"Then I'll head to the southern hemisphere to investigate traces of Beron. Maybe I can find a clue."
Luber nodded.
"I'll order other stars in our department to assist in suppressing the demons."
Relaying the command through dreams made it simple.
"The inhabitants of the otherworld are strong. Many will die or suffer going forward."
"If there's someone you want to protect, then protect them."
At Mini's words, Shirone turned his head.
"I know what Taeseong said. That is the destiny of a star. But you already saved everyone. You at least have the right to save the people you love."
Shirone shook his head.
"The moment I become possessive, Kar will rise and I will lose Yahweh's Light. The balance of the Law will be broken."
"You can't bear it. You have the power to protect them; would you be okay if the people you love died?"
"I wouldn't be."
Nane had said it like this.
—The one who suffers the most is you.
A dreadful paradox: he had saved humanity through universal love, yet could protect none of the ones he loved.
'I must not become human. I must oppose Nane only as a concept.'
That was the reason Hexa existed.
"Let's focus on the altar for now. Once the barricade is installed, we'll start from the closest places."
Tormia was far from the Ivory Tower, so it wasn't a humane choice; his heart bled.
Luber said, "I agree. Only choices that save humanity as a whole are possible now."
Mini turned at the unexpectedly cold words, but Luber smiled kindly.
"But… anyone can dream."
Shirone blinked at the puzzling remark.
* * *
The Kingdom of Tormia.
Two hundred armed men stood in ironclad formation at Amy's family home in Creas city.
Shakora, Amy's father, who had returned from the Magic Association's Creas branch, entered the mansion with a cold look.
"Honey! What happened?"
As the psychic domain expanded into the noble district, dead demons lay strewn along the road.
"There was heavy damage in the mountain regions. Seven thousand dead nationwide. It looks like we managed to hold them off for now."
"What will become of Tormia?"
Before the worst calamity in human history, the wife of a first-rank noble was still just a human.
"If we only temporarily bound the demons' feet with a show of firepower, the barricade won't hold for long."
Isis, who would have already been demon food if Amy hadn't been home, shuddered.
"They say Shirone entered the Ivory Tower."
Amy, bowed low from battle fatigue, looked at Isis for the first time.
"It's not certain. Still, he seems to have played a pivotal role in stopping this incident."
That was all the information Shakora had gathered.
"They say the Ivory Tower is safe from the demons…."
Only the Ivory Tower and Sion remained untouched by the catastrophe.
"If we could get our family there…."
"Mom!"
Amy sprang to her feet.
"What are you saying now! How can you think only of saving us!"
"Amy, what are you doing to your mother?"
Shakora's nerves were frayed after seeing the hideous corpses on the road.
"You'll become a soldier, but not everyone will. It's natural for a mother who can't fight to be afraid."
"But it's absurd."
Isis vented in frustration.
"Why is it absurd? Even if going to the Ivory Tower is out of the question, shouldn't we at least have heard something by now? You're not exactly close to him…."
Amy couldn't answer.
"That's…."
Between all of humanity stood Shirone and Nane.
Fragile, thinking humans would find it hard to understand the two who embodied such extremes.
But now, with the world on the brink of annihilation, it had been they who produced the answer closest to the truth.
"I'm sorry. I'm exhausted. I'll go sleep."
"Amy…."
Isis, realizing who would feel the deepest betrayal was her own daughter, was about to speak, but Amy went into her room.
"Maybe I put my foot in it."
"Let her be. Don't wound her over this. A good sleep will clear her mind."
That night, Luber appeared in Amy's dream.