[766] Breaking the Precepts (1)
"Execute Yahweh!"
The eight million demons in the capital Fascia were only the tip of the iceberg.
It was, quite literally, hell.
Where the flames lashed, an endless tide of demons stretched away.
"A walking-dead scenario?"
Minerva could tell what Shirone was thinking.
"You mean—can we annihilate the entire demon race?"
The psychosphere is merely a passage between reality and the Otherworld; if an infection took hold here, it would spread through all of Hell.
"You used to tell me not to use forbidden arts."
"We didn't know what we were dealing with back then. If the enemy is demons…."
"If it were possible, I would've done it already."
When no answer came, Minerva admitted frankly, "The truth is, I already tried."
"How did it go?"
Minerva shook her head. "The legion commanders aren't stupid. Two minutes and thirty-two seconds after the infection began, they quarantined the whole area."
"Is that an ability?"
"Yeah. Probably Paimon, Ninth Legion Commander. He holds a military rank in Hell's army. He's not someone you can face in a straight fight unless it's all-out war…."
Minerva turned toward a region where mountains of animal bones rose like a great peak.
"The few million troops infected in Fascia weren't even within Paimon's threshold for triggering quarantine. In fact, the capital itself became a convenient quarantine zone."
Hell's army numbered two billion—and it kept being produced.
"With your current strength you could probably handle two legion commanders, but be careful around the top ten. Their concentration of demonic energy is different."
Shirone listened closely.
"We're almost there."
Beneath a cloud of roaring flame, dozens of spike-like structures pierced the sky.
They were the abandoned castles of Maraduk.
"This is your first time sealing a legion commander's domain, right?"
The only way to seal a command domain was to destroy every trace of demonic power in that region.
"Yes."
Because the Otherworld itself is made of demonic essence, the key was to cut off the tributaries of that essence—the things they called the "furnace plates."
"We're still tracking the source."
Armies and valkyries from nations across the real world were risking their lives to scout the Otherworld.
"Basically, the hellfire that starts from the furnace plates spreads like veins through the Otherworld and feeds demonic power."
After passing a mountain range of animal bones, Maraduk's castle came into full view.
"My God…."
Even Shirone, who had sealed several altars before, was left speechless.
A river of lava wider than ten kilometers burned so red it was blinding, winding like a molten sea.
"This is the headwaters of the hellfire."
Just as real-world civilization relies on water, the Otherworld had a river of fire.
"Save me! Please, someone save me!"
Thousands of humans, melted into molten forms, flailed in the lava.
"The dead."
"More precisely, the minds of the dead coagulating into demonic essence. Ordinary humans' fear of death is overwhelmingly strong."
"Human hearts are hell."
Zulu's insight had been right.
Those who could not withstand the hellfire's pain would, by Satan's will, be reborn as demons.
'Mr. Gaold—'
He had not yielded to the pain.
'Which means even now—'
Unaware that Gaold had regained consciousness, Shirone prayed for his swift return.
"Let's descend."
As the jet dove toward the surface, Shirone folded back his radiant wings and followed.
The roar of burning lava nearly deafened them, and at the edge of their vision the Otherworld's denizens had formed a ring.
Minerva ignored them and pointed at the lava. "So? Can you annihilate it?"
Up close, the hellfire river looked as vast as an ocean.
"I can't promise. Hellfire is far tougher than the demons themselves. We struggled even to erase a single tributary."
Minerva nodded. "It's the primal substance of demonic essence. At this scale, you could say the emotions of roughly five hundred million humans are flowing through it. The problem is, as long as the hellfire flows, the demons can withstand Yahweh's light."
That explained why sealing a legion commander's domain was so much harder than sealing the psychosphere around other altars.
"There's only one way."
Minerva pointed to Maraduk's castle. "There's a furnace plate inside a legion commander's keep. They use it to control the density of hellfire and create powerful demons. We have to seize the device that controls the hellfire's flow."
They wasted no time. Once the plan was made, they launched for Maraduk's castle.
Without a legion commander, the castle's residents couldn't approach Shirone, but the hell army posted there bristled with fighting spirit.
"Yahweh! We must stop them!"
They had come to sever the lifeline that sustained them.
Countless troops, led by division commanders, gathered at the entrance.
"Open."
Even where demonic power was at its peak—where Yahweh's light might not act as a cure—Shirone stepped to the front.
'Angel's Punishment.'
The avatar of the Radiant Angel blossomed, gripping a spear of light as it looked down on the surface.
"This is my entirety."
Through resonance, the quantum information unified; the hundred thousand Shirones were no longer necessary.
"Repent."
And then, as the spear of light elongated into a flash and slammed into the surface—
"…!"
Light burst first, then a shockwave that turned Hell's army to ash.
"Whaaa?"
Demons watching from afar gaped as a great dust cloud rode the wind toward them.
"Kraaaaah!"
The roar swept past the wind and shook the heavens; terrified demons turned and fled.
"Run! Run!"
Just as they realized they could never set foot there again, the dust cloud swallowed them.
Minerva pressed a hand to her face against the flesh-tearing gale and winced. "Pfffffff!"
After a moment, the wind reversed.
The point where the shockwave detonated had become a vacuum, sucking in the surrounding atmosphere.
"Let's see…."
Minerva's eyes found what looked like a crater—as if from a meteor impact.
"No doubt: an apostasy domain."
In a mortal body, they had finally reached it.
'What will happen now?'
Despite the thrill crawling up her spine, Minerva's expression showed serious concern.
* * *
"Urrrrrgh!"
Aset Meirei—the auditory facet of the Great Purifier—rolled her eyes back in Tormia Mage Association's private chamber.
"What is it?"
A mage who guarded her room like a fortress on Rupist's orders burst the door open.
"Huh?"
Meirei blinked and turned. "No—did you hear something just now?"
"Hear something? There was nothing out of the ordinary."
The mage glanced around; the room was tidy, far from chaotic.
'A bodily reaction?' A woman might feel embarrassed.
"All right. If you need anything, call."
"Yes. Thank you for your concern."
The mage didn't notice that human emotion had drained from Meirei's composed gaze.
"Well then—"
Once the door closed, the last hint of humanity on her face hardened into a doll-like expression.
"Chief Justice."
With one ear pressed, Meirei received a revelation from Terrafos's Chief Justice.
- A power transcending the biological scale was detected a moment ago.
"I see. Who is it?"
- The representative of humanity, Hexa.
"…."
Meirei understood why the Chief Justice was troubled.
"How will the Council rule?"
Terrafos are called evil deities in human scripture because they have destroyed many civilizations.
But they are not invaders.
They are beings that preserve cosmic order; Taeseong once hypothesized they act as a kind of user-protection system.
This could also be inferred from the Absolute Three Principles recorded in Terrafos's Great Codex.
One: We promote humanity's advancement and, if necessary, intervene directly in human history.
One: If evil perfectly triumphs over good, we will purge that civilization.
One: If a sentient being invades a higher system, we will actively prevent it.
Terrafos' existence feels less like a species and more like a force that maintains cosmic balance.
Their standard of balance focuses on existence itself, beyond human happiness or suffering.
'So that no single variable upsets the balance; so that the fierce lives of creatures are not cheated.'
Judges of the Law.
Having learned of Terrafos through countless oracles, Meirei calmly waited for the next words.
- Hexa's apostasy technically violates the third Absolute Principle, but some justices focus on the second.
There is no priority among the Absolute Three Principles; none of the clauses are ranked, so each holds equal weight.
- In the end, if evil wins, we purge the civilization. With the confrontation now at its climax, Hexa being humanity's representative could be interpreted as a reason for leniency.
"That makes sense. If evil wins, everything ends—but Hexa's apostasy is an act of active prevention."
- You're sharper than the Council.
It was a joke, but Meirei gleaned the Chief Justice's leaning from the tone.
'But that also means the pushback will be fierce.'
Terrafos collect all the sounds of the universe; Meirei's thoughts were no exception.
- Right. Judgment day may be brought forward. Ultimately the final decision is mine.
"What do you want me to do?"
- Go to Sion. Your ears will be necessary to confront the clash of evils. If there remains even a sliver of possibility that the balance could shift, the Council may change its mind.
"All right."
Realizing the transmission was still open, Meirei hastily asked, "One question. If Terrafos guided humanity, who made the Absolute Three Principles that guide Terrafos?"
A natural human curiosity.
- As you suspect.
The transmission cut.
"Anke Ra…."
And now it was Nane.
Meirei sprang from her seat and threw the door open, glaring ahead. "Let me meet the Association Chairman!"
* * *
Shirone and Minerva, having seized Maraduk's castle, descended to the eighth underground level to find the furnace plate.
Inside a furnace hundreds of meters across, lava burned and the dead flailed.
"Horrifying."
If Yahweh's light hadn't blocked the heat, Shirone would have been incinerated just standing there.
"The more horrid they are, the stronger the demons that'll be born. Looks like they draw the hellfire straight from here."
Lava flowed endlessly from dozens of drains set into the walls.
"If we cut the flow upstream, the demons in Maraduk's domain won't be able to use their power. They'll probably be reassigned to other legion commanders' domains."
"And if they come back and reopen the furnace?"
"We have to make sure they can't. North Aimonde is already in chaos—order the governor of South Aimonde. The temple can also send garrison troops if necessary."
"Nothing is ever easy."
"Life's like that. Now you know why the stars are busy. You can circle planets forever and never finish."
Shirone stepped up to the furnace plate's control. "Very old-fashioned."
"You know how demons survive. They recycle what humans throw away."
As he reached to pull a switch meshed with hundreds of gears, a voice came from the furnace.
"S-s-save me…."
A single demon crawled up from the blaze toward the floor.
"Please, save me. It's too painful."
While the hideous creature crawled, Shirone did not remove his hand from the switch.
"Aaah, Yahweh…."
The demon suddenly surged and bared its teeth.
"Who do you think you are!"
The demon was struck by Shirone's photon cannon and sent flying in a straight line, plunging into the heart of the furnace with a splash.
"Don't act all pure! You're the same as us! I hate you! You arrogant Yahweh…!"
The demon dissolved back into its primal essence.
"...."
Watching that pitiful sight with sad eyes, Shirone slowly pulled the switch down.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
The sound of gears turning rang out mournfully.