God's Brain (1)
Omega Year 187.
Gepin, returned from the hell of the otherworld, gathered the Gaians and prepared them to depart the Photon Realm.
"This will be an intriguing journey."
The hearts of those ushering in a new age fluttered with excitement.
"There is only one way to leave the Photon Realm."
Before a thousand Gaians, Gepin began his final speech.
"To cast off Anke Ra's rule, and for each of us to become the steward of this world."
Everyone already knew, yet the Gaians stared in silence at Gepin atop the high spire.
"There will be no more controversy, no more doubt. We are the true masters of this world. We will break free from Anke Ra's void and leap beyond Infinity."
Applause rang out.
A small number compared to the whole population, but numbers meant little to the Gaians.
'Of course, today is different.'
To destroy Anke Ra's authority and leave the Photon Realm, personal codes mattered—the more the better.
Gepin let his metallic hair stream as he descended the spire and the crowd surged closer.
"The time is near. Your role will be crucial."
Though the Gaians were united into Ultima, the key word remained Gepin.
"Magic."
The principle behind phenomena.
To perceive the truth of this world and to change phenomena with that knowledge were separate things. Only the Infinite Mage, Gepin, could reach the edge of the cosmos and unlock the final seal.
"We shall decide."
The pride of the Gaians, who had reclaimed the meaning of perfect existence at the end of truth, pierced the sky.
"Uncle Gepin!"
A woman whose golden-steel hair was twisted in a whirlwind atop her head stepped forward.
"Milla?"
When Gepin returned from the otherworld, she had been the first child born—a historic birth.
"It's been a while."
Even among the Gaians' typically sharp features, she gave off a bright, gentle air.
"Of course. I'm a proper young woman now. You have no idea how long I've waited for today."
Milla's face went slightly red.
"Since the day I fell in love with you."
"Yes. I'm sorry."
Gepin laughed and ruffled her hair; Milla stuck out her tongue and smiled.
"It's fine. If we leave this world, everything will start anew. Maybe I'll have a chance."
"Haha! I hope so."
Milla had confessed and been refused by Gepin, but it left no wound. She understood love required both parties' consent.
'Know what is right, and do it.' It was a blessing to be born a Gaian.
"Gepin, preparations are complete."
At the elder's words, Gepin opened his Eleventh Sense—the Royal Sense.
'Ultima.'
He felt every Gaian on the planet perceive him through the Royal Sense.
"Then—"
Gepin smiled and looked at Milla; she nodded, elated.
"We go."
The Spirit Zone opened, and as they stretched through the realm of Infinity at superluminal speed—
Bang!
Milla's face exploded.
Only the body below her neck remained; it twisted and fell with a thud. Gepin turned his head.
"Archangel."
From the far sky, Ikael looked down with her radiant ring fully expanded.
"Foolish humans, why abandon the authority granted by the divine and rush toward death?"
Gepin murmured.
"Ataraxia."
The concept that birthed this world.
'The signal closest to the outside world. Its amplification range could be called from Nothing to Being.'
Even for the Infinite Mage Gepin, a concept at the top tier of the cosmos was hard to contend with.
The Gaian chieftain checked Milla's state.
"She's dead. It struck faster than Siok's perception. There was no stopping it."
"I hope it was a good dream." Gepin looked up at the sky.
"Archangel, may we interpret this interference as the will of Anke Ra?" Ikael lifted her chin with lofty composure.
"It is not interference but Law. I, Ikael, Archangel, will annihilate those who disturb the Law."
She expanded Ataraxia to the edge of the heavens and stretched a hand toward the earth.
"This is your final chance. Obey the divine will."
If she snapped her fingers the ground would shift and mountains cleave.
"Divine?"
Gepin smiled.
"Do not be mistaken."
When Gepin's pupils flared gold, every Gaian's eyes lit up in unison.
"How dare you!"
As Ikael extended her hand, the air around her began to fall at terrifying speed.
"Ultima System."
A thousand Gaians birthed a single thought.
"We refuse."
A dome-shaped barrier spread across the ground, holding back the pressure wave that crushed mountains and descended.
'What on earth…?'
Ikael's pride stung; she frowned.
'What is that light?'
What is it connected to that it can ignore even this world's Law?
"Ikael, harbor no doubts."
Ikael, who had already fixed Gepin in her gaze as he rose, curled her nose in disdain.
'If it is only one…'
At that thought, a sphere of light formed in Gepin's hand and spun, ominous and fierce.
"Photon Cannon."
A flash of light bearing mass surged toward Ikael at near-light speed.
'Ataraxia!'
She amplified her sense of time and leaned her torso back to evade; the flash struck the plateau behind her.
Kraaaang!
The blast hurled whole masses of earth—twenty thousand tons—into the sky, comparable to the earlier Ultima strike.
'I must eliminate that man.' Driven by her duty as archangel, Ikael gritted her teeth and dove at Gepin.
When the leader of the angels and the Gaians' representative collided head-on, the world trembled.
'How can such power exist?'
While the Photon Cannon's flashes rained like a storm, Gepin's voice came through.
"I told you not to doubt."
When Ikael turned, Gepin—having leapt through space-time—was suddenly right in front of her.
"If the sacred radiance falters—"
A blazing light closed on Ikael's wide-open eyes at brutal speed.
"Ugh!"
At the moment she tried to exploit her amplification, Gepin moved faster than the Photon Cannon and cut across her path.
"Huh?"
Kraaaang!
The roar shook heaven and earth. Struck directly by the beam, Gepin was hurled away together with Ikael.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Having smashed through four peaks and slammed into the ground, Ikael immediately raised her head.
Gepin held her waist, utterly motionless.
'Why?'
As Ikael slowly reached out, Gepin suddenly tilted his head up.
"Just as I expected."
He curled one corner of his mouth.
"Angels have no hearts."
As a spirit-being it was natural, but Ikael felt an odd irritation.
"There is no reason for an angel to mimic lowly human biological organs. We are the finest intelligence."
"Is that so?"
Gepin rose slowly, frowned, and then dropped to one knee.
"Ah!"
Bending and peering, Ikael saw Gepin's back burned black.
It was a choice only a madman would make.
"Why did you do that?"
Gepin gave no answer.
"You won't be destroyed by that level of attack, but to you I am the enemy who slaughtered your kind, yes?"
"I made a promise."
If Lucifer had not refrained from destroying Gepin, this opportunity would not have come today.
"I could not harm you." To attack and to block oneself at once was the primary Gaian mindset.
"What nonsense— a promise?"
Gepin scratched his wire-like hair.
'This is awkward.'
Lucifer's face—who had asked Ikael to find the meaning of Gepin's existence—floated into his mind.
'Aha.'
Having found a possibility, Gepin abruptly leaned close to Ikael.
"Are you capable of reproduction?"
The moment he spoke, Ikael's eyes widened and she swung her fist with tremendous speed.
"Ugh!"
Gepin took a solid hit under the jaw and flew tens of meters, crashing into a massive rock.
"How dare a lowly human profane an angel?"
Even if he borrowed a human body to produce Nephilim, it was far removed from animal acts.
Gepin staggered, clutching his spinning skull, and lumbered forward.
"Oof, what a temper—"
"Shut up. This was your intrigue, wasn't it? But it won't work on me."
At that, light flared in Gepin's eyes.
"Who created this world?" Ikael answered with a frown, meeting the Gaian's characteristic stare.
"Everlasting Ra. The unique god who gave this world light and birthed the angels."
"Do you really believe that?"
Ikael's brow trembled.
'I truly resent that look.'
She regarded him as if everything in the cosmos were less than refuse.
"Are you saying you're the god? That Anke Ra, I, everything is a lie?"
"No."
Gepin shook his head.
"We are no different. Even if humans made this world, who made those humans?"
The endless cycle of creator and created.
"That's why I want to go see."
"I will not allow it."
As Ikael gathered the will to attack, Gepin reached out.
"Want to come with me?"
"—What?"
"We won't know which came first until we go and see. Let's check together. Who knows? If we leap beyond Infinity and reach the end…"
Gepin smiled.
"There might be the meaning of your existence waiting there."
"The meaning of existence?"
Born an archangel, she had never once doubted her being.
'I am the first. I am birth.' Yet looking into Gepin's eyes made her feel as if she might slip away somewhere.
'The outside world.'
Ikael clenched her face and shouted.
"Nonsense! Will you be swayed by a human's words? I am Ikael, leader of the Archangels."
"Is that so? Then there's nothing I can do."
Deciding he had done enough, Gepin snorted and activated the Ultima System.
There was a brief delay, but countless Gaians were ready to leave the Photon Realm.
"We go."
The instant Gepin's body turned to light, Ikael saw a sight that stole her breath.
'Really…'
The blue sky vanished and against a black, cosmic backdrop, signals crossed.
'It really exists?'
She had to stop them.
With Gepin alone, Ataraxia's activation might have been enough to stop him.
"But—"
Yet.
The millions of flares shooting skyward left Ikael stunned.
"They're out there?"
Each time Gepin's body scattered into light and dimmed, the sacred radiance trembled anxiously.
"I, I too—"
Ikael reached out.
Anke Ra's eyes snapped open.
'What is it?'
Before she could grasp it, an electric sensation coursed through her and her enormous pupil jolted.
A voice laced with electrical noise spread out.
"Full-scale breach intent against the cosmic system detected. Target: Gaians. Code allocation: 99.8 percent of total. Searching for optimal countermeasure."
Silence followed.
A moment later, Anke Ra, having recovered her original gaze, thundered in a grand voice.
"Code Argones: Activate."