God's Brain (4)
"We can't hold like this!"
At Mara's report, the angel turned his gaze to the spire of Arabot forty kilometers away.
There were no heavenly walls, no Seven Skies yet—only Anke Ra's sanctum rose above, displaying its awesome presence.
'This is the final line of defense.'
The angel felt a chill as he checked again the countless formations advancing from the horizon.
Roughly a billion beings were converging, joining the assault in waves.
"If you're going to do it, do it. If not, then don't." Maishin, the Gaia delegate at the front, said with a pitying look.
The angels, burning with indignation, glanced at one another and clenched their fists.
"What do we do?"
The biggest problem was that the Gaians could redefine reality at will from their wells of origin.
"Elysion."
The one-and-all mind of the Gaians.
"Shall we finish this?" Maishin raised a hand, and a light ignited in the eyes of a billion Gaians as they linked to the Idea.
A vast hole opened in the sky and the clouds reversed like a waterfall being sucked away.
"That… that—"
When a gigantic hand of light emerged from the black tunnel, the angels' halos trembled.
"We have not been idle."
Once threatened with extinction by Code Argoness, they had honed Ultima into an aggressive force.
"The Hand of God." As the fingers of light flexed, rivers on the surface began to vaporize.
"Stop it! Block it!"
The angels launched a concerted attack against a hand large enough to grasp and crush Arabot in a single squeeze.
It wasn't a flashy barrage, but powerful primordial concepts that had helped shape the early universe struck the Hand of God.
"How absurd."
Why call it the Hand of God?
"Because it is omniscient and omnipotent."
It was a hand that shaped all things.
The Hand of God, destroying source-concepts as it came, gripped an angel between thumb and index.
"Kyaaaah!"
For a moment the angel screamed as his being was crushed—then, through grit and pain, he spat out a shout.
"How dare you blaspheme God's name—ugh!"
Between thumb and index the angel's flesh exploded like dust.
"Come as many as you like."
The Hand of God curled its fingers one by one as if stroking the air, then flipped to show its backhand.
As the angels watched in horror, five fingers spread wide like a blooming lotus.
The surface of the Hand of God shimmered in prismatic colors, as if containing every phenomenon of nature.
Moments later, a sphere of light rose from the center of the palm.
"Grrr!"
Heaven and earth vibrated together; the angels felt, for the first time, nausea from the motion.
"Photon Cannon."
An Idea forged by the Gaians' collective mind—a godlike blow aimed at the world.
"It's over."
As the Hand of God moved and the Photon Cannon unfurled into a blinding lance, the angels shouted.
"Stay calm! We can stop it!" The phenomenon itself was simple.
'We can do it! It's just a bit of mass moving unbelievably fast!'
With a roar the blinding flash sped forward.
Everything went pale.
Even without experiencing it, they could instinctively tell it had the power to blow away half a planet.
KRA-KRUM!
In an instant, lightning struck toward Arabot.
The Judicial Halo.
'Ragnarok!'
Uriel, who concentrated the concept of destruction, hurled herself at the Photon Cannon at tremendous speed.
Despite the angels' warped sense of time, they saw it clearly: Uriel's body began to flay as she entered the Cannon's core.
'Even Uriel—'
Just as resignation touched her, the Photon Cannon detonated and released a mass wave.
"Grrr!" The angels flung toward Arabot's spire, grimacing as they watched ahead.
'It's intact.'
Terrain and structures were blasted outward from the blast point, but the damage was far less than expected.
Maishin gave a bitter smile and looked aside.
"…What a waste."
Panting roughly, Gaia clasped her hands together and wept bloody tears.
"Do you really intend to see this through?" Gaia could turn shock signals from a planet into an avatar.
That she shed bloody tears meant the Photon Cannon's force had been comparable to a meteor strike.
"Stand down. We'll handle this."
The planet itself didn't matter.
But it felt wrong that Gaia—who long ago had sided with humanity—was suffering.
'They even detonated a lightspeed mass made by the Hand of God…'
While Maishin watched Uriel gravely, Leo stepped closer.
"One archangel can't have done that alone."
He drew deeply on his cigarette, eyes half-lidded as he stared toward Arabot.
"Zoom in."
When the Hand of God curled its index and middle into a ring, a lens of light formed within it.
Distances of tens of kilometers drew near as if right in front of them, revealing Ikael's form.
"Ikael, commander of the angels."
And behind her, the faces of seven archangels flying in formation came into view.
Hope lit the angels' eyes.
"All the archangels have gathered."
If the Gaians defined the world, the eight archangels were the embodiment of the objective world.
Anke Ra had proposed a direct contest between the Akashic Record and the Ultima system.
"It never goes smoothly, does it."
Penny approached, supporting her neck with both hands; Leo stubbed out his cigarette and snorted.
"Hah. It was a mountain we had to cross anyway. We have the Hand of God. Archangels are nothing."
A formless Elysion concentrated into a specific shape was far more potent than the sum of a billion Gaians. As Uriel returned, the eight archangels had flown down to look over the Gaians.
Ikael amplified her voice.
"To those who would falsely call themselves God—why repeat a meaningless struggle?"
Maishin answered.
"You were the ones who provoked this battle, weren't you? We only want to leave this world."
"This world is your sanctuary. Take joy here, live forever—what more do you want?"
"That's what you think."
Maishin curled one side of his mouth.
"There's no mystery left in this world. Why? Because everything here is what we define. We won't live like cave-dwellers staring at shadows of the outside."
"Do you truly want to leave?"
"We do."
Ikael spoke with resolve.
"Leave it to Anke Ra. We will arrange for your safe departure."
"Our answer is—"
Still linked to the outer world, the Hand of God flipped its fist and raised its third finger.
"This."
God's middle finger.
Ikael's brow tightened, and the seven archangels behind her launched themselves in unison.
"All right! Bring it on!"
Leo took a stance and thrust his fist forward.
'Divine Transcendence!'
As a billion Ideas activated, the Hand of God clenched and charged.
"Waaaaaah!"
As the fist of light descended to crush the world, Metatron activated the Judicial Halo.
'Exist.' The Halo's concentric information swirled together like a whirl and opened a spherical black hole.
KRAAAAAANG!
Its gravity swallowed even light, but Gaia's will was far stronger.
"Haha! With only that power—" Ikael's voice rang clear.
"Ataraxia."
Her halo swelled to unprecedented size, and Metatron, feeling tremendous amplification, increased his presence.
"Damn, it's turning! Grab it!"
The Hand of God circled quickly around the gravitational core and was sucked into the black sphere.
"Ragnarok."
Thunder cracked; Uriel condensed into a radiance and surged toward the Gaians.
"Reject it!"
A billion Gaians covered their faces with their arms, and a barrier of Law that repelled everything erected itself.
"How dare you?"
Ikael said.
"Deny God?"
As the concept of destruction amplified into Ataraxia, Uriel's mind was about to explode.
"Yaaaargh!"
Unleashing raw destructive instinct, she slammed into Gaia's barrier.
ZING!
When the Law barrier manifested visibly, the billion Gaians simultaneously took three steps back.
"Grrk!"
Their faces were all contorted, but the more troubling sight was a crack forming in the barrier.
"The Celestial Galactic Wheel."
The wheel spun, drawing in the atmosphere, and struck the already-cracked Law barrier.
A roar too deep for biological ears split the air and blood ran from Maishin's nose.
"Damn!"
Destruction had come from Uriel, but the Gaians' gazes fixed on Ikael.
'As expected, the commander is the problem.'
The concept of amplification can't be perfectly mimicked by Idea alone.
'Because it's the only concept that straddles the boundary between the outer world and the inner world.'
A stepping stone from nonbeing to consciousness.
'A pity.'
If they could fully realize the concept of Ataraxia, the war with Anke Ra would already be over.
"Are the parlor tricks over now?"
Having broken the Law wall, Uriel swung the Paradise Rod again and drew power.
"It's coming!"
The Idea of the Hand of God was restoring itself, but Ragnarok's activation was faster.
Charging with thunder, Uriel felt certain of victory.
'I won.'
Just cutting through the crowd would kill at least tens of millions of Gaians.
'Huh?'
A wind blew.
'Wind?'
The speed wasn't comparable to mere air movement, so a puzzled Uriel turned her head.
"...r—"
In the next instant, the air tore and a man's face filled her sight.
"Pah!"
With a ridiculous shout, the punch he threw brushed Uriel's cheek aside.
KRAAAAAANG!
Uriel skidded ten kilometers; the angels tracked her trajectory with their eyes.
"Well, well."
Goffin appeared, dusting his fist off, and said, "I couldn't miss such an entertaining scene."
Not only the angels but the Gaians were bewildered by Goffin's arrival.
Maishin asked, "What are you doing on the battlefield? You were supposed to have exited the Ultima system. Changed your mind?"
"I did change my mind, but—"
Goffin looked up at the angels.
"I have no intention of joining the system."
"Then why—"
At that moment Uriel flew in from afar.
"Arrgh!"
The fury of having been struck by a human was writ all over the Judicial Halo.
"How unexpected. You getting excited."
The Paradise Rod traced a wide arc and slammed down.
"Destroy!"
When Goffin reached out, particles of light gathered swiftly and formed a thin cubic membrane.
"Grrr!"
The shock of the Paradise Rod was absorbed without even a sound, and Uriel cocked her head.
'What trick is this?'
Was there anyone outside the Ultima system who could stop Ragnarok's force?
"Goffin, that is—?"
Maishin asked, and Goffin smiled.
"Hexa."
The cubic membrane dispersed into smoke and then, with a soft force, pushed Uriel away.
Bathed in brilliant light, Goffin looked up at Ikael and said, "Do you still intend to stop us after this?"
Ikael's voice turned harsh, memory of bad times with Goffin surfacing.
"Of course. It is right to punish the arrogant who deny God and worship themselves. And anyway, this has nothing to do with you—"
"Want to come along?"
Ikael fell silent, then after a long beat answered, "What?"
Goffin extended his hand. "I can take you all away." The angels were stunned into thought; the Gaians looked to one another.