Eventually Human (2)
"Truly remarkable."
Minerva marveled at the extremity of Gaold.
"He loves the good, and for her sake he doesn't hesitate to use the methods of evil."
He would do anything for Miro.
"It must hurt… even knowing this world is nothing but a plaything."
"A man who clings to life from hell to the very end." Gaold—who carried within him every facet of love and righteousness and sin—was profoundly human.
"Why?"
Minerva asked.
"For what are you going this far?"
Everyone among the Ivory Tower's stars knew what kind of life Gaold had led.
"Miro used you. Even if it wasn't intentional, she destroyed your life." Minerva's anger flared at Gaold's stubborn refusal even to react.
"You stormed into heaven and saved her! You beat Nane! You drove off the southern demons, and now you've made her the pinnacle by giving up love!"
"…That's true."
"Can't you see? Miro squeezed you dry. She drained you until nothing was left, then threw you away!"
"Probably."
"Then why do you keep holding on? Your life is hell. You should end it. Why don't you give up?"
"Again????"
Gaold slowly lifted his chin.
"She cries again."
Miro cries.
Minerva began to wonder whether Gaold had ever been speaking to them at all.
"Please stop! You're a mage! What you're seeing is an illusion! It's not the real Miro! She's already forgotten you and reached the pinnacle—she's living well!"
When Gaold opened his mouth, drool ran down.
"What do you… know about Miro?"
Shing said.
"Reason won't work. He's trapped in his own world and refuses to accept reality. Now it's a matter of how to deal with him."
Freed exhaled slowly.
'That's the problem.'
Though he looked barely able to move a finger, what would happen the moment they stepped into his radius was obvious.
"I'll go in first."
The plan was to use the swordmage's physical prowess to bind Gaold's body while attacking his mind.
Shing formed a seal with both hands.
"I'll bind him with the Law. I can buy maybe 0.01 seconds."
Freed nodded and surged forward.
"…That should be enough."
Minerva inhaled from her briar pipe as Amanta spun the world-wheel, preparing for battle.
Even under the crushing weight of killing intent, Gaold's mind remained fixed on Miro's illusion.
'Why are you crying?'
Why was he crying?
"You got everything you wanted. Now I'm wrecked. Crying like that won't change anything."
"Going in."
As Freed lunged, Shing's Law seized Gaold's freedom.
A blade flashed toward his nape, but Gaold's expression didn't change.
'It's over.'
Even while moving at blinding speed, Freed felt a flash of certainty of victory.
'In the end, a wreck.'
Nothing more, nothing less.
The moment a streak of light sliced horizontally through Gaold's neck, a metallic snap sounded.
"What the—?"
Only the hilt remained on Freed's sword. How?
It wasn't an artifact, but it was a famed blade that shouldn't have broken under normal force.
"Ugh!"
When he belatedly checked his hand, the flesh had been shredded to the point bone showed.
'Vibration.'
The blade's vibration had set the air pressure to resonate; the shockwave tore through to his skin.
'Which means…'
Shing's Law had already been broken.
Freed turned his head. A black aperture yawned where Shing had stood.
The atmosphere had plunged into the earth.
'Still no blast?'
If the air had tunneled into the ground like that, the soil should have risen—there was no way the ground would remain intact otherwise.
"Ugh."
Taesung squeezed her eyes shut and staggered; Minerva rose on her jet.
"Fall back!"
The ground bulged like a balloon, then split like a tortoise shell as red light seeped through the fissures.
'It's going to explode!'
Kraaaang!
Freed's body, arms crossed, was swept away by a tremendous shockwave.
"Arghhh!"
They tried releasing masses of gravity, but it wasn't nearly enough to escape the phenomenon's sphere.
'It's weakening.'
Amanta, halving the shock by offsetting it, grabbed Freed's lower back and hauled him upward.
"You were careless. He had more strength left than we expected."
Freed shook his head at Amanta.
'No, that's not it.'
He hadn't been careless. The heresy Gaold displayed was far stronger than anticipated.
When the smoke cleared, a vast crater gaped where the forest had been.
"You okay?"
Minerva flew down on her jet.
"For now. But I'm worried about Shing. How deep did he go?"
If she'd been driven into the ground by Gaold's pressure, she'd be dead.
Minerva peered into the crater's center and murmured with a gloomy face.
"About a hundred meters deep."
"I'm fine."
Shing's voice came then.
When they looked over, she was flying up, one shoulder dislocated, breathing hard.
"You held out?"
Shing pointed at Freed with her uninjured arm.
"The Oshinjang armor set."
It was the world's best armor, capable of sixty percent anti-magic.
"My aim missed by about four meters. But the air pressure alone popped my shoulder. I almost died."
Though she'd escaped instant death, the moment she was shoved into the earth by the atmosphere would have meant death.
"How humiliating."
Amanta's eyes narrowed.
"Even if he's a heretical mage, we are four of the Ivory Tower's Five Great Stars. It's absurd if we can't win."
Minerva agreed.
"Honestly, we're outclassed in raw power. We need to suppress him tactically. Taesung will probably suffer the most…."
Taesung, an avatar of a star, wasn't harmed by magic, but she was helpless against a planetary-scale impact.
Freed readied to leap again.
"Still—be careful. He ignored me charging in and tried to take out Shing first. That was instinct. He's a master of combat."
They all felt it in their bones.
"Go."
As the four hurled themselves, cylindrical columns of atmospheric pressure fell in succession from high above.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
"Move! Detect with the Spirit Zone—"
The speed was beyond ordinary mages, but they were Ivory Tower stars.
Landing, Minerva puffed out her cheeks and exhaled green smoke.
Toxic magic.
'Air magic is vulnerable to this… but this is enough quality and quantity to force Gaold to concentrate his magic on defense.'
'One breath and it's over.' As expected, Gaold wrapped himself in an air shield to block the spreading smoke.
'From here…'
Amanta halved the air shield's density while Shing focused the Law to create an opening.
"Break it!"
Freed slipped through and hammered Gaold with a barrage.
"It's over!"
Blood sprayed.
"Huh?"
A living body should have been torn apart, but Freed's fists were shredded instead.
'Air shield?'
The air clinging to Gaold like a second skin convected into razorlike currents.
'An air shield isn't a passive skill. Could he have deactivated his outer shield?'
If he'd removed his outer shield to survive, they'd be cut down by the four of them' concentrated fire.
'It's still there.'
Minerva's toxic smoke still couldn't get through—that proved it.
'Then how…?'
A ridiculous thought crossed Freed's mind as he kept pounding Gaold.
"Time-slicing?"
A technique of rapidly alternating between two batteries to sustain two active skills.
"Oooh. Oooohhh."
From Gaold's unfocused eyes came agonized moans.
Freed laughed out loud.
"Pahahahaha!"
But beneath the booming laugh was something like pity.
'Pathetic.'
Still clinging to life. Gaold was crossing batteries with a brain already damaged by pain and pleasure.
"Oooo. Oooohhhh."
The strained sounds he made as he squeezed out concentration made him look like a terrified fool.
"You climbed to the top of the world and—"
When he'd defeated the Buddha, the shock and awe Gaold felt then remained vivid in Freed's memory.
"Did you even sell your pride, Gaold?"
Anger flared and Freed pummeled him, ignoring that his own fists were tearing.
As the air shield's durability waned, the blows finally reached Gaold's body.
"Uuuh… uuuhhh."
Amid flesh tearing and bones cracking, Gaold stared at Miro.
Sniff. Sniff.
The image—slumped, covering her face and crying—was surely an illusion, but…
'Why are you doing this to me?'
Gaold's heart was torn a thousand ways.
'What good will crying do!' In his ruined state, there was nothing he could do for her.
'I gave everything! I poured my life into it and did everything you asked!'
Sniff. Sniff.
'What more do you want me to do? She's already reached the pinnacle! Isn't she supposed to take care of herself now?'
Sniff. Sniff.
Bloodshot, Freed's eyes flared.
"Die! Just give up already!"
The blow was strong enough to bruise him all over, but Gaold didn't react.
'What do you want from me? If you have a conscience, say it! I gave you my life! So why do you keep coming to me to cry and make a mess? Why! Why! Why!'
Miro lifted her head. Her lips moved slightly on a face soaked with tears.
Gaold.
Her voice couldn't be heard, but the shape of her mouth pressed into his mind.
'Shut up! I hurt more than you! No one in this world hurts more than I do! What do you want me to do now!'
Gaold.
'I want to die, I'm going crazy! I don't even have the strength to twitch a finger! What on earth can I do…!'
I'm so tired.
The moment Miro's words struck, Gaold's pupils rolled back and the whites of his eyes showed.
"…What do you want me to do?"
At that dry voice, Freed's face drained of color.
'What the—?'
The world convulsed wildly.
"I'll do it."
Teeth clenched, Gaold deactivated the air shield and lunged at Freed.
"I'll give you everything you want!"
Don't cry.
"Out of the way!"
Freed shouted and drove his foot into the ground with all his strength.
"Goddamn it—"
But the instant Gaold's air press detonated, Freed realized it had been futile.
The weight of the air piling on his shoulders rose at a terrifying rate.
'We're all going to die.'
Kuuuuuuung!
A low roar struck the ground; the four Great Stars sank, looking around.
"What, what is this?"
Nothing had been destroyed.
'The atmosphere spread rapidly.'
At the likely impact point, Taesung lay pale and panting.
A breeze fluttered her skirt.
"I'll spare you. But in return…."
Gaold lifted his chin and, with dry lips forming a thin smile, said:
"Take me to the battlefield."
Silence fell. Gaold stared up at the sky and murmured,
"Is this enough now?"
Miro's illusion stuck out her tongue and laughed.