Face to Face (1)
Nonstandard Triangle Field.
The Tanote born at the triangle's center was a mid-rank of the Geometrics among the seventy-two ranks of the fey, a being that governed the form made by connecting three points with straight lines.
The Law inherent to the triangle was the First Binding. Ancient humans had trapped countless concepts in that shape—arrows (penetration), pottery (containment), blades (cutting).
On a higher plane there were the triangle's horns that housed Mara's spirit, and at the very peak sat the trinity that meant "reality."
"Hohoho! What a pity! I don't know what you dropped, but the Archangel ordered me to retrieve it personally."
Of course, what Tanote manipulated was not a high-dimensional spirit but merely the triangle's form.
Still, as Triangle Fields overlapped, Neid could no longer move his hands or feet.
"Damn it!"
Tanote stepped around Neid, stamping three points around him; each time a red line flared to life and the binding force grew overwhelming.
This ability only worsened with time. I have to finish this fast. Along with his muscles, Neid's sensations were going numb.
With only his eyes under his control, he looked down. The elemental bomb had shrunk to the size of a dot.
'Iruki.'
He'd known, honestly. Even if the elemental bomb detonated perfectly, it wouldn't leave anyone alive.
'So I can die too.'
A longing that reached beyond life seized his entire body, and currents ran through Neid's flesh.
"Kuuuu!" Pain rode the electric signals, and the numbness snapped back into sharp sensation.
"What—how?"
Tanote, who had been activating Triangle Fields in quick succession, went pale.
'An incarnation?'
A phenomenon corresponding to Law number four—something not contained within the trinity.
When Neid gritted his teeth, the hundreds of red lines around him began to snap off one by one.
'I'm sorry, Riz.'
In so many ways.
'I lied to you and now I'm leaving.' Mana Assimilation — Thunder Deity Rebirth.
"Kraaaaaaah!"
As reason tore from him and Neid screamed, the Triangle Field shattered.
Then an embodiment of electricity writhed up from Neid's body.
Tanote screamed in terror.
"Kyaaah!"
The Thunder Deity's form filled the view—so brutal and jagged it might scar the retina.
A vast electrified face, woven like Neid, loomed forward, and Tanote's scream cut off.
"Ugh…! Ugh…!"
He hiccuped in shock.
There was not a trace of killing intent in the Thunder Deity, yet Tanote was certain he would die because—
'Nature. An incarnation of nature.'
He felt the Law of Pure Feeling, the aura only the very highest-grade fey could possess.
Neid's thoughts detonated through the Thunder Deity's body as a single roar.
-You foolish child.
"Eek!"
Neid's face, still clinging to a sliver of reason, twisted into something monstrous.
-You are not something so trifling you can meddle with without knowing what it is.
It was a bomb containing Iruki and all humanity's hope.
"Sniff, sob."
Tanote's small face streamed with tears; his legs trembled.
Still, his pride in carrying out the command of the great archangel Ikael would not be broken.
"Shut up! I follow the Archangel's orders…! Ugh!"
When the Thunder Deity's hand closed on Tanote, the little body went with a muffled sound and burned away.
"Graaah!"
Turning its electric eyes toward the ground, the Thunder Deity swelled and roared.
Kwarrrrrung!
The thunder that answered was as mighty as any world-shattering roar; the fey chasing the bomb looked up.
The last thing their clear eyes took in was a jagged, gigantic surge of lightning racing downward.
Pas-s-s-s-s!
As the Thunder Deity passed, the fey burned like a swarm of gnats and turned to ash.
"Hah! Hah!"
Matching gravity's acceleration with the speed of electricity, Neid hugged the bomb to his chest.
Even with the aftershocks of Mana Assimilation, his eyes checked the timer clearly.
'11 seconds.'
A smile of relief flickered.
'It's over.'
With ten seconds left of life, good memories washed through Neid's mind.
'This isn't an auditory hallucination.'
Iruki's eyes were terrified, but behind that fear burned a stronger desire as they fixed on the door.
The door was locked, and the key was in his hand, yet as if by magic the lock opened.
In truth, anyone could open it if they had the will. But only one person had the courage and the right to enter without Iruki's permission.
No—he couldn't be certain even of that, but if he had to name just one…
"Shirone."
Standing just outside the wide-open door was Shirone.
"How did you get here…?"
From Iruki's position the commander wasn't visible; Dorothy looked at Shirone with a pained expression.
"I heard about it."
When Shirone stepped into the room, Iruki's shoulders jerked as if in fear.
"You made an elemental bomb. You succeeded."
"Go back."
Iruki couldn't bring himself to meet Shirone's eyes.
"I don't want consolation, rebuttal, or encouragement. This was my choice. I'll take responsibility for everything."
"The elemental bomb operation is a sound strategy. It will wipe out many demons."
Only then did Iruki look at Shirone.
"You agree with me?" A smile spread at the corner of Shirone's mouth.
"Iruki, no one can oppose you. If not you, who could have carried it? That's why only you are qualified to choose. Even if I were Yahweh, an Infinite Mage, or one of the Ivory Tower's Five Great Stars."
While the commanders looked stunned, Shirone knelt on one knee before Iruki.
"I won't judge the choice you made. The reason I came here is simply because—"
Shirone laid his hand on Iruki's shoulder.
"As a friend, I came to keep a promise."
Dorothy murmured, "A promise?"
Iruki, meanwhile—
"Ahhh…"
A memory surfaced and his jaw trembled.
"The promise."
Shirone nodded.
"Yes. That promise. When your accident causes a terrible tragedy, when your brain devours you—
Tears ran down Iruki's cheeks.
—stop me. You, stop me…
From deep within Iruki's mind, from where the scrap heaps of information lay, a small Iruki popped out.
Like someone adrift at sea, terror painted his face as he reached out and cried.
Save me.
"I'll take responsibility."
Shirone answered that inner voice.
"All the burdens you've borne up to now—I'll take responsibility for them all. So—"
Shirone's voice shook as he looked at Iruki, who had become a wreck.
"So now, come back."
Iruki bowed his head with a pained cry as if struck. When Shirone pulled him close, Iruki finally spoke his true feelings.
"I'm scared. I'm so scared I could die."
"It's all right now."
Shirone stroked his friend's withered back like a dead branch and steadied his eyes.
"I'm not afraid."
When Iruki slowly nodded, Dorothy ran up and threw herself at him.
"Iruki! Are you okay?"
Having entrusted his friend to his lover, Shirone rose slowly. Dorothy turned back.
"Thank you, Shirone."
She'd dumped everything on Shirone, but in truth she couldn't bear it any longer.
Iruki snapped his head up.
"What will you do?"
Just letting go of the weight of humanity brought his mind back into sharp focus.
"Bashka is too far. What time is it? Right."
A servant didn't need to check a clock.
"It's already late. By now Neid should have dropped the elemental bomb."
"Don't worry."
Shirone put his hands behind his back and looked out the window.
"My heart's already there."
Ten seconds remained until the explosion.
Paimon, streaking toward the sky, jeered at Miro's party in pursuit.
"Ha ha ha! Try to chase us, humans!"
The elemental bomb still hung high, but given its fall it would meet them soon.
'In the most spectacular way!'
Meanwhile, the fey unit Neid had struck arrived at Heaven's main force.
"We're sorry. We couldn't stop it."
Ikael, restraining his emotions, watched the bomb plummet at terrifying speed.
'Clearly a human explosive device.'
Even Vulcan might not have imagined its power, but angelic scale transcended humans.
'Given the situation on the ground, this won't be mere conflagration-level damage.'
Giants had already entered the human city, so they wanted to recover the bomb if possible.
'There's enough time.'
If it was the Archangel of Light.
"Rael."
Just as Ikael was about to give orders, Nane said, "It's fine."
Nane didn't seem interested in the bomb; he watched the humans screaming in Bashka's massacre.
"I want to keep watching. This place will be safe."
It wasn't arrogance. He was simply so perfectly equipped everyone followed him.
"Understood."
Neid, clinging to the rapidly falling bomb, felt his head spin.
'8 seconds! 7 seconds!'
At that moment Paimon and Miro's party shot up from the ground.
'What—?'
The most noticeable person was Amy.
'Why are you in Bashka?'
There was nothing to be done now, and at that instant Neid fell off the bomb.
"Uaaaaaah!"
5 seconds.
'All right, let's die! Let's all die!'
4 seconds.
Anger surged, then an overwhelming emptiness beyond that anger.
3 seconds.
"O Satan."
Paimon spread her arms toward the bomb.
"Bring hell into this world!"
2 seconds.
As the gates of the demon realm showed signs of opening, her skin bubbled and boiled.
"Taste this to the full! This is—" 1 second.
"My worst disease… that I made—!"
At that moment brilliant golden smoke wrapped the bomb, and Paimon's eyes flashed with shock.
0 seconds.
'Miracle Stream!'
Had it exploded normally, it would have been over too quickly to register.
"Ahhh—!"
Everyone in the sky saw a massive vibration of energy trapped in golden smoke.
Transcending time with quantum signals, the Miracle Stream transformed into Shirone's shape.
"Wow."
Holding the explosion between his palms, Shirone breathed a genuine "wow."
'The particles' mobility is incredible.'
Of course, across the universe's history he'd felt energies of this scale before.
'Humans made this?'
Iruki had shown that human knowledge could reach apostasy.
"Shirone…"
Neid and Miro's party, two hundred meters above, found Shirone and stood stunned.
But what shocked them more—
"No way."
Energy meant to travel kilometers in an instant was confined within a thirty-centimeter sphere.
'Convert the energy.'
Like using wind to spin a mill and generate electricity, Shirone converted the particles' kinetic energy into hexa.
'Any energy would be lethal, but—'
Shirone knew of one energy photon signals couldn't assemble.
'Yahweh's ultimate state.'
Agape.
The particles bubbled like foam and then burst in the sky like primordial light.
"Kiiiii!"
As Paimon's limbs melted into light, Miro's party twisted their heads.
'In the end, we couldn't stop it.'
Then, suddenly, they realized that if the bomb had detonated, they wouldn't even have been able to think this thought.
"What is—?"
Miro's eyes flew open as an enormous chorus of screams rose from the ground.
"Kraaaa! It hurts! It hurts!"
Bashka's citizens lay prostrate, hearing screams erupt from every direction.
"Cursed Yahweh! Damn Yahweh…! Ugh!"
When the tens of thousands of voices that had filled the air evaporated at once, silence followed.
"We're… alive?"
People straightened and looked around, but everything lay buried in light.
"Ahhh…"
A warmth spread through their hearts, and as if by pact they closed their eyes.
'It's warm.'
The heart of Yahweh—the temperature of Agape.