What Geffin Left (4)
Signals relayed in real time from across the world were being sucked toward the cathedral's command center.
"Commander! The signals keep—"
"Shh."
An officer, hand to his mouth, crossed two fingers as if to indicate there was no need to report.
"Ah?????"
When the messenger glanced into the command-and-control room, a huge golden panel spread out before Iruki.
Goldbird continued to pierce the panel, updating countless records as it went.
'Arnold Lampa.'
True to his reputation as the world's greatest information mage, he was operating on a planetary scale.
'According to this data…'
Demons at roughly the rank of supreme legion commanders were being detected across the world.
In other words, the demon elite were not on the central continent.
'Could they be this cautious? If they'd seen through the cathedral's operation… No, they couldn't have.'
So it wasn't a normal judgment.
'Something is happening within the hellish army. A schism, or the rise of a rival.'
Humans get stubborn under exactly those circumstances.
'Anyway, the elite were moved off the central continent. They were probably spirited away by a supreme legion commander and their subordinate units.'
Iruki's expression hardened.
'Even if we detonate the elemental bomb, the demon elite won't be affected. Instead, we'll lose Bashka, and millions will die.'
The officer who'd checked the panel's data asked, "Commander, what shall we do?"
"Proceed as planned."
The decision came so quickly the officer hesitated, unable to answer at once.
"Proceed as is?"
Iruki rested his chin on his hand.
'Moving the elite like that can't be a strategy to seize victory. It's psychological warfare.'
Shaking them, literally.
'In other words, Balkahn isn't in a position to make his own decision, whether by choice or force. He passed the choice to me. I can feel the intent to create a new variable and use it to solve his own problem from inside the army.'
Having sorted his thoughts, Iruki spoke again.
"Proceed as planned."
Balkahn's tactic only strengthened Iruki's resolve.
'Good. Now there's no chance the demons voluntarily altered their route.'
Clear.
'The only remaining variable is…'
Light flashed in Iruki's eyes as he studied the map.
Even after Shirone had accepted all of Geffin's final records, he closed his eyes.
He'd sensed it with his eleven senses, so there was no confusion, but he wanted to linger a moment longer.
'Geffin. Ikael. Gaiain.'
He was not alone.
"So… it was all connected like that." A god who had a heart.
Geffin—who had denied the cold world and left the photon realm—had left behind this world's O...
"Messiah."
At last Shirone understood the reason for his existence.
"Do you feel a sense of mission?" Karatora asked.
"No. I'm still Shirone. Nothing will change, and it must not change."
"Then what do you feel?"
"Love."
Shirone looked up at the ceiling.
"All the atoms that moved since the beginning of time. All the countless hearts born from that motion made me who I am. I want to continue that immense love."
'In the end, he chose love.'
Karatora's lips twitched.
'Rest easy, Geffin. Your child has grown splendidly.'
Having set down all his burdens, Karatora felt his life ebb and relaxed into a comfortable posture.
"Go. The Twelve Apostles will help you from now on."
The Akashic Record's log.
For Karatora, who had literally carried the universe, oblivion was the greatest rest.
For once, Shirone bowed his head in respect.
"Thank you for everything."
After Geffin reset the world, Anke Ra had tried by every means to rewrite history.
The dragons shared Karatora's core log and fought the angels across endless ages.
'So many dragons vanished.'
Except for the Twelve Apostles, there were now hardly any dragons left in the world.
'No—those that remained became the Twelve Apostles.'
What they had preserved was a world not swayed by the will of any single being.
"Until now, the dragonkin shared thought through the Mudeung Core—the dragon network. But now that I will vanish, that network will be severed."
Karatora chuckled.
"They were all cantankerous; it worried me. But with you, Ultima, there's no problem. Lead them well."
"I have nothing to teach them."
The Twelve Apostles waiting for Shirone were the strongest dragons—creatures that had not bowed even before the archangels.
"You don't have to teach. They'll learn. If they follow your footsteps…"
As Karatora slowly closed his eyes, visions of the age of dragons passed through his mind.
"Can we continue too?" The Mudeung dragon's body drained of vitality, flared bright, and vanished.
Shirone bowed his head and offered a quiet farewell.
"Thank you."
Time was short.
It would be improper to linger in sorrow for one who had completed the hardest of lives and departed.
"Phew!"
Shirone took a deep breath as a thick Miracle Stream gathered around him.
The deep mountain scenery decomposed into signals, and with a single step he leaped across a vast range of peaks. The Twelve Apostles awaited him where he arrived.
"Greetings, Messiah."
As Blitz knelt, the other eleven apostles followed suit.
Although the Mudeung Core was gone, no one showed overt sadness.
'The strongest dragons.'
Shirone had already sensed all Twelve Apostles through Omega with his eleven senses.
Yet when he looked at them with his five senses—especially sight—another feeling arose.
"Karatora has entered eternal rest."
"I know." With the network's database gone, the Twelve Apostles now had to rely on individual judgment.
"Therefore, Messiah, you must lead us. We will follow you."
This was faith, not data.
"All right."
As Shirone surveyed the Twelve Apostles, they lifted their heads with burning will.
Each of them wanted to be the one chosen.
'Ugh…'
He'd known about the competitive spirit among the Twelve since the Mudeung dragon's time.
When a collective shares thought, proving one's worth is done by being selected by the core.
'Who should I summon first?'
The pointless worry Karatora once had was now Shirone's to bear.
'First, Radiant Dragon Phaeton.'
Pretty-faced though he was, Shirone knew Phaeton was the most violent among the Twelve.
'Fire Dragon Infercus.'
He'd been a simulation model for the graduation exam, but Shirone quietly averted his gaze.
'Scary.'
Half his head shaved, piercings on his lips—he was hard to approach.
'Honestly, the one I'm most curious about is… White Dragon Asraiker.'
Seeing her sit demurely in the red skirt of eastern shrine maidens left Shirone speechless.
'Huh? Huh?'
Among dragons, Asraiker wielded soul-information, and her form overwhelmed every shape in the world.
'They say she's the most beautiful signal in the universe.'
It wasn't a notion of perfection.
It was an extreme charm beyond individuality that fulfilled everyone's ideal.
Asraiker met Shirone's gaze, gently raised her head, and smiled.
A benevolent feeling.
That smile alone sent an enormous ripple through Shirone's heart.
'This is dangerous. Really dangerous.' The most pleasurable signal perceivable by sight made his heart race and his mind reel.
When Asraiker gave an even softer look upon being noticed by the Messiah—
'Ugh!'
A red warning light flared in Shirone's head and he immediately activated the Ultima system.
Asraiker's information as an extreme ideal was dismantled into minimal units, and the surge of emotion halted.
"Whew."
Blitz's eyes shone.
'To suppress the white dragon's traits so quickly—indeed, Messiah, the universe's strongest psyche.'
The Twelve Apostles looked pleased.
'Hah, what a femme-fatale act.' Asraiker, as if conceding, bowed her head and quelled her desire to be named.
Shirone turned his attention to the others.
'Ah, that one is…'
Water Dragon Kaios.
The image of him lifting thousands of tons of water and surging from Galiant Island flashed vividly in Shirone's mind.
A dragon that traversed three oceans over ten years, managing the world's time.
Shirone made his decision.
"Come to think of it, we're acquainted." That was explanation enough; Kaios sprang up and stepped out of the apostolic ranks.
'Tch! Can't help it.'
Kaios's calm demeanor came with blue hair flowing to his ankles and the odd habit of moving with his eyes closed.
'Closed eye and open eye.'
In Ultima's history, Kaios appeared as a dragon with two personalities.
When his eyes were closed, he was tranquil like a calm sanctuary; but once he opened them…
Kaios bowed his head.
"Yes. I was rather forward at the time. Karatora had issued a ban on approach."
It had been to keep to schedule.
"No. Thanks to that, we had wonderful memories. It was truly a beautiful sight."
He missed Jis, Kanis, Arin—his friends.
"Hrm."
Poine, the Toxic Dragon, cleared her throat and stood, causing the others to narrow their eyes.
'The Messiah hasn't even given a command yet. How presumptuous…'
Regardless, she leaned on her staff, stepped forward, and bowed politely.
"Greetings, Messiah. I am Poine, the Toxic Dragon."
"Yes, welcome."
When Shirone bowed in return, Poine's eyes gleamed with interest.
'Ho?'
Someone who had lived through Omega's whole history had no reason to elevate anyone.
Shirone himself did not feel the ordinary awe humans would toward Poine.
'Still, she's an old woman.'
No matter how much one understands, he resolved not to forget what matters to people.
Perhaps that was what it meant to be a god with a heart.
"Hoho, my expectations weren't wrong. There will be much to do. Command us as your limbs; if you need anything, give the order to me."
The eleven apostles' eyes burned.
'Has she lost her mind?'
After Karatora's disappearance, no representative had been chosen.
'Trying to get a free ride!'
Poine gambled on the image of a doddering old woman, but Shirone wasn't easily fooled.
'We can't let our guard down.' Karatora had used the Twelve's rivalries; now it was Shirone's turn.
"All right. I'll delegate tasks gradually. We should also consider appointing a representative of the Twelve."
Poine brightened.
"Of course we will follow Messiah's will. That is our very reason for existing."
"So then."
Shirone looked around at them all.
"We don't have much time, so I'd like to hear the situation first. I haven't obtained the battlefield logs. Can you tell me how things are going out there?"
The apostles who hadn't yet been named all shot their hands up and shouted in unison.
"I will explain!"
"…Ha ha."
Facing their burning passion, Shirone forced an awkward smile.