Face to Face (4)
When the twelve figures knelt around Shirone, a ripple of murmurs ran through the allied ranks.
"Who are they?"
Very few people knew their identities.
"Those are—"
Zulu, having felt the fire ignite in Miro's eyes, spoke up.
"Stand down. The battle isn't over yet."
They had scattered the army of heaven across the world with the Hand of God, but behind that power they regrouped in an instant.
Among the Twelve Apostles, a tall, muscular black woman spoke.
"Sorry we're late. We were trying to find where the Messiah was headed…"
She was Abiris, the Black Dragon.
She wore a gypsy-style skirt and jangling, shamanic accessories. Proud enough to call herself the Black King Rampaging Dragon, she constantly bickered with the Light Dragon—her elemental nemesis—but before the Messiah she was unfailingly respectful.
Phaeton wore an oddly twisted smile for someone so young.
"Hah. That was slow. Pull yourself together and pay attention."
Shirone's quantum transfer surpassed the light-speed barrier, so in truth Phaeton had only managed to trail behind belatedly.
Gaitan, the Earth Dragon, reprimanded him sternly.
"Don't get cocky. Competition's welcome, but teamwork matters if we're to fulfill the Messiah's will." He was a hulking man with dark skin and massive shoulder muscles—physically the strongest among the Twelve.
Shirone apologized.
"Sorry. It was a situation where simultaneous actions had to unfold or things would go wrong. But we bought the time, so we'll proceed according to plan from here."
The Twelve Apostles bowed.
"We follow the Messiah's will."
Miro shrugged off Kangnan's hand and stepped forward.
"Isn't there something we need to settle first? If it weren't for me, Shirone wouldn't have stopped the primal bomb. Doesn't that mean your calculations were wrong?"
Infercus, the Fire Dragon, curled his lips.
"So what? That's why we sent you, wasn't it?" Miro instead lifted her chin, pleased.
"Hohoho!"
Her laugh cut off and she glared fiercely.
"You were having a lot of fun tying me up and beating me, weren't you? Want to feel it the other way around?" As if to prove her seriousness, the incarnation of the Thousand-Handed Kannon rose with a maddened smile.
Argan, the Air Dragon, raised both hands to restrain her.
"Let's not fight. Things have been settled—everyone has their reasons, right?"
Tall and lanky, his face painted white like a pierrot with black eye makeup, the black rouge that stretched his lips gave him a chilling look.
"Shut up. Yours hurt the most."
"No, that's… it's just business."
Argan, hopeless at quarrels, scratched his head, and the White Dragon Asraiker rose to his feet.
"My apologies."
For a moment the room fell silent.
"We apologize for past matters. From now on we will follow the Messiah, and we will show due respect according to the Messiah's relationships." Those around Miro were even more stunned than she was.
'Beautiful.'
No—'beautiful' didn't do it. It was as if an irresistible presence had wrapped itself around her whole being.
'It's not charm. It's magical power.'
Even the cool-headed Lupist felt dizzy; even the women Tess and Amy couldn't take their eyes off her. They were focusing on Miro so intently because they were close—if they met her gaze, anyone might feel their legs give out.
Miro herself had long experience facing the White Dragon's extreme presence. She didn't possess Shirone's ability to dismantle magic, but the Thousand-Handed Kannon, without blind spots, could brace every sense behind an iron wall.
'But in this state delicate combat is impossible. Can this count as an attack?'
In any case, the Twelve following Shirone served Miro's aims as well.
"All right, to the point. Shirone, there must be a reason you scattered the army of heaven, right?"
"Yes. For me, that was the limit."
Shirone answered honestly.
"The Hand of God is an aggressive use of the Idea link. It shapes the user's will into the form of a hand and uses it."
Everyone looked up as a giant hand of light formed in the sky, the index and thumb making an OK sign.
Miro lowered her head and asked, "What does that accomplish? Sure, it takes time to form a front line, but there's no special defensive trick. You just fight it."
"No."
Shirone shook her head. "From now on we'll defeat the army of heaven piece by piece."
"Huh?"
Everyone blinked.
A carriage that had left the battlefield sped toward Vashka. Iruki sat in the main seat, Dorothy on the left, Aromi on the right.
And on the bed opposite—
"Quantum transfer?"
Shirone was there.
"Yeah. It's Hexa's ability."
Shirone raised an index finger and a hexagon—hexa—spun rapidly.
"It's the first ability I made, actually."
She could have used Geffin too, but she didn't need to.
"In the age of the Gaians, everyone was strong. Not just in force—how should I put it? Everyone was like Geffin." Since it would take time to reach Vashka, Iruki could listen calmly.
"After receiving Omega from Karatorsa, the first thought I had was that I couldn't do that."
"Humanity today isn't that strong," Iruki said.
"…Unfortunately. So I thought: what's the most efficient way to use the Ultima System?"
"Is that the ability you were explaining earlier?"
Iruki couldn't believe it.
"Yeah. Quantum transfer is… ah, the Twelve Apostles just arrived. Anyway, quantum transfer is—"
"Wait. I don't get it," Dorothy interrupted, holding out a hand. "So you're in Vashka and here at the same time, and you exchange information between the two?"
Shirone shook her head. "No. I'm not split into two. There's only one me in this world."
"But you're right now—"
"Yeah, I'm in Vashka too. Hmm, how to explain simply? Right."
She snapped her fingers. "Actually, there is no city called Vashka. It doesn't exist in this world."
"Hmm."
As Iruki nodded, Shirone pointed to the window.
"Dorothy, what do you think is outside right now?"
The curtains were drawn.
"Maybe mountains, a forest, animals…?"
Dorothy stopped and blinked.
"There's nothing?"
"At least to us as observers."
Shirone drew the curtain back and a wide plain was revealed.
"And the moment we observe, the world comes into being like this."
Aromi, unfamiliar with such ideas, asked innocently, "What if you drew the curtain back incredibly fast—so fast you couldn't even see it? Would you be able to confirm nothingness then?"
Shirone laughed—a pleasant sound. It was a good question.
"Common-sense imagination would say yes. But if you expand thought into its domain, everything that exists in this world can never overtake the background signal. They're trapped behind a solid wall."
"What wall is that?"
"Time."
"Huh?"
"It's the light-speed barrier. The fundamental signal that makes up this world is the photon. Not because light is fast, but because it's fundamental—you can't overtake it. So light speed is invariant, and however fast you pull back the curtain, you can't see the background."
Aromi nodded repeatedly. "Ah, that makes sense. No matter how fast an arrow is, if time stops it can't move forward. Is that right?"
"Exactly."
Aromi grinned. "Heh, now I get it. Everyone trapped in the photon domain can't surpass light speed."
"Yes."
Shirone nodded and added, "But I can transcend it." Aromi's mouth dropped open; Iruki snorted.
"Is that quantum transfer?"
"Yeah. The mind can surpass light speed. Imagining the end of the universe is unimaginably faster than light."
Dorothy asked, "But that's just imagining, isn't it?"
"Even so, nothing changes. Right now, Vashka doesn't exist either, does it?"
"That's from our perspective. So—there's only one you here, and whether you exist in Vashka or not can't be known until observed. I get that. The problem is you. Feeling like you're in different spaces at once isn't logically right."
"That's because humans have one mind per body. On other worlds a single brain might control millions of creatures. Their logic would differ from ours."
Shirone spread her palms and held up the index and middle finger of her other hand.
"These two fingers are in different spaces, but whichever finger moves I'll know instantly. It's not a perfect analogy. In nerves it's transmitted that way, but I'm connected via quantum signals."
"Mind, huh," Iruki said. "An integrated mental system."
"Yeah. I found a way to maximize the Ultima System. I'm still one person, so the system doesn't amplify itself, but I can defeat enemies one by one. And above all—"
Shirone's eyes sharpened. "This method is the fastest way to unify humanity's minds."
Iruki understood. This girl really intended to revive the Ultima System.
"Does range not matter?"
"Yeah. Space imposes no limit. It's about the mind. But—"
Shirone pressed her index and middle finger to her palm again. "In the end it's the mind. If the me in two spaces observe each other, one of them will have to disappear."
At the moment the fingers touched, Shirone quickly slid her middle finger outward, away from her palm.
"I see."
Iruki's thoughts turned. "Still, strategically this is enough. To summarize: the phenomenon you described can occur if you exist in regions that cannot observe each other?"
"Simultaneous event."
The two Shirones said the same thing.
Dante, Amy, Neid—and even Miro—wore blank expressions.
"What ridiculous nonsense is that?" Rian had already given up trying to understand, while the Poison Dragon Poine exploded into loud laughter.
"Ha! Has the young miss been deceived her whole life? Our Messiah's ability moves the heavens."
Miro shot a sharp look, but the words weren't unfair.
'Huh. So she forcibly dispersed them. The idea's basis is the Ultima System—definitely a solid method.'
Having thought it through, Miro asked, "What's the criterion for transfer? If space doesn't exist you can't set coordinates."
"Right. The observer's quantum signal is necessary. In other words, you can't go where there's no person."
"That figures."
It was a barrier Shirone's mobility could easily circumvent.
"Then from now on—"
Having finished explaining the simultaneous event, Shirone looked around at everyone and said, "I'll form the teams I'll fight alongside."
No one stepped forward.
Because Shirone would be in every team.