Demonic Hell (3)
"By the way…"
Tess slurred, thoroughly drunk.
"How's the state of the world? I mean, with those simultaneous incidents and all. You're present everywhere, not just here, right?"
"That's right."
Many things were happening across the world, but Shirone's answer stopped there.
Iruki asked, "Is it better not to know?"
"Not necessarily… but what would change if we did? These people need rest, and dumping unprocessable information on them would only leave them more exhausted."
Amy said, "Right. If you don't want to tell us, we won't listen. Honestly, that's the sensible response."
Forcing information they couldn't handle would be nothing more than a mental assault.
'But also…'
Shirone looked out at the darkened world beyond the window.
'This is a reality unfolding in this world.'
Habitz's homeland, the Gustav Empire, had the second-largest surviving population after Jincheon. It made sense—Gustav had been one of the nations to start the war—but now that Habitz himself had grown distant from humanity, Gustav could not avoid assaults by the demon forces.
"Messiah, over there."
Though the sun had not yet set, the snowstorm had turned the landscape pitch black. Beyond the veil of snow, only the castle's flickering lights swayed like ghosts, marking the way.
"Masarba."
A strategic stronghold and massive city they had to pass through before reaching Gustav's capital.
Shirone, wrapped in a gray hooded coat, blew out a white breath and glared at the city. Amid the howling wind, the sounds of battle between humans and demons came drifting through.
"Let's go."
As Shirone stepped forward, the smoke of the Miracle Stream around him stretched into a thin tendril, then took the shape of a gigantic hand and swept the blizzard aside.
"He should be here for sure, right?"
The radiant dragon Phaeton and the black dragon Abiris, following behind, glanced at each other before answering.
Abiris spoke. "Yes. After surveying the Gustav Empire, we found information that the Sixth Legion Commander of the infernal army, Siri, is here."
Her face, patterned like a black leopard's, stood out against the falling snow and gave her a chilling presence.
"Subduing Siri shouldn't be especially difficult, but we can't guarantee we'll be able to stop the opening of the demon realm."
The demon realm is an act of resolve—a matter of the heart—so it would open beyond the limits of photon signals.
"Yeah. The odds are fifty-fifty. Let's do our best."
Phaeton said, "Stay sharp. If you try to keep up with my speed, your brain might explode."
"Hmph. Speed isn't everything. I was the one who found Siri's information this time."
"You were just lucky."
How useful each Apostle was to the Messiah mattered most among the Twelve.
Abiris, choosing her words with a frown, couldn't hide her irritation and lightly slapped Phaeton's shoulder. It looked playful, but the dragon strength behind it sent a jolt that made bones ache.
Phaeton's face flushed; he glanced at Shirone, then struck Abiris's thigh.
Abiris countered immediately, and soon the two Apostles' arms crossed with incredible speed. Hearing the sickening sounds of contact, Shirone grimaced and turned.
"Stop it."
Both Apostles knelt at once.
"We're sorry!"
"How many times is this now? Fight one more time and I'm traveling alone from here on out."
Their chilling words made them bow quickly, but they felt some injustice too.
'Why did it have to be paired with this one?'
That the radiant and black dragons were natural rivals was common knowledge among the Twelve—and the Messiah.
Abiris said, "Messiah, did you pair us thinking of yin and yang? I simply don't get along with Phaeton."
"It's not because of yin and yang." Phaeton looked up.
"Then… does the Messiah have some deeper reason for pairing us…?"
Shirone answered immediately. "Everyone else refused to be paired with you." In short, they'd been dumped with each other.
To the other Apostles, whether radiant dragon or black dragon, both were personalities nobody wanted to be tangled with.
'These brats…'
As Phaeton and Abiris fixed hard stares, recalling other Apostles, Shirone snorted and smiled.
"But I'm here."
Phaeton relaxed, relieved the Messiah's anger had subsided, and bowed his head.
"Of course. A fine choice. We'll deliver the best results."
"Naturally. Let's wipe them all out." The real reason Shirone had brought them was plain—their eyes burned with fierce intent.
The blizzard thickened and, as they entered the city, turned into small, sharp ice crystals.
"Dangerous."
Despite his words, Shirone calmly raised a hand and compressed the Miracle Stream's smoke. A flash burst; the blizzard paused for an instant before sweeping back in and filling the space again.
Abiris, one side of her face iced over, looked around and approached. "It's magic."
"Hm. Siri's demon realm brings a cold wave. Even without fully opening, it has that much force…"
Either way, the likelihood Siri was here had risen.
"Any survivors?" Whether wiped out by demons or sheltering in the central castle, there were no civilians in sight. Windows in many houses were shattered, and snow had piled up inside.
Please save us.
Shirone heard a voice no human ear should detect and stopped dead. He sprang toward the sound coming from the end of a district lined with about twenty stone houses. All the winter windows were broken and the interiors were dark, but a faint light shone from deep inside.
"Uuu… uuu…"
Following the plaintive moans, he entered and found a woman clutching a child and sobbing.
"My baby, my baby."
"What's wrong?"
As Shirone approached, the woman reached out with eyes that were not entirely sane.
"Help! The child isn't breathing! Please, please…"
Judging by the absent husband, she'd been terrified and unable to flee—trapped and isolated. The cold in the house was far too deadly for a child to survive, but Shirone touched the child with hope.
'The heart is beating.'
Feeling the faint vibrations at his fingertips, Shirone hurriedly wrapped the child in his arms and activated the Miracle Stream.
'If there's life, I can save it.'
As light flowed into the child, a cold smile crept across the woman's lips. The woman's fingertips suddenly turned to sharp ice and flew at Shirone—but a small magic circle appeared before Phaeton's eye.
He struck at light speed and hit the woman's face; she shattered like porcelain into a scattering powder. From the throat down, she dispersed into a dust of ice, and a few steps back the powder reformed into a woman with an opaque, icy hue.
It was the Sixth Legion Commander, Siri.
"Hohoho! What a pity! I thought I'd land a proper hit, but it seems I can't."
The moment Phaeton attacked the woman, Abiris had wrapped an arm around Shirone's neck—a move to guard his vital spot in case Phaeton failed.
"I knew it."
Shirone rose, watching snow-dust fall through his fingers. Siri sneered. "If you touched Yahweh's pride, I'm sorry—but don't pretend you knew."
"When I felt the heart beating, my first thought was that it couldn't be."
He wasn't so foolish as to mistake biological limits.
"Still, I tried to revive her because a child was dying in front of its mother. If there was even the tiniest chance—no, one in a thousand—that my judgment was wrong…"
"If one life were to be lost,
that pain would be beyond anything in the universe, Siri. You mustn't do this. No matter how much you hate me, you can't deceive like this."
The Miracle Stream flared like a flame, and the smile at Siri's lips vanished. The last spark of life in her eyes chilled and went cold like the city.
"That's why I hate you. You're always acting like a brat. Do you know how many parents lose children by accident, by misfortune? If you simply hated me, say so—be like Buddha and say you hate me. At least then I'd be scared and give a proper lament."
"No matter if it's irrational, that is the heart. Siri, learn love and repent."
"Nonsense. Universal love is hypocrisy. You're watching to see when I'll open the demon realm anyway, right? Because you need to protect the humans you love. Try it—kill me or open the demon realm. Which will come first?"
"There's no priority in universal love."
"Then prove it."
Siri slammed both knees to the ground and knelt. "I know I cannot beat you. So from now on, I will repent and dissolve."
They had already heard from Bashka that Yahweh had pushed Buddha away.
"But can you really trust me? Maybe I'll open the demon realm after all. Can you watch until I dissolve?" Siri laughed. "Kakaka! See? You can't do it! You doubt me, don't you? You hate me for making this offer, right? Want me to guess what you're thinking? Should I kill you now? If the demon realm opens first…"
"Siri."
Shirone stepped forward and looked down at her with a gentle gaze. "All right. If that will make you believe me…"
Phaeton and Abiris swallowed hard as Siri's expression turned serious.
"Yahweh, I repent my sins." Siri's body flaked into ice crystals as her demon-realm Ice Age activated.
The temperature dropped so sharply they could feel it on their skin. Phaeton let out a roar of anger. "How dare you try to deceive the Messiah!"
As she crumbled into powder toward dissolution, she glared at Shirone and burst into uproarious laughter. Shirone kept the promise he had made—he waited.
"With this, all beings will see how foolish Yahweh is! It feels glorious! I… I…"
At that moment, Siri saw her reflection in Shirone's eyes and understood.
"I won… I… I… for the first time in my life, hot tears are flowing from my own eyes…"
"Why… why…?"
Seeing Shirone's eyes filled not with anger but only sorrow, everything finally fell into place for her.
'Really? Really me…?'
The vast chaos that had been her world condensed into a single, clear truth.
Then—everything became clear.
'So that's it.'
Perhaps it could have been turned back.
"S-Say, Yahweh—"
Siri reached out frantically, but before she could, her body crystallized and dispersed.
Shirone watched the place where Siri had vanished, then turned away with the same expression he'd had before.
"…Let's go."
As he walked off with a lonely weight, Abiris said to Phaeton, "We must remember what happened today."
"…Yeah."
They had to follow the Messiah who fought the greatest battle in the universe alone. That duty, too, was the last message the Mountless Dragon Karatorus had left the Twelve Apostles.