Freedom Gene (1)
In the fire, Rian—
'Damn it.'
Purifying Imir's ma—her demonic magic—was on a completely different level from anything he'd felt before.
'Is this Imir?'
It was an unbounded, insatiable unrest.
As if it hadn't breathed for a hundred million years, as if it hadn't excreted for a billion.
'No creature could endure this.'
But born to endure within that cosmic contradiction, what could Imir possibly think?
"I'll eat it! I'll eat it all!"
Monoras howled with endless hunger.
The more it ravened, the larger Gehenna's flames grew, and the land turned to lava and heaved like a sea.
'The apex of emotion.'
That matched the reason Shirone couldn't act and the reason Lethe watched.
'They're driving each other past their limits. Not introducing a variable would actually help.'
As Gehenna's chains exceeded purification's bounds, Rian's body began to melt.
"Ugh!"
Monoras's eyes bulged at the sight of flaming flesh dropping in chunks.
"I— I…"
The lava-ground trembled as if a mountain had been stirred.
"I will eat it!"
With a thunk, Rian's body vaporized, and a cold smile lifted the corner of Lethe's mouth.
"No one can stop Imir's ma. The same would likely be true in the real world…"
She looked back at Shirone.
"What a pity. Yours and the duke's efforts have been for nothing. Just give it up."
Oblivion in the otherworld literally meant the erasure of existence.
"It can't be helped."
Shirone's eyes narrowed as he went on.
"…I can sense that. When it becomes like that—when that outcome has already taken place."
The slowly swelling lava shot up toward the sky, and Lethe tilted her head, stunned.
"That is…"
Rian had become so colossal he could likely be seen beyond hell's horizon.
"Raaaargh!"
Though formed of lava into a yaksha shape with no vocal cords, the vacuum of its roar shook the world.
In that instant Lethe realized.
"Monoras! Run!"
But it was probably already too late; Monoras writhed in agony, its eyes rolled white.
"I will eat it! I will… I will…"
A flash swallowed the world in light; every object within sight vaporized.
Lethe, who had been covering her face and writhing, opened her eyes as the heat vanished.
A black, bottomless pit yawned like outer space itself.
'Everything's purified.'
The land, Laviet, and the countless cities around it had become nothingness.
Shirone stepped into the pit. "Rian!"
Descending another few dozen kilometers, a sound like tens of thousands screaming in unison filled the air.
'Dark resonance. This is bad.'
Rian had purified the entire land, creating a chasm.
'The sense of time is thinning.'
Time did not flow in the abyss.
It was the same principle as when time disappears after all matter in a region of space is erased.
"Rian!"
Feeling all eleven senses go numb, Shirone unleashed Agape's light.
If he went any deeper, he'd stop even sensing his own existence.
'Where is he? Where are we?'
A blade-sharp light cut through the darkness, but it caught nothing.
'Damn!'
It wasn't space anymore.
"Hey, hey. You okay?"
In the abyss's darkness, Son Yujeong groped Rian's corpse-like form.
At her waist, Richera's voice urged.
"Get out of here fast. This place is strange. If we stay we'll go mad."
Son Yujeong felt the same.
'Abyss.'
A vast nature that had swallowed countless yokai.
"Miss Son Yujeong."
Snapping back to herself, Son concentrated on the hand touching Rian.
'We can't let our guard down. Even the slightest lapse and we'll lose our senses.'
Honestly, she still doubted whether what her hand touched was real.
"Ah—it's warm. Miss Son Yujeong. The ocean is so beautiful. My mother—she drowned…"
"Shut up. Don't babble."
Yujeong shook Rian.
"Hey! Hey! Snap out of it!"
"Puhihihi! So stupid, idiot, why'd you jump in to save him? You should've run."
Yujeong wanted to smash Richera's head, but she couldn't find where it was.
'Who said I wanted to save him?'
Wounded and able to act only once, they had to hold Rian.
'In the abyss you lose yourself. The only one who can escape this place is him.'
Only the Idea would be the sole reference point.
"Get up! Get up, I said!" In her panic she tried anything, but bringing him back to consciousness looked unlikely.
'I've never heard of humans making something like this. Where are his limits?'
There was nothing left but to gamble.
'My hair. My hair.'
Mustering her last focus, she plucked a hair to trigger the string phenomenon.
"Huu—"
A faint light brightened the surroundings, but the darkness promptly swallowed the hair.
She cried out.
'No! Get a grip!'
But it was happening only inside her head; no sound escaped.
'Ah! Aah!'
No matter how she screamed, her senses did not return, and finally her consciousness sank into darkness.
....
At the very moment her self vanished, a drop of the string's light fell downward.
"Huh?"
A clean, refreshing force washed her mind, and Rian slowly opened his eyes.
'What now?'
Nothing could be seen; it was immediately clear this darkness was unlike the night humans imagine.
'I can't feel anything.'
When he reached forward, Gehenna's chains were sucked in and the Idea was seized.
"Shirone."
Rian lifted his head and, lost in thought, the corner of his mouth twitched into a small smile.
"I've grown stronger." The Imir magic he'd absorbed pumped power through his body like it might burst.
"Idea."
The Grand Chart was plunged into the darkness.
"Divine Transcendence."
One coordinate Rian had enforced redefined the abyss's void into space.
"Rian!"
Agape's light rushed in, harsh and bright, illuminating Rian's surroundings.
Shirone met Rian's gaze and smiled, while Son Yujeong—her joints all twisted—came into view.
"Anyway…"
They had tried to save Rian, and that was commendable; the Hand of God had seized them.
"Let's go."
Shirone cast a spatial technique in that state, and a shaft of light instantly pierced out of the abyss.
"Fuu."
Directly beneath a cloud of fire, Rian peered down into the vast pit he had created.
"Impressive."
Shirone nodded.
"Yes. But this is only one part of hell. Purifying the sacred tone will be far harder." Rian gripped the Grand Chart and scanned the surroundings.
"Lethe?"
"She left. We'll meet again soon. She'll be waiting where the sacred tone is."
Regrettable that they couldn't finish things right away, Rian decided to bury the abyss's darkness for now.
'Magrite.'
A glass could have been raised.
'Rest in peace.'
Stang National School of Magic. He'd woken, made coffee, and come to work; the students were training fiercely.
"Good morning."
The teachers greeted Shirone.
"Yes. Good morning."
To mages, the Ivory Tower's Five Greats were figures of admiration, and among them were special feelings.
Most veteran teachers had been nearly conscripted during the world war, so the teachers' ages were roughly similar to Shirone's.
"Thank you so much for helping with yesterday's advanced make-up class. You don't know how moved the students were."
"No, it's the right thing to do." Though the Ten Arcane Council and Amy also helped instruct, Shirone remained the core.
Amy had noticed the female teachers' glances changing day by day.
As Shirone chatted, Amy sighed, and a familiar voice spoke from behind.
"The Five Greats are going too far."
Rampa, who had returned after surveying world affairs on Shirone's special mission, stood there.
"Rampa."
"I'm no expert in romance, but that clearly calls for drawing a line."
"He can't say no; that's how it happens."
Though Shirone didn't show it, Rampa's words eased him a little.
'No matter how busy, how could he not visit even once at night?'
Still, it would be unbecoming to go first.
"Amy. Rampa."
Shirone said goodbye to the teachers and approached, but Amy's response was colder than expected.
"Hmm."
As Shirone blinked, a young wizard dashed in from outside the training ground.
"Brother!"
The sight of the child clinging to him made Amy angrier, but feeling jealous of a seven-year-old was pathetic.
"What's today's training?"
Shirone studied Amy's expression again, smiled, and greeted the wizard.
"Today's training will be a bit special."
At the word "special," Amy turned slightly, interested.
"Have you heard of Force?"
"Force? No."
It was basic for students who'd followed the academy's curriculum, but unfamiliar to the wizard.
Shirone walked to the center of the training ground and teachers and students stopped to gather.
Being personally instructed helped a lot—every moment of Shirone training the wizard was history.
"Force—"
Shirone raised his index finger.
"It means colliding one existing thought with another. You can call it a technique for shifting mindset."
"Hmm."
The wizard nodded but his tone showed he didn't fully grasp it.
"To put it simply… say today is an exam, but you had a huge fight with your parents in the morning. That will keep you from focusing, right?"
"Hmm."
Shirone offered another example.
"Someone you love dies. You're walking in grief and suddenly a carriage rushes at you. In that instant your brain forgets the loved one and switches to responding to the carriage."
"Ah."
"Force is doing that intentionally. In magic terms, you're instantly swapping your operating mode."
The wizard understood.
"That's a cold technique. Cruel, too. You have to forget the one you love."
"Haha, yes."
Shirone's face turned serious.
"If you can't do it, you die."
"…Yes."
"The basic form is Cross Force. You keep colliding modes along a cross-shaped intersection. Like this."
A veil of light spread over Shirone, and a cross over ten meters long was drawn above his head.
"Better to see it than to hear me explain. This vision magic will show my Force in real time."
The wizard swallowed and nodded.
"Fooooo—force."
As Shirone spoke, countless orbs representing different magics filled the cross.
Kakakakakaka!
The orbs snapped outward at tremendous speed, effects flashing above the heads of those nearby.
"This is… impossible."
When one of the Five Greats cast a buff, students and even teachers checked themselves.