Friend-or-Foe Identification (2)
Ikael had guessed.
She would feel hurt.
To the Wizard, Shirone was the only teacher and the pillar she could lean on.
Seven years had passed since she first stepped into the world, yet as a biological individual she was top-tier.
And still she loved.
Though she lacked adult desires, her love would be pure and blind.
Shirone could give what her parents could not. Of course this sort of thing would happen.
An ordinary child might laugh it off.
But the Wizard would soon have to stain her hands with the blood of the vilest Satan.
Ikael wished there would be no change in her emotions. At the moment she killed Havitz, she wanted her to be in a pure state.
Like a machine.
If thoughts like fighting for someone, or having to kill because there was no choice, seeped in...
Variables would appear.
Shirone could not be unaware of this. Therefore, he accepted it despite knowing the risk.
He could have turned the Wizard into a weapon meant only to kill Satan.
But he wasn't cruel. He couldn't doom a child's life.
It was Yahweh's greatest weakness.
I have to help.
As an archangel who governed Heaven, she understood the price of seeing a will through.
This was not something one could do alone. Sometimes... one had to be cruel.
Gaffin would probably be angry.
"I'm sorry."
She no longer wanted to watch a child carry humanity's pain alone.
In the awkward silence as they headed for Jaivro, the Wizard suddenly looked up.
"If Satan dies, will peace come to the world?"
Her eyes went to Amy.
"Well, of course. This world became filthy because of Satan."
Ikael listened in silence.
"But the world was filthy even before Satan came. I heard there were many wars."
"You heard that from Shirone."
Amy already knew what the Wizard meant.
"Yes. He said Satan was made from the human heart. Even if you kill Satan now, if you don't form an integrated mental system, the world won't change."
It was Yahweh's philosophy.
"Maybe. But we do what we can. Wizard, you'll be the starting point."
The Wizard loosened her grip on Amy's hand.
"If Satan is killed and peace comes, will you marry Shirone oppa?"
"That I don't know. I love Shirone, but marriage is something for the distant future."
"Is that okay?"
"Huh?"
The Wizard frowned.
"If you love someone, you want to stay together forever, right? You seem so sure."
Amy couldn't explain the trust forged across countless battlefields with Shirone.
"You'll understand when you grow up."
"Well. There's not much time. If I must kill Satan, only then will there be a future."
There was real weight behind the Wizard's words. When Amy turned back, she heard an astonishing request.
"If you really kill Satan—if the mission succeeds—can you promise me something? Promise not to marry oppa until I become an adult." Amy had been a child once. She'd done sharp things to pull love from an individualistic family.
Shirone must be the only one. Perhaps she was convinced there was no one better.
When no answer came, the Wizard spoke again.
"I was just curious about what you think. Don't worry too much. Hearts are..."
"Wizard."
Amy stopped walking and crouched; the Wizard glanced away.
"I know how heavy your responsibility is. I know how you feel about Shirone. For one who fights for humanity, I'll do whatever I can."
The child's lips trembled.
"If Satan disappears from the world, I won't marry Shirone until you become an adult."
Rain fell in the Wizard's heart.
That's not what it was about.
She only let herself dream, even though she knew there was no way for everyone to be happy.
The Wizard's eyes filled with tears and Amy smiled.
"Us?????"
At that moment, beside Ikael, a three-point Mara named Ashur appeared and drew its sword.
"Dodge!"
Before the warning finished, Ikael threw herself.
KRAAA-BOOM!
A titanic shock struck the earth at a point twenty-three kilometers from Delta.
Centered on a lava-flowing crater, Ikael and her group reappeared.
Amy checked the Wizard.
"You okay?"
The child's gaze had already snapped into combat mode, fixed on the hulking archangel.
"Who are you?"
Amy looked toward the same figure.
"Uriel."
The Archangel of Destruction, Uriel, rose with a majestic vibration.
"Ikael, how long do you think you can avoid me?" Ikael felt it.
She's made up her mind.
This was precisely the situation she had wanted to avoid more than anything.
Ashur bowed his head.
"I'm sorry. I blocked every signal that would expose our position, but the range narrowed, so..."
No deception could have stopped Ikael from coming to Jaivro.
"It's not your fault. I share responsibility. I couldn't react to his approach."
That Uriel had pierced sensory dampening showed just how strong he was.
"Take the Wizard with you. I'll hold him here."
"However..."
Ashur hesitated.
Can we really win? Uriel had never truly attacked Ikael before.
Though he showed little, Uriel respected Ikael more than any other angel.
Ikael is the origin of all concepts; his mere existence is a force.
It isn't only Ymir's power. No child overthrows a parent simply because they're stronger—that's another kind of force. For Uriel, Ikael had been that kind of being. But now the Archangel of Destruction intended to break the bonds of origin and finally reveal his true might.
Ikael said, "...Those wounds were caused by me. I need to speak with Uriel. Cover my back."
Ashur bowed and used his signal to manifest at the Wizard's side.
"Let's go. We'll move to Jaivro."
With the stealth signal broken, Satiel would soon learn Ikael's location as well.
Amy rose.
"One more should stay." As Ashur lifted his head, a Mara in a gi strode forward.
Aruta, Uriel's second-form Mara.
Its sole reason for being was an understanding of martial wu, and its realm far surpassed that of humans.
"Uriel wishes to face Ikael alone. Any who interfere will be eliminated," Aruta said.
"Wizard, go." Amy urged, but the Wizard shook her head.
"No, I'll do it. I'm confident."
"You can't win. Go."
The Wizard was strong, but all her training had been conducted with Havitz in mind.
Even with talent that outstripped experience, she'd chosen the wrong opponent. This one was formidable.
What kind of strength was it? Ikael couldn't put it into words.
If someone trains only one thing for tens of thousands of years, this is the kind of force they'd forge.
"There must be zero chance that the Wizard cannot complete the mission."
The Wizard dug in her heels.
"I can win. If I'd be beaten by someone like this, I couldn't kill Satan."
"Don't be arrogant."
The Wizard's uniqueness lay in being the only one who could counter Vanishing.
"You still have a long way to go. Go catch Satan."
"At least I'm—better than you…!"
As the Wizard shouted, Amy's eyes flared and she glared at her.
"I said go!"
The Wizard's shoulders trembled.
Thunder rolled through her heart, and before she could speak, Ashur activated the signal.
"Be careful."
With that last word, the Wizard vanished. Amy exhaled.
"Don't even think of chasing."
"Don't misunderstand. This is Uriel's decision—it's not cowardice."
"Is that so?"
Amy snorted.
"You come deliberately while Shirone isn't here and talk big. Were you that scared of Yahweh?"
Aruta's muscles tensed.
"Again, I—"
Uriel's explanation would only make things bleaker.
Aruta lowered its stance and brought its right fist to its flank.
"I'll end this in an instant."
At that moment its temperament shifted overwhelmingly.
So this is it.
All the principles necessary to subdue an opponent with the fist focused to a single point.
A one-strike, decisive kill.
If it failed, its realm would collapse, but it had absolute confidence it would not fail.
The matchup wasn't favorable.
The crimson-eye ability peaks from the second exchange; whether that one strike could be avoided was the key.
"Your expression isn't good. Afraid?"
At Aruta's taunt, Amy lifted the corner of her mouth.
"Not at all."
Her body filled with the spirit of resolute advance; flames that seared the air flared up.
"Come at me."
The fight would end by dodging and countering, and Aruta knew that.
Interesting.
Amy's temperament, flickering like fire, obeyed the law of nature itself.
Each stood with the simplest single strategy in mind.
"Uriel."
Ikael spoke to Uriel as he climbed the crater.
"I know I'm not worthy. But Satiel will destroy humanity. She is not in a state to make calm judgments."
"I know."
Landing on the ground, Uriel closed in on Ikael.
Isn't this what you wanted? You abandoned angels and Heaven for a single human you loved.
"I didn't abandon them. I only—"
Before she could finish, Uriel's fist struck Ikael square in the face.
A roar shattered the air and the ground split into a V along the path she flew.
Watching the radial tear, Uriel slammed the earth.
Before the thud of the sonic wave arrived, Ikael was crouched at his feet.
"I could have killed you."
Even just now.
"Since you left, I've thought countless times. Whether you should truly be annihilated. You, who are the origin of all angels..."
"It seems you've made your decision."
Ikael still had strength, but she did not immediately rise from where she lay.
Uriel could destroy everything.
The reason he had been restrained was that Ikael was the cause of the concept of all angels.
It must feel like self-harm.
Their clash carried a weight far heavier than petty quarrels.
And it was the mindset of someone who truly intended to kill.
"Rise. Let's have a proper match. Even if you beg for pity like this, it won't change my mind."
"What do you want?"
When the two clashed, the world would shake, but the outcome wouldn't change.
Not yet. She cannot be annihilated—at least not until Shirone has carried out his will...
Ikael lifted her head.
"If you demand an apology, I'll give it. Even if you demand worse, I'll follow your will. Give me time. I still have work to do here."
"Only destruction."
Uriel slowly lifted his foot.
I've tired of thinking. The most deaths since my birth...
His expression as he met Ikael's gaze was cold as metal.
"Let us end this."
The Judicial Radiant Wheel, Ragnarok, activated and his foot flew at Ikael's face.
KUUUUUNG!
The foot stopped inches from her nose, and the scenery behind it seemed to be blown away.
Had there been even a flicker of fear, he would have erased her face.
No doubt in his eyes, that expression, that bearing, that dignity.
"Kariel."
Like a mother.
For the first time, you are understood.
Faced with another of Ikael's unique powers, Uriel wavered again.