Living (3)
The Otherworld.
Son Yujeong's yeoibong, having attained the enlightenment of Pasa-hyeonjeong, turned Lete's body into a honeycomb.
"Gah!"
She had only just been about to plant her feet on the ground.
'How is it moving so fast?'
Lete was stunned that she hadn't been able to react, and Son Yujeong was equally stunned at how she had broken through her limits.
'Why?'
Because it was right.
A single truth anyone could see if they sat alone in a room, closed their eyes, and thought.
This is reason.
If evil's methods are easy yet convoluted, the methods of good are difficult but simple. When that simplicity is fully taken into life, goodness becomes unshakeable.
And this, above all else, is a sanctum that evil can never possess—made only for the good.
As an incarnation bloomed from Son Yujeong's body, Lete regrew one eye and lifted her head.
The incarnation of Jecheon Daeseong, glowing gold, filled the hellish sky.
'Annoying.'
Lete bent her knees and searched for an escape.
'If I stay, I'll lose Yahweh. I must stop her from reaching Jinseong-eum.'
Even if it meant abandoning the System Control Branch.
'Now!'
As Lete launched herself like a bullet, Mortasinger used the Hidden Piece to yank her space back. When she snapped to her original position and twisted, Son Yujeong flew in, steam trailing behind her.
Lete spat, "…You'll regret this."
"I won't."
Now—
When the yeoibong that had split Lete struck the ground, a shockwave swept through the branch's warehouse.
"Boss!"
As agents tried to flee, a pillar of earth-fire sprang up and took on a colossal form.
"What is that?"
Demon or god?
A building-sized monstrosity roared, embers dripping from its bulk.
"You insignificant creations dare obstruct the wardens of hell!"
Things that touched the heat were purified, and the agents drew back.
'Is this—Lete, Mother of Hell?'
Lete lifted her head and ground her teeth.
'Yahweh, binding me won't let you accomplish your will.'
At the visible edge of the sky, ink-black clouds began surging in at incredible speed.
Probably every hellish star and speck in the abyss was flying toward Shirone and Rian.
"Yujeong!"
Mortasinger ran forward, eyes wide with fear, but Son Yujeong looked up at Lete with calmness.
"I'm fine."
The incarnation of Jecheon Daeseong blew golden smoke from its mouth and leveled its club at Lete.
"Because now I can say it." Even if something happens right before my eyes…
"I am what is right."
A sliver of light embodying her idea pierced the monster's solar plexus.
Imir — Deep Layer, Stage One.
Miro fixed her gaze on an orb blacker than darkness itself.
'Black hole.'
The light running along the sphere's edge sent no signal anywhere.
'Well, if the sun stands for the Law… then the ultimate extreme of the heart, Ultima, must be the black sun.'
Arius said, "If light can't move, that means there's no signal. In other words, the Law is perfectly bound."
Imir looked up at the sky.
"Yes. Every substance asserts its presence against the backdrop of this universe."
This was the maternal psyche; Imir's language was source information she'd carried since birth.
"How is that expressed?" Imir rose.
"Weight?"
That was a human yardstick.
"Hardness?"
Not a complete definition.
"Existence."
Imir turned to them. "How much one asserts their being in time and space. If you ranked them, stars would top the list. But…" When Imir put force into his body, the surrounding landscape felt crumpled. "There are things stronger than that." The assertion of existence. He felt that no Law could stop what he intended.
As Imir stepped forward, the light in the firmament was sucked into the black hole and the scenery turned gray.
"My existence reaches beyond the curtain of the universe."
The outer world.
"All questions are answered," Arius said. "The black hole symbolizes Imir's unique mind, a synthesis of a billion spirits. That scenery itself is Ultima, but strictly speaking, the Ultima we seek lies at the end of the black hole."
At the singularity of infinite density with no volume.
"In Mong-ah's nightmare, Imir was defined by a billion pupils. Why is that terrifying? Because if gravity collapses even a little, Ultima shatters. In other words, Imir as an entity would be denied," Miro said.
"So simply put, if even one eye turns away, we can win?"
"Yes. It looks like a billion Gaians define Imir, but Imir also controls those billion. Each points to the other—two Laws. Imir is both the sum of a billion and a single Ultima."
Arius faced the black sun. "It's in there. That's what we're after."
"Can you do it?"
If Arius understood a mind, he could grave-rob it, but Imir's mind was exceptional.
"I don't care if I go in and die, but even then, grave-robbing may be impossible."
"Do it."
Miro said, "It's impossible for you not to."
Realizing something in her voice, Arius bowed his head. "I understand."
What could he fear? Miro's mind was a perfect work of art. Even though her blood, flesh, and heart had been taken by the Old, Arius had no regret about losing his sight to glimpse her mind.
'Right. I'll go in again.'
Like a diver with a sore back on an overcast day, Arius looked up at the black hole.
"Arius."
Miro said, "Come back alive."
He knew she wouldn't say that unless she didn't mean it as a farewell.
Arius smiled as he flew toward the firmament, but Imir didn't move.
"Let him go."
His presence, the integration of a billion Gaians, wouldn't be shaken by a mere fly.
'No pursuit.'
Arius felt momentarily relieved, but dread filled him for what came next.
'In there… what could possibly wait inside a black hole that pierced even Imir's maternal psyche?'
Clenching his teeth, Arius opened a door at an immeasurable distance and dove toward the black hole's center.
"Aaah!"
Plunging into the universe's deepest place, Arius felt his mind begin to unravel.
'It's okay. Not the body.'
After all, he was only in a dream.
Still, he knew with certainty that if he fell a few seconds more, his self would be annihilated.
'Hold on. Endure.'
If he could confirm Ultima's substance, the chance of grave-robbing would rise dramatically.
'Implant.'
He needed to plant a special shock into Imir's maternal psyche that craved sensation.
Broken down to the smallest units, Arius experienced something that violated common sense.
"Ahh."
With his sense of self blurred, he finally reached the singularity.
There was…
'Light.'
Blind, he paradoxically saw it more clearly—a colossal light awaited him.
"Ahhhhh!"
His soul screamed with supreme ecstasy.
Meanwhile, having sent Arius away, Miro and the others faced Imir.
"All right."
Imir approached. "You've reached Deep Layer One—perhaps you're the first. No—well, not you, actually." His gaze fell on Gaold, carried on Miro's back.
"Heh heh, what's this? Did he faint from so little?"
The party faced reality.
Gaold had pierced the numbness and opened Deep Layer One, but from Imir's point of view, the fight had barely begun.
"Hmph."
Miro set Gaold down and stepped toward Imir. "You boast a lot, but not feeling pain isn't something to be proud of. You were just born strong. But Gaold is different. He came this far with a human body."
After a moment, Imir asked, "What difference does that make? Strong is strong."
"I'll show you." As the incarnation of Cheonsu Gwanseum was born, Ruber and Mong-ah carried Shirone out of the radius.
"We protect the Five Greats."
"Yes."
Shirone needed Ultima, so that was natural.
As Gangnan and Sein took their stances behind Miro, Imir raised an eyebrow.
"Just you lot?"
Extremal Line, Southern Wolf, Black Line's foremost mind-mage.
Yet the only one who had stirred Imir's sense of life was Gaold.
"Enough."
When Imir's fist rose, the gas of desire filling the air detonated, blasting light as fierce as the sun.
Literally, Imir's gesture birthed a sun.
"I'll wait until he wakes. Facing you now would only spoil my appetite."
Sein had to concede. 'This is Imir's mindscape. His self here is godlike.'
Gaold, who had invaded Imir's mind, had become something that broke common sense.
Imir sat and propped his chin. "What are you all doing? Sit down. There's nothing to do anyway. You can't even attack—are we having a staring contest?" It might be a casual suggestion for them, but the party felt insulted.
'Damn! He's looking down on us.'
Miro turned and asked, "How's Gaold?"
Gangnan checked and shook his head. "He doesn't look like he'll wake up anytime soon."
"Is that so?"
Miro nodded and walked toward Imir.
"Good."
"Huh?"
At the twitch of Imir's eyebrow, the incarnation of Cheonsu Gwanseum spread both arms.
Time compressed to infinity, and sensing danger, Imir shot upright.
Given Gangnan's unmoving eyelids, Imir's speed was incredible, but…
'Bastard.'
Miro was faster.
When Cheonsu Gwanseum's technique struck Imir left and right, the world itself shuddered.
'Take that.'
After a final blow to the right, Imir bounced off the ground and was flung away.
Gangnan and Sein gaped.
'A hit landed.'
Looking up, they saw Cheonsu Gwanseum's grimacing face, like an oni.
"Anger—"
As they wondered whether that was possible for an Extremal Line, Miro stepped toward Imir.
"Listen. If you make Gaold weep blood from his eyes one more time…"
"Ehk—!"
Imir, shaking off the shock, flashed his eyes between his arms as she finished.
"Then regardless of Extremal Line or whatever, I'll tear you apart."
'I see.'
Sein understood. 'Miro is not Yahweh. Not even someone's death can shake her perfect mind.'
But Gaold was different.
If he had received something that transcended death, Miro had no choice but to respond.
And the intensity of her fury was…
"Come on. You need to be hit more."
It looked as if her skull might split wide open.