The Definition of Love (1)
Gis's eyes went wide.
"Gah!"
Plu's arms, holding Gis, moved like clockwork under the algorithm's control.
A grind of teeth.
His neck was twisted completely, and Gis's gaze locked on the guards outside the bedchamber.
'Why?'
A 1.5-generation human—politically savvy and highly intelligent, refined enough to even use angels.
Plu said, "Not yet."
But that development of reason had ultimately been driven by the pursuit of greater pleasure.
Instinct still held sway.
Gis's lips trembled as if to speak; his fingertips made a faint motion.
In the end his breath left him, and at that same instant the swordsman drew his blade and charged.
'Still fast.'
As befit the strongest group of swordsmen in Zaive, there was neither hesitation nor confusion on their faces.
They could think about it after killing Plu.
'This is the end.'
Before her thoughts could catch up, she felt how far apart mind and body had become in the face of their incredible reaction speed.
By the time the algorithm began to activate, the blade was already nearly upon her.
And then—
Something outside everyone's perception began to slice across the swordsman from the front.
Plu blinked.
'What is that?'
That dissonant feeling—
And the instant the longsword flew for her throat, she understood with a jolt.
'That's it. That thing!'
She couldn't define it precisely, but it was an existence she had never forgotten since entering the crusade.
That faint awareness triggered the algorithm and, in the end, saved Plu's life.
"Ugh!"
When her body, ordered by her brain, twisted unexpectedly, her muscles screamed.
"Oho?"
Havitz released the vanishing.
"You survived?"
Plu clutched her aching side and sank to one knee.
'I have to run.'
She'd lived because the swordsman's attack intersected with hers, but after the second vanishing she wouldn't even be able to activate it.
"Interesting."
Havitz activated the divine frequency.
"Pass."
"What?"
"For now, I'll keep you alive. I'm still setting the board."
The real game would begin after Woorin gained the history-search ability.
"Besides that…"
Havitz stepped over the corpses and moved to the window.
"What's that?"
Outside Delta's headquarters, southern warriors and holy knights were locked in fierce combat.
'Kill Maya?'
That was the only thing the divine frequency registered.
"Kukuku."
A murderous intent flared sharply from Havitz; Plu trembled despite remaining on guard.
"This will be interesting."
The window opened.
Plu forgot Havitz again.
The Pyramid of Truth.
The ruins of a super-ancient civilization in the Kingdom of Paras radiated a powerful magnetic field.
The celestial concepts carved into the inner walls distorted space-time, superimposing countless events on top of one another.
"Ugh!"
Amy's brother Ares's eyes glowed as if alight.
"Damn… no matter how many times I replay these memories, the wave of feeling is too strong."
'No.'
Regret and lingering attachment.
'It had to be that way.'
The causes that left Ares with those regrets and attachments poured into every one of his senses.
'If only I had done that then…'
Within the wave of feeling, the future could be changed.
"Arrgh!"
But Ares clung to his will to the bitter end and destroyed every hypothetical.
"Life."
To take full responsibility for oneself.
'The moment you deny that, the moment you cannot take responsibility for yourself, there is no life for humans.'
Like a planet's orbit, like a falling drop, like wind blowing from one side to the other—nothing different.
"Argh!"
Ares grabbed his head.
"Leave me alone!"
Who wouldn't want to change it?
If he had known it would end like this, if he had believed a better life existed, he would have gladly taken it.
"What do you want me to do!"
As Ares shouted, the wave of feeling slammed down the corridor like a gale.
"Uuuu…"
His eyes rolled back and his crimson pupils began to flash more slowly.
'It's over.'
More than the terror of becoming an object, the elation that the entire future existed for him came first.
"Heh heh heh."
Honestly, it was an incredible experience. The trouble he'd caused his parents, the first love he'd been too cowardly to confess in school, the precious comrade lost because of his mistake on an expedition…
'Everything can be changed.'
Ares, trapped in a world with no regrets or attachments, wept.
He knew.
'I can't escape this place.'
He could not go on living blind, unable to see even one second ahead.
Then—just as his heart began to fade—
"Erga."
A faint, distant cry of the dead pierced Ares's eardrums.
"Gah!"
Lightning struck him at the same moment.
"Arrgh!"
Despite the burning pain, Ares realized the wound was not fatal.
Hugging his still-convulsing body, he looked up at the woman before him.
"Julu." With the pacifier removed, her indifferent, pitiable face stared into the dark.
"If you'd been a little later, it would have been irreversible."
"Tch! Who are you calling late?"
Having regained some strength, Ares glanced at the lich floating behind Julu.
"You all right?"
"About what?"
Julu stayed impassive, but Ares—who had directly experienced the wave of feeling—felt unsettled.
"This pyramid is grotesque. It ravages the mind. It immerses every history from the moment of birth until now into an infinite space-time field."
Julu was silent.
"Then why are you unaffected? Is there a way to avoid the wave of feeling?"
"No. There isn't. The same thing is happening to me as to you. Even now… countless futures are unfolding before me."
"Then…"
Julu turned her head and said, "I have no affection." Ares couldn't fully grasp it, but the instant he looked into Julu's pupils he understood.
'This person may already be dead in spirit.'
She felt nothing.
Julu said, "I don't know regret, lingering attachment, remorse, the desire to change the future, or longing for the past. When I killed Erga, I probably died as well."
"That's not true."
He denied it because her words sounded sad, but his denial wasn't baseless.
"Julu, you fought for humanity. You came here to help Shirone. I don't think someone like you has nothing left."
"Having no emotions doesn't mean having no thoughts. But the essence of all those things is affection. If, as you say, people move because of 'in'—does that mean they're alive?"
"Th-that's…"
"The basis of life is love. At minimum, you must love yourself to be alive. Stretch that philosophy across the universe and you become Yahweh."
"So you're helping Shirone because of that?"
"No."
Julu shook her head.
"I don't hold affection for anything. Not even myself. If you love someone, that person lives. They will remain forever in your memory. Conversely, if the countless people you've met can't be recalled no matter how hard you try, then they are dead."
Past time is stored in memory.
Whether it actually happened or not, we are simply accumulating memories.
Ares thought, 'Is that it?'
Losing one's heart to the wave of feeling likely comes from affection disappearing from all life.
Suddenly Julu lifted her shirt to just under her chest.
"Ugh!"
As Ares turned his head in embarrassment, he noticed a creature attached to Julu's belly.
"What's that?"
"An armored insect—Amoros. My familiar." It was a shelled creature with overlapping plates and a snake-like tail coiled around Julu's waist.
By the blood flowing from Julu's navel, he could tell where its head was.
"What are you doing?"
"Amoros injects toxins into an organism's organs. In the process of producing that toxin, a peculiar chemical is produced. Drink it. It'll hold you for a while."
"But if you do that, Julu—"
"I'm fine. I'm used to it. Amoros lives only inside the pyramid, so it can't be summoned outside. It's strange—this creature hasn't evolved much for a very long time. Perhaps since the ancient pyramid was built."
Julu grabbed Amoros's tail and pulled; a far longer body came out than he expected.
"Ugh!"
Julu put her thumb into Amoros's beak and, as if pouring tea, tilted it into her other hand.
A pale-green mucus began to drip.
"Here."
If it would help, he would try it, even if it didn't look appetizing.
"Um—how do I…?"
"Lick it with your tongue."
"Ah, right."
The toxin stung his nose when he tasted it, but his mind soon calmed.
"Ho—what is this?"
His crimson eyes flashed as they analyzed the changes in his body.
'Incredible. I can't even analyze the composition, but this is revolutionary. How—?'
Julu said, "Long ago this super-ancient ruin might not have been so alien. Many people came here, learned something, and left."
The many replica pyramids across the Kingdom of Paras were proof.
"Amoros is likely a species that lived in the pyramid back then. It probably developed this ability in an environment where the wave of feeling—or the Law—was changing. The fact it hasn't evolved since means… it adapted to changes in space-time."
"Let's go. We need to give Amoros's bodily fluid to others too. We can't make much of it."
Julu's face was pale.
"Next time attach an Amoros to me. Maybe in ancient times they offered specific sacrifices to obtain this fluid."
Julu shook her head.
"I tried experimenting, but it's useless. I grew up inside the pyramid and took on its ancient constitution. Only I can handle Amoros."
Ares couldn't understand.
"Why go this far? Even if your constitution changed, it's a creature that kills living things. It won't hold."
"...Probably."
Julu admitted it simply.
"I don't remember myself. I don't care what happens to me."
"You can't say that!"
Whether one had affection or not, Ares believed sacrificing one's body to save others was altruistic.
"Come here. Let's treat you first." Ares rummaged in his bag, applied medicine to Julu's belly, and wrapped her narrow waist with bandages.
"I stopped the bleeding, so don't strain yourself for a while."
"All right."
Without much reaction, Julu turned first and headed into the darkness.
"Wait."
As Julu turned, Ares stepped forward and abruptly kissed her.
'I won't make the same mistake twice.'
What the wave of feeling had taught him was: if you're going to hesitate, it's better to just do it.
Julu stood like a doll—her breathing didn't even tremble.
Stubborn, Ares held on a few more seconds, but his face gave out and he pulled back.
Julu said, "Let's go."
"Hey— I just kissed you. Shouldn't you at least slap me or say something?"
"I don't remember."
Her mind was empty.
Ares watched Julu's figure vanish into the dark with sad eyes.