[203] 2. Age of Upheaval (3)
"Ughhh! This can't be! Me—by someone like this…!"
Tabu curled his body with every ounce of strength he had.
As the overwhelming physical force pulled on the chains, resistance rippled into Shirone's mind.
It was terrifying, raw power.
With his diamond-like durability, Shirone increased the Shining Chain's tensile strength even further.
Tabu, unable to hold out, snapped upright and released a furious scream.
"Kuaaaaah!"
The price of resistance was steep. The chains of light shattered Tabu's hard exterior and drove inward.
His limbs twisted grotesquely, and his waist bowed at an impossible angle as if it would break.
"Heh heh heh, heh heh heh."
Tabu was incredulous.
He had never looked this pathetic. Especially at the hands of a mere human.
"All right, you've got him. But what now? You can't hold him forever, can you?"
Given Tabu's endurance, the only way to destroy him was a laser. The problem was that while the Gravity Chain remained active, no other magic could be cast.
Iruki's thought circuits were unusual enough to use a double Spirit Zone, but for a normal person it's nearly impossible to maintain two trains of thought at once.
There were exceptions, but most magic inevitably involved delay.
For example, you can't cast other spells while teleporting.
And the Shining Chain, like a firewall, is a continuous spell that consumes mental power in real time—so it was impossible to attack Tabu with a different magic while it held him.
"Where did you take my friends?"
"To the angels' sanctuary. To bear a Nephilim. Heh heh, unlucky for you. Not your child, though."
Shirone's eyes went red.
The word Nephilim barely registered. He had no context, but he knew something horrific was underway.
Tabu stuck his tongue out, pulling it almost to the root, taunting.
"Kekeke! Give it up! You lot who couldn't even handle Ikasa will never save them. By now the women will be in a pitiful state… ugh!"
As the light chains tightened with brutal force, Tabu's neck snapped back as if it would break.
Shirone ground his teeth until they screeched.
"Watch your mouth. I won't let this go."
"Khahaha! Feels good, doesn't it? But how about I tell you more? This is one hell of a story! Truly forbidden fruit, I tell you!"
Shirone drew the chain's tensile strength to its limit.
He didn't know exactly where that limit lay, but for now he only wanted to stop Tabu from moving his mouth.
"Kuaaaaah!"
A howl tore out of him.
An unstoppable force began to press down on the body.
Tabu felt it.
This was the end.
"Don't get cocky. I will return. On the day human depravity reaches its peak, I will come for you! I will—guah!"
Crack—crack!
A chilling sound came from Tabu's body.
Not the snap of bone, but the creak of solid rock collapsing.
When the Shining Chain vanished, Tabu's corpse lay alone. The body had been twisted grotesquely, like a clay puppet crushed by hand.
The Shining Chain's power sent a chill through Canis.
If Tabu could be crushed like that, most living things would be easily smashed. Like a rabbit caught in a snare, one would lose control over life and death.
The moment Tabu was annihilated, Shirone threw himself to the ground. He grabbed a fistful of earth with both hands and shook.
There was no thrill of success, no triumph in defeating Tabu. Amy, Tess, and Arin had been kidnapped. They were to be forced to bear a Nephilim.
An urge to go mad pounded at his chest. He had never felt such disgust for an enemy.
Peope rushed to Shirone's side.
As someone experienced in magic, she could tell how enormous the mental cost of the Shining Chain had been.
"You… are you all right?"
Peope asked, trying to be brave, but Shirone didn't respond. Listening closely, she heard him mutter, It's my fault.
Anger flared in Peope and she jabbed an accusing finger, scolding.
"You idiot! Why did you let this get so out of hand? Even fallen angels are subject to higher Law than Shamain. What will happen to the people in this area? It's all because of you…."
"Uwaaaah!"
Peope's shoulders heaved.
Shirone's face was wrecked.
Anger, grievance, and sorrow were all tangled together—he looked like someone falling off a cliff.
"Because of me… because of me Amy… Tess… Arin… all because of me."
Peope could no longer scold.
Shirone's eyes were not those of someone alive in spirit. There was none of the defiance he'd shown against Ilhwa's wine or when he'd shouted at Igirin.
"The women will be safe. For now, at least."
Shirone turned to Igirin. She, unable to move as punishment for her false claim, sat with a grave expression, lost in thought.
"Safe? How can you say they're safe?"
"They took the women because they were virgins. Angels implant information into a woman who hasn't borne a child so a Nephilim can be conceived."
Canis said.
"That makes it worse, doesn't it? You might not get it, but humans have chastity."
"You're not going to see the thing you're imagining happen. Angels view relations with humans as a shame."
Rian said.
"On the other hand, that means it could happen. In a worst-case scenario there's no guarantee it won't."
"Possibility and plausibility are different. Angels are a gendered species. So while they can form relations with humans, they never do anything that would dishonor them under any circumstance."
Hope returned to Shirone at Igirin's words.
If angels were rulers who kept to principles and convictions, there was still a chance to rescue them. Depending on the situation, Amy and the others might even create a variable.
Rian put a hand on Shirone's shoulder.
"Shirone, how're you feeling? Calmer? I've never seen you this angry."
"Sorry, I blew up. I should have focused on rescuing my friends first."
"That's fine. I wasn't thinking straight either."
Anyone would have reacted the same. Just as Amy was precious to Shirone, Tess was someone Rian relied on. And Kanya, too, had someone she absolutely had to protect.
'Arin…'
Kanya's heart burned brighter than ever.
Arin had been protected even through the harsh life in Ladum. And now she'd been taken so easily.
Why hadn't he rushed Ikasa?
Because he'd grown weak. Hope, a happy future—those things had made his heart soft.
'Arin, just wait a little.'
Kanya resolved to return to his days as a Ladum stray. If another chance came, he'd stop caring about his life and focus on annihilating the enemy.
Shirone asked, "Tell me. How do we get to the angels' sanctuary?"
Peope answered incredulously.
"What are you going to do if you know? Are you really going to try to rescue them?"
"Of course we have to go. Do you know the way?"
They did know the way, vaguely. Shirone had an idea where Amy and the others had been taken. But that only made it clearer: Shirone couldn't just go. The angels' sanctuary was a place even Igirin couldn't enter without permission.
"They won't let you in! Don't you get it? Whether it's heresy or Nephilim—if you go there, you'll die!"
"We won't know until we try."
Peope pounded her chest in frustration. Shirone had felled a formidable foe in Tabu, but angels were on another level.
Even raiding the fallen angel Ikasa's domain without the necessary strength would mean nothing but death.
"Wake up, you fool! The place you're trying to go is the Sixth Heaven—Jebul! It's where the true angels dwell!"
Angels are strong. Not just strong—beings born at the apex of life.
But Shirone had to go where they lived. Amy was waiting. His friends were waiting.
"Peope, if you had been taken by someone, how terrified would you have been?"
"What are you talking about, all of a sudden?"
"What would you think? Wouldn't you desperately wait for someone to come and save you? Wouldn't you find the courage knowing your friends wouldn't abandon you?"
Shirone bit his lip.
"We might not be able to save them. But we can't snuff out their hope. If we give up here, those captured will have nothing left."
Peope refused to accept that. No matter how it was worded, death is death.
If everyone faithfully accepted their death, the world would be orderly. Why do humans call the impossible beautiful?
A man of the Mecha people approached.
"The angels' sanctuary is the Sixth Heaven—Jebul. Geographically, it's right next to Shamain. But it's five tiers above, so you can't just go straight in. You have to follow procedure and pass up from the Second Heaven, which will take several days."
"No procedural nonsense. How long is it as the crow flies?"
"Straight-line? You can't cross Heaven's barrier anyway, so if you went straight to the Sixth Heaven from here, it'd take about a day."
It was much farther than they'd thought. At Ikasa's flight speed, she would already have reached the destination.
With uncertainty even about whether Jebul would allow entry, a day's delay could be a death sentence for the women.
"There is one way."
A man in his fifties stepped forward. By his appearance and dress he was Nor.
"There's a way? What way?"
"You go to Area One from here. It's the innermost district of Shamain. Because it's close to Heaven's center, entering Jebul along the central avenue from there shortens the distance."
He explained about Arabot and Heaven's sixfold division. The closer to Arabot, the shorter the arc, so travel could be drastically reduced.
"How long to get from here to Area One?"
"About twelve hours."
Shirone slumped again. Shorter than a day, but still too far to act effectively.
A smile tugged at the Nor man's mouth.
"That's by ordinary means. Shamain has a portal managed by the Nor people. If you use the light spot, you can reach Area One in an instant."
There was such a method. Having ridden a spot of light in Purgatory before, Shirone realized the Nor man's option was the only solution.
"Take us there. Any problems?"
"If you're picky, the citizens are strictly controlled. But I can handle that. I'm the inspector stationed there."
Shirone trembled, without the heart to laugh at the joke. For the first time, a sliver of hope appeared.
Maybe… he could save his friends.
Kanya came forward in tears.
"Sorry, Shirone. It's because of my family. But… thank you. Truly…"
Shirone wiped Kanya's tears away. His friends were in danger because he'd rejected Ilhwa's wine, but how could he blame the citizens?
A true ruler hides behind systems and remains unseen. He knew precisely where the arrows of anger should be aimed.
"It's not your fault. We'll save them. Don't worry."
"Wait!"
Rena ran over from the square's fork, clutching Mecha equipment—Signa and Exd.
"I brought these just in case. Maybe they'll help."
Mecha devices are personalized, but swords and shields fall under common equipment, so anyone could use them.
Laws forbid renting them out, but now that Ilhwa's wine had been refused, nobody cared.
The gear would be crucial for Rian.
Mages can produce tricks that flip the situation and create variables even against strong foes, but a swordsman relies on straightforward force. The right equipment therefore carried heavy weight.
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