[215] 6. Trouble in Heaven (2)
Bang!
The moment Imir's straight fist landed, only the greatsword remained and Rian's figure vanished.
A flood of thoughts crashed through Rian's head as he flew. To stop a follow-up strike he had to steady himself and land. He managed to find his balance just enough—he thought he might be able to land on both feet.
But the next moment he realized his body was crumpled and rolling along the floor.
As the impact left him, the cold touch of the floor met his cheek.
An unintelligible sound escaped his mouth. His body didn't hurt, but he couldn't gather any strength.
Imir looked over the sprawled Rian, then picked up the greatsword lying on the floor. To a human it was a greatsword, but in Imir's hands it looked like an ordinary longsword.
As Imir inspected the blade, his eyes glittered.
"Oh? This will come in handy."
"Gi-give it back. That… that's my grandfather's…"
Rian's legs trembled as he rose.
Thanks to daily training to the limits, his recovery time from impacts was far faster than a normal person's. It was what you'd call sheer toughness.
Imir smirked and tossed the greatsword. It slid across the floor and came to Rian.
"You gonna try again? I like the grit."
Rian forced himself to pick the sword up and charged again. The gap in strength was obvious, but if Imir was heading for the Grand Arena, then there was no choice but to fight.
They collided in the middle of the corridor. Imir didn't even consider blocking the greatsword.
Clang! The blade struck Imir's forehead. No—more precisely, it hit his brow.
Imir's fist traced a huge arc as it flew.
There was nowhere to dodge. Realizing that, Rian's eyes widened. If he was to die, he wanted to fight to the end.
From Rian's gaze Imir felt a sharp thrill.
'I regret not knowing his name,' he thought.
Imir's punch cleaved through the air where Rian had been standing.
For a while only silence remained.
Imir's expression soured. What could be more irritating than an uninvited guest interrupting a fight?
A strange but familiar phenomenon.
Just before the punch landed, Imir clearly saw Rian split into dozens of square pieces.
"High-born types really don't know how to read the room," he muttered.
About three meters from where Rian had been, square panes of glass flickered and projected the two of them.
Black‑haired, handsome Ashur. And beside him, Rian kneeling on one knee.
Imir let out a cold laugh. The mere fact that Mara—notorious in Heaven for being reluctant to act—had shown up was enough to suggest something unusual was occurring at the Grand Arena.
"Well, well, someone busy has come. Where did you leave your paramour while you snoop around the battlefield?"
"Imir, if you do not keep the Law, bad things will follow. Turn back."
"Heh heh, what if I refuse?"
"I will have no choice but to annihilate you."
Ashur spread his palm and thirty or so panes of glass rose in three rows. On them, a long, slender longsword glowed with violet light.
"A Signal?"
Ashur's ability, Signal, gathered all manner of signals.
Each pane contained a single signal, and by combining the patterns on those panes one could realize phenomena approaching infinity.
Ashur's longsword, Shockwave, had likewise been created from thirty different signals.
It hummed under the influence of electromagnetic pulses; once it pierced something, it was a weapon of devastating internal lethality.
Rian stared up at Ashur in a daze. It was as if the middle process had been skipped—gone and reborn in an instant.
"Who are you?"
"Go. I'm an ally."
The short exchange made things clear. Shirone had undoubtedly produced some variable.
Rian glared at Imir, but Imir hadn't looked his way since Ashur appeared.
Rian bit his lip and sprinted toward the Grand Arena.
A fire boiled inside him. He hadn't been raised so nobly that he feared defeat; still, the self-loathing of not having landed a single successful attack gnawed at him.
He felt Tess's drone trailing him. The machine kept silent, but the comforting voice it carried sounded like an auditory hallucination.
"Damn it! Damn it!"
Rian ran toward the Grand Arena with all his might.
@
Ashur still stood in the way. He wanted to follow Rian into the Grand Arena, but stopping Imir was the immediate priority.
Signal's 'Transmission' could send a signal to a destination and relocate instantly, but the Grand Arena was an exception.
It was plastered with electromagnetic waves; waiting for a transmission would be slower than running.
That was also why he had sent Rian ahead.
"Stand down, Imir. I will not tolerate any more excess."
Imir stroked his jaw and spoke.
"Leaving even the pretty angel behind suggests something important happened. Why don't you tell me? Can't you let me in on it?"
"This doesn't concern you."
"For some reason, that sounds like it does."
Ashur did not deny it.
What the giant king Imir wanted was combat. Stripped down because he was strong, he had been waiting for a fierce fight he could win with the force of his body.
Ikael, on the other hand, wanted to prevent a war.
If Ikael wished it, Ashur would obey.
So long as he intervened, nothing would happen in Heaven. There was no reason for Imir to be involved.
Ashur leveled Shockwave at Imir's solar plexus.
"By order of Archangel Ikael, I strip you of all rights granted to you."
"Heh heh heh, did a vulgar angel have such authority?"
Ashur lunged like a gale.
Imir crossed his arms; the forearms split and blood spattered. The electromagnetic vibration seared his bones hot.
Ashur looked down on him with offended dignity.
"Would a mere giant profane an archangel? You are nothing but flesh. Do not use your filthy tongue to defile a noble spirit."
"A mere giant?"
One of Imir's eyebrows twitched.
"I am Imir."
Sensing murderous intent, Ashur backed away to gain distance. But Imir closed ten meters in a single bound.
Imir's powerful straight pierced Ashur's abdomen.
"Ugh!"
Shock registered in Ashur's eyes.
His figure, frozen in time, blurred. The roughly one hundred eighty panes that held signals flickered and vanished.
Imir turned with an annoyed expression.
Ashur, having completed a transmission to a new space, stood there with Shockwave at his side in a haughty pose.
"Heh heh, aren't you pushing yourself? I heard your power is heavily restrained."
"You are not in a position to pity me. Better watch your own body."
"Oh? Is that so?"
"The hell of molten flames."
The space around Ashur and Imir was ringed by panes of glass.
About 2,400 panes flickered as they began to collect signals of heat and cold. Fire and ice intersected every ten centimeters in a dizzying sight.
What would happen when all the signals transmitted? Would it burn up from heat? Freeze solid from cold?
"You brought this on yourself. Don't blame me."
"I blame no one. I'm the strongest."
Imir bared his teeth like a beast and charged. Ashur met him, eyes cold, swinging Shockwave.
As the transmission completed, blasts of heat and cold rushed through together.
@
"Tess! Wait a bit! I'm almost there!"
Rian no longer conserved breath. After parting from Ashur he had run for ten minutes and finally reached the bridge leading to the Grand Arena.
The bridge was a kilometer long and sixty meters wide, with no guardrails—like walking in the sky. Strong wind made his lower stomach flutter for no reason.
At the bridge's end stood a domed structure: the Grand Arena where his friends were held.
Seeing the building was good news. It meant Canis had disengaged the mecha system.
"What the—you're still here?"
Canis approached from behind.
"How did you get here so fast?"
"I came through a portal. But what's with your face? You look like you got beat up."
Rian touched his face. He hadn't even noticed the swelling from rolling on the floor. He looked apologetically at the drone.
'You must've been worried, Tess.'
Canis examined it too. Even without an explanation he could tell it was Tess's.
Letting the drone slip away even while being taken by angels was impressive.
"How's it inside? You checked, right?"
"Yeah. So far it looks okay. But…"
Suddenly the drone acted strangely. It flew erratically, then its power cut out and it dropped.
Rian snatched it up and checked frantically.
The status lamp was off. Since it was connected to brainwaves, that was proof something had happened to Tess.
"What? What suddenly happened?"
"I don't know! There's no time!"
Rian launched himself forward. Darkport could take him there in one jump, but the bridge floating in the sky was saturated with zones of light.
Canis swallowed his pride and cast photonization magic.
A blinding flash carrying the two of them streaked across the bridge.
@
"You bastard!"
Amy glared at Kariel and shouted. Tess and Arin's faces were distorted.
When the panels implanted in their heads received the information, it made them dizzy as if they'd been hammered drunk.
"Don't worry. Your hormones are being adjusted to a state suitable for the Drink of Life."
Kariel casually observing the women's conditions turned his gaze to the screen.
"Nothing's particularly changed yet. It will differ after the Drink of Life ends. But it doesn't matter, right? Any living creature must go through this once."
"Shut up! Who made you judge that? Do you think we'll comply? I'd rather bite my tongue and die than be forced into this!"
Kariel's expression twisted as if he'd seen something vile.
"I can't understand you. You're not being punished. You've been chosen for the noble task of conceiving Nephilim. Not many women have refused the Drink of Life. Don't you want immortality?"
"I don't want immortality! Even if I die tomorrow, I'll die living on my own terms!"
"Talk is pointless. In any case, nothing will change. Once the info on the panel finishes transmitting, there's no reversing it."
- Drink of Life progress: 20 percent.
A woman's voice echoed from the ceiling. It announced every ten percent. Hearing it as someone being experimented on made the dispassionate voice even more chilling.
Amy struggled desperately to slip free from her cuffs.
If she could free her hands, she'd grab the panel on her forehead and tear it out.
Even if it cost her life, she would live on her own terms.
"Tess! Amy! Arin!"
The Grand Arena gates burst open. Rian and Canis rushed in almost together.
Tess, who had watched them cross the bridge, called out.
"Rian! Over here! Hurry and get these off!"
Rian froze mid-step, overwhelmed by the Grand Arena's unimaginable scale.
Not just the scale—the devices and contraptions were alien as well.
A planet rotated on one side, while on the opposite tower lights flashed riotously.
"Damn! What is this place?"
Kariel rose high enough to see the humans at a glance.
"Did you come following the women? That's just foolish human ignorance."
"You're the mastermind? Since you did this to my friends, don't think it'll end peacefully."
Rian raised his sword in tight defense.
Though his words were sharp, his movements were cautious. Having seen the power of the fallen angel Ikasa with his own eyes, Rian could estimate the archangel's might.