[454] The Beginning of Change (6)
Flash! When about ten people cast teleport at once, the area momentarily lit up like daytime.
'Rampage Evolution!'
Beam's insect magic, Craygus, surged at Gaold.
Its base form was a mantis about two meters tall. On top of that, it was a killing machine bearing the traits of eleven venomous insects.
Puuuuu!
After the gas burst came flame, and venom-coated spit sprayed out.
With Rose's pheromones in the air, its power multiplied many times over, and Black, the restraint spell, petrified Gaold's legs.
The curse magic Influenza was laid on Gaold, and Rider of the Iron Wall erected barriers across every radius Gaold might move.
Craygus's murderous gas filled the sealed space and clouded everyone's vision.
Gaold probably didn't expect anyone else would be in such a poison-filled chamber.
The lead attacker was Beniphis, the flesh-eating addict.
'Just once, just one bite.'
Beniphis's flesh began to rot.
His liver had already been poisoned; he wouldn't live another twenty minutes. But among the team, only he could avoid a mage's synesthesia.
"Hurry up and show your skill, you damned bastard."
Once magic is invoked it manifests—and it can affect the caster as well.
So why was Gaold safe from Air Press?
Because he cast it so that its effective range started just outside himself—and that was the moment Beniphis had been waiting for.
"Heh heh heh, my blood's boiling after a long time, isn't it?"
At the sound of Gaold's voice, a brutal atmospheric pressure slammed down over the whole space.
Kieeeeek!
Craygus was flattened, the gas pressed to the ground.
In the suddenly clear area, as if someone had wiped frost from glass, Beniphis charged behind Gaold's shoulder.
'Now!'
Crunch! The instant teeth sank into the shoulder, the remaining twenty moved at once.
"Eat!"
Gaold's grin stretched up toward his ear in that instant.
"Gah!"
Crack!
Against his will, Beniphis's jaw snapped shut. Before the bitten flesh could be swallowed, the area beneath his neck twisted violently.
Cr-r-rack! Thud!
The body tore away, and only Beniphis's face remained stuck to Gaold's shoulder.
Gaold grabbed the scalp, ripped the face clean off, and flung it to the ground.
"One."
In the afterimage-filled scene, Gaold curled his lips wickedly.
Cage B — remaining personnel: 20.
* * *
"Gaold..."
Sein continued.
"He was the gentlest, most hopelessly simple person I knew. Pure by nature. He was born into the Yor faith, but even if he hadn't been, he'd have been the same."
Religion doesn't stand in for a person's character.
Shirone knew plenty who had persecuted others in the name of religion.
"Gaold liked flowers."
"Pfft!"
Plu couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.
"Ah, sorry."
"He liked tending flowerbeds. Whenever his senior-year grades dipped he'd inevitably go and plant flowers."
Kangnan's eyes clouded with melancholy.
She didn't know all of Gaold's school days, but she had many memories of him too.
Sein's gaze drifted up to the night sky.
"The only thing you could respect was his stubborn, almost stupid kind of perseverance. Even up to graduation he never once cast an offensive spell."
"Gaold: defeat. Minus 3 points. Sein: victory. Plus 3 points."
After the capstone interpersonal duel of the senior class ended, Gaold ground his teeth.
Sein found the sight almost ridiculous.
Honestly, Gaold wasn't particularly gifted at magic. The one thing he handled decently was the Air line—the basic discipline of Omnipotence.
Defending only with non-combat magic like that, who could he possibly beat?
"Don't feel wronged. Even if you'd cast offensive spells, you still wouldn't have been my match."
"Hmph. It's not that I'm angry about losing. I'm sorrowful because I couldn't prove my faith."
Sein sighed.
Gaold's signature spell was Air Press—frankly not much of a technique: it simply raised atmospheric pressure around him to protect himself.
Hold out ten minutes like that and it's a draw.
That was the only victory Gaold wanted.
'Stupid. The world's full of people who'll win by any means.'
Gaold wouldn't graduate.
He was the epitome of the kind of illogical thinking Sein despised most.
Then, one day—
"Hey. Long time. Still getting along, huh?"
Miro came over while Gaold and Sein were deep in a religious debate.
The bizarre events of the first day had brought the three of them together throughout their senior year.
All three were unusual people, but amid that instability they formed a peculiar golden balance.
Lately, though, Miro had been skipping school more often.
It wasn't against the rules, but Sein was frustrated not knowing where she kept going.
"Getting along? Me and this guy?"
Sein bristled while Gaold greeted her with a wide smile.
"Hey. Where've you been this time?"
"Oh, I've been busy. Getting called here and there."
Miro's skin was sun-darkened.
It wasn't peak summer, so Sein guessed she'd been outside Tormia.
"Ha ha! That must've been fun."
Gaold simply liked Miro.
What he learned by getting close to her was that she had far more talent than he'd thought.
She'd been the first in the school's history to clear Level 7 in last year's Survival Test.
But what really drew him was her open-mindedness.
"Hey, Miro, listen. Isn't it strange logic to say God knows love?"
"God doesn't know love. Love is a purely human emotion. If a god exists, it'd feel and think in ways completely unlike ours."
Gaold didn't back down.
"Even if that's true, it doesn't mean your definition is right. A god is a perfect being and therefore can encompass human emotions. So it's natural God can know love."
Gaold looked at Miro.
"What do you think?"
Miro stayed silent for a long while.
Gaold had assumed her endlessly free mind would side with him—her silence was unexpected.
"Gaold, there is no god."
"...What?"
"There is no god. Everything is decided by dimensions. Positions are divided by the algorithms of dimensions."
Sein felt something off too.
It was the first time he'd heard her speak so categorically about something metaphysical.
"What are you talking about!"
Gaold felt betrayed.
Even if everyone else denied a god, Miro shouldn't.
Because—
"Dimensions decide? Miro, you haven't opened every dimension. How can you say that?"
Miro gave a bitter smile.
Only later—after some more time passed—did they suspect she'd begun seeing Garphin.
"Yeah! No one knows! Sorry. Let's drop this and eat. Anyone buy me dinner? I'm hungry."
"Fine! I'm leaving."
Gaold, still sulking, stood up. Miro pouted.
"What's with the sulk? You're so timid."
Being kind-hearted is good, but narrow-mindedness was the problem. Miro felt an unnecessary guilt toward him, and it left her sour.
"Hey, you."
Sein said.
"For the first time, I like you."
Miro sighed, letting her focus drift.
Like any school, Alpheas School of Magic had its notorious Survival Test day.
The thirty seniors were split into teams at a ratio of 29 to 1. Since Miro had cleared Level 7 last year, it wasn't surprising she aimed to at least break even.
What was truly surprising was that Gaold had given up even that chance.
Seeing Gaold stubbornly stand on the red team made Sein irritated just by looking at him.
Of course, he expected Gaold might show something in the test. He was devout, and at least his patience was something even Sein respected.
But patience only goes so far.
No student could catch the level Miro had reached—one even acknowledged by kingdom pros.
"Gaold, are you really okay?"
Some students offered worried words.
He didn't have the skill to be a true rival, and his pleasant nature meant small kindnesses were natural, but Gaold was resolute.
"Hmph. I'll never be on the same side as someone who flips like a bat."
Miro, catching his sharp glare, smiled broadly.
"Hohoho! Fine, I'll show this genius girl's spicy side."
"Eeeek!"
Gaold ground his teeth.
Seeing someone hurt people and yet stand so confidently was infuriating.
The Survival Test began, and a horrific hell unfolded stage by stage.
Contestants were bounced out of the Virtual Zone one after another, and soon they crossed the brink into Level 5.
When Sein told Shirone's group that someone had been ejected at Level 5, "Torture," he hesitated for a moment.
But Shirone thought that a servant who leaned on logic being pushed beyond the brink hinted at the possibility of Equilibrium—a method that manipulates both emotion and reason.
And Gaold—astonishingly—pushed on to Level 6, "Superheat." A result even the seniors couldn't believe.
"O Lord, let this lamb be sacrificed to save us all. Give the world love, give it peace."
In a hell of flame, Gaold knelt, clasped his hands, and prayed.
Seething heat leaked from between his teeth, juices—no, not tears—streamed from his eyes, but his prayer showed no sign of stopping.
He would not lose.
To give in in a Survival Test entered in the Lord's name was unthinkable.
Teachers watching by vision broke out in cold sweat.
In reality, Gaold's body was in a strange state. A normal person would have broken; no one understood how he could endure.
"Stop, Gaold. You'll really die if you keep this up."
Miro spoke calmly.
Even in the Superheat hell, her expression remained composed.
"Lord, please—please burn me…"
Miro couldn't leave Gaold be.
If his body were completely burned away, his mind would leave it as well.
"Why are you doing this? This is just a magic school test. What are you trying to prove about God's existence?"
Gaold finally opened his eyes.
"I'm not trying to prove God. I can endure because God dwells within me."
Miro exhaled hotly.
Could a person be any more closed off?
"And—"
Gaold added one thing.
"I never want to lose to you."
Miro could understand.
It wasn't only Gaold; countless mages wanted to beat her.
"Alright. But there's no need for this. The Survival Test isn't everything. Work harder and beat me in the graduation exam."
Gaold closed his eyes again.
"O Lord, I believe in the power of infinite love. Grant me—"
"What the hell are you doing!"
Miro grabbed Gaold by the collar and hauled him up.
Even that alone made the real-world Gaold's body convulse.
"We live getting criticized anyway! Whether there's a god or not, is one remark of mine worth you risking your life for? Do you want to die and make me feel guilty? Then you're mistaken. In any case—"
"Because I like you."
Gaold's confession cut her off.
All the students watching by vision gaped. Only Sein watched with a grave expression.
"W-what?"
Miro asked in astonishment.
Knowing everyone was watching, Gaold didn't hedge.
"I like you. So I want you to understand me. I want you to tell me I'm right."
Miro lowered the hand on his collar. She had nothing to say to a confession that had come from the depths of hell.
"So… you want to date me?"
Gaold nodded.
His eyes burned with superheat and passion, but Miro answered simply, as always.
"But I don't like you."
Boom!
A blast of hot energy exploded from Gaold's crown and his mind snapped.
Gaold failed the Survival Test, and Sein remembered the day like this.
"In a sense, Gaold saved face. He didn't fail because of religious conviction. But he did become, without doubt, the greatest fool. He grinned at everyone he met. You could say he was the first man ever rejected by Hell."
Gaold's earnest, chivalrous love had been mercilessly kicked aside by Miro.
But Sein added one more thing before moving on to the most important event.
The truth was… he still didn't really know.