[514] The Question Left Behind (4)
Find Anke Ra.
Gando understood what those words meant.
Judging from Uorin's reaction, Ra had tried to reset just now.
In other words, Satan had been erased.
It also meant Ra had failed to find the answer to the remaining question.
"Even if parts change, the whole can remain perfect. But that whole will no longer be the same whole as before the parts changed. However, through Anke Ra's erasure you can perfectly remove only a single concept."
"How is that possible?"
"Balance of the whole."
Uorin placed both hands on her crossed knees and made a circle with her fingers.
"The vacancy left by one erased concept is filled by a new concept. Because that's how it's set from the start, the whole doesn't alter. So even if Ra was erased, the new concept that replaces him has already insinuated itself into this world. From now on I will find it."
That was the erasure.
Gando paused, then another question formed.
"Then Geffin's erasure—"
"Yes. A new concept would have been inserted where Geffin was removed."
Several possibilities flashed through Gando's mind.
"Anyway, that's not the main point. I, as the mitochondrial Eve, have the clearest baseline incidents, but others with some precognitive ability will also feel intense déjà vu. We must find Ra before they do."
Gando understood.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Protect me."
"Me…?"
Why him of all people?
Outside the door, Pungjang—the world's most formidable sword school—waited with blades poised.
"From now on I'll use History Search to find Anke Ra's new incarnation. It's a complex, enormous task that requires searching all of human history."
Gando could hardly imagine the scale of that work.
"History Search is when Teraje becomes most powerless. If anything happens, bring me back here."
Uorin handed Gando a slip of paper.
He stared at the small square for a long moment, put it in his mouth and swallowed, then nodded.
'So that's it….'
The empress of Kashan was one of the most important people in the world.
She had the means to protect herself, but during History Search she would fall into a perfectly defenseless state.
Power mattered little when a throat could be cut.
What mattered most was trust.
That was why Mistra's biological son, Gando, had been chosen for the task.
'And if I try anything foolish…'
Then Crouch would cut his throat.
In the end, Pungjang, Crouch, and Gando's three groups would have to keep each other in check and guard the empress.
"All right. I'll do it. Trust me."
Uorin didn't seem particularly worried.
Teraje's insight into humanity—bearing records from the dawn of mankind—was as precise as a machine.
Once Gando had given his heart to Teraje, he would never betray her.
"Then I'll begin."
As Pungjang closed the door behind him, Uorin took a deep breath and shut her eyes.
History Search.
A vast sea of information, as if the whole of human history were being poured into her mind, surged inward.
Languages, cultures, records of all kinds streamed in and Uorin's pupils trembled.
It felt like standing at the center of a cavern with hundreds of thousands trapped inside, listening to a murmur of voices.
Gando stayed in the corner, not leaving the carpet, watching Uorin.
After a moment her eyes flared as if alight.
The light pierced her eyelids even with them closed, as if two gold coins were set where her eyes should be.
'This will take longer than I expected.'
All incidents tied to Geffin's erasure had become baseline incidents, overlaid with events after the third reset.
Among near-infinite events, only one would be different.
'I have to find it.'
Uorin's brow creased fiercely as she increased her information-processing speed.
'I must find it first.'
* * *
Zion beneath Jebul.
Inside a black sphere floating at the heart of Heaven's armaments factory, kinetic energy equivalent to 2.19 million kilobusters struck in a flash.
The instant that mass met matter, extreme heat erupted and the factory burned away without a trace; the released gases detonated and the internal cavities expanded.
Rumble!
Jebul's ground heaved into a hemisphere, cracked like a turtle's shell, and seared-red lava welled through the fissures.
The slab of earth, lifted tens of meters, then collapsed and sent shockwaves rippling from the impact point.
The ground undulated like a wave and structures atop it toppled into rubble.
Seismic waves spread across Heaven and swept through Arabot.
Until that moment many had been fighting, faithful to their own desires, but at some point everyone froze and turned to look in the same direction.
"Ah…."
Arabot's spire slowly tilted, cracked at the midsection with a sickening snap, and began to collapse.
Angels and humans alike knew what that meant.
The death of a god.
The extinction of a myth.
The single, eternal being that had ruled over humanity and controlled their lives was gone.
"You did it, Shirone."
Shiina watched Arabot crumble into dust.
The light from District 73 had brought Arabot down.
One day Shirone would be recorded in history as the one who killed a god.
"Anke Ra…."
Yuriel sheathed the Gukrak-gon and looked toward where Arabot had stood.
The fact that Ra had been erased reached them as an empty sense of loss lingering in their spiritual forms.
Yet, like the negative space of a carved print, the other concepts around the void proved that Ra had once existed.
Geffin had been erased, but those who held vivid memories of him still knew he had been there for that reason.
In any case, Arabot had collapsed and Ra had vanished.
To control humans, to conquer humanity in a final war—those had all been Anke Ra's will.
For the members of Heaven, it was like losing a compass in an endless ocean.
'What are we to do now?'
Yuriel looked to Ikael.
With Ra gone, and with the archangels lost so that not even the Baekgyeong could be operated, she was the only one they could lean on.
"Yuriel, stand down. Further fighting is pointless."
"But, Archangel—"
"My word is Anke Ra's will."
Only then did Yuriel lower the Gukrak-gon.
Ikael had used the phrase "Anke Ra's will."
In other words, Ra's will had not ended; for now it was best to quietly follow Ikael's command.
"Listen, humans."
Ikael spread wings of light and rose into the sky, her voice resonating through the spiritual plane.
Those near and far alike dropped their weapons and looked up.
"The war is over. This is your victory."
There were no murmurs; the silence was almost painfully clean.
"Ra has been erased, and there is nothing left to control you."
When the reaction was slow, Ikael drove the point home.
"From this moment on, humans are free."
"Ah…!"
"Woooooo!"
Cheers exploded from rebel survivors across Heaven.
Humans had pulled a god down.
They had fought with desperate resolve, and the vague, instinctive fear of divinity that humans always carry had been defeated. The joy of finally reclaiming freedom momentarily made them forget the grief of lost comrades.
"We won! We won!"
"Waaaa! Freedom! Humanity will never bow!"
Ikael received the shouts calmly, then scanned Heaven for Shirone and his group.
Unlike the rebels drunk on victory, no one among them was smiling.
Miro approached and asked, "What's the plan?"
Ikael lowered her altitude to look down at Miro.
"A plan?"
"Why surrender? You could have purged humanity. Now would have been the time."
If Anke Ra had chosen erasure the instant the world opened, the angels he named should never have existed.
But he chose erasure 23 seconds before Heaven's destruction—right after Satan's annihilation—so the angels had been spared Anke Ra's erasure.
Ikael turned her gaze to the horizon of ruin.
"There's no special reason. Now that the will which drove us is gone, war is meaningless."
"…What will you do next?"
"Wait. Decide afterwards."
Ikael looked back at Miro.
"Nothing is over yet. Humans have gained freedom, but that freedom could slide into license in an instant."
"Are you talking about Satan? But that's for humans to decide. Whether god or demon, humans must judge for themselves."
Selfish beings can also be altruistic.
That is humanity.
"Take care of Shirone."
With that, Ikael spread her wings and rose into the sky.
All the angels remaining in Jebul turned into sparks of light and followed her.
Miro scratched her head and muttered as she looked up at the midday spectacle, licking her lips.
"Shirone?"
From where Arabot's spire had fallen, Plu could be seen carrying Shirone on her back.
* * *
"Uncle."
Kangnan stopped crying.
The war was over and the one she loved had gone to hell.
Gaold's peaceful face tore her heart even more.
How many screams was Gaold letting out in a hell so deep he couldn't even say he was in pain?
"I will never give up. Like you."
When Kangnan turned, Gaold's body settled fully on her back.
But with a broken, dangling wrist, she couldn't carry a man taller than herself.
"Want some help?"
A voice from the side made Kangnan turn, and a glare flashed in her eyes.
Survivors from Cage B team were approaching.
"Stop. One more step and—"
Kangnan's fighting spirit spread outward like thorns.
Cage B's mission from the Mage Association had been to eliminate Gaold; given the timing, now was the best moment to accomplish it.
Tarban, acting as temporary leader, stepped forward while everyone else halted.
"Don't worry. We really came to help."
"Do you think I'll trust you?"
Cage B had lost their leader Rose and deputy Horkin and were burning with rage.
Tarban himself had to send his childhood friend Roche away.
But for professional mages there were matters more important than personal feeling.
The information they had gathered, scattered across Heaven, would become global secrets.
If they could return to the original world, the Kingdom of Torimia would gain a decisive edge in espionage—far more important than killing Gaold.
"Of course, Gaold and you will never set foot in the Association again. But given the situation, we could use some help."
With the Metagate coordinates misaligned, the only path back would be to borrow Miro's power.
As a former secretary of the Mage Association, Kangnan knew that better than anyone, and she finally let Gaold go.
Still, the look she gave Tarban as he walked away carrying Gaold was not warm.
'Don't talk about the Association. Gaold will come back.'
Kangnan ground her teeth and waited for that moment.
"Is it over now?"
Armin, who had found Kuan in the ruins, approached Miro and asked.
Shiina hurried over to check Kuan's condition.
He was unconscious but breathing faintly.
Seeing Shiina exhale in relief, Miro looked the other way.
Cage B was taking Gaold and Kangnan away.
With their arrival, all project team members were accounted for.
Fortunately no one had died, but all they had gained were wounds and hollow glory.
Miro looked at the sun sinking beyond the horizon and said, "No. It's only just beginning."
Thus Anke Ra was erased.
And the world was left with one question still unanswered.