[541] The Forbidden Sanctuary (1)
Miro shut her eyes and drifted into thought as the shower water poured over her.
"This is getting worse and worse."
Molta was dead, and his wife had been erased after Fermi's experiment.
Rian had called that murder too, but his remaining silent wasn't solely because of Shirone.
It was in an open state.
Everything except the Abyss Walker was false—alive only as information, never truly living from the start.
"Shirone's the same."
Even if they met him, and even if Shirone reclaimed some memories as Molta had, those recollections would still be distorted.
"Miro."
At the voice from the bathroom, Miro opened her eyes. Arius shimmered into being like a mirage and bowed.
"You finally came in, huh?"
"I'm only transmitting information via code. But this won't hold for long."
Meaning they didn't have much time.
"All right. Tell me."
"Shirone is in the city's northwestern settlement. There's a firewall, so I couldn't get detailed data. It seems there's a coder-type among them."
"The mutant Molta mentioned?"
"Possibly."
"How's Shirone's condition?"
"The information flow is stable. But mission-wise… it's not good."
Just as Fermi had predicted.
"I see."
"Search centered on the settlement. You should be able to find Shirone that way."
"The settlement, huh. We'll need to communicate with them. Can you encode their language?"
"Yes. I can inject my data. But I won't be able to come back here after that."
"That's fine. Code it for the whole party, too."
Arius bowed his head.
"…Be careful. Two new data-entities were added to Apocalypse recently. They are not Perfect Incarnations or Minority Conceptions."
"Abyss Walkers. What do you mean, be careful?"
"I couldn't identify their exact nature, but when I first encountered their code I—"
Arius looked up.
"I thought there were two more of you, Miro."
Miro paused mid-wash, her hand frozen.
"They manifest that strongly. They're split into two now, but if you meet them—even Shirone would find it awkward…"
Miro didn't feel offended.
"The Council of Ten, huh. But why would they be here?"
There was only one answer.
"They're thinking the same as Woorin."
Miro turned off the shower and faced him.
"All right. I'll handle it from here. Start the coding."
"Please preserve your physical form."
Arius's projection dissolved into a stream of symbols and numbers and vanished.
* * *
Rain stopped overnight and, for the first time in a while, a clear sun rose over Apocalypse.
Shirone and Yo, who had left the settlement early, decided to use the fine weather to push deeper into the city than they had the day before.
"The rain's cleared."
Shirone watched Yo grin contentedly.
"But you can't survive without water."
"It's fine. I've stored enough to last a month. I just love the sun."
Yo's cheeks bloomed pink.
"And… I like the Regent's light."
Shirone let a Shining spell hover above Yo's head.
Yesterday he'd cast it as part of a tactic because of the rain; today it was just for fun.
"Ahh! I love it!"
"You really like to eat, don't you, Yo."
Yo got the old joke.
"Ha ha! Yeah. Actually, I—"
At Shirone's cold look, Yo fell silent and tensed.
"Ambush."
As Yo activated his silver mirror to shield Shirone, bullets poured in from every direction.
Between the sparking metal arms, subterranean people swarmed.
"It's food! Food!"
There were easily more than forty of them.
"They're a combat unit! Hide behind me!"
Yo's duty was to protect the Regent at all costs, but Shirone didn't hesitate and sprang forward.
"Scatter Movement!"
Photonized, Shirone split like an explosion into eight directions and unleashed photon cannons all around.
Linking successive teleports to the bursts, the flashes braided into a net and scorched the area.
"Wow…"
Yo, briefly stunned, turned toward the engine noise from an alley.
"Kuhahaha! Hunting time, hunting time!"
A jeep bristling with machine guns rolled out, escorted by seven motorcycles, and the attackers whooped.
"Taejang!"
Shirone's eyes widened when he spotted an underground dweller at the wheel twice the size of the others.
"How does something like that even exist…?"
You couldn't judge the subterraneans' average build from one sample.
"He's Taejang. The leader of the combat unit."
"Let's get out of here."
Spreading radiant wings, Shirone scooped Yo up and took to the air. The jeep's machine guns swung and a spray of dark bullet marks closed in fast.
"Ughhhh!"
As they vaulted toward the rooftop, Yo shouted.
"Regent! Below!"
To their astonishment, the hulking Taejang clambered up the wall with uncanny agility.
"What on earth—?"
As rifles barked, Shirone used Rainbow Drop to curve under a railing and fall.
"Yahoooo!"
Taejang, roused to frenzy, changed course and threw himself where Shirone had been.
"Insane…! That's twenty stories down!"
"Kuhahahaha!"
As if unconcerned by falling, Taejang aimed his rifle downward and emptied magazines in a frenzy.
Having abandoned teleporting for the moment, Shirone activated his light-field; a veil of light subtly warped the bullets' trajectories.
"Ughhhhh!"
Seeing the bullets like that was sheer terror.
"Get it together! If I miss the teleport timing it's over!"
He prayed none of the rounds would accidentally arc toward him.
Just before smashing into the ground, Shirone teleported again and skidded across the rooftop at a right angle.
"Damn it!"
Taejang arrived at the same spot a heartbeat later, dropped his rifle, twisted his body, and with a thud rolled across the floor into a wrecked vehicle.
"Argh!"
"Taejang, you okay?"
The jeep and motorcycle unit pulled up. Taejang, face twisted like a gorilla's, shoved his dislocated shoulder back into place and clambered into the jeep.
"Move out! Tonight we feast!"
"Kyiayayaya!"
At the distant cries of a rushing monkey-like mob, a chill ran down Shirone's spine.
"They're seriously dangerous. Their physicals are one thing, but their weapons rival magic."
Or perhaps Shirone's magic only equaled the destructive power of their weapons.
Shirone set aside the confusion and said, "We can't shake them. Guess we fight."
"There's one place they absolutely cannot enter."
"There's a place they absolutely can't enter?"
"Yes. Probably. I don't want to go in myself. We call it the Forbidden Sanctuary."
"Is it dangerous?"
"I don't know. It's a contamination zone, but I heard no one has gone in there for a very long time. I already feel weird just thinking about it."
"Huh. I feel fine…"
If it was just a ruin-world meme, Shirone didn't need to worry.
"Take us there. Lead on."
Yo was uneasy but couldn't refuse the Regent's order and pointed the way.
"This way."
They arrived at one of the tallest buildings in the city.
The structure was entirely sheathed in mucus, so there wasn't even a sign of physical damage.
"Yeah… there's definitely something off about it."
To the people of Apocalypse, it felt more ominous than ever.
"But the mucus is blocking the way?"
Yo smashed his silver mirror and said, "It's best not to touch it, but in emergencies we open a path like this."
As the mirror shards scraped mucous from the floor, the slime writhed like a living thing and began to recede.
"There they are!"
Underground dwellers closed in beyond the block. Shirone pulled Yo along and activated his light frenzy.
"Go!"
The veil of light pulsed and the entrance path yawned open.
"Don't let them escape! Shoot! Shoot!"
With no time to look back, Shirone and Yo dashed through just as the jeep screeched to a halt in front of the building.
"Of all places, they run into the Forbidden Sanctuary? Cowards."
"Taejang, what now?"
Two adults would feed the combat unit well.
But even Taejang, who'd just jumped from the roof, absolutely refused to enter that place.
"No choice. Give up. Let's find other prey."
The engines roared and they drove off. Mucus slapped wetly onto the gravestone planted beside the entrance.
Fairy Biomimetics Research Institute
* * *
Kraaaang.
At a distant explosion on the other side of the city, Miro and her party stopped and turned.
"What's that? A fight?"
Gunfire rolled toward them.
"Let's go. Sounds pretty intense."
Now that they knew Shirone was in the settlement, they couldn't ignore it.
With Miro's spatial leap they crossed the distance at once and ran toward the gunfire.
"How annoying."
Fermi cast Air Skate, her feet lifting as she skimmed swiftly across the ground.
"You carry every kind of magic, don't you."
Marsha teased; Fermi twisted her body into a wide-legged stance.
"It doesn't let you fly like Fly magic, but among movement spells it's the most cost-effective. Movement's free and it's versatile."
Running ahead in short bounds, Fermi glanced back at the group.
"Anyway, I poured all my money into this op."
If it succeeded, 190 billion gold would roll in.
Rian said, "They're getting farther. Looks like a chase."
Marsha, irritated for no reason, turned to Fermi. "Hey, how much was that? It's transferable, right?"
"Two million gold. Want to buy?"
"Shut up."
Marsha decided she'd better start running on foot.
* * *
"This is strange. Really strange."
Shirone peered around the building lobby.
It had once been an ordinary place; aside from mucus clinging to the walls, there was nothing especially out of place.
"Of course it's strange. No one comes here."
"No, it's not that. I feel like I've been here before."
A memory pressed into Shirone's mind.
A snow‑white office, an oak table. A bespectacled, scholarly man handed him a document and said,
—Congratulations, Shirone. You've been selected for artificial suspended dormancy. If you sign here—
—No. I can't leave the people I care about here and survive alone.
—You don't understand the situation. This isn't about individual survival. You're entering as a representative of humanity.
—But how—
—Don't be arrogant. I, the one giving you this contract, must remain here too. In other words, this is the end of the line.
"…Did I really end up alone?"
Yo couldn't grasp Shirone's feelings, but he understood that Shirone was sad.
"Don't worry. We're here."
Walking away from the walls, Shirone stared up at the staircase leading higher.
"I'm pretty sure that office was on the top floor…"
But now the way was sealed by a mottled wall of mucus.
"They'll be back by now, right? They won't wait long when they're hunting."
Ignoring Yo's anxious voice, Shirone probed his memory further.
—Go to the underground. There's no time.
—Sorry. I only thought of myself.
—…Please make a good world.
"Underground. There's something underground."
Shirone ran to the elevator and asked Yo, "Can you open this door?"
"Huh? Ah—yes."
Yo turned his arms into metal, wedged them into the elevator doors, and pried.
"Ugh!"
The doors opened to reveal a shaft plunging straight down.
"There. We can go underground."
"You want me to come with you?"
"If you're nervous, you don't have to follow."
Yo's face changed instantly.
"No. I have a duty to protect the Regent."
"It'll be fine."
Shirone tossed a Shining spell into the shaft, grabbed the elevator cable, and descended. Yo followed.
"…"
A minute later, from the mucus that had eaten into the lobby ceiling, a human face bulged outward.