[733] Two Perspectives (2)
* * *
When Amy opened the window and a warm spring breeze carried away winter's bite, she smiled brightly.
'The flowers'll bloom soon.'
She had trained day and night to pass the official exam, but today her heart fluttered.
'Maybe I'll go into town for once.'
With no one in particular to show off to, she picked a pretty dress and sat at the mirror to do her makeup.
"Hmm…"
She was looking at her perfectly pretty face and puffing her cheeks in a cute little gesture when the door opened.
"Amy, have your breakfast."
Isis, Amy's mother, sighed at the unexpectedly adorable sight of her daughter.
"What are you doing by yourself?"
"…Well, it's just…"
Amy straightened as if nothing had happened and continued applying her makeup.
"I'm going to eat out. Just want to get some fresh air for a bit."
Even after the graduation exam, Amy's passion hadn't dimmed at all—though it was all about magic.
"Don't just do that. Go meet a man or something. You've been so spacey lately. You're acting weird right now."
"Weird? Is that something you say to your daughter?"
"I'm worried."
Isis watched Amy closely and spoke cautiously.
"Um, a friend of mine has a son—he asked me to introduce him to you… He seems to like you."
Amy laughed in disbelief.
"What are you saying? That's not like you. You used to cut things off so neatly when I was a student."
"That was when you were a student. Now…"
"You know I'm seeing someone. How could you say that, when you might have to face him later?"
And that was the problem.
"But Shirone doesn't even contact you… and besides, he's too…"
When Isis heard her daughter was formally dating Shirone, she had dug every bit of information she could find about the Ivory Tower.
'It's dangerous. You should give up the idea of having a home.'
It was jealous advice aimed at someone tied to the kingdom's greatest mage, and not entirely wrong.
'What good is a hundred powers if he won't come home?'
Unable to stand her mother's worried gaze, Amy put a hand on her hip and snapped.
"What are you thinking? I'm only twenty and I haven't even taken the certification exam or gotten a job yet!"
As Amy said, she was barely twenty, but the relationship didn't feel like it would end as a simple fling—and that was the worry.
'What if she can't get married because of that?'
Isis sighed and left the room.
"Anyway, be careful. Get some fresh air and change your mood."
"Stop worrying already…"
Amy blew out a breath and saw her mother off, then returned to the mirror to finish her eye makeup.
'Shirone.'
Complicated thoughts threatened to surface, but she shook her head and cleared them.
'He'll be fine, right?'
After all, he was Arian Shirone.
* * *
Andre Maze — World No. 9999.
In the Immortality Project, during Utopia's heyday, Shirone was given two choices by Argo.
'The Void and Infinity.'
If he chose the Void, he would live forever; if he chose Infinity, he would be erased in that instant.
- It's better to live forever.
Argo suggested.
- There are countless advantages to eternal existence. Humans suffer repeated breaks in information. Fear is severe. This method can resolve everything.
Who would refuse immortality when faced with death?
Shirone did not want to die.
'But…'
He could not accept Argo's offer.
"No matter how vast the universe is, can it be greater than a mother's love for her child?"
- Shall I analyze it?
"I will not choose eternal life."
Because Amy wasn't there.
"Can the value of living forever outweigh a single fleeting moment with the one you love?"
Argo's drone vibrated and Amy's hologram reappeared.
- …The emotional concentration is extraordinary.
Amy's hologram expanded without end and finally struck the center of the ceiling.
"That's why."
Shirone spread his arms and cried.
"No matter how vast the universe is…"
The consciousness of the Immortal Function spread into the realm of Infinity, and his body emitted a pale flare.
* * *
"Goaaaaaa!"
The superhuman battle between Rian and Imir was finally approaching its last destination.
Bodies as solid as iron began to crack under fists that were just as solid.
"Kuhahaha! Yes! More! Come at me harder!"
Imir's strikes sent a gale through the air and relentlessly tore down Andre's walls.
Krurrrrr!
"Watch out!"
A huge boulder fell where Shirone had been crouching as the cave ceiling collapsed.
"Damn…!"
He warped space with an aether wave to shove the falling rock away, but it was only a makeshift solution.
"Get up! It's dangerous!"
"Ughhhh…!"
Seongeum's voice barely carried.
'It's coming! It's still coming…!'
His mind filled with a peculiar enlightenment he couldn't even name.
Insight normally builds a bridge from ignorance to intellect, but this was nineteen thousand insights at once.
No matter which way he reached, it felt like he'd touch the same truth; it surged over him like waves whether he wanted it or not.
"R-run. I can't anymore…!"
Seongeum bit down and groaned.
'What on earth is happening?'
To others his face might look merely pale, but in Seongeum's eyes a flash streaked like something that could blow the world apart.
"Princess! You must get out of here!"
The fight between Imir and Rian was like war gods descending from heaven; soon the whole Andre maze would come crashing down.
"More! More! More!"
Imir tasted victory.
'This is maddening! I'm so furious!'
He was full of rage and resentment.
"Try harder! You can do it! Is this the end?!"
The backlash and pain from body striking body were intoxicating.
'Is it going to end like this?'
Even Anke Ra, near godhood, couldn't control that creature's biological strength and had sealed it within the hardest ice.
'How long has it been since I felt such a shock…!'
Imir couldn't contain his fury.
"Uaaaaah!"
Fists collided; Rian's tendons snapped starting at the wrist, and his right arm was torn away.
"Krrrgh!"
Still, Rian's body pushed forward.
"You weak little brat!"
Imir's fist struck his abdomen and Rian's body shot up, leaving an imprint in the ceiling.
"Urgh!"
When the body that had been lodged in the ceiling finally dropped, Kido scrambled over.
"Rian, are you okay?"
Imir snorted and shouted.
"You woke me up with just that?"
"Get a grip, Rian! Ri—!"
When Kido touched Rian's body he flinched.
'All his bones are crushed.'
His organs were probably liquefied by the shockwave.
"To think you swing a sword that never breaks—and yet you're crushed by my molar…"
There are countless objects with unimaginable functions, but Imir knew one thing:
The strongest thing is what doesn't break.
'And you, with the mightiest weapon, can't even wield it…'
As Imir looked at the sprawled Rian, recent memories meshed with a very old one.
"Now that I think about it…"
Imir's gaze turned to Shirone.
"So that's why he could hold on—because of that guy?"
When Shirone showed killing intent, Rian's body had undergone a transformation and reached this state.
"Heh heh heh, memories are coming back."
When Imir fully turned to Shirone, Seongeum flinched and shouted.
"Get up quickly! Whether you fight or flee, you have to do something!"
"I—I owe it to Rian… to Kido…"
Mun-gyeong shouted at Seongeum.
"Your Highness! Retreat for now! The odds aren't in our favor!"
Thanks to Shirone, Imir's guard had been pierced a little, but Seongeum couldn't count on two chances.
'Right. We need a new plan.'
Seongeum decided and cast an aether wave.
"I will save you no matter what! I won't leave this debt unpaid! I'm taking him!"
Seongeum, who distorted Shirone's space, still saw determination in Shirone's eyes.
"Kuh!"
They couldn't take him away like that.
"Get up."
Seongeum released the aether wave, ran to Shirone, grabbed his shoulder and hauled him up.
"Get up! Can't you even fight?"
"Pr-Princess…"
Mun-gyeong was stunned at how Seongeum closed the distance and dragged Shirone.
"This isn't running away! We buy time, think of a way, and come back…"
"I'm fine."
Shirone lifted his head with a haggard look.
"Rian is protecting me, so I'm fine."
Seongeum checked Rian's still form and turned his head again.
"That swordsman is dead. No one else can protect you."
"Then there's nothing to be done."
"What?"
Shirone gave a bitter smile.
"If my sword is broken… then I have no choice but to die too."
No sooner had the words fallen than Rian's shoulder twitched and convulsed.
"R-Rian…"
Kido's voice called out, and when Imir glanced back he saw Rian standing with the whites of his eyes showing, teeth clenched.
"Don't take another step."
"Heh heh heh."
Imir's mouth split.
"Kuhahaha! Kuhahahaha!"
Whether or not his prediction had been right, he was simply glad the fight could continue a little longer.
"Alright, now I know how to deal with this."
He advanced on Shirone and Seongeum and said, "So this is your obsession. Fine—I'll break it. I'll crush his limbs right in front of you."
Imir could certainly do that.
"Into my heart…"
Rian gritted his teeth until his molars cracked and filled his whole body with power.
"The Kingdom of Conviction."
Crack! Crack!
As every muscle contorted and countless whirlpool-shaped patterns appeared on his skin, Kido's face went pale.
"…Rise."
A musculature unlike any creature's crawled up his throat, twisting even the muscles in his face into a savage distortion.
'Yasha.'
A thought flashed through Seongeum's mind.
"Good! Kill this one now—"
Before Imir could finish, a neck snapped and Rian's form slammed into his face.
'Right, that's right. That one…'
A face from a distant, ancient pain flickered through Imir's memory.
'It was a yaksha.'
In Jincheon they called yakshas goblins.
"Uaaaaah! Uaaaaah!"
A brutal storm of force slammed through, and the sparks that had been bursting before Imir's eyes became a blinding white.
'I'm the sum of over ten billion humans.'
Humans are truly strange.
'With such frail bodies…'
Yet their hearts know no bounds.
'They love to destroy…'
They become their strongest when protecting something.
'Ozent.'
'Smille.'
"Kuhahahaha!"
Imir felt the contest nearing its end.
"It was a glorious fight!"
As he threw his greatest force, Rian's gaze flared fiercely.
Divine Transcendence — Heart Fist Maha.
The heart strikes first.
'What is this?'
It looked as if the entire world was being drawn along with Rian's fist.
At the instant the two fists met squarely, Imir realized a marvelous truth.
'Power that is too strong…'
brings no pain.
Boom!
The explosive sound of the torso struck by Imir's punch reverberated through Andre's maze.