Ivory Tower Grand Assembly (2)
Havitz's army left Benaford and pushed steadily west, marching toward Kashan's royal castle.
The column was unstoppable, but Valkan, seated among the officers, wore a troubled expression.
Two dice kept turning in his hand, and his gaze was numb to everything around him.
"What are you thinking about so intently?" Natasha asked, but there was no answer at first.
"12 came up four times in a row," Valkan said at last.
"Do you think Havitz got some special favor?"
Smodo and Zetaro stirred at the words as if something had clicked.
"You mean the dice last night?"
"Yes. It wasn't magic or trickery. Havitz very nearly died yesterday—statistically, it was high probability."
Smodo replied.
"Maybe the world still wants him alive."
"No. Quite the opposite."
Valkan's view was different.
"The world doesn't single anyone out. Thinking you're chosen because the same number showed on a few dice is a foolish way of thinking. There are probabilities far lower than that—the chance of one sperm fertilizing an egg is one in the billions. Still, we don't go around thinking we were chosen for that reason."
Zetaro caught the point.
"So it feels like being chosen simply because the result came out that way."
"Think about Havitz—he's always been like that. Flip the logic: it's not that fortune clings to Havitz. Because he keeps surviving, Havitz becomes defined."
Smodo said.
"So it isn't a miracle," Valkan nodded.
"Havitz could have died yesterday. If he had, we wouldn't be having this conversation. His story would have ended. But he lived, and now he's made a tale that will be part of legend."
Smodo, lost in thought, asked, "What is time… really?"
"The Law that governs this world. Those entangled by the Law can never be undone. I've heard the Ivory Tower's Five Great Stars can transgress time," Valkan continued.
"It may already be predetermined. Ultimately, what matters is whether Havitz still exists at the end of time."
"How could we ever know that?"
"No one can be certain. He might survive several dramatic crises only to meet a pointless death later… but Havitz has become a Satan."
"Perfect chaos. A being outside the Law—no phenomenon of this world can be used to kill them. It's not a sudden miracle or a newly appearing shield; it's that the outcome is already set."
"Are you saying that stopping the and last night's dice rolling were just events unfolding from a predetermined course?"
"Yes. Being outside the Law is a kind of transgression. He may command armies of hell, but there are strong humans too—especially teeming in the Ivory Tower. Still, we know Havitz's future."
He will never die.
"No matter what happens, no matter what grotesque, vicious gamble he makes, Havitz does not die. What he possesses isn't mere force but the immutable future itself. We must exploit that fully. And if my hypothesis is correct…"
Valkan stared past the horizon.
"We will win this war."
Twelve Mini, a 2-star resident of the Ivory Tower, came to the 400th floor where Shirone was supposed to be resting.
Normally she maintained a body small enough to sit in the palm of a hand, but today she had normal proportions.
Her glossy black hair was neat and she wore a tidy suit; her expression was not the usual cheerful one.
"The Ivory Tower Grand Assembly. This is my first time," she said. It was the largest convocation, ordered by Taesung, where all the Ivory Tower's major figures gathered.
Mini remembered the last Grand Assembly had been right after Miro entered the dimensional wall with the twenty judges.
Walking beside Mini was a woman with curly blonde hair tied back—Mini's satellite, Ariana.
"I heard from Araka. Back then, five departments were fighting tooth and nail," Ariana said.
It hadn't been just fierce; the Ivory Tower had nearly been torn apart.
"That was to be expected. Everyone who receives a star title is single-minded. Even Borbor, strictly speaking, is single-minded in his own way," Ariana complained, hands on her head.
"That's why it's annoying. Calling all the stars—satellites too. It wouldn't be strange if the Ivory Tower were overturned. What on earth is Taesung thinking?"
"It means the situation's that bad. Anyway, we need to support Shirone properly so we aren't overshadowed by the other departments," Ariana sniffed.
"Hmph. Twenty-two? I still don't get it. How do you become one of the Ivory Tower's Five Great Stars right after graduating from the Magic Academy? I'll admit Mahagaruta was exceptional—"
Mini cut her off with a warning.
"Ariana, this concerns the honor of the Integrated Cosmos Administration. And Shirone is as remarkable as Mahagaruta. He's the one who single-handedly held him off."
"I know he's one of the Law's four superhumans. But universal love—do we really need that right now?"
"There must be something beyond our grasp. Something that acts at the extremes of the Law…"
Ariana was impatient by nature.
"Whatever. I'm here because I like teaming with you. If it's some nobody, I'll dropkick them out. Then tag you and double back-drop them into the ground, hehe."
She really was that kind of woman.
"Also, it's annoying—other departments are scrambling because of the assembly order, and we have to go fetch him? He just got a star title; isn't that arrogant?"
Mini shared the doubt.
"He's not that sort of person. I wonder what happened."
They reached Shirone's residence, but there was no sign of anyone at the door.
"He not home? I told him to come here." When there was no answer to their knock, Mini exchanged a look with Ariana and opened the door.
"Excuse me—"
The sight inside drained Mini's face of color.
"Great Star!"
Endless tears of blood streamed from Shirone's eyes as he stood in the center of the room.
The floor was soaked with blood; Mini hurried forward.
"Shirone! What happened?"
Shirone did not answer.
He only clenched his fists tightly and glared ahead with bloodshot eyes.
"Shirone—!"
As they moved to touch him, Ariana said, "Stop. Leave him be."
"But if we leave him, the bleeding—"
"Calm down. Step back and look closely from here."
At Ariana's words, Mini slowly stepped away.
Sacred radiance dripped from Shirone's whole body like beads of water.
"They're purifying him."
"Purifying? Of what?"
"Of anger. They're trying to remove even the smallest ember of rage lodged deep in his heart."
Mini shook her head.
"He's a rational person. He's reached the state of universal love—what reason could he have to be angry now?"
"That's why he has to go through this miserable process."
Ariana looked down at the blood soaking the floor.
"Even a superhuman is still human. They have people they love, things they want. Sacrificing yourself for the world—that's the feeling farthest from being human."
"How long has he been like this?"
The assembly order had come a week ago; he had been trapped in this torment for at least that long, likely longer.
"He doesn't seem to respond to anything," Ariana said.
"He's been overcome by rage—he's lost his reason. We're purifying him toward the realm of Yahweh, but if it fails, he'll die."
"Then we have to save him!"
"But if he comes back, he'll be in a state completely different from the Yahweh we know now."
Mini fell silent.
"I heard the project failed. Maybe he feels responsible for that. Or maybe it's the torment of failing to protect someone he loved in a world heading for catastrophe."
"I heard he has a lover."
"His acceptance of universal love came from the hope that he could win. But when hope vanishes, he begins to question why only he must suffer. Consumed by the Void's rage, he destroys himself."
"In other words, there's no hope."
The Ivory Tower's upper echelons had some inkling of the immutable future Valkan had described.
"This probably ties into the assembly. Even so, he's trying to fight—to become stronger."
"By purifying his anger?"
"People are judged by what they know and what they do, but the heart is different. He wants to go beyond the realm and truly become Yahweh. To that degree…" Ariana trailed off and hit the point.
"He can be called one of the Five Great Stars we revere."
Mini looked at Shirone with pity.
Please, she thought.
The blood was pain; the dripping light were the tears his heart shed.
How much time passed, she could not say.
The orbs of light that had flowed from Shirone's head began to loosen and unfurl.
"What's that—"
Then they poured out over his whole body, bathing him in brilliant light.
Ah—so that's it.
The color of the blood running from his eyes gradually turned clear and changed into tears.
"This world isn't beautiful."
Those who call it beautiful had merely thrown the dice well and rolled high.
Even that was nothing more than a rare stroke of luck in a cruel gambling hall.
"Now I understand, Nane."
Nane, who'd been defeated by Gaold.
The reason he had allowed the transgression of all beings—even to lay down being Buddha—was this:
"We do not live because the world is beautiful. We live to make it beautiful."
If that were truly possible—
If one could realize an ideal in this hellish present, then even if it meant breaking the rules, you go all the way.
"That's why we fight."
Accept Nane's enlightenment and rise to a higher realm.
Since everyone suffers anyway, dividing you and me loses meaning.
"All things are unified."
Just one universe.
Like burning away the body, a love- and mercy-filled light bloomed from Shirone's entire form.
"Oh—Great Star…!"
Mini and Ariana stepped back.
As the Void's rage vanished at once, Shirone's eyes snapped wide open.
Beyond belief in love, he had become someone who would enforce love.
"Now I can fight."
It was a small outward change, but the scale of heart Shirone had to move was almost cosmic.
Ariana's mouth curved.
"He's crossed over."
Yahweh's light shimmered like heat haze around Shirone; there was no trace of torment.
"Fuu—"
Having finally ended his long meditation, Shirone took a steady breath and calmly looked around.
"Huh?"
Two women in neat black suits were watching him.
Who are they?
The blonde was unfamiliar, but the black-haired woman looked known.
"Mini? What are you doing here?"
Mini—the small, cute woman who loved wrestling and made lewd jokes without restraint.
The vibe was completely different.
But today she was proportionate and in a suit—undeniably a proper young lady.
"Something's up."
Mini said, "You didn't hear? There's a Grand Assembly. Oh, and this is my satellite. Say hello."
Ariana, anxious about being rude, bowed politely.
"It's an honor to meet you. I'm Ariana, Mini's 2-star satellite."
Mini breathed a sigh of relief.