Depression (4)
Habitz's army entered Kashan's capital without bloodshed.
White flags hung from every house and the residents bowed their heads in terror.
It wasn't merely because they had lost the war.
Perhaps the vanguard had already swept through—corpses littered the streets and the metallic tang of fresh blood hung in the air. Smodo, a toothpick between his lips, smiled.
"You size things up quickly. As befits the Empress of Kashan."
Valkan didn't think it was over yet.
"There was a succession ceremony. If they'd already lost the war, why would that matter?"
"They'll try to hide the Empress and negotiate. If the terms suit them, they'll accept. Either way, we just have to enjoy ourselves."
At the entrance to the imperial castle Aganos, the army of Hell had the place completely surrounded.
When the gates opened, the scene inside the castle was revealed.
"Ugh…"
Over a thousand people were bound to various torture devices, their blood being drained.
The devices were linked by mechanisms to objects scattered around like instruments.
"Made by Zetaro."
Past the outer gate, the demon who had distinguished himself in this war approached Habitz and bowed.
He was a strikingly handsome man, just under two meters tall, clad in black iron armor studded with spikes.
Amon, commander of the Seventh Legion of the Hell Army.
One of the ten legion commanders said to be Satan's direct subordinates; he wielded an iron blade heated in hellfire.
The demon legion commanders were all fearsome, but those in the top ten moved on a different plane entirely.
"We've been expecting you, Lord Satan."
Habitz still wore a human guise, but Amon saw the truth plainly.
The four red triangles hovering above Habitz's crown marked him as a being outside the Law.
Valkan asked, "Where is Kashan's ruler?"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a party emerged from the inner gate.
It was Gando, newly proclaimed emperor, accompanied by the highest nobles who had ruled Kashan until now.
Amon said to Habitz, "This is an event Zetaro prepared to celebrate our victory. Please enjoy it."
At his command, a hundred demon musicians took their places.
Red-skinned female forms whose hair was made entirely of tentacles held up sheet music.
A squat, fleshy-looking conductor glanced across the orchestra and raised his baton.
As the instruments began to play—
Over a thousand humans began screaming at different pitches.
From the first note, the nobles led by Gando felt every hair on their bodies stand on end.
'Vicious bastards.'
Gando gritted his teeth and endured.
"The army of Hell!"
Matching the music made from human screams, the choir swelled their bellies and sang.
Each time an instrument sounded, the torture devices convulsed and squeezed the human voices harder.
"The world of Chaos!"
It was truly the song of Hell, and even Valkan and Smodo found themselves deeply affected.
"Brutally good… Zetaro's a genius."
Habitz seemed to appreciate it too, but after listening a moment he only snorted and let out a short laugh.
"Shall we go."
Amon led the way. Habitz's party passed the tearful choir and approached Gando.
'I'm not bored. But…'
Just the fact that the one greeting him wasn't Uorin was enough to sour Habitz's mood.
'What I want to hear is the Empress's song.'
Habitz didn't need to personally receive the defeated empire's emperor, but boldly he stepped forward.
"Where is Uorin?"
Gando, prepared for anything, bowed politely.
"She's in the castle. But before you meet her, I have a proposal to make as Emperor of Kashan."
Valkan sneered inwardly.
'I knew it.'
"I will cede rulership of Kashan. You may employ me if you wish, or behead me if it's inconvenient. But I do not want to see any more blood. Guarantee the lives of our people."
The faces of the highest nobles filled with relief and gratitude.
'We're sorry, Your Majesty Empress.'
They were prepared to abandon Teraze's honor and sell themselves to preserve their country's safety.
Habitz looked at Gando with indifferent eyes.
Those eyes showed no intent to analyze, and the boundless chaos in them made Gando dizzy.
'Mother…'
Last night, Uorin had summoned Gando.
"At this rate we'll lose the war. Even the aid of the Holy Order has limits. Kashan will soon be destroyed."
Gando gave no sign of reaction.
He should have been angry or desperate—yet nothing in him stirred.
Perhaps it was because Uorin's face had been unusually pale and drawn.
'So even my mother can feel fear.'
She had been untouched by defeat until now, but the Great Purge was beyond her experience. Worst of all was that the adversary was Habitz of Chaos.
"I'll find a way. With the remaining troops and the Holy Order's power, we'll carve an escape route…"
"No. That won't free you from Habitz. I've examined every option. I've thought about what a good ending would look like. And I've made my decision—"
Uorin looked up at Gando.
"I want to live."
Her rabbit-like, terrified expression hid eyes still burning with the will to live.
"I'm not afraid of death. I can endure being taken by Habitz. But Gando, I want to live."
Gando understood what Uorin intended.
'She's focusing only on living.'
She would abandon Kashan's history, Teraze's honor, the officials' lives, even the people's welfare—she intended only to survive.
'That Teraze…'
He wasn't angry that she had shirked the emperor's duty.
He hated seeing someone who had once stood at the summit cling so desperately to life.
"Mother, I would—"
"Save me."
Gando could not speak.
Gando, who had just come out of Habitz's chaos, said, "That is all we ask. If you accept the offer, I will open Aganos immediately."
Valkan asked, "If we refuse?"
"Then Kashan will be destroyed. But the Gustav Empire will never obtain what it desires."
"Uorin."
Habitz spoke. "Where is she?"
Gando pointed to the highest floor of Aganos.
From a window beneath the fluttering white banner, a silver‑haired woman looked down.
"What will you do?"
Habitz, who had been staring at the spire for a long time, spoke.
"Amon."
Amon, armored in iron, stepped forward.
"Kill them all."
No sooner had the words fallen than Amon's blade swept through, leaving a black afterimage.
Every noble—save Gando—had their torsos cleaved in two, as if vaporized into electricity.
"Kyaaaah!"
Ladies‑in‑waiting and attendants farther away screamed and scattered.
"Damn it!"
Gando, who had cast a Spark spell where the crowd split, grimaced and fell forward.
'Did he sense it?'
No—he'd simply acted on impulse.
'Definitely the Empress's nemesis.'
With Plan A failed, Gando's eyes locked onto Habitz just twenty meters away.
'If only I could kill him…'
He had already put his life on the line.
Gando, who had used Spark magic against the Hell Army, unleashed Lightning right in front of Habitz.
"Aaaaah!"
A perfect release that left no margin for reserve.
Blue electricity fanned out, gouging the air and causing a massive explosion.
Boom!
'He missed!'
Amon's subordinate, a divisional commander among the demons, wrapped his arms around Habitz and shot into the sky.
Smodo breathed a sigh of relief.
'If the demons hadn't helped, would Habitz have died?'
Valkan drew his sword and stepped aside.
"Smodo, don't overthink it. He just doesn't die—keep that in your head."
"…Right. Understood."
Kashan's guards launched a fierce assault, but the Seventh Legion commander's direct troops were no weaklings.
"Was it a trap?"
Valkan shook his head.
"No. There was no murderous intent in the crowd a moment ago. They really meant to surrender."
"Then why?"
Valkan gave a bitter smile.
"Amazing, Teraze."
Even if it meant killing nearly a billion people, she chose to live.
"To the spire!"
Amon flew to the tower in an instant and snatched the woman at the window.
Her hair had been bleached white; she trembled in fear.
"P‑please—spare me…"
She sobbed, begging for her life.
"Long live the Empress!"
Someone cried out. Valkan, who'd cut a throat with one stroke, looked toward the exhausted Gando and asked, "Uorin. Where is she?"
Gando managed only a weak curl of his mouth.
While the Five Great Stars maintained their principles in silence, the other stars began arguing.
Mini sprang up and shouted, "We must go to Kashan at once! If the Tri‑Emperor system collapses, the demons' power will only grow!"
"Why should we? Kashan was leaning toward the demons anyway. Humans will do anything for profit."
"I agree. This is a human affair. The Ivory Tower pursues transnational aims—"
The Lawslayer howled again.
Kyaaaaaaaaa!
As if a lie, the voice vanished, and every star turned to Shirone.
"That's enough."
The Ivory Tower.
The pinnacle of the magic world, pursuing pure scholarship untouched by any power.
"I'm leaving the Ivory Tower."
Minerva, taken aback by the unexpected declaration, asked, "Shirone, what are you saying?"
"Don't misunderstand. I'm not angry or disappointed. Everything said here is correct."
The problem was that everyone was right.
"You're not running away?"
Fried said without turning his head. "You were close to Kashan's Empress. Too soft. I don't know how you became one of the Five Great Stars like that. We work for the world at large. If you truly care about the world, enforce it from here. Try to restrain us."
"No."
Shirone was firm. "Now I understand you. You climbed this high to avoid being entangled with humans, because you were tired of debate."
"That's the Ivory Tower."
"So I'm going higher."
He finally turned to look coldly at Fried. "I'm sick of being tied up with you."
Fried's face flushed. Shing watched Shirone with interest.
Minerva snorted. 'Good. That's more like you.'
Shirone plucked the trembling Lawslayer out of the air and moved toward Taeseong.
"If we depart from the Arctic, it'll be too late. Let me leave from here."
"…Outside is space."
Shirone looked down through the transparent glass floor at the blue planet below.
"It's the fastest route."
"Understood."
Though it was effectively desertion from the Great Assembly, Taeseong curiously looked pleased.
'Right, Shirone. The place you're aiming for isn't the pinnacle but something beyond it.'
Someday, over that singular position, he would collide with Nane.
'Material.'
When Shirone unleashed the light of Yahweh, a transparent sphere formed around him.
Minerva nodded. "Aha—"
If they could break through the atmosphere, they could head straight to Kashan.
Taeseong raised both hands, and the glass sphere carrying Shirone floated up to the ceiling.
"Remember, Shirone. You said you were leaving the Ivory Tower, but—"
In an instant the glass sphere left the Great Assembly and drifted outside the terrestrial cathedral.
"I cannot permit it."
Drawn by the planet's gravity, the glass globe began to plummet toward the desert at terrifying speed.