The Age of History (2)
The army of Heaven swept across the planet.
Once along its rotational axis, twice along the equator and the prime meridian...
"We can't find it."
There was no Buddha anywhere.
"If we're not incompetent..."
Shura's gestalt governs falsehood, but before the power of amplification it's nothing more than child's play.
"Is it deliberately avoiding us?" That was a real possibility.
When memories were amplified twenty thousandfold, this Ikael recovered every lost memory.
Including what Anke Ra did to her.
"Of course I'm resentful."
But she didn't feel like ripping her apart or insisting on revenge.
"Because I have no heart."
Every judgment Anke Ra made was only a cold measure to preserve that other world.
"But Anke Ra has become human now. If I meet a human named Nane, what should I do? No—how will he treat me?"
Satiel watched Ikael, who had sunk into worry.
"It's clear she recovered her memories."
Of course, the other archangels had some inkling of the Gephyn erasure.
An angel's mental form is the purest; even the slightest crack in the world produces a sense of discord.
"No matter how the whole changes, it's still a whole—but the first reset is definitely different."
That the angels felt this discord proved that some other existence in Anke Ra's world had performed a reset.
"If this feeling is true, I will be a hated presence to Lady Ikael."
Satiel used Nostalgia's power to break memories into their smallest units and collect the fragments.
"McClain Gephyn. Jealousy. Ikael's sin."
Even seeing those words link at the level of conjecture made him shudder.
"But why? Why doesn't she tell me anything?"
Even without vivid recollection, it was obvious she had done something very bad to Ikael.
"Did she really recover her memories? If amplification can do it, it's not impossible for me either."
It was a question.
Why was only Ikael able to recall everything about the Gephyn erasure?
"Stop."
At Ikael's command, Heaven's army halted.
The photon signal displayed an ordinary sky, but to Ikael it was a laughably thin lie.
"Come out."
The sky bulged, and Shura revealed himself.
"I have come at the Buddha's command."
"Shura."
Seventh in rank among the Ten Elder Council.
Heaven's immortals would surely recognize an archangel's authority, yet Shura showed no respect.
"Anke Ra is not here."
The world's administrator was a human named Nane.
"Only to know the heart."
Ikael felt a fresh chill at the resolve of Anke Ra, who had reduced herself from a divine being to a mere creature in order to learn a heart.
"You say 'the Buddha's command'? Choose your words carefully. The only being who can command us is—"
"Please come with me."
As though Ikael's opinion didn't even need to be considered, Shura turned coldly and began to leave.
Protea, chieftain of the Flame Clan, squeezed his eyes shut in pain.
"We're still losing living flowers. We won't hold much longer."
The Flame Clan's strategy was simple.
If 300 Flame Clan members controlled 300 living flowers, Protea supervised them all from the center of the field.
Removing Protea would therefore be the demons' top priority—but in practice they paid it little mind.
"Ha ha ha! I got one! Mine!"
They reveled in tormenting the humans, the Flame Clan, and the elves before them.
"Damn it!"
Still, their numbers were so vast that Lufist eventually ordered Plu.
"Pull the defensive line back! Protect Protea!"
The allied forces moved swiftly and reformed a defense three hundred meters in front of Protea.
Kkikikikik!
Living-flower steel snapped from all directions; the ground shuddered.
"An elf! Catch the elf! They're a delicacy!"
Among the demonkin, only elves were prized prey.
"No! Get away!"
Less immune to fear than humans, elves nonetheless show their emotions openly once their spirit breaks.
"Those damn things!"
Seeing their kin violated, Enox raised his sword and charged—
"Huh?"
A fireball streaked down from the sky.
Shaped like the sun, a blazing sphere hung before them, but the demonkin couldn't see it arrive.
"Oooh?"
Only when skin began to melt did they realize it was a massive orb over twenty meters across.
"Argh! It's hot!"
The instant the fireball struck the ground, Enox retreated with the elves.
"Do they mean to kill us all?"
At the same moment, Lufist barred the elves' rear and erected a forty-meter-high iron wall.
"Graaah!"
The surge of heat was briefly checked, but the steel wall quickly glowed like lava.
"Water magic!"
Enox shouted, and water sprites cast an ancient spell.
"Askol!"
Blood of demons and humans vaporized, then a concentrated downpour hammered the area.
Shhhh!
As the iron hissed and cooled enough to breathe, the steel barrier crumbled.
The spell's power was dangerous even to allies, but it forced the demonkin's front line to fall back seven hundred meters.
Lufist's gaze deepened.
'So the rumors were true.'
There was only one person here capable of such flames.
Garcia arrived by spatial travel.
"Are you all right?"
Feeling that the title "the world's greatest fire mage" was no empty boast, Lufist nodded.
"Thanks to you. How goes the battle?"
"Not well. The Valkyrie forces have lost two-tenths of their troops."
Considering the allied army's fifty percent loss and the elves' thirty percent, they truly were the world's elite.
"But the biggest blow is that the 1st Legion Commander is down. At this rate we can't hold the field."
Lufist's eyebrows rose.
'Fido is dead? Fido—the swordsman called the reincarnation of the Great Sword Tiger Kadel?'
It was shocking news, but war is a place where anything can happen.
"Chairman, it's your call. Do we retreat and regroup, or hold this ground?"
Garcia had the higher operational rank.
Yet when Tormia's fate hung in the balance, it seemed right to entrust the decision to his nation's commander.
"Hmm."
Lufist rested his chin on his hand.
'If we retreat, we preserve the troops. But if we withdraw now, do we have any future left?'
Even with uneven forces, they could stand against the demonkin because of the living field.
Which is more efficient—humans or machines?
"All units!"
If they abandoned the ancient weapons, they'd never again inflict such damage on the demonkin.
"Retreat!"
Without humans, the system won't function.
That was Lufist as a man, and Garcia respected his judgment.
"Valkyries! Full withdrawal!"
Seeing the allied forces turn and run, the demonkin licked their lips.
"Ha ha ha! This is the best part!"
They delighted in pouncing on the fleeing backs and the despair that rose up.
"Argh! No!"
Allied screams—screams in familiar voices—ripped into the army's heart.
"Grrr!"
A jaw clenched so hard teeth might break.
"Run! Keep running!"
Yet in the end someone would be captured so someone else could escape.
"We'll see about that! You bastards!"
As they retreated with blood in their eyes, a roar of spatial magic cut across the sky.
"What was that?"
Judging by the wavelength, the spell had been cast from an enormous distance.
Lufist's gaze followed the arc to the depths of the demon lines.
"Why?"
It was far too distant.
If the coordinates were wrong, those struck would simply die without pain.
Even the demonkin gathered around the flash looked bewildered.
"Who's that kid?" a slender figure with hair cut short like a boy murmured.
"Fire domain."
Burn them all without mercy.
Contrasting her soft voice, a massive flame blossomed around her and pierced the sky.
"Kraaaaah!"
As a fiery cyclone danced amid screams, the allied soldiers stood frozen.
"Could it be...?"
The moment Garcia's eyes lit at the familiar blaze, the flames scattered and the scorched earth turned to ash.
"A-Amy?"
Amy stood there, not a thread singed, despite having unleashed a storm of fire.
Only Garcia, the greatest fire mage, could guess what that meant.
Complete combustion.
'This is not mere magic. It's a state of mind—requiring an absolute understanding of fire.'
An exceedingly difficult feat.
It was like saying only those who have died in fire truly understand its essence.
Amy's body had seemed to ignite in an instant, and then she appeared before the allied lines.
'Magic that uses concept rather than phenomenon. It requires an intrinsic understanding of fire...
A privilege of archmages.'
Why a fire-affinity needed movement magic was unclear, but it must have practical uses.
"Lieutenant Colonel Karmis Amy, returned to the battlefield."
Under Garcia's serious gaze, Tess ran up with Rian.
"Amy!"
Tess hugged her so tight the air was knocked out of them, sobbing, "I really thought you were dead! What happened?"
"Wait, wait, Tess—"
"And why is your hair like that? You look totally like a man. Still pretty, though."
"Lieutenant Colonel."
Only when she heard Garcia's voice did Tess snap back and step away in surprise.
"Ah, sorry!"
Amy, however, returned Garcia's look with a meaningful smile.
'Master—'
She knew he was the one who had waited most for her return.
"If you've survived twice, it's no fluke."
Garcia scanned the front briefly, then turned back to Amy.
"The 1st Legion Command is vacant. Take command." "W-what?"
Amy repeated, unable to process the words, but Garcia's tone remained short and firm.
"As of this moment, you are Valkyrie 1st Legion Commander."
"Gah!"
Tess covered her mouth; the soldiers around them murmured in stunned surprise.
"The 1st Legion Commander is... a lieutenant general, right?" Even with the world on the brink, it was an extraordinary promotion.
Amy's voice trembled.
"Commander—"
"As you know, it might be an empty title. This could be our grave. But the burden the commander must shoulder is the same. There's nothing to gain and much to lose. Still willing?"
Tears sprang to Amy's eyes.
"Yes!"
When she clenched both fists, her pupils flared with red light.
'I did it. I did it.'
A lifetime flashed through her mind.
Failing her first graduation exam at the School of Magic, then graduating fourth out of ten on the second.
She joined the Tormia army and the Valkyries with an unimpressive record.
Training was brutal; Garcia's guidance impersonal and harsh.
'Thank you, Berik.'
Even if she had endured everything, without Berik there would be no today.
'And—'
From the depths of extreme pain, Amy drew out a memory she had cherished.
'Shirone.'
As 1st Legion Commander of the Valkyries, even reputation alone would grant her the title of archmage.
Because she had penetrated the fire domain and become an archmage, the Red Line ranking system made sense.
'I can meet him.'
On the night she had to let Shirone go, how ashamed she had been of her weakness.
'I can fight beside him.'
Watching Amy burn with crimson resolve, Tess conveyed one word from her heart.
"Congratulations."