The Demon Realm's Hell (4)
The Jincheon Empire was one of the nations that had suffered the greatest losses to the demons.
Still, as a country that had boasted the world's largest population before the war, there were hundreds of millions of people left within its borders.
"O Satan."
Bassago—whose many horns hung down like hair and made one feel sick merely to look at him—spread his four arms wide toward the sky.
"Drench the whole world in evil."
As the demon realm opened, fissures began to split the gray, petrified muscles of his body.
A body that had held together despite countless cracks, as if patched with grass, collapsed like dry earth in a breeze—and the third legion commander of the demonic forces vanished.
In the silent mountains where neither humans nor even demons remained, an unbelievable transformation began.
The grass blackened and shot up tens of meters high, snapping surrounding trees.
Winged insects fled, only to undergo sudden, inexplicable transformations and fall to the ground.
Animals screamed, and the entire mountain came to resemble an impossible, unnatural tableau.
The chaotic aura that made up Bassago radiated outward like a form of radiation, inducing biological mutation.
"It's too late."
The earth dragon Gaitan looked down at the range, which had become a living, colossal beast.
Shirone said with regret, "Bassago's power is psychic radiation. He propagates the mind like a wave and alters organisms' cells. Now that the demon realm has opened, this is only the beginning. Countless mutants will pour into human cities."
Even as he spoke, psychic emissions surged and sparks flew along the Miracle Stream's defensive wall.
Asra Icker, the white dragon paired with Gaitan, peered toward the city beyond the mountains and said, "First priority is to seal human ingress and egress. We should determine how far the radiation reaches."
"Agreed."
Not knowing what monsters awaited, Shirone and the Apostles descended the mountain.
"Kraaaa!"
When the fourth legion commander Gamagin opened a demon realm, the entire continental plate of the archipelago's Ten Kingdoms began to shake.
"What the—?!"
By the time Shirone caught him with Hand of God, the life force being transmitted had already drained away.
"Messiah! Evade!"
As if on cue, legion commanders around the world began opening demon realms simultaneously.
'I don't intend to fight.'
If they were resolved to open realms, the only way to stop them was persuasion—and from the Gustaf incident, Shirone knew that was nearly impossible.
The heresy's power sent a quake that flung every legged creature on land into the air.
Landslides tore down the range, and a tsunami rolled in from the blood-red sunset.
"Damn it!"
The volume of water was enough to sweep across the ten kingdoms of the archipelago and disappear.
As Hand of God expanded to its limit, it suppressed one side of the wave, but tsunamis surged at the islands from every direction.
At the same time, in the Middle East the fifth legion commander Marbas opened a realm of conflagration.
"I will burn all things!"
Although it was still morning, desert temperatures shot up and oases dried.
People already began to suffer in the heat; wails rose from emptied springs.
Back in Vashka's castle, Shirone waited in the dim dawn. The table was scattered with bottles, his friends—drunk or asleep—snored and mumbled; only Rian sat at a steady rhythm, sipping and keeping watch.
"Looks like things aren't good."
Shirone didn't want to burden his friends with more than necessary, but he trusted Rian.
"While we were drinking, a terrible tragedy struck the world. Casualties—about 1.8 million. The archipelago's Ten Kingdoms took the worst hit. There'll probably be an emergency alarm this morning."
"...I see."
Rian kept to his rule of not indulging in dark thoughts.
"Shirone, you should rest too. I'll take all the others back to their lodgings."
"No—stay with us."
Rian slung the men over his shoulders one by one while Shirone used the Miracle Stream to lift the women into the air.
That none of them stirred could be from exhaustion, but it also meant they felt safe.
'I love that trust so much.'
Praying they could rest a little more comfortably, Shirone and Rian left the dining hall.
The next morning unfolded exactly as Shirone had expected—and, to be honest, it was worse than he'd feared.
Although the central continent hadn't been affected, officials were in a panic, murmuring the same thing over and over.
"The demon realms have all opened."
An emergency council was convened. Everyone who could stand gathered in the castle except Taeseong and Zulu, who had yet to regain consciousness.
The succession ceremony was due that afternoon, but because the situation was urgent, Poni took the throne temporarily.
The first thing she did with the king's provisional authority was look to Shirone.
"You knew?"
"Yes. 'Knew' in the sense that I was on site. Sorry. I tried, but stopping the demon realms was impossible."
"But by the reported time, we were together yesterday! Why didn't you tell us then?"
Poni sealed her lips.
Knowing wouldn't change anything, and Shirone was the only one who could act.
"And there's an error in the reports. Not all of them are open."
Shirone said, "What I ordered the Twelve Apostles to do first was locate the legion commanders. If you find them, you can confirm simultaneous incidents. Some matched the timing, some didn't, but there's one legion commander we haven't found."
"The first legion commander, Baal."
Miro said it, and Shirone nodded.
"Yes. And Baal's demon realm is a Deadly Cross—a meteor impact. The difference from other realms is that once the meteor strikes, the planet itself will be destroyed."
There is nothing celestial left able to protect the planet.
Sein asked, "How can you be sure Baal hasn't opened a realm? Meteor impacts take time. He could have already opened it and perished."
"There's an expert in that field. Someone who can use the Spirit Zone to observe near-space."
Amy looked bewildered. "You can send a Spirit Zone beyond space? Who is it?"
Shirone raised a finger. "Arnold Rampa—the Ivory Tower's third-rank resident." Rampa was on an uninhabited island in the middle of the sea, two hundred kilometers east of Galiant.
"Demon realms aren't mere phenomena. They're driven by systems that preexist them."
There, Shirone had discussed the demon realms—specifically Baal's—with Rampa.
"Think of it as twisting the Law. In that sense it's similar to the hidden codes of Siok the Five Great Saints spoke of. But it's far larger and more complex: a world with its own Law nested inside the greater Law."
"Right. Jincheon, the archipelago's Ten Kingdoms, the Middle East, and Gustaf are no longer the environments we knew. We've asked the World Climate Organization for cooperation, but how much help they can provide is uncertain."
"What I want to add is this: I can also use an offshoot Spirit Zone to draw meteors from near-space. It's a spell called Meteor."
Chongi, Rampa's satellite disciple who had been listening nearby, corrected him, "If it were thirty years ago, maybe you could."
Rampa clicked his tongue at his pupil's lack of nuance, but Shirone smiled at him.
"If Meteor draws meteors directly, Baal's realm probably works by altering the Law—the orbital motion of meteors. Even so, they'd have to use meteors within the solar system."
"How many are there?"
"If we limit it to meteors that could strike the planet within thirty days, there are 7,543. Of those, 1,411 have enough mass to cause a catastrophic impact. And to be clear, even I can't move those 1,411. They're beyond Meteor-class manipulation."
"Probably all of them. When a demon realm opens, a meteor's orbit will be subtly altered."
"Yes. We've checked, and so far there's no unusual movement. Baal's realm has not opened."
"Understood. Keep watching. If you notice the slightest anomaly, report it to me."
Rampa and Chongi bowed.
Shirone relayed the entire conversation to everyone in Vashka.
They were relieved that the realm had not yet opened, but their faces were pale.
"1,411?"
A single impact from a meteor summoned by Meteor magic could wipe out a city.
"It's fine. I'll look into it further. I'll coordinate with Poni on the World Climate Organization."
Hearing that, Shirone's friends understood why he'd given only the necessary information.
'It's not my specialty. It's a problem I can't solve. If I keep listening to all this, I'll be useless.'
As if reading Nade's thoughts, Shirone nodded.
"Now, let's discuss what we can do. Succession comes first. If Poni assumes Tormia's full authority, she can effectively carry my voice to other nations."
One of the officials asked, worried, "Which country will listen to us? Our military strength has already been drained by demon invasions."
"But the Grand Commander of the Holy War remains. Iruki alone knows the core technique for elemental bombs. If we use that strategically, we can win other nations' support."
"But if we do that, other countries will also be able to use elemental bombs. Isn't that even more dangerous?"
He spoke a reasonable point, but his tone was rough—likely because he was a close retainer of Adolf XIII.
"Elemental bombs matter in war. Agape's light can suppress demons, but to deliver power as strong as we used over Vashka's skies, you need the explosive force of elemental bombs. We'll manufacture the bombs, but we'll only deploy them in tandem with Agape."
Poni asked, "Can we control them?"
"We must. Form a dedicated unit. Mr. Lupist will oversee it. And Nade's group should have exclusive control over bomb production. With those two measures, we'll have leverage over other countries."
The officials fell silent. Miro asked next, "What about the heavenly host?"
"They're still scattered around the world. They're gathering slowly, but they won't be able to act quickly."
"Why? Because Nade disappeared?"
"That's part of it, but there's internal strife. The biggest issue is that Ikael has sided with humans."
Poni's eyes widened. "Really? How did you win over the enemy commander?"
"I didn't win her over. She's my real mother."
Silence filled the hall.
Amy already knew, but the others sat in stunned disbelief.
"Your mother is an archangel—no, the seraph commander?"
Even the officials held their breath as Shirone met Amy's eyes and smiled.