[198] 1. God's Mercy (3)
"Laws? Does your law even forbid murder?"
"Of course. A subject must never harm another subject. If one commits murder, they will be severely punished according to the ruling of Internal Affairs."
"Then what is this you're doing now? If your law forbids murder, why are you performing the Elixir of Rebirth?"
"You don't understand what you're saying. Are you really a Nephilim? You sound like heresy itself."
"I don't care whether I'm a Nephilim or whatever. I don't know how long I'll live. That's why I live each day doing my best. But look at them. They're alive, but not living. How is that different from murder?"
There was no outcry of rebuke or agreement from the subjects. But the atmosphere was heating up.
It was a contradiction any subject had to have felt at least once.
The Elixir of Rebirth clearly looked unreasonable. Yet no one resisted because the inertia of hundreds of thousands of years bore down on them.
Countless people had become giants through the Elixir of Rebirth. The fact that everyone had done it and would keep doing it clouded the subjects' judgment.
"You who deny Ra's laws, we were born from giants. The Elixir of Rebirth is Ra's providence that restores our lives. Do you wish for your existence to be erased forever? If any subject here desires that, step forward. I will personally petition for it to be done."
No one stepped forward. According to the subjects' long-held tradition, giants made by the Elixir of Rebirth travel through Purgatory and return, breaking apart back into their individual selves.
Forever living is better than dying. If death is unavoidable, leave a chance to return.
That was how they governed life.
Satisfied that the subjects remained silent, the executor jabbed a finger at Shirone and shouted.
"You are heresy! Even if you are a Nephilim, you have no right to meddle in the Law! Seize that man! Make him pay for desecrating the sanctity of Ra!"
"Shirone, it's getting complicated! We have to get out of here."
Amy grabbed Shirone's hand. Shirone shrugged him off and held his ground.
"No. I'm not leaving. I have to save Kanya's mother."
About ten Kergoin at the front drew their swords and charged. Their speed—using giant techniques—was like cheetahs.
Shirone pushed into their midst. The lead Kergoin raised his blade. The rear guard closed in, slashing.
At that moment Shirone's berserk burst exploded.
A veil of light struck the Kergoin. The mass contained in the photons was minuscule, so at first it only stung, but with a whipping tempo of twenty strikes per second a recoil force that felt like their bodies were being ripped spread through them.
Every Kergoin surrounding Shirone was flung aside.
They slid along the ground on their buttocks, long furrows trailing behind them, and stared at Shirone in unified horror.
"Y-You… a Nephilim? You were really a Nephilim?"
Light magic had a powerful psychological effect. It was a phenomenon only an angel could manifest and it branded Shirone as a Nephilim in everyone's eyes.
Riding that momentum, Shirone concentrated the photon cannon.
As the executor moved to block the bronze statue, a flare burst from Shirone.
The executor twisted with animal reflexes. The flash grazed his flank; the pain felt like his intestines being crushed.
But pain was a later problem.
When the photon cannon struck the giant's statue it rang out with a majestic vibration like a struck bell.
The soundwave vibrating through the hall made the subjects cover their ears and recoil.
They shouted, but the ringing in their ears made the shouts faint.
Yet the giant statue remained intact.
The photon cannon could dent an iron gate, but there wasn't even a crease on the statue.
Joy swelled in the subjects' eyes.
"Oh! Anke Ra! Save us!"
"Do not abandon us! Eternal life, eternal life!"
As the situation worsened, Amy stepped forward. She had to get Shirone and leave this place somehow.
Rian grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.
"Wait. Shirone isn't finished yet."
"That's not the point. If we don't run now, we'll have to fight them."
"Then we'll fight."
Amy finally turned her head. This was no longer about past friendships. Rian was now Shirone's knight.
"Why are you like this, Rian? Do you have something to say?"
"I do. You're being strange. What do you think stopping Shirone will accomplish?"
"Obviously we should run. If we become enemies in Heaven, no one will come to help us."
"And what about Kanya's mother?"
Amy's heart dropped. She realized she had been unable to truly feel—truly take in—someone else's death.
"Shirone is trying to save Kanya's mother. Like he did for Marsha and for the academy students. Why won't you help? Don't tell me you think we have no responsibility for these people's deaths because this isn't the world we came from."
"Ah…"
Rian's analysis had been accurate. She'd assumed different rules applied here, so there was no reason to shoulder deaths chosen by these people.
"Amy, whether this place is Heaven or not, it's happening right in front of us. Shirone said he could save Kanya's mother. That's why I'm fighting with him."
Amy looked over the square. Around Shirone a mecha armed with Signa and Exd and Nor people who wielded ancient wind magic had formed a perimeter.
Human spirit was not insignificant. Even if this was Heaven, the truth of life did not change.
The conflict left Amy's face calm.
"I trust Shirone too. Let's go, Rian."
When Amy moved in, her friends followed immediately.
Light flashed where the subjects surrounded Shirone, scattering a dozen of them outward. Shirone, who had entered berserk, appeared; Amy leaned against him and asked.
"You okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"
"Yeah. Signa and Exd are weak at range, and most of the ancient magic seems wind-based. It's weak—worse than Clove, I think."
From Heaven's viewpoint, Purgatory was Hell.
No matter how shabby Clove's skill, he was a mage who'd fought through harsh Purgatory; these people were of a lower caliber.
Shirone's group held off the subjects from their positions.
The problem was that striking back was difficult. If people died while trying to persuade the subjects, it could make matters worse.
"Tch! What a pain."
Canis put a hand on the ground and cast Shadow Wall.
Sharp thorns burst from the surface of the shadow, rising like a fortress wall.
The mecha stepped forward with Exd in the lead, but they still had no clear way to strike.
- Shirone can't hold on forever. We have to decide now.
Shirone's thoughts grew complicated. In fact, there was one way to end the fight without warring.
The illumination magic Shining.
If he momentarily unleashed a powerful light to blind the foes, the battle would cool rapidly.
'But is Shining alone enough?'
The biggest problem was that it was daytime. No matter how intense the light he produced, it couldn't outshine the sun.
Making a light stronger than the sun was difficult because of the oscillatory nature of light.
You have to increase the number of photons in a single area as much as possible, but oscillating light has limits to how much it can be compressed.
'How can I raise the intensity of light?'
At that instant Shirone's eyes flashed.
You can't stop light's oscillation. But it might be possible to make a light stronger than the sun.
"Close your eyes! I'm going to cast Shining!"
Shirone halted and entered the Spirit Zone. Photons began to converge quickly.
His friends closed their eyes, but Canis, who was forming a shield, glanced back at Shirone.
'What's that? Why does that light look like that?'
The light gathering around Shirone was far dimmer than a normal Shining. Dimmer meant reduced luminescence. In short, he was suppressing the oscillation somehow.
'He's aligning the polarization.'
Some photons vibrated vertically, some horizontally. Shirone had applied gravity to the photons, unifying their vibration direction.
The result was astonishing. An impossibly large number of photons gathered at one point. Stabilized beyond ordinary photons, the light's color leaned gray. When the Shining reached its white brilliance, its density was dozens of times above normal.
"Now!"
Shirone squeezed his eyes shut and released his control over the photons. The particles scattered like a foal taking off in all directions.
The white light that swallowed the world reached a staggering 300,000 lumens. It was more than twice as intense as staring directly at the midday sun.
Shirone knew the spell had succeeded even without looking.
The light was so intense that, even with their eyes closed, they could faintly discern shades.
'It worked! It really worked!'
Divine particles were the core principle of the magic Shirone wielded.
Photon cannon for mass, laser for energy. This time he'd compressed photons to create a Shining Impact—a blinding flash explosion.
Surpassing the intensity of natural light, it was a nonlethal spell that could incapacitate living beings regardless of time or place.
After the light faded, the subjects still kept their eyes closed. They arched back as if fearing an attack and held their faces with both hands.
Silence fell.
Shirone's group opened their eyes first; then the subjects lifted their eyelids and looked around.
"You… a Nephilim. You're a Nephilim."
Someone murmured, and the mecha began to drop their weapons one by one.
Shining Impact did more than stop the fight.
Even making a pact with a light spirit couldn't produce a light stronger than the sun.
If such a thing were possible, it would, without question, be an angel who commanded the power of light.
Tess wiped the sweat from under her chin.
"Whew. Shirone, what kind of magic was that? I thought my eyes would be blinded."
She said it like a joke, but she meant it. She'd never been exposed to such a piercing light.
Rian sheathed his greatsword and walked over.
"Anyway, we've neutralized them. Shouldn't that be enough to stop the Elixir of Rebirth?"
"It won't be easy. The Kergoin are not wavering like the others."
As Amy had said, the ritual officials led by the executor glared at Shirone with hawk eyes.
They were intimidated by Shining Impact's power, certainly.
But if they believed Shirone was a Nephilim, there was no reason to be mentally shaken.
Those who worshipped Ra feared no subordinate laws.
"Do you think you can do this and walk away, Nephilim? You've defiled the sacred laws of Ra. If Internal Affairs moves, your lifespan ends today."
"Try it, then. You can't dictate my lifespan—I don't even know it myself."
The executor's nostrils flared.
He wanted to behead Shirone then and there, but the honest truth was he didn't want to fight.
He had devoted his life to service for 187 years. Eternal life lay before him; he couldn't end his life here.
A red haze gathered in Shirone's palm.
Now that the subjects were frightened was the last chance. Rather than crudely inciting them with the photon cannon, he'd use the laser to decisively smash the statue.
A crimson beam extended toward the statue and the subjects recoiled in panic.
But no one charged forward anymore. If Shirone was a Nephilim, he was beyond what the subjects could handle.