[341] Trinity (2)
Breathing grew ragged and Shirone's oxygen consumption spiked.
- Remaining oxygen: 1 minute 17 seconds. 1 minute 3 seconds. 42 seconds.
Light flew in from every direction and struck Shirone's body.
When access to the Law was blocked, it tried a physical approach—invading his mind directly to dissolve it.
Armand reacted instantly.
- Observing neural junction points. Docking and copy upon contact.
Armand's tentacles connected to the needles of light. Even more light surged and embedded itself in Shirone.
Dozens. Hundreds.
The endless onslaught of light demanded only one thing.
Disassemble.
"Ughhh!"
Shirone hissed, his nose wrinkling in a grimace.
The feeling of one's existence being absorbed by another was a humiliation like being eaten alive.
- Remaining oxygen: 4 seconds. 3 seconds. 2 seconds.
At this rate he'd be absorbed.
"How arrogant…!"
Shirone focused his mind into a single, endless point.
The Immortal Function opened, and infinite consciousness spread through the entire world of the Law.
- Unmeasurable focal point detected. Penetration.
Armand's organic matter proliferated without limit. Tentacles reached out and docked with every spike that had pierced Shirone.
Having copied the information intended to hack its master's brain, Armand began constructing suitable firewalls from that data.
At last, Shirone and the Ice Queen came to share a single world as distinct subjects of the Law.
- Firewall complete. Activated.
Light burst from Shirone's retinas.
micro-world window of Law.
"Where is this?"
Shirone looked around.
It was a dark space like the world of the Law. The only difference was that not even a single glittering star existed.
Yet Shirone could see.
'How can I see?'
Is it even possible to see where there is no light?
'Perhaps…'
Shirone found an intriguing answer.
Memory. Memory contains no light.
Light does not linger in the past.
But he was in reality.
So this place was a space where all time lay spread out—past, present, and future indistinguishable; time in its entirety.
As he stepped forward, countless Shirones strode out from the curtains of darkness.
"What is this?"
He turned. As if mirrors had unfolded the space, an infinite number of himself revolved around him.
Shirone singled one out and approached. As the distance shortened the perspective narrowed, and countless Shirones lined up in parallel.
There he stood—a version of himself with jet-black pupils and a cruel face.
Shirone reached out his hand. The other Shirone reached out his hand too.
He felt a cold, glass-like surface.
'Is this me?'
No. This is not me.
Where was this? Outside the mirror, or inside it? Am I the one looking at the mirror, or the one reflected in it?
"Ah…"
Shirone finally understood.
"This is…"
Both Shirones spoke at the same time.
"You."
Pop—CRASH!
All the glass walls that had spread in infinite parallel lines accelerated and shattered like they were driven by light itself.
With the sound of breaking glass, the mirror boundaries began to be destroyed at light speed.
Shirone's hand met his other self's hand. Before he could feel any touch, the Shirone opposite him vanished.
Within the Ice Queen's Law, the two Shirones pointed to one another and formed a perfect Trinity.
The evil Shirone with the black pupils was gone. Only an absolutely immutable Shirone remained—one that could not be shaken by any Law.
In the heavens it was called an incarnation technique, but mages regarded it as a state and called it:
Psychic Transcendence.
Protagonist of Life (1)
Having completed the Trinity, Shirone snapped his eyes open. At the same time, through the multi-Law network's micro-world window, Armand began counterattacking the Ice Queen's Law.
The world trembled and starlight flared. Unable to withstand Shirone, the Ice Queen thrust out her neck and retched.
"Krk! Krk! Kraaah!"
Amy, watching from the ground, went pale. The gargantuan face, eyes bulging as if about to pop from their sockets, was more than horrific—it was abominable.
"Kraaah!"
With a final heave the Ice Queen vomited Shirone out—his body hung with writhing tentacles. He spread his radiant wings and, frozen for a moment, did the first thing: he breathed.
"Hoo—hoo!"
For the first time he realized that air had a taste.
"Shirone! Shirone's come back alive!"
Amy's face, which had been twisted as if near death, finally brightened. The Ice Queen's grotesqueness could not overcome the joy of Shirone's safe return.
But Dante's gaze remained grave.
Above all, the Ice Queen's condition was strange.
She wore a grotesque expression no human facial muscle could make, and yet it was the most accurate form of her current emotion.
'Infinite? Infinite? Infinite? Infinite? Infinite?'
The Ice Queen was confused.
'What is that?'
As Armand built the firewall, the Ice Queen had copied Shirone's information too.
But there was a problem.
The Immortal Function had been installed—something so difficult to analyze even with Optrus's vast data.
When a euphoric intensity that exceeded the scale of the Laws surged in, the Ice Queen could not control her jaw from widening.
She was heading toward infinity.
That was all she could know.
Her gaping jaw exceeded the normal range of its joints and began to swallow itself.
Like a grape's skin peeling back and the flesh bursting out, a new being revealed itself from within her throat.
'I am infinite.'
Human faces were fixed to three sides of it, and dozens of arms split from its shoulders and proliferated, fanning out like a peacock's tail.
Three-Faced Thousand-Armed Kannon.
It was Optrus's second devotion, born from absorbing the Immortal Function.
"krk-krk-krk—!"
A sound like thousands of beetles crying burst from the smiling mouth of the Thousand-Armed Kannon.
"Ugh!"
Struck directly by the sudden sonic wave, Shirone adjusted his hearing through Armand and stepped back. The Kannon's neck turned, its gaze lifted, and a face with a downturned mouth filled the front. A Law of Wrath erupted and countless fireballs scattered in every direction.
"Danger!"
Lilia pointed at the rain of fireballs and Dante formed a massive defensive magic circle over their heads. The moment a fireball struck it, a deep crack ran through the circle with a deafening crack.
"Ugh! Damn it!"
Dante's face was anguished. Spiritual forms' growth is limited in confined spaces, but the spiritual form that had swallowed Shirone was a Law far more powerful than the Ice Queen's. It was probably the Immortal Function. Indeed, nothing empowered a being that absorbed Laws more than Shirone did.
"Deploy Bakyojin right now!"
Lilia's eyes were panicked as she scanned the aerial battle. Shirone was firing photon cannons in rapid succession, but not even a crack appeared on the Kannon's body.
"Not yet. Bakyojin's range is much narrower than a Sealing Array. If we can't draw it into that area, setting it up here would be pointless—better to die than to waste it."
Amy shouted up at the sky.
"Shirone! Drive the monster this way!"
Armand copied Amy's voice and transmitted the noisy command into Shirone's brain.
"Drive it here?"
They must have found some method on the ground. But how could they push a monster that didn't even flinch under photon cannon fire?
'We have no choice.'
Shirone opened his eyes wide and focused on increasing the photon cannon's power. The mind of Psychic Transcendence attempted an enormous expansion.
The Immortal Function can borrow infinite mental power, but it cannot raise its power beyond the Spirit Zone.
Psychic Transcendence forcibly reinforces the Spirit Zone.
Of course, like Divine Transcendence, the mental backlash that follows is a separate problem.
Push your output beyond what you can sustain—like Rian's arm exploding when he swung a sword beyond his body's limit—and the mind itself can shatter.
- Focal point expansion. Overdrive engaged.
Shirone did not hesitate. Feeling a massive output he'd never experienced before, he reached out and dozens of flashes slammed directly into the Kannon's torso.
"krk-krk-krk—!"
The Kannon's body, which had seemed pinned in space, began to inch backward. It fired sonic waves in all directions, but Shirone did not relent. In fact, his power only grew with time.
Two hundred fifty meters to the Bakyojin installation point.
Those watching from the ground were transfixed by the dozens of photon cannons flashing.
"How can someone use that kind of power…?"
Lilia, a mage, was most shocked. The reason she labeled some spiritual forms as demigods was their free command of the Laws. A being of Law must be sealed with Law. Yet Shirone was forcing a demigod back by physical force alone.
"…I thought he was naive."
Dante gave a bitter smile at Lilia's mistake. Judge Shirone by his appearance and you get this: a country kid who cares nothing for dress, calmly sewing in a café. But that boy was the only one who'd beaten him.
"Well, he does look best as a mage."
Lilia hesitated. The Kannon's forward movement was visibly shortening. If the photon cannon's power couldn't rise further, forcing it to the Bakyojin point would be impossible.
"Lilia. Prepare Bakyojin. Whether Shirone succeeds or fails, if something's to be done, this is our last chance."
'What should I do?'
If Bakyojin fails, the Kannon will escape into the world. Even with the kingdom's preparations, judged by the scale of its Law it could raze small cities within hours.
Lilia turned to Dante.
"I'll prepare Bakyojin."
They had to try for Shirone. The people here were as precious as those outside. This wasn't the same as leaving a monster alive.
"Good. Here's the plan. If Shirone pushes another fifty meters, I'll construct a defensive magic circle—like a mansion—to trap the monster. It won't be a full Sealing Array, but it should provide a minimum safeguard. Meanwhile, Amy, prepare the spell to support Shirone with firepower."
Amy nodded.
"Understood. I'll cast my strongest spell."
Jocque watched them fight desperately and felt anger flare at his own helplessness.
Why risk their lives?
They could simply leave. After all, he'd pay for all the sins, and the kingdom would handle the aftermath.
"Why are they fighting?"
Dante, guarding Lilia, turned to him.
"What do you mean? If you're thinking of interfering, I'll take you out first."
"Why fight? You have no sins—just run away! Don't you want to live? You're so strong, so talented! You have a bright future—why die like this in some place?"
Dante looked at Jocque incredulously, then sighed as if he understood.
"Did you learn magic to succeed?"
"Huh?"
"Aren't your priorities backward? You learned magic because you loved it, and success follows when you become good at it. If you run now, won't you be eaten by regret? I fight with the magic I learned. So don't interfere—just watch quietly."
Having finished the ritual sequence, Amy opened her eyes.
"It's ready. I'm starting now."
Her crimson eyes glowed, and two columns of flame rose from the ground beneath her feet and merged into a gigantic ball of fire—an inferno several times larger than the one she'd cast within her spirit radius.
Jocque stared at the sun-like blaze until realization dawned and he bowed his head.
"These fools are mad for magic…"