[426] The Definition of Life (2)
The Plateau of Corruption.
A wind carrying a thick smell of sulfur swept across the barren plain.
Not a single blade of grass grew on the empty earth, and storm clouds stretched to the horizon, vomiting lightning.
Dry, bleak, utterly lifeless.
The 3rd Special Operations Unit fell riding a shaft of light. It was a harsher landing than any Elizer they had experienced before.
Shirone rolled along the ground, feeling as if he'd been bounced by an uncontrollable force.
"Ow, my head. Senior, you okay?"
Shirone opened his eyes wide at the scene around them.
Rectangular panels, four meters high, stood at the eight directions. Beyond the panels, two-meter spikes were densely embedded as far as the eye could see.
When lightning struck, powerful current ran along feeder lines and detonated light inside the panels that surrounded them.
"This is…"
One of the squad muttered, "This isn't a natural light-collection spot. It's a device built to gather light artificially."
"Made by the Mecha folk?"
"No one knows who made it. It was here before the Subjects lived in Heaven. Only the angels would know what happened on this forsaken land."
Thunder cracked again.
As lightning split into thousands of forks and was absorbed into the ground, the earth glowed a bluish light as if teeming with insects.
When a blinding white radiance erupted from the panels with a boom, Shirone frowned and gave the order.
"Get out of here for now. It might be dangerous to stay."
The 3rd Special Operations Unit dodged the tens of thousands of spikes and left the thunderstrike zone.
All of them could fly, but the air in this place was too hazardous.
They reached a crater four kilometers from the Light Pool.
It looked as if some object had slammed down at terrifying speed; the ground was gouged deep.
When they brushed soil away toward the center, an iron plate revealed itself. Something seemed buried far below.
"So that's why they call it the Angel's Tomb."
"Yes. For centuries countless heretics tried every means to excavate these ruins. All in vain."
A squad member gestured around them. "Some even tried to remove the whole area. But if you dig to certain points you get electrocuted by the feeders. Records say hundreds were wiped out."
"So we need to lift the seal, then."
Shirone examined the iron plate closely.
Though the shapes differed, the script was clearly Hena—the angels' language.
If a Nephilim were present, maybe they could open it. Or at least, probably.
Shirone looked back at Plu.
Entering the Immortal Function would be fine, but beyond that lay unknown territory.
"Let's open it. If it's dangerous, we'll leave right away."
Plu wanted to go in.
If heretics had risked their lives for centuries to excavate this place, something of great value must lie below. Besides, Shirone had Mass Teleport—he could extract them immediately if needed.
"Then I'll start."
Shirone placed his hand on the iron plate and activated the Immortal Function. The Hena glowed and a vast radiance shot upward in a radial burst.
As the squad stepped back, a rumble rose from deep below and vibrated up through their feet.
"Tch! Put some distance between us."
One member barked with a grim face, and Shirone and the others backed away without protest.
Kukukukukuku!
The plate vibrated, and a massive volume of earth poured down as something began to rise.
"What's that?"
They watched a towering iron structure keep ascending.
What emerged from the ground was a gigantic bell-shaped construct, its sturdy metal surface covered in Hena.
The base of the three-meter structure split in half and an exit opened.
After waiting a beat and seeing nothing odd, Shirone leapt forward and landed before the structure.
Letters were engraved on the iron above the dark entrance.
Because it wasn't Hena, Shirone launched a drone to decode them. The translation fed back to his head over the radio.
Babel.
"Ba…bel?"
The squad murmured in unison.
Only that inscription was not in the angelic tongue but in the Subjects' language.
Plu looked around at the team. "Babel, huh. What does it mean?"
"We don't know. It's the Subjects' language, but even we've never heard that word," one answered.
Not exactly helpful.
"Shirone, what now?"
"Go inside. Exploration is the point, after all."
As leader, Shirone stepped forward, cast Shining, and entered.
Stairs led downward, and the corridor stretched on as they descended.
Lamps set a meter apart lit up with each step, extending into the darkness.
Shirone stared, dazed.
It went on and on. Judging the distance, the structure that had risen aboveground was only the tip of the iceberg.
They reached a circular chamber. The iron plate above the entrance read "Control Room" in the Subjects' language.
"Hm—control room. I can understand that."
Despite a quip from a squad member, no one smiled as they entered.
Lights snapped on, revealing devices linked together like something from the Great Divine War.
Beyond the apparatus rose a giant conical pillar. A matching pillar hung from the ceiling, and between their tips a writhing mass of electricity seemed held and moving.
"T-that…!"
The squad fell silent, stunned.
A braided thread of light that never kept the same shape for a moment—clearly an electric elemental, known to be impossible to collect in a pure natural state.
Plu rubbed his chin at a distance. "Hmm. Is that the power source for this place?"
'How stupid,' the others scoffed inwardly. 'That's not some trivial thing.'
What they were seeing was the Plateau's peculiarity—lightning striking every day—harnessed by a massive device, and across eons forming one of Purgatory's rarest elementals.
The squad exchanged cautious looks.
Because their unit was often dispatched into the field, its own regulations applied in cases like this.
If a special item was obtained during a mission, the highest-ranking officer on site decided its handling, and rewards were distributed proportionally to mission achievement. That was the principle.
It was unlikely those rules would be honored then and there, but there was no stronger restraint.
'That's mine.'
Each member thought the same.
They hadn't even conducted the mission properly, and by regulation the precious electric elemental would go to Shirone. For other items this might be arguable, but an electric elemental was a once-in-a-lifetime—indeed, once-for-the-entire-rebel-force—opportunity.
"First, confirm it!"
Shouting a ridiculous excuse, one squad member dashed forward.
"Wait! Don't approach recklessly—!"
Before Plu finished, the man lunged toward the electric elemental, reaching out to form a contract.
'I've got it. With this…!'
Had his heart ever raced this fast?
The sheer anticipation dulled his brain.
"I'll make the contract!"
As he shouted, pellets fired from the walls on both sides.
The man reflexively covered his face as puffs of shrapnel burst and his body shook.
"Arrgh…!"
Shirone looked around, alarmed.
The steel wall's surface was scored with grooves and embossing equal to the number of pellets that had shot out.
Yet not a single pellet lay around the man.
They had pierced him, flown out, and entered the grooves on the opposite wall.
That there was no deviation after impact showed how powerfully the pellets had been fired.
'He didn't even react. They pierced him straight through.'
Thud! The man's knees slammed onto the floor.
His arms dropped limp, and his face now had holes carved in the exact pattern of the wall.
Everyone's vigilance spiked.
Mourning a comrade's death could wait until they were out alive; for now they focused on the situation.
"You said this was a control room. Why are there traps?"
"It's not a trap."
Teng! Teng! Teng! Teng!
The moment Shirone finished speaking, segments of the control room wall detached one after another.
It wasn't a trap. The earlier attack had been merely the procedure to wrench off fixed steel doors.
Inside the compartmentalized walls, two-meter-tall steel golems lay packed like corpses in coffins.
Red light flared in their hollow eyes. They gripped the panels and stepped out.
"Who approaches Babel shall incur the wrath of God."
Two squad members made coordinated motions and prepared a group spell.
"Exterminate them with Gardin."
Gardin could be used only in lightning-strike situations, but among group spells it was said to be the most destructive.
Even steel golems were worth fighting where an electric elemental stood.
"Stand back! We'll incinerate them!"
Contrary to their words, the squad members thrust their hands forward before Shirone and Plu could dodge.
"Go! Gardin!"
Shirone flinched and froze, and Plu stared at the man in puzzlement.
Despite the grand shout, no magic flowed from their hands.
"What—the spirit isn't—"
If Spirit Force isn't properly connected, a group spell can't be cast. But there wasn't even a trace of electricity gathering.
Shirone muttered, "It's not an electric elemental."
"Execute those who approach Babel."
The golems intoned mechanically, split up, and each targeted a different mark.
"Fight! Everyone, prepare!"
Plu drew a Phoenix, slammed it down, and cast the Phoenix Formation.
A hot globe of fire fanned out and struck the golems, but their metal bodies barely flinched.
In a sealed space, the Nor members who could at best cast wind magic could only dodge the golems' blows.
"Shirone! Blast them with a laser!"
Plu called for support, but Shirone remained rooted as if he hadn't heard.
"Shirone! What are you doing? It's dangerous!"
Five golems thundered forward.
A shadow fell across Shirone's face as a colossal fist swung in.
Kuooooong!
The ground trembled.
Not a tremor from the control room itself, but the quiver that came when forty golems froze and halted in their tracks.
Shirone stared at the golem's fist that stopped right before him, then lifted his gaze.
The golem's red eye flickered rapidly, as if computing.
Target category—human.
Attribute—Nephilim.
Code search—iris-pattern identification.
Data search—Phase 1 complete. Phase 2 complete.
Result….
Result….
Result….
An enormous cache of data stored within the golem was searched in full, and a single conclusion was produced.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
All the golems extinguished their red eyes at once and collapsed forward.
The weight was immense; the structure shook as if it might collapse.
"What? Why all of a sudden…?"
While the squad, still tense, couldn't move, Plu lowered the Phoenix Formation and approached Shirone.
"What happened? Why did the golems fall?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know? Then why didn't you attack?"
In truth, Shirone had been thinking the same. Why hadn't the golems felt threatening?
'Like back then….'
Just as when Behemoth merged with its avatar and concrete memories vanished but an integrated feeling remained, now a nonverbal emotion carried the situation.
"Senior, I don't know the reason, but…."
Shirone turned to Plu with a dazed expression.
"I… I think I've been here before."