[468] And Then Again (1)
Second Heaven, Rakia.
On the inner ramparts of the Hall of Corruption stood Kariel, Yuriel, and Surtr, chief of the fire giants, side by side.
Because this place had not been designed for war, the inner walls rose above the outer, and beyond the outer ramparts an endless plain spread to the horizon.
A colossal drawbridge spanned the great river that cut across the plain—one kilometer wide, four kilometers long—and split into seven roads symbolizing the seven sins, fanning out to every gate of Rakia.
Gaold and his party would probably enter by one of those seven roads.
Those seven roads all ended exactly ten kilometers from here.
But in a way the calculation was meaningless.
No one here expected Gaold to show up.
"It's peaceful for now. Well, that was to be expected. How are our troop deployments?"
When Kariel turned and asked, Surtr immediately dropped to one knee and answered.
"Ten percent of our forces are deployed on the outer plains of Lamentation, twenty percent in the capital, thirty percent across the Kespa Mountains, and the remaining forty percent have been concentrated at the drawbridge. Even if they get over the Kespa range, they will never breach the drawbridge."
"I see."
Kariel looked down at Miro, who knelt at the wall's edge.
Her hands were bound with cuffs etched in henna, and she stared at the flowing river with a face as calm as the water itself.
A collar was locked around her neck, and at the long chain's end Arius knelt, bent over, eyes closed as if exhausted.
"How does it feel, being treated like a dog you raised?"
Miro did not answer.
She had cast her heart nowhere; not even a master-servant bond had meaning.
Her gaze was fixed on the distance, where Gaold would come from.
Miro's spacetime was gone, and the war against Heaven was inevitable.
If Heaven won, the next thing to come would be humanity's extinction.
Don't come, Gaold.
Gaold must not come here.
Right now, only Kariel and his remnants—those who denied Ra's will—remained in Rakia.
Gaold's strength should be used not to save her but to win the war.
Don't come. Think coldly. Go to Jebul right now. Destroy the Akashic Records.
Kariel smiled as if he could guess her feelings even without looking at her back.
"What if he does come this far?"
Kariel had already spent much of his power suppressing Miro's ability.
Even Brahma had been temporarily nullified by Miro, so Yuriel guarded him.
"Come forth, Shiva."
When Yuriel enacted the Law of the Minions, a black sphere formed and a three-pointed Mara appeared.
A man with bluish skin, fangs protruding past his lips, and a lithe, tiger-like waist bristling with countless crescent blades.
In the human realm he was called the god of destruction: Shiva.
Even Surtr, Purgatory's finest blade, swallowed hard at his appearance.
"Shiva—answer the archangel's call."
"Guard the outer gate. No one is to approach."
Shiva flashed his eyes and launched himself into the air with a powerful kick against the ground.
In a single bound he arced outward toward the outer gate, and Kariel smiled in satisfaction.
"All preparations are complete. From here, the festival begins."
Whether Gaold would arrive first or Heaven would triumph first was still uncertain, but either outcome suited Kariel.
* * *
Just a little more—
Breaking through the wall of fire the giants had formed with their bodies, Gaold pushed his speed higher.
Corrupt angels attacked the party from every direction, and their summoned minions trailed behind.
The eight of them, Gaold included, were like a single arrow piercing everything in its path.
Etella and Zulu guarded the rear, Armin ran the center, Kuan and Shiina ran the flanks.
Ahead of them ran Kangnan and Sein, and far in front, twice the distance of the others, Gaold moved alone.
Go, Gaold.
Zulu cheered Gaold silently.
A pool of emotion had stagnated for twenty years; compressed, it had become pure, unsullied fury.
A space and time reachable only by fixating on one thing.
Vomit everything out, Gaold. You deserve it.
"Arrrgh!"
Gaold clenched his fists and unleashed his power.
His sense of pain increased two millionfold.
"Aaaaargh!"
Overwhelming agony hurled Gaold's mind into hell.
The Primordial Inferno unfurled and the devourers ran rampant.
As hell's demon-god screamed across the sky, shaping Gaold's torment into sound, even the fire giants could not withstand the heat; they burned and writhed.
As the plains ended, Kangnan glanced back and said, "We're about to enter the city."
Rakia's capital lay splendidly across the vast land.
The city gates opened and countless giants poured out.
These were not the ordinary giants they'd faced before—they were high-class giants of a different order.
Worse, the number of corrupt angels kept swelling.
Armin's Stop magic and Zulu's various summons responded quickly to their powers, but to have held them off up to now was almost a miracle—the corrupt angels' abilities were grotesque and formidable.
"Flank!"
As Kangnan shouted, fireballs flew toward Shiina's position.
The enormous flames coalesced into giants and pressed Shiina.
Shiina spread intense cold around her; an ice barrier sprouted sharp spikes and encircled her.
Kraaaang!
A giant's fist smashed through the thick ice barrier.
Even if a fire giant was vulnerable to cold, it was still a giant.
The schemas wielded by high-class giants were in a completely different league from human schema.
"Shiina!"
Armin, running in the center, lunged toward Shiina.
He had limited time—the Stop magic held twenty corrupt angels—but nothing was more important to him than her safety.
He cast a flicker spell to pull Shiina free, and more fireballs arrived one after another.
Buried in the enemy, with no one free to help them, the two were cornered.
Every time the giants swung their blades of flame in tangled patterns like nets, Armin's collar singed.
"Ugh!"
As a blade passed over the bandages covering his eyes, another giant charged with a greatsword.
Shiina cast a freezing spell, but the giant, resolved to die with its foe, hurled itself forward and thrust its sword to the hilt.
Clang!
A sharp metallic ring sounded as the giant's trajectory was deflected sideways.
Kuan, who had been running on the opposite side, suddenly appeared, guiding the giant's blade aside and diving into the enemy ranks.
"Danger!"
As if he hadn't heard Shiina's warning, Kuan unleashed extra-gravity in every direction.
Each time he slipped through space and swung his sword, a giant's body began to splinter apart.
Even amid the crisis, Shiina and Armin briefly lost themselves watching.
"How…?"
Compared to when he first came to Heaven, his skill had advanced by leaps.
Armin could see the result of a short, intense refinement.
It wasn't enhancement—this was enlightenment.
Not that his speed or raw power had spiked, but the fluidity of his motion had reached unheard-of levels.
His genius movements shattered human patterns of thought so completely that even Shiina couldn't read his trajectories and lost sight of him.
Not yet.
Kuan cut on, unfettered.
Ignoring death, he rode impossible trajectories through the giants' blind spots; the giants fell as if struck by an invisible phantom, not even understanding what had felled them.
My grave will be—
Kuan felt extreme ecstasy paired with the same depth of sorrow and leaped upward.
This is not the place!
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
Centrifugal force upon centrifugal force compounded as gale-like slashes tore through the air.
The razor winds blew away even the giants' flames, and the unit on Shiina's flank teetered on the brink of annihilation.
Annoyed, Sein turned and shouted, "Hold your position!"
He had clearly warned them not to worry about others' safety when they first charged; Kuan's decision to ignore his slot and cross to the opposite side grated on him.
Kuan heard Sein's voice but only gave a faint smile.
The outward extra-gravity bent back in sixteen directions, twisted into his body, and accelerated his spin.
Using that rotational force to push off the ground, his body shot back toward his original spot at terrifying speed.
In a panorama of overlapping scenes, Kuan could clearly see Shiina cradled in Armin's arms.
She would probably never be able to forget Armin.
Because of that, I can die.
Unable to win her heart, unable to speak his own, he could die satisfied.
Childish stubbornness—or cruder male jealousy.
It didn't matter.
For you—
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
Spinning with incredible acceleration, the scenery collapsed into pitch-black.
Dozens of whirlwinds rose around Kuan as he returned to his place.
"Kraaaah!"
A twelve-meter giant fell down as if descending stairs.
Kuan sliced the giant's ankle, then knee, then calf—then the waist, chest, and neck were severed.
Everything was swept away by the seated spin of his gale slashes.
Hmph! Nothing more to say.
Having confirmed that, Sein faced forward again.
Before he knew it, the capital's main gate was right ahead.
Kangnan sped up and closed the gap to Gaold.
President.
Staring hard at the back that had been Miro's for twenty years, Kangnan peered into Gaold's back.
Just once… since we've come this far, just once—
Could she run alongside him?
She might never again have the chance to run behind him.
Kuaaaang!
Before Kangnan could finish the thought, the wall ahead exploded inward.
Then every visible section of wall began toppling backward.
He's mad. He's already gone beyond human limits.
Now even Kangnan couldn't gauge Gaold's threshold for pain-perception.
And as the distance closed, the effect intensified.
How much does it have to hurt?
Kangnan finally caught up to Gaold.
"President, now—"
But seeing Gaold's face, Kangnan could not speak.
"Sniff! Sob!"
He was crying.
There was no trace now of demon or madman on his face.
Only true, pure emotion.
At last—at last it had come.
A catharsis that vomited up twenty years of pent-up rage.
"Huh… huh! Huh!"
Gaold gritted his teeth and ran.
Tears at the corners of his eyes streamed free and fell onto Kangnan.
"All right."
Kangnan slowly eased her speed and bit her lip.
A bitter smile touched her face as Gaold's back came into view again.
"Go, Gaold."
"Aaaaaaaaaaa!"
Gaold unleashed the fury he'd never once been able to voice.
Buildings collapsed as if trampled by a god, and every charging giant turned to a handful of embers and was buried in the ground.
Distance remaining to Miro: 19.4 kilometers.