[585] In the Name of God (4)
* * *
After passing through the deep, deep underground tunnel, a fist-sized orb crackling with blue electricity hovered in midair.
Fermi stared at the orb.
It was an electrical cipher device rare even in Radum—a device reserved for security level two and above at the Magic Association.
"Money's just pouring out."
An off-the-books depreciation deal.
A 1.7 billion–gold information magic chip, with an indicator built in, popped onto the palm of his hand.
He swallowed it and cast a spell; the orb's electricity unfurled into a curtain, revealing the internal circuitry.
From here on it was pure brainwork, and compared to the security grade the cipher system wasn't all that complex.
'Looks like there aren't any specialists in information magic,' he thought.
That didn't mean it was easy. Fermi fumbled for about thirty minutes before finally cracking the code.
The orb flared red and revealed a scene unlike any before.
A vast cavern, carved as if out of a single stone, showed skulls clinging to the walls like bas-reliefs. At the winding end of the cave, several figures raised goblets and conversed.
They couldn't not have known Fermi was here, but they showed no sign of concern.
'This is creepy as hell.'
Even without guards to block the way, the cavern's air was as sharp as a blade.
From all he'd been through, Fermi could tell that whoever he pointed at here were people at the absolute peak of their fields.
'Well...'
Thinking about it, it wasn't really surprising.
The one waiting for Fermi was a person who had reached the pinnacle of time magic.
"You finally came. I must admit your resourcefulness."
"Even if you're on the run, I didn't expect you'd come this far."
Fermi smiled and stepped toward the bandaged figure.
"Armin, Perceiver of Eternity."
Armin—who had left the Ivory Tower—had joined hands with Miro and was carrying out some kind of mission with several others.
"How did you find me?"
Fermi was the son of Yolga—a heroine to rival Miro—and a genius, so the whole situation was curious.
"To be honest, I heard. From Sein."
Sein. The one known as Snake in the Black Line was also aiding Miro.
'If Fermi was allowed to leave willingly, does that mean it's consent?'
"First, about the negotiation I mentioned...."
Fermi strode toward the table where Armin sat, then stopped dead.
If he'd stepped another centimeter, he'd be dead.
'Whoah.'
The killing intent he felt for the first time in his life came from a one-armed swordsman leaning against the wall behind Armin.
Parka Kuan—once an instructor at the Kaizen Sword School—now worked with Armin, preparing for the coming war.
"Sit."
Only after Armin gave permission did the curtain of killing intent lift.
"…Yes."
Fermi answered and pulled out a chair.
'Phew, grown-ups,' he thought.
Fermi, fearless in most things, knew it was better to act like a polite Magic Academy student for now.
'And these are Auntie's friends.'
Miro's lineup, so to speak.
Including Sein and even the missing former Magic Association head Gaold, it made for a formidable squad.
'My mother had people like this too.'
There had been comrades of Yolga who treated Fermi like a nephew.
'If not for that incident...'
Sensing the chill in Fermi's eyes, Armin asked, "You came here for a deal, right?"
"The funds we promised are ready. Only the signature remains."
Fermi produced the contract for the off-the-books depreciation deal.
"One-week deadline. Transaction amount: 100 billion gold. Three-year installment plan."
Armin glanced down at the contract.
Reaching this point alone proved Fermi's talent was exactly as Miro had described.
'But...'
She couldn't say whether it was the right thing to do.
Above all, she couldn't understand why Miro had permitted Fermi to investigate Esthas.
"Promises must be kept."
There was an anxious note in Fermi's voice—one that didn't suit him. It meant this was a situation he couldn't fully control.
"Miro knows about this."
Armin and Fermi's agreement was old, but Miro had heard of it now.
"Are you ready to take responsibility? You could die. And even if you survive, making Miro your enemy won't do you any favors."
Fermi's smile vanished.
"Would you have said the same thing nineteen years ago?"
"…"
"I just want to know for certain. Whose was Auntie's to begin with?"
Lost in thought, Armin picked up her pen and signed. Fermi's eyes sparkled.
"As promised, signed."
When a much younger Fermi had first arrived, a deal like this had seemed impossible—but now it was done.
"Thank you."
He cast the off-the-books spell and a gold-glinting chip materialized.
A time-stopping magic: Stop.
* * *
When the fourth scramble was summoned and Iruki and Hershi's hands thinned, the odds on the random cards started to swing wildly.
'Why split the hands like that?'
Hershi's question was answered when the next random card was opened.
'Black again.'
It should have been white with a 78% probability.
'Of course there's still a 22% chance, but if this keeps happening...'
It was blatant probability manipulation.
"I see. They're not taking Kang."
"Dorothy, Kang."
Iruki called Kang, and a second later Dorothy's hand—○○○ (Religion)—was reshuffled.
"If Kang or Pao aren't chosen, the reshuffled cards don't get mixed into the random pile."
Hershi's remark made Pisho check the master-card status.
"Savina is destroying scrambles. We're faster, but at this pace we won't gain much."
"It's about even. Between what's left and what's been collected, there are around forty scrambles."
The outcome would only be decided at the very end.
"No. Then we win. Eventually the probabilities will lock in."
As the chess pieces dwindled, so did the variables.
"The winner of this game will be Kaiden."
A smile spread across Hershi's face.
* * *
By the time the fifth scramble had been up for a while, Amy and Kaiden were no longer concerned with anything else.
"Uooooooh!"
Each time Crosssword spun like a windmill, blasts of cold gusted outward.
Amy wrapped herself in Fire Mist, but this time a blade-like wind—like Air Cut—sliced through the flame barrier.
A swordswoman who could fuse every element into her blade.
'With talent like that...'
Was the fate of the Red-Cross Star only to end in frustration?
"Shut up!"
Amy's crimson eyes flared and her firepower detonated.
'Il-do!'
From a state of focus she pierced focus again, sliding into a temporary trance as her body burned like a torch.
"What is this?"
No mage could endure temperatures over a thousand degrees Celsius.
'It's a vacuum.'
A magic combining wind and fire.
Amy's technique, Hwain, created a vacuum inside the flames to stop heat convection.
"But you still can't block radiant heat, can you?"
Amy could only hold Hwain for about ten minutes at most.
"Long enough to take down someone as stupid as you."
"Stupid?"
"Don't you think it's selfish? Everyone carries a burden in life. That doesn't give you license to give up and wreck someone else's life."
"Maybe so."
Kaiden planted Crosssword and pressed a palm to it; a cold chill bloomed.
"But do you know? The weight of my fate is heavier than that of any human."
'That's what's stupid!'
Amy's charge looked like a rolling ball of flame.
"Foolish. To try close combat with a swordsman."
This was the first time Amy had closed distance first in their fights.
"Is that so?"
Amy's flames soared recklessly, forming a giant of fire that crashed down on Kaiden.
'That's not magic?'
Crosssword sliced the giant, but the freezing aura vanished without resistance.
'Ifrit.'
Another spirit mounted on Amy.
The ancient spirit Jack-O'-Lantern had ridden Il-do's energy and evolved into a fiery demon.
"Flame Fist!"
Ifrit's smoky, blazing fists split into dozens and swung.
Fwoooom!
With the explosion of flames, the final black and white—the sixth scramble—was summoned.
* * *
'Done.'
Shirone opened his eyes calmly.
As midnight drew near, the chronometer of Shibulsangpokmae distorted the scenery so much it could hardly distinguish objects.
'One hundred gyeong.'
It was the numerical threshold Shirone had finally reached.
He had expected something, but as he had thought, nothing earth-shattering occurred.
One hundred gyeong was grand only on a human scale; it was still a tiny slice of the natural numbers.
But it was enough time to subdue Eden.
When he stood, the scenery snapped back to normal and the incarnation of the Radiant Angel shot up to the treetops.
"Eden is...."
Shirone checked the Master Cards and began searching for Eden in areas without scrambles.
Using the Spirit Zone to tighten the radius like a hunt, he finally caught Eden in his synesthetic sense.
She probably felt it too, but she neither fled nor hid.
"…You've come."
Shirone assessed Eden's condition.
'No Master Card.'
Eden likewise looked up at Shirone's avatar.
"Is this the true nature of the ability to control time?"
"I've thought about it countless times."
Shirone approached Eden.
"And I reached a conclusion. Eden, your omnipotence isn't absolute. It's only immense."
"Humans tend to belittle states they haven't reached. They fear what they don't know. It's why people deny the existence of gods."
"If a god truly existed, why try to prove it?"
"Is merely revealing existence proof?"
"You deny Gaold."
"He denied God first."
"So you're saying he's imperfect."
"I don't follow. If you have some other angle...."
"You could die."
Shirone cut her off.
"The reason I bring this up is that I don't want to kill you. Give it up now. Your omnipotence isn't absolute. If you take my attack in that state...."
He was sincere.
"You could truly die."
Eden shook her head with a pitying look.
"Is that the best you could come up with? Trying to shake my mind?"
"Listen, Eden."
"Fine. All right, assume you're right."
Eden's shield flared with holy light.
"Assume my omnipotence isn't absolute. Even so, God watches over me. I have no arrogance. Even imperfect, there's no problem in defeating you."
Eden spread both arms.
"If something's imperfect, I'll avoid it. That is another solution God gave me."
"You say that because you can avoid it."
Shirone ground his teeth.
"If I start something, I swear you will never be able to avoid it. This is your last warning. Give it up now."
"How arrogant humans are."
Even after hearing the plea, Eden's gaze grew only calmer.
"Think you can be a god just because you can control time? Not at all."
Eden's shield burned at its brightest yet.
"I have an invincible space granted by God."
"…Understood."
As the words finished, the Radiant Angel flowed into Shirone's body and the chronometer's influence began to spread.
"Please, don't hold it against me."
In the name of God.
Time and space were about to collide.