[669] To Radum (4)
A shockwave-class magic made from the combination of relatively tiny mass and relatively immense speed.
Its destructive force was so great it looked like an explosion spell, but the essence of Angel's Punishment was a shockwave formed at supersonic velocity.
As the torn, twisted structures stopped expanding and settled back into place, all that remained were fragments—shreds like the Galloper's detritus, blown apart by the vibrations.
"They're being absorbed."
Shirone watched as their remains seeped into the fibrous floor.
A chill ran through him at the thought that perhaps the entire structure here had once been made of corpses.
"Is it over? Is it really over?"
In the sudden hush, Kon murmured.
Two golems wounded by the Galloper stood at his sides; when their Spirit Zone was released they crumbled into soil and disintegrated.
Veteran B's pride didn't even compare to the magic they'd just witnessed.
"Is that the kind of magic an Ivory Tower candidate uses?"
Ackman had already accepted defeat; the masters of the remaining two guilds were seeing Shirone's power for the first time.
No—this wasn't limited to Shirone. None of them had ever seen anything like it.
"Maybe…."
Maybe they could survive this hell.
One person caught a sliver of hope; others, consumed by fear, sank into despair.
"Sniff… sob."
Turning toward the sound, Shirone saw Elwi of Bloodrose clenching her fists and trembling.
"Elwi, pull yourself together. You can't lose heart now."
Master Evian tried to soothe her, but once emotion welled up it wasn't easy to control.
"What do I do? I can't stop crying. I'm going to die."
"You're not. You're alive. Right now."
It was the first time the poison mage who had been spreading nerve gas across the battlefield had shown such fragility.
"You're wrong! No matter what I do, the fear won't go away! I'm going to die, I—!"
She suddenly broke down, choking.
The truly terrifying thing wasn't the fear itself but the self consumed by it; once your mind slipped, you were drawn endlessly into darkness.
"Huh? Uh—?"
Elwi's eyes began to roll inward.
"Elwi! No! Hang on!"
Just as everyone feared another casualty—
"It's okay."
Shirone wrapped Elwi in his arms.
"Ah… ahhhh…."
Feeling warmth, Elwi's pupils slowly returned to normal and her brush with death was briefly delayed.
"Don't worry. Whatever this place is, I won't let you die a meaningless death. Trust me and follow me."
Relief flickered over Elwi's face, but her lips soon pouted.
"You're lying! The captain can say that because he's strong! The weak die first! Nothing works here—not even nerve gas!"
That was the root of it.
"You'll abandon me! You'll want me to die before others!"
One could see with his own eyes how fear shredded a person's mind.
"Nerve agents don't work here."
Shirone met Elwi's startled gaze and spoke calmly.
"But once we get out of here, Elwi's magic will be a huge asset. If we didn't need you, we wouldn't have taken you in the first place. So you can trust me."
"Really? I'm still needed?"
"Of course. And look—you're still here, alive and whole."
Only then did Elwi realize death had passed her by.
"A mage of your caliber can pull yourself back. So try a little harder, okay?"
Elwi was a mage, even if she wasn't an official one.
"Thank you."
When Elwi finally steadied and smiled, Shirone returned the smile.
But by the time he turned to give orders it was gone.
"By the body's clock it's dawn. Advancing in this condition would be pointless. Let's find somewhere to rest."
No one objected—the fatigue from surviving in this place was crushing.
Avoiding ghouls where possible, they settled inside what must once have been the huge heart of a warehouse.
"It's warm."
That was the only consolation, and the realization brought a wave of revulsion.
"What kind of world were we living in?"
Kon's words dampened the mood; Shirone moved to organize.
"Set watches. We've got enough people—make a rota and keep watch until we have to move."
Kargin thought of the joke Who cares if someone dies in the meantime? but kept it to himself.
"I'll go first."
Hardened in matters like this, Kuan limped out of the heart.
"If it's him…."
The others let out quiet, unheard sighs of relief.
He'd already proven himself the best among the mercenaries in the Galloper fight.
"How flattering."
Thinking Aria's bodyguard would watch over them felt reassuring, and so Kuan volunteered for the first watch.
"Get some sleep. We depart in three hours."
It wouldn't be full rest, but in a place like this you slept to survive.
Still, most couldn't fall asleep.
The deeper their consciousness sank, the louder the heartbeat of the structure seemed.
"Neo…."
The archer Joshua rose and opened the pendant at his throat.
"Is that your lover?"
At the sudden voice, he turned; Kargin was smirking.
"Don't be nosy. I can't stand old men."
"You ever been interested?"
She thought for a moment before asking.
"What do you want?"
Kargin nodded at the pendant.
"Is it your lover?"
"No."
Inside the pendant was a drawing of a four-year-old.
"It's my son."
"Huh. Didn't know you were married."
"I wasn't. I don't even know who his father was. I was reckless back then…."
In a long mercenary life men willing to pay for a night were common. Sometimes the pay outshone missions, and when she wanted she accepted—but she'd slipped up and not used protection.
Kargin, who knew the mercenary life, skipped the details and asked bluntly.
"Is that why you cling to money so much?"
"He's dead."
With a sharp click the pendant snapped shut.
"Heatstroke. Some virus, I heard. There was a cure. We just didn't have the money."
Joshua left it at that.
"That's awful."
Maybe because this really was hell, his sympathy sounded sincere.
"And you? Family?"
Kargin smiled wryly.
"Sadly, I'm still a confirmed bachelor. A true old bachelor. Not a virgin, though."
Joshua snorted at the old man's worn joke.
"Not kidding. Want to check?"
Kargin made a move to tug at his trousers; Joshua turned away with a cold look.
"You're crazy."
"Heh, why not? Beats fear. They say the senses change here—you might reach a new peak."
"Why me? There's that beautiful nun and the kingdom's diplomat."
"You're the prettiest."
An obvious lie, but it didn't feel unpleasant.
"How much are you offering?"
"What?"
"You called me pretty. Ask him."
Kargin hesitated, then took out a top-grade gold coin from Cubrick.
When Joshua said she wanted payment in hand, he tried to argue, but she had no family either.
"All of it."
The hundred thousand gold he'd received from the Rupist was in his palm.
"They say even a rotten fish is better than none."
The old man had a knack for tugging at people's hearts.
She snatched fifty thousand gold from Kargin, shoved it into Cubrick, and rose.
"I'll take half. Let's slip out the back."
Kargin, awkward with the remaining coins, followed and asked as they left.
"I really don't care, but…."
"Don't throw your life away for this. We'll get out alive. Then you can enjoy yourself properly, old man."
Some fell asleep, but the core members—including Shirone—sat in a corner lost in thought. Joshua glanced at Shirone as if asking permission.
The Rupist made a gesture to let them manage, and the two slipped out through the back door.
"You okay?"
"Why? You going to relax too?"
Shirone wasn't in a joking mood.
"It's dangerous. Given how this world works, emotional shifts might have an effect…."
"Don't expect too much. They're clinging on desperately. If you push them any harder, they'll actually die."
As someone who'd led many subordinates, the association head knew that well.
Shirone and the other core members had mental fortitude prized by the kingdom, but ordinary mercenaries under sheer fear could break in ways you couldn't imagine.
Given Elwi's state, Shirone held his tongue on that matter.
"Um… Meirei."
"Ah, yes?"
The woman who'd been blocking out sound to test divine frequencies turned her head.
"You mentioned an oracle earlier. What exactly is that?"
With Jane trying to find an escape and getting nowhere, Meirei's information mattered.
"Oh—right."
Sitting beside Shirone, she explained.
"It's hard to call it a memory. The oracle process is so dreamlike. Things just flashed into my head when we entered here. Some information comes that way."
"You said an otherworldly realm, right?"
"Yes. But that's just my term for it. They perceive the world with far more varied senses than humans do. They probably don't separate the world we live in from a place like this."
"Why didn't you tell us earlier?"
"Truth is… this only just came to me as I was speaking."
If it was a kind of free association, they could draw out more by talking.
"What do you mean by 'integrated'?"
Meirei blinked, then spoke.
"Remember when I said your brother had a hunch?"
"Yes. Meirei, you're the blue one."
"When I first heard about the ability called Si-bulsang-pokmae, that's the first thing that came to mind. Your brother probably opened his sixth sense."
"Me?"
"The Teraforce cult—or more precisely, the Teraforce gods—classify senses into eleven kinds. Humans have only five, but some sensory beings understand the universe with many more. Do you know what they call the pinnacle, the eleventh sense?"
Shirone shook his head; she pointed at him.
"Gunggam (窮感), the Ultima system."
"Ultima…the eleventh and final sense?"
"I knew—your brother possesses Gaia's final sense. But Ultima isn't just about decoding signals. The human sixth sense manifests as an integration of the five senses. The seventh manifests as an integration of the sixth, and so on. Through successive integrations you reach the eleventh, where everything becomes one. That seems to be Teraforce knowledge."
Meirei's words sped up as if more data were pouring out.
"Humans are five-sense beings, so the sixth-sense manifestation is temporary. But your brother opened it completely. The sixth sense they call shibokgam (時爆感). It's a vivid sensation that transcends time."
By now the Rupist and even Jane had come over to listen.
"If you truly want to open the eleventh sense, you keep integrating to open new senses. Biologically possible or not, I don't know, but that's how they did it."
"How many senses do the Teraforce have?" Jane asked suddenly.
"I don't know exactly. They haven't reached the eleventh for sure, but it wouldn't be few. In any case, since they opened the seventh sense, they'd know about this place."
Jane's face brightened with an idea.
"You said shibokgam breaks through time. Then what does the seventh sense do?"
"It tears down the barriers of space. A sense that demolishes the line between being and non-being."
Meirei spread her hands as if there were a wall in front of her.
"The seventh sense is Bakji (薄知)."
Another step toward the ultimate.