[687] An Incident Occurs (2)
* * *
"Waaah! Save the goblin!"
Shirone snatched Kido, who was flailing as he fell, like snatching a swallow out of the air.
"I told you I'd catch you. Why're you making such a fuss?"
"Damn it! I don't want to be in the sky!"
For Kido, who had learned the ways of the ground, the sky—where there was nothing to cling to—was an uncomfortable place.
"By the way, that guy really went overboard. I didn't expect him to break that thing."
The seismic waves from the living flower's collapse had already destroyed more than half of Radum.
"Good riddance. I'm not a fan of ancient weapons and all that."
Map weapons that rely on map data don't bother to look inside a place. They only calculate damage and gains based on strategy and tactics.
That was why Shirone restrained himself from using the wide-area destructive magics he excelled at.
"That's your opinion. That thing is insanely expensive."
After setting Kido down on the ground, Shirone looked around.
The shock of the living flower's fall had rebounded the earth like a rubber sheet, sending dust and debris billowing so thick that not a foot ahead could be seen.
At least it was raining, so the visual interference wouldn't last long.
'Spectrum is destroyed and the living flower is broken. What is Ra Enemi planning?'
Shirone glanced back at Meirei.
"How is she? Is she still… speaking?"
His heart seemed to stop as he met her gaze.
"You… who are you?"
Her appearance hadn't changed, but the person standing before him wasn't Meirei.
If a face were a mirror of emotion, her lips pursed into a sharp line and her steady stare held an unknown feeling Shirone had never seen on any human before.
"..."
When nothing came from Meirei, Shirone opened the Bakji.
Behind matter lies the concept that defines it. A sword is a collection of atoms, but to perceive it as a sword the concept of "sword" must come first. If the concept that defines a sword is indestructible, then that sword cannot be destroyed in reality—this was the nature of Rian's Grand Cartography, .
Soul, idea, concept.
Call it what you will, but for a five-sensed human to step into that realm there are two ways.
One is to shed the body made of matter (the vulgar brain).
The other is to sense the underside world from the realm of reality (the Bakji).
Shirone inspected Meirei with the latter ability and felt the hairs on his arms rise.
'What is this…?'
Meirei's conceptual form was unlike a human's. Her body was gaunt and thornlike, over three meters tall, the crown of her head fanning up like a crest. Her arms were thin and long, her back curved, and her eyes had no pupils—only a glossy black retina.
"You… just who are you—"
Just as Shirone spoke, Kido gripped his wrist.
"Enough. Leave her be for now."
"Kido, what's going on?"
Kido couldn't sense the Bakji, but from the taste of her memories he could make some guesses.
"I knew it when I fed on her blood. Her memories aren't human."
Meirei's memories were something a goblin's imagination couldn't analyze.
"Anyway, she's clearly intent on fighting Ra Enemi. That means she's on our side."
"Why didn't she tell me?"
"That's…."
Meirei spoke to Shirone.
"It's been a while, Hexa."
It wasn't in a human tongue, but the Ultima System translated it.
"You know me?"
No—exactly, it was Hexa.
Shirone had recalled memories of Hexa through Igor's ability, but it still didn't feel like his own.
Meirei looked around. "There's too much noise. It means the time has come. Wait a little. You'll know everything soon."
"Wait? For what?"
Meirei lifted a finger to the sky and said, "The event."
* * *
"Kuuugh! Damn!"
The collapse of the living flower spared no race and claimed countless lives, but the pure-blood vampire Laika somehow survived by the skin of her teeth.
"Do you think something this small would end me?"
Laika crawled out from the crevice of the fallen living flower, trembling as she forced herself upright.
The tower had been so enormous that even collapsed it looked like a standing cliff.
'I want to sink my fangs into someone right now… but recovery comes first.'
Vampires are a race with the peculiar nature of being half-body, half-soul. Dwelling on the border between matter and concept, they could choose to smash through a wall or pass through it—yet neither functioned perfectly. For example, wood is easier to destroy than stone, so wood becomes a substance vampires can more readily pass through.
Rufist's Iron Wall had such strength that, unless one was pure-blood, it was nearly impossible to break. Because of the Diamond Tide's effects, Laika's condition—both body and soul—was in tatters.
"Surviving this long is praise-worthy."
Rufist walked across the rain-and-dust–turned mud.
'Damn it.'
It was impressive resolve to have found Laika on a scene of devastation like a natural catastrophe.
"Lucky you survived. I don't plan on giving you a peaceful death."
Laika bared her fangs and snapped back.
"Heh heh heh. How unfortunate. Do you think breaking the living flower will bring back the dead woman? You didn't even take the seed. Your mission is a complete failure."
Anyone who knew the value of the living flower understood why the Magic Association head had been sent from the palace.
"Who cares about a soon-to-be-dead worm?"
A gurgling sound came from Laika's throat.
"How dare a lowly human say they'll kill a vampire?"
Rufist let out a long sigh.
"Human, human. That's all you scum can say, isn't it?"
"Because it's true. It's absurd that this weak species rules the world."
"Yes, weak."
Rufist accepted it readily.
"In general."
Laika's eyes hardened.
"Let me tell you a story. Two men fell into hell with their families."
Rufist showed the back of his hand, raising his index and middle fingers.
"They decided to escape hell. One succeeded—but the other couldn't get out."
When he curled his fingers, only the middle remained raised.
Although he knew it was a vulgar insult among humans, Laika had to bite back her anger.
"The failed man couldn't abandon his family. If his wife fell, he'd lift her up. If a child stumbled, he'd scoop them up and run. In the end, the gates of hell closed on him."
Rufist sneered.
"The successful man, on the other hand, abandoned everyone. Whether his wife fell into the flames, whether his parents cried in agony, whether his children bled from their eyes—he only ran, and ran, until he escaped before the gates shut."
Rufist spread his arms. "Isn't that strange?"
"...What are you trying to say?"
"As you know, this is a metaphor. A metaphor for human society's system. The more responsibilities you have, the less competitive you become. Yet people choose responsibility over competition. Those 'ordinary' humans you mentioned—"
A sharpness entered Rufist's eyes.
"Most people who hear this sympathize with the failed man and condemn the successful one. So hardly anyone asks: why did the successful man run even though he left the ones he loved most in hell?"
Rufist raised a finger. "Because it was efficient. The moment you take responsibility for someone, everything dies with them. So what kind of mind can you expect from a man who abandons his family and runs? Is he sane?"
Rufist shook his head. "Absolutely not. Obsession with success, madness. I call it psychic murder. Whether you're born without guilt or you suppress it with reason, victory depends on how many precious people you can kill in your heart. The upper echelons of the current human system are crawling with such lunatics. How does that make you feel—still think humans are a weak species?"
The smile on Rufist's face froze into something cold.
"The people standing in Radum carrying out missions now are beyond ordinary humans. They are ruthless psychic murderers. Those who remained—to become mages, to spread the will of good, to reach the pinnacle of swordsmanship—all of them had to kill those they loved most. Kill, kill, kill—always climbing by killing."
The only thing one might obtain by murdering friends, family, even oneself was… the true self.
"Don't think for a second that the gentle humans you've fed on are the same as those here. No one here is sane. Madmen capable of anything to achieve their goals rule at the very top. This is no system for a lowly race like vampires to meddle in."
"Kyaaaaah!"
Laika roared and lunged.
Her soul wasn't even half recovered, but the indignation of having her race's pride trampled could not be contained.
'Jane…'
She shouted the last words she had left, but Rufist felt no relief. The genius mage of the mind discipline had died in this hybrid den precisely because someone had responsibilities to bear.
'You should have killed him. You should have lived.'
Maybe Jane had wanted to escape the guilt of psychic murder and find a better life.
Steel Magic—Diamond Tide.
Steel condensed over Rufist's shoulder, forming into the forelegs of a massive beast that slammed down on Laika.
"Kuuugh!"
Like a mouse trapped in a lion's paw, Laika thrashed and pounded.
If even her half-soul couldn't escape, it meant the Diamond Tide's durability exceeded the vampire's abilities.
"Shall we play with her a while?"
Laika's face twisted grotesquely. "Lowly—"
The beast's claws sank into Laika's body.
"Arghhhhh!"
Her screams lasted a full ten minutes.
"No creature would mangle its prey this badly."
When Laika died, her body withered first. It turned to dust, and a black soul scattered into the air.
'Is this the end?'
Laika was gone. With the living flower destroyed, Plarino wouldn't be able to act either.
Among the Triarchs, Drakker still remained, but since he hadn't shown himself it seemed Shirone's mercenaries had dealt with him.
"Finally found you."
Where the slosh of water sounded, Shagal appeared hunched over, his hair soaked like a mop.
The first thing Rufist checked was the bag Shagal dragged.
'He recovered the dagger.'
The last weakness was gone.
"I'll kill you."
Shagal quickened his pace, but Rufist didn't move.
When Shagal came within striking distance and Rufist slowly turned, Shagal pushed off the ground and shot past him.
"Ra Enemi!"
Shuriken-like short blades stabbed the air at terrifying speed.
"Wherever you are!"
Shagal sniffed the air and leapt to the opposite side of the fallen living flower.
"I'll find you and kill you!"
Rufist pulled Nemesis from Kubrick.
'If his nose picked up something, that means everyone will be converging soon.'
Ra Enemi had begun to move.