Things You Cannot Choose (1)
"Rian..."
If the standard was a swordsman who had attained the divine‑transcendent realm of the Ideals, even Nade would have had to give up.
Tess said.
"But how do you enter the Otherworld? Don't you have to be nearly half‑dead?"
"Yes. That's exactly it."
Tess went pale, but Taeseong stayed calm.
"Actually… you can't reach the Otherworld by being merely half‑dead. People usually say you hover on the brink of death. Even then, you only straddle the boundary between reality and the Other—you don't fully enter."
Shirone said, "Reality and the Other are separated by a sheet of paper. That's why they call it the Boundary. But mentally it's like opposite ends of the world. That's why the ancients called it a river from which you cannot return."
"Wait, Shirone! So you're saying Rian can't come back?" Tess demanded.
"The seekers called traversing the border between the afterlife and this life the Choeni Bardo. But that's impossible now, even for me. The Princess of Jincheon, Jin Seongeum, completely sealed the passage the Otherworld used to cross into reality."
Miro said, "Because of that, humanity gained hope."
"Yes. If the demons born in hellfire kept spilling into the real world, victory would have been impossible. It was an enormous achievement, and for that she must… be tormented in hell forever."
"So you expect us to accept that? Because Jin Seongeum exists, Rian should be prepared to die too?" Tess's voice trembled.
Shirone understood Tess's feelings. "Don't misunderstand. Half of what I said was meant that way, but it's not that there's absolutely no way back. If Seongeum were freed from hell, the Boundary would collapse."
"How would you free her? Is that even possible? Has anyone ever purified hell before?" It seemed unthinkable.
Taeseong said, "The problem comes after that. Shirone can cross into the Other through the Boundary. But Rian would have to use a brutal method. The best way is to burn him."
Tess looked ready to faint.
"Rian has an iron mind. Ordinary shocks won't break him. You burn him—over and over—gather emotions to a level reality can't accept."
"No one would do that to a person..." Tess choked out.
"It's impossible." Rian cut in. Tess turned to him as if she'd been waiting.
"Right? You think the same, don't you? Setting a living person on fire."
"No—exactly the opposite. I can't swear I've experienced it, but even if you burned me, my mind wouldn't waver. You'd need something stronger."
Tess gaped, while Taeseong gave a satisfied smile.
"That's why we need you, Rian. If you fall into hell having lost your reason, the ghouls will just eat you. The method doesn't matter. Fire only helps gather emotion; the truly important thing is your will."
"I understand." Rian looked Shirone in the eye after making a circuit of the grand hall. "I'm going with you, Shirone."
Tess bowed his head sadly when he saw the unwavering trust between the two.
Pony said, "It's not just Vashka. Other regions are in trouble too. The demon army fanned out radially, so many demons must still be in the central and southern areas."
Shirone turned to her. "Right. That was exactly what I was about to say."
Amy asked, "You followed Dante. Did you make it to Creas?"
Amy's family estate and Rian's were there—and, above all, Shirone's adoptive parents.
"Not yet."
"You didn't make it? What happened?"
"Well—" Shirone began.
From the mountaintop overlooking Creas, Dante's face had gone white. "It's enormous..."
Hundreds of thousands, easily—the demons had completely surrounded the walls and were conducting a siege.
Huge monsters rammed the iron‑plated gate with their horns, and demons poured in through the breach like water.
"Let's go. There's no time." Dante said, and Shirone looked back.
Thousands of refugees they'd rescued from the other regions stood there, exhausted.
"Go—go there." An old man leaning on a staff spoke for the refugees. "We won't be any use. Maybe as bandits, but how could we stand against those monsters..."
Eden said, "I'll stay and protect the people. You go help elsewhere."
With such a large procession, even a flying demon would spot them in moments. Eden's defensive magic should hold for hours even in the worst case.
Shirone made his decision. "Alright, then let's go. Dante, head to the Magic Association's Creas branch and assess the situation. Liria, support the walls. I'll enter the city and rescue the people."
Even as he spoke, flames flared up inside the city.
As Shirone prepared to cast teleportation, Dante called out urgently. "Shirone."
"Yes?"
"Stop by the Ozent family estate first."
Shirone couldn't answer right away. "Go. You deserve it. If you don't save your parents first, no one in the world will be able to help you with a pure heart."
"...Thank you, Dante." Dante nodded, and Shirone's body became a flash of light as he sped toward the city.
Shirone landed precisely in the center of the Ozent estate and heard a familiar voice. "Taha! Taha!"
In front of the family home, Reina was shooting arrows alone at the ghouls.
Her firing rhythm was impeccable and the ghouls fell, but when the enemy rose to company‑commander level, her arrows stopped being enough.
A commander covered in scales flicked an arrow aside with his forearm and advanced. "Heh heh heh—a human daring to take on demons. It's been a while since I've had a fun toy. I'll tear off your limbs one by one."
Reina calmly drew the longbow to full and released an arrow powerful enough to pierce scales. The demon caught it midair and charged.
"Kyahaha! Some human thinks he can—! Ugh!" Before the words finished, a Hand of God flew in and struck the commander's wrist.
At the same time, beams of light swept along the ground, seized the ghoul, and flung it into the sky.
It was literally the hand of a god.
Reina, stunned, turned her gaze forward. There was a dull thud as her bow slipped from her hands. "Shirone!" Tears in her eyes, she ran up, clasped Shirone's hands and cried, "What happened? Why are you here?"
"It's a long story. How's Bishop?"
"He's fighting at the wall. Your parents evacuated to the Magic Academy. That should be the safest place."
'Right—the army can't hold this,' Shirone thought.
The Alpheas School of Magic had an officially recognized second‑rank mage—rare even within the Association. Deputy Principal Olivia.
Reina said, "I brought my parents to the academy and came back briefly because I thought I should at least protect the family seal."
"That was wise." To a knightly family, the seal was like the heart. Shirone was grateful Reina had prioritized her parents' safety rather than abandoning the family seal.
"This is great. Honestly, I'd half given up. Hurry to the academy—"
A moment later, an explosion across the city sent up a mushroom cloud of fire.
"There?" It was the Magic Academy.
Alpheas' grounds were as large as a small town. Demons that had crossed the mountain crowded up to the central building, now a fortress, and began a siege.
Faced with the high caliber of the five great schools' teachers, the demons looked shaken. But they didn't abandon aggression; they launched a massive onslaught.
Sade, bombarding the grounds with fire magic, glanced back at Alpheas and shouted, "Principal! The defensive line has been breached!"
Wrinkles deepened around Alpheas's eyes. "…Teachers, evacuate the students and citizens. I'll buy time." Shiina said.
"You can't leave the principal!" one protested. "I'll stay instead."
"Now's not the time for stubbornness. Would you rather the students die before the teachers?" another asked.
"Then I'll stay." Olivia glared coldly out the window and stood beside Alpheas. "What are you, an old fool wasting time? Leave it to me. I'll get out alive."
They all knew it was bravado, and Alpheas smiled faintly. From his frame as he walked to the window, a terrifying killing intent began to emanate. "Have you forgotten who I am?" Mirhi Alpheas.
Olivia's expression softened at the sight of Alpheas's silhouette overlapping with his younger self. "...Foolish." Even at his age, wanting to spend his last days with the man he loved—how ridiculous.
She stepped closer to Alpheas and told the other teachers, "Go. We'll handle this." The noble air between them silenced the teachers' objections.
"I will return." Sade said as he left, and the other teachers followed quickly.
When the iron gate under the school opened, advanced‑class students waited with anxious faces. Behind the only graduating class members, Mark and Maria, stood Shirone's parents.
Sade addressed the students. "From now on, act calmly. We're leaving the Magic Academy. I'll take you somewhere safe."
If such a place still existed.
Even the advanced students, hopeful aspiring mages, followed the teachers without faltering.
As they tried to leave through the back gate, Shiina—who'd been scouting ahead—raised a hand. "Demons are coming." The squad attempting to circle the building and infiltrate was small but clearly elite.
"Damn! Of all times—" someone cursed.
"I'll lure them away. Take the kids and run." Shiina cast teleportation to draw their attention before they reached the exit. There was no time to stop her, and even if there had been, the teachers' roles were clear.
"There! Chase!" The demon squad pursued Shiina and opened fire with explosive thorns embedded in their backs.
Hundreds of thorns trailed columns of flame as they struck the ground, rocking the entire compound.
"Ugh!" She blocked with chilling magic, but the blow left her eardrums ringing.
'What firepower is this...' She summoned frost magic to counterattack, but the enemies' physical abilities defied imagination.
Thorns fired again and, as if they had will, shifted trajectory to follow Shiina. 'Homing missiles.'
Biting her lip, she waited and teleported at the exact moment. The thorns collided and detonated; the shockwave sent her flying and she skidded across the ground.
'Frustrating.' Before the world fell to this, she had had pride. "You'll be a fine teacher," Armin had told her. He had known the foes to come would be beyond what mere humans could handle.
"Don't be ridiculous." Shiina steadied her trembling legs and summoned the Absolute Zero—an absolute localized spell. It could at least take out a few attackers.
"Come on, you bastards!" How many times had such a coarse curse escaped her lips? Despite her death‑defying roar, the demons hurled their bodies forward with greedy eyes.
"I won't kill you. I have things to ask." Shiina raised her hand, and hundreds of thorns bent and flew from both sides.
Huh? The world suddenly tilted, and the thorns all began to fall downward. What's happening? Had the planet flipped?
No—she was the one who had moved.
By the time she understood, there was no one around; she was standing alone on the ground.
"Kyah!" A short, sharp scream from a demon.
When she turned, the entire infiltration squad lay on the ground with their throats cut.
"Uh...?" And at the center of that bloodstained scene, a man's back came into Shiina's sight.
He had one arm.