Horrible Truth (1)
The Church of Satan.
Seina charged at Shirone across the garden where blood poured like rain.
"Demonic Sword, Astasia."
Her blade—one that ought to have been a holy sword—was wreathed in a crimson demonic aura.
"Seina! Snap out of it!"
This wasn't merely brainwashing or hypnosis; it was proof that her heart had swung toward evil.
"I'm sorry, Shirone."
Dark energy flared from her body like wildfire.
She's stronger.
The power was incomparable to ordinary divine force, and Shirone grit his teeth.
Giorgi, you bastard.
"I stabbed the penitent Maximus. There's nowhere for me to return to."
"That was a mistake."
It was only the result of Gultan's mindcraft.
"No."
Seina shook her head.
"On the contrary—I wanted to kill Maximus. Pride, fear, the shell of being a holy knight—they blocked my heart." "That is the truth. A human heart wants to be good, and yet it can also want to ruin everything. There's no heart forever fixed on one side."
Giorgi said.
"It's pointless. Just as your convictions won't break, Seina's convictions are strong. Of course, if it were you, you'd force it through. If you want, do it. But you'll die too."
Maryu's spear would strike.
"This is all the power I granted Seina. Aska Covenant, Chapter 7, Article 2. Effect… I stake my life to raise the target's ability up to the limit of what I can imagine."
It was the trait of a dark attribute.
"Don't worry. The universe won't be destroyed—no one can imagine that. Aska used Satan's temptation to experiment on human hearts. If you hand people endlessly flowing money, how far will they go?"
It had to be a hidden code on Siok's level.
"That's all human imagination can do. Cosmic delusions, if they became reality, people wouldn't even know how to negotiate them. Most who fell to Aska's experiments produced boringly consistent results. Know what they did?"
"…They bought everything."
"Right. In other words, they could only buy what someone was selling. A few tried interesting acts to escape the idea of 'only buying what's sold,' but they failed too—because of a lack of imagination."
And, as with Satan's temptation, those who woke from the dream were dragged to hell.
"These things are recorded in the Aska texts. Sure, you or Nara might imagine far grander things, but this power can't be used on oneself. The subject of imagination is Seina."
Shirone shifted his gaze again.
If it's limited to what an ordinary human can imagine, is it something like "defeat everyone you can defeat"? Even that would be unmatched, but some figures transcend common sense into heretical realms.
"…What are you thinking?"
Shirone himself was heretical, so Giorgi's choice wasn't easy to understand.
Why pick Aska 7:2 among countless abilities? Is it truly the strongest card the Catacomb—specialized for the Great Yahveh War—can play?
"What are you doubting? You can't attack Seina. If even a momentary opening appears, Maryu's spear will fly. Then it's our victory."
"Lies. You know Seina can't catch me. You know that better than anyone. What's your real intention? Why go to the trouble of capturing Seina? If you wanted to kill me, there are stronger ways."
"No, there aren't."
Giorgi shook his head.
"All the enemies you faced searched for the best way to kill you. But none succeeded. In efficiency-versus-efficiency fights, your record is unbeatable. But I know you. I'm your demon. You can't attack Seina. So this is the strongest method… and yet, in another sense—"
"Now, what does it matter?" At the brink of the world's end, he wanted one thing made clear.
Yahveh's heart, and the heart Yahveh abandoned.
Perhaps for Giorgi, that mattered more than winning or losing.
"Shirone!"
At Nade's shout, Maryu's spear slammed into the place where Shirone had stood.
"I'll block it."
Eden moved to intercept Shirone's path.
A tactic to aim for Shirone's gap. Even if it costs my life, I must block at least one strike.
For Yora's pride.
As Shirone's group and the Catacomb moved at once, Seina swung her sword.
It was surely the strongest strike a human could imagine, yet Shirone found a split-second opening.
There—!
Giorgi smiled bitterly.
Invincible.
If the Catacomb made one mistake, it was underestimating Shirone's growth rate.
You handle this level by instinct now. Yes, you are the world's strongest.
He had once been Shirone, too.
—Why did you abandon me?
When he was first born from Yahveh's magic, the first thought that struck him was that.
If Yahveh is right, then why do I exist? If we were wrong, we shouldn't have existed at all.
Can existence be wrong?
I will win.
Seeing agape beyond good and evil was the same as Yahveh, but his inclination was the exact opposite.
Yahveh, this is my last card.
Giorgi felt Shirone's agape pressing against Seina and braced for extinction.
At the same time Maryu's spear struck Eden.
Ughhh!
As Maryu's force slid across her barrier and injected fear, she gritted her teeth.
"Lord Yor."
After succumbing to Havitz's evil, she had vowed never again to yield.
"Grant me courage!"
As she poured all her will into it, Maryu's spear exploded and Eden's body was flung back.
"Eden!"
Her friends shouted as she tumbled across the ground at terrifying speed, but Shirone did not look back.
Purify.
At the moment the light that would drive the evil from Seina's body blossomed, Giorgi readied himself to be extinguished.
When the light gathered in Shirone's palm and flared with tremendous brilliance, Giorgi closed his eyes.
Yes, kill me. Erase evil from the world.
If it does not deserve to exist, then it should vanish.
I won, Yahveh.
Even Ultima could not reach that.
"Huh?"
Suddenly the agape's light vanished and everyone stopped, turning their heads.
Shirone remained, hand on Seina's head as she knelt, lost in thought.
Nade shouted, "What are you doing? Hurry, Seina—"
At that moment a clear tear ran down Shirone's cheek.
"Shi—Shirone?"
The transmitted dream had ended.
Imir's Depth, Level 1.
Shirone's eyelids—having shared Yorahan and Armand's lifetime—slowly rose.
I see.
It had been the dream of Yor.
And even now, Yorahan's dream was being passed to Yor's believers through Drimo.
A great forgiveness.
It was the only way for the good-and-evil agape, split away from Lilith, to be reunited.
I was the one who had to forgive.
Even if everyone tosses their trash away, even if everyone passes it on to others…
Yorahan did it.
Amid pain more dreadful than death, he made the most beautiful flower bloom in the world.
Right, Armand? The woman who became a sword to protect Yorahan's heart gave no answer.
There will be one chance.
He dimly understood what she had meant in that final meeting.
Thank you.
It had been an honor that she chose him.
"I won't back down anymore."
With eyes changed, Shirone rose and probed Imir's depths.
Hearing a boom beyond the horizon, Shirone looked up at the black hole.
There…
There remained the only Ultima in this world.
Somewhere in the Pyramid of Truth, Kanis clutched his head and screamed.
"Aaaah! No!"
From the Wave of Humanity, Kanis could deny countless possibilities—of being Arin's lover or brother—but—
I can't. If that happens, I'll…
He would lose his mind.
Yet if he just kept enduring, all that remained was a despairing life.
Krrr!
"Kanis! Hold on! We can't lose you."
"Ah, Arin…"
The one who had been with him since the beginning of his memory was his younger sister?
Kanis turned his face and wept.
"…I love you."
Arin realized it in a flash. Unable to choose any life, Kanis had decided to end his own.
"All right."
Arin pulled him into an embrace.
"Let's go together. Fight to the end. We won't bow to fate."
Harvest, who had been assigned the role of ending lives, wrapped them in long arms.
Is this okay?
Kanis nodded, and as Harvest's body trembled to explode—
"It's not over yet."
A voice came from the darkness.
"Ares?"
Zulu, who had come with them, approached Kanis and handed over the armored insect Amorphos's bodily fluid.
"Drink it. It'll keep you going for a while."
The foul liquid looked sickening, but when you're bent on dying, it hardly mattered.
"Wh—?"
It was a desperate hope, but Amorphos's fluid produced an incredible effect.
"The Wave of Humanity is receding. How…?"
Ares said.
"They say it was a creature that lived in the ancient pyramid. Glad it worked. First, let's find Shirone."
"No need."
Zulu pointed into the darkness on the other side. Moments later, Shirone appeared carrying Glen.
Color returned to Ares's face.
"You came. You found us somehow."
"It's hard to call it finding. Rukia led us here."
"What do you mean?"
Rukia, who had followed behind Shirone, scanned the pyramid's interior.
"She was right. There's not much time. We have to leave now." Kanis, supported by Arin, asked, "Leave? To where?"
This was the Pyramid of Truth, a place that could strip away not just space-time but the very direction of one's life.
Rukia turned and said, "To meet God."
She led them from the front, moving through the maze-like paths without hesitation.
Arin asked, "Do you know the way?"
"No."
Rukia said as she rounded a corner, "I don't know the way at all. I'm just… going where my heart moves me."
Shirone added, "We didn't gather in the pyramid by chance. From the start, God wanted Rukia brought here. In other words, there's no need to know where God is."
Ares muttered, "So God will be wherever Rukia thinks. But why? Why does God want her?"
"Me?…"
It was a realization like destiny.
"I can probably call God. Maybe."
Silence lingered as the group hurried around corner after corner.
And finally they arrived—
"Here."
The top of the pyramid, the final chamber that had seemed impossible to find.
"God is there."
On the altar Rukia pointed to sat a device like a vacuum tube, through which crackling electricity flowed.