Philosophical Extremum (5)
Terafos Grand Tribunal.
The Chief Justice had already left, but the judges who refused to yield remained.
"You're being far too hasty! The contest of good and evil isn't over! Is there no Extremum left?"
Terafos's rapid declaration of evil's victory was driven by the fate of the universe.
"If we stall here, the universe will actually close! Judges, is that what you want?"
"That hasn't happened yet. The arbiter of the universe must judge the present alone."
"Look at the present. What remains for humanity? No user can survive on this land. Civilization is gone; resources and life have been extinguished!"
Only suffering remained.
"Objection! I formally appeal!"
"There's no time! Enforcers, carry out the Tribunal's final judgment! Those who resist will be restrained!"
The court doors opened and men wielding plasma blades in both hands poured in.
"Judge! You can't be serious!" An appeal against the Grand Tribunal's ruling was unprecedented even in Terafos history.
"…Isn't there no other choice?"
Even with standards beyond humanity, they had not reached the Eleven Senses.
"They follow the Creator's grand principles for Terafos. We're trying to preserve balance."
They, too, were the Creator's creations.
Silence fell as the enforcers closed in, encircling the dissenting judges.
"Restrain them."
The Prison of Balance.
A space that isolated anything violating the universe's equilibrium; one by one they vanished.
A dust storm blew over the ash-choked land like flame.
"Huu. Huu."
Through that pale veil, a woman walked with a cloth over her nose and mouth.
The last guardian of goodness, Miro.
"Please save us!"
She halted at the sound riding the wind, and a girl came running up.
A survivor.
Ninety-nine percent of humanity had died, but a few remained on the surface.
Though very few.
"Heeheehee! Catch her!"
A demon carriage pulled by skeletal horses hunted the girl.
They could have killed her already, but they seemed content to toy with one of their few remaining playthings.
"Thousand-Handed Kwan-eum."
When Miro's avatar rose high, the demons in the carriage looked up.
"Huh?"
Against a gray curtain that rippled like a drape, the avatar of Kwan-eum looked down at the ground.
"Ilrae."
Kuuuuuu—!
A spatial formation struck straight down, pinning the demons and the carriage to the earth.
The girl moaned, lips cracked and dry.
"Aah."
"You all right?"
Whether the one before her was enemy or ally, dream or waking, the words were the same.
"W-w-water… please…"
Miro conjured water with magic.
When her thirst eased, the girl's eyes finally focused and she began to wail.
"Waaaaa! Waaaaa!"
No question was needed to know what had happened.
"What a stroke of luck. Do you know where the demons are gathering? Any other survivors besides you?"
"There aren't. I don't even know where I came from. I thought I was going to die… it was so scary…"
As the storm's wind shifted, a Terafos ship appeared in the gray sky.
"What now, again?"
"Extremum."
At the voice nearby she turned, but only a translucent figure shimmered.
"Is that the Chief Justice?"
When stealth ended and the alien form revealed itself, the girl shrieked.
"Eek!"
Miro asked, "What's wrong?"
"The Tribunal has issued its verdict. From this moment, humanity is judged to have lost the contest of good and evil."
Given the situation, it made sense, but it still felt bitter.
"You mean you? You're the Chief Justice."
"I pronounce the sentence, but the verdict follows the three principles of the Terafos people. It couldn't be helped."
"You couldn't stop it?"
"We could have delayed. But I thought this was better than fighting inside the Tribunal."
Had they fought there, even the judges would have been restrained by the Prison of Balance.
"A swift decision is fine, but why choose this?"
"Survivors are attempting to reverse the situation. And this is my personal thought, but…"
The Chief Justice, who had been thinking, spoke.
"There's reason in it. Of course the odds aren't good. If we fail, we cannot prevent the annihilation of the universe. In other words, human failure would lead to the extinction of the Terafos people."
"You'd still make us try?"
"Ultima."
The Chief Justice nodded.
"Terafos surpasses humanity, but they have not reached Ultima. Perhaps now I see why. Ultima isn't achieved by intelligence alone."
Miro chewed on that.
"What should I do?"
"Hold out."
There was no time for a long explanation.
"Extremum, you cannot defeat evil alone. Good and evil, justice and love — they were once one and have been split. The moment one side overwhelms the others, humanity will lose its way."
"How then do we win?"
"Winning is also the methodology of evil. When all aspects — good, evil, justice, and love — interlock, humanity will make its final choice. You must hold until then." A Terafos ship drew nearer in the distance.
"Do not forget you are the Extremum. The moment you fail to hold that position, balance will tip drastically. Love will lose strength, evil will arise, and justice will prevail."
A Terafos enforcer deactivated stealth and approached.
"Let's go."
"…Remember. Good exists to stop evil, not to hate it."
Their forms vanished and sirens wailed across the sky.
The girl stared, slack-jawed.
"…My god."
Plasma flares struck the ground.
Kukukukukuku!
Terafos's bombardment crashing into the planet was felt even by survivors underground.
Those gathered in a room of the Ivory Tower felt their hearts tremble from the vibrations.
"How presumptuous."
The people who played cards sat around the round table dealing the hands.
"They must be trying to end the war before the world closes. Not bad. The demons will disappear too."
"But doesn't that mean Terafos is betting on justice's victory?"
Silence fell.
"Victory. Is that possible? Good, evil, justice, love — all extremes; there's no higher hand."
Like the four suits of an ace.
"Hmm, this is a question of roles. Good and evil can align with justice or love, and justice and love can align with good or evil. Depending on the combination, the meaning changes completely."
"That's right!"
Gudio slammed the table.
"The winners of this game aren't good, evil, justice, or love. They just make the hands; the chooser is someone else."
"…Not just four, then."
"Yes. This was always a five-player game. Which combination remains — that's the heart. So the one more we need is… the human player."
Mice clutched his head.
"Damn! I should've noticed when Minerva staked all her fortune. That wasn't a variable. That was the point. We were the ones ignorant of the rules."
Of course Minerva had acted unknowingly, but that made the game valid.
Thud! Nes drove his blade into the center of the table as if planting an iron stake and said, "One more! Anyone, hurry!"
"May I join?"
Even these gambling-obsessed faces changed when three-star Lampa of the Ivory Tower approached.
"Oh, Mr. Lampa."
"All I have left to sell is my ability and money, but I think I'm suitable."
"Sit."
Gudio explained the rules.
"We'll combine our hands. Bet on who will win."
"Hahaha."
Lampa laughed.
"What an interesting game."
Shura arrived.
"Let's start."
Shirone nodded and followed her up the stairs to the surface.
"Ah."
Amy's eldest brother Diane and their second brother Ares waited for Shirone.
"Hello."
He'd seen Ares before, but it was Shirone's first time meeting Diane since Amy's home.
"Yeah, it's been a while."
Shirone said with a tight face.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't protect her. This time I will—"
"Don't overdo it."
"Huh?"
"I don't know much. About time or the universe. But this I know: you're not going to reclaim a lost thing. You're going to meet someone who's alive."
"My sister only fought her fight. So whatever the outcome—" Diane bowed his head.
"I hope you respect what Amy thought, what Amy chose."
Shirone thought.
As expected… the Carmis family.
"Yes. I'll fight with everything I have."
Diane's words eased the stiff tension before a journey that carried one's whole life.
Ares winked and gave a thumbs-up, and Shirone finally stepped onto the surface.
When his senses returned and he first stepped outside, reality was harsher than he'd imagined.
No—there was nothing.
"This way."
A man with horns on his forehead guarded the altar, left in the same shattered state that Nané had left it.
"Huhama."
Fourth in rank among the Ten Elders, Huhama (Vajra Yasha).
Since Veron's passing he had guarded the altar, waiting for this day.
"Shura, you're late."
"How's it look?"
"Not good. I can hear the demons' roars, and strange flying objects drift in the sky."
He glared fiercely at Yahweh's image and then motioned them inside.
"Come in."
Uorin and Kido were already there.
"Kido."
Knowing they had come together made Shirone feel even sadder.
Shura explained, "The altar's radius is about Iron Extremum, but we chose this spot to guard against outside forces. Yahweh, while you replay the past, we'll protect Uorin and Kido."
Strictly speaking, it was their abilities.
"This place won't hold out long against the Ground-Annihilation Wave. The resistance will hold to the end, but…"
It meant they couldn't relax.
"Understood."
Shirone went to Kido.
"Sorry. You always help me. I feel like there's nothing I can do for you…"
"That's not true."
Kido shook his head.
"Finding something you want to devote your whole life to is true happiness. Isn't it?"
There had been times when eating and breeding were all there was.
"I've received a lot."
Even if it was an endless thirst.
"Thank you."
He'd lived a wonderful life.
"Kido…"
On the verge of tears, Shirone stopped and hugged the small goblin tightly.
Kido laughed. "We're friends, right?"
Shirone nodded, and Kido—who had once been pushed aside in life—opened the way for him.
Uorin waited.
"Come back safe."
His eyes held a slight emptiness, but instead of the old malice there was kindness.
"Mm."
I owe a great deal, Shirone thought.
Interaction.
In the end, humans are frail creatures who must lean on one another.
"I'll be back."
But he would not rely on gods.
Tachyon.
Shirone had poured everything in to plant a single thought in the universe.
I will change it.
His consciousness dissolved into particles of nothingness, leapt across time and space, and vanished into the realm of Infinity.