New Chapter 12.9: "Silence Before the Performance or the Completion of Dead Perfection"
The absolute-zero chill brought back from the Abandoned Sanctuary of the Sky (Sky High Azure) continued to sharply pierce deep into the lungs even after the heavy soundproof door of the office was closed.
The perfectly transparent air‚ free of even a single speck of dust‚ inorganicly split the white light of the magic lamps.
Sitting in front of the perfectly organized office desk‚ he unfastened the buttons of his heavy military uniform one by one.
Each and every one of those movements was now nothing more than a mechanical "inspection of parts."
「……My joints have lost their definition.」
He stopped his hand and lowered his gaze to his left arm.
It had crossed the boundary of the white glove…… and beneath the sleeve of the military uniform‚ it had turned into an inorganic stone rod.
Erosion Level 3.
Petrification had finally completely swallowed the elbow joint‚ and even the movement program of "bending" by his will was being rejected (canceled) by physical mass.
A defect that would normally warrant a scream.
However‚ the retinal UI processed it only as 『Aim Accuracy Improvement』.
Crack.
Mixed with the rustling of clothes‚ a dry sound echoed.
From the surface of the crystallized skin‚ cells that had once been him flaked off as 『ash-gray sand』 and spilled onto the stone floor.
A cruelly beautiful tone‚ like frozen air cracking‚ resounded.
At that moment‚ the door opened without a sound.
Carrying a silver tray‚ Celes quietly entered the room.
Her amethyst-colored eyes captured his immobilized left elbow and narrowed slightly.
She walked up beside him‚ then knelt on the spot and gazed at the sand scattered on the floor as if examining it.
「Chairman. ……I have been waiting for your return.」
She picked up the small glass vial placed on the tray.
She carefully collected every last grain of the gray sand piled on the floor‚ as if gathering sacred relics that could never be obtained again‚ and placed them into the vial.
「……Dirty remains. I told you to discard them.」
「No. ……This is proof that the Chairman has approached 『completion』. Not a single grain can be left in this impure world.」
The sand falling into the vial piled up with dry clicking sounds.
He coldly observed the side of her face‚ where colors of unfathomable fanaticism beyond mere affection dwelled.
「……Tuning is necessary. Inside the stone‚ the magic circuits are screaming.」
Celes tucked the vial carefully into her chest‚ then lifted his hardened left arm onto her soft lap.
「……Pain sensation…… has already been blocked. It’s wasted effort‚ Celes.」
「Yes‚ I know. That is why this is interference with 『sensation』.」
She took the cold ointment on her fingertips and unhesitatingly inserted her fingers into the petrified "cracks" where the skin had split and the magic circuits were exposed.
「っ……」
Pain signals were being blocked by the system.
However‚ another person’s smooth body temperature directly disturbing the remnants of nerves that had not fully petrified—it was a sweet‚ irresistible vibration.
Celes’s fingertips sank deeper and deeper into the stone. The illusion of raw‚ soft body heat 「eroding」 the petrified area that emitted absolute-zero cold.
She moved her fingers‚ physically peeling away the clotted dregs of magic power.
It was a mad‚ sensual 『ritual』 that scattered cold‚ sweet sparks directly into his deep consciousness.
「……Is it cold‚ Solan? Or…… is my heat in the way?」
「……I don’t know. I just feel the 『condensation』 in the circuits…… being expelled through your fingertips.」
Celes wore an ecstatic expression as she sank her fingers even deeper‚ meticulously 「tuning」 the inside of his immobile elbow.
Her breath brushed against the exposed cracks in the stone‚ temporarily deranging his frozen magic circuits.
「I will…… become the Chairman’s joint (part). If it won’t move‚ I will guide that arm to the coordinates you desire. ……Chairman‚ you need only think about wielding the perfect score.」
When her fingertips withdrew‚ they slid slowly as if caressing the edge of the stone. There‚ the inescapable devotion as the 「anchor of death」 that held the Solan faction in place was deeply engraved.
He completely severed the 『survival definition』 of his left arm from the elbow onward from his own thoughts.
After finishing the tuning of the left arm‚ the faint lingering warmth from Celes’s fingertips.
The lukewarm noise emitted by her standing beside him.
Even that was now an extremely unpleasant dissonance for him‚ who had lost the boundaries of the flesh.
To completely reject the impure reverberations‚ he consciously released the absolute-zero chill he had brought back from the Abandoned Sanctuary (Sky High Azure) into the depths of the office.
Instantly‚ the magic circuits in the walls physically froze‚ and the space began to lose its function as a 「room.」
The indoor temperature was driven down to minus several tens of degrees.
The potted plant by the window had each of its leaves transformed into delicate glasswork and‚ unable to bear its own weight‚ shattered with a clear *parin* sound.
He gazed at the magic clock on the desk. The hands were silent inside the frozen lubricant‚ and time advanced only within his theory.
「……At last‚ even this room can no longer withstand our score.」
The monologue he exhaled turned into white frost and quietly piled up on the floor.
「Excuse me‚ Chairman. Post-mission report on the extermination operation.」
Even the knock was absorbed by the frozen door and shattered with a *shin……*.
Those who entered were Ignis and Valt.
The air they carried was laden with absolute 「stillness」 that further accelerated the death of the office.
Ignis casually raised his 『gray』 arm‚ exposed from the right sleeve of his military uniform.
The arm‚ completely petrified up to the shoulder‚ was clad in thin‚ beautiful ice crystals in response to the room’s cold.
「Output data from the Abandoned Sanctuary. ……This is good. The annoying fluctuations of flesh have disappeared‚ and the world is terribly quiet. I’ve obtained the best 『attachment (replacement part)』.」
Without even showing an ecstatic expression‚ he sharply thrust his stone fingertips into his own chest.
The impact would have shattered bones in a living human‚ but what resounded was only the dry sound of hard stone striking stone.
In response to that inorganic sound‚ his own left hand—the stone fingertips hardened beneath the white glove—unknowingly tapped *ton ton* on the marble office desk.
Tap…… tap…….
An eerie resonance (resonance) as if pain-insensitive parts were confirming each other’s driving sounds and meshing together as perfect gears.
「What a coincidence‚ Ignis. ……My legs have just finished complete numerical integration (synchro) with the marble floor as well.」
Valt thrust his heavy steel shield into the stone floor and slightly lowered his gaze.
At his feet‚ the academy’s highest-grade stone material and his eroded 『gray』 legs had lost their physical boundaries and fused together.
「……The floor and I no longer need to separate. My equations do not permit useless movement (knockback).」
Valt’s vacant eyes gazed at the loss of his own flesh as if it were a 「promotion」 or something‚ with calm pride.
Their conversation lacked the 「trust」 or 「passion」 that Aria and the others had once exchanged in the mud.
What existed there was an extremely businesslike‚ and therefore mad‚ camaraderie between those who had optimized themselves into efficient parts.
「……Ah. Impure flesh is nothing but a bug that dirties the score. Your 『evolution』 is proving the correctness of my theory.」
He contentedly clasped his white-gloved right hand on the desk.
He looked at the remains of the potted plant that had shattered into an ice statue in the corner of the room.
The 「life」 and 「warmth」 that Aria and the others desperately tried to protect were impurities that should be the first to be rejected (deleted) in this absolute-zero silence (*shin……*).
The office walls froze deeply‚ and the eerie creaking of ice crystals invading the space‚ 「Kiiiiiiiin——」‚ rang out like applause of blessing.
「……Ah. Impurities are quickly rejected by the equation called reality. That is the providence of the world.」
The moment he declared this‚ the air in the office froze even more sharply.
With a hard *clack*‚ the one who entered was Elze‚ the Central Computation Analyst.
She slightly moved her inorganic eyes‚ which reflected the pale light of holograms behind her silver-rimmed glasses‚ and casually flicked a monitor deployed in the air with her fingertip.
「Chairman. I present the final analysis report (Final Log).
……Latest calculation results for the survival probability of the dissonance group (ensemble) centered on Aria Adel.」
Elze’s slender fingertips designated coordinates in the air.
What was displayed there was an all-too-cruel‚ all-too-perfect number: 『0.00%』.
「……Beautiful. Even when calculated to the hundredth decimal place‚ there is not a single fluctuation of sound.
The uncertain practical benefits they gathered from the 『trash can』 were nothing more than calculation lag (lag) in the face of this perfect equation.」
Elze glanced at the frozen magic clock on the desk and continued with cold rapture‚ as if praising a supreme work of art.
「The probability that they will touch our score in tomorrow’s final match has been confirmed as a statistical error and processing completed. ……All clear. Rejection‚ complete.」
「……I see. 0.00%‚ huh. Even the machine has denied the existence value of the failure (Aria).」
He rested his sensationless stone left arm on the desk and narrowed his eyes in satisfaction.
「Chairman. ……One more report.」
It was just as Elze tried to push up the bridge of her glasses again.
A strange noise: *Chiri……*.
Behind her retinal UI‚ the remnants of the 『undefined frame』 that should have been discarded exploded as immeasurable 「heat」.
That illogical thermal energy instantly clouded her silver-rimmed glasses white and deep.
「……っ。……This is——」
The lens that should have displayed the 0.00% correct answer was obstructed by unidentified 『heat』‚ dragging her gaze into the depths of white turbidity.
「Elze? That was 0.001 seconds of silence. ……Did a stagnation occur in the calculation?」
In response to his question‚ Elze stopped her finger for a moment and tried to wipe the clouded lens——.
But before her finger could touch the glasses‚ Zepha‚ who had been in the shadows behind her‚ moved.
Sound died.
The localized 『vacuum』 generated around her physically stripped away the faint clouding on Elze’s glasses‚ along with the heat itself.
「……Vision error (error) detected. ……Optimizing (clearing) the environment.」
Zepha turned her jade-colored eyes toward Elze’s profile and muttered in a flat voice. Those eyes should have accurately captured the true nature of the 「heat」 that clouded the glasses. However‚ 「doubt」 as an emotion (bug) was not implemented in her.
To her‚ it was simply 「noise that should be removed」.
「……Excuse me. It was merely system condensation. ……Already rejected (canceled).」
Elze straightened the bridge of her glasses as if nothing had happened and returned to the face of a cold analyst.
To his eyes‚ it looked like nothing more than an efficient action to remove mere condensation.
Zepha’s overly perfect optimization (system) had concealed everything‚ including the lingering traces of the fatal 『heat』 that had faintly smoldered in the depths…….
「Ah. ……Condensation‚ huh. It must be because the cold air in this room is too strong. ……No problem. Continue.」
He tapped the edge of the desk with his white-gloved right hand.
Because the system was too perfect‚ fatal bugs were made into 「things that never happened」.
The quiet omen of self-destruction lurking behind this absolute-zero score was something none of them could have known right now.
「……Understood. ……3‚600 seconds remaining until the tournament final. ……Everything will proceed exactly as the Chairman’s score.」
「……Elze. Do not bring any noise to my ears until tomorrow’s performance time.」
「Understood. ……All uncertain elements (bugs) have already been rejected (deleted) outside my calculations.」
Elze bowed silently and exited‚ and Zepha‚ clad in cold vacuum‚ also melted into the shadows and disappeared.
What remained were the office dominated by absolute-zero silence and Celes—the anchor that kept him tied to the stone side.
「Chairman. ……Preparation for the new 『correct answer』.」
What Celes reverently offered was a pair of white gloves‚ whiter than silk reflecting moonlight and emitting an inorganic shine.
He placed his left arm‚ which could no longer move from the elbow onward‚ onto the desk as a heavy 「part」.
「……Ah. Making an arm that will never move again appear as if it is moving. ……There is no more perfect deception (score) than this.」
「No. ……As long as the world obeys your silence‚ it will not be deception‚ but the only truth.」
Celes knelt and slowly slid the new glove onto his fingertips.
She wrapped each finger with movements as if polishing a delicate statue. Every time her fingertips traced the sensationless stone skin‚ only the faint pressure transmitted through the fabric redefined the 「existence of the left arm」 in his brain.
The 『gray』 covered up to the wrist. But her tuning did not end there.
「……I will hold it. ……So that even if the theory (score) collapses‚ that arm will not let go of the baton.」
Celes took out an extremely fine 『silver thread』 from the tray. It was a restraint that converted magic power into physical tension to forcibly fix causality.
She mercilessly and with geometric precision wrapped the silver thread around his arm from elbow to wrist.
「っ……」
Not pressure on the flesh‚ but a heavy weight as if the very coordinates of existence were being bound.
The silver thread bit into the cracks of the petrified skin‚ rewriting physical 「fixation」 into conceptual 「fixation」.
It was the ultimate tuning that transformed his arm into an autonomous part solely for wielding the baton‚ without even his own will intervening.
「Does it hurt?…… Solan.」
「……No. ……I just feel a pleasant stillness‚ as if a 『wedge』 is being driven into the stone.」
「……Fufu. ……It is the polar opposite of Aria‚ who sewed the muddy heat called the 『ancient heart fragment』 into her left chest.」
Celes tied the silver thread with one final turn and neatly cut off the excess end.
What dwelled in her eyes was not the warm devotion of Aria’s childhood friend. It was icy passion that had sworn to share the same freezing‚ the same petrification‚ and to perish together in completed silence.
「……Ah. The 『heat (noise)』 brought in by that failure called Aria. ……In tomorrow’s final‚ I will perfectly overwrite it with my 『silence』 until the very last beat.」
He looked down with satisfaction at his left arm‚ tightly packed with silver thread‚ as the supreme 『finished product』.
A sensationless left arm. Dead perfection fixed with silver thread.
The moment Aria’s believed 「heat of life」 touched his absolute-zero score‚ how fragilely‚ how uglily it would freeze and shatter.
Just imagining that sight filled his frozen magic circuits with an unprecedentedly cold and clear joy.
「……Chairman. ……The night is dawning.」
Celes pointed outside the window and quietly announced.
There‚ the impure world waiting for salvation trembled pathetically in the darkness before dawn.
He deliberately did not return even a single note in response to those words.
The birth cry (noise) called dawn that the impure world was about to raise—even spending words on it was nothing more than unnecessary decoration (lag) for his current score.
He once deeply lowered the left arm fixed with silver thread by Celes‚ treating it as a heavy 「part」.
The white-gloved fingertips no longer held any sensation as his own flesh and blood. There was only the weight of an inorganic output device optimized solely to execute the perfect score.
Outside the window. The pale darkness of dawn was torn‚ and waves of dissonance (noise) surged toward them.
The tournament final——the heat‚ expectations‚ and vulgar prayers for 「salvation」 emitted by tens of thousands of spectators trying to defile the mythical silence. All of them were nothing but 「calculation errors」 that soiled his hearing.
The perfect gears that had silently returned to the office in time for the performance.
「Chairman. ……All 『instruments』 are synchronized without a single note out of place. Permission (pass) to begin the performance.」
From the shadows‚ Zepha with her coldly shining jade eyes approached‚ clad in vacuum.
Behind her stood Ignis‚ who had turned his stone right arm into a spear. And Valt‚ whose lower body had completely fused with the marble floor and transformed into a moving fortress‚ lined up without even a single breath.
Elze slid her retinal UI to the final frame behind her silver-rimmed glasses.
「[ Target: Center of the arena ]. ……Coordinate connection‚ 0.00% error. ……Chairman‚ the door (gate) is unnecessary. We shall overwrite the world with our theory.」
He quietly grasped the ebony baton (conductor’s baton) placed on the office desk with his white-gloved right hand.
「……Ah. We are not going there. We will drag the world into our score.」
He stood up from the chair and raised his petrified left arm along the 「rail」 that Celes had provided.
What lay at the end of his gaze was the wall of this impure student council president’s office.
Casually‚ and coldly.
He swung the baton down in one powerful stroke from the sky toward the ground.
*Crackiiiiiiing——！！*
Even the sound of shattering was instantly rejected (canceled) by Zepha’s vacuum.
The office wall had not 「broken」. The space itself had been 「deleted」 by his score.
The cross-section had neither sparks nor dust‚ only the bare void of logic 「connecting (linking)」 to the clamor of the arena inorganically.
Looking down were the lowly crowds crawling like ants.
All the frenzy (bugs) they spat out froze the instant they touched the absolute-zero barrier surrounding him and silently lost momentum.
「……It is time for salvation.」
His voice poured down from the exposed sky as an absolute-zero 「requiem of death」.
Crossing the boundaries of space‚ they took one step forward.
To abandon the 「cage」 called the office and paint over the world’s score with silver silence.
The opening of dead perfection that allowed not a single note of error.
Behind them‚ the room that had once surrounded his 「heat」 silently collapsed as an unnecessary prelude.
He did not look back even once as it turned to gray sand and vanished into the void.
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