Chapter 13: “The Hero’s Scales‚ or the Absence of an Impure God”
At the northernmost tip of the Holy Empire‚ in the first frontier village of the Valks territory. On this day‚ the protective fence surrounding the village had already been damaged by thirty percent‚ and an endless night named despair had fallen. Inside the crude wooden houses‚ people simply held their breath‚ huddling together and trembling. The tattered cloths nailed to the walls that could not fully keep out the drafts had frozen solid‚ hard as stone. In the small iron stove at the center of the room‚ the last remaining fragment of a magic stone the size of a thumb was giving off only a faint heat like the dying breath of an insect. Surrounding that meager heat source‚ an old woman tightly embraced her young grandchild who was sobbing.
“……God‚ please. First Hero‚ please help us.”
The prayer that spilled from cracked lips was drowned out by the sound of the raging blizzard outside. It was not only the blizzard. From the forest surrounding the village‚ the roars of tens of thousands of magical beasts driven mad by hunger continued to reverberate like a rumble of the earth. Support from the kingdom had been cut off‚ and rescue from the imperial capital was hopeless. Food‚ fuel‚ and even weapons to fight with had long been exhausted. Death was no longer a metaphor; it was pressing right up against them‚ separated only by a thin wooden door.
——It was then.
The howling wind of the raging blizzard and the roars of tens of thousands of magical beasts. Suddenly‚ completely. As if the physical law of “sound” itself had been forcibly cut off (muted) from the world‚ they vanished entirely.
“……Huh?”
A mother who had been trembling inside the house looked up. It was not that the wind had stopped. A storm strong enough to shake the house was indeed battering the window frames‚ yet no sound at all reached their ears. Faced with such an abnormally complete silence‚ the villagers cautiously rubbed the frozen window glass and directed their gazes toward the direction of the square.
——And then‚ they witnessed the moment the world “cracked.”
In the sky above the village square. In the empty void where leaden snow clouds swirled‚ a sudden reddish-black noise ran through.
Zzzzt……zzzzzzzt……!
It was not the light of a magic circle. It was a terribly inorganic‚ digital malfunction (glitch) that should not exist in this world. The very scenery (texture) of space shifted in square mosaic patterns‚ and from there a massive glass-like crack began to spread with a creaking sound.
Piki……pikikipikiki……!
In the depths of that crack——within the “gap between dimensions (imaginary space)” where neither light nor sound existed. A young man was looking down at his own collapsing body.
Kingdom knight‚ Leon Valks. Having driven the jet-black demonic sword 《Ragnarok》 into his own chest and fallen into the vortex of paradox‚ his limbs were already being scraped away as if the polygons were peeling off.
Unbearable agony. The terror of annihilation. Yet what dominated him in the depths of his fading consciousness was not such petty emotions.
(……The kingdom abandoned my homeland)
Those people of the chalk-white capital‚ so warm and overflowing with gourmet food and love. They had stopped their ears to the screams of family and comrades dying in the extreme cold‚ and protected their own glasses of wine.
(……Louis collapsed‚ bleeding)
Understood by no one‚ taking no one’s life‚ shouldering the world alone and perfectly‚ his best friend who had fallen.
(……It’s wrong)
From Leon’s eyes‚ the last light of humanity vanished.
(Louis’s “optimization” alone cannot save this world. Even if you neatly rearrange it‚ the malice full of impurities (ego) will immediately dirty the board again. ……Then I will destroy (reset) this entire world once‚ turn it into bare earth‚ and entrust it to Louis)
That was the ultimate pure endpoint of his own justice‚ purified to the extreme and thus driven completely mad.
With a trembling hand‚ Leon gripped the hilt of 《Ragnarok》 that was deeply thrust into his chest once more. And then——completely destroying his own “human heart” and replacing it‚ he pushed the blade of the demonic sword even deeper until it pierced through his back.
Complete synchronization of the principle of the end (system) with life. In that moment‚ the clumsy kingdom knight who had once loved the people more than anyone and believed in pure justice died completely at the bottom of the dimensions.
Bakiiiiiiiiiiin————!!!
In the sky above the square‚ space completely shattered. From the exposed jet-black void‚ the tip of the demonic sword‚ pulsing reddish-black‚ appeared first. Drawn by the sword‚ that “young man” descended onto the snowfield.
Zun. The very moment his boots firmly stepped onto the frozen ground of the square. An overwhelming and repulsive “demonic pressure of the end” burst outward in ripples. The fierce blizzard surrounding him was physically blown away in a circular radius of several dozen meters centered on him‚ and the thick snow at his feet instantly evaporated into black dust. The once silver-white armor of the holy knight was miserably stained with mud‚ blood‚ and reddish-black aura.
He——the God of Destruction “Kyle”——slowly raised his face. In his eyes‚ not a shred of Leon’s kindness or hesitation remained. Only a mechanical‚ muddy scarlet light‚ perfectly synchronized with the pulse of the Ragnarok in his hand‚ blinked mercilessly: chika‚ chika.
The first to notice the anomaly were not the humans‚ but the magical beasts that had been about to devour them. The tens of thousands of beasts surrounding the crude protective fence of the frontier village and on the verge of breaking through the walls all stopped moving at once.
The frenzied growls suddenly vanished. A wolf-type magical beast that had been about to leap at the wooden door with bared fangs stepped back as if frightened by an invisible wall. A massive four-legged beast that could easily crush humans flattened itself low to the ground with its claws dug in‚ like a small animal glared at by an absolute predator. Even the flying magical beasts that had covered the sky were trembling in midair‚ as if they had forgotten how to flap their wings.
——And then‚ the next moment.
“Giiiiiiii!”
“Gurururururururu!”
“Gyaaaaaaaa!”
Tens of thousands of magical beasts began howling in unison with frenzied screams. It was not a threat. Not hunger‚ not anger. Pure‚ simple “terror.”
“Wh-what……?”
“The magical beasts are……frightened?”
“What the hell are they looking at……!?”
At the sudden turn of events‚ the villagers rushed to the frozen windows. Everyone strained their eyes toward the center of the square‚ beyond where the pack of magical beasts was retreating.
Outside the village. From beyond the blown-up snow smoke‚ a single young man was walking. A black‚ dirtied overcoat (coat). Golden-threaded hair wet with snow and blood. And——eyes that blinked inorganic and red like blood.
One step. Another step. Each time the young man advanced with dry footsteps‚ the tens of thousands of magical beasts parted like the sea of Moses and retreated.
The face of a village girl who had been watching that scene drained of color in an instant.
“……Huh?”
There was no way she could have mistaken it. That way of walking. That profile. As a child‚ she had played with him countless times in this snow. On the morning he left the village‚ he had smiled with the kindest eyes of anyone and said‚ “I’ll become a splendid knight who can definitely save everyone‚” and set off for the royal capital.
“……Leon?”
The girl’s cracked lips trembled. She desperately pounded on the ice-covered window glass.
“Leon……is that you?”
Her voice carried well through the silence of the square. It should have reached him for certain. Yet——the young man did not even change the direction of his face.
“Leon!”
The girl leaned out over the window frame.
“It’s me! Maria! You remember‚ right!?”
There was no reaction. The young man’s red eyes only coldly fixed on the pack of magical beasts in front of him. Her desperate calls. The crying voices of children. The nostalgic name of his homeland. In him now‚ they were all nothing more than the same “value.”——Unnecessary noise that did not interfere with the system. Information to be discarded.
Kyle exhaled a breath that froze white.
“——Make way.”
To whom was he speaking? A warning to the magical beasts‚ a declaration to the villagers‚ or a command to the world itself? His voice was so flat that even that was unclear.
“I am returning home.”
One step. Kyle stepped forward. At that very moment‚ the pack of tens of thousands of magical beasts all turned their backs and began to flee.
“Guraa!”
“Giii!”
It was as if the very law (system) of the world itself was screaming “Run.” Do not approach that. Do not enter its field of vision. That——is not a “living creature with life” like us.
The magical beasts fled in a panic‚ raising clouds of snow. But Kyle did not pursue. He neither ran nor braced himself. He simply raised his right hand gripping the black hilt. His wrist moved only the slightest bit.
——Click.
An alien sound rang out‚ as if something had decisively meshed together. Reddish-black lines ran through space. One. Two. Ten. A hundred. Like a massive three-dimensional graph paper (grid)‚ red frame lines geometrically floated up into the very space of the world.
“……Huh?”
Someone muttered in a blank voice. The next moment——the world physically “shifted.”
The death cries of the magical beasts vanished. The sound of the blizzard stopped. Even the snowflakes falling from the sky froze in midair. And——the pack of tens of thousands of magical beasts disappeared.
They had not been slashed apart. They had not been burned by powerful magic‚ nor crushed. The very space in which they existed had been brought to its end. Enclosed by the red grid‚ the space itself had cleanly disappeared (lost)‚ as if the polygons had peeled away.
Not a single drop of blood remained. Only a blank space in the snowfield‚ as if gouged out‚ spread there. It was far too quiet. No one could make a sound. No one could even blink.
Eventually——.
“……Ta”
Someone let out a dazed‚ trembling voice.
“We’re saved……?”
Triggered by that murmur‚ the villagers all at once looked from the windows of the houses surrounding the square at the sole surviving Kyle.
Indeed‚ they had been saved. The pack of magical beasts that should have ended the village was gone. The humans who should have died had survived. Then they should have rejoiced. They should have thrown open the doors‚ raised cheers‚ run through the snow‚ and tearfully thanked the returned savior.
And yet. Not a single person smiled. Not a single person tried to run to him. They simply——trembled.
Kyle turned around. His red eyes‚ blinking inorganically‚ caught the villagers beyond the windows.
“……!”
Maria gasped. Even so‚ she slapped her trembling knees and leaned forward just half a step.
“Leon……”
Her voice was wet with tears.
“You……saved us‚ right?”
Kyle stared straight at her. For several seconds——without any emotion or human warmth appearing.
“No.”
“……Huh?”
“They were in the way‚ so I just deleted them.”
Every expression drained from Maria’s face. The moment she heard those words. The “hope” inside her that had never broken even in the harsh cold wave crumbled without a sound.
“……You’re not……Leon”
The murmur of despair vanished futilely into the snow that had begun to rage again.
Kyle answered nothing. He simply coldly surveyed the village he had once loved. There was no nostalgia there. No joy of reunion‚ no relief that one returning home should feel—nothing. There was only——a cold‚ machine-like will that condemned the world as “unnecessary impurities.”
The villagers understood by instinct. They had indeed been saved. But the thing that had saved them was no longer the “proud knight Leon” they had once known. ——It was simply a catastrophe (monster) in human form that would end the world.
Holy Empire Central Palace 《Valgranz》. Immediately after the historic Supreme Council adjourned‚ Emperor Albert walked alone through the corridor paved with cold black marble. Outside the windows‚ a fierce blizzard raged as if painting over the darkness of night.
Regarding the disposition of the “Computational God”——that boy observed in the southern kingdom——the Empire had decided on “non-interference.” The emperor’s absolute decree to treat him not as a weapon but as a single human being appeared‚ on the surface‚ to have been accepted by all the senior ministers. Yet in this freezing nation‚ power is by no means monolithic.
“——Your Majesty Albert. May I have a moment?”
At the crossroads of the corridor. Before a luxurious stained-glass window decorated with the motifs of the Hero Church‚ an old man was standing. Clad in pure white vestments‚ the highest rank of the Hero Church——the Archbishop. The deep wrinkles carved into his face suggested long years of prayer and compassion‚ and his gently narrowed eyes seemed to hold the warm light of a clergyman guiding the people.
“Archbishop‚ is it. I believe I already conveyed the decision of the council.”
Albert did not stop walking and replied in a sharp voice.
“Yes‚ I am well aware. To treat that unknown existence not as a monster but as ‘a single human being.’ ……Truly a noble and merciful judgment befitting Your Majesty.”
The Archbishop bowed respectfully. Yet there was no warmth whatsoever in his voice.
“However‚ Your Majesty. This morning as well‚ from the third district of the imperial capital‚ five small corpses of children who froze to death were carried by cart to the communal cemetery. Covered in soot‚ a mother was said to have been crying as she pressed a fragment of black bread hard as stone into their cold‚ pale hands.”
Albert’s feet stopped dead.
“If you say that boy is human. Then humans must have ‘duties’ they ought to fulfill in this world.”
The Archbishop slowly approached the emperor. On his lips was fixed the perfect smile of a good man.
“Tens of thousands of innocent lives that freeze and die every day in the Empire. ……And the freedom of a single boy in a distant southern foreign land. Which will Your Majesty’s scales choose?”
“……Do not compare lives.”
Albert’s blue eyes pierced the Archbishop. The aura of successive emperors made the cold air of the corridor physically creak.
“If we prey upon another’s dignity to save the people‚ in that instant the Empire falls to the level of beasts. I have no intention of using that boy as firewood for the Empire’s furnace.”
“Without comparison‚ decisions cannot be made‚ Your Majesty.”
Even bathed in absolute aura‚ the Archbishop’s gentle smile did not crumble in the slightest.
“We are the ‘side that saves.’ Discarding the small to save the great. Is that not the most beautiful and correct divine calculation for surviving this harsh world?”
“Fanaticism. Never again employ that sophistry before me.”
Albert flipped his overcoat (coat) and vanished deeper into the corridor as if there was no further value in speaking. The remaining Archbishop kept his head respectfully bowed until the emperor’s back disappeared from sight.
Eventually‚ he raised his face. The color of compassion that had resided in his eyes had completely vanished.
“……Kind Emperor. Yet imperfect human emotions (noise) sometimes delay the salvation of the nation.”
The Archbishop turned on his heel and descended the hidden staircase leading from the corridor to the underground. His destination was the underground cathedral where light did not reach. There‚ dozens of shadows clad in pure white armor different from the Empire’s regular army——the ‘Church Direct Special Forces’——were silently kneeling and waiting.
“——Sortie.”
The Archbishop’s command echoed in the stone-built cathedral.
“The target is the southern kingdom. Recover the Computational God and welcome him to our Empire’s……no‚ to our Hero Church.”
The captain of the special forces looked up in confusion.
“……However‚ Your Eminence. Just earlier‚ His Majesty the Emperor issued the decree ‘forbidding interference with the kingdom.’”
“There is no problem whatsoever.”
The Archbishop smiled gently‚ as if admonishing a lost lamb.
“I never said a single word about interfering with the kingdom. ……I am saying go and rescue the sacred ‘God’ from the hands of foolish heretics.”
For the Archbishop‚ there was no need to ask the boy’s will. He had already decided the answer. Louis Adel. Computational God. A miracle of God sent to save the Empire. There——there was never any room from the beginning for the heart of a boy who wished “I want to return to the inn.”
“A god should simply exist as a god.”
The Archbishop muttered so. And he closed the door of the underground cathedral. Beyond the heavy iron door‚ the dozens of special forces began to move.
Southward. Without the emperor’s permission. Without the kingdom’s consent. And——above all‚ without even the permission of the one being saved.
The shadows in white robes vanished into the darkness of the fierce blizzard. The Archbishop watched their backs. On his face‚ a smile of compassion remained to the end. As if he were about to go save a single boy.
——No one knew. That what was released southward from the Empire that night was not rescue. It was——a blade for stealing “being human” from a single boy.
Having left the first frontier village‚ Kyle walked alone‚ aiming further into the extreme north. Beyond that point was a domain of death that rejected even the existence of any living thing.
The northernmost tip of the Holy Empire. Though marked on maps as imperial territory‚ in reality it was untrodden permafrost locked in ice for more than a century. The raging fierce blizzard painted over all vision into a pure white darkness. Wind speed‚ temperature‚ the concentration of magical power swirling in the atmosphere. All of them desperately exceeded the survival limits of living creatures. If one carelessly breathed‚ the alveoli would freeze in an instant; if one exposed skin‚ the blood would freeze from within and rupture—absolute violence. For an ordinary human‚ it was an extreme environment in which one would perish without being able to stand for more than a few minutes.
But——.
Zun. Zun. Zun.
Only the dry sound of military boots crushed the silver-white silence in a constant rhythm. Kyle did not stop. Even the raging blizzard could not so much as touch his skin. The reddish-black demonic pressure seeping from his entire body distorted the space within a radius of several meters centered on him‚ physically repelling the blizzard. Snow particles approaching on the wind entered his inviolable domain.
——Juu.
The white snow clumps instantly turned into black scorched earth dust and vanished on the wind. One step. Another step. Across the pure white snowfield‚ only black sooty footprints stretched on and on. As if‚ within the single painting that was the world‚ only the path he walked was rotting and being scraped away.
Kyle’s red eyes fixed only forward. Not the imperial capital Valheit. Not the palace where the emperor sat. Far beyond that‚ only the “abnormal cold wave”——its absolute source (core)——that had been eroding this country for over a hundred years and continuously stealing the body heat of his countrymen.
(Wait for me)
Blinking muddy scarlet light‚ he muttered in the depths of his heart.
(I will end everything)
That was the painfully straightforward prayer of the clumsy boy once called “Leon Valks.” I want to protect someone. I want to stop the crying of my homeland. I no longer want to see innocent humans trembling in the cold and dying. Just that pure love alone.
But——when that overly pure sense of justice completely synchronized with the “principle of the end (system)” possessed by the jet-black demonic sword 《Ragnarok》. The heretical equation derived in his mind was an all-too-inhuman‚ despairing optimal solution.
——Kill winter.
The meteorological phenomenon called the cold wave. The concept of resignation called natural disaster. The impure specification of “winter” itself engraved into the system of the world. With this demonic sword‚ cut it off from the root‚ space and all. He had the cold certainty that‚ as he was now‚ he could execute that miracle belonging to the domain of gods.
It was then.
——Zuzuzuzuzuzuzu……!
The ground of the absolute frozen earth raised a fierce scream. An unpleasant vibration as if thrusting up the perennial snow at his feet gradually rose into massive waves. Zun. Zun. Zun. Eventually that vibration became an earth-shaking rumble and transformed into a thunderous roar that tore the air.
Beyond the white darkness of the blizzard. Something was approaching. Kyle raised his face. Piercing through the white darkness filling his vision‚ a massive swarm of shadows appeared from beyond the horizon.
One. Ten. A hundred. A thousand. And——tens of thousands.
“…………”
Kyle did not slow his pace. What surged forth like an avalanche was the massive “collective” of magical beasts writhing in the depths of the cold wave. The main body of the aberrant creatures that had nested in the cold wave and thoroughly ravaged the north of this empire.
Leading the way‚ trampling the ground‚ was a single super-massive ice dragon. Its full length far exceeded even castle walls‚ and it raised twin horns like icicles. Each time its massive body crushed the snowfield the atmosphere exploded‚ and in the depths of its huge jaws‚ absolute-zero bluish-white fire raged in a frenzy. Behind it waited a sea of corpses of tens of thousands of magical beasts. Wolves‚ bears‚ giant snakes‚ strange birds——and a swarm of reddish-black aberrants whose bodily outlines were not even fixed. The earth itself‚ as one massive will‚ was rushing to kill Kyle alone.
The ice dragon shook space and raised a frenzied roar.
‘————Guooooooo!!’
The atmosphere cracked‚ and large-scale avalanches collapsed from the surrounding ice mountains. Tens of thousands of magical beasts leapt at once. Sharp fangs‚ claws that split space‚ freezing breath‚ curses‚ murderous intent. Violence as if the “death” of the entire world had been condensed concentrated on the body of a single young man.
An ordinary human would brace their sword here and freeze in fear. A skilled mage would deploy defensive barriers and prepare for a desperate defense. But——Kyle simply walked. Straightening his back‚ expressionless‚ he stepped into the vortex of the surging calamity.
In the instant he passed the tens of thousands of magical beasts tearing through space. He raised the hilt of 《Ragnarok》 held in his right hand just the slightest bit upward.
——Click.
Somewhere in the world‚ a dry sound rang out as if an invisible gear had come off. The next moment‚ reddish-black lines ran geometrically. Space physically shifted. Along the red grid (graph paper) deployed around Kyle‚ the bodies of the attacking magical beasts decomposed into polygons and crumbled away.
But——. Only one. The massive ice dragon standing at the apex of the tens of thousands endured the severance with the mass of its existence. While reddish-black noise cracks ran across the scales of its entire body‚ the ice dragon avoided annihilation and forcibly pushed through the law.
‘Guoooooo!!’
With the roar‚ the ice dragon’s head jerked up. Its massive jaws opened‚ and a super-dense absolute-zero breath that would turn everything on the surface into permafrost was released. Instantly——color vanished from the world. The air completely crystallized‚ and all vision was dyed in dazzling white. The snowfield at his feet was overwritten in an instant into a thick transparent ice ground‚ and Kyle’s body as well was sealed into the deepest part of a dozens-of-meters ice block.
——Complete silence.
The ice dragon narrowed its yellow eyes‚ convinced of its victory and the “freezing” of the intruder. However. From within the silenced ice‚ a small‚ hard sound rang out.
Kot.
At the bottom of the deeply sealed ice block‚ a muddy scarlet light flickered on.
Paki. Pakipakipakipaki……!
Across the entire ice block with the thickness of a giant tree‚ net-like reddish-black cracks ran. And then——.
Don!!
Explosive reddish-black demonic pressure burst from within. Thousands of tons of ice blew apart into powder and scattered in all directions as extreme-cold buckshot. From within the dispersing ice smoke‚ Kyle walked out. He did not even brush off the ice fragments clinging to his shoulders or hair. In his eyes there was neither anger nor irritation at a hard fight.
“……You’re in the way.”
Kyle gripped 《Ragnarok》 anew.
“I won’t say it twice.”
A single flash. This time it was not a mere slash. The very “absolute coordinates” of the world centered on him were irreversibly severed.
Dogaaaaaaaaan!!
The massive body of the ice dragon slid sideways in a straight line‚ as if an image on a screen had shifted horizontally. That was not all. Even the ice mountain range rising thousands of meters behind the ice dragon was physically parallel-cut along the same single straight line. The mountains collapsed as if sliding down. The clouds in the sky cracked‚ and the snowfield was severed.
And——the remnants of the tens of thousands of magical beasts and the massive ice dragon as well. Without shedding a single drop of blood‚ without even being given the chance to scream. Together with the reddish-black noise overflowing from the gaps of the severed space‚ they were completely erased (deleted) from the “world data” in silence.
What remained was a strangely flat massive “blank‚” as if part of the world had been scraped away. Only there was physically cut out from the world.
Kyle lowered the sword in his hand and stared at the vanished massive blank. But——his expression did not so much as twitch.
“…………Wrong.”
For the first time‚ he muttered low. His scarlet eyes glared even farther‚ at the endless northern darkness. Not the magical beast swarm. Not the massive ice dragon‚ nor the obstructing mountain range. Even after erasing such mass from the world——the blizzard had not stopped. Snow was falling. The wind was baring its fangs and raging. The world remained freezing cold. Nothing had changed.
Kyle coldly understood. The swarm and obstacles he had just cut away were not the “cause” of the phenomenon called the cold wave. They were merely the “results” that had overflowed to the surface.
Then——.
“……Next.”
Casually shouldering 《Ragnarok》‚ he began walking again. Northward. Further‚ into the depths of the extreme north where no one had ever reached. Beyond the raging blizzard. To kill the “cause” itself that lay ahead‚ this time completely.
He was no longer subjugating magical beasts. Nor was he fighting a natural disaster. Toward the massive principle that was the world——.
“You are wrong.”
He continued ringing the footsteps of rebellion alone. To end the endless winter. An even more cruel and overwhelming “end” was steadily eroding the silver-white empire further and further north.
At the same time. In the highest echelons of the Holy Empire‚ barrier city Valheit——the main floor of the Empire Central Magical Observation Bureau. Ordinarily‚ the observation crystal groups lined up in multiple layers would hold a pale blue tranquil light and steadily spit out the world’s magical power flow as numerical values in the vast room. But now‚ that silence was completely shattered by a high-pitched emergency alert (alert) that physically pierced the eardrums.
Piiiiiiiiiiiin————!
Piiiiiiiiiiiin————!
“New anomaly reaction (error) detected! Observation crystals‚ third to twelfth systems‚ all overflowing!”
“Magical power flow data measurement impossible (NaN)! Rapid collapse of spatial density confirmed!”
The blood-drained screams of the bureau staff flew about‚ and parchment and magical calculation rulers were scattered messily across the floor. Elk Neumann‚ who had rushed onto the main floor still wearing his off-duty overcoat (coat)‚ ran straight to the central analysis desk and intently stared at the three-dimensional magical map floating in the void.
“Chief Advisor Heinz! What’s happening!?”
Beside the analysis desk was the figure of the elderly research officer Heinz Gregor‚ whose usual deep thoughtfulness had been completely stripped away‚ his eyes bloodshot. The old man pounded the formulas on the calculation board with trembling fingertips and shouted in a hoarse voice.
“Look‚ Elk! First-class danger designation‚ the southernmost tip of the absolute frozen earth domain……the Valks frontier territory!”
At the northernmost tip of the three-dimensional map. The coordinates of the ‘Valks First Frontier Village’ that should originally have already been swallowed by the cold wave front and had its reddish-black warning lights blinking like a corpse. Centered there‚ a terrifying phenomenon was being engraved in real time.
The reaction waveforms of the tens of thousands of magical beasts projected on the map‚ at an impossible speed of mere fractions of a second‚ noisily “completely vanished (deleted).” That was not all. The topographic data of the thousands-of-meters elevation that should have risen north of the village——the three-dimensional texture of the ice mountain range had‚ as if sliced off by a blade‚ been entirely lost (disappeared) along a straight horizontal line.
“……The mountain……disappeared……?”
A hoarse murmur leaked from Elk’s mouth.
“It’s not magical destruction……the absolute coordinates of space itself are being physically ‘cut out’……!?”
“Gentlemen‚ look at the source of this anomaly reaction!”
Heinz raised his voice and enlarged the hologram in the void. There was displayed a single ultra-high-density red light point clad in massive destructive energy‚ literally “scraping away the world” as it advanced in a straight line into the depths of the northern cold wave.
‘Target output: measurement impossible (NaN)’
‘Spatial excision domain: continuously expanding along the direction of advance’
“Wh……at is this monster……!”
Elk felt a chill as if ice had been driven into his spine. They of the observation bureau had no way of knowing. That the true identity of that red light point was the former Leon Valks——the God of Destruction Kyle——who had once sworn “I will abandon no one” and was now heading to kill the “phenomenon itself” of the cold wave to save the homeland abandoned by the kingdom.
Kyle was simply trying to end winter for the sake of his clumsy‚ pure love for his homeland. But what was displayed on the observation bureau’s screens was only the eerie and absolute figure of a “walking super-disaster” that was losing tens of thousands of magical beasts and mountain ranges as data‚ easily trampling the Empire’s defensive lines as it approached.
“It completely matches the waveform of the ‘principle of the end (Ragnarok)’ that advanced north from the south of the kingdom……!”
Heinz overlaid parchment data with trembling hands.
“It’s that boy……! The bearer of that demonic sword who drove the royal capital to annihilation last night has returned from the gap between dimensions and descended upon our nation’s northernmost tip!”
“For what purpose……! Has he come to destroy the Empire……!?”
Elk clenched his fists and groaned as if grinding his teeth——it was precisely then.
Pit————.
In a corner of the analysis desk‚ another‚ yet more ominous electronic sound rang hard.
“……Chief‚ please wait.”
The female observer on duty pointed at the screen with a pale face.
“One more……from the internal domain‚ an anomalous magical power movement pattern has been detected.”
“Internal?”
“From the underground of the imperial capital Valheit……the underground cathedral of the Hero Church‚ a group is sortieing. Currently moving at high speed toward the south (kingdom border).”
“……What?”
Elk’s thoughts cut off for an instant. Heinz quickly rotated the ancient cipher decryption array and hacked out the military identification code (ID) of that group. The moment he saw the character string that floated onto the screen‚ Heinz’s wrinkled face twisted in terror.
‘Affiliation: Hero Church Direct · Covert Recovery Special Forces 《Silver Wedge》’
‘Scale: Special-class combat mages 48’
‘Route of advance: Southern direction · straight to Kingdom Capital 《Arcadia》 Special Training Room’
“Church direct special forces……!?”
Elk’s voice tightened. A few hours earlier‚ at the Supreme Council‚ Emperor Albert had issued the absolute decree——‘Strictly forbid interference with the kingdom and contact with the Computational God.’ It meant that the Empire’s largest religious force‚ the ‘Hero Church‚’ was completely trampling the emperor’s order behind the scenes and moving independently to seize Louis.
“That damned Archbishop……!”
Heinz struck the analysis desk with all his strength.
“Ignoring His Majesty the Emperor’s decree and going to seize that boy as fuel (human sacrifice) for the Empire’s furnace……! If this comes to light‚ it won’t just be full-scale war with the kingdom——the Empire itself will split!”
Despair so thick one could not breathe filled the observation room. From outside‚ an unidentified ‘walking super-disaster (Kyle)’ erasing mountain ranges and magical beasts space and all as it advanced north. From within‚ ‘the rampage of fanatics (the Church)’ stealing the emperor’s eyes to seize the god (Louis) and grasp absolute power. Two catastrophes were trying to tear the Empire’s fate apart from both ends at once.
Elk remained frozen‚ staring at the red-dyed three-dimensional map‚ unable to move. The world‚ without their knowledge‚ was beginning to race toward collapse (error) far too rapidly and mercilessly.
And——at the center of all that tragedy‚ there was still a single boy who‚ in a distant southern land‚ continued sleeping as if dead‚ knowing nothing.
——At the same time. In the southern kingdom‚ underground of the Magic Academy. 《Special Training Room》.
Since the previous night‚ time in this room had not changed in the slightest. An absolute isolation space enclosed by thick white walls. No windows. No sound of wind. Neither the dazzling light of the sun nor even the changing of seasons reached it. The luxurious miniature garden physically severed from every phenomenon of the outside world remained silent‚ as if rejecting the very concept of time.
Even in this very moment‚ the world was beginning to go mad at furious speed. In the Holy Empire’s observation bureau despairing alerts were sounding‚ in the north the young man who had once been a holy knight was marching further into the extreme north while scraping away the impure world itself. And from the underground of the imperial capital‚ white-robed fanatics mocking the emperor’s decree had been unleashed southward.
Yet——. This room alone was completely left behind by that bloody frenzy.
In the center of the room. On a canopied daybed placed upon the highest-grade carpet‚ a single boy lay as if dead. Louis Adel. The boy who had demonstrated the power to rewrite even the laws of the world and was now beginning to be feared and worshipped worldwide as the ‘Computational God.’ Yet on that sleeping face there was not a shred of divine majesty. Only a single fragile child‚ exhausted by a harsh fate that did not fit his stature‚ was sleeping.
Beside him‚ Selina Elferia was kneeling on the cold floor. She had both hands wrapped around Louis’s right hand and had been repeating the same motion countless times since the previous night. As if warming it. As if clinging. As if foolishly and straightforwardly believing that if she shared all her body heat‚ he would someday return to this side of the world as “just Louis-kun.”
“……Please‚ Louis-kun.”
A hoarse voice fell into the silent space. There was no reply. Not even regular breathing reached her. Selina squeezed her trembling fingertips tightly.
“Open your eyes……don’t leave me alone……”
That day. In the kitchen of a small inn in a seaside town‚ the memory of making clumsy baked goods together tightened her chest. Facing the failed hard dough‚ the two of them had laughed until they rolled‚ faces covered in soot. When it was baked and the sweet aroma of honey bread rose with the steam‚ Louis had looked embarrassed yet truly happy. The hand he had overlapped with hers then had not been this mercilessly cold.
“……Louis-kun.”
Plop. A single hot tear fell onto the boy’s ice-cold back of the hand. Yet——his fingertip never so much as twitched faintly.
As she was now‚ Selina could never see it. Her ‘administrator privileges (administrator)’ had been forcibly stripped by a system update‚ and her eyes had no means to project the truth of the void. Therefore——she could not notice the green geometric logs that were inorganically blinking repeatedly in the void just above the boy’s face‚ untouched by anyone’s eyes.
‘Audio data input: Serina_Elferia (emotional waveform detected)’
‘Analysis protocol: skipped as non-recommended noise’
‘System Boot: CIEL v1.0.0 ── executing internal device self-diagnosis’
‘Vision · hearing……normal (OK)’
‘Pain sensation……completely blocked (DISABLED)’
‘Olfaction……no response. Fatal damage to input device (FAILED)’
——Error. Error.
Even while Selina clung to him in tears and gripped his hand‚ from Louis’s internal storage the sweet scent of honey bread and the scent of his mother’s worn apron were being coldly processed as malfunctions that could never again be perceived.
‘Fatal error confirmed. ……No hindrance to operation. Isolating the relevant data from the archive domain’
Selina knew nothing. That outside this room the Holy Empire was competing to seize him as a “nation-saving weapon.” That the Hero Church‚ while worshipping him as “God‚” was trying to kill his humanity and throw him into the furnace. That on the northern earth Leon had transformed into Kyle and continued walking to kill the cold wave itself. And above all——that the boy at the center of it all was sleeping while gradually losing the humanity of “Louis Adel” one by one in an interior no one knew.
Everyone was speaking of Louis Adel. The Empire spoke of him as a possibility that held the nation’s fate. The Church spoke of him as an absolute tool that proved faith. Kyle spoke of him as the sole understanding one to whom he would entrust the new world. Selina was embracing him as a beloved existence she never wanted to let go of again.
Each held their own justice and ego. Everyone believed without doubt that they themselves were trying to save him. Yet——no one was asking the will of the person himself.
What does Louis Adel himself want to do? What does he desire‚ what does he fear‚ where does he want to return? That all-too-humble answer‚ not a single person in this wide world had asked him.
“I want to return to the inn.” That was all it was. He did not want to dominate the world. He did not want to become an omniscient and omnipotent god. He did not want to become a hero who saved a great nation‚ nor rewrite the laws of the world. He simply wanted to return to that imperfect and precious everyday life of eating the burnt bread his mother made and washing dishes at the back entrance while complaining.
Yet the world‚ before listening to that small wish‚ continued forcing an all-too-massive and cruel role onto the shoulders of a single boy. Savior. Computational God. Strategic weapon. Restorer of the world. And——God. Within none of those grand titles full of majesty was there any place left for the boy who wished “I want to return to the inn.”
“……It’ll be okay.”
Selina’s voice wet with tears trembled and melted into the silent space.
“I’m here……I’ll always be with you……”
Those desperate words. Her hot body heat. None of it reached the depths of Louis’s soul.
[ System Rebooting... ]
[ Error : No response from olfactory sensor ── FAILED ]
[ Recovery Progress : 75.3% ]
75.3 percent. Selina did not know the cold truth that number meant. That the time of awakening was drawing closer moment by moment. And——that when he awoke‚ he could never again return to “the former Louis.”
The moment the boy opened his eyes. The fragrant scent of honey bread and the key that opened the door of memories would all have been stolen away. Together with the awakening of a god carrying deficits (errors)‚ the price for the world that had gone mad was about to be paid.
Outside‚ a fierce blizzard was covering the world in white. In the north‚ the footsteps of destruction were echoing. In the imperial capital‚ the malice of fanaticism was announcing its sortie. In the kingdom‚ a distorted cage for protecting the boy was tightly closed.
In the midst of the frenzy. The boy left behind by everything continued only to sleep. At the center where the world was trying to dismantle him into a ‘god.’
The real Louis Adel was nowhere.
——No. He was still there. Simply‚ no one had found him. At the bottom of the darkness. Within the fake everyday (miniature garden) Selina had created. Holding only the fading small wish of “I want to return.”
In the void‚ the green system log blinked coldly.
[ Recovery Progress : 75.3% ]
And——. The night in which the world began to go fatally mad deepened quietly‚ deeply and further‚ without anyone knowing.
Chapter 13: “The Hero’s Scales‚ or the Absence of an Impure God” End
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