An irresistible force. Literally, to me, it was like a natural disaster.
But the fact that they came to warn me directly... means I can be certain, right?
That the Golden Mirror is also a Demon God.
After chewing on the thought for a moment, I calmly resumed walking down the street. Someone had warned they'd kill me if I spread chaos, but what does it matter? I don't even know what "chaos" means, so how would I know what the landmines are?
That was when it happened.
Darkness rippled. A figure came running through the shadows of buildings, crimson eyes glowing as it surveyed the surroundings. Tir, who radiated a sinister aura, soon approached me. With lips tightly pressed together, glaring at something that had been here, Tir was terrifying enough to make one's hair stand on end.
"Oh my. Tir. What brings you all the way here? Didn't you say you'd stay in your room because you hate sunlight?"
"I felt a displeasing sensation..."
Tir muttered in a chilling voice.
"A sensation so vexing it was horrifying drew me to this place. A feeling that I couldn't live stepping on the same earth. As if something was screaming to trample and kill, to take its blood... Phew, did you not see something here?"
I had. The Saint had just warned me. If Peruel had arrived even slightly later, I would have confirmed today the answer to the childish question of who would win if the Saint fought the Progenitor.
Hmm. I am curious, but... I couldn't bear to watch the boring sight of those two fighting for weeks just to confirm that. I looked around and feigned ignorance.
"Right now there's only me here, and that wasn't me, right?"
"Th-that can't be! It was a distinctly unpleasant sensation, fundamentally different in kind from you or the others. Truly, there was nothing?"
"You must have felt it wrong. Did someone bless me and leave? What should I do? Tir, could you wash me with some darkness?"
"W-wash?"
Tir hesitated for a moment. What's wrong. What's so bad about wrapping me in some darkness.
'Darkness is a part of me. To say you'll wash your body with it... You must be saying that out of ignorance, but it's a bit embarrassing.'
"Wait. Come to think of it, blessings are good things, right? Never mind. Let's go like this."
"Stay still."
Darkness swirled as if to engulf my body. Tir's darkness merely brushed past without any particular texture, like the wind, but perhaps because I had just read their thoughts, it felt somewhat strange. It's just a feeling, so I can ignore it.
Since I've wrapped myself in darkness, I can hide from the eyes of 'Fate' for a while... but that won't last long either.
No reason to drag this out. Let's go right now.
"Tir. Shall we take a little walk? You might not like the sunlight, but I'll hold a parasol for you."
"What?"
Startled by the unexpected proposal, Tir gave a small cough and held out their hand.
"I am not so inclined, but considering your dignity, I shall accompany you. Lead the way."
"Look forward to it. I'll make it an unforgettable memory for you."
"Hehe. How confident. What exactly are you planning to show me that you're puffing up like this?"
Gently taking the hand and receiving the parasol, I stood beside Tir and said with a smile.
"A cornfield."
Corn, closer to reeds than trees yet audaciously growing to its full height, sucking up the earth's energy and tightly hiding its fruit in husks, is truly a greedy creature. Though not as much as the humans who plunder it.
As we approached the cornfield, a man raised his hand and shouted.
"Halt. This place is managed by Lord Oppression's Drum Merchant Guild. Further approach is not—"
"Oh, sir. I haven't eaten anything since yesterday. I'm so hungry I just want to take one ear of corn. With so many here, one wouldn't hurt, right?"
I approached with the most pitiful expression I could muster. However, the man waved his hand dismissively, unimpressed by my realistic acting.
"If you're going to poach, do it like a jackal—nibble at the outskirts! This center area cannot be accessed by anyone outside the Drum Merchant Guild—!"
"Monopolizing food! Dirty bourgeois! Die! Fainting Poke!"
Having closed the distance to point-blank, I raised my hand blade and struck his neck. Caught off guard by the surprise attack, he coughed violently and glared at me.
"Cough! Hack! You're cowardly...!"
Oh, he didn't go down in one hit. How troublesome.
"Knockout Punch! For your information, I'll hit you until you faint. Please pass out quietly."
I kindly explained while slamming his head. The good guard of the Drum Merchant Guild, who had been ordered to protect the cornfield to prevent anyone from turning into a homunculus, collapsed from the successive blows.
*'Ugh... You bastard... Just wait. Once I catch my breath, I'll call every guild member! Don't think you're getting out of here in one piece!'*
Bring them all. That's what I want.
I elegantly pushed through the corn and continued guiding the way.
"Tir, let's go."
"Hmm. He seems to still have consciousness."
"Leave it. There's no need for you to sully your fine hands with such ugly business. I'll handle it."
"Hehe. I'll leave it to you."
Tir, smiling happily, strolled through the cornfield following me. Every time a corn leaf threatened to brush against Tir's head, I gently swept it aside, scoring points. Tir seemed pleased by my small gestures, covering their mouth and laughing.
"Shall I pick one for you?"
"I cannot eat it, but let me at least observe."
I snapped off an ear of corn and peeled away its layers of husk. However preciously it might be wrapped in thin garments, to humans it's merely a fragile resistance that stirs the desire to conquer. I ruthlessly tore off layer after layer and drew out the tender flesh hidden within.
The kernels are plump. The corn was the very image of our idealized vision.
"What a bountiful harvest."
"The kernels look like they'll burst. Let's see. Shall we taste it?"
Freshly harvested corn tastes sweet even eaten raw. I took a big bite of the Golden Mirror's corn.
As expected, the taste is extraordinary. It's on a different level from the Military Nation's Chimera Beans. Those sacrificed flavor for utility, but this is incomparable in both yield and taste. If only the Golden Mirror's curse weren't a factor.
While I was savoring the taste, Tir turned pale and cried out.
"Hoo! Didn't I say you mustn't eat it!"
"A little is fine. Even if I eat it now, it won't be digested, and my body as an outsider is made of things from beyond the Fierce Nation to begin with."
"But..."
"I said it's fine."
If anything, I need to eat it to resonate even slightly with the Golden Mirror.
With Tir's worried expression before me, I chewed the corn thoroughly and swallowed it. My generous stomach entered the digestion process without even checking what I had just eaten. Philanthropy in the truest sense.
Swallowing, I honestly expressed my thoughts.
"It's delicious, but I should eat quickly. Corn loses its flavor once harvested, you know."
"It hasn't been harvested yet."
"It essentially has been. The Golden Mirror is an alchemist. To create this much corn, the materials are needed. Just as corn drains the earth's energy to bear fruit, the Golden Mirror must have used up all this land's earth energy."
The soil is completely dried out and crumbled. It's not just barren—it's dead land. Magic is the power to accelerate phenomena existing in the world, and alchemy is magic that transforms matter.
Perhaps the Golden Mirror caused the corn to exhibit all the mechanisms it would have carried out over months, in a single instant. Through alchemy.
"It's still hanging on, but it's essentially been thrown to the ground. In this kind of earth without water or earth energy, even Chimera Beans wouldn't grow."
Hekto shouldn't be unaware of this. Why hasn't he harvested yet when he should be rushing to do so...
I know. Because I read his thoughts. Also the reason he needed one day's time.
Tir looked around and muttered.
"A completely unfathomable existence. What on earth is the Golden Mirror?"
"Tir. Do you know about Demon Gods?"
It was an unexpected question, but Tir didn't ask back and thought seriously. Searching through memories, Tir recalled something and answered.
"Demon Gods... I've heard of them. The Holy Imperial Court—those beings they're desperately trying to eradicate."
"But you've never seen one?"
"I've tried searching, but even guessing their true nature was difficult. The explanations are vague as catching clouds, and everyone says something different."
"Then I'll tell you. Demon Gods are gods who have touched the Great Principle."
"Hmm," Tir responded with a small but definite reaction. It's not a big reaction, but it's on the good side. Makes it worth talking about.
"And also human."
This time Tir was slightly surprised, but showed an attitude of wanting to listen without interrupting my words. I'm telling you, this person is really easy to explain things to.
"Tir. I told you about Unique Magic Paths before, right? A Unique Magic Path is the expansion of one's mental imagery."
"I know."
"But there are two methods of expansion. Expansion of the target, and expansion of the mental imagery."
I raised my finger and said.
"Usually, when mental imagery is related to an object or its function—for example, when the imagery is contained in a characteristic tool like Maximilien's gears—expansion of the target occurs. The applicable targets are narrow, but the magic practitioner has powerful dominion limited to the functions that target possesses."
In this case, if the applicable target is altered, the Unique Magic Path loses its power. I once sealed Maximilien's weapon by inserting small gears between his gearworks.
Only in my case, if I touch that target, I can reverse-utilize it... but with this wretched body, it's not an easy task.
"If the mental imagery is related to phenomena, it's the opposite. When reversing the rules within a certain range, one cannot exert that level of powerful dominion. Instead, within the space they control, the rules are reversed. Applied to everyone."
Rocket and Peru fall into this category. Rocket turns steel within a certain range into explosives, and Peru accelerates the decay of all matter. It's difficult to directly designate only the desired target. Because what they change are rules.
My ability is also ambiguous at such times. Even if I steal an ability, I can only slightly add to its tendency, not cancel it out.
"However, no Unique Magic Path can directly alter another person's body. Another person's body is a microcosm completely isolated from the world. It is itself the most powerful Unique Magic Path, and vital energy promises complete protection for that microcosm. If magic power is the expansion of mental imagery, then qi gong is the expansion of the body. That's why even a Unique Magic Path has difficulty directly affecting armor and weapons enveloped in qi gong."
"So that is why the knights of old could fight evenly against evil sorcerers."
"Yes. The tradition that qi gong repels magic is not wrong."
Qi Gong and Magic ~Advanced Edition~ lecture. Even with theoretical content that ordinary people would find boring, Tir found it interesting.
As expected, among students, late-life learners are the best. They know how precious learning is.
"Cannot affect another person's body... Those are the words you said when explaining the Homunculus Dilemma."
"You remembered exactly. That's why I said the only ones who can be deformed by relying on another's magic power are the dead. Even if that doesn't kill them, a body that has lost its resistance like that can die at any time."
"Then what does that have to do with Demon Gods? Are Demon Gods beings that have overcome that limitation?"
I shook my head. Such a trifling matter isn't even a problem for Demon Gods.
Of course, if a Demon God's power were used to kill a single human, it could produce such a result, but that's like using an ox-slaying knife to kill a chicken... no, it's the same pointless act as executing an ant with a guillotine.
"But there is a certain Unique Magic Path. The mental imagery of the human who possesses that Unique Magic Path is uniquely their own... but at the same time, it is also a Great Principle that pierces through this world. Since such a principle inherently exists even without the Unique Magic Path, its power resonates with this world."
Not life and death, but the standard that divides them.
Not dignity, but the belief that upholds it.
Demon Gods trample upon the small hopes that humans have desperately protected.
"The scope of effect is all things in the world. The range of effect is the entire universe. There is no time limit. Even if that person dies. Because it existed during their lifetime, and will continue eternally after their death."