"...If that's how it is, then."
Rather than suffering as a king in name only, it might be better to become a part of him.
Her existence melts away. The Demon God takes her. The Steel King who once mastered all techniques has her very existence transformed into alchemy material... becoming the material to form the Golden Mirror.
In the moment I let go of my consciousness, another strange memory seeps in like a dream. What is this memory now? King Elik? The lingering thoughts of someone who died hundreds of years ago still remain?
I suppose I did think something was off. Golden Meeting Lord Elik. Taking the form of the ancient Gold Nation's king, speaking and acting like a king, she had reigned as the guardian of the Golden Palace for a long time. Judging from what I read of Hekto's thoughts, she had looked exactly the same since Hekto was young. Though she was part of the Golden Mirror, she had a strangely strong and independent sense of self to be called a puppet controlled by the Golden Mirror. She even issued orders to Hekto unilaterally, and even Hekto, the most senior member of the Ten Nations, treated the Golden Meeting Lord with deference and fawning respect.
Even among unburied corpses, there are cases where they maintain their original form through some method. In such cases, they remain for a long time after death and often exert great influence on the world. Just as the undecayed corpses inside the Bottomless Abyss did, it seems King Elik also retained some lingering thoughts thanks to maintaining her original form under the Golden Mirror's authority. No wonder she felt oddly alive. It wasn't that the Golden Mirror's gloomy delusions had reached a high realm. Sorry for speaking ill of you, Golden Mirror. Then again, you couldn't even add variety to city design, so there's no way you'd describe a woman well.
Perhaps, because the two were present, the Golden Mirror became more complete.
Well. This is all in the past too. A columbarium only needs one spot. The two would have wanted to be buried together.
Amidst my wavering unconsciousness, I bid my final farewell, and returned to the reality that was pulling me back.
"Woof, woof, woof."
Crash, crash, crash. The sound of claws frantically scraping the ground came. In one corner of my vision. A crack in the pitch-black darkness heaves. Wondering what it was, I open my eyes slightly and see the crack suddenly widen, then light pours in.
Aji finds me crouched among the rubble, raises her head, and howls.
"Awooo! I'm glad to see you!"
"I'm glad too, but 'glad to see you' isn't the right expression to use here."
The King of Humans almost died buried under rubble. I can't even call myself a king anywhere. Grumbling, I struggled and crawled my way out.
Just a moment ago, the Golden Palace had been running across the wasteland in the form of a massive fortress. But now the fortress is nowhere to be found. Instead, the cubic blocks that made up the fortress have been completely disassembled and scattered everywhere. It seems the blocks lost their cohesion and collapsed while the Golden Mirror was doing something. I was buried in them and then dramatically rescued by Aji.
The blocks that were once a fortress and the Golden Palace roll pathetically. They say flowers don't last ten days in bloom, but before the Golden Mirror, even solid bricks are more colorless than petals. I planted my feet firmly so I wouldn't slip and stroked Aji.
"Good work, Aji. You found me well."
"Woof! It was easy! I always hide bones!"
"There's no point hiding them. We're always on the move."
"Investment for the future!"
"You should only invest when you can get it back. That's just throwing it on the ground."
"Woof woof! I'll get it back! Someday!"
"...Why are you looking at me while saying that?"
The way she's looking at me with shining eyes like she's determined to collect is a bit scary. No, I have no intention of dodging my debts. Still, there are limits to one's abilities. I won't forget my promise, but I can't help it if I can't fulfill it.
It was then. The regressor came hopping over the blocks toward me.
Phew, after surviving a life-or-death crisis, even the regressor is a welcome sight. I waved my hand to greet the regressor...
"Hughes! What happened to the Golden Mirror?"
...and stopped. I replied with a thoroughly cooled expression.
"Please worry about me first. I was buried under there just a moment ago."
"It's not like anyone attacked you. Some rubble just collapsed."
"Normal people die when they get buried under collapsing rubble. Do you have any idea how scary and dangerous it was?"
An ordinary person like me doesn't have overflowing vitality like you, or possess amazing treasures. It's a miracle I survived.
As I was grumbling away, the regressor snorted and changed her eye color. Piercing green eyes, seven-colored eyes that can see through all matter except metal.
"Stop being weak. It wasn't even that dangerous."
The regressor pulled out the crevice I had just escaped from using her paper talismans. Then the tiny space where I could barely fit my body, buried in the blocks, and... the card structure surrounding it appeared.
Tch. Fraud. I can't even exaggerate because of that cheat ability. The regressor examined the card structure with a curious face.
"You made a shelter even while it was collapsing. More importantly, what is that? Steel cards? Alchemy?"
Alchemy, you could say. It's difficult to explain.
It's probably closer to the Demon God than a technique, right?
Alchemy is already a human technique. Like all other alchemists, if I have alchemization and spare magical power, I can alchemize whatever I want. My card equipment was made that way.
Of course, just as giving the same materials doesn't produce the same results, items made by outstanding alchemists are more intricate and functional than mine. Magical power is strength. With my paltry magical power, even roughly shaping something is overwhelming, but alchemists can add all sorts of things to theirs.
To use building a house as an analogy, when I'm struggling to stack logs to make a house, an alchemist processes logs into planks to build a house and even furnishes it with the leftovers.
But no matter how outstanding an alchemist is, they cannot create value that doesn't exist. If the only material is dirt, no matter how much magical power you pour in, all you can make is low-quality alchemized steel that breaks more easily than ceramics.
The Meeting Lord is said to cheat the scales because she has a unique demonic path that can make even such worthless alchemized steel useful. But that's "cheating" at best, not "creating."
...However, the true enlightenment of the Elixir is somewhat different from that.
The way humans utilize earth techniques is merely digging holes and leveling ground. But the true enlightenment of Gaia Ego was the understanding of the very earth we stand on.
Similarly, alchemy, which changes the structure and form of matter, is more complete as a technique... but that's only a technique processed for human use.
The essence of the Elixir is not that.
All matter shares the same origin. Gold, steel, or even seemingly useless coarse sand.
Even in the case of humans, nothing that makes up their bodies is special. Only how it is stacked determines form and function.
The Golden Mirror attained enlightenment.
That all things are composed of infinitely small blocks. My Spade cards are the idol of the Demon God. They honor the great enlightenment the Demon God glimpsed, and are the medium for contacting the great truth. If I observe that the Demon God was also human, then I, the King of Humans, can also use that power. Transforming matter itself into something else regardless of its type. The problem is...
"Why cards of all things!"
"What?"
As I am ordinary now, I can only summon limited power through the idol. The ability my Spade 8 possesses is solely the power to transform matter it touches into steel cards. Regardless of material or type, it can only create Spade 8s of the same shape as the idol!
That makes sense. Even if they gave me the ability to create anything, the current me lacks the power, magical power, and technique to use it. Just as using earth techniques doesn't make you a grand master, and learning Druidism doesn't let you match even Nevida's heels, glimpsing the pinnacle of alchemy wouldn't let me alchemize all things in the world like the Golden Mirror.
The cards I've made the most do handle well, but still...! There's no reason it has to be cards! Couldn't it be something more useful!
I'm burning with frustration inside, but still, it's better than nothing. Let's be grateful and live on. I calmed my mind and spoke.
"It wasn't me. It seems the Golden Mirror saved me."
"The Golden Mirror saved you?"
"Yes. Peru succeeded in reaching the Golden Mirror."
The Golden Palace collapsed. In the last moment, the Golden Mirror, having made some choice, saved Peru and did something. Since I couldn't read its thoughts, I don't know exactly what it did, but judging from the current situation, one thing seemed clear.
The Golden Mirror died.
Since it was already dead to begin with, that's not a very good explanation, but at the very least, it abandoned its obsession with the Gold Nation that it had shown until now.
Instead...
Jingle.
A bell sound heard from somewhere. And from a not-so-distant place, blocks heaved.
It was as if an invisible someone was stacking blocks one by one to build a structure. The blocks that had collapsed like a mountain raised themselves into a shape and created a structure. From there, where small stairs could be glimpsed beyond the darkness, like a door leading underground, a person walked out.
It was Peru.
Her injuries remain the same. The wounds and bloodstains here and there tell of the adventure she had. Her originally poor complexion has worsened even further, so she looks like she might die at any moment.
But there is one difference: the small golden bell hanging at Peru's waist. Every time it rings, a structure made of blocks appears before Peru's path. As if blessing Peru's future.
The Golden Mirror entrusted its will to Peru. Leaving only power without any other will, like a keepsake. It will now be up to Peru to use the Golden Mirror's fearsome power for the nation.
The regressor spoke to Peru, who was walking while creating footholds.
"Residual Green Meeting Lord. It seems the plan was successful?"
"...Ugh."
"Even with attribute mismatch, I didn't think you could stop the real Golden Mirror. Thanks to you, we survived. The ceasefire agreement proceeds as scheduled now, right?"
"...Urgh."
Leaving behind these final death throes, Peru pitched forward and collapsed. The regressor's eyes widened at the unexpected situation.
"Huh? Residual Green Meeting Lord?"
"Shei. I told you. Not everyone is like you, Shei. I said there are people who feel their lives are threatened just from being under there."
"This is no time to talk calmly! Her energy is unstable!"
"You were the calmest one until now, Shei? I told you. Worry about us first?"
Well, it's not like Peru was particularly hurt by being buried under rubble. Originally, the Golden Mirror didn't collapse it with the intention of killing us, so it wasn't as threatening as you'd think.
Peru is probably groaning because she was injured earlier and then recovered. Unlike a homunculus, Peru was healed while still alive. It seems her new body hasn't adapted well yet.
The regressor, not knowing this, bounded across the blocks toward Peru. At that moment, Hilde burst through the blocks one step ahead. Hilde had been buried under even more blocks than me, but no matter how much poured down, it wasn't enough to hurt Hilde, who possessed the Six-Layer Body. Naturally supporting Peru, Hilde casually covered her mouth and spoke disingenuously.
"My oh my~. Peru, are you perhaps dying? After kindly obliterating the Golden Mirror, you're going to collapse from exhaustion? Then the Ten Nations is an empty mountain? Free? 'Mine'?"
"Leave her alone! If you touch her carelessly, I won't let it slide!"
As the regressor approached with a fierce expression, Hilde pouted and pushed Peru toward the regressor as if handing her off.
"What is this? Anyone who hears would think 'I' drove her into the jaws of death~. You're the one who pushed her to fight, Shei?"
"The Residual Green Meeting Lord agreed too! Thanks to that, the rampaging Golden Mirror was stopped. If she had stayed still, even the Military Nation wouldn't have been safe!"
"That's why 'I' said thank you too! Besides, look! This golden bell, no matter how you look at it..."
It was when Hilde reached her hand toward the golden bell at Peru's waist.
Instantly, a sharp aura slashed between the two like a blade. Hilde hesitated, stepping back and raising both hands slightly. The regressor warned with a chilling expression.
"Hands off. It's not yours."
Even at the aura that seemed like it would slice skin, Hilde calmly deflected it and replied.
"Then it's yours? You're so greedy. You'd even take the Golden Mirror's keepsake?"
"If necessary. But that's for later. Don't touch it until the Residual Green Meeting Lord wakes up."
'I don't know how the barely stabilized situation will flow. I should hand it to the Residual Green Meeting Lord for now and see. There's no problem with me taking it, but the Residual Green Meeting Lord seems relatively reasonable... compared to the Military Nation.'
Though the regressor lives roughly, she handles the Demon God's keepsakes strictly. The Demon God is both the power to save the future and a calamity to destroy it, so that makes sense.
Even so, saying you'll take it if necessary is too blatant, isn't it? Hilde will remember that choice. Be really careful.
"I had no intention of touching it anyway~. More importantly, you haven't forgotten, have you? The ceasefire agreement deadline."
"Deadline?"
"You only stopped the Golden Mirror, the ceasefire hasn't been confirmed yet, right? If we don't get a definite answer within two days, a war might break out?"
When heading to the Ten Nations initially, Hilde specified a period of one week. A legion that has moved is like a rolling wheel; if it doesn't move somewhere, it collapses on its own. Whether they return to the Military Nation or march on the Ten Nations depends on the conclusion reached here.
"But there's no one now who can make the ceasefire agreement? No matter how much the Ten Nations is a nation of alchemy, they can't alchemize their own leader. What ever will they do~."
But now that the Golden Mirror is gone, there is no decision-maker. Hilde pointed that out and spun around once. She looked so happy that the peace she longed for hadn't come.
The Ten Nations lost the Golden Mirror, its greatest mystery. No one knows what butterfly effect that will cause, but at the very least, it's clear that the Ten Nations has weakened.
Moreover, the Golden Mirror was the spiritual and economic ruler of the Ten Nations. If it disappeared, the focal point that made the Ten Nations a nation is gone. Even if a ceasefire agreement is reached as Hilde said, it would be difficult for either their own country or other countries to accept.
"...Wait."
At that moment, Peru reacted. Standing beside the regressor, Peru coughed dryly a few times, wiped her mouth, and spoke to Hilde.
"...Ceasefire, I'll do it."
"You? On what authority?"
"...As the Golden Meeting Lord."
Hilde made a surprised face at the unexpected words.
The Golden Meeting Lord is the one who oversees the guardians of the Golden Palace. Since we hadn't expected to have a proper conversation with the Golden Mirror in the first place, we had set the negotiation target as the guardians of the Golden Palace from the start. Actually, since Elik could directly present opinions to the Golden Mirror, if Peru is the Golden Meeting Lord, she has sufficient qualification.
The problem was Peru's qualification.
"Peru is the Residual Green Meeting Lord, right? From Residual Green to Gold? That's kind of romantic~."
Hilde smiled gracefully, then lowered her voice and pointed out.
"In other words, unrealistic. How can we trust that? Why is Peru, who traveled with 'us,' the Golden Meeting Lord?"
"...Even so, it's the truth."
"Even if it's the truth. The Golden Mirror that could guarantee it is gone? In the first place, what meaning does a Golden Meeting Lord have without the Golden Mirror..."
At that moment, jingle, the golden bell shook as if affirming Peru's words. Of course, just the bell ringing wasn't proof, but the Demon God's keepsake didn't simply produce a bell sound.
Rumble. Digging through the block rubble, the Golden Ship rose up.
It was definitely the Golden Ship that had been 'consumed' and disassembled by the Golden Palace. Since the hull had been transformed into alchemy material and became part of the Golden Palace, Peru had also infiltrated the Golden Palace's interior by detaching only the Residual Green Ship. That's definitely how it should have been.
But the current Golden Ship burst out in its exact form before being consumed, standing majestically on the ground.
Looking as if it had spat out the Golden Ship whole, Hilde asked in surprise.
"My oh my? Peru, did you not become the Golden Meeting Lord but the Golden Mirror? If so, you should have told us earlier!"