He merely went against his battle precognition once, and a hole was drilled right between his eyebrows. What a pity.
However, I did not take his life. I carefully pulled out the skewer that had slightly burrowed between his eyebrows. The paladin trembled, staying still until I withdrew the skewer.
Anyone would do the same. There's no way one could muster courage with a metal skewer stuck between their eyebrows. I patted the terrified man and spoke.
"I respect your rebellion against the revelation. I will not take your life."
Then, as I gave him a light push, he fell on his rear, engulfed in fear.
He survived, but it was enough to instill a belief. The belief that battle precognition is not omnipotent.
Now. How long are you going to just watch? If you don't come out, I'm really going up to the next floor, okay?
*Chirp.* The voice I had been waiting for rang in my ears.
[Yes. I understand what you are trying to show. It means you are not the only one who makes an enemy of order. You wanted to show that anyone can break order for their own sake, right?]
A voice that chatters like a girl yet seems indifferent to all worldly matters. Having it ring directly in my ears gives me an indescribably peculiar feeling. The Saintess of Light, Luel, murmured from a distant place toward me.
[Your argument is simple and clear. 'Everyone must fight against the world with their own intentions!'. Even if the opponent is order. So, you designed this tragedy. The paladins fighting against you, and the mages finishing their cost-benefit calculations before attacking you.]
Either way, a violent incident would have occurred. When they first reached the 7th floor, Kuram and Dokjine ambushed the paladin order, and the paladin order, having reached the 9th floor, plotted an ambush to eliminate them. Since those who have ambushed before are better at it, Kuram, who noticed the signs, struck first.
It was a predetermined sequence. The Blue Tower Lord was wary of them, and Hilde also intended to eliminate them here. And the other mages were pretending to ride on that, trying to ascend the Gate of Ascension first.
I merely drew out the opinions of the masses a little more. Both the mages and the paladin order have their own goals, so you can't ignore that.
[Designing such a board means the opposite is also possible, right? You could have stopped them! You had the power and ability to do so. Without meeting catastrophe, you could have made everyone wrap things up peacefully!]
Yeah. I could have.
I could have summoned Hilde and ordered her not to interfere, persuaded the Blue Tower Lord with our past friendship, used my influence to fix the outcome. Even if only inside the Tower of Babel, I could have established a firm order.
[But that wasn't what you wanted, right? Because you consider resistance itself to be human nature.]
But that is neither my job nor my desire.
Anyone should be able to stand against the rules. Even if that rule is me.
[I understand. But I don't want to understand. Your argument ultimately boils down to the logic of power. If everyone fights with their own intentions, the whole world will be filled with strife and war. I hate it. It's too simple! Humans can't be such simple beings!]
It doesn't matter if you deny it. Because it exists right before our eyes. Denying what exists is nothing more than mental masturbation.
[And, putting everything else aside. If it's as you say!]
So come down too. Come and show your will.
[Because forcing peace with my power is also something I can do!]
Order, too, is a product of barbarism, peppered with the logic of power!
Countless butterflies fluttered about. Cardinal Elton bit his lip and crossed himself, the Blue Tower Lord threw off his robe, and Hilde stabbed Kuram in the back.
The temperature on the 9th floor drops rapidly. The atmosphere and moisture freeze, taxidermying the world. The blood flowing from Kuram's back gives off a pungent medicinal smell. At the same time, the fluttering butterflies all dropped to the floor.
Seeing Kuram's blood flowing, Dokjine ran over like a beast, and Cardinal Elton, fallen into powerlessness, crossed himself and called out to someone.
"...Let there be light."
Then, light spewed forth from the artificial sun.
The world disappeared. The blindingly bright light erased all previous scenery. While the white veil enveloped the world for a moment, nothing could be seen of what was happening.
A little after my vision was restored,
"Ugh!"
An immense pressure crushed down on everyone.
Gravity? Atmosphere? No, something invisible is pressing down. Unlike gravity or the atmosphere, it's a pressure pouring down solely from above. It feels like a pouring waterfall, but nothing can be seen?
I curled my body and struggled to raise my head. Even looking up, nothing could be seen. Only the light pouring down from the artificial sun filled my vision.
Nothing? This force crushing me actually exists! There must be something.
Panting, I suddenly tried moving my arm; my arm, hidden in my shadow, was still light. But the moment I tried to step out of the shadow, I almost fell to the ground.
It's not that my body is heavy, this is...
...Light?
[Lux Vis Mea. Light is power.]
After a fragile voice was heard, a giant shadow was cast over the plains.
A girl with a halo behind her head was slowly walking down, stepping on the light. She wore a serene smile like a saint on her lips, but endless curiosity resided in her sparkling eyes. She looked like an angel seeing the human world for the first time. Those who knew no better would have mistaken her for an angel and committed idolatry.
One of the Five Tower Lords of the Floating Citadel. A mage who awakened a Unique Sorcery, and a genius who ascended the Gate of Ascension alone.
At the same time, the saintess closest to the truth among the saintesses of the Holy Imperial Court.
White Tower Lord, Saintess of Light, Luel.
"Always bow your heads humbly. The light illuminates your path, but dare to look at it face-to-face and you will be blinded."
Her words are true. Just facing it feels like my eyeballs will burst. It feels like someone is shooting a strong jet of water into my eyes.
Squinting mercilessly, I forced myself to gaze at Luel. Walking through the air, Luel was wearing a fluttering white dress. Because she was backlit, the contours of her body seemed visible, but with my strength, it was hard to dare meet her eyes. *How dare a profane one toy with an angel. I shall blind your eyes.* It felt like such a voice was ringing out.
It was the same for the others. Even Hilde, who belonged to the ranks of those with the most outstanding Qigong, could barely face her only after concentrating her Qi into her eyes.
Hilde's holy sword wavered. Hilde, once a member of the Holy Sword Order, realized the opponent's identity the moment she saw her.
"Saintess...?"
"White-Faced One. You once threw the world into chaos, but having repented and been saved by the light, you cannot be called evil. You are still within Luel's prescience, so I will put you on hold."
Luel lightly flicked her fingers. Hilde, who had been about to ambush Kuram, was pushed far away by the force of Micro-Gravity. Even in the empty air, Hilde's body accelerated further. In a blink of an eye, Hilde was pushed to the edge of the tower.
Kuram, who had been stabbed by Hilde, quickly tried to right his posture. But in that instant, feeling a pressure crushing his whole body, he was slammed to the ground. Kuram, realizing the source of this force, raised his head.
"Saintess? Why is a saintess in the Mage's Tower?"
"However, Kuram. You have violated many taboos, and committed the sin of stealing and dominating the will of others with drugs. You are an unpardonable traitor who is still alive."
An ominous declaration. Kuram immediately drew up his poison energy. His body, steeped in poison, flows with poison energy instead of Qi. Extreme poison is both medicine and power to him. It was an amount that exceeded the lethal dose ten times over for a normal human, but to Kuram, it was nothing more than light doping.
"I'm curious. Setting aside why a saintess is here... I wonder if you'll make the same sound as a normal human when you die."
Kuram's body was activated. His heart beat at twice its original speed, and his muscles swelled, engorged with blood. Overcoming the pressure of the pouring light, Kuram stood up. In his eyes, he saw the arrogantly and beautifully floating face of the saintess.
"Is your special and holy blood the same as other humans'?"
Picking up a spear, Kuram altered the structure of his body. His joints extended as if there were several of them, and his long arm transformed like a whip. Putting all his strength into it, Kuram exerted force in all his muscles for an instant and threw the spear fiercely.
The spear thrown with terrifying force was truly like a ray of light, flying with the momentum to shoot down the angel descending from the sky.
Seeing the flying spear, Luel smiled brightly and pointed her finger at Kuram.
"Yap!"
A spear of light pierced through him.
Light explodes. There was no way to deal with it. In the blink of an eye, the light extending from the tip of Luel's finger pierced right through the spear, caused a clash of forces, and created a finger-sized hole right in Kuram's chest.
*Sizzle.* Blood burns from the blackened hole. By the time Kuram noticed, the spear of light had already pierced through his heart. The heart, beating a half-beat late, spurts blood out of the hole. Dark red blood flowed from the corner of Kuram's mouth.
"Cough."
A reaction? There's no way to do such a thing. That is light. By the time it's seen with the eyes, it's already too late.
Unique Sorcery, Lux Vis Mea (Light is My Power).
A Unique Sorcery that grants physical force to light.
The extremely compressed light within the saintess's Unique Sorcery is sharper and more powerful than any spear. Even if Kuram enhanced himself with drugs, before the White Tower Lord backed by the artificial sun, he was truly like a firefly under the sun. Kuram tried to block the hole in his body with his trembling hand. But even that was beyond his control.
Kuram groaned at his body, which wouldn't move as he wished.
"...My blood has been altered. Is it the light."
"Yes! Light has the property of 'purification'. Actually, rather than purification, it's closer to the property of 'denaturing' highly active substances like poison. Pharmaceutical drugs must never be exposed to direct sunlight unless they need to be dried, right?"
To Kuram, who uses poison energy as power, light is truly a natural enemy. The bodily activation formed by drugs weakens rapidly. His body had already been 'purified' in response to the light.
Kuram slumped to his knees. The light Luel brought dug into his pale skin and was already denaturing his entire body. The poison energy that had burrowed into every corner of his body was purified in an instant. Even the poison hidden deep within—
"Kuraaaam!"
At her comrade's crisis, Dokjine leapt forward. Approaching while letting the pouring light slide off her broad blade, Dokjine urgently examined Kuram's wound.
"...Damn. I didn't know I'd die like this. Cough. Maybe, this is a death that suits me."
The wound is one thing, but the light digging into the hole in his body is also fatal. The drugs, which should have been so toxic to make one's head spin, were losing their potency in real time. Dokjine, who had dipped her finger in Kuram's blood, cried out with a crumpled face.
"If you die, what about my happiness? Who's going to make my happiness!"
Even with her comrade dying, the only thing in Dokjine's head was drugs. Kuram laughed in disbelief. He wasn't particularly disappointed. Dokjine was originally that kind of broken human, and Kuram had approached her with that in mind.
As long as drugs were provided, Dokjine became an excellent test subject, guard, and toy. Without her, Kuram wouldn't have been able to endure the tedious Tantalus either. Dokjine would have panted for anyone as long as they gave her drugs.
They needed each other, but it was a twisted and distorted relationship.
And that, too, is now coming to an end.
"...Right. I won't be able to make it anymore."
"You promised! To make drugs for me! Until one of us dies!"
"That's right. I promised, so."
Kuram dug into his own body with his fingers. Rummaging through his body while bleeding, he pulled out a blood-slicked pouch from deep within his heart.
A pouch containing an ominous violet liquid. It is the poison spring that made Kuram be reborn as a poison refiner. Because of this poison spring, Kuram was able to produce drugs and poisons from his body.
"It's more powerful than all the drugs you've ever eaten combined. If you eat this, you'll probably die from shock. Even if your constitution manages to keep you alive, your body will never be satisfied with any other drug. You'll wander searching only for this drug, which you'll never have again, until you die..."
"Huh?"
"...The explanation was too long. Simply put, it's the greatest happiness. One you'll never have again in your life."
Saying so, Kuram placed the poison spring in Dokjine's mouth. With an ecstatic face, Dokjine chewed up Kuram's poison spring. The taut skin burst, and the essence of poison contained within flowed out. Before the lethal-level narcotic could even pass down her throat, it flowed into her body.
Dokjine's eyes widened wide. Even she seemed to find it hard to handle, as her body shivered. Around her, who was convulsing as if she would die at any moment, hundreds of millions of butterflies flapped their wings like dragons. The butterflies went beyond eroding reality and began to destroy it.
UlFRblVJeEt0R01oWGZFZXFXMGFSMC9iS1JGWnBSTUZXQ1RYV1VydmdRbXRacW15Z2YwaXU2YzVWVExIazhUdA
Luel murmured as she watched the illusion eroding reality.
"Li. The principle that a Qigong Master twisted the world into making through brute force."
Dokjine's principle is Hallucination Dream-Walk. She manifests the hallucinations she has experienced on drugs into reality. Stepping on the butterflies that would only exist in hallucinations, Dokjine leaped up. It was like dancing, like rejoicing, and like screaming.
Riding and stepping on the butterflies, she ascended against the sky. She is so fast and agile that it seems even light cannot catch her. Luel, who shot light a few times but missed every time, let out a light sigh.
"It's not as fair and rational as a Unique Sorcery, but the fact that it reveals that irrationality to the world is threatening."
Behind the grumbling Luel, Dokjine's shadow faintly appeared. Teleportation? Or was her running figure a hallucination? It was impossible to know what happened. The only truth was that Dokjine was right there.
The broad blade shook faintly. The blade, swung at a speed akin to a ray of light, struck Luel. Without shedding a single drop of blood, the blade cleanly slit Luel's throat. Luel's head, spinning as it fell, wore a serene smile.
*Flash.*
And Luel's mirage disappeared.
"Heh, eh?"
It was an illusion using light. Having lost her target, Dokjine looked around in midair. Even Hallucination Dream-Walk didn't show her the way. The fluttering butterflies only flew about in chaos.
Dokjine's principle is to overlay hallucinations onto reality. It is far from being able to see through hallucinations. Rather, it belongs to the side that is easily deceived by hallucinations. What was seen was Luel's mirage, and because of her Unique Sorcery, it even had physical substance. With her mind clouded by the drugs, she couldn't perceive it.
...Well, honestly, that's all just an excuse. Even if it hadn't been a mirage, Dokjine's blade wouldn't have worked. That's what I just read.
Because Luel moved within a momentarily stopped world.
...Huh?
What is it? The thought I just read? Suddenly, Luel's thoughts are rushing in like a flood. About 9 seconds—9 seconds that I didn't have, she had. Her thoughts of observing Dokjine's attack, creating a mirage, and lightly dodging her body are being read!
But I have never experienced that time!
Time stop? She can move in that time?
By what principle... no, wait.
With this level of power, why is she dawdling here?!
"The more power one has, the more one must be wary of that power. If powerful force is wielded without restraint... this world will fall into chaos. Because order will become meaningless. Because everyone's world will collapse."
Walking lightly through the air, Luel elegantly brought both hands together. A fearsome light flashed between her palms. Countless prisms sparkled around her body. The prisms that twisted the direction of light aimed at Dokjine.
"Our power is solely for judgment. May the light judge you."
Once again, there was light.
It was so blinding that I couldn't even watch. The pressure of the exploding light was pushing me, and everything here, down. I covered my eyes, curled up, and waited for the disaster to pass.
The fluttering butterflies all settled down. Finishing their last flight, pitifully trembling their wings, they fell unsteadily to the ground and vanished one by one.
Hundreds of millions, tens of thousands, thousands, hundreds. The number of butterflies gradually decreased. The butterflies that had existed in Dokjine's hallucination rapidly diminished as if they were nothing from the start.
Eventually, when the last butterfly died and the light subsided, Dokjine's form could no longer be found.
"May today, like yesterday, continue with this."
Only Luel's brief eulogy remembered the demise of the two villains.