The scroll lost its light. At the same time, the world creaked slightly. Right now, some massive axis is twisting, and 'Pride' is falling to judge human arrogance.
"I didn't expect your judgment to be this fast. Then again, now that you've boarded the ark is the perfect timing. Isn't it better for Pride to fall now than when you disembark?"
It is a rational judgment. If 'Pride' were something anyone could drop as easily as eating cake, it would rather be better for me to drop it and board the ark.
"I should prepare to float the ark again. While it's descending, it would be good to burn some Celsius territory citizens. The Magic Federation will be relatively safe from Pride's impact, but you still need commoners to do menial work, don't you? No need to do the job twice."
"You'll be busy from now on."
"Not at all! I'll be much more relaxed than before. Now I don't have to worry about 'Pride'!"
I called out to the Demon King who was about to leave with a hearty laugh.
"While you're leaving, bring my comrades to this space."
"You'll see them when I leave!"
With those words, the Demon King departed, and the space the Demon King had separated reconnected as Shei and Lankart appeared. Lankart acknowledged me.
"Oh? Huey. Did you see this scroll too? The content is fascinating. Gravity magic is bound together with space magic? As if their origins are exactly the same."
"I saw it."
"According to the principles drawn in this scroll, wherever spatial anomalies occur, gravity anomalies must also occur."
"Like the floating castle."
"Yeah. But when the Demon King moved, I didn't particularly feel any gravity anomalies."
"That's because it's an Inherent Demon Path."
Manifesting one's mental image as law is Inherent Demon Path. An extremely personal Inherent Demon Path deviates far from general laws. The Demon King's spatial distortion must be of that kind.
However, that's all it is. An Inherent Demon Path that cannot reach the principles of the world disappears like sea mist, or becomes a relic leaving only traces behind. The only thing engraved into the world itself is the Magic God. Only upon reaching the seat of the Magic God does magic begin, and mysteries are interpreted and subordinated to the realm of scholarship.
The Magic God is the horizon of knowledge. A flag showing how far humanity has advanced.
Therefore.
"A scroll cannot contain an Inherent Demon Path. What's contained in this scroll, is it the Magic God's knowledge?"
It becomes scholarship, becomes technique, becomes magic. What's contained in this scroll is the Magic God's knowledge.
The Magic God must have been someone who reached the secrets of space.
"No wonder the Red Tower Master searches for the Magic God's relics. Looking at what's written here, space magic might be incredibly easy if you have geometric understanding. It's just the conceptualization that's difficult; a 7th-floor level magician could drop a meteor without difficulty."
"What?"
Shei, who had been glaring at the scroll with a sullen face, reacted. She didn't have the knowledge to understand the scroll, but she had been eavesdropping on every word we said.
"Easily drop a meteor? Who?"
Lankart waved the scroll and answered.
"Anyone, as long as they have the knowledge. According to what's written in this scroll, if you know the meteor's coordinates and can handle gravity magic, anyone can summon a meteor. Where to drop it would require quite detailed calculations though. As the White Tower Master said, this really is a humanity extinction switch."
"What...! Give me the scroll quickly! So I can destroy it!"
"Hey. Don't touch it. If the scroll gets torn by mistake, a meteor will fall."
"That's exactly what Ruel said! Such a scroll shouldn't exist! A magic that drops 'Pride'. It's rather convenient. The Demon King must have handed the scroll to all of us. Since we came up here, we need to destroy them all! Huey...!"
Shei was urging me with her eyes to help. Just then, her eyes caught sight of the scroll torn in two pieces. Shei suddenly lost her words and faltered.
"Huh? Huey. Your scroll is...?"
That's right. I tore it. I tore the scroll in two. How about it?
Even with the end before you, will your thoughts change? Or will you remember?
'Huey wouldn't do that...? He's not someone who would think of destroying the surface with Pride. Why? How come?'
This isn't enough? How strange.
If Shei truly knows more than what I read with telepathy. And if she even knows that I can read minds... then she couldn't possibly not know the truth of this scroll.
How can she think such false thoughts so brazenly? You also helped me see this scroll. Didn't you?
"Don't misunderstand, woman. The magic written in this scroll is not 'a magic that drops meteors'. There's no way a single scroll could drop a meteor."
Because this scroll is....
"It's a magic that 'holds the meteor so it doesn't fall'."
"A magic that holds the meteor so it doesn't fall...?"
"Yeah. This scroll has a spell formula written on it that prevents 'Pride' from falling to the surface. If you tear this, the spell formula stops working. 'Pride' falls to the surface."
As Lankart said, there's no way a single scroll could drop a meteor. The amount of magical power contained within it is insufficient in the first place. But interfering with or disrupting an already existing magic is entirely possible.
The scroll the Demon King handed over is a humanity extinction switch. But a switch is just a switch. It's not the switch that causes the explosion, but the powder keg connected to it. What's the point of blaming the switch while leaving the powder keg?
'Pride' was already falling. The collision had just been significantly delayed.
"Huh? Such magic, who on earth...?"
"Damn it. Do I have to tell her this much too? Does this woman not think with her own head?"
"Whoa, whoa. Lankart. Calm down."
She really might not think with her own head. I'm not being sarcastic, I mean really.
"Someone who knows of 'Pride's' existence, is well-versed in space and gravity magic, and can use powerful magical energy... It's probably the Demon King."
"The Demon King was blocking 'Pride'...? Why?"
"I don't know. Maybe they were saving it to use at a better time. Or..."
Maybe the Demon King was protecting the world from 'Pride'. He's not a demon king but a salvation hero, right?
I don't know. I can't know the Demon King's inner thoughts either. This is all within the realm of speculation. But what's important is...
"What's important is that the Demon King already intended to let 'Pride' go. That's why they openly distributed the scrolls."
"We can just collect them quickly!"
"It's already too late. The scroll has been torn, and Pride is falling. We have to stop it somehow."
"How are we supposed to stop that?! 'Pride' is a massive meteor over 2km in diameter! It's incredibly fast and even contains magical energy! Tsk. Is this because we came up here? Should we have not come up like Ruel said?"
"To stop it, I need your help, Shei."
"Stop 'Pride'...? How? I can help as much as you want, but with my power it's absolutely impossible."
Shei, seemingly in panic, was restlessly thinking of countermeasures in her head. I calmly read Shei's thoughts. However, among them, not a single fragment of thought about 'Saint Rene's relic' could be found.
Right now, there's no connection in Shei's mind between Cheon-aeng and Saint Rene's relic. Even though it's something she should think of.
Now then. How about this?
"Cheon-aeng that you have. It's Saint Rene's relic, isn't it? I need that power that manipulates space."
My eyes met Shei's. Her pupils didn't dilate, she didn't panic, and she didn't avoid my gaze. She just replied as if she had forgotten and suddenly remembered when I mentioned it.
"Yeah. Right. You mean the holy relic? Certainly, Saint Rene, a great figure of the Magic Federation, would be related to 'Pride' too..."
It's a reaction similar to having forgotten and then remembering. She's intentionally blocking her memories. Because I mentioned it, her thoughts finally connect. I don't know if that memory is in this body, or beyond time.
She's hiding her memories in a strange way. Was the foolish side she's shown so far a side effect of intentionally blocking her memories? No. That can't be. If she intentionally blocked her memories, she should definitely feel a sense of incongruity, but there was no such sign.
Rather, because she was foolish, she could block her memories and still live normally.
"Hey. Wait a minute."
Then it was Lankart who became dumbfounded. Lankart let out a hollow laugh and said.
"Saint Rene? That person is a spatial demon path magician as renowned as the Demon King in the Magic Federation. They say they surpassed the Demon King at least in creating sub-spaces. You had a holy relic of such a historical demon path magician?"
Shei didn't even think she was caught. She casually revealed Cheon-aeng as if taking something out of her pocket.
"Yeah. This."
"I thought it was a sword inhabited by a wind spirit, but it was Saint Rene's relic? What the. Why on earth are you only mentioning that fact now?"
"Do I have to say it?"
"It's not like that, but..."
Lankart scratched his head and asked me as if demanding an answer.
"Huey. What is that woman's identity?"
I don't know either. Shei probably doesn't know either. Who she is right now.
"Shei. Please open Cheon-aeng. I need to see Saint Rene's relic."
Cheon-aeng is Shei's most powerful weapon, and a beloved sword she has never let go of even once throughout her repeated regressions. If I saw through its identity and asked her to show it, it would be human nature to be slightly wary.
"Yeah. Here. I'll open Cheon-aeng. I'll suppress it as much as possible, but be careful."
However, Shei gripped Cheon-aeng with both hands without hesitation at my request to show it. Shei's fingertips grabbed the compressed space in the air and spread it open.
Creak, creak. A sound like a scream comes from the twisted space. The invisible sword Cheon-aeng opens and leaves a long, narrow scar in the air. What's visible inside is a bizarre sub-space holding mystique.
"Rene will be inside. Holy relics fully retain their lingering will, so be careful. You don't know what they might do."
Among all the aspects Shei has shown so far, this moment is the most like a regressor. She hid it well, knowing how to do such things.
I can't use telepathy anymore either. As the level rises, there's no one it works on.
Well, it's no fun if there's an invincible skill. There should be the taste of overcoming too, right?
"I'll be back."
First, the Demon King. I squeezed into the rift Shei had opened.