I was almost chased out, bouncing out of Cheonak. Landing on the back of my head, I grumbled about the petty malice I felt from Yupum.
How vigorous. I don't know why you were crouching inside crying. If you had this kind of power, couldn't you have beaten Geumjehu too?
Anyway, I managed to persuade it, but I wonder if it will actually lend me its power.
Uwooong. A strange sound came from Cheonak. The crack snapped shut, and I felt an intense vibration as if space itself was shaking.
"Oh? Cheonak's power has gotten stronger! Hughes, it's a success!"
Shei looked at Cheonak, humming in her hand, with joy. Feeling good, she grabbed Cheonak like a sword again and waved it around wildly. Her movements were no different from usual, but when she swung Cheonak, the atmosphere vibrated and began to spew out wind.
Lankart observed Cheonak closely and said.
"Rene's sacred relic is subspace itself. Your sword is a pathway to subspace. By narrowly limiting it like a sword, you made it sharp. Just by spewing wind from there, it would be sharper than any ordinary blade."
"Yeah. That's probably the principle. I don't know well either."
"You use it without knowing the principle? A pearl necklace on a pig's neck. How did something like that receive Yupum's recognition? Is Saint Rene trying to provide intelligence support to idiots or something?"
"It judges by character. Someone like you would never receive recognition, right?"
Feeling good, Shei let even the abusive language slide pleasantly. Lankart said with a sullen expression.
"The wind is... the flow of gas created in the process of expanding and shrinking the subspace. Did you even infuse magical power to manipulate the wind at will?"
"That's right. The true form of Cheonak is that crack. The wind is something imbued in Rene's subspace. It's an object with a bit of treatment added to it."
Subspace is a non-existent space created by Rene's unique magic. Shei controlled the wind by expanding and shrinking its volume. That's the method of turning space into power.
"And Rene's subspace could only hold wind... but now I feel like I can put other things in too! I finally feel like I've gotten a bit stronger!"
Excited, Shei was completely at ease without any worries. Right now, she was purely rejoicing in having become stronger.
However, others were not so.
In particular, Cheongtapju, who I didn't know when she had come up, was criticizing me with coldly sunken eyes. She said, almost on the verge of tears.
"Hughes. Is this what you wanted? The result you got even after fighting me is this?"
Frost was freezing around her. Cheongtapju is the type who becomes even more subdued when angry. And anger enough to cause frostbite was approaching me.
Whoa, whoa. Calm down. You're too excited right now. I did do something wrong, but trying to attack me is too extreme, isn't it? Let's not fight and talk it out.
It was when I was backing away hesitantly. Avangarde, who had been anxious beside me, spoke.
"Hughes must have other thoughts too. Dropping a star just now. Hughes wouldn't, wouldn't do that, right?"
Even Avangarde knows the truth. Secrets spread in an instant.
But she's defending me even after hearing what I did? She's quite tightly wound. Was it too much for a naive person? How should I resolve this?
In comparison, Cheongtapju still had her reason.
"I too realized how dangerous this power is. That's why I stopped seeking to know more... But I yielded to your will to move forward despite that. If I had known this would happen, I would have stopped you by any means necessary."
The reason Cheongtapju was frightened and withdrew from the Demon God Temple was because she intuitively realized that the Demon King's knowledge was that dangerous. A power that could reduce even the Ice Spirit she handles to nothingness. She stopped her own advancement after realizing the destructive power of that power.
The peace she had maintained by suppressing her curiosity and desire was broken. Cheongtapju felt a deep sense of betrayal and looked as if she would rush at me.
This is too resolved. Rather, it looks hard to untangle. What should I do.
"It's a misunderstanding. Elisia."
Then Shei suddenly interjected.
"Hughes isn't trying to destroy the world by dropping 'Pride.' Hughes intends to stop 'Pride.'"
"...Stop it?"
Huh? What? Me?
It was an abrupt statement that no one had thought of, but Shei said it with conviction.
"The King of Humans is a conceptual being. Why would the King of Humans exterminate humans? If anything, they would stop it. Hughes called 'Pride' to stop it."
Did I do that...? Did I?
A feeling I hadn't yet consciously recognized came out through Shei's mouth. I'm grateful for her arbitrarily misunderstanding me, but this absolute trust is unfamiliar. What's with you. Just a while ago you were treating me like a potential criminal.
"'Pride' falls very easily. A mage who learned gravity magic would drop it just by harboring hatred. Someone seeking the Demon God at any cost could bring it down. Or, the King of Sins could pull it up like a toy. To prevent that, the only way is to drop 'Pride' ourselves."
'No need to look far. Since the Floating City fell, the Demon God Temple has called down Pride countless times. To obtain the Demon God, and also for revenge against the Empire. Until then, I thought the Demon God Temple was an organization of maddened mages plotting the world's destruction... At that time, it wasn't really a wrong judgment either.'
This thought is also unfamiliar.
Cheongtapju half-doubted and asked back.
"A meteor is a mass flying at cosmic speed. Creating flames hotter than Fahrenheit through friction with the atmosphere, its hardness is harder than any rock on the ground. Its speed far exceeds the speed of sound. The mages of the Floating City have already made calculations. If the diameter exceeds 500m, it cannot be stopped with modern magic."
"Yeah. That's probably true. But what if it's the Demon God?"
"Demon God...?"
"Hughes is the King of Humans, and the Demon God discovered by humans can be used just by being known. The Demon God of the Floating City would be related to gravity, right? With that power, there's a possibility of overcoming 'Pride.'"
Why is she speaking so well? You weren't that kind of character. It doesn't even seem like she's saying things she doesn't know. Has she seen it somewhere?
Lankart muttered while looking at Shei.
"Strange. There's logic to it. Was the stupid appearance shown until now an act? Or is she just good at sensing things?"
Shei ignored the behind-the-back talk she could fully hear and continued speaking.
"The only one with even a possibility of stopping 'Pride' is Hughes. So, I dropped it myself. To use the Demon God, Hughes needs to come into contact with it, isn't it better than it falling when Hughes isn't in the Floating City?"
"Is that... true?"
I have to nod here or it'll be a big problem. Suddenly, I nodded with an ambiguous expression. Cheongtapju's complexion brightened remarkably, almost to the point of feeling sorry.
And beside her, Hilde suddenly came forward and said.
"Father wouldn't have done something without any countermeasures, right? You always have at least one plan prepared."
"Did you think Huey dropped a meteor to destroy the lower world? Foolish. Think from Huey's perspective. That's something that benefits no one. It's irrational."
With Lankart adding on top of that. The atmosphere became one where I couldn't escape even if I wanted to.
With this happening, it was Cheongtapju who felt strange. When Shei, Lankart, Hilde, and even Avangarde took my side, she felt ashamed alone.
"I was the only one... who knew nothing."
Don't worry. I didn't know either. You and I are in the same position.
Lankart suddenly got excited and started babbling.
"That's right. You know nothing. Thinking you're the smartest person in the world, thinking your limits are the limits of all humans. But Huey is clearly a superior person to you, and there's proper rationality hidden in his actions."
Why are you suddenly in a good mood? Try shutting up a bit.
"This is the difference between you and me. I have someone above me. There's someone I must surpass. As long as Huey is here, I am not arrogant. I am always humble. You and Baektapju, who envy, distrust, and try to kill your betters, will never defeat me!"
"You tried to kill me too."
"I was young then."
Did you get absolution by age? You say you were young whenever you do something.
The cold energy enveloping Cheongtapju subsided. Having calmed her anger, Cheongtapju muttered while lost in thought.
"That's right. The truth I reached isn't a truth only I could reach. Hughes had already reached it. Blocking someone from arriving here was a meaningless act. Hughes, that's what you were trying to say, right?"
....
I let out a smirk. I spread my arms wide as if I had been waiting and said.
"Cheongtapju-nim. Do you know what the least dangerous meteor is?"
"One that burns up while falling?"
"No. A meteor that has already fallen. That's not dangerous. Instead, it becomes a marker that tells us what exists beyond the world. Even if a large meteor might have fallen at some point and ruined this world. We can't hold the meteor accountable for that crime. We just accept it, learn from it, and move forward."
Roughly impressive words. Roughly pretending I had designed it. Creating belief in everyone's hearts, and firmly tamping it down again.
"There's a way to go out to meet 'Pride,' and the power to stop it has gathered. If it was a star that would fall someday, it's better to drop it with my own hands. That way, I can save the world, and humanity."
"Is there anything I can do?"
"Plenty. Originally, this plan wouldn't work without Cheongtapju-nim. I planned this with you included from the start."
That's not particularly true. I just went along with things roughly. But let me say what Cheongtapju wants to hear right now.
"I thought you would never tolerate 'Pride.' Because you were kind even to the commoners of the lower world. Because you used pride the best even in this Floating City full of arrogance."
"Used pride the best? What does that mean?"
"Kind people are the most prideful. Because they have the luxury to share their knowledge and time with others. I don't hate such people."
I just hate it when they become bound by their kindness and regret it.
There's still some time before 'Pride' falls. Before it enters orbit, we can't even go out from the Floating City to meet it. Before that, there's something to do first.
We need to occupy the Floating City.
"Everyone, follow me. We need to go meet the Demon God."