Did the meteor expect a boulder coming out to meet it? It was probably a bewildering event for the meteor too. No, I hope it was.
Now in a region closer to the sky than the earth. The atmosphere is thin, and instead of a beautiful blue sky, a dark blue universe unfolds.
The sky is empty. Beneath the Earth Mother Goddess, thought to be the bottom of the world, seething magma exists, and the sky, considered the roof of the world, is an illusion. The world of insignificant beings crumbled as of today. Beyond the sky surges an abyssal void that would treat heavenly gods and the Earth Mother Goddess as trifles.
The earth and the sky can no longer be limits. Omnipotence is a ridiculous joke. How can humans, who don't even know what they know and what they don't know, dare discuss omnipotence? Did the creator of this vast universe personally mold only a single planet of a single realm?
Seeing the universe, humans abandon god. God now exists only in the mind. The world and the universe are too vast and dark to believe there is something up above.
Nevertheless, humans build towers. To know even a little more. To get even a little closer to the unknown. They write a single letter, stack bricks one by one, and grow ever closer to the universe.
The tallest tower. Buuseong has reached the universe.
[Entering Domain 10. Buuseong has reached its maximum altitude.]
Managing Buuseong's altitude and operation is the White Tower. The White Tower, handling light magic, is in charge of celestial movements and observation. A mage of the White Tower who confirmed the altitude announced in a clear voice. That guidance passed through sound magic and echoed throughout Buuseong.
[Buuseong is scheduled to change its orbital altitude from Domain 10 to Domain 1. All chosen citizens residing in Buuseong should keep this in mind and not panic at the rapid altitude change.]
A voice flowed from an avatar made of light. They only made that avatar, but the voice was transmitted by a person. Well, that makes sense.
[Currently, a meteor named 'Pride' is falling toward the ground. Diameter is 2.8km. Speed is 32km per second. If 'Pride' falls on the Lower Realm, the Lower Realm will suffer irreversible damage. Therefore, the Demon King and the five Tower Masters plan to intercept 'Pride'.]
A very slight tone of complaint flowed out in this announcement. The reason was roughly similar. The chosen citizens living in Buuseong have no need to worry about the Lower Realm's safety. It was a complaint based on selfishness that was, to some extent, reasonable.
However, the announcement that would normally have ended here did not end.
[The reason we build towers and guard knowledge is not simply to climb higher. It is because even if we cannot climb, we hope that later scholars will step on the towers we have built and climb even higher.]
From here on, it's the Blue Tower Master's custom.
Buuseong's announcements are delivered based on clear facts. Because nothing more is necessary for mages. But today alone, the Blue Tower Master's hope was also announced.
[Citizens of Buuseong. We stand upon our masters. We ought to offer our shoulders for future scholars. To do that, we need future scholars. Even if we grow old, grow weary, or fall short of reaching truth. We need disciples who will step on what we have built and climb even higher.]
Mages are a rational species. They are not moved by simple emotional appeals.
However, emotion and reason are not separate. Both reason and emotion are abilities acquired for survival, and they differ depending on how they are utilized.
[What we will protect is not the ignorant masses of the Lower Realm. It is our disciples who might be born someday. The future of the towers.]
The White Tower's mage concluded the speech the Blue Tower Master had prepared.
In truth, this speech has little meaning. The mages of Buuseong are outstanding but not unified, and most are devoted only to their own research. Even if their minds changed and they stepped forward to block the meteor, how much help would they be?
But even if it has little meaning, if there is even a speck of hope.
I came outside Buuseong.
The gravity anomaly disappears. The force that held my body to Buuseong vanishes, and instead the planet's gravity pulls me.
But that force is weaker than what I usually feel. They say when the body grows distant, the heart grows distant too. That applied to the Earth Mother Goddess as well. She's called the mother of all things, but it seems she wasn't a biological mother after all.
Thus, hundreds of mages gathered at the top of Buuseong.
Hundreds of mages capable of casting strategic-grade magic. Mado practitioners who have learned unique mado. And even the Demon King. The result of extremely compressing the power of a nation united to block a single disaster.
The fate of the world hung in the balance. Amidst the atmosphere of solemn resolve.
The Demon King, standing alone, spoke with an indifferent expression.
"Well. Since we're gathered, I'll announce something in advance."
Though he was clearly Buuseong's strongest, he hadn't deeply participated in this operation. The Demon King maintained a bystander's stance until just before 'Pride' fell.
"I decided to help, so I'll help. I intend to help you as much as my power allows. As long as you set foot on Buuseong, you needn't worry about being unable to breathe or slipping and falling. I don't want your great undertaking to be hindered by such trivial obstacles."
Come to think of it, despite being at such a high altitude, the wind is calm and breathing is easy. I wondered why, and it turned out the Demon King had held the atmosphere around Buuseong.
"And, since this is a first attempt, there should be more opportunities. When 'Pride' falls, I'll slow its speed."
"Huh? Is that possible?"
"To be precise, rather than slowing the speed, it's more accurate to say I'm expanding the space 'Pride' will pass through, but the effect will be the same. Go ahead and try. I sincerely cheer you on!"
Saying he cheers on is sincere, and saying he'll help is sincere too. And that level is tremendous help. At the meteor's speed, just being nearby would sweep us up in the shockwave, but the Demon King will block most of it.
"Thank you, Master."
"If there's anything you don't know, ask anytime. I'll be watching over you."
The Demon King left only those words and departed swiftly. Rancart grumbled at the spot where the Demon King disappeared.
"So in the end, he's telling us to do everything important? He says he's cheering us on, but what kind of help is this?"
"Shut up. Rancart Spendray. The Master is helping us while simultaneously testing us. We must overcome this level of trial for there to be value in receiving the Master's help."
The Green Tower Master, a follower of the Demon King, answered immediately. Rancart scratched his head and accepted it.
"Fair enough. I don't know what principle it works on, but if he reduced the meteor's speed with space magic, I should accept it gratefully if I'm not confident I can do better. The rest is our share, huh."
"My, you're actually admitting your own shortcomings? That's not like you. Is there such a thing as growth for someone like you?"
"Hah? I'm always respectful to people who are genuinely outstanding. They're targets I need to surpass, so I must respect them. That way, when I eventually overtake them, it'll be even more thrilling. I only treat poorly those who aren't outstanding and have no potential for growth. Like you."
"What?"
Rancart once again threw the spark of conflict. That kind of brash personality isn't bad, but it's a bit troublesome right now.
"Rancart. The Green Tower Master is the umbrella that will block the shower of the meteor swarm with her unique mado. She's the most useful person here, so at least humor her until this operation is over."
"Ah. Right. That frilly umbrella finally gets a chance to earn its keep. Do your best."
"You people..."
The Green Tower Master glared at Rancart as if fed up, then looked at me and spoke.
"You. You were the king of humans. Something about you was extraordinary from the start. Even if in a very small range, to twist my unique mado... What did you do?"
"That's a secret."
"We've come this far, isn't it time to tell me?"
"It's a long story if I explain. I'll tell you if we succeed in blocking this meteor and keeping peace in the world."
"For some reason, I feel like you'll never tell me..."
The Green Tower Master said with her arms crossed.
"Don't show off. Even if you're the king of humans, the only one I can call King is the Master."
"Alright. I'll root for you. Fighting."
"I detest men who look like pretty parasites like you. A proper man should have harmony between body and mind. In that sense, the Master is the most perfect and ideal man. Someday, I will definitely become a presence that can stand beside the Master."
"A strong sense of purpose is good, but. Will you be alright? The Demon King will be hearing everything with space magic, won't he?"
"?!"
The Green Tower Master panicked and looked around, then covered her face with her umbrella.
The Demon King must be happy. A young female disciple has a pure devotion for him.
"Everyone! I can see it...!"
It was then. Avant-garde, who had been watching the sky—no, the universe—with a crystal telescope, discovered something and shouted.
"Yeah. I hoped it wouldn't come. I really hoped it was all a joke, but it's finally here."
The Blue Tower Master, who took a small deep breath, took out a fountain pen and brought it to her lips. Wind magic generated from the fountain pen amplified her voice.
"I'll explain the plan one more time, so pay attention. The plan is simple. We attack 'Pride' with the defensive mado of the five towers. It's an attack to destroy 'Pride,' but it will also serve as tracer fire. We just need to fire our mado along the trajectories of the five towers."
Fire magic along the beams of the five towers. Leaping that vast distance and dealing a blow to 'Pride' is difficult, but magic reinforced with each person's unique mado is power obtained by changing the world's rules. Even 'Pride' won't be able to withstand that.
"It will move along 'Pride's' trajectory as much as possible, and the minimum approach distance is theoretically 80m. The goal is to deal significant damage to 'Pride' before reaching this distance. If we make a hole deeper than 50m, we can use this."
The Blue Tower Master pointed to a regular tetrahedron crystal floating in the air. Tremendous power surged within the transparent crystal. Red heat writhed as if about to explode at any moment, and a dark spot held it in. Four one-way surface planes trapped anything that might try to escape, and separated ice crystals held their breath.
Explosions can be caused anytime. The problem is suppressing that power. The bomb, suppressed by the combined strength of the four Tower Masters, contained such tremendous power that just looking at it made one's hair stand on end.
"'Suppression.' A bomb created by suppressing with mutually independent powers. If we bury this deep inside the meteor and detonate it, even that meteor will be blown to pieces."
"Do we absolutely have to bury and detonate it?"
Shei asked. The Blue Tower Master answered.
"Shei. Good question. If we detonate it from the outside, the power will scatter into the air. Our goal is to smash 'Pride' into small pieces. If we don't go at least 100m inside from the surface and detonate it, the loss will be severe."
"Isn't 100m too deep?"
"That's a hopeful wish. We have to hope our defensive mado creates that level of fissure. If we must, we'll detonate it even at the surface, but."
Surely with all the magical power of Buuseong and the strength of these mado practitioners gathered, they wouldn't fail to even scratch it. And well.
"Shei has Cheonaeng and Jijan, right? If push comes to shove, we'll throw Shei."
"...You want me to go and detonate the bomb myself? That bomb?"
"If you hide inside Cheonaeng, you might survive."
"That's too dangerous. Are you saying it's fine if I die?"
'I revealed I'm a regressor, but I'm hurt by this. Even as a regressor, I value your life...'
Is she sulking about this?! It's not like I said you should definitely die. If push comes to shove, you going has the highest probability of success.
"No way. Shei. We rely on you a lot. You're the only qi engineer among us mages. Buuseong's trump card."
"Elisha..."
"We won't attempt anything as unreasonable as Hughes said. Trust and follow me."
"Yeah. Leave it to me!"
The Blue Tower Master quickly coaxed Shei. Now I understand why she said they got close in the previous round. She comforts like this, so she probably thinks they unilaterally became close.
'Shei is simple and stupid, which is nice. A type of person rarely seen in Buuseong. Well, it's better for me to look after her than for her to be exploited by bad people.'
...Don't be fooled, Shei. She sees you as a pet.
"Now. It's 30 minutes before the operation executes. It'll be troublesome if the domains of unique mado overlap, so Tower Masters, move to your respective towers."
At the White Tower, which the Tower Master had vacated, Shei and Rancart and others were to be positioned. Everyone took their places on Buuseong's magic circle and waited for the signal that would soon come.
And not long after. Far away, in the darkness where light had vanished, something began to appear. A heavy and massive presence, an overwhelming power that would shatter this land.
'Pride'.
It was leading countless meteor swarms, seeking to invade this land.
"Don't be nervous. That's just a somewhat large rock. It's fast so it's hard to hit, but in reality it's nothing special. Everyone has broken rocks before, haven't you?"
The Blue Tower Master's voice, seemingly trying to relieve tension, was heard, and a very brief moment of composure lingered before vanishing. The five towers of Buuseong creaked into motion. Buuseong flashed with light, and following the magic circle on Buuseong, it seeped into the five towers. Magic power of various colors climbed the towers and condensed at their peaks.
A vibration was felt from Buuseong. The aftermath of the condensed magic power was shaking Buuseong. I worried about how to block the meteor, but honestly, seeing this power, it seemed like breaking that kind of rock wouldn't be difficult. Shei's turn might not even come.
In the gap of my thoughts, 'Pride' gradually approached. Now it's visible to the naked eye. Above Domain 10, 'Pride' flying in while tearing through the faint atmosphere. As soon as it was discovered, the Blue Tower Master transmitted her voice through the resonance crystal.
"3."
A meteor with a mere 2km diameter? If Buuseong didn't exist, perhaps, but with Buuseong, it's enough to shoot down.
"2,"
But, if it ended with this, it wouldn't be a disaster, would it? Shei wouldn't have been afraid either.
"1."
Tch. I should prepare for the worst. I said quietly.
"Rancart. I'm giving you a chance. Prepare to throw if push comes to shove."
Rancart smiled as if he'd been waiting. I fiddled with the card and looked at 'Pride.' The Blue Tower Master, who had counted the numbers, shouted forcefully.
"Fire!"
At the same time, the five towers simultaneously spewed out magic power. A sound as if the towers would break came from them. Buuseong shook uncontrollably. Strands of various colors soared upward, and from the recoil, Buuseong was pushed to the opposite side. Buuseong fell rapidly while barely maintaining balance.
The space above the ground is not empty. Because it is filled with wind. But this universe is emptily void. The concept of empty air only holds true in the universe.
The five streaks of light that flew through the void in the truest sense reached 'Pride.'