Perhaps because she had seen an unexpected side of the master she respected, the Blue Tower Lord was momentarily dazed. I gripped her shoulder tightly and spoke.
"Snap out of it. Is this really the time to be spacing out?"
"...But, there's no way right now."
"Then should we just stand by and watch? Watch the world down below perish?"
"I don't want to. But there's no way! There's no way to stop a meteor protected by spatial distortion...!"
Projecting firepower and then planting a bomb to destroy it. If the opponent were a normal rock, it might have been a fine strategy. However, the meteor named 'Arrogance' was not just that.
Spatial distortion blocks all projectiles and scatters the force. It's as if the meteor is using Qi. Projecting from the Floating Castle makes it impossible.
"That's it? Didn't you say we have to stop it no matter what? Use your head a little more."
"Using my head won't solve this."
"It will be solved. There has to be a way. Find it, quickly."
The Blue Tower Lord grabbed her head. Hundreds, thousands of magics surfaced in her mind, and all sorts of means flashed by like lightning. But nothing was caught in the net. With conventional means, it was impossible to overcome the overwhelming power of 'Arrogance'.
"No... Spatial distortion cannot be dealt with from a distance."
A despairing voice leaked from her lips. The Blue Tower Lord felt as if darkness had fallen before her eyes.
"No matter what method I think of, it's no good. Above all, the distance is too far. Unique Magic is powerful, but unless you're a Demon God, you can only properly wield that power in your immediate vicinity. But 'Arrogance' is too fast and far. There's not enough distance to project power."
"Then, we just need to overcome the distance?"
"If it's just to gain a possibility. But is there a way?"
"There is a way to overcome the distance. The question is whether you have the resolve to accept the consequences."
There aren't many ways. That's why it's easy to hit the mark. A problem with only one right answer inevitably leads to that answer no matter how you think about it.
"The Floating Castle?"
Whether she could accept that was the issue.
"Yes. We ram the Floating Castle into it."
"Are you crazy?"
Those words popped out without even going through her thoughts. Probably because it was an option the Blue Tower Lord had never even considered. Even if it crossed her mind, she wouldn't have imagined actually ramming it. To her, the Floating Castle was a residential space, not an interception magic tool.
"The Floating Castle is a massive structure possessing gravitational anomalies. In terms of size and mass alone, it is larger than the meteor, and the magicians there are powerful. It can even overcome spatial distortion. Because spatial anomalies exist in the Floating Castle's Babel as well."
"If we do that, the magicians living there...!"
"Magicians? Just evacuate them. Magicians can use anti-gravity magic at the very least, and the Floating Castle has emergency escape measures, right? Then only the empty Floating Castle remains. How about that? Isn't it acceptable as the cost to protect the world?"
I can do it. I have no feelings for the Floating Castle. Rather, I have a slight desire to drop it. How about you?
"Well..."
"I have no intention of pressuring you. I neither know how to move the Floating Castle, nor do I have the authority to. You're the one who moves it. But I can clearly say one thing."
I spoke as if driving a wedge into her heart.
"Other than that, we cannot stop the destruction of the world."
How far can humans give up to save the world? Could they really bring themselves to destroy an aerial city where thousands live, and casually abandon the capital of the nation called the Magic Federation?
"Are you prepared to abandon your country to save the world?"
Hundreds of millions of humans. Or the capital of the Magic Federation. Both are beyond the Blue Tower Lord's scope of responsibility. However, to protect one side, the other must be sacrificed.
The Blue Tower Lord, caught in a dilemma, reached a conclusion quite quickly.
The Blue Tower Lord took out a Resonance Crystal from her pocket. She transmitted her voice to the control room that governed the Floating Castle's orbit.
"The plan has changed. Accelerate. Not a descent orbit, advance to Point A7 while maintaining your sector."
[Point A7, confirmed...]
The voice faltered. He was a magician of the control room who should have moved immediately upon the command, but he was a magician nonetheless. Perhaps having discerned the problem that would arise if they got on that trajectory, he asked back with a question.
[Lord of the Blue Tower. Point A7 in Zone 10 appears to be on the predicted path of 'Arrogance'...]
"Go there."
[Even so, this is...]
"Right now, the chair of the Five Towers Council, and the one entrusted with full authority by the Master, is me. Follow my orders. Please."
[Wait a moment... I haven't received this... Huh? Demon Lord? You came at a good time... Yes?]
The Demon Lord? In the control room? For a moment, the Blue Tower Lord's body stiffened. His voice wasn't heard here. He was probably conversing with the magician while blocking the space.
Only for a moment.
[...At this point, the highest authority during the operation lies with the Lord of the Blue Tower. Confirmed. The Floating Castle will move to Point A7. Controlling gravitational anomalies. Reconstructing anomaly puzzles.]
The Floating Castle follows the trajectory of the Heavenly Pivot drawn in the sky. It is the path of the firmament, invisible yet undeniably existent. In the firmament without signposts, only oneself serves as both buoy and landmark.
A certain speed is required to maintain a certain altitude. Assuming that speed is maintained, the relative position based on the Floating Castle's coordinates is indicated and taken as the coordinate system.
By controlling the gravitational anomalies, the speed at which the trajectory shifts is manipulated. Thus, the Floating Castle moved slightly further forward than usual.
In the direction overlapping the falling trajectory of 'Arrogance'.
[?! Wait. Elysia! The Floating Castle moved differently from scheduled! Explain what's going on.]
[Ugh, I, I feel uneasy... Bad thoughts are billowing up... No... right? You're the Blue Tower Lord...? Not even the Red Tower Lord...]
The Resonance Crystal rang incessantly. The other Tower Lords who had noticed the anomaly were asking for information. To sense the anomaly even while manipulating the defensive magic from the towers and projecting firepower with Unique Magic—they had good instincts.
"The Floating Castle will block 'Arrogance'."
[What?! Are you in your right mind?]
"Please. Do your best until the end."
After delivering the short message and closing the Resonance Crystal, the Blue Tower Lord covered her forehead and laughed hollowly.
"Hahaha. To offer up the Floating Castle just to save the Lower Realm. Even if I succeed, I'll become a heinous criminal."
"If you fail, you'll be a failure plus a heinous criminal. Isn't succeeding better than that?"
"Hughes. You are a devil. You've led me to ruin with an irresistible offer until the very end."
"I led you to a catastrophic success. If it's the price to save the world, a devil's contract is cheap, right?"
"Yeah. At this point, it's practically free."
'Still, we have to save the world. Because we can't be the only ones to survive. I'm not doing the wrong thing.'
"We need to evacuate the magicians of the Floating Castle."
"It'd be nice if everyone walked out on their own two feet. Isn't there a trigger for that?"
As I spoke, I pointed at 'Suppression'. A bomb where the powers of the four Tower Lords achieved equilibrium to suppress an immense explosion—'Suppression'.
But 'Suppression' couldn't stop 'Arrogance'. It needed to be pierced deep into 'Arrogance' and released, but right now, 'Arrogance' had no such opening.
"Haha. Until the very end."
The Blue Tower Lord partially distorted 'Suppression'. Her Unique Magic, which crystallized everything, spread while precariously controlling the physical explosion.
Of course, that alone was enough power to blow off the lid of the Floating Castle.
Simple yet powerful, hot and loud. It was the kind of explosion that would make every human feel a sense of crisis. Even the aftermath of the explosion was clearly visible to the eye.
The lid of the Floating Castle blows off. It's like cutting off the ceiling of an anthill. The ants that walked on the ceiling and walls in the darkness screamed at the sudden disaster.
"There's a hole in the Floating Castle!"
"Emergency! Emergency! The gravitational anomaly is distorting!"
The wind blew through. The gravitational anomaly that allowed them to stand on the Floating Castle's outer wall distorted. The anti-gravity that should have stopped at a certain point constantly asserted its presence.
[Warning! Floating Castle outer wall damaged! An anomaly has occurred in the gravitational anomaly! All Chosen People residing in the Floating Castle, please evacuate...!]
"Tell them to go down to the ground for a while."
[Confirmed! All Chosen People of the Floating Castle, please evacuate temporarily! We will open the lower entrances and drop pods!]
The magicians of the Floating Castle aren't a well-trained race, but they are at least aware that they live thousands of meters above ground. They are all magicians who can at least use slow-landing magic. They headed for the emergency exits without fear of falling.
"Johan. Take the Tower's magicians, and if there are any magicians who failed to evacuate, find them and hide them in Rene's attic. At the end, you hide too, Johan."
[What on earth is going on?!]
"I'm going to use the Floating Castle to block 'Arrogance'."
[Why? Why must you go that far?]
"Please, Johan. This is my last... request."
[...I'll do it for now.]
Her hands were shaking, but her execution was swift. Having issued orders in every direction through the Resonance Crystal, the Blue Tower Lord laughed hollowly, perhaps out of sheer disbelief.
"How did it come to this."
"The world is always a series of surprises."
"It's because of you. If only you hadn't brought 'Arrogance' here."
"It's the Demon Lord's fault. Who turns a meteor into a weapon and deploys it? What was he going to do if someone used it?"
"...Enough. Let's not point fingers. That thing needs to be stopped. For the sake of humanity, and for our sake too. But."
The Blue Tower Lord muttered with a bitter face.
"Will I be forgiven for abandoning the Floating Castle as the price?"
"Well. One thing's for sure, I don't think you'll receive any gratitude. Even if you saved the world here, who would recognize it? Living is a natural right, a default. Would they feel grateful for their life and death being decided somewhere they don't even know about?"
To the people on the ground, it would look like the bizarre magicians living in the Floating Castle accidentally tried to destroy the world and barely cleaned up their own mess. And that's not entirely wrong, either.
"You evaluate yourself. Though I or others might help a bit if push comes to shove."
"I'll hear that later. After we block 'Arrogance'."
Having firmed her resolve, the Blue Tower Lord transmitted her voice through the Resonance Crystal.
"Everyone, listen. We are going to... collide with 'Arrogance'."