I did nothing. I merely made the Demon God and Saint Rene meet each other. I demanded nothing, and intended nothing. I have already achieved my goal. My business here is done.
However, the Demon God willingly lent his power.
Inherent Demon Path, the Causality of All Things.
Humans built the Tower of Babel to peek at the heavens, and the Celestial God, angered by this, scattered the languages of the world. With their words mixed, people scattered without understanding one another.
However, after a long time, the Tower of Babel was finally completed.
Now, metaphors and rhetoric are no longer needed to understand the world. There is no reason to struggle to explain the unseen.
A language made of mathematics. That explains this world. The barrier of language is now gone. Only the barrier of understanding remains, merely testing human intellect.
The Demon God granted the Blue Tower Master's wish. No one knew the reason, but roughly guessing, it was probably because the Blue Tower Master was the human most similar to Saint Rene.
Pierced by 'Pride', the falling Floating Fortress descended in a gentle curve. Like a feather, at the very end, its speed vanished entirely as it lightly settled on the ground. Although it was split in half, spilling its contents profusely, it somehow managed to land safely above the Celsius Territory.
However.
The half that fell did not receive that grace. It plummeted freely, bound by no such ideals. Where the other half of 'Pride' went, even I could not know for the moment.
Though 'Pride' was blocked, the remaining problems were mountainous. The shattered Floating Fortress, the lost knowledge and assets within, the mages scattered throughout the Sorcery Federation while escaping. The losses were so massive that one wondered if they could be repaid within this century.
There were so many problems that it was difficult to even take the first step. Still, those who had survived with their lives barely pulled themselves together. It was then that the Blue Tower Master, having finished the calculations and landed the Floating Fortress, let out a sigh of relief.
"Ah, Master."
The Demon King walked slowly into 'Pride'. As if feeling no particular regret over the destruction of the Floating Fortress, the Demon King walked in casually and looked around the interior of 'Pride'. Then, seeing the red apple in the Blue Tower Master's hand, he spoke.
"Is the one who used the professor's relic the Blue Tower Master?"
"Yes. This person is..."
"My master, Professor Principia's relic. Unlike Saint Rene, he was a true Demon God."
"But, I only knew him as a member of the Babel Society."
"That's understandable. Saint Rene took the majority of his achievements."
The Demon King naturally reached out his hand. As the master he respected extended his hand, the Blue Tower Master unknowingly handed over the apple. Holding his master's relic, the Demon King fell into quiet thought and spoke.
"While I stopped the war, established the foundation of the Sorcery Federation, designed the Floating Fortress, and went to Hwanggeumgyeong to have it constructed... most of the achievements the professor submitted to the Babel Society had become Saint Rene's. Utterly ridiculous. Saint Rene was merely a disciple striving to reach the professor."
"If you had corrected it..."
"Unfortunately, I could not belittle Saint Rene. It would be disrespectful to the professor."
It was probably because of the relationship between Principia and Saint Rene. As the Demon King who watched them closely, he would know better than anyone.
"Achievements to Saint Rene. Magic to all of humanity. His relic was divided and given to 'Pride'. He didn't even leave descendants, so his line was severed. Now, no one remembers him. Even though he should be praised for all eternity."
The Demon King quietly gazed at the Demon God's relic, fiddling with it. The atmosphere grew slightly peculiar. Despite arriving late, the Demon King was treating the Demon God's relic as if it were his own.
"The world still hasn't caught up to the professor. Even after claiming that talent capable of surpassing the professor would appear someday, it's still far from reaching him."
"Wait a moment, Master."
"The world, you see, must advance further. It must develop further. It must build up higher. That is our duty, standing on the shoulders of giants. It is our repayment for the knowledge built by our predecessors. However, the world has completely failed to repay it so far..."
It was the same thing he had said to me before. That the surface had not progressed at all. The Blue Tower Master realized something and spoke.
"Could it be... the reason you tried to drop 'Pride' was to obtain the Demon God's relic?"
"Obtain? This relic was originally mine."
"A relic does not belong to the living. It belongs to the deceased. Unless you receive the deceased's recognition, you cannot draw out the relic's power!"
"Who do you think put that on the meteorite?"
"Pardon?"
An apple couldn't have grown on a meteorite. Someone had placed the Demon God's relic there. And there was only one person who could have done that.
"I put it there. I was managing the professor's belongings in the first place."
The person closest to the Demon God Principia was his assistant, Academia. The Demon King. He was the human closest to the Demon God.
"Saint Rene tried to persuade the professor. She pointed out that there was a blind spot in the professor's theory, and argued that there might be talent somewhere who could overcome that blind spot. Arrogantly."
"The Demon God accepted that logic!"
"Wrong. He just mercifully let it pass. The blind spot in the professor's theory was supplemented long ago, and to this day, not a single human has reached his realm on their own. Not a single thing Saint Rene said came to pass."
Saint Rene's words were false. The Demon God merely took her side. At the time, their decision ended with them dying together, but there was one survivor. The surviving Demon King remembered the promise from that time.
"The deadline for the promise ended a long time ago. Therefore. I intended to bring the professor down to the surface. If possible, I wanted to leave it to someone who had comprehended gravity magic. So I scattered the scrolls. To test the knowledge to find 'Pride', the magical power to wield magic, and the passion for the truth."
"Even at the cost of tens of millions of lives?!"
"Nevertheless, if one were to drop 'Pride', it would mean they possess an intense desire for the truth. That desire is more important than those tens of millions of incompetent people."
He meant it. The Demon King seemed to feel no guilt whatsoever, even after causing an incident that could potentially destroy the world. Seeing a side of the master she respected, the Blue Tower Master felt a dizzying shock.
'Master... No, the Demon King. He really is a Demon King. He doesn't care about any sacrifice, solely devoted to his goal... I cannot hand this power over to the Demon King.'
"Please return it. I am the one who passed that test."
Prepared to fight if necessary, the Blue Tower Master demanded it from the Demon King. Then, the Demon King nodded and readily returned the apple.
"Even though he was the one who tore the scroll, you are the one holding the professor's relic in your hand. Here. Take it."
"...Huh?"
The one who was surprised was actually the Blue Tower Master. The Demon King, who had just been ruthlessly saying that tens of millions of lives were nothing, had handed over the relic far too easily. Looking at the apple that returned to her hand, the Blue Tower Master was confused.
"Didn't I tell you? My goal was to bring the professor's relic back to the surface. Even though the King of Humans pushed you from behind and paid the Floating Fortress as the price, you ultimately obtained the relic. Then you have the qualifications."
His words were sincere. Tens of millions of lives would mean nothing to him. Because they meant nothing, he didn't care whether they were protected or not.
The Demon King spoke in a gentle yet strict manner.
"You may use it however you like. As much as you use it, the professor's knowledge will spread widely throughout the world. It will become the spark of enlightenment. If the ignorant masses forget their place and run amok, you may drop a meteorite."
"We are not you, Master. We will never commit such a barbaric act."
The Blue Tower Master turned her back on her master with a frigid attitude. As if rather liking her bold attitude, the Demon King, who had been nodding, suddenly spoke.
"Barbaric? Blue Tower Master. There is still something left to teach you."
"I have nothing more to learn from you, Master."
"No. This is a different matter. Haven't you already been used by a barbarian?"
A barbarian? The Blue Tower Master didn't know who he was referring to. However, Shea flinched and looked at me. She remembered the title the Saint had frequently called me.
"You stopped 'Pride' at the cost of the Floating Fortress. It was inevitable, and the flow led to that. But, think about it. Wasn't there always someone at the very center of it all?"
There was. I wasn't quite sure who, but the Blue Tower Master slowly turned her head to look at me for some reason.
'Hughes? It can't be helped. Hughes is the King of Humans. He would naturally have to be involved in all of this... Ah.'
From the time he escaped after being captured by the Green Tower Master, from the time he was introduced to Lankart, from the time he naturally joined the Crystal Tower and learned magic there.
After that, falling into the Celsius Territory. Climbing the Gate of Ascension. Reaching Babel. Tearing the scroll that dropped 'Pride'.
'Huh...? Since when?'
"From the very beginning. His goal has been one from the very beginning."
The Demon King wrapped space around himself, so I couldn't read his mind. However, he continued to show a transcendent attitude toward the world, and I, being busy with my own tasks, didn't pay him much mind. Though it probably wouldn't have changed much even if I had.
But it seemed the Demon King had observed me quite closely.
"To drop the Floating Fortress to the ground."