"Master is a harsh person. Telling us to fight each other, compete, and trample on others just to progress. Learning doesn't always have to be painful and hurtful. I don't agree with Master either."
The main point always comes later. Since the complaints about the Demon King came first, the main point that follows must be an objection.
"But you are even harsher than Master. You leave even the judgment of wielding power to the individuals. On the surface, your words sound like saving the abandoned, but... that is casting everyone into an endless struggle. It's like fairly gifting a sharp sword to everyone."
As expected. I asked back with a sharp expression.
"Is there a reason it shouldn't be?"
"There are only reasons it shouldn't. The world you envision only works when everyone is strong, kind, and courageous. But most people are weak, cowardly, and timid. Most will use their power to take from others rather than to resist. They will point their swords at humans weaker and more pitiful than themselves. Like the age of barbarism."
She probably wasn't only thinking of black magic when she said that.
A single sharply honed sword—it used to be a crime to even make one without permission. Nowadays, with the development of alchemy, it has become unstoppable, but they still arrest you if you carry a weapon on the streets.
The widespread dissemination of Qi is also a relatively recent occurrence. In the past, it was managed by the military or passed down secretly as the esoteric arts of clans or sects. Actually, the militaristic nation is the weird one; no country mandatorily teaches black magic and Qi to everyone.
Power itself instills fear. We wish our neighbors had no claws or fangs. Because if their minds change with even a slight whim, they could immediately harm a person.
"Because they are foolish, they are the ignorant masses, and they are not kind either. Not only their own miserable yesterday, but they will try to shatter even someone else's peaceful yesterday."
"Perhaps."
"If you know and yet tacitly consent, that is no different from a sin. Why do you tolerate sin?"
"Personal justice and social justice are different. You are smart, so you try to look at all humans at once, but I'm ordinary, so I can only see the one person right in front of me."
However, without claws and fangs, how are they supposed to resist? Power, Qi, magic. How are they supposed to face those equipped with new claws and fangs? Just die for the sake of order?
I cannot accept that.
"Order originated from distrust. I can harm others, and others can harm me. However, the desire to survive is greater than the desire to harm others. Even if I kill a hundred, if I die in the end, it's all for nothing. Because survival is the absolute principle of life. That is why humans created the tool called order. To survive."
I will not kill others. So do not kill me. Order is the ultimate destination of this simple peace treaty. Therefore, order requires barbarism.
"Yet, an order where one can harm others to their heart's content without the fear of retaliation? That is no longer order. Because one must realize that they are also weak and a being that needs protection to acknowledge the need for and accept order."
Because order is a mutual contract. Because it must be applied to each other. If only one side can unilaterally exercise power, that moment is already barbarism.
"Wouldn't the Floating Fortress also have to be hurt once to realize that it, too, is a beneficiary of order? Only then will they make their choices a bit more carefully when trying to drop a meteorite in the future."
I do not deny order. Rather, I affirm it. Humans are merely beasts, so they struggle to avoid dying in vain. Order is the result of that.
Yesterday, too, was obtained through someone's struggle. If so, there is no reason today shouldn't be the subject of struggle.
"I understand."
The Azure Tower Lord understood my words. However, her expression remained unconvinced.
"Still, I do not agree with you yet. Struggle is too sad and arduous. If you keep getting hurt, you will eventually die. Humans cannot endure endless struggle. But..."
It is different from magic or academics. This problem has no answer. What exists is only someone's conclusion. And the difference in those conclusions invites struggle.
The Azure Tower Lord reached a conclusion in her heart and looked at her master.
"Master. Please tell me. What is the reason you created the Floating Fortress?"
At that time, the Azure Tower Lord believed in the Demon King. She thought this Floating Fortress was created to stop 'Arrogance'. It was a faith based on reciprocity.
Because if she did not believe so, it would lead to the opposite conclusion.
"Hmm."
The Demon King made a troubled expression this time as well. It was an expression similar to when he answered the Azure Tower Lord's question back then.
I couldn't read the Demon King's thoughts either, so I didn't know his true intentions, but looking at his expression, I could guess roughly. Probably, the Demon King...
"Azure Tower Lord. Why do humans earn money?"
Answering a question with an abrupt question. The Azure Tower Lord answered calmly.
"To purchase what they need."
"That is typical. But even if they don't particularly need anything, they save money. Because they don't know when something they need might arise, they prepare in advance. There are also people who dedicate themselves to hoarding money itself, but if money didn't hold such value, they wouldn't save it."
The Demon King pointed at the glimpse of the Floating Fortress visible beyond the meteorite and said.
"It is the same. This Floating Fortress will be useful someday. If the lower realm perishes, this Floating Fortress will become the ark then. It will float eternally, preserving all of humanity's knowledge, magic, and superior genes. For hundreds of years, until the lower realm stabilizes."
Ark.
The last bastion sailing the heavens with the purpose of preserving the species, safeguarding all sorts of wealth and knowledge. Leaving the perished lower realm behind, saving only the smart and outstanding humans to revive humanity someday.
That was the raison d'etre of the Floating Fortress.
"You were worried that the humans of the lower realm would abuse black magic, right? I, too, learned a similar truth. The humans of the lower realm are foolish, so they will easily make the choice to destroy the world. I, too, realized that fact, and I created the Floating Fortress to prepare for it."
"The lower realm perishes? If only 'Arrogance' doesn't fall, there would be no need for the Floating Fortress."
"Azure Tower Lord. Not everyone in the world is like us. 'Arrogance' is merely one method. If the polar ice melts and flows, and the Sea Maw invades the earth, what do you think will happen? If the seven waste disposal sites created by the Empire can no longer endure and rise up, how great a war do you think will occur? Or, if the King of Sin appears, what do you think will happen?"
War, King of Sin. Naturally, the Demon King also knew about the prophecy of destruction. No wonder he seemed indifferent to Shea's warning; was it because he already knew it all and found it bothersome?
"The world can perish at any time. Unlike us, the chosen people, they will die without even realizing they are walking into the flames. Preparing for that time, I created the Floating Fortress and selected what to salvage. What I judged would be necessary after the world perishes."
Magic. Knowledge. Books. Technology. And humans.
In particular, humans who were as smart as possible and capable of sensing mana were needed. Even with knowledge, it's useless if there's no one to use it. Because there must be many magicians to survive in the broken world later on.
"Azure Tower Lord. You are a precious talent. You were acknowledged by the Professor, and you can freely use gravity magic. I merely learned and understood the Professor's theory, so I can only manifest gravity anomalies with magic alone. I, the Professor's..."
Saying it is easy, but it means he can use gravity magic like elemental magic such as Fahrenheit or Celsius. Lifting this Floating Fortress without a Demon God was also achieved solely with magic. There was a reason the people of the lower realm believed there was a Demon God in the Floating Fortress. They probably couldn't believe that lifting a city into the sky was the power of a single human.
"However, since one cannot always prepare the appropriate magic, thinking of the future, your power to handle the Demon God's relics is necessary."
"You could just use that power to prevent the destruction of the lower realm."
The Azure Tower Lord asked back as if she simply couldn't understand.
"Why do you think the lower realm will be destroyed? You could just protect the world with the power to float the Floating Fortress in the air. If we have this Demon God, we can block meteorites like 'Arrogance'."
If the Floating Fortress isn't used, wouldn't that be fine? If we protect the lower realm with this power, wouldn't that be enough? The Azure Tower Lord asked with the yardstick of very common sense.
And the Demon King also asked back, unable to understand.
"Do you want to protect the lower realm? If so, you shouldn't have stopped 'Arrogance'."
"Pardon?"
"'Arrogance' is a refined destruction, only up to the point where the Empire perishes, Azure Tower Lord. It will affect the vassal states as well, but the entire continent won't be destroyed."
Actually, in Shea's recollection, the Empire was intact. It took a huge blow, but the nation didn't perish, so 'Arrogance' was no different from being blocked. The Empire, possessing the Sword Saint, must have had power exceeding the Demon King's expectations.
But put differently, that meant the power of 'Arrogance' was restrained.
The Demon King merely wanted to destroy only the Empire. Because.
"But if the Empire doesn't perish, that will truly mean the end of this world. Because the King of Sin, taking on the sins of civilization, will destroy the world himself. And due to your actions, the surface is already finished. Nothing can stop the King of Sin now."
In his view, the world had already perished.