I'm not sure if this is a threat or a courtship. I couldn't feel any hostility from the Blue Tower Lord, and so everyone just stood by until I froze solid.
Rankart let out a sneer.
"Tsk. So the Blue Tower Lord is just another helpless female after all. Trying to rely on a man in the end. You're a failure as a man."
Before being disqualified, I never even declared I wanted to be a man, alright? What exactly do you think a man is?
No, more importantly.
"Hey, Rankart! Are you just going to watch?!"
"Handle your own woman problems. When have I ever interfered with your woman problems?"
"That's true, but. Ugh!"
My body is freezing cold. The Blue Tower Lord was lowering the temperature as if trying to freeze me along with her. I desperately looked for someone to help.
"Mr. Shey! Save me!"
"...Serves you right."
"What? What do you mean by that?"
My true feelings slipped out, didn't they? Shey seemed to realize it too, making an expression that said 'oops'.
"If you cause trouble, you should at least clean up the aftermath. You brought this upon yourself."
"Are you in any position to say that?!"
"I do clean up my messes. Though only when I have the leeway and reason to do so."
Did the world go to ruin before my regression because I couldn't clean up my messes?! ...Come to think of it, that's true. If I had cleaned them up, I wouldn't have regressed.
"Right now, you have both the leeway and the reason. You have a connection with Elysia, so you can at least do some cleanup. It's not like you're particularly busy, right?"
"I am busy! What about the promise you made me?"
"Promise?"
"You said you'd take me to the Seongsan Bamboo Forest and show me the Demon God of the Holy Emperor's Palace!"
"Ah."
You forgot. You weren't thinking about it at all, were you? Well, someone who even forgets their own memories wouldn't remember a promise they made with someone else!
"Actually, this is better."
"Better how?"
"I'll try summoning the Heavenly God. It'll take some time, so you can just handle the cleanup in the meantime."
What? Summon the Heavenly God? You can do that? Then what was all the suffering I went through until now for?
A regressor is reliable when on my side, but the most terrifying when on someone else's. Shey glared at me and cheered for the Blue Tower Lord.
"Elysia. Use me as much as you want. I'll allow it. Instead, could you lend me some observation instruments?"
"Who are you to allow or not allow me... Aaaagh! Alright! Lord Blue Tower. I'll help as much as I can!"
Running away is possible, but even I have a sense of shame. Throwing a tantrum and running away here would be an ugly sight.
It didn't show on her face, but the Blue Tower Lord was greatly relieved. She handed Shey an earring with a blue gem attached to it.
"Shey. I'll give you the emblem of the Blue Tower. Take whatever supplies or personnel you need from the Crystal Tower. I'll tell Avangard to assist you."
"Thanks!"
"I'll make good use of Hughes."
"Uh, you do have to return him though..."
Who are you to decide whether I'm used or returned! My master is myself. No one can own me!
"Hilde! Rankart! Avangard! Where the hell did my side go!"
'Summon the Heavenly God? How interesting. It might be helpful, so should I watch and see?'
'It's all karma. You've been exerting influence over every nation; you can't keep running away forever, can you? Father is inevitably bound to become king. Come. What would it look like for Father to rule a nation?'
'Even if it's like this...'
No one answered my voice. Rankart showed immense interest in the method of summoning the Heavenly God, Hilde looked at me with a very intriguing expression, and Avangard was actually cheering for the Blue Tower Lord.
The Lower Realm had no room to step. It seemed as if everyone in the world knew that the Floating Fortress had fallen. The gullible masses hovering around in case there were scraps to pick up, investigators from other territories who came to assess the situation, and unofficial diplomats with ties to other nations.
At least it had landed above the Celsius territory, so it was somewhat managed, but the accumulated problems were mountainous.
"The biggest problem is diplomacy. The Sword Star of the Vassal State invaded and was expelled."
"The Sword Star must be dead, right?"
"I wish that were the case."
I can't be sure. If it's the Sword Star, he might suddenly say he 'achieved enlightenment' and return with a Falling Slash. You shouldn't apply the standard of common sense to the irrational. Because that's what irrational means.
"But don't worry too much. Would crashing into the middle of the enemy lines be the Empire's intention? It must have been the Sword Star's arbitrary action. And that Sword Star isn't here anymore, so rest easy!"
"You aren't here either, Master."
"They don't know that. They'll think the Demon King of their imagination is still guarding the Floating Fortress."
Other nations won't attack right away. Just repelling the Sword Star was enough to prove the might of the Magic Federation.
"The other half of the meteor that the Sword Star cut fell all over the world. It's a better outcome compared to the destruction of the world, but the damage is still immense. Many places will demand accountability. Even now, the Vassal State's envoy and the Patron Guild's executive are said to have visited the Celsius territory to ask about the situation."
"That's fine too. We actually did something, didn't we?"
The wind moves people. An action taken with intent cannot possibly have no effect.
"Even the atrocity of crashing the Floating Fortress into the meteor has meaning. We did such a foolish thing, so there's no way nothing was conveyed, right?"
***
The Sword Star's slash did not end in a single blow. But even for him, the single layer he could cut at once was only one. He slashed, and slashed, and slashed. The meteor split, and as it fell, it scattered in all directions.
After the Sword Star blunted the meteor's edge, the Magic Tower and the Imperial Army moved next.
The Empire's Magic Tower, heavy cannons, and Sea-Beast Harpoons aimed at the sky and intercepted the shrunken meteor.
The Empire is the hegemon of the Mediterranean, with a record of hunting the sea beasts of the Mediterranean. Although that domain is limited to the coastal waters, it is the only nation in this world that owns the sea and sails ships. The Empire poured all its capabilities and mysteries into attacking the meteor.
The Empire was mighty, and its command was perfectly disciplined. Having responded in time to the Holy Emperor's Palace's warning, the Empire blocked the meteor with minimal damage.
The Empire.
The Empire declares.
That meteor was dropped by the Magic Federation. Wickedly, the one who falsely calls himself the Demon King is the culprit. The various vassal states must rightfully condemn the Magic Federation.
"Does the Empire take us for fools?!"
And the vassal states vehemently rebelled.
"We have astronomers too! No, even someone with just decent eyesight knows this! Everyone clearly saw the Floating Fortress collide with the meteor and block it!"
"If the Magic Federation dropped it, why would they volunteer to block it?"
"The meteor wasn't even falling in our direction in the first place. It was falling towards the Empire!"
"We are not condemning the Empire. But hasn't the Empire shifted the damage it suffered onto the vassal states?"
Suddenly, a pile of rocks fell from overhead. Stones far heavier and harder than those used in catapults, from heights far beyond them. Mountains were blown away, giant trees fell, and castles and buildings collapsed. Even though an evacuation order was issued, the damage was astronomical.
Compared to that, the Empire's damage was minimal. In the eyes of the vassal states, it looked as if the Empire had diverted the meteor fragments to the vassal states.
And to some extent, that was actually true. Because the damage suffered by the vassal states wasn't part of the calculation.
The Empire declares. If the Sword Star and the Empire hadn't shattered the meteor, the damage would have been on the scale of a continental collapse. The Empire saved the world.
"The ones who saved the world are the Holy Emperor's Palace and the Saintess. If she hadn't prophesied the crash site, I would have died!"
"If it weren't for the Tathagata's Divine Mirror cast by the Saintess of Light, the major cities and facilities would have been completely destroyed!"
"It's a blessing that the Saintess protected us!"
The Tathagata's Divine Mirror cast by the Saintess of Light who descended from the Floating Fortress. A continent-wide mirror created in preparation for the meteor that would fall someday. It gathered the light of the observatories and reflecting mirrors of each vassal state into a single point, and the Saintess of Light bound them together and fired them. The massive power that materialized light crossed the atmosphere and burned the meteor.
A move prepared by the Holy Emperor's Palace to save the ground. The beam fired at the speed of light moved busily, burning and intercepting the falling rocks.
Those who saw that majestic and sublime scene were overwhelmed with emotion, clasped their hands together, and prayed.
In truth, the Tathagata's Divine Mirror alone couldn't block the meteor. It could only decompose the small pieces into light and blow them away. Therefore, it was practically the Sword Star who blocked the meteor.
The Empire stated that fact, but,
"If the Sword Star hadn't swung his sword, the Demon King of the Floating Fortress would have just collected the meteor."
"You harmed the vassal states with your unnecessary actions, so shouldn't you be paying compensation instead?"
"It's like throwing your own shit at someone else and then playing the victim."
It was packaged in political rhetoric, but the words were no different from the above.
Who could have known? How could they have believed? That someone from the Floating Fortress would block the meteor even if left alone.
But a choice once made cannot be undone, and a sin has already been born. Then, whose responsibility is it?
The Sword Star who cut the meteor?
Or the Demon King who dropped the meteor?
Or, before that, the Prinkipia who observed the meteor?
The Vassal who forced Prinkipia to make an extreme choice?
Or is it the sin of the meteor that was wandering space and cluelessly approached the orbit?
There is no meaning in pointing fingers. The consumptive debate will continue in the future, but an answer will never come out.