“Yeah... Of course, I still don’t like you.”
Hiroshi flew off. Behind him, The One’s airship had finished its battle, and Marine was gone. He hadn’t been shot down. Either he was captured, or entered after negotiations with The One.
○
“I’m going to have to ask why you’re giving this to me.”
Marine felt ashamed of the position he found himself in, but he still stared boldly at the dog across the room.
“You can’t just accept it’s a gesture of goodwill?”
He was talking to The One, who was curled up on top of a cushion. They were in the airship’s lounge. Marine was sitting in a chair across from The One. He wasn’t being held captive, and at a glance it just looked like a man sitting in a room with a dog.
But the atmosphere was tense. Marine had been defeated, and then invited inside the ship. It was a humiliating experience, but he didn’t despair or lose hope. He seemed to be looking right through The One.
“However, we believe that to be a power which brings true liberation. It’s not something to be used carelessly.”
Marine looked at the Jeweled Branch, which was placed on The One’s cushion. At first glance, it appeared to be nothing but a stick. But Marine knew that it was something special.
“I’m aware that that’s what your legends say. But what do you believe ‘true liberation’ means?” The One asked.
“The Republic’s greatest ideal is liberation. What the Empire calls ‘black magic’ was something we established,” Marine answered, but The One continued speaking.
“And you’ve already achieved that, right? Magic is something available to all. Or are you angry about having to spend so long under the waves? Does ‘liberation’ mean the destruction of the empire?”
“We do hate the Empire, yes. But the ideals that lie at our core are a different matter. We want eternity. That is true liberation.”
“And what does that mean?”
“We believe in the existence of the soul. A soul in the true sense, not what the gods the Empire created speak of.”
“You mean life after death? Does that mean the Republic is even more religious than the Empire?” The One said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. But Marine remained calm.
“You’re free to think of it that way if you like. In fact, there are many who do not fear death.”
“They believe death is liberation?”
“And that death should be dealt to the empire, as well. And they believe that the Faceless Power is what will do it. They believe that it allows them to bind death to their will,” Marine said, with the face of someone who’d just been asked a very difficult question. Many of his citizens hated the Empire for driving them under the ocean, enough to want to kill them.
“But you seem to feel differently,” The One said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
Marine nodded.
“Correct. It’s a mistake to use the Faceless Power for destruction. And an even bigger mistake to think that all mankind could become nothing but souls.”
“But, you know...” The One said, pausing for a moment.
“But?”
“But we know that’s the truth. That humans can become soul-like bodies that last for eternity.” His words seemed intended to inspire some reaction in Marine.
“You’re saying it’s true...?” Marine looked doubtful. But The One began to explain, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“It’s true. And we know it’s true because the Faceless Power is nothing less than the souls of another race. The people of the Empire are plotting to use that power for their own purposes.”
Marine waited a moment to answer. After thinking for a while, he shook his head softly.
“And what do you intend to do with it? Are you not a part of the Empire as well? What I need to know is what you really think.”
The One stood up from his cushion when he heard this.
“I see. You want to know what I really think. Then it seems I need to show you who I really am. I am what you would call an alien.”
Marine raised an eyebrow in surprise.
“Oh?”
But there was a note of doubt in his voice. The One ignored it, and continued.
“And the Faceless Power is the souls of my race. That’s why I want them freed. Liberation, to me, is the liberation of my race.”
“...And what happens when they’re liberated?” Marine asked, cautiously. He was trying to use that answer to see if The One was telling the truth. The One answered in a calm voice.
“A revolution. The revolution you long for in the bottom of your heart.”
“Revolution!”
In contrast to his usual self, Marine’s voice was trembling. This was what he’d truly wanted from the bottom of his heart.
“You wanted a future where both the people of the Republic and the people of the Empire were truly connected on a psychic level. And you thought that the Faceless Power could help you achieve that. Am I wrong?”
Marine said nothing. He wasn’t disagreeing, instead he felt like someone was peering into the bottom of his soul. The One’s voice grew louder.
“The Faceless Power grants wishes... That is one way to think of it. When they are liberated, the souls of my race will resonate with those of humanity, and reflect the hearts of mankind, creating a power that is magical... no, greater than magic. The greatest ideal of what the Empire calls black magic, and what the republic calls magic, is, at its core, a direct reflection of the human mind, is it not? And that’s what I’m offering you. Releasing the Faceless Power means releasing us. It is true communication between heart and heart. And it will bring you a new magic.”
“A new magic...”
Marine could feel himself wavering. The dog in front of him seemed like a demon from an old legend, tempting him with his greatest desire. But Marine was able to remain calm.
“...I still need time. Releasing such a thing should not be done lightly.”
He reflexively wiped the sweat off his brow. Living at the bottom of the sea for so long had left him with a fervent desire for people to understand one another. He’d thought it was just a fantasy, and now he was being told it could be made his. He could do nothing but shiver.
“No, I think it should be done quickly,” The One said.
A mana screen appeared. It was showing Kei Sakura, the devil, facing off with a Republic submarine unit.
“What...?!” Marine gasped.
“Will the nobles of the Republic obey your orders?” The One said, wickedly.
Marine realized that this alien could read the minds of men. He wondered to himself if it was possible to rebel against such a creature. But he decided to bluff.
“They will. And there are those in the Empire who want peace, as well. They won’t start a war that easily...”
“Correct,” The One said, cutting him off.
“Correct. It’s not easy to start a war. But I can see your uncertainty, and it tells me you don’t trust humanity as much you claim you do.”
“...Why do you want the Faceless Power so badly, that you’re willing to threaten me like this?” Marine asked in a pained voice.
“Because I want to see what it is that humanity truly wants. Wars have always had an element of coincidence or manipulation to them. But if humans can have what they truly want, what happens then? That’s what I want to know.” The One laughed.
“So it’s simple curiosity?” Marine asked.
“No. There’s a deeper meaning. But it remains beyond your comprehension. Now, place your bet. There’s very little time left. Will you do nothing, and allow your country to be destroyed by the Empire, or use the Faceless Power to grant the wishes of the Republic’s people? Just as The One said those words, however, there was movement on the mana screen. Several of the submarines had fired missiles up into the sky.
“No!” Marine gasped. He knew what those missiles were. Unlike anti-air or anti-surface missiles,
these missiles left long trails of smoke as they headed high up into the sky.
“Oh? Those are the weapons that were abandoned in the distant past, aren’t they?” The One said in a mocking tone.
“Nuclear weapons...” Marine said, despairingly. They were ballistic missiles, missiles that shoot high up into the air and then plummet downwards, making them almost impossible to intercept. The missiles were equipped with nuclear warheads. A direct hit would destroy even the greatest shields mana civilization had.
“So this is what they brought to deal with the devil? Is this bad luck, or perhaps human fate?”
The One laughed. Marine silently reached out a hand.
“Yes?” the devilish dog snorted. “You know what I want. Just give it to me. I don’t want to have to say it aloud.”
Marine moved closer to him. The dog laughed, baring its gums.
“Tell me, what is it humans want? What is it that you want?”
The devil dog picked up the stick with his mouth, and then handed it over with a paw.
○
“Please make it in time...”
Hiroshi was in a hurry, but the suit wasn’t that fast.
“Nothing’s happened yet, so don’t worry... Huh? The Republic launched some kind of missile?”
He heard Yuko begin to panic from his communicator.
“Yuko, what do you mean?”
“I don’t know. I’m just telling you what sis said. They fired some kind of rocket-like missile that flew up into the sky.”
“Is there going to be a war?”
“I don’t know that yet. We don’t have orders from dad yet...”
“Don’t do anything rash. If I can defeat that devil, and prove that we’re not all like him, we may be able to work this out.”
Hiroshi checked the mana and energy levels in the air around him.
“It’s not dense enough to teleport yet...”
He said. Just then, he heard a scream from Yuko.
“Sis? What? What happened?”
“Yuko? What’s going on?”
There was no answer.
“Sis! Sis! Come in!”
All he could hear was her screams, and incoherent shouting from the other people in the room with her.
“What’s going on?” he yelled.
Someone answered him. It was Yoshie.
“She’s panicking right now, so I’ll answer for her. Something’s going on at the front lines. I should be able to send video soon. Brace yourself for this.”
Her voice was far more serious than it usually was.
“Wait... No... Did one of the missiles hit?” Hiroshi asked.
“That would be bad enough, but it’s even worse.”
“What is it?”
“All the evil in the world... Something came down from the heavens. It wasn’t despair. It wasn’t fear. It was evil.”
Yoshie’s expressions were usually overwrought, but somehow it felt like this time, she might be right. The video came in.
“What... what the hell is this?”
○
“The One has already got the Jeweled Branch.”
It was the member of C-MID8 who could shrink and grow his body.
“And the King of the Republic is with him, you said. Why is he trying to make the King use the Jeweled Branch?” Akuto asked.
They were in the sky above the village. It was filled with bugs created by the member of C-MID8. They were like huge beetles, and were very clearly dangerous. Beyond the army of beetles was The One’s airship. After he’d delivered the Branch, the member of C-MID8 had come back to stop Akuto and the others from getting to the airship.
“Yeah! Get out of our way! It’s dangerous to use the Jeweled Branch when you have an evil heart!” Nonimora yelled.
The two of them were floating in the sky, trying to get as close to The One as possible. But with the lack of energy and mana, they couldn’t fly like they usually could.
“Don’t be in such a hurry. By the way, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Codename Morlock, part of C-MID8.”
The man calling himself Morlock had shrunk to half the size of a normal man.
“...Thanks for the introduction. Now answer my question.”
“You’ll know soon regardless, but very well. Essentially, I want to start a war.”
“...Is that all?”
“Personally, yes. Other members may have more complicated ideas. But I believe that you can’t have advancement without war. In the end, this is going to make for a wonderful world.”
Morlock grinned.
“This guy’s kinda creepy,” Nonimora said, disgusted.
“So is C-MID8 basically just a group of escapees from a mental hospital?” Akuto asked. Then he tensed and readied himself for combat.
“I couldn’t do it earlier, but now I’m used to the lack of mana. We’re breaking through.”
Morlock just laughed.
“You can’t. I’m an expert at operating on minimal energy. Even I keep half of my body inside Virtual Phase Space at all times, and can efficiently use energy by changing my size in the real world. This means that I...”
Just as Morlock began a lengthy explanation of his abilities, something cut him off.
“Ackie! Something happened to Junko...!” Keena was below, screaming. She’d been in constant communication with the palace until then. Akuto’s face changed color when he heard the fear in her voice.
“What did you do...?” Akuto looked at Morlock with cold eyes. A single look at his face was enough to reduce Morlock’s monologue to a stammering mess.
“Uuh... Y-You can see... for yourself... Hah...hahahah...”
○
“What the hell is that?” Junko asked.
Through the window of the command center, she could see smoke from what looked like a rocket rising up from the sea.
“A ballistic missile. It goes up to orbit and then comes back down. Don’t worry. We can shoot it down when it falls. Our air units have already been given orders. If it’s non-nuclear, we’ll be able to contain the explosion,” one of the ninjas explained.
“Non-nuclear?” Junko asked.
“Nuclear weapons can’t be blocked with mana,” the Ninja nodded.
“But that technology was abandoned years ago. There’s no way they’d use it.”
“I hope so... but this means a war’s started, doesn’t it?” Junko said, depressed.
“Maybe we weren’t able to avoid it, yes.”
Just as he said that, though, Junko felt something cold run down her spine.
—What is this awful feeling?
She looked around the command room. Everyone there seemed to share her feeling.
“Hey, did you feel something?” Junko asked, and the answers came back.
“Yes. Something awful... It wasn’t magical. It’s strange. The mana isn’t responding at all.”
“Did it come from above?” One looked up into the sky. Junko’s gaze followed his. It was raining.
—Rain? There was no sign of rain, and weather control should be active for this area...
But as the droplets of what she’d thought were rain fell, the whole area began to burn.
“What...?”
She looked closer. She couldn’t see the fire clearly. The flames were colorless, and the whole air shimmered like a mirage. But the flames remained without disappearing. The colorless flames were spreading across the ground. The grass burned, turning from green to black, and then to ash. It happened everywhere one of the drops of water fell. No, perhaps what was falling from the sky were the flames themselves.
“Aaaaah...!”
One of the ninjas screamed in terror. She turned towards him, and realized what it was he was looking at. The rain was starting to melt the windows and walls of the command room.
“Stand strong! Try the shields!” Junko commanded. But all she heard back was a scream.
“We’re already trying it!”
“...What?”
“I-Is this an enemy weapon?” Junko’s voice was shaking, though she didn’t realize it.
“I don’t know... But this is impossible!”
The flames, neither red nor blue, were burning everything. The whole observation deck where the command room was located was starting to collapse. Through the melting windows, she could see the walls turning to ash and blowing away. Junko’s face twisted in fear. It wasn’t the fear of facing death. It was because the colorless flames seemed to represent all the evil of mankind. Junko’s body began to shake, and she fell to her knees. The unfathomable evil had left her paralyzed.
Everyone was watching... Watching the invisible flames come down from the sky, and burn the city and the army. Everyone could feel the evil within it.
“Let’s say that divine punishment is real. But divine punishment is only punishment because someone wanted it to happen. If a good person is burned, it’s not punishment, it’s just bad luck. In other words, what you’re seeing now is the reflection of someone’s heart. Someone wanted this to happen. Of course, you wanted the missiles to disappear. And that wish came true. But you also granted the wish of the people of the republic. And some of them wanted the empire to burn to ash.”
The One spoke, and Marine knew better than anyone that what he was saying was true. He understood that his connection with the Faceless Power had granted the people of the Republic’s wish. The mana screen was showing the most terrible scene imaginable. From above, it looked like a gray circle spreading out across the ground. But it used to be a town. Everything was burnt into ash and rubble in the span of an instant. The seaside town was a vision of hell. There was no sound of any living thing whatsoever. The only things moving were the ash, blowing in the wind, and clumps of falling concrete.
“I’m seeing the real hell. And a real devil,” Marine whispered in despair, as he looked at the devilish dog.
○
Akuto was looking at Morlock. But he was seeing the video, and hearing the audio. He was receiving the same information Keena’s terminal was, but in an even clearer form. This was possible because he was able to control the weak mana signal at an even higher precision than the mechanical device. His body had adapted to the low mana environment. Or perhaps, the information he was receiving had put him into an extreme state of concentration.
Demon King Daimaou: Volume 11 Page 12