Chapter 192
Chapter 192
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 192
Chapter Title: Nor's Rest (7)
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After 30 seconds, a signal indicated the save was complete.
The drone, having scanned both eyes, sent a signal to the left one.
Tess was breathtakingly surprised. The view from the drone was overlaid on the scenery she saw with her own eyes.
This ability alone was worth the price of a Schema.
Removing the drone and equipping it as a gauntlet, Tess nodded repeatedly as she listened to the explanation.
Kanya explained that it also had a language decryption function and a feature that could track radio waves to automatically find a target once a specific brainwave was stored.
Unlike Shirone's group, who were excited by the boost in combat power, Klove's eyes darted around nervously.
Even to a heretic, the word "Nephilim" was potent.
It was different from the fear of a strong enemy. The Nephilim represented an unknown dread, irrespective of their power.
Recalling his attitude toward them until now, he hoped Shirone wouldn't place some strange curse on him.
Sure enough, Shirone approached him.
Contrary to his expectation of being cornered, Shirone took out a Yellow Elixir and placed it in his hand.
It was his fee.
Klove hesitated for a long moment before putting it in his pocket.
"Th-thank you. You didn't have to give me this much."
"It's fine. It's not like you can split an elixir anyway."
"Are you... really a Nephilim?"
"I don't know. I'm just a student from a magic academy. Whatever the people here call me, that fact won't change."
"I'm sorry for being so harsh. I thought you were a person of the land..."
"Even if I were, you shouldn't treat people that way."
"Y-you're right. I'm sorry."
Shirone didn't want to say any more.
Lecturing someone who had succumbed to fear was meaningless. He would probably bow to a cockroach if told to.
Shirone tuned Klove out and went over to where the Nor people were gathered. Since this was also part of the community, he figured he might as well ask them.
"Excuse me, do you happen to know about a woman named Miro?"
The Nor people reacted with confusion.
Just as Shirone was about to give up and turn away, an old man leaning on a staff walked over.
"Miro, did you say Miro?"
"Yes. Do you know of her?"
"I heard of her when my parents were alive. Could she also be a Nephilim?"
"What? Ah, yes."
The people of this world knew Unlockers as Nephilim. He didn't know Miro's exact origins, but since she was also an Unlocker, it seemed safe to confirm.
"She denied the Law of Ra."
"What... does that mean?"
"I don't know. That's all I heard. But my mother didn't hate her, even though she was such a devout subject of Ra. It was quite a shock to me as a child."
A woman who denied the Law of Ra. The information was simple, but it held a lot of meaning when he mulled it over.
First, Miro had clearly been to Heaven. And she must have returned with a much deeper understanding of this world than he had.
And yet, she had denied Ra.
When this journey ends, what judgment will I make? Will I come to understand Miro, or will I deny her?
As he was lost in thought, Amy approached.
"Shirone, the sun's about to set. We decided to sleep here tonight. What do you think?"
"Hm? That's fine with me. I'm tired from fighting since this morning. Let's rest now."
"Um..."
Kanya came over and spoke. Amy could tell just by her expression. Seeing as she had followed them, she was clearly concerned about her and Shirone's relationship.
"What is it? Did you have something to say to me?"
"I taught Tess how to use the drone."
"Oh, right. Thanks."
"Reina and I are going to sleep here too. The guides rest at this hour. It looks like we'll have to leave tomorrow morning."
"Oh... I see."
Shirone's voice trailed off.
If Kanya was leaving tomorrow morning, they had to go with her. The problem was that they hadn't agreed on it.
Kanya, after glancing at Amy for a moment, spoke.
"You said you were going into Heaven, right? If it's okay, would you mind stopping by our house for just a day?"
They were planning to go to Heaven, but staying at Kanya's house was another matter entirely.
It might be because of her mother, who didn't have much time left. Or perhaps she wanted to introduce a Nephilim to her devout parents.
In any case, there was no reason to refuse. He was simply grateful for her goodwill.
When Shirone accepted, Kanya blushed.
Amy didn't like that one bit, but she couldn't bring herself to complain, so she just huffed and went over to Tess.
As they were wrapping up the day, a commotion erupted on the outskirts of Nor's Rest. A group of people came running, shouting at the top of their lungs.
"Patrol! Hide! Get down on the ground!"
Before they could even ask what was happening, the Nor people scattered in all directions.
Shirone grabbed Kanya's hand and ran toward where Gadrak was. His friends seemed to have had the same idea and were gathering there.
Lying prone in the bushes, Shirone heard the full story from Gadrak.
He said that on the day of the full moon, angels patrolled the area around Purgatory.
The reason and purpose were unclear, but it was a revelation that had been passed down among the heretics for thousands of years.
A sound that shook the world came from the sky. The surrounding air vibrated as if tens of thousands of locusts had gathered.
As the individual sounds layered upon each other, the dissonance vanished, and a single melody pierced his ears.
Was it a string instrument playing the most beautiful sound in the world?
Shirone, captivated, fell into a daze.
Gadrak pulled Shirone back to his senses.
"Snap out of it! Don't get lost in the sound! We're only holding on because we're mages. Other races would have already collapsed."
Shirone looked at Tess and Reina. They were on their knees, tears streaming down their faces. They hadn't lost consciousness, but they were already in another world.
What on earth was this sound? Could a single note shake a person's mind so profoundly?
"Where is that sound coming from?"
"Each angel has its own unique vibration. It's a tremor emitted by their very existence."
"A vibration of existence itself? How is that possible?"
"In Heaven, angels are called the Tuners of the Law. As the First Entity of Causality, they supersede all laws. The vibration is a tremor that proves an angel's unique domain."
Shirone looked up at the sky. Judging by the frequency of the vibration, it seemed they would soon pass over Nor's Rest.
Although they had put up a veil of light magic, he couldn't shake his anxiety.
"Can the angels see us?"
"Maybe, maybe not."
"What do you mean? Can they see us or not?"
"Have you checked the fingerprints on your fingers today?"
"No."
"It's a similar situation. If they wanted to, they could easily project through the veil of light. But they don't usually fly around Purgatory like that. As long as they don't get whimsical today, we should be fine."
From the bushes on the outskirts, someone shouted, "They're coming!"
Shirone raised his head. He saw four figures passing through the sky at high speed.
He couldn't even blink.
An angel in a white robe flew at the head. It had wings of light ten times larger than its body and held a golden tablet in its hand. What captured his gaze most intensely was the sphere of light floating above its head.
The beings forming a triangular formation around the angel were creatures he had never seen before.
The ones guarding the left and right were similar to humans, but their skin was red and blue.
Following behind them was a monster that looked like a combination of various creatures.
Above their heads floated long, horn-like triangles of red light, numbering from one to three each. Despite not being cones, they maintained the same shape from every angle.
"What is that monster at the end? I can see octopus legs and a snake's face."
"Those are the Mara. The Second Entity of Causality. Another name for them is the Executors of the Law."
"Executors of the Law?"
"I told you the angels are called the Tuners of the Law. They are the first individuals created by God, with the right to freely interpret God's will. Do you know what that means? It means they can manipulate the law as they please. They're on a different level from the giants. When an angel tunes the law, the Mara act. That's why they're called the Executors of the Law."
Shirone realized he had just encountered the highest class of beings in this world.
If God was the law, then the angels were the judges.
Then wouldn't the Mara be something like aides carrying out the judges' orders?
"There was something floating above their heads. A sphere for the angel, and something horn-like for the Mara..."
"That's right, horns. Though they're not real horns, but thought-forms. The more horns, the higher the rank of the Mara. They're endowed with unique abilities from birth. The horns are the source of that power."
"Then what about the thing on the angel's head?"
"That's called a Holy Luminous Body. It's no exaggeration to say that an angel's power lies in it. I don't know the principles in detail. Even when I was a subject, I could count on one hand the number of times I saw an angel."
Klove said, his jaw trembling.
"We actually see them more often here."
Shirone was seized by a strange feeling.
If angels truly exist, are Unlockers really Nephilim? Is the power to freely cross dimensions, Miro's Scale Magic, the ability of an angel?
His head began to ache.
He had gained a lot of information since his first day in Heaven, but the puzzle board was too vast to guess the whole picture.
Not long after the angels left, the moon rose.
It was a colossal moon, one that felt like you could touch it from a mountaintop if there were one. It was eerie.
With the angels' patrol over, the day came to a close for the Nor people.
Shirone rented a 12-person barracks in the tent village and lay down side by side with his friends.
He could hear the soft breathing of sleep from all around, a sign of their exhaustion. He wanted to think more, but he could feel his body's functions shutting down.
Drifting off to sleep without realizing it, Shirone met Miro in his dreams. It wasn't a nightmare.
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 193
Chapter Title: The Tale's Libation (1)
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Shirone's party followed Gadrak and arrived at the Valley of the Whirlpool Serpent.
Since the law had been broken, it could no longer be called the Valley of the Whirlpool Serpent, but a name that had stood for tens of thousands of years wouldn't disappear so easily.
Gadrak said they would no longer be able to find guides here.
Now that the Whirlpool Serpent was gone, there was a possibility a new law would be established. Whatever law it was, it would not be favorable to them.
"We'll see them again someday. The law is finite, but humanity is infinite. Even if Heaven falls, Nor's Rest will not disappear."
With those words, Gadrak vanished.
The words "humanity is infinite" resonated in Shirone's heart. Even here, tens of thousands of light-years away, humans lived.
The group launched three drones into the sky.
Having experienced the Kergo's heretic hunt, the importance of reconnaissance had grown even greater.
When Shirone asked about Heaven, Kanya kindly explained, unlike when they had first met.
"Heaven is made of seven skies. From the Seventh Heaven, Araboth, to the First Heaven, Shamayin. The subjects reside in the First Heaven, Shamayin. Three races—the Meca, Nor, and Kergo—uphold the law and perform their given tasks. The Kergo produce, the Meca process, and the Nor supply."
"But isn't that unreasonable? It means your job is decided from the moment you're born."
"We've been doing this for hundreds of thousands of years. We are simply acting according to the law of Anke Ra."
As far as Shirone knew, civilization in his original world had only existed for 10,000 years at most. If Heaven had existed for hundreds of thousands of years, societal issues aside, it should have reached a state of overpopulation.
When Shirone voiced these thoughts, Kanya tilted her head in confusion.
"Having such doubts is blasphemous. Anke Ra presides over the world. The population of Shamayin has never once decreased or increased. The number of people is always the same."
"How is that possible? Is it some kind of birth control policy?"
"Those who keep and follow the law attain eternal life. They enter the Third Heaven, Shehaqim, and can live forever."
"Then does that mean those who don't attain eternal life die?"