Chapter 212
Chapter 212
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 212
Chapter Title: The Angel's Magic Formula (2)
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“You said his name was Guffin. Is that the same Guffin who created Guffin's Gate? Why did Miro call out his name at the very end?”
Ikael blinked, a surprised look on her face.
She hadn't expected Shirone to have heard that voice. But she soon continued her explanation in a calm tone.
“Guffin was the first gatekeeper who protected your world from the armies of Heaven. Miro, you could say… is Guffin's successor.”
“What? You mean Miro wasn't the first?”
“Their circumstances were different, but yes, that's correct. McClain Guffin… he was likely one of the most exceptional humans in your world. No, he was superior to any Nephilim. That's probably why he separated humanity from God.”
“Then where is he now?”
Ikael shook her head.
“He left for a place beyond my sight, leaving behind a successor named Miro.”
“But if that's true…”
“Yes. She must serve as a barrier for all eternity in a place where time does not flow. Otherwise, Shirone's world will be destroyed.”
Shirone's lips trembled. The image of Miro's face from their last moments together flashed vividly in his mind.
What must she have felt, being isolated from the world to face an eternity of solitude?
At that moment, a terrifying thought struck him.
His conversations with the Headmaster came back to him one by one.
At the time, Alpheas had looked sad. No, sometimes he had worn a frightening expression, as if he were angry.
What if Miro hadn't chosen that path herself?
What if she had been forced into isolation?
The thought sent a shiver down Shirone's spine.
This couldn't even be called a crime. It was a decision that had condemned a single human being to an eternity in hell.
“Just how long does Miro have to…?”
“Even now, the armies of Heaven are making full preparations for the final war. It might not be long. The coordinates are recorded in the Metagate that you and your friends brought.”
Shirone's mind went blank.
Miro had used Scale Magic to block the gate to Heaven. But the Metagate was tantamount to opening a new gate to Heaven.
“No way… It can't be…”
“No. It's possible. With the Metagate, Heaven's technology is more than capable of bypassing Miro's space-time.”
Shirone felt his world crumbling around him.
This wasn't a matter of their own survival. It was the destruction of all humanity.
He couldn't believe it was true. What in the world had they done?
“That's also why I want to help. Shirone's friends are being held in the Grand World Chamber. Cariel will implant Nephilim information into the girls' bodies.”
“Why? You said they were preparing for the final war! What do Nephilim have to do with any of this?”
“Because the situation has changed. Miro is not a Nephilim. And yet, she opened the Immortal Function on her own. Such cases are extremely rare, but in Shirone's world, they happen quite often.”
That was why he had been so confused when he first heard the word 'Nephilim' at Norr's Rest. There were far too many Un-lockers to all be descendants of angels.
“It means Shirone's world has strayed that far from Ra's will. Guffin bought time so that humans could understand the essence of the world. And now, that will has been passed on to Miro. Of course, the time she has defended is paltry compared to Guffin's. But in terms of the speed of growth, it's a level that cannot be overlooked.”
Shirone agreed with that.
The pace of magical development was certainly accelerating. There were even analyses suggesting that the progress of the last hundred years was less than that of the recent ten.
“So you're saying humans won't go down so easily this time.”
“That's right. Although they are few, the rulers of the human world are likely aware of Heaven's existence. They are probably preparing in some way. Right now, they need every Nephilim they can get.”
Shirone shuddered. To think they would inject angelic information into human bodies just to destroy humanity.
The thought of Amy having to give birth to someone for such a reason was unbearable.
“Why have you just been standing by? You're an archangel, can't you ask them to release them?”
Ikael looked at Shirone with sad eyes.
“Ah…”
Of course. Why did Miro dislike Ikael? Because she was an angel who commanded the armies of Heaven. Ikael, too, had once been a Seraph who brought punishment upon humanity.
“Yes, I am an angel. If the final war were to happen… I too would have no choice but to fight against humans.”
Shirone felt the strength drain from his body.
So this was how it was? Was he supposed to just watch his friends suffer, without any help from Heaven?
“That is… if it were before I met Guffin.”
Ikael smiled with her eyes and stuck out her tongue playfully.
“Don't worry, Shirone. I want to help you. Humans, unlike angels, hold infinite potential. I believe the final war must never happen.”
Shirone stared blankly for a moment before realizing the weight of her words.
If an archangel who had risen to the rank of Seraph was willing to side with humanity, there was hope even if the final war broke out.
She had said it was before she met Guffin. He couldn't ask what sin Ikael had committed, but he could guess it was related to him.
“But you shouldn't let your guard down. My power is sealed. Besides, I can't even leave this room, so even if I help you, I can't offer any direct assistance.”
“But… with my power, I can't defeat an angel.”
“That's right. Angels are strong. And Cariel is an archangel so powerful that even I wouldn't have been able to face her lightly before I lost my power.”
“Then what do we do now?”
She wouldn't have said all this just to discourage him. Shirone clung to a sliver of hope, waiting for her to offer a solution.
“There is one way. It will slightly increase the chances of saving your friends.”
“Really? What is it?”
“The angel's magic circle. You will be the one to use it.”
“You mean… a halo?”
“Correct. Angels activate their abilities by accumulating information in their halo. If you can master it, you'll be able to create an opportunity at a critical moment.”
Shirone recalled what happened in Shamain. The overwhelming pressure he had felt when Ikasa unfolded his halo still lingered in his body.
And now she was telling him to use it?
It didn't seem possible. Humans didn't have an Over Spirit.
Without a Luminous Body, there was no space to inscribe the information. How could he possibly create a magic circle?
“Of course, it won't be easy. For you to use an angel's magic circle, you must overcome at least three hurdles.”
Ikael said, holding up three fingers.
“First is creating the Luminous Body. A human's spirit resides within the body, but I know there are special methods to draw it out. Can you do it?”
Shirone nodded. The concept Ikael was describing was the Detachment-type of the Four-Way Method.
Indeed, the Detachment-type seemed like it could mimic an angel's Over Spirit to some extent.
“The real problem starts now. Even if you create a Luminous Body, unfolding a halo is on a whole other level. You must be able to draw a perfect circle. If the circle is distorted in the slightest, the speed of light's calculation will slow down significantly, and even a 0.1 percent decrease makes it impossible to manifest an angel's ability.”
Humans cannot draw a perfect circle. But in the realm of the mind, it wasn't impossible. Grasping the mathematical concept of a circle was key.
It wouldn't be easy, but it was a hurdle he had to overcome.
“That's the first hurdle. The second is even more serious. An angel's power comes from the immense amount of information accumulated in the halo. In terms of formulas, it's an amount that a human couldn't finish writing in a lifetime. The essence of the halo is to compute that information at the speed of light.”
Shirone recalled the scene where Ikael made the Galliante Volcano erupt. The ability to increase a dormant volcano's activity by twenty thousand times and make it erupt as an active volcano was beyond human comprehension.
“I might manage a perfect circle, but what about the formulas? A human mind can't instantly calculate the enormous amount of information needed to make a volcano erupt.”
“But you have insight. We will attempt something here. A spiritual union. I will become you and wield the halo. Then, that experience will be converted entirely into your own and remain in your mind.”
“Th-there's a way to do that…?”
Ikael's eyes turned sharp.
“Don't call it a 'way.' It's tantamount to the most extreme form of violence one can inflict on a human. One wrong move, and your mind will shatter. And my own mind, assimilated with yours, will not escape unscathed.”
Shirone felt his stomach churn. He didn't care if his mind was destroyed if it meant saving his friends. He had put his life on the line from the start. But if Ikael was also in danger, it wasn't a decision he could make lightly.
“Even if I fail…”
“Shirone, don't think about anything else. I told you I would help you. Don't worry about me. For now, just focus on saving your friends.”
Shirone took a deep breath to calm himself. He had no choice but to do as she said.
“What's the third hurdle?”
“Even if the magic circle's formulas are complete, whether you can withstand it is another matter entirely. If your mental endurance isn't sufficient, you will be destroyed. This is separate from the danger to me, of course. But if you can't endure it, it's better not to even attempt this from the start.”
“Don't worry about that. I'll definitely withstand it.”
He was confident about the last hurdle. Ever since he had entered the magic academy, his mind had shown a strength in endurance.
Besides, having reached the state of Adamantine, he believed he could endure it to some extent.
“You don't understand. I know that you possess a mind that will absolutely not collapse. But that alone may not be enough.”
“It won't collapse, but it might collapse? That sounds like a contradiction.”
“No. The former and the latter exist on different conceptual levels. Your current endurance might be sufficient as a vessel to contain your own mind. But the concept of an angel, born from a higher dimension, is of a different quality. A vessel might be sufficient to hold water, but if that water freezes, any vessel is bound to shatter.”
“I… I see.”
It was one obstacle after another. Not one of the three hurdles she presented seemed easy to overcome.
No, perhaps this was normal.
For a human to learn an archangel's magic circle, it was only natural to accept this level of risk from the beginning.
“The halo will make your mind explode from the inside out. The choice is yours. If you still wish to try, knowing these risks, I will help you.”
For an angel, the collapse of the mind was the same as the extinction of life.
If Ikael was willing to risk everything to help him, Shirone had no reason to refuse.
It was for his friends, but also, the chance to learn the true essence of an archangel would never come again.
“I'll do it. No, please do it. I'll accept whatever consequences may come.”
“Very well. The technique I will now perform on you is called Possession. It is the act of combining with a spirit to dominate a human. It's typically used by dispatched angels to convey Ra's will.”
Shirone had read about possession in various texts. At the time, he had been skeptical, but hearing it directly from an archangel left no room for doubt.
“If the possession is successful, your mind and mine will merge. If I were to have malicious intent, harming you would be simple. Likewise, if you were to lose your purity, that evil would seep into me.”
It was a warning that something irreversible would happen if they weren't careful with each other.
Shirone readily nodded again. Because there was no way Ikael would harbor malicious intent.
And she wasn't an angel so weak that she would be unable to control herself if he lost his purity.