Chapter 192: Nor’s Haven (6)

Thirty seconds passed and the signal appeared indicating that the saving had been completed.

The drone, after scanning both eyeballs, sent the signal to the left eye.

Tess was so startled that her breathing almost stopped.

The image captured by the drone was superimposed over the landscape she saw with her own eyes.

With that function alone it was already worth the same as a schematic sheet.

After taking off the drone and assembling it in the form of a gauntlet, Tess nodded again and again while listening to the explanation.

Kanya told her that it also had a language deciphering function and another that, by saving a specific brain wave, allowed it to track the signal and automatically locate the target.

Unlike Shirone’s group, excited by the reinforcement of their combat capability, Clove moved his eyes with unease.

Even for the heretics, the word Nephilim carried an overwhelming weight.

It was not the fear felt before a strong enemy.

The Nephilim provoked an unknown fear, independent of the level of power.

Remembering the attitude he had shown toward them until now, Clove wished that Shirone would not cast some strange curse.

Just as he feared, Shirone approached.

Contrary to what he had imagined, instead of punishing him, he took out a yellow elixir and placed it in his hand.

It was the commission.

Clove hesitated for a long time before putting it into his pocket.

“T-thank you. You didn’t have to give me so much.”

“It’s fine. Anyway, elixirs can’t be divided.”

“Are you… really a Nephilim?”

“I don’t know. I’m just a student from a magic academy. It doesn’t matter what they call me here, that won’t change.”

“Sorry for having been so harsh. I thought you were a person from the earthly realm…”

“Even if I were, you shouldn’t treat anyone like that.”

“Y-yes… I’m sorry.”

Shirone did not want to continue talking.

Scolding someone who has already surrendered to fear has no meaning.

Even if you told a cockroach to bow, it would do it.

He stopped paying attention to Clove and headed to the place where the nor were gathered.

After all, that was also part of the community, so he at least wanted to ask.

“Excuse me, do you know a woman named Miro?”

The nor reacted in confusion.

When Shirone was about to turn away with resignation, an old man leaning on a cane approached.

“Miro? Did you say Miro?”

“Yes. Do you know her?”

“I heard about her when my parents were still alive. Could she also be a Nephilim?”

“Huh? Ah… yes.”

In this world, unlockers were considered Nephilim.

He did not know Miro’s origin with certainty, but since she was also an unlocker, it was not incorrect to affirm it.

“She denied the law of Ra.”

“What exactly does that mean?”

“I don’t know. I only heard that. But my mother did not hate her. Even though she was a faithful devotee of Ra. For me, who was a child, it was something shocking.”

A woman who denied the law of Ra.

The information was simple, but reflecting on it conveyed many things.

To begin with, it was certain that Miro had reached the sky.

And she had returned after understanding many more things about this world than he did.

And even so, she denied Ra.

When this journey ended, what decision would he make?

Would he come to understand Miro, or would he end up denying her?

While he was immersed in those thoughts, Amy approached.

“Shirone, it seems the sun is about to set. They decided that today we will sleep here. What do you think?”

“Huh? It’s fine with me. We’ve been fighting since morning and I’m tired. Let’s rest from now on.”

“Um…”

Kanya approached to speak.

Just by seeing her expression, Amy understood it. From the way she had followed them, it was clear she was worried about the relationship between her and Shirone.

“What’s wrong? Do you have something to tell me?”

“I taught Tess how to use the drone.”

“Ah, I see. Thank you.”

“Lena and I will also stay to sleep here. At this hour the guides rest. We will probably leave tomorrow morning.”

“Ah… I see.”

Shirone left the sentence hanging.

If Kanya left in the morning, they would also have to follow her.

The problem was that they still had not reached an agreement.

Kanya, after glancing sideways at Amy, spoke.

“You said you were going to enter the sky, right? If you don’t mind, could you spend one night at our house?”

They planned to go to the sky, yes, but staying at Kanya’s house was another matter entirely.

Perhaps it was because of her mother, who did not have much time left to live.

Or perhaps she wanted to introduce the Nephilim to parents who were fervent believers.

Whatever the reason, there was no reason to refuse.

He could only be grateful that she accepted his goodwill as such.

When Shirone accepted, Kanya’s face turned red.

Amy did not like that, but since she could not complain openly, she snorted and left with Tess.

While they were organizing the plan for the day, the outside of Nor’s refuge became noisy.

A group ran shouting at the top of their lungs.

“Patrol! Hide! Get down!”

Without even having time to ask what was happening, the nor scattered in all directions.

Shirone took Kanya’s hand and ran toward where Gardrak was.

His friends must have thought the same thing, because they also gathered there.

Lying among the bushes, Shirone listened to Gardrak’s explanation.

He said that when the moon became completely full, angels patrolled the surroundings of purgatory.

The reason and purpose were unknown, but it was a revelation transmitted among the heretics for thousands of years.

From the sky came a sound that made the world vibrate.

The air trembled as if tens of thousands of locusts had gathered.

As the sounds overlapped in layers, the dissonance disappeared and a single melody passed through their ears.

Could it be the most beautiful string instrument in the world?

Shirone remained absorbed, lost in a reverie.

Gardrak pulled him out of that state abruptly.

“Snap out of it! Don’t let yourself be carried away by the sound! We can endure it because we are magicians. If they were other races, they would already be unconscious.”

Shirone looked at Tess and Lena.

They were kneeling, crying. They had not lost consciousness, but they were already in another world.

What exactly was that sound?

Was it possible to shake a person’s mind with just one note?

“Where does that sound come from?”

“Each angel has its own vibration. It is the oscillation emitted by its very existence.”

“The vibration of its existence? How can that be possible?”

“In the sky they call angels the tuners of the law. As primary entities of causality, they are above all laws. The vibration is proof of the exclusive domain of each angel.”

Shirone looked up at the sky.

From the frequency of the vibration, it seemed that it would soon pass over Nor’s refuge.

Even though they had raised a veil with light magic, he could not get rid of the uneasiness.

“Could the angel see us?”

“Maybe yes, or maybe not.”

“What does that mean? Can it see us or not?”

“Have you ever checked your fingerprints today?”

“No.”

“It’s a situation similar to that. If they wanted to, they could project the veil of light as many times as necessary. But in the vast purgatory they do not usually fly that way. As long as they do not feel like changing their mood today, nothing will happen.”

From the bushes on the outskirts, someone shouted.

“They’re coming!”

Shirone raised his head.

Four silhouettes were crossing the sky at great speed.

He could not even blink.

An angel dressed in a white robe flew at the front.

It spread wings of light ten times larger than its own body and held golden metallic fragments in its hand.

But what attracted the most attention was the luminous sphere floating above its head.

Those forming a triangular formation around the angel were creatures he had never seen before.

The ones guarding the left and right flanks had a form similar to humans, but their skin was red and blue.

Behind them advanced a monster composed of countless fused creatures.

Above their heads floated elongated triangles of red light, like horns.

Some had one, others two or even three.

Although they were not cones, they maintained the same shape from any angle.

“What is that monster at the end? I think I saw octopus legs and a snake face.”

“Those are the mara. Second-level entities of causality. They are also called executors of the law.”

“Executors of the law?”

“I told you that angels are called harmonizers of the law. They are the first individuality created by the god, and they have the right to freely interpret his will. Do you know what that means? That they can manipulate the law at their whim. They are on a completely different plane from the giants. When the angel harmonizes the law, the mara act. That is why they are called executors of the law.”

Shirone understood that he was facing the pinnacle of the hierarchy of this world.

If the god was the law, the angels were the judges.

Then the mara would be something like the assistants who carry out the judge’s orders.

“There was something floating above their heads. The angel had a sphere, and the mara something like horns…”

“Exactly, they are horns. Although they are not real horns, but entities of thought. The more horns they have, the higher the rank of the mara. From their birth they receive unique abilities, and the source of that power is the horns.”

“Then what is the thing the angel has above its head?”

“That is called the sacred body of light. It is not an exaggeration to say that the angel’s power resides there. I do not know the principle well. Even when I was a believer, I rarely saw angels.”

Clove said, his jaw trembling.

“Here, however, we see them more often.”

Shirone felt invaded by a strange sensation.

If angels really existed, were unlockers truly Nephilim?

Was the power to cross dimensions at will, Miro’s scale magic, an angelic ability?

His head began to hurt.

Since the first day in the sky he had obtained a great deal of information, but the puzzle was so large that he could not see the whole picture.

Shortly after the angels departed, the moon appeared.

It was a gigantic moon, so large that, if there were a mountain, it seemed it could be touched from the summit. It was unsettling.

When the angelic patrol ended, the day of the nor came to an end.

Shirone, who had rented a twelve-person barrack in the tent camp, lay down beside his friends.

Perhaps because of the fatigue, calm breathing could be heard from different sides.

He wanted to keep thinking, but he could feel in his body how his physical functions were weakening.

Without realizing it, Shirone fell asleep.

In his dreams he met Miro.

It was not a nightmare.

***

Following Gardrak, Shirone’s group arrived at the valley of the vortex serpent.

Although the law had been broken and it could no longer be called that, a name maintained for tens of thousands of years would not disappear easily.

Gardrak said that they would no longer be able to find guides in that place.

Now that the vortex serpent had disappeared, there was a possibility that a new law would be established.

Whatever it was, it would not be favorable for them.

“One day you will see it. The law is finite, but the human being is infinite. Even if the sky collapses, Nor’s refuge will not disappear.”

After saying that, Gardrak left.

The phrase the human being is infinite resonated in Shirone’s chest.

Even in a place tens of thousands of light-years away, humans were still living.

The group launched three drones into the sky.

After having experienced Kergo’s heretic hunt, the importance of surveillance was even greater.

When Shirone asked about the sky, Kanya, unlike their first meeting, explained it kindly.

“The sky is composed of seven heavens. From the seventh heaven, Arabot, to the first heaven, Shamayin. The faithful live in the first heaven, Shamayin. Meca, Nor, and Kergo, the three races, fulfill their tasks while respecting the law. Kergo produces, Meca processes, and Nor is in charge of distribution.”

“But isn’t that unfair? It means that work is decided from birth.”

“That is how we have lived for hundreds of thousands of years. We only follow the law of Anke Ra-nim.”

From what Shirone knew, in his original world civilization had at most ten thousand years of history.

If the sky had existed for hundreds of thousands of years, beyond social problems, the normal thing would be for there to be overpopulation.

When he expressed that thought, Kanya tilted her head, confused.

“Having that kind of doubt is blasphemy. Anke Ra governs the world. Until now, the population of Shamayin has never increased or decreased. It always remains the same.”

“How is that possible? Some kind of birth control?”

“Whoever respects and follows the law obtains immortality. They enter the third heaven, Shehakim, and live eternally.”

“Then, do those who do not obtain immortality die?”