Chapter 204: The eternal and immortal Ra (1)

Rian received Signa and Exed and examined them.

Relying on someone else’s weapons hurt a swordsman’s pride, but with his friends captured, Rian was in no position to worry about that.

“Thank you. But I might treat them roughly.”

“It does not matter. No, even if they break, it is fine. Please… save my sisters.”

Peophe fell into thought.

Until recently, the citizens worried about how their life expectancy was shortening day by day.

But now, what was happening?

Each one was taking risks to crush the misfortune of others.

Why did the laws control humans?

They maintained their numbers, limited their lives, they could not even leave heaven.

What danger did the increase of the human population represent to Ra?

“Are you really going to go?”

Peophe did not understand why she was asking something like that.

Since she met Shirone, everything had changed.

He was chaos.

A rock thrown onto the calm surface of heaven.

“You know it, I have no other choice. Thanks for earlier, for stopping the fight. Honestly, I did not want to fight you either. And also for reducing the guilt of Kanya and Lena. I feel like we have something in common.”

Peophe avoided his gaze.

She did not want to hear that they had something in common.

How could a fairy understand a human?

“Take good care of the citizens. If we return alive, then maybe we can get along better.”

Shirone turned toward an uncertain future.

Peophe’s small heart beat strongly.

Shirone’s figure moving away alongside the norian looked blurred, as if covered in mist.

“Then would you also come to save me?”

Shirone turned around.

Peophe hesitated, but gathered courage and asked again.

“If I were captured… would you come to rescue me? I mean… if we were friends.”

Shirone smiled warmly.

“Of course.”

Peophe lowered her head.

Was it something so obvious?

If that were the case, Shirone would die.

He was walking straight toward death.

“Even if you go to zone 1, you will not be able to cross the gate of Jebul. I have a way to save the girls. So I will go with you.”

Shirone’s eyes widened.

She had said there was a method.

But at that moment, he could not even imagine what it was.

“Really? Can you truly save them?”

“I cannot guarantee it. But if you go alone, you will definitely die. That is why I am going with you.”

Shirone looked at her with emotion.

Peophe, with her face reddened, turned her gaze away in annoyance.

“Do not get strange ideas! I just feel responsible for seeing this matter through to the end.”

Igirin observed the situation calmly.

That the citizens were helping Shirone and that Peophe felt drawn to a human all of it went against the laws.

‘In the end, does it end like this? Or is this also a law that cannot be avoided…’

After making a decision, Igirin spoke.

“Peophe, come.”

Peophe’s shoulders tensed.

Now that she thought about it, she had made the decision without her superior’s permission.

But, contrary to expectations, Igirin did not get angry.

Instead, she closed her eyes and transferred her memories to Peophe.

New information began to settle into her mind.

“This is…”

“Peophe, take my memories. They will be useful in Jebul.”

Memory transfer between fairies was something common.

But for someone of high rank to do it with someone inferior carried a special meaning.

It was like a designation to carry out a mission in her place.

Peophe, a mid-level member of the 72 ranks of fairies, understood her superior’s sincerity and lowered her head, remembering how full she had been of complaints.

“I am sorry, chief. This time too I disappointed you.”

“You have never disappointed me. You are a fairy born in an era of agitation. Everything that happens from now on will be different from the laws you know. Therefore, you must see everything with your own eyes and judge for yourself.”

Peophe’s eyes filled with emotion.

For the first time, she saw Igirin smile.

“You have an impulsive nature, but because of that you are capable of understanding on your own. Remember that the spiral advances straight while observing all directions. I trust you, Peophe.”

Peophe wiped her tears and nodded firmly.

The fact that she had been acknowledged by Igirin multiplied her courage.

Shirone’s group left the plaza with Peophe.

The place the portal controller led them to was not far from the central plaza.

It was a building of the norians.

The interior was labyrinthine.

In each room there were magic circles and different spirits.

Upon entering through an iron door in a corner, they found in the center of a dark room a spirit of light floating.

The controller approached and gently took it.

The spirit stopped moving and his arm began to glow.

“Using the power of this spirit, we can reach zone 1 at once. But gathering the energy takes time. About five minutes.”

Shirone had already experienced it in purgatory, so it did not seem strange to him.

While they waited, he observed Peophe floating at his height.

Her small backside pointed toward him as she flapped her transparent wings.

Shirone raised his index finger and gave it a small tap.

Peophe jumped in surprise and covered her backside with both hands.

“Hey! What are you doing?”

Even though she was a tiny fairy, it seemed she was still a girl.

Of course, Shirone had no intention of bothering her.

There simply was no other place to touch.

“Thanks for helping us. Let us get along well. Thanks to you, we have hope.”

Peophe pouted.

But upon noticing Shirone’s sincerity, she looked back at the spirit of light.

The five minutes of waiting felt eternal.

It was also an effect of the relativity of time.

Canis asked Peophe.

“That Tabu… did he really die? No, rather, can Mara die? Before disappearing he said he would return when human corruption increased.”

Shirone was also curious.

In fact, it was a crucial question.

If Mara could not be eliminated, the way of fighting them had to change.

“Hmm… how do I explain it? They disappear, yes, but it is not a permanent death.”

“Explain it simply.”

“Mara are conceptual entities. Even if they die, sooner or later they revive. In heaven they call it reset.”

“How long does that reset take?”

“There is no fixed time, but it will not be immediate.”

“Then, if you kill them, they die.”

“Yes, but from another point of view…”

“That is enough. That is enough for now.”

Canis only thought about combat.

To recover Arin, he had to become stronger.

He began a simulation to increase his mental energy second by second.

At the magic academy they called it sequential progression.

“Yes, yes, think whatever you want.”

Peophe made a carefree gesture.

Shirone, on the other hand, believed he needed more information.

And there was still something he had not heard.

“You said there is a way to save them, right? What is it? You can tell us now.”

Peophe rested her chin and thought.

To be honest, it was not a guaranteed plan.

But it was far more realistic than charging unprepared into the residence of the angels.

“More than a method… there is someone who loves humans very much. I thought maybe she could help you.”

The controller announced that it was ready.

Shirone stepped into the light and asked curiously.

“Really? Who is it?”

Peophe answered solemnly.

“The leader of the angels, the archangel Ikael.”

A pillar of light rose toward the sky.

After saying goodbye to the attendant at the exit of Shamayin and walking for about 30 minutes, they reached a wall from where the tall tower of the seventh heaven, Arabot, could be seen.

Peophe said that the girls were probably in the sixth heaven, Jebul.

This was because the virgin conception was carried out through the Liquor of Life, and the one who administered it was the archangel Kariel.

Shirone asked.

“How are we going to enter Jebul? There is no way to pass the gate.”

“That is right. That is why we will go to Arabot.”

“If we cannot even enter Jebul, how are we going to enter the place where God lives?”

“That is why we are going to ask Lord Ikael for help. He was even commander of the angels. If we beg him, he might let us in.”

“That is even stranger. Even if he is an archangel, he belongs to the sixth heaven. How could he open the gate of the seventh?”

“Because right now Lord Ikael is in the seventh heaven.”

Shirone tilted his head, confused.

He did not expect an archangel to leave his territory in Jebul and be in Arabot.

“Is there something we do not know?”

“Yes. Lord Ikael committed a sin and was stripped of his position as commander of the angels. But Ra loved him too much, so instead of turning him into a fallen angel, he exiled him to Arabot.”

It was quite a shocking story.

Until now, from experience, Shirone imagined God as a cold judge who imposed laws without exception.

That he would make an exception was already strange.

But that he would exile him not to the second heaven, but to Arabot, was even stranger.

“What kind of angel is he? What sin did he commit?”

“I do not know.”

“What? How can you not know? If he became commander of the angels, it must have been a major event.”

“It surely was. But we all forgot it. We only know that Lord Ikael committed a great sin and that now he is exiled in Arabot.”

Shirone felt a chill upon hearing that.

To forget meant that at some point they had known, but their memories were erased.

Even if you erase someone’s memory, others can transmit the information.

Considering the speed at which information spreads, that was only possible if everyone’s memories were erased at the same time.

Rian commented.

“Besides life, they also control memories? That really is omnipotence. How old must that God be? One hundred million years?”

“Age has no meaning for God. He is the origin of everything. We do not know the beginning. And since we do not know the beginning, we cannot know his age either.”

Canis said.

“It does not matter. We are not going to fight God. We will just rescue the girls and leave immediately.”

Shirone noticed that Canis said “the girls” and not only “Arin.”

Although they used to argue, it seemed that deep down he had developed attachment to all of them.

Upon arriving at Arabot, the group looked up at the wall.

Although it was an internal fortress of heaven, it was even higher than the outer walls.

Moreover, there was no visible device to summon Ikael.

Canis said.

“Do not tell me we have to wait until that woman comes out to walk her dog or something like that.”

“Hmph! Your arrogance will only last this far! Without Lord Ikael’s help you cannot even enter Jebul!”

Even though she was helping Shirone, Peophe was still an official of heaven.

She could not tolerate them belittling an archangel so respected that even Ra had erased the memory of his sin.

Shirone intervened.

“I apologize in his place. He is just nervous. By the way, what do we do now?”

Peophe understood the urgency of the situation, so she stopped scolding them.

“Fine. Then I will try to communicate with Lord Ikael.”

Shirone asked with shining eyes.

“Ah? Can you do that?”

“No, I cannot.”

“…Are you joking?”

“It is the truth. But it is not that there is no possibility. Lord Ikael might be watching us.”