Chapter 9 — Is This What It Means for the Laws of the Universe to Be in Chaos?
Back in the capital of the Kingdom of Manii, in the audience chamber of the royal palace:
“To be frank, we aren’t sure of the scope of the Argandan Empire,” the king began, as he launched into his explanation of the first of the great feats available to them. The Sage candidates before him were listening very carefully. Yogiri and Tomochika, having arrived late, were still sitting in the back and had yet to be noticed.
“To the west is a league of nations known as the Erchia Republican Commonwealth. One of their members recently declared independence, calling themselves the Empire of Arganda, and began attacking their neighboring countries. It didn’t take long for them to conquer the rest of the Commonwealth. Even now, they are continuing to expand their military activities. Considering they are as yet undefeated, we feel it may only be a matter of time before they show up on our borders. If they do, and if you can repel their advance somehow, I will recognize it as a great deed before the Sages.”
“B-but how on earth...” someone in the class murmured. There was only so much a single group of high school students could do, even with the Gift.
“Oh, don’t worry, I have absolutely no hope that you lot will succeed. But a great feat has to be something that seems impossible, no? If we knew a way to defeat them ourselves, we would have done it long ago. Then again, we don’t know that they’ll attack us in the first place, so there’s always a chance they might not.”
“But you asked us to stop their invasion, right?” Yazaki asked.
“If you’ve traveled this far, you should know by now that our kingdom doesn’t have much in the way of usable land. There’s not much to be gained by invading us, so nothing is certain.”
Yogiri thought back to the map of the country he had seen. The Dragon Plains, the Forest of Beasts, the Haqua Forest, the Garula Canyon, the Meld Plains...none of them seemed like places suited to human life, nor like regions where any sort of development could realistically occur.
“But the city of Hanabusa is flourishing, right? Wouldn’t that alone be valuable enough?”
“A place where the Sages are heavily involved doesn’t count. Even I can’t do anything about that city. I think the Argandans would know that. It may be a useful hint for you, so I guess I’ll tell you how meaningless it is to invade us.
“One reason is, like I said, there’s not much potential for material gain. Having control of the territory doesn’t offer a lot to an invading nation. The other issue is the Underworld beneath us needing to be kept in check. With no special industry of our own, we’ve barely been able to manage it with the support of the surrounding kingdoms, but keeping the Dark God locked away is extremely taxing.
“In short, invading us has a good probability of leading to the Dark God’s resurrection, which doesn’t help anybody. That’s why there’s always been a sort of unwritten rule to leave us in peace.”
When they heard the word “underworld,” the candidates began to mutter amongst themselves. Yogiri and Tomochika had been told about it already, but it was obviously the first time the others were hearing about it.
“And doesn’t that make the perfect segue? For the second feat, you’ll need to go underground, travel through the Underworld, and defeat the Dark God. Not that I think it’s something you can do so soon after arriving here. As far as difficulty goes, I can’t say it’s much easier than facing off against the Empire. At least with the Argandans, you’re fighting humans, even if it’s an entire country. The Dark God, however, is a monster that transcends human understanding, and even after more than a thousand years, we’ve got no idea how to defeat it.
“And that’s about as much as I have to say to you. Do whatever you like. I’ve sectioned off part of the palace for you, so feel free to use it as your base. The entrance to the Underworld is beneath the palace, so if you plan on going that route, it should be quite convenient for you.”
As if to confirm that his work there was done, the king stood from his throne and left the room. Shortly after, a soldier arrived in his stead and nodded to the class.
“Please follow me.”
He was no doubt there to guide them to their new headquarters. Still in a state of shock, the candidates got to their feet.
“So, what do we do now?” Yogiri asked.
“Well, I don’t think we can get out of here unnoticed, even if we try to sneak along behind them, so...uhh, HEY!” Tomochika shouted, prompting the others to turn around.
“Dannoura?! What...?!”
“Dannoura! How did you get here?!”
“Tomochii! You’re alive!”
“Tomo!”
“Dannoura?!”
The moment they saw the pair, the teens all called out Tomochika’s name in a sudden burst of noise. Although individual reactions were varied, they were all extremely surprised.
“Hey, someone react to Takatou as well!” she snapped.
Their total disinterest in him, however, had been well within Yogiri’s expectations.
In a forest to the west of the Garula Canyon was a brilliantly colored mosaic. It looked like space had been torn apart and stitched back together in random places, perhaps a perfect representation of the concept of chaos.
There was no sign of life within the rift. No creature would willingly approach such an unnatural place. Yet there was a woman in a white dress standing in front of the bizarrely warped space.
“Is this what it means for the laws of the universe to be in total disarray?”
It was a Sage, Sion. She had come here in response to a signal that she’d received, but had never expected a sight like this.
As she stood watching it dumbly, the scenery before her continued its dizzying movements. Each fragment of the mosaic seemed to bow to different laws, each piece appearing to be from a different universe. The shards of each world were constantly shifting, overwriting one another, merging together and splitting apart.
“Well, I guess it’s in here, then?”
While waiting outside the surreal mosaic, Sion felt some magical energy spill out. As expected of a signal passing through a space this chaotic, there was no sign of its original form by the time it reached her. With so many errors, deciphering the message had been utterly impossible, but she could at least recognize that it was a call for a Sage.
Sion thought again about what this could be. Something with an iron will existed here, refusing passage to all others. It was like an absolute rejection of the outside universe. And yet, Sion stepped into it without concern. All she had to do was forcibly rewrite the laws of physics around her. She transformed the tumultuous patchwork into a space where she could not only live but also be comfortable — a feat possible for any Sage.
Creating her own path, Sion pushed her way forward. Even for her, stitching the world back together like this while she walked was back-breaking work. After progressing for a while, she finally passed through the core of the chaos and into a place that seemed to be its center.
It was a white room, empty of everything. And there was a girl crouched in the corner.
“Well, if it isn’t Aoi. No wonder we didn’t hear back from you.”
Aoi had been charged with the task of hunting Rogue Sages, but all news from her had vanished after she’d been dispatched to handle Yogiri Takatou.
“Sion! So I did manage to get through!” a voice called from Aoi’s hip, where a small knife still sat in its sheath.
“Did something happen?”
Even after Sion’s arrival, Aoi hadn’t lifted her head. She either hadn’t noticed her, was ignoring her, or had completely shut out the outside world.
It didn’t seem like she would get a response from Aoi, so Sion decided to try her luck with the knife instead.
“We met Yogiri Takatou. I don’t know what she saw, but the moment she laid eyes on him, she completely lost the will to fight. She ran away as fast as she could, eventually hiding here.”
The moment she heard Yogiri’s name, a visible shiver ran through Aoi’s body. So, she hadn’t entirely cut herself off after all.
“I see. Well, that may have been unavoidable, so I can’t really blame her.”
Yogiri was already suspected to be responsible for the deaths of two Sages, and after meeting him once, Aoi had ended up in this apparent state of madness. So Sion had little doubt there was something truly different about the boy after all.
“I guess at this point, I’ll have to deal with him myself. Aoi, did you learn anything about him?”
Predictably, Aoi remained silent.
“Allow me to report,” said the knife. “I already sent you all the information we have on him. It comes from an individual known as Daimon Hanakawa, who saw the boy’s power firsthand and survived. If he’s still alive, there may be more you can draw out of him. As a Sage candidate, it should be simple enough to find him, right?”
“Hanakawa...I see. I’ll look into him as well.”
Sion hadn’t bothered to learn the Sage candidates’ names. Most of them were going to die anyway, so she hadn’t thought it worth the effort. It was rare for someone to survive the required ordeals long enough to become a Sage.
“First, I suppose I should get a grasp on exactly what his ability is. Either way, he is just a high school student. If he has any friends, I could start by taking one hostage. I have full control over the lives and deaths of those who had the Gift installed successfully. Or perhaps I should try to win him over. A boy of that age...seducing him wouldn’t be difficult.”
Sion was considering all sorts of roundabout methods as she still hadn’t ruled out the possibility of making Yogiri into a Sage himself. She had no doubt that in a battle of strength, she’d come out on top every time. She couldn’t even comprehend the idea of someone being stronger than her, even among the other Sages. Although she would never say it out loud, she considered herself the most powerful by far.
“Stop...” Aoi said, shakily raising her head. She looked totally worn out. A Sage could survive indefinitely without food or drink, so her state must have been purely the result of mental stress. “Please, stay away from him...don’t do anything stupid...”
“Unfortunately, that won’t do. I can’t just leave him to his own devices.”
Sion had summoned Yogiri’s class in order to add to their ranks, but they had ended up losing Sages instead. Whether it was to make the boy a fellow Sage or kill him, something had to be done.
“This is...this is your fault...”
“Hm?” Sion cocked her head, not quite able to hear what Aoi was saying.
“You! You summoned that thing! What the hell have you done?! Do you have any idea what you’ve summoned?! It’s over! This world is finished! Screw this, goddamnit! If you want to die so badly, go die! Don’t drag the whole world...don’t drag me into it!”
Aoi’s sudden outburst took Sion by surprise. It was the first time she had seen Aoi lose her cool like this.
“What are you trying to say?”
“That thing...it isn’t human...it’s not even...a living being...”
But that was all Aoi could manage. After her short outburst, she sank back into her own world. There was nothing more to be done here. Trying to question her any further would be pointless.
“I’d hoped that if someone else showed up, she would improve, but it appears it’s still too early for that. I’m sorry to ask this after making you come all the way here, but could you give her some more time?”
“I suppose so. I’ll take my leave for now.”
Each Sage was a precious resource. If it was possible to rehabilitate Aoi, that would be the best solution. For now, though, Sion decided to return home.
Wrenching space open to make a path for herself, she made her way back outside. Perhaps she had grown used to it somewhat, but getting out had been a lot easier than getting in.
After she made it out of the rift, Sion checked for signs of the Sage candidates she had recently summoned. As the “parent” Sage who had given them the Gift, she had absolute authority to manage her “children.” Locating them was a simple task.
The Gift had successfully been installed on thirty-two individuals on the bus. There were now twenty-eight signals left. She’d been told that Yogiri killed two of the candidates in the Dragon Plains, and the remaining two had either died or were currently somewhere her senses couldn’t reach.
Sion made a note of the remaining candidates’ present locations. Twenty-four were together, in the capital of the Kingdom of Manii to the northeast of her. No doubt they were attempting to clear the missions she had laid out for them. Three more had broken off to form their own group, and one was acting alone.
From the information she had gained from Aoi’s knife, the lone individual was likely Hanakawa. There were traces of backup data from a prior installation, which had been restored when she had first activated the Gift in him — presumably he had visited this world before — so he was probably the correct target. And at the moment, he was crossing the Meld Plains, heading towards the others in the capital.
“I suppose I should speak with this Hanakawa first,” Sion murmured, stepping out of the forest and onto her airship.
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