Suddenly. Yet inevitably, the decisive battle with the "Angel" had begun.
They could not afford to lose. With that conviction, Ermes unleashed his magic.
"—
Magic Bullet Archer
!"
The Fourth Genesis Magic commanded by the "Angel" was magic that manipulated events. It could realize any outcome that possessed even the slightest possibility — truly magic that had stepped into the realm of the divine.
Therefore, magic with high risk was out of the question. He couldn't even use magic that carried the slightest risk. That was precisely why Ermes used only —
Magic Bullet Archer
— the most stable magic at his disposal.
Likewise. Rose used only her standard sword techniques with —
Meteor Throne
— Lucius used only his standard sword techniques with —
Messenger of the Faceless
— Chrono attacked the "Angel" with only —
White Night's Destiny
— and Laplace with only his standard —
Evil God's Banners
— That, at least, eliminated the worry of their magic going berserk.
But — that was merely the starting line.
"Then, let's start with you."
As though it were nothing at all, the "Angel" murmured, turning her hand toward Ermes.
"!"
All she did was lightly flick a bit of magic power at the magic bullet hurtling toward her.
And that was enough — as if a butterfly's wings could summon a storm, as if a single ant's bite could bring castle walls crashing down. Through a tremendous chain of interactions, the disturbance in magic power propagated through the entire spell in an instant.
Perfectly, conveniently
all of Ermes's magic bullets
were crushed —
and what's more, the bullets whose
trajectories had been bent
now surged straight back toward
Ermes
herself.
.
"Wha— t— !"
Faced with something utterly incomprehensible — struck back by her own magic through nothing more than the absurdity of "theoretically not impossible" — Ermes barely managed to neutralize the attack with additional magic bullets, but —
The very next instant, the "Angel" was right in front of her.
"One strike to start. Consider it your punishment."
And just like that — the "Angel" casually raised her hand and, just as promised, slapped Ermes across the face.
A devastating impact, indistinguishable from a meteor collision, came crashing down.
"Guuh!?"
From such a casual motion came unbelievable strength and destructive force. Ermes was sent flying in an instant, slammed into the underground wall with enough force to crack the stone.
"El!" "Ermes!"
Rose seized the opening to fire a beam, and Lucius lunged with his blade — but.
"In the end, this is human magic. How quaint."
There was no need to block anything. The "Angel" simply stood there.
And yet the beam that struck it dead-on caused not the slightest sting, and even Lucius's sword flash was repelled from the "Angel"'s surface with a hard, impossible sound.
"Tch, you're kidding me!" "This is — !"
Rose clicked her tongue, and Lucius let out a voice of confusion and anguish.
This was what made the "Angel" even more troublesome.
On top of the Fourth Genesis Magic already providing a tailwind that bent every event in the "Angel"'s favor, the "Angel"'s own base parameters were absurdly high.
Its magic power was vast, its durability at the maximum, its physical ability in another dimension entirely. The magic of Ermes and the others couldn't chip it no matter what landed, and Lucius's supernatural ability to "cut magic" didn't even register.
...It gave off the same sense of absolute disparity as the other day, when they'd faced the awakened Karma. And that made sense — she wasn't human either. In terms of the hierarchy of existence, she was probably on equal footing with that, or above it.
Any restraint born from the fact that the body was Liliana's had long since been blown away. They were going all out trying to fight her without killing Liliana in a single blow, and yet she was handling everything effortlessly.
"Tch, damn it — !"
"Guh!"
Next to be targeted were Laplace and Lucius.
Just as with Ermes, their magic was dismantled by magic power waves alone. In that brief opening she closed the distance, and a merciless blow even more devastating than Ermes's sent them flying.
"Guuh!"
Losing any more numbers would be absolutely catastrophic. Driven by that single thought, Ermes forced himself to his feet and somehow managed to return to the front line before the next target could be chosen.
…But even regaining their footing changed nothing. They had no means of landing effective blows of their own, while every attack from the opponent would become fatal the instant they let their guard down. And on top of that, the enemy came with out-of-this-world support that tilted every phenomenon on the field in the "Angel's" favor — a bonus that could hardly be called anything less than game-breaking, even if she wasn't omnipotent.
Just as Rose had said moments ago, there had to be a time limit on how long she could remain manifested. Otherwise there would be no point in her not being present in the world normally.
But how long was that, exactly? They had been told all they had to do was deplete her magic power — but was it actually being depleted? Could they realistically whittle it down before their own strength ran out?
…They didn't know. Everything was unknown and abrupt. This was the most powerful, most dimensionally different opponent they had ever faced. They couldn't even tell whether they stood a chance.
But retreat was not an option. Surrender was not an option.
She was certainly powerful enough to defeat Chrono and the others. If they left it to her, she would swiftly and easily wipe out evil in the blink of an eye.
But — no. That was… A conclusion like that was, absolutely, wrong. He knew it in his heart.
And so, holding that conviction firmly in his chest, Ermes threw himself once more into a battle where victory seemed impossible.
…Such was their state.
From inside the wall he had been smashed into, Laplace watched.
(…Ow… That hurts.)
Unlike with Ermes, the "Angel" had designated Laplace and the others as enemies to be destroyed. So her attacks showed no mercy, and judging by the impact still reverberating through his body, it would be several dozen seconds before he could return to the front lines.
And so Laplace focused on recovery — while casting his eyes to his surroundings.
Before him, Ermes and the others were fighting. Even against that suddenly appeared, incomprehensible monster, they fought without flinching.
Glancing to the side, he spotted people watching from a distance. Katia and Albert, who had already exhausted their magic power and could no longer participate in combat. And beside them, Niina's face had gone pale at the sudden transformation of Lilliana, whom she had been protecting.
From the looks of it, Niina was the one who had brought Lilliana here, and she was likely feeling the weight of responsibility. …If so, that was misplaced blame.
Without a doubt, that thing had manipulated Lilliana on a subconscious level and lured her here regardless of whether Niina tried to bring her or not. As someone who had faced it head-on, Laplace understood better than anyone that it was precisely the kind of monster capable of doing so.
(…What am I gonna do…)
Laplace continued to think… but the conclusion was already clear.
There was nothing they could do. Something like that showing up was completely beyond their calculations. It had magic power so high it was immeasurable, physical strength to match, and on top of that — like Chrono — it wielded Genesis Magic.
According to Rose, there was apparently a limit to how long it could manifest, but he sort of understood. They didn't have enough left in the tank to endure until that moment arrived.
Verdict: checkmate. No matter how they struggled from here, there was no chance of winning. This country would end up exactly as that "Angel" who had swooped in at the last moment intended.
There was nothing they could do to prevent it.
"…………"
Laplace was, by nature, the type whose emotions ran thin and who grew detached from everything easily.
So even when told it was over, the most he could muster was a mild "I see." Under normal circumstances, some feelings might have stirred — but at this point, having prepared all the way to the final stage, at the very end of everything, having squeezed out every last drop — if this was how it ended, then even the will to resist simply wouldn't come.
Laplace was well aware that he was this kind of person.
"………………"
…Or so he should have been.
Yet now, watching them still resist, watching her gaze at them as though praying — for some reason.
He felt it, deep in the bottom of a heart that should have gone cold long ago — that something still remained there.
As he pondered that, a voice called out to him from the side.
"…Sorry about this, Laplace."
He looked over. Chrono had collapsed sideways too, and was speaking to him with a look of guilt on his face.
"This was entirely my mistake. An "Angel" targeting Genesis Magic… I knew of its existence, but I never calculated it would track us down this relentlessly. I shouldn't have carelessly raised the output."
"Even so, if we hadn't pushed it back there, we would've lost with around a ninety-one percent probability either way. Boss, you ain't to blame. Nobody could've predicted something like that was coming."
"…Yeah. Either way, I suppose there was virtually no chance of winning."
Chrono acknowledged that — but then continued.
"But… what's wrong, Laplace?"
"Huh?"
With genuine bewilderment, they had told him something like this.
"You still,
haven't given up
— your eyes say so
."
"............Huh?"
"Surprising. The you I knew until now — I really thought it wouldn't be strange if you'd already given up by now."
That's right. Laplace had thought so too.
They were a person with sparse interest in everything, and the one thing they could ever sympathize with was the hatred Chrono harbored — the will to destroy their country.
So they had gone along with it... and yet, it was something so fragile that in a passing moment they might forget even that. Chrono had appointed Laplace as their adjutant knowing full well this.
So, now that there was no chance of winning — after doing everything they could and it still wasn't enough, they would just disappear with a casual "Oh, is that so."
That was what they had believed.
What was this, then? This thing that remained in the heart they thought had long since become hollow.
"...Will you let me hear it?"
As if knowing that, Chrono continued, pressing further.
"Perhaps that's what you truly feel. It's precisely because everything is about to be lost that what still remains is the real thing for you."
"......"
"Not as a hierarchical relationship within the organization, not as accomplices. As just a friend, I want to hear it."
As if prompted by that voice, Laplace searched within their own heart, unused as they were to doing so.
And with a certain kind of conviction — ah, so that's it — they began to speak.
"…I was, y'know. Really and truly empty. I wasn't some wanted child — from the moment I was born, all I had around me was malice. In that kind of environment, I couldn't find a single thing I wanted to do. Even when I tried avenging myself on the old man on a whim, not a shred of my heart budged. That's the kind of guy I was."
"Mm. I know."
"But even so — meeting you was the one thing. When I heard your anguished wailing, I felt my heart stir for the first time. That's why I cooperated. I thought that if I stayed with you, I might be able to do something vaguely human."
"Yeah."
"But… just as I suspected. After that brief spark, my heart went completely silent again. I figured I really was just that kind of guy. I've got nothing better to do, so I'll cooperate out of obligation — but like you said, whether we succeed or fail doesn't really matter to me."
"…"
"I can see the limit of pretending to be someone I'm not. No matter how your revolution turns out, I figured I'd live and die as exactly the kind of person I've always been. So… like I said, even now, with failure staring us in the face, I figured I'd just think 'that's how it goes' and leave it at that…"
And there, Laplace—
let out a soft, self-deprecating laugh.
"…At least, that's what I thought…"
From there, he continued.
What he had only now, at this point, finally realized — what his unusual birth had prevented him from seeing all along — his own feelings.
"Well, isn't that something. Guess I just never noticed. …I — y'know, following you, tearing this country apart as a member of the organization—
…the people who showed up to get in our way. Clashing head-on with guys who were just as empty as me, but who moved by a goodness that was the complete opposite of mine. All the battles up to today — all of it."
In short, in a single word—
"— it was fun. Honestly. The whole time."
That was all there was to it. Nothing more, nothing less. He simply hadn't noticed.
His heart had been dancing the whole time. It wasn't that his heart had stopped moving after meeting Chrono. It had been moving all along — the whole time — and he simply couldn't notice because it had become so natural, so ordinary.
From ages past to this very moment, he himself had been—
—walking his own path. Like a proper human being.
"It might not be what you'd call proper. It might be nothing but a road heading toward ruin."
"But even so... I really was, living. I was living the right way."
Why did he realize that now?
Because it was obvious. There was someone out there trying to stand in his way. Someone who wouldn't face their path and their feelings head-on, wouldn't stand opposed as equals — someone who, with nothing but the arrogance of those above, simply tried to erase it all.
Someone who trampled on what they felt. Someone unforgivable, here and now.
The instant he became conscious of that.
Laplace's purpose in life — what he needed to do. And the "wish" he wanted to fulfill — crystallized.
"...Sorry, Boss."
And so, Laplace spoke. Cruel words to the one who had been by his side until now.
"Your plan, your wish — right here, right now, their failure is guaranteed."
"More than that — I just realized something I want to do. And if I do it, I realized that 'our' chance of winning goes completely out the window. So —"
"It's fine."
Chrono's answer came without hesitation.
"To be honest, once things reached this point, it was already nearly checkmate. If it becomes zero by your hand, then I have no complaints. Besides..."
And then... he smiled. Not the unreadable smile from before, but one from the very bottom of his heart.
"My friend has finally found what he wants and is about to take that step."
"Then I'd like to see him off with a smile, wouldn't you?"
"...Ha."
Drawn in by that, Laplace smiled too.
"Then, if you'll excuse me — I'm heading out."
"Ah, show me, Laplace. The brilliance of you — the most gifted in magic I have ever known."
Bidden farewell by those words, Laplace — now fully recovered — begins to walk toward the threat.
—For the first time in their life, harboring a heartfelt 'wish' deep within.
I love it when, in a desperate situation, someone other than the protagonist awakens.
Next time — a story of Laplace, brimming with every ounce of that charm. Please do give it a read.