Tap the text to show or hide reading controls.
Rewind to a little while ago.
Ever since Shia gained the ability to connect to my mental image, I tested many things during our sessions, which occurred roughly once every three days.
Naturally, the majority of that time was spent on experiments regarding the seal.
“This is 1 percent.”
“This state is 2 percent.”
“I suppose this is about 3 percent.”
I made active use of the fact that my stats within the mental image reflected my reality to measure the fluctuations in my power. Meanwhile, I questioned Shia, who was similarly checking what she was capable of depending on the degree of the seal’s release.
“I think we’ve confirmed everything on this end. Shall we move to the next step?”
At my words, Shia nodded with a look of lingering reluctance.
“…I suppose so. No matter how we slice it, the most important thing is how those damn chains will react when the seal is broken within the mental image.”
“Right. Then shall we set it to 10 percent and wait a bit?”
“…Sigh. Let’s do that.”
For reference, we had three general theories on how the chains would react if the seal was released inside the mental world:
- The chains do not react at all.
- They simply target the physical Shia in reality.
- They follow her consciousness and enter my mental image.
- They target both.
“I’d prefer the first option… but things rarely go that smoothly.”
“You never know. Let’s just try it.”
And after repeating the test several times…
Rumble, rumble…
Shia and I stared blankly as thousands of chains began to encroach upon the sky of the mental world.
“…Disgusting. To think they’d crawl all the way in here.”
Of course, I knew those chains weren’t physical objects; they were high-level mysteries—the manifestation of the very concept of “Binding.” I knew that, but still…
“No, really, isn’t it a bit much to just crawl into someone else’s mental image like this? This is my mind. What logic even allows this to happen?”
“…Sw-Sword God. What do you plan to do now?”
“Don’t be so tense. We still have time. Anyway, the reaction is much more violent than when we released 3 percent. There are way more chains. It’s actually a bit scary to think what will happen when it’s fully released…?”
“Sword God…!”
“I told you it’s fine. It looks like it’ll take at least three minutes to reach us. More importantly, how’s it looking in reality?”
Shia answered restlessly.
“Acc-according to Hosik, there are no signs out there yet. It seems they are prioritizing whichever side my consciousness is currently on.”
As a side note, the reason she could stay in a complete trance within the mental image while still communicating with the outside world was that Hosik, who was outside, was her kin and a part of her. Naturally, it was a trick I couldn’t replicate.
“I see. So it’s option number three. We can use this.”
“Sw-Sword God…!!”
“Alright, alright. Let’s stop here for today.”
I reached out toward the chest of the trembling Shia, who—unlike her usual bold self—was clinging to me. Through her as a medium, I sent my will to the physical pendant in reality.
‘I am returning the power.’
Instantly, the chains filling the blackened sky came to a clanking halt.
Rumble… Clang!
A moment later, watching the swarm of chains withdraw as if nothing had happened, Shia let out a long breath.
“Phew… my heart drops every time I see that…”
“Get used to it. We’re going to test this a few more times. You can’t get exhausted already.”
“Ugh… once was plenty.”
“No way. That was only 10 percent. If things go as planned, we’ll eventually have to release the seal completely. We should at least try releasing half.”
“…Sigh.”
“But hey, I think I see the answer on how to handle it.”
“Oh? What do you plan to do?”
“Run.”
“Huh?”
“Bel here is incredibly fast. Even with me and Sis on board, she made it from the Moon to Mars in seven hours.”
Ultimately, the plan we devised to deal with the chains was simple.
Bell would carry Shia and play a game of tag with the chains, staying faster than the pursuit. For how long? Until the battle with Disis was over. Considering the scale of my mental image, which stretched beyond Saturn, there was plenty of room to run.
Yes. That’s what we thought… but as always, the world had a way of defying expectations.
Less than thirty seconds after the seal was broken and Sword God returned to reality to begin the fight with Disis, the anomaly began.
Swoooord…
While the sun shone brilliantly in the distance, the bright world was suddenly plunged into darkness. Shia looked up at the blackening sky and muttered to herself.
“…Night?”
No, that was impossible. The time within the mental image was currently 1:00 PM. It would take at least six or seven more hours for night to fall.
Which meant…
Bell, who was watching from the side with her wings spread, spoke in a trembling voice—a stark contrast to her usual composed tone.
“All of that… is the chains. My God…”
Overwhelmed by the sight, Shia collapsed to the ground.
“Ah, aaah… I thought we could manage after seeing the half-release, but…”
Bell gave a bitter smile as she supported Shia.
“That’s because… this isn’t half.”
Bell understood Shia’s reaction. Throughout their experiments, they had confirmed that the number of chains was clearly proportional to the degree of the seal’s release.
Therefore, Sword God and Shia had predicted that at full release, the amount of chains would be double—maybe triple at most—the half-release state. They were confident they could always escape the (fake) Earth and flee into space at that level.
However, the amount of chains now…
“A thousand times? No, there are enough chains to wrap around this entire planet. It’s easily ten thousand times more.”
“What… what do we do now?”
Bell smiled wryly.
“We have to escape. Somehow. Have you tried calling Sword God?”
“…It’s no use. He seems too occupied with the battle.”
“Then we have to do it ourselves.”
“How?”
“We break through.”
“Who?”
“You.”
“……!!!”
“Have you forgotten? The fact that Sword God has recovered his status means you, too, have regained your power.”
“Ah…”
“At this moment, in this place, the one with the strongest power is you—Akathastasia, who has fully recovered the power of the Northern Demon King.”
Shia gasped for breath, trying to steady her limp body. Even then, her trembling would not stop. This wasn’t something one could endure simply by having a strong will.
“Right… that’s how it was. I was the Northern Demon King. The seal is broken…. I was so shocked I’d actually forgotten.”
As if refusing to grant even a needle-sized gap for escape, the infinite chains surrounding the entire planet began to slowly constrict. Looking up at them, Shia spoke in a low, resonant voice.
“Arise.”
At her command, a tremendous chill began to devour the surroundings. Snow and ice transformed the landscape into a frost-bound wasteland, stretching across a radius of at least 100 kilometers.
The accumulated snow and ice surged upward, coalescing into a colossal female form composed of intricate clockwork gears. It was the combat form of Akathastasia, the one she had used once before to fight Sword God.
Shia swept her gaze over the ice-clockwork giant, which stood well over 100 meters tall, and then turned to Bell.
“…I’ll find a way to break through. The moment I do, grab me and get us off this planet.”
“Will that be possible?”
“…Fifty-fifty.”
Shia’s mutter was thick with uncertainty. It was only natural—these chains were her literal antithesis, her natural enemy. It was clear that pushing them back, let alone destroying them, would be no easy feat.
“But we have to do it anyway, don’t we?”
“…I understand. Let’s give it a try.”
“20 seconds left. Get ready.”
“Right…”
Under Shia’s command, the ice-clockwork combat construct drew its Dimensional Rift Sword. As Bell took Shia into her arms, a tense silence fell, the pressure of the moment tightening around their hearts like a vice.
“15 seconds.”
Gulp…
But it was at that exact moment.
Sis, who had remained silent in the corner until now, looked up at the two of them and spoke as if whispering to herself.
“…You don’t need to be that tense. It’s still okay.”
Bell instinctively looked down at her.
“Okay? What do you mean?”
“Bell… since you came here from the outside, I guess you still don’t realize what kind of place this is.”
“…Huh?”
“This isn’t such a fragile place. This is Sword God’s own mental image. Even if the opponent is a terminal of Providence that dictates the laws of this universe, it cannot run rampant here as it pleases.”
“What are you…?”
“Look. It’s coming.”
Immediately after, a sun suddenly rose in the pitch-black sky.
No, to be precise, one side of the chain-covered sky began to glow a fiery red, and the chains started to melt away, dripping like liquid metal. Then, a massive wave of light tore through the chains, painting the entire sky pure white.
Rumble, rumble, rumbllllle…!
The siege of chains began to crumble.
Dazed, Shia and Bell turned toward the source of the wave of light, only to witness a sight beyond their wildest imaginations. A giant made of light, easily one and a half times larger than the Earth, was swinging its hands and ruthlessly shredding the Chains of Providence.
Flash!!
As the giant of light swung its arm, a tsunami of radiance followed, tearing away the chains that were attempting to repair the siege.
Shia muttered blankly.
“Where… where did that come from?”
Sis met the eyes of Shia—who looked almost exactly like her—and gave a mischievous smirk, as if mocking her for not knowing.
“It came from the sun.”
“The sun?”
“Yes. The Solar Giant. Sword God’s soul. A manifestation of a pride so high it refuses to allow its own mental world to be stained by anything other than what it permits.”
In the midst of the chaos that seemed to be upending her common sense, Shia asked Sis once more.
“…What exactly is this place?”
“This is a world belonging only to Sword God, severed from the outside. An independent world where Sword God is master. In this universe, such a place is described like this:”
An Inherent World.
The moment I entered my mental image, my jaw dropped at the absurd sight before me. A gargantuan giant of light was locked in a literal life-and-death struggle, tearing apart the infinitely regenerating chains.
“Wait, what on earth… what even is that?”
Shia turned the question back to me with a dazed expression.
“…If you don’t know, then who would?”
“What?”
“Sis said… that light giant was born from the sun. And that sun is your soul, isn’t it? That means that giant is a being derived from you. So what is the point of asking me?”
“Wait, I made that?! What kind of ‘the cat opened the front door’ logic is that?”
“You truly don’t know?”
“The most I can make is swimwear for you guys! And I won’t even make the ones with strings!”
At my words, Shia looked up at me with narrowing, suspicious eyes.
“If that’s really true, ask Sis later. She’s the one who explained all of this.”
“…Sis?”
When I called her name, Sis looked away, feigning ignorance and letting out a terrible attempt at a whistle.
“You… are you hiding something from me?”
“……”
“Sis?”
Sis continued to play innocent, pointing toward a section of the sky instead.
“More importantly, he’s being pushed back.”
“What?”
I followed Sis’s small finger with my eyes, and sure enough, the light giant—which had been overwhelming the chains just a moment ago—was now being forced onto the defensive. Far from decreasing in number, the waves of chains were swelling in volume, threatening to bury the flickering giant whose light was starting to blink out.
We watched the giant, its limbs bound by chains, and eventually, our eyes met.
“It seems a lot of unexpected things have happened, but for now, we’re sticking to the plan.”
“Yes.”
“Understood.”
“Alright. Let’s escape before the siege closes in.”
Reading Settings
