Eps 200
Eps 200 Divine Mercy (5)
Shirone gritted his teeth. There was nothing else he could do.
He felt he could cast magic, but attempting Teleportation in his current state would result in his body being shattered.
'Damn! I need to move somehow.'
If time passes like this, Canya's mother will die.
No, everyone would die. The only thing left would be a hideous giant with unknown name.
“Resign yourselves, foolish humans. No one can obstruct Ra's law.”
Ikirin looked at the sight of all the humans kneeling with satisfaction.
This is authority. Obedience is not forced but willingly given.
“Damn, why is this so heavy?”
At the sound from behind the statue, Ikirin's face hardened.
Then, she heard the sound of steps being taken. Everyone looked around as if there were ghosts.
Tess shouted with excitement.
“Rian!”
Rian grimaced as he walked.
It was as if his body weighed a ton.
Nevertheless, the reason he was not crushed to death was because the weight was distributed throughout his body.
“What have you done to me? My body feels incredibly heavy.”
“How can you move…?”
It is not amagic that can be withstood simply by strong physical strength. Because the weight is proportional to muscle mass, the stronger your muscles are, the heavier your body will inevitably be.
If someone moved, there was only one possible case. They had to exert force beyond their natural strength.
Of course, such a person couldn't be considered a normal human.
‘Exerting force beyond the body's limits? No, that can’t be. It’s one of the highest-level abilities among the giant’s technique.’
While Ikirin was lost in thought, a dull sound came from where Shirone’s group was.
“Kukuku, what a ridiculous magic. This is why battles are fun.”
Harvest suddenly rose from Canis' shadow.
Shirone realized after looking at Rian and Harvest.
The weight applied was relative, not absolute. This was crucial information, as different activation principles required different countermeasures.
“Where do you want to be hold?”
Harvest rushed to Ikirin. However, the Chief Fairy flying ability was not something to look down upon.
In a chase that seemed like a scene from a battle, Shirone, momentarily mesmerized, shouted to Rian.
“Rian! We’re running out of time! We need to destroy the statue!”
As Rian raised his greatsword in front of the statue, Ikirin’s face was filled with shock.
Even if the shadow chasing her wasn’t human, the swordsman was a human made of flesh and blood.
To swing a greatsword under the influence of the Rule Eater, one’s physical control had to be close to 100 percent.
As Rian struck the statue with all his might, a loud bang erupted.
The divine subjects were astonished, but there was not even a crack in the statue.
Rian gritted his teeth.
The liquid in the orbs had risen to halfway. The participants had already closed their eyes as if resigned to their fate.
“Damn it! If only it weren’t for this strange magic!”
The liquid in the ball was half full. The subjects were already closing their eyes as if resigned.
From their perspective, they would rather hate Rian. If he hadn’t interfered, everything would have been over peacefully by now.
Arin spoke through Mental Channel.
-We have to find a way. Restricting the actions of hundreds of people with just words does not fit equivalent exchange. There may be conditions we don't know about.
Shirone thought the same.
No matter how extraordinary the ability of Rule Eater to be, it was something that took place within the zero-sum of equivalent exchange.
Given the power of the ability, there had to be a way to break free from the restriction.
Shirone recalled Marsha's advice.
The Rule Eater is deeply connected to the caster's nature.
Ikirin is the Fairy of Authority. Therefore, there was a high possibility that the omniscience was related to the concept of authority in some way. (이기린은 권위의 요정. 따라서 어떤 식으로든 권위라는 개념에 관계된 전지일 가능성이 높았다.)
“Hiyaah!”
Rian did not give up and continued to strike the statue.
With each resounding crash, the faces of the divine subjects grew paler and paler.
Then, at some point, Amy's face burned red. Her Self-Perception Memory (자기상의 기억/Previously Self-Image) immediately detected changes in her body.
- Shirone, it is not a fixed binding force. A little while ago, the weight weakened by 5 kilograms. This time, 7 kilograms, 9 kilograms…. Every time Rian swings his greatsword, the weight is lessening.
Shirone’s eyes lit up. He realized the mechanism behind Ikirin’s Rule Eater from Amy’s words.
“Rian! Keep striking! The Ilhwa Elixiris not the art of rebirth! It’s just murder!”
- Shirone! The weight just decreased by 60 kilograms! Could it be...!
- Yes! It’s not certain, but it seems Ikirin quantifies authority to exert physical force. The more people doubt, the weaker the binding force becomes.
As if to prove Shirone’s thoughts, Ikirin’s expression distorted.
The cry of the Ilhwa Elixir being murder suddenly increased the count of doubters.
It wasn’t just a cry of desperation. It meant the heretics had figured out the conditions for the magic’s activation.
Rule Eater of Authority.
Ikirin could measure belief and doubt among the subjects within her domain.
The moment she uttered the incantation, all living beings around her were divided into believers and doubters.
Currently, there were 318 people gathered in the central plaza, with a ratio of 293 believers to 25 doubters.
If everyone believed in Ikirin, the weight applied per unit area would be 100 percent of their muscle strength, making movement theoretically impossible.
On the other hand, if the belief ratio falls below half, the 'Price of Impersonation' is triggered, and Ikirin must pay the price of 100 percent of her weight for 24 hours.
Shirone realized why Rian’s actions were affecting the magic. The fear of the symbol of Heaven being damaged was planting seeds of doubt in the minds of the divine subjects.
In fact, every time Rian struck the giant’s statue, the weight lessened slightly.
“Everyone, come to your senses! The Ilhwa Elixir is a lie! It’s an art meant to kill you!”
Despite continuing to press the divine subjects, the weight did not lessen further.
Trials make belief strong.
Even though some were terrified, others were clearly strengthening their resolve.
"Shut up! It is you who are deceiving us!”
“Kill them! Kill the heretics!”
The anger of hard-core believer reached its peak at the act of damaging the statue.
As the number of people who turned into fanatics increased, those who had doubts began to change their minds.
Shirone, knowing this, did not give up. In a situation where he couldn’t move, it was the only resistance he could muster.
“The Ilhwa Elixir is supposed to be an art of rebirth? You’re next! Why don’t you understand that?”
“We will follow the law. We will fulfill the lifespan granted by Ra and return to our original bodies!”
Shirone gritted his teeth. Whether it was Rule Eater or whatever, his frustation toward divine subjects' tight-fisted thoughts reached its peak.
“You can live longer! The people subjected to Ilhwa Elixir don’t have to die today!”
Like a lie, the uproar from the divine subjects ceased. They all looked at Shirone with shocked expressions.
Taking this sudden silence as a cue, Harvest abandoned the chase after Ikirin.
Continuing like this wouldn’t result in a victory anyway.
Rather than being distracted, Harvest decided it was better to engage in a psychological battle to unsettle the divine subjects.
Ikirin frowned. The impact of this statement was evident in the changing ratios.
267 to 51.
Of all divine subjects, 17% began to have doubts. The number was such that they could feel the weight weakening. A rapid change in senses would also have a detrimental effect on her authority.
“We can live? We can... live longer?”
“Yes. If the subjected were truly at the end of their lifespan and dying, at least you could call it a funeral. But they aren’t dying. The Ilhwa Elixir cannot be your grave!”
- Shirone, what are you talking about?
Amy couldn’t believe it. Wasn’t because the lifespan record absolute that the divine subjects followed faithfully? If this was an impromptu lie to get out of the situation, it would be hard to manage the consequences.
It wasn't something Shirone said with full certainty either. However, after agonizing over it all night, he concluded that it wasn’t entirely impossible.
“I met heretics in Purgatory. Some of them weren’t born in Heaven. So they don’t know their lifespan. But no one controls their lifespan either.”
“Of course, because they’re heretics...”
“Wake up! Don’t you get it yet? They can’t do it because they don’t know the name. It’s not that they don’t do it, it’s that they can’t! If God is omnipotent, why does God need names?”
Ikirin’s expression became grave.
229 to 89.
If the ratio of doubters exceeded half, her authority would vanish. Only 70 more doubts were needed to reach that point.
The executor shouted.
“Silence! That too is one principle of the law! The fact that we gain eternal life or are rebirth according Ra’s will doesn’t change! Don’t mock the divine subjects with heretical logic!”
“It’s not the law! It’s magic! Whatever Ra’s ability is, if it’s related to magic, then they can live longer!”
The mention of magic struck a chord. If the sacred phenomenon enacted by the law was merely magic, then God’s stature would inevitably fall to human standards.
“How can we live longer? Is there any proof?”
Someone among the divine subjects shouted.
Ikirin turned to him sharply. A count of 1 had just been added to the doubters.
“I have studied the properties of time. To put it simply, time is relative. It applies differently to everyone here.”
Among the subjects, there were those who studied time. They were the mages of Nors and the Meca’s opticians.
Their number was probably around six. 222 to 96. Those who understood Shirone’s words began to doubt.
“Even if that’s true, what does it matter?”
“If the ability to grant lifespan is related to time, then the lifespan of ones who subjected to Ilhwa Elixir isn’t accurate. Even if the lifespan is determined to be 40 years, it is impossible to die at exactly 40 years. Because the perception of time is flexible.”
“But that’s just a hypothesis. If it’s the law and not magic, then we won’t even have the chance to rebirth.”
“It’s not a hypothesis. I can prove it. Even if you subtract the same 10 years, the time of birth is different. So why doesn’t the Ilhwa Elixir account for that?”
206 to 112.
Only 47 more to go.
Ikirin looked at the glass orbs. They were filled with black liquid. The bodies would start to disintegrate the moment they died, so if someone drowned, the magic would be considered a success.
“If they can live even a few more hours, or even just one more second, then the Ilhwa Elixir is murder. It’s just an act of drowning the subjected and mutilating their bodies!”
The executor's eyes widened.
“Shut up! Even if what you say is right, what changes! The value of life isn’t determined by time! Are you saying we should deny Ra just to live one more second?”
“That one second is the difference between choosing to end your life or not! Why don’t you consider that?”
Ikirin saw an opportunity to recover from this.
243 to 75.
As expected, more people were returning to belief.
Shirone made a foolish decision. The fact is that having control over their lives isn’t important to humans.
What they want is only gain.
There is nothing to be gained by slightly increasing lifespan. The divine subjects would willingly dive into the Ilhwa Elixir with the promise of a better future.
To prove the numbers on the scale, the divine subjects began hurling insults at Shirone.
“Damn it! We almost fell for it! In the end, the lifespan was fixed! Nothing would have changed!”
“You, pretending to be a Nephilim, spewing lies again? One second? What can you do with just one second? What could you possibly achieve with it?”
|Note
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