Shirone: "You mentioned Gephin. Gephin, the one who created Gephin's Gate, right? Why did Miro call out his name at the last moment?"
Ikael blinked in surprise.
It was unexpected that Shirone had heard that voice. But she quickly regained her composure and continued her explanation.
Ikael: "Gephin was the first gatekeeper who protected your world from the armies of heaven. Miro, in a way… is his successor."
Shirone: "Huh? So Miro wasn't the first?"
Ikael: "Their situations were different, but yes. Gephin McClain—he was one of the most exceptional humans in your world. No, he was even more exceptional than some Nephilim. That's why he separated humanity from God."
Shirone: "Then where is he now?"
Ikael shook her head.
Ikael: "He left for a place I cannot see. He left behind Miro as his successor."
Shirone: "But that means…"
Ikael: "Yes. She must forever play the role of a barrier in a place where time does not flow. If she doesn't, Shirone's world will be destroyed."
Shirone's lips trembled. The image of Miro's face from the end flashed vividly in his mind.
How must she have felt, isolated from the world, facing endless loneliness?
At that moment, a terrifying thought occurred to him.
The conversations he had had with the headmaster came back to him one by one.
At the time, Alpheas' face had looked sad. No, sometimes he had looked angry, even frightening.
What if Miro hadn't chosen that path herself?
What if she had been forced into isolation by someone?
Shirone shuddered at the thought.
This wasn't just a crime. It was a decision to trap a single human in an eternal hell.
Shirone: "How long will Miro have to…?"
Ikael: "Even now, the armies of heaven are preparing for the final war. It might not take long. The coordinates recorded in the Metagate that Shirone and his companions brought will see to that."
Shirone's mind went blank.
Miro had used scale magic to block the gates of heaven. But the Metagate was essentially opening a new gate to heaven.
Shirone: "No way… That can't be…"
Ikael: "Yes, it's possible. With the Metagate, heaven's technology can bypass Miro's spacetime and enter."
Shirone felt as if his world was collapsing.
This wasn't just a matter of life and death for him. It was the destruction of all humanity.
He couldn't believe it. What had they done?
Ikael: "The reason I want to help is because of that. Shirone's friends are being held in the Great World War. Kariel will implant the information of the Nephilim into the girls' bodies."
Shirone: "Why? You said they're preparing for the final war! What does the Nephilim have to do with this?"
Ikael: "The situation has changed. Miro is not a Nephilim. Yet she opened the Immortal Function on her own. Such cases are rare, but they've been happening frequently in Shirone's world."
This was why Shirone had been confused when he heard the word "Nephilim" at Noor's Sanctuary. There were too many Unlockers for them to be descendants of angels.
Ikael: "This shows how far Shirone's world has strayed from Ra's will. Gephin bought time for humanity to understand the essence of the world. And now that will has been passed on to Miro. Of course, the time she has defended is pitiful compared to Gephin's. But in terms of growth, it's a level that cannot be ignored."
Shirone agreed with that.
The speed of magical development had clearly accelerated. Some analyses even suggested that the achievements of the past 100 years were less than those of the last 10 years.
Shirone: "This time, humanity won't go down so easily."
Ikael: "That's right. Though they are few, the rulers of the human world are likely aware of heaven's existence. They're probably preparing in some way. Right now, we need as many Nephilim as possible."
Shirone gritted his teeth. The thought of implanting angelic information into human bodies to bring about humanity's destruction was unbearable.
The idea of Amy giving birth to someone for such a reason was intolerable.
Shirone: "Why did you stand by and do nothing? As an archangel, you could have asked for their release, couldn't you?"
Ikael looked at Shirone with sad eyes.
Ikael: "Ah…"
That was it. Why did Miro dislike Ikael? Because she was an angel commanding the armies of heaven. Ikael, too, had once been an angel who delivered punishment to humans.
Ikael: "Yes, I am an angel. If the final war breaks out… I will have no choice but to fight against humanity."
Shirone felt as if all the strength had drained from his body.
Was this how it would end? Watching his friends suffer without being able to get help from anyone in heaven?
Ikael: "If it were before I met Gephin, that is."
Ikael smiled slyly and stuck out her tongue.
Ikael: "Don't worry, Shirone. I want to help you. Unlike angels, humans possess infinite potential. I believe the final war must never happen."
Shirone's blank expression slowly turned into one of realization as he grasped the weight of her words.
If an archangel who had risen to the rank of angel commander was on humanity's side, there was still hope, even if the final war broke out.
She had said, "before I met Gephin." Shirone couldn't ask what sin Ikael had committed, but he could guess it was related to him.
Ikael: "But don't let your guard down. My power is sealed, and I can't even leave this room. Even if I help Shirone, I can't provide direct assistance."
Shirone: "But… I can't defeat an angel with my power."
Ikael: "That's right. Angels are strong. And Kariel is an archangel so powerful that even I, at my peak, wouldn't dare face her recklessly."
Shirone: "Then what should I do now?"
Ikael wouldn't have brought this up just to discourage him. Shirone clung to a sliver of hope, waiting for her to propose a solution.
Ikael: "There is one way. It might slightly increase the chances of saving your friends."
Shirone: "Really? What is it?"
Ikael: "The angel's magic circle. You will wield it."
Shirone: "You mean… the halo?"
Ikael: "Yes. Angels accumulate information in their halos to activate their abilities. If Shirone can master this, it could create a decisive opportunity at a critical moment."
Shirone recalled what had happened in Shamain. The pressure he felt when Ikasa unleashed her halo still lingered in his body.
But was she really suggesting that he could wield such a thing?
It didn't seem possible. Humans didn't have an Overspirit.
Without a holy light body, there was no space to engrave information. How could he create a magic circle?
Ikael: "Of course, it won't be easy. For Shirone to wield an angel's magic circle, you'll need to overcome at least three hurdles."
Ikael held up three fingers as she spoke.
Ikael: "First, creating a holy light body. A human's spirit resides within their body, but I know of a special method to draw it out. Can you do it?"
Shirone nodded. What Ikael described was similar to the Separation Form of the Four Directions Technique.
With the Separation Form, it might be possible to mimic an angel's Overspirit to some extent.
Ikael: "The problem starts now. Even if you create a holy light body, unleashing a halo is on a completely different level. You must be able to draw a perfect circle. Even the slightest distortion will significantly slow down the speed of light computation, and a 0.1% delay will make it impossible to manifest an angel's power."
Humans couldn't draw perfect circles. But in the realm of the spirit, it wasn't impossible. Grasping the mathematical concept of a circle was crucial.
It wouldn't be easy, but it was a hurdle he had to overcome.
Ikael: "That's the first hurdle. The second is even more serious. An angel's power comes from the immense amount of information accumulated in their halo. To put it in terms of equations, even if a human spent their entire life recording, it wouldn't be enough. Computing that at the speed of light is the essence of the halo."
Shirone recalled the moment Ikael had caused the Galient Volcano to erupt. The ability to increase the activity of a dormant volcano by 20,000 times and turn it into an active one was beyond human comprehension.
Shirone: "Even if I can draw a perfect circle, what about the equations? A human brain can't compute such an enormous amount of information in an instant."
Ikael: "But there's insight. We'll try one thing here. A mental fusion. I will become Shirone and wield the halo. That experience will be transferred directly to Shirone's mind and remain there."
Shirone: "Th-that kind of method…"
Ikael's expression turned sharp.
Ikael: "Don't call it a method. It's nothing short of extreme violence against a human. If something goes wrong, Shirone's mind could shatter. And my mind, fused with Shirone's, wouldn't be safe either."
Shirone felt nauseous. He didn't care if his mind was destroyed to save his friends. He had already staked his life on this. But if Ikael was also at risk, it wasn't a decision he could make lightly.
Shirone: "Even if I fail…"
Ikael: "Shirone, don't think like that. I said I would help you. Don't worry about me, just focus on saving your friends."
Shirone took a deep breath to calm himself. There was no choice but to follow her words.
Shirone: "What's the third hurdle?"
Ikael: "Even if the magic circle's equations are complete, whether you can withstand it is another matter. If your mental endurance isn't strong enough, Shirone will be destroyed. Of course, this is separate from my risk. But if you can't endure it, it's better not to attempt this in the first place."
Shirone: "Don't worry about that. I'll definitely endure."
He was confident about the last hurdle. Since entering the magic academy, his mental endurance had been one of his strengths.
Moreover, having reached the level of Indestructible Diamond, he believed he could endure to some extent.
Ikael: "You don't understand. I know Shirone has an unbreakable mental strength. But that alone might not be enough."
Shirone: "If it's unbreakable, how can it break? That sounds contradictory."
Ikael: "No. The former and the latter are on different conceptual levels. If we're talking about the vessel that contains Shirone's mind, your current endurance is sufficient. But the concept of an angel, born in a higher dimension, is of a different quality. A vessel that can hold water might shatter if that water freezes."
Shirone: "I… see."
It was one mountain after another. None of the three hurdles she had presented would be easy to overcome.
No, perhaps this was normal.
For a human to master an archangel's magic circle, this level of risk was to be expected from the start.
Ikael: "The halo will explode Shirone's mind from within. The choice is yours. If you're willing to take this risk, I will help you."
For an angel, the collapse of the mind was akin to the end of life.
If Ikael was willing to risk everything to help him, Shirone had no reason to refuse.
Not just for his friends, but because the opportunity to learn the true meaning of an archangel's power might never come again.
Shirone: "I'll do it. No, please do it. Whatever the outcome, I'll accept it."
Ikael: "Good. The technique I'll use on Shirone is called possession. It's a method of merging spirits to dominate a human. Normally, dispatched angels use it to convey Ra's will."
Shirone had read about possession in various texts. At the time, he had been skeptical, but now that an archangel was speaking of it directly, there was no room for doubt.
Ikael: "If the possession is successful, my spirit will merge with Shirone's. If I harbor evil intentions, harming Shirone would be easy. Similarly, if Shirone loses his purity, that evil will seep into me."
It was a warning that if they weren't careful, something irreversible could happen.
Shirone nodded without hesitation. He didn't believe Ikael would harbor evil intentions.
Nor was she the type of angel to lose control just because she lost her purity.