Volume 7Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – The Four Emperors

White stretched in every direction.

This was the place I’d been to three times before: the Reincarnation Chamber.

But the one standing in front of Sasha and me this time was the Goddess of Reincarnation, in Merlin’s form.

“Why are you here in Merlin’s shape?”

“Until now you came to the Reincarnation Chamber on your own. This time I came to fetch you from the living world. That is the difference.”

I frowned. I didn’t follow, and the Goddess gave a little laugh.

“Do not worry. I will release her afterward. The owner of this body met the conditions: strong magic power, and more worry for you than anyone.”

Honestly, I didn’t get the reasoning. But at least Merlin was fine.

“So did you come to save our lives?”

“To be precise, even if I had not, you would not have died.”

“What do you mean?”

When I asked, puzzled, the Goddess gave a small nod.

“Right after that, Balthazar put a defensive barrier around the area. Most likely he honored Maria’s wish.”

Maria’s wish…?

Maybe she sensed my question. The Goddess snapped her fingers.

“First, I apologize for using this body to reach the living world. Please see for yourselves what it is like outside.”

Several huge mirrors appeared around us. Each held Magic Academy City, where we’d just been fighting, from a different angle, and what was in them…

“…This is… insane.”

Most of the mirrors showed a half-wrecked city.

The Magic Society headquarters was a flat, empty plain. A kilometer or so around it had been blasted clean. The shock wave that hit us must have swept everything away.

And what shocked me most was that the whole city had gone dark as night.

An enormous mass had clamped down over the sky like an overcast, and no sunlight came through.

“Is that… the Nine-Headed Dragon?”

One mirror looked down on the whole planet from space.

You had to pull back that far to take it in at all: the Nine-Headed Dragon, three hundred kilometers wide and ten thousand kilometers long.

I stared at the thin line stretching across the whole planet and couldn’t say a word.

Another mirror showed that a lot of the dragons Svetlana had brought had been blown to bits by the aftershock of the Nine-Headed Dragon’s appearance. The dragons that had escaped the blast were still in the air, but judging by their numbers… about half had been lost.

“Looks like Svetlana made it, at least… But this is bad.”

Svetlana was alive in her dragon form. With that much settled, I rounded on the Goddess.

“…What happened to Anastasia and Sheryl… and Maria?”

I asked her, but I already knew the answer.

The Society headquarters had been blown clean away by a blast that not even dragons, for all their famed toughness, could have survived. There was nothing those three could have done.

“Ephthal, look closely,” Sasha said.

I looked at the mirror he was pointing at.

At the center of the flattened Society grounds, a tall white-haired man stood.

“That’s Balthazar…?”

His long hair was slicked back and hung down his back. His skin had the sheen of a man in his late twenties… though with people who’ve lived that long you can’t go by looks.

Then I let out a small “Ah…”

“Anastasia and Sheryl seem to be safe,” Sasha said.

Two women lay at Balthazar’s feet, with what looked like a barrier around them to keep them from escaping.

“They’re prisoners. I wouldn’t call that safe.”

“But why did Balthazar save those two? To him they’re lower than insects.”

“…Hostages to use against me?”

I asked the Goddess, and she shook her head.

“No… Hostages to use against Maria.”

“Maria?”

“Maria has already fused with Bridget and become the Nine-Headed Dragon. Putting the two halves of a reincarnator back together also requires the person’s own will. Most likely, in exchange for keeping you safe, Maria chose to become the Nine-Headed Dragon herself.”

“…That idiot.”

I clenched my fist in fury, but I understood how Maria felt.

Now that I’d seen the Nine-Headed Dragon, I could feel it in my bones: it was far beyond anything Sasha and I could handle.

So Maria had had no choice but to do what Balthazar said, to protect us.

It had been a long time since I’d felt this helpless.

But I’m not the type to give up just because I’m outmatched.

“Let’s get the facts straight. Goddess… if you’re willing, lay out the situation so I can follow it.”

“Yes. That is why I called you.”

The Goddess nodded. What she told us next was one woman’s life, and it was harrowing.

⁂

Once, I worked on developing the reincarnation system.

With those words, the Goddess began a long account.

It was the last days of the ancient magic civilization, when science and magic had fused and become highly advanced. Balthazar had been charged by the Ten Sages with destroying the civilization that would be born after the collapse… the one we live in now. And she, too, had been chosen from the old humanity, as the Goddess who would manage the reincarnation system.

Why her? The reason was simple. She was the developer herself, someone who knew the system’s structure from the inside, so she was the best fit to manage it.

In the ancient magic civilization, whenever they built a large-scale magic device, they used the brain of a humanoid homunculus as a living computer and made it the core.

Her face was full of grief.

At the time, she too had been told by Balthazar that the system would be built by taking out a homunculus’s brain and using it as the core.

But that wasn’t the truth.

Only at the very last, just before she became the system’s Goddess, did she learn what it really meant. It was an awful thing to be told.

They would take out the brain of her own newborn son and use that.

A homunculus brain, they said, could not handle a system that carried souls across planets.

Balthazar had explained that if the manager was the mother, a son would also be a good match as the core.

⁂

“Do you know how it feels to have a newborn child taken from you?”

Having finished her long account, the Goddess spoke to Sasha and me with tears in her eyes.

“…”

“…”

We could say nothing. Her anguish and deep grief went without saying.

“When I put the same question to Balthazar, this is what he said.”

Having received a part of the Ten Sages’ power, I cannot know the feelings of vermin like you.

She spat the next words out.

“Balthazar, and the Ten Sages beyond him, certainly hold power beyond humanity. But…”

She went on.

“Precisely because they cannot know our feelings, they cannot see the poison I put into the system.”

“…Poison?”

The Goddess nodded and looked straight at me.

“That is why I have had my eye on you.”

On me…?

While I wondered what that meant, the Goddess took my right hand in both of hers.

“Why were you revived in this age? Why at the very moment the Nine-Headed Dragon would appear? Why have I come to you now? Do you know the reason?”

The question sent a chill through me.

I asked her, my voice shaking.

“Did you set all this up to stand against Balthazar?”

“Yes. That is right.”

“But… why me?”

The Goddess smiled.

“I created a skill that was never supposed to exist in the system, and you chose it. Everything began there.”

“Maybe that was…”

“…Yes. You understand now, I think. What the poison I put in is. What makes you different from other reincarnators. It is—”

The Goddess drew a breath and paused.

“The Re-Reincarnation skill.”

“Wait, Goddess… What do you mean?”

“Have you not noticed it yourself? That there are two personalities inside you?”

Now that she’d pointed it out, a lot made sense. Well, no wonder the gentle me and the rough me had never quite lined up.

I’d always assumed the gentle one was just me being pulled along by the mind of the child I’d been reborn as. I’d never imagined the explanation was this.

“So the other Ephthal, the one who isn’t out right now, is a genuinely separate person? Someone who was born with this reincarnation?”

“Yes. Think of him as another person who shares your memories.”

“Anyway, back to the point. What is this poison you put in, Goddess?”

“You have a reincarnator’s soul, and at the same time the soul of the reborn Ephthal, a native of this world. Your soul is half Earth and half local.”

“…And?”

“To be the core of the Nine-Headed Dragon, one must be a reincarnator. That role is Bridget’s at present. But… if you seize her place, you can get one over on Balthazar.”

“What exactly do I have to do?”

“There will be no rehearsal… As the reincarnator, you connect to the Nine-Headed Dragon. As the native-born, you stop it from the inside.”

“Stop it…? How does that work?”

“Controlling magic power is your specialty, is it not? The Nine-Headed Dragon moves its body through the magic circuits in its core’s brain. So you use your own magic power to shut those circuits down. In human terms, your brain’s circuits would be the Nine-Headed Dragon’s spinal cord.”

“Got it. Nice and casual about the horrible part, aren’t you.”

She’d made it sound so simple, but what she was describing was a human sacrifice.

“Ordinarily the Ten Sages make the Nine-Headed Dragon vanish, but if you succeed, that will not happen. Therefore you would spend nearly an eternity inside it. What will you do? I will not force you.”

“Damn it… What’s there to decide?”

There was no choice.

First, there was no way to defeat the Nine-Headed Dragon as things stood. A monster that size was out of any human’s reach.

And if it was left alone, the world would be a wasteland soon enough.

More than anything, I couldn’t leave Maria like that.

“Well, that’s that, then.”

The Goddess gave a satisfied nod.

“One more thing. I have to knock Balthazar flat first, right?”

“Yes. That thing will most likely stay beside the Nine-Headed Dragon’s core until this world is destroyed.”

“That’s my specialty. Leave it to me.”

“But Balthazar is a formidable opponent. I am the one who suggested this, so forgive me for asking, but… do you have any chance of winning?”

“I can’t do anything about the Nine-Headed Dragon itself… But Balthazar? That thing, I should be able to do something about.”

“…What makes you say that?”

“Maybe that thing’s just cautious, I don’t know, but it sat back and watched master and me right up to the end, didn’t it?”

The Goddess’s face clouded.

“Yes. And on that basis, Balthazar judged that you and Sasha were not a threat.”

“But punch it and it’ll bleed, and if it bleeds… it can be killed.”

“But…”

I patted the Goddess on the shoulder.

“Hey, Goddess. You know something?”

“What is it?”

I thought a moment, took a breath, and told her flatly.

“No fool broods on losing before he’s even started.”

At that, the Goddess’s face softened, and she smiled at Sasha.

“Sasha… you have my sympathies.”

“Hm? What do you mean, Goddess-dono?”

“You really have a bold disciple.”

Sasha burst out laughing.

When the laughing died down, he turned serious.

“Truth be told, I’m at my wits’ end myself. This one is completely out of his mind, you know.”

“Yes, I imagine so.”

The Goddess smiled, gave a small nod, and held up two fingers.

“There are two reasons I called you here. The first is to keep you from dying in the aftershock of the Nine-Headed Dragon’s appearance.”

“And the second?”

“A goddess gives power to the reincarnator. That is the rule in every Reincarnation Chamber, in every age and every place.”

She winked, and black particles gathered behind her.

Before my eyes, they formed the shapes of people.

Within a minute… three people stood before us.

“Hold on… You’re kidding.”

Even Sasha was speechless, and so was I. Of course we were stunned. Because those three were…

Sasha was the first to find his voice. “The first Fire God Emperor… and the Ice God Emperor? And… the Earth God Emperor?”

“What does this mean, Goddess?”

“These three are registered in the Akashic Records as powerful individuals. Only Balthazar and I hold access rights.”

“The system’s manager has some wild powers too.”

Well, she hands skills out to reincarnators. Wild or not, people like her could do anything from the start. No point being surprised now.

“Of course it is not unlimited. I am drawing on your soul as a reincarnator.”

“But… then why not summon every strong person this planet has ever had, anyone willing to help, all at once?”

The Goddess shook her head.

“As I said, it is not unlimited. You are not one of the rare demi-human reincarnators, so this is your limit.”

“And there are other conditions,” the Goddess went on. “With your soul… it works only for those bound to you by strong ties.”

“So that’s why these three.”

“That is as far as my help goes. Take them, Ephthal. The three have been briefed.”

What now? That one needed no thought either.

“It’s been so long, Ephthal!”

The Ice God Emperor, Isaac, ran over and threw his arms around me.

He looked to be in his late twenties, most likely rebuilt at his physical prime.

“Yeah, it’s been a long time!”

I hugged him back hard, and that familiar face filled me with warmth. It really had been so long since I’d seen it… Ah, no good. If I cried here, I’d never hear the end of it.

“Isaac. I’ve got a descendant of yours, Sheryl, in my care. She’s an odd one, and a handful.”

“So how is she at magic?”

“…She’s a genius.”

“If you vouch for her, she must be… Well, she’s my descendant, so of course.”

I let go of Isaac and turned to Cliff.

“Long time… Well, not that long, Cliff.”

“It’s a temporary alliance… strictly for Bridget’s sake.”

He didn’t take my hand, and instead looked away with a huff.

Typical. That’s just Cliff, business as usual. If he’d gotten friendly all of a sudden, it would creep me out.

“Still can’t be straight about anything, can you, you bastard.”

“Your foul mouth hasn’t changed either… Well, there’s no point being stubborn here.”

Cliff gave a rueful smile, hesitated a moment, then took my outstretched right hand.

“…I’m sorry, Ephthal.”

“Forget it, best friend.”

I nodded. No need to say more. We shook hands firmly.

I turned to the Earth God Emperor and looked him over.

“So where do you stand, Itam? And hold on… you were dead too?”

“Careless of me. Balthazar’s brainwashing magic got through… Forgive me, Ephthal.”

That told me everything I needed to know.

“…So what are you going to do?”

“Every effect has its cause. This happened because of my own failing. How can I show my face and fight beside you…”

“…”

“If I am to atone to you in keeping with cause and effect… then I have no choice but to die and apologize…”

Come to think of it, he’d always been a stickler for cause and effect.

In that case I had only one thing to say.

“Itam, you’re already dead. Cause and effect are squared away.”

He thought for a moment, then gave a weak “Hahaha.”

“Yes. So it is.”

Isaac laughed, and Cliff gave a little laugh too.

“Funny how things turn out, Ephthal.”

“What, Cliff?”

“I hear you’re firing Level 11 in a barrage. You died feeling inferior to us because you had no magic aptitude. Now you’ve passed even the Undead Emperor, and you’re the strongest in this group, apparently.”

“…”

“I’m counting on you. Trust us to cover your back.”

“Yeah. Same here. I trust your strength more than anything.”

I meant it. I was counting on them.

Four hundred years ago, at the showdown in the Demon Lord’s castle, I was dead weight.

I knew the other three were looking out for me. Back then, just hanging on without becoming a burden was all I could manage.

But now it’s different.

Just before I died four hundred years ago, I’d longed for those backs so much it tore at me. I’d looked up to them. Now I’d caught up.

Me, Cliff, Isaac, Itam. The original Four Emperors.

With me like this, all of us could trust each other to cover our backs and rest easy.

At last… At last.

I stood shoulder to shoulder with these guys, and we were the Four Emperors in more than name.

And with Sasha, the Undead Emperor, that made five.

“Go through the whole history of the Magic Society,” I said, “and you’d be hard-pressed to find a better lineup.”

Then I clapped my hands and turned to the Goddess.

“Send us outside. Let’s start the counterattack!”

When everyone nodded, light surrounded us.