Chapter 377: I got into school for nothing
I got into school for nothing (377)
After School. A New Order - 2
The instant a perfectly fine dimension was instantly swallowed by 'Collapse', those who directly witnessed it were gripped by transcendent terror.
The land they stood upon, the sky above, simultaneously vanished as if devoured by a beast of mere shadow, leaving only void in its place. That sight was...
Moreover, once such a void was created, the remaining world could never be safe.
Unless an Authority was used to forcibly prevent further distortion, the concepts that formed the world, especially Mana, would continuously leak away.
The distorted and gnawed-upon planet would deviate from its normal rotational orbit, and its environment would invariably become a mess.
How much more so for the people of higher-ranking dimensions, who had never once in their lives conceived of their own dimension perishing?
Facing the collapse of their dimension, they inevitably fell into an even greater state of panic.
The dimension once ruled by Ortima, Ketiuses, was precisely in such a state.
Thirty percent of the total population had perished, and those who survived were either hiding or frantically attempting to flee to other dimensions—but the 'new administrator' had urgently cast a barrier to prevent the Ortima dimension's Collapse, trapping them and leaving them to stamp their feet in frustration.
"Sister, seeing this complete mess, is that all your impression amounts to?"
"Indeed."
The girl characterized by blue hair with a somewhat mechanical sheen and silver eyes—Lilyth—spoke up in exasperation, while the girl with contrasting white hair and blue eyes—Eve—replied indifferently.
"They were merely vassals who displeased Master, so whatever happens to them is irrelevant."
"From now on, we're the ones who have to restore this place, *we* are!"
"If Master hadn't commanded otherwise, I would have finished collapsing these impudent vassals myself."
At the sight of Eve muttering like that, licking her tongue with genuine regret, Lilyth felt a slight shiver of fear.
Who else knew as well as Lilyth that Eve had blindly followed Ban Yuwon from the moment of her creation, yet....
Her affection for her Master was so deep, it was almost a little twisted.
"Still, ordinary people aren't guilty, right? The Ortima family head was the rotten one, wasn't he, hmm?"
"Well... First, I'm going to meet the surviving sinner."
Eve first cast a temporary barrier over the land and sky that had been gnawed away by the black beast—the Collapse summoned by the Tower of Babel—then kicked off into the air, heading toward where the Ortima family mansion once stood.
Most of the Ortima family's elites had met their demise after heading to Union Academy with the family head, and among those who remained, many had rushed out, claiming they would protect Ketiuses from the monstrous force of the Tower of Babel that had suddenly assailed it, only to be absorbed themselves—
Consequently, the only direct descendant of Ortima capable of taking responsibility for the family was Luisha, who was also the formal successor, and she was alone.
"Ah..."
Upon arriving where Luisha was, Eve and Lilyth lost their words as they saw her sitting quietly before a severed head rolling on the floor.
"You... are."
In a situation where three-tenths of the world had vanished, it was impossible for the Ortima Grand Mansion to be safe.
Rather, because it was one of the areas in the Ketiuses dimension where the most Mana was concentrated, the mansion, which became the Tower's first target, had its upper section completely swallowed, its interior starkly exposed.
That was why Luisha was able to immediately spot Lilyth and Eve, who had appeared in the air.
"...Senior's."
"You recognized us right away."
"You, that thing."
Unlike the sparkling-eyed Lilyth, Eve focused on the severed head before Luisha.
The moment she stretched out a finger, a magic bullet was fired, intending to crush it entirely, but Luisha, startled, extended her arm and blocked it.
Thanks to hastily activating her Domination Authority to condense Mana, she wasn't gravely injured—but the fact that Eve could produce any number of such magic bullets with a single light gesture utterly horrified Luisha.
"W-what are you doing? This is my brother... my brother Rusein's!"
"Yes... you blocked it, you say."
At that moment, the light in Eve's eyes vanished.
She directly charged, intending to tear off even Luisha's head, but before that, Lilyth intervened, holding her back, and spoke to Luisha.
"Sister is merciless to Master's enemies. Young Lady, please understand."
"Enemy? Senior's? My brother Rusein was Senior's ally!"
Luisha cried out, almost howling.
"He was bound by an oath and couldn't even attack Senior! Moreover, my brother... my brother Rusein did his best to stop the family head. In the end, even as he died like this..."
"Do you think sins can be forgiven?"
"W-what?"
"Sins can never be forgiven."
Eve said coldly, and extended her hand again.
"The proof of that is Judgment."
She shared Ban Yuwon's concept of Judgment, and fired another magic bullet.
At Eve's act of violence, which was utterly beyond reason, Luisha, too, burned with rage, and actively manifested her Authority, attempting to block it, but.
The magic bullet, piercing through both Luisha's barrier and even her physical body with ease, struck Rusein's severed head and ultimately annihilated it.
"Why..."
Luisha, confirming that no injury remained on her own body, slumped to the floor as the last evidence of Rusein's existence vanished meaninglessly.
The concept of Judgment, when activated against a sinner, has the effect of strengthening attacks, and its culmination had transformed it into a transcendent Authority that attacked only its 'Judgment target'.
Rusein's past misdeeds were proof that they could not be erased, no matter what actions he took afterward.
For Luisha, who was left alone with no one to rely on, as everyone she knew in her family had vanished, it was an incredibly cruel fate.
"He's already dead, they should at least let him have a funeral... This is truly too much..."
"Sister, seriously..."
Of course, Eve knew that Rusein, reduced to just a severed head, could potentially be revived depending on the exercise of Authority, and fearing that Ban Yuwon might try to revive him if he learned this fact, she destroyed his head without any further explanation.
From the perspective of someone who knew nothing, it was an act no different from that of a psychopath.
To make matters worse, Eve said this.
"If you wish to be buried in the sinner's past and sleep alongside him, I'll help you."
"Eve, Sister, seriously—! He was an ally! He was on Master's side!"
Regardless of whether Lilyth shrieked in fright or not.
At Eve's words, Luisha, looking utterly drained of all energy, bowed her head low.
"Kill me; there's nothing left anyway. Just kill me too..."
"The administration of the reconstructed Ketiuses will have to be handed over to someone else. It's going to get troublesome."
"...Reconstruction?"
Luisha, who had been wearing a blank expression like a dead person, raised her head again.
"What do you mean, 'reconstruct'?"
"Because Master is kind. He intends to somehow restore the dimensions that haven't been completely assimilated into the Tower."
And the starting point for that is Ketiuses, which was relatively the most intact.
Eve added simply, waving her hand, and a colossal shadow fell over their heads, as if a mere prank.
It grew larger and larger—and soon combined with the severed section of the gnawed-upon mansion.
When she raised her head, what was there was the high ceiling originally seen in the Ortima Grand Mansion, and the finest chandelier hanging from it.
It was a genuine article, which no one would dare imitate.
The mansion had been perfectly restored.
Luisha's lips trembled, having recognized that fact, that meaning.
"H-how?"
"Because Master is dominating the Tower. I am merely his terminal."
Eve's unhesitating manner of calling herself a terminal indeed made her listener flinch, but Luisha was no longer in a state to care about such things.
She sprang to her feet, rushing toward Eve, who had now landed on the floor, and fiercely gripped her shoulders.
Bringing her bloodshot eyes so close they almost touched Eve's, she cried out.
"Th-the people! What about the people who were caught in the Collapse and vanished! Can they also return?! Please tell me yes, please! I beg you!"
"They can return. More than half, probably."
Eve replied dispassionately.
"Thanks to Master's calm and swift response, the concepts of the victims could be preserved relatively intact. All that's needed is to select and retrieve them."
"Ah, ahhh..."
At those words, uttered far too lightly for their immense weight, Luisha released her, and slumped to the floor once more.
"I beg you... My brother Rusein, it's fine. I won't care about him, so... Please, send back the people who can return..."
"Master intended to do that from the beginning, regardless of your will. You should be grateful to Master."
Only then did Luisha finally realize why Eve had burned Rusein's severed head to ashes.
Ban Yuwon had intended to restore Ketiuses, and Rusein would likely have been included in that restoration.
However, Eve, who disliked Rusein, destroyed his head and recovered its concept, thereby fundamentally blocking any possibility of his revival—.
‘Frightening.’
Even while truly thinking so, Luisha dared not voice those words, nor did she entertain the thought of informing Ban Yuwon later.
It was obvious whose side Ban Yuwon would take between her and Eve, and moreover.
If the Ketiuses dimension were restored, and the Ortima family revived, by Rusein's complete annihilation, she wouldn't need to risk all of it being overturned just to protect the honor of her dead cousin, would she?
‘Absolutely.’
So, instead, she made a vow.
That someday, she too would certainly become a being of greater significance to Ban Yuwon than Eve.
He who could effortlessly reconstruct dimensions, and revive the dead.
An absolute being, capable even of wielding such power through his subordinates.
She would bear that person's child, and absolutely raise them into a being superior to him.
‘Ortima will not fall, never.’
She would carry Senior's child.
She would give birth to a child greater than anyone, and make them the successor of Ortima—.
Someday, Ortima would surely rise to the top again.
Given that the ultimate destination of her thoughts, aimed at restoring Ortima, eventually led to Ban Yuwon, one could say she too was, inevitably, a woman in love.
If Rusein, who had already sacrificed himself and had no way of returning, were to hear her thoughts, how would he truly react?
Regrettably, there was no longer any way to know.
* * *
After simply completing Ortima's reconstruction, Eve and Lilyth then proceeded to the restoration work for Amore.
Amore, like Ortima, could somehow be restored because its world hadn't been entirely devoured yet, but its ruling class, the Amore family, had been completely wiped out by Cheonma's single strike. Ban Yuwon had deliberated on this and reached a conclusion.
Namely, to entrust Amore to the descendants of Juventa, who had perished long ago and were already fully assimilated into the Tower, with no means of restoration.
For now, since Yumina was clinging to Ban Yuwon like sticky rice cake, they would first move the Spring Shrine in Union Academy to Amore, and later, when Yumina and Ban Yuwon had a child, wouldn't it be fine to pass Amore down to that child?
At such a proposition, the priests of the Spring Shrine naturally nodded in extreme excitement, and commenced their relocation as soon as Amore was restored.
As for the reaction of Amore's governed populace, it was surprisingly positive, because in a situation where the elites of the former ruling Amore family had literally vanished without a trace, it was preferable for a proven descendant of one of the Ten Great Families to hold actual power in Amore, rather than other Ten Great Families needlessly interfering or causing unrest everywhere to seize Amore's power.
Privately, Yumina's personal renown was immensely significant, and the fact that she was the consort of Ban Yuwon, who had newly ascended as Union Academy's ruler, also had a great impact.
"Then it's Fides's turn now."
"That one's completely gone. Hmph, Master could live his life a little less meticulously, but he insists on creating tiresome work for himself."
"When reconstructing Ketiuses, you said ordinary people weren't guilty, didn't you?"
"Ordinary people may not be guilty, but I'm annoyed right now..."
And he's probably off playing with girls right now, isn't he?
Lilyth muttered like that, grinding her teeth.
"Back when we first went to Murim, everything seemed perfect!"
"If you want to go to Master's side, hurry. Besides Fides, Fridwen also needs to be restored."
"Ughhhh."
Lilyth, groaning dramatically, who was following Eve, suddenly grew curious and asked.
"By the way, Sister, you've decided on your human form now, haven't you?"
"I've finally completed it by acquiring all the necessary concepts."
"Whether decided or completed, it's fixed now, isn't it?"
"So?"
"Is that form still a secret from Master?"
"Yes."
But why, exactly?
To Lilyth, who held such a question, Eve quietly replied.
"This time, I deliberately tried lying to Master."
"And then?"
"I was caught."
"As expected."
"So, I'll keep trying until I'm not caught."
"Is that a problem that can be solved with effort?"
"Listen."
"Mm."
Turning to the now silent Lilyth, Eve's eyes gleamed.
"When I grow strong enough to completely hide that I am me."
"When you grow strong enough?"
"I'll approach Master pretending not to know, and seduce him."
"...What's the meaning in that?"
"I'll be incredibly happy receiving two kinds of love from Master."
"Ah—I understand."
At that, Lilyth abandoned all her questions.
It was enough that she knew Eve was dreaming an impossible dream.
"But I don't care about that, so I'll be loved exactly as I am."
"Loved?"
You? By Master?
Enraged by Eve's gaze, which held genuine doubt, Lilyth ultimately unleashed her full power, and lunged at her sister.
She was utterly defeated, of course.
Nevertheless, thankfully, all the dimension reconstruction work proceeded smoothly.
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