Chapter Sixty: The Horizon at the End of the Memories II
??? — Horizon
«Does Morgan want to go over there?»
Artemisia nudged her head towards the white horizon that looked like a white hole.
«Who is Zephyro?»
Because their thoughts were synchronized, the question came naturally.
Morgan shook his head.
«Don't bother.»
Then, more seriously—
Morgan looked towards the White Hole.
He suspected that stepping into that horizon wouldn't grant some dramatic transformation or instant surge of power.
Rather, it would be… functional.
A transition into a new state of understanding, both Territory, and reality.
There was a high chance this was what Beta had meant.
Perhaps, with this, he could finally begin interpreting the Kabbalah, the Tree of Life.
Still, he didn't move right away.
He stopped and looked back at the field.
Too much had happened in only a few days.
A month ago, he would never have imagined reaching this point.
Yet here he stood.
But speaking of which..
Morgan turned back to her.
«Wait, what about you.. your memories, what would happen to them?»
For the first time, her smile faltered.
Artemisia hesitated, then offered a strained one in return.
Because their thoughts were connected, he already understood.
And besides, she had never been good at hiding things.
She was a saint afterall.
«You'll forget everything that happens here and will probably go back to how you looked outside…»
Morgan exhaled.
Morgan exhaled.
«That's unfortunate.»
Her head lowered, with melancholy settling in her expression.
She was just about to accept it, when she felt a sudden tug.
Morgan had grabbed her hand.
«Leaving you here will only leave a bad taste in my mouth, and with our powers, we can copy your memories»
It would be simple.
The method wasn't the issue.
The only thing that mattered was whether Artemisia herself was willing to go with him.
So he waited.
Her gaze dropped to the ground.
For a moment, she hesitated, then slowly, nervously, she lifted her eyes to meet his.
And she smiled.
«A—alright… I'll go with you.»
Only then did Morgan smile in return.
«Let's go then»
She nodded, and together they began walking toward the distant horizon.
As they did, the plain behind them began to collapse.
It folded inward like a sheet of paper, compressing into a rectangular frame before vanishing entirely.
The sensation was disorienting, as if reality itself had been a paper.
And they just stepped out of it.
«This is… strange»
Artemisia murmured, clutching her head with her right hand.
«Not really. We already use our brains to sustain realities we can overwrite»
Morgan replied with a shake of his head.
Still holding his hand, Artemisia nodded.
Right, that was the fundamental principle of being a Wizard.
«We don't even understand the true components of a Realizer. Yet it grants different effects»
Morgan raised his hand, which Artemisia judged to be an action to summon mana.
As expected, it didn't work.
Morgan let out a sigh.
«It seems like this place is one where even the [will of the world] isn't present»
Morgan snapped his head to her.
Will of the World!?
«Ahhh! That's right! That explains the ending and how she came back»
Morgan froze for a split second, then his eyes widened.
«That explains everything…»
She didn't fully understand what he meant, but she nodded anyway.
If her words had helped, that was enough.
Now, they stood within a white void.
As though they had stepped into a blank canvas without depth or direction.
However, they both certainly felt their processing power seemed infinite.
Like they could calculate the constants of the universe.
This was the place before anything existed; hence, it might just be possible.
Well, that was the feeling Morgan was having.
«Sia, what do you think?»
Artemisia, unbothered by what he called her, tilted her head in thoughts.
«What about the book you obtained from the library? It might hold a clue?»
«You mean… now?»
Morgan frowned slightly.
«I don't think it's possible to create an Angel here, or enter the Neighboring World»
Artemisia quickly added, holding her chin.
«Then this place must be…»
Morgan finally understood, but the him here was only his consciousness, how would he—
Just as he was in thought, a book appeared in front of him glowing with golden pages.
Morgan's eyes widened..
«Wait, how?»
Artemisia looked at the book, then at him. She leaned in slightly, peeking up at his face.
Morgan noticed, then, slowly, he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand.
«…Beta stored the contents inside the Realizer?»
«That appears to be the case.»
Morgan let out a small breath.
«Guess I owe her one.»
Morgan thought before focusing on the book before him containing the Tree of Life.
The Sephiroth, the Paths, and the Tree Pillars. Governace of the universe and all creation.
«No wonder she's that powerful..»
«Ein Sof… can an Angel that equals that really be created?»
Artemisia muttered softly.
Morgan could only sweat-drop as he read through the contents of the book—
…more precisely, the analysis of the Spirit Formula.
It was as though he were using mathematics to solve the equation of the universe.
Mio was a lovestruck fool.
…Morgan thought.
With a power like this, she could become an actual God.
Nay, her powers might even gone above that level.
He understood why she did that.
But everything that led up to that moment grated on him deeply.
Using terminology Morgan was familiar with, her scale easily reached Uni+, possibly even multiversal.
After all, he already knew her Law extended beyond a single world.
Of which also resulted in the creation of Beast in a parallel Universe.
Well, she WAS God.
Miowasbornfromthecreationofallthemanagatheredintheuniverseandcondenseintoa singlelifeform.
Assuchherreiryokuiscomparabletothemanaoftheuniversewhichsustainstheentireexistenceofthemaincosmos.
Itsdisappearancecanleadtothecollapseanddestructionoftheuniverseanditsspacetime.
Herbirthcreatedtheneighboringworld,aparalleluniversewithit'sownparallelspacetime.
Separatedfromthemainuniversethroughathinlayer,shecouldalsocontroltheneighboringworld
«MORGAN?»
Artemisia jerked him awake, prompting a thin sweat to drop as he jerked him awake.
His eyes glowed golden, and immediately, it formed.
Antithesis.
To overpower the 'Law of God'.
What he needed wasn't an opposing power; after all, Morgan's aim wasn't to doom the universe.
What he thought he needed was to become a contradiction or an exception to her Law.
«Isn't that the same as rejecting your existence or connection to this world?»
«..no, since it's contradictory, then logically… it should still be valid. I think»
Naturally, he wasn't sure, but the formula was beginning to form.
Of course, he still needed time.
«That aside, I believe we can leave here now…»
As soon as he said it, the book began flipping through its pages on its own.
Light poured from between them, expanding outward until it swallowed both Morgan and Artemisia whole.
Just like that, they felt their consciousness float, it became heavy and then—
"Brother, Sia!"
A voice like that woke them up.
Morgan opened his eyes to find Ashley gripping both of them tightly.
Tears streamed down her face.
For a moment.
He simply stared at her, slowly then, he reached out and gently rubbed her head.
"Sorry, Ash, I know we have a lot to catch up on, but now.."
"Nngh… we need to escape, Ash… too strong."
Another tap landed on Ashley's tiny hands, prompting the platinum blonde-haired girl to stare.
"Y–you talked!?"
"Mm, your brother helped me out, but… and he also pulled my forgotten memories in my subconscious—"
"Ahh, fine. Let's get out of here."
Ashley clicked her tongue, she didn't need to hear the end of it.
Her omnipotent brother had done it again!
And even now..
"On it."
Just as she had said that, Morgan's voice had resounded from far away.
Ashley looked up and saw Morgan was already standing at the center of the Territory.
She tilted her head in confusion, but Artemisia simply patted her shoulder and shook her head.
"My Territory seems to have undergone changes, and now, I can do this."
Snap!
The three-hundred-meter Territory vanished in an instant.
But the moment it did, a golden inline circle lit under their feet.
"...Also, you don't have to worry, I've disconnected the bug on that suit."
Ashley's expression relaxed upon hearing that, and she held her hand to her chest.
"Now then... Cipher lock, right? My parents will be sad to see this is how you turned out, so hurry up and come here."
Morgan extended his hand forward and snapped it.
From his Territory, a wave pulsed, then released, destroying the interference.
Like a shockwave.
It raced outward from their position, sweeping across the entire state-sized city in seconds.
"Thank you Artemisia."
"It's no problem, you can use my power as much as you like."
Morgan nodded.
He layered [Divine Vibrations] into his Territory, reinforcing it with Reality Wrapping effect.
Then used Artemisia's computational support to propagate it farther than he ever could alone.
'As expected, she's something else…'
Morgan said that failing to realize what he did was many levels more impressive than what she allowed him to do.
Indeed, it was thanks to her computational power he was able to pull off that shockwave.
But that combination could only be done by him.
'So, [Divine Vibrations]… Is this powerful?'
Morgan clenched and unclenched his fist before looking forward.
Sure enough, the sound of jet thrusters rippling through the air neared.
Immediately,
Morgan looked back and gave a nod, and the two returned with a nod.
On the other hand.
The AST team that was already stationed around the dead zone suddenly felt the interference loosen.
"What... they've been defeated? Impossible…"
Maya's voice went a tone up as she stared in front of her.
Regardless—
"Let's go!"
She gave the order.
Immediately, more than seventy AST members pushed towards the dead center.
When they drew closer, they saw a scene playing out.
An inlaid golden circular ring was in the air with X levitating on it.
Both Ashley and Artemisia seemed to have been taken out.
That wasn't even the problem; rather, it was the person who was X.
"W-wait, that's X?"
"X is actually a male?"
"No way, he took down Lady Artemisia…!?"
For others, the reaction was normal, but for two people, the reaction wasn't.
Maya first stared at the scene in disbelief.
Her thoughts collapsed into a single question, echoing over and over.
"...Clair was X? Why…?"
The same could be said for Mana, too, who covered her hand with both of her hands.
Mana couldn't speak.
Just then—
«Takamiya Mana, your wish, if you follow me, I can fufil it for you»
A voice sounded in her mind.
She spun her head to her teammates.
But they were on edge, brandishing their weapons at X nervously and warily.
Mana then turned.
X, or rather Morgan, was smiling at her.
How did he speak in her mind?
No, never mind that, what was that Territory?
"Hmph. I've had enough playing around today…"
Morgan slowly closed his eyes and from those circular rings beneath him.
It flared turnung into a whip like laser, heading towards them.
<
The Wizards scattered instantly.
All except one.
"Commander—!"
Mana lunged towards her.
She grabbed her and yanked her aside just as a beam tore through the space they'd occupied.
The battlefield became chaotic.
Light whips lashed, twisted, and slithered through the air as squads weaved desperately between them.
Then—
It stopped.
"…It ended?"
<