Chapter Twenty-Five – An Invitation into Emptiness

           A World without Misery (Interitus 1: Book 0)

Chapter Twenty-Five – An Invitation into Emptiness

 

“You have seen all that I can do and all of those I’ve saved, right?” Hatasuko asked with a demanding tone.

“Be careful, boy. You’re making your hostility too obvious,” Lazaro reprimanded.

As Hatasuko stood on the fourth isle of Aether, he forced his face to relax so that he could hide his fury. The wet rock surface of the island glistened in the starlight, though a shadow revealed the opening to a cave behind Caelicola. Hatasuko towered over him because of his monstrous size, but he stood at a short distance so that he would not intimidate Caelicola. Tiny trickles of water rolled down the gradual slope of the volcanic island. Steam lifted from the sea in the background and glowed from the light of the stars in the sky.

            “I have seen it all. I must commend you for a job well done, Hatasuko. You are the savior that this world needs. I was very sad to see your companion die in Occasa. If the Interfectus had retreated any earlier, I might have been able to save her,” Caelicola answered, though his apathetic eyes did not match his ambivalent words.

“Don’t let him shake you off balance. There’s a good chance that he’s suspicious, so he’s trying to mess with your head,” Lazaro said silently.

“But if you were to appear with an Interfectus nearby, then the screaming voices would overwhelm you, right? You would become touched by the darkness. It might even make you insane. You might even become a killer,” Hatasuko said back, rephrasing the words which were spoken when they last met.

“Yes, that is correct. I cannot fathom letting my powers end up in the hands of anyone evil, so I must never give myself the chance to be corrupted.”

“Then you should give your powers to me. Think about it. The abyss swallows everyone who has ever been touched by the darkness—everyone but me. So if anyone else in the world has your powers, then they cannot fight the Interfecti, or else they will turn evil just like you said. I am the only one who has ever entered the darkness while keeping my sanity intact. This means that I am the only one who could ever use omnipotence against the Interfecti. I am the only one who could possibly save this world,” Hatasuko explained.

“Strong delivery, boy.”

Hatasuko maintained his stoic expression as well as he could, but Caelicola did not meet his gaze. Instead, the man narrowed his brown eyes and stared at the starlit ocean in the background. His dark gray hair flickered in the strong breeze.

             “You have done great things for this world, but your claims overstep the reality. Perhaps you’ve not been swallowed by the abyss, but you stepped across the line of no return. You are a murderer, and nothing will ever change that. I avoid the Interfecti because I cannot bear to see my weapon fall into evil hands, and for that same reason, I cannot give it to you. You have committed murder, and even worse than that, you actually believe that it’s justified. I shudder to imagine the kind of world that a man like you would create,” Caelicola said solemnly while standing his ground.

Taken aback, Hatasuko retorted, “Don’t you dare act all high and mighty. Everyone who’s been killed by the monsters is dead because of you! You had the power to intervene, but you never saved anyone. Not from the demons, and not even from bad people. Besides, I know your ugly secret. I know that it’s your fault that the Interfecti even exist in the first place. Do you know how much blood is on your hands? Do you know how many people are dead because of you? You’ve killed way more people than I ever could! You try to act like you’re a good person, or like you’re morally superior just because you don’t kill, but it doesn’t matter. Not when you created monsters to kill for you. You’re no better than anyone! And even when given the chance to save this world, you refuse to give me your powers because you think you’re better than me.”

As soon as Hatasuko mentioned knowing that he created the monsters, Caelicola flinched. A look of dread slowly crept across his face as he realized the seriousness of Hatasuko’s demands. Though the dread was clearly a consequence of his guilt, Caelicola remained steady. He looked away from the ocean and glared into Hatasuko’s golden eyes.

            “My morals have nothing to do with some sense of righteous superiority. They’re merely a code that defines the way I live my life. The reality is that I’m a coward; I admit it. I care too much about my life and the lives of others… to ever run the risk of letting someone like you have my power,” Caelicola confessed.

            “This is your chance, Hatasuko. Get in position. Do not hesitate. Keep your power ready,” Lazaro demanded from the edge of the tempest.

Throughout the nautical voyage from Vaida’s grave to Caelicola’s island, Hatasuko had wondered if he truly had the resolution to deliver his threat. But now that the time had come, and the two most powerful men in the world faced each other on a rock island in the shining sea, Hatasuko crouched down, drew his sword, and held it just a short distance from the ground. His sleeveless shirt revealed the strength in his arms as he held his sword. 

            “I know that your family lives in the caves of this volcano. I know that your wife and children are beneath us right now, all relying on you to protect them. But you can’t protect them anymore, Caelicola. If you even try to move, I will give the command and activate my Astrodeus power; it’s a weapon I can unleash just by thinking about it. There is not a single fragment of omnipotence that can outrun my arm,” Hatasuko declared with malevolent solemnity.

            Though Caelicola had held an unwavering gaze, his composure crumbled when Hatasuko mentioned his family. A layer of sweat glistened on his body.

            “How do you know about my family? I’ve watched you through the eye of omniscience. No one ever told you that!”

            “I have ways of taking the information I need. I know that they’re under us, and I know that this island is a volcano. If something as powerful as my slashing sword strikes this place, it might just trigger an eruption. I wonder how your family will die. Will they simply be crushed by my strength, or will the lava incinerate them? Do you want to find out?!” yelled Hatasuko.

            Caelicola shook his head and muttered, “It’s just as I predicted. You’re using the lives of the innocent to-”

            “Just shut the fuck up! You can say what you want, but if a few innocent lives are all it takes to save this dying world, then I will happily make that sacrifice. It’s more than worth it for a world without misery. But it doesn’t have to end like this, and we both know it. You can still live a coward’s life. You can live in peace and safety with your children if you just give me omnipotence! You’ll never have to worry about a thing. But if you refuse, I will kill them all,” Hatasuko threatened.

            Caelicola glared into the golden eyes of his enemy, though this time his gaze did not waver. He could not hide his pressing sense of terror.

            “He will make his decision at any second, boy. He will either surrender or attack. Make sure you’re ready to destroy the island,” Lazaro warned.

            “No! It’s pointless to kill his family for real. If I don’t get his powers, then there’s no reason to follow through with an empty threat. It’s wasteful to just kill hostages, anyway.”

            “I suppose you are right about that.”

            With his left hand, Hatasuko reached between his back and his black shield. He grabbed a large rock from the bag slung over his shoulder, and then he pulled it back. Caelicola stood at a short distance, still contemplating with his eyes closed.

            “Fine. You can have omnipotence,” he said.

Caelicola lowered himself to the ground on his knees and pressed his hands on the wet rock. Hatasuko climbed to his feet because he thought that Caelicola had surrendered. But when he took a single step forward, Caelicola revealed that this had all been a false display. He pulled the fingers on his right hand together, clamped his eyes shut, and activated the power of destruction. The destruction traveled through the underground, deleted the rocky surface beneath Hatasuko’s feet, and immediately forced him to fall; Caelicola had taken away his ability to strike the ground with his sword. 

            When Hatasuko started falling, he activated his power and launched the rock in his left hand with a surge of glowing energy. The rock flew forward, broke the speed of sound with a deafening crack, and created a vaporization ring. In the moment before he would have been blown to pieces, Caelicola blocked the supersonic rock with the palm of his left hand; he destroyed its kinetic energy and caused it to fall harmlessly to the ground. However, Hatasuko had not thrown the rock as a weapon. Instead, he used the recoil of his throw to push himself backward before he dropped into the hole. He spun as he flew backward through the air, and then he landed safely on the wet ground with his sword clenched in his right hand.

Caelicola immediately attacked again. With a silent anger fueled by his enemy’s threat, Caelicola disappeared and suddenly teleported to Hatasuko’s left side. As soon as he appeared, he created a sword in his right hand and swung it at his enemy’s knees. Hatasuko dodged by quickly springing forward, and as soon as he cleared the slashing blade, he spun around and counterattacked by slashing his own sword downward. To dodge the attack, Caelicola teleported behind Hatasuko, dropped his sword, and threw his hand forward. To protect his shield, Hatasuko escaped the attack with a swift somersault. As soon as he landed on his feet, he swerved and threw a rock with the overwhelming force of his Astrodeus power.

This deafening attack was so fast that Caelicola did not have time to react. Hatasuko missed his enemy’s head by a matter of centimeters only because he had to aim so quickly, but the sonic airwaves threw him backward. Though he was dazed, Caelicola stopped himself from falling by destroying the kinetic energy. Hatasuko then lunged at him with a powerful slash, but Caelicola dodged by teleporting again to the middle of the island, where he then set his left hand on the ground. Hatasuko quickly came to understand that he was at a severe disadvantage; his enemy could teleport away and dodge any attack.

Caelicola yelled across the shimmering island, “It seems that I was right about you! You try to act like you’re special because your curse never made you a mass-murderer, but you’re just as bad as the others! You know what the world calls your kind, don’t you? Those who have been touched by the darkness are the children of the Interfecti. They’re demons hidden in the form of humans, and you’re no different. You just threatened an innocent family so you can take more power! There’s no way to justify that.”

“I told you not to lecture me! Not after you created the Interfecti—not after you refused to deal with your own actions! You’re the biggest coward I’ve ever known. My first real victim was a man who sacrificed his daughter to distract an Interfectus. I never thought I’d find anyone more pathetic than that, but it looks like you’ve proven me wrong,” Hatasuko retorted.

“It’s too much of a risk to run; why can’t you understand that?! An evil man with the power of omnipotence is a thousand times more dangerous than any shadow demon could ever be. You’re letting your emotions cloud your thoughts. You’re slowly succumbing to the tempest! All those voices inside must be driving you mad. Or maybe this is because you lost Vaida. That must have been the final straw! She was the only thing protecting this world from your fury, but you could not protect her, so now you’ve come to blame me instead,” Caelicola accused.

“You’re damn right I’m blaming you! Whose fault is it that the Interfecti exist? Whose fault is it that they killed her?!” Hatasuko yelled, shaking from fury.

Caelicola smacked his hands together and activated the power of creation. His right hand created a stream of flaming gas, and his left hand launched the flamethrower at his enemy. Hatasuko swerved around and blocked the long-distance flamethrower with the black shield on his back. As sparks and cinders flew by on both sides, he heard a voice calling to him from the edge of the tempest.

             “Distract him, Hatasuko! Maybe that son of a bitch can see everything, but he’s still not used to fighting,” Lazaro suggested.

Choosing to go with this plan, Hatasuko extracted another rock and then threw himself out of the searing flames. As soon as he broke out, he activated his power and launched his rock into motion. Once again, a sonic shockwave shot out from the rock due to its speed; Caelicola desperately blocked the attack by destroying the rock when it struck his right hand. But since Caelicola’s focus had been drawn toward the high-speed projectile, he failed to realize that Hatasuko had also thrown his sword while glowing with super-strength. Therefore, when the supersonic sword struck Caelicola on the right side of his hip, the impact was so great that the bone shattered into countless shards. The sudden shear force shattered many bones on the right side of his body; several tendons and joints snapped simultaneously. A huge splash of blood flew out from his starlit body. His broken right leg collapsed under his weight; Caelicola fell to the ground with a bloody smack.

Hatasuko jogged a few paces to the sword that Caelicola had dropped earlier. When he bent down to pick it up, an array of black fire appeared on the ground beneath his feet. The golden symbol glimmered, activated, and unleashed a burst of black flames which engulfed his body, enchanting him with another dose of quintessence. But as he climbed back to his feet, he saw Caelicola pull the fingers on his right hand together. His body glowed with a purple light, and then all his injuries disappeared. His bones, broken ligaments, and bloody skin all healed in a matter of seconds. He even replenished his bloodstream with the power of creation. In just a few more seconds, his body was fully healed.

“Do you see that? Even if you somehow trick me, even if you somehow get around my attacks, I can just recreate any injury. I can recreate myself! Why don’t you understand how pointless this is?!” Caelicola yelled at his enemy.

Hatasuko retorted, “It doesn’t matter! I have to win because I made a promise; I promised Vaida that I would make a world without misery. I promised her that I would save the world from the Interfecti! So I cannot give up. Besides, I have all the lost souls of the tempest on my side! That’s why I can refuel my Astrodeus power every time I need it. It is their strength, and they choose to give it to me because they believe in me! I must do this for them. I must win, for every screaming soul that was taken by the monsters you created. I must eradicate the Interfecti so I can set their souls at rest. So I can make sure no one else is lost to the monsters you created.”

“You were right when you said you’re strong enough to save the world, but there’s more to power than just brute strength! You don’t have the heart to make this world a better place. You don’t understand the burden of omniscience,” said Caelicola.

In the blink of an eye, Caelicola disappeared and reappeared directly in front of Hatasuko. With a startled jolt, Hatasuko jumped backward, dodging the destructive swing of his enemy’s right hand. After Caelicola missed, he slammed his left foot onto the rocky island while clenching his left hand in a fist; a bright burst of fiery light flew up from his foot. Caelicola then teleported behind Hatasuko and attacked again with an open palm strike. 

            Hatasuko’s instincts told him to jump forward, but this path was blocked by a skyward burst of fire, and before he could find a solution, Caelicola destroyed the black shield on his back with his right hand. As a quick counterattack, Hatasuko spun counterclockwise and swung his giant elbow at his enemy’s head, but Caelicola blocked it with his left hand. Caelicola then teleported so that he stood by his enemy’s right side, but Hatasuko had prepared for this. Therefore, he dropped the sword in his right hand, lunged forward, and caught Caelicola’s right hand. He interlocked their fingers so that Caelicola could not pull his fingers together. He would be unable to create or destroy any matter while their hands were connected.

But Caelicola lifted his left hand and used his creation of energy. A miniature lightning bolt blasted forth from the palm of his hand, struck Hatasuko in the chest, and threw him flying backward with an electrical explosion. During the bright burst of sparks, Hatasuko let go of his enemy’s hand, so when he crash-landed on the rocks while his body shook from electricity, he knew that it was all for nothing. He had still failed to do any lasting damage to his enemy. But despite his pain, Hatasuko crawled to his knees and held his left fist over the ground.

“You took some damage, boy, but it’s not the end. Look. The lightning also hurt him,” said Lazaro from the tempest.

Caelicola kneeled in the same place where he had unleashed the lightning. His left hand rested on the ground as steam lifted from his arm.

“I’m not asking for a fight or a negotiation! You give me your powers, or else your whole family dies. There’s nothing more to it than that,” Hatasuko yelled out.

“You never had a chance from the start. Just try it,” Caelicola challenged.

“Do it, boy. Use your power,” Lazaro ordered.

“But I don’t actually want to hurt them!”

“I don’t know how, but he isn’t going to let you,” said Lazaro.

“Then why would I do it?” asked Hatasuko.

“Because I want to see his defense. He’s giving you information for free, boy.”

Hatasuko complied and activated his power. As his body glowed with overwhelming force, Hatasuko slammed his fist into the ground. And while this would have normally been enough force to blow a hole in the rock, crumble the island, and collapse the volcano underneath, there was no reaction. Hatasuko glanced up and saw a faint purple glow illuminating the island. Caelicola had used his left hand’s destruction of energy to seal the ground in place.

“Your plan was good, and I still don’t understand how you found out about my family without me knowing, but… you never had a chance from the start. I will always have a thousand defenses, but you can’t say the same. You lost your sword, you lost your shield, you lost your only threat, and you lost the girl covered in scars. You don’t have anything left but rocks,” Caelicola called across the island.

Even as Hatasuko rose to his feet, he contemplated these words and realized the reality of his enemy’s warning. He had no way to win. He had no remaining tricks. Without an alternative, Hatasuko pulled two rocks from his sack and glanced at the part of the island where his wet sword shimmered beneath the starlight.

Though Caelicola knelt on the hard rock, he slapped his hands together and activated the power of creation, using it to unleash a high-speed flamethrower. The flames opened like a cone as they surged across the steaming isle, but Hatasuko pulled back his right rock and glared into the fiery cone. In the moment before he would have been incinerated, he activated his Astrodeus power, launched the rock through the flamethrower, and used the powerful gusts to reverse the fiery flow. With an earthshaking boom, the supersonic rock slammed into Caelicola’s ribcage, shattered every bone in that place, and engulfed him with the flamethrower in reverse. 

            As splinters of bone tore through his lungs, Caelicola teleported over to the water’s edge and collapsed. He let out a bloody cough as he fell to his knees in the shallow water, and then Hatasuko activated his power once again. A hypersonic rock flew through the air, struck the rocky shoreline, and shattered it to create a flying storm of jagged gravel. The chunks of broken rock then tore through his body all at once. Shockwaves shot across the island as Caelicola flew back into the water with a bloody splash; the rocks that missed created large waves which rolled across the ocean.

Despite his injuries, Hatasuko ran across the wet island toward his enemy. As he ran past his sword, he struck it with the tip of his shoe and kicked it upward; he caught it by the handle in the very next second. Though he could not see Caelicola, he saw a starlit splash of blood in the water ahead.

“Lazaro! How do I take his powers from him? If he’s dead, do his powers just disappear? That’s not what I want,” Hatasuko called into the tempest.

“That’s entirely up to him. I don’t know if there is a way to take omnipotence against his will,” answered his former mentor.

When Hatasuko reached the edge of the wavy ocean, he sheathed his sword in the holster on his back, kicked off his shoes, and then dove into the warm water with his golden eyes open wide. He followed the diluted cloud of blood and searched desperately for Caelicola, but he could not find him. He saw dark clouds of dirt lifting from the ocean floor, so he searched there for a sign of his enemy. Hatasuko swam back to the surface, emerged from the water with a giant splash, and then stepped back onto the island. He looked around for Caelicola, but he could not see him.

But as the waves strengthened and slammed ashore, a giant pillar of water rose from the southern sea. Like a twisting column of water, it became larger and faster with every passing second. Hatasuko watched the enormous cyclone, but he also found his enemy at last. Caelicola crouched in the shallow water on the southern shore, fueling his water tornado with his creation of energy.

             “Lazaro, I’ve gotta hit him! If that water tornado comes after me, then there’s nothing I can do. It’ll kill me for sure!” Hatasuko yelled into the abyss.

“Keep your wits about you, boy. Look at the enemy and tell me what you see.”

“It’s hard to tell since he’s crouching, but there isn’t any blood. He must have healed himself with creation again! But he isn’t standing back up. He looks a little wobbly. Is it possible that he’s tired?” Hatasuko asked.

“I imagine omnipotence must take a toll on his body, though I’ve never used it for myself. That son of a bitch is trying to fuel a big-ass water tornado after all of this. He’s a moron. Besides, he’s a coward; he’s never left this island. He doesn’t fight. He doesn’t train. That son of a bitch will wear himself out, but not you. You’re busted to hell and you’ve been fighting long and hard, but you aren’t close to tired. I trained you better than that.”

“But Lazaro, how am I supposed to-”

“Withstand the tornado.”

While gasping on his hands and knees, Caelicola completed the creation of his aquatic vortex. It climbed from the sea into the starlit sky like a massive helix of spiraling water. Large waves charged across the ocean and struck the base of the tornado with a burst of steam. The ocean shook as Caelicola gave it the energy to move across the water and toward the island. Though he stood on the eastern shore, Hatasuko watched the water tornado cross onto land; the entire volcano trembled. The vortex sucked up water, sand, broken shards of gravel, and a steady stream of water from the nearby ocean. The wet wind was so strong that the steam tore through the air like a hurricane. Even at a distance, Hatasuko could feel its incredible power.

Since the water tornado grew faster with every passing second, Hatasuko finally started running. The tornado had been traveling northeastward, straight toward him, so he ran directly to the west. He had to run slowly so that the wind would not blow him off his feet; he had to flex every muscle just to stay upright. Because of this, he never got the chance to run past the twister. It had already turned to chase after him again. Hatasuko was so close to the tornado that he could feel the pressure turn the steam into water, and every hot drop pelted his skin. He pushed himself to run away from the twisting column of rock and water, but the tornado continued picking up speed. It was sucking him in. Hatasuko dropped to his knees, then onto his stomach, and tried to roll away from the spiraling monster, but he could not outrun it.

            In a matter of seconds, the tornado engulfed Hatasuko. He rolled himself into a ball so that his knees protected his face, and his arms wrapped tightly around his legs. Despite his size, the tornado lifted him off the ground and pelted him from all sides with rocks and gravel. He heard every thump of rocks slamming against his body. His elbows, his knees, his skull, his back—they were relentlessly pierced and bombarded by the twister. He had to hold his breath as seawater splashed upon him. The power of the tornado forced him to unfurl, so as soon as his arms flew off from his legs, he opened his eyes and caught a rock flying through the twister.

With no other option, Hatasuko triggered his power, threw it directly upward, and used the extraordinary force to destroy the water vortex from inside. As it unraveled from the shockwave above him, the recoil threw Hatasuko backward down the breaking vortex; his back crashed against the rocky island. Despite his pain and dizziness and confusion, he rolled onto his stomach and lay there as the tornado came crashing down around him. Water and rocks rained down from the sky, struck the island’s surface, and pelted his bloody back in countless places.

When the sky cleared, Hatasuko pulled himself onto his knees. His body ached from the rocks. Bruises and gashes covered almost every inch of his skin. A small rock stuck out from his lower back, his right leg, and his right arm. As he climbed to his feet, blood poured from his injuries. Hatasuko drew his sword, began walking to Caelicola, and used his left hand to rip every rock from his flesh without wincing. Caelicola was doubled over at the boundary between the rocks and the sea. Waves splashed up his legs and then receded to the ocean. Steam lifted from his body. His mouth was open as he struggled to breathe; his whole body trembled.

“He can hardly lift a finger, Hatasuko. This is your chance!”

An array of black fire appeared beneath his feet and empowered him with another charge of quintessence. He stepped out from the geyser of black flames with blood dripping from his wounds. His golden eyes glistened from the starlight. Covered in bruises and lacerations, Hatasuko shuddered with every painful step. He pushed himself so that he could strike before Caelicola caught his breath. As he came closer, Hatasuko reached into the holster on his back and unsheathed his sword. As his weapon slid out, he heard metal scraping against metal; it was the sound of Vaida’s last sword, still hidden in the holster.

“You will give me your powers or die right now,” Hatasuko declared.

“You don’t understand just how ruthless omniscience is. You don’t even know what you’re asking for! It will destroy you,” Caelicola answered, wheezing as he spoke.

            Hatasuko drew back his sword and prepared to activate his Astrodeus power. In the blink of an eye, Caelicola teleported to the space directly in front of Hatasuko. He pressed his cold, wet, wrinkly palms onto his enemy’s shoulders; Hatasuko pressed the tip of his sword upon his enemy’s head.

            “If you pull your fingers together, I will-”

            “You will be tormented from now until the end of time,” said Caelicola.

            After a bright flash of light, the world suddenly transformed right before his eyes. Hatasuko could still see Caelicola in front of him and the waves in the background, but he could also see more; he could suddenly see into the infinite distance. The steam and the dim starlight did not conceal the world anymore. He could see across the ocean in all directions. Hatasuko stepped back and closed his golden eyes, but this vision did not stop. He could see every inch of Agrideī all at once. He could see children laughing and playing in the streets. He could see an agilus family bounding through the Pomasylva forest. He could see a large boat of fishermen sailing from Bones City. He could see a mother and her son picking fruit from trees in the Collobos Mountains. 

            But his heightened vision expanded beyond the coast of the world. Hatasuko saw through the sky and into the infinite sea of stars in space. The universe looked like countless tiny points spinning around in an endless realm of emptiness. But at the same time, he could see every one of these points. There were millions of other worlds flying through the emptiness. Some were barren, but others were teeming with life. Some were so cold that every gas had turned to ice, and some were so hot that nothing could possibly survive. He could see extraterrestrial civilizations just as clearly as he could see children bickering in the city of Sentia—just as clearly as he could watch waves crash ashore in front of his eyes.

But as the all-seeing eye of omniscience continued to expand, it began to focus on the details of every world. To some extent, it was beautiful; he saw sparkling dewdrops falling from the tips of leaves. To some extent, it was brutal; he saw a man bludgeoning his wife with a steel rod. To some extent, it was pointless; he saw a large rock slowly drifting through space. To some extent, it was heartwarming; he saw a child giving his sister a present made of ribbon and string. However, it was overwhelming. Hatasuko’s mind tried to process so much information that he lost control of his body. He collapsed onto the rocky ground against his will.

            “You will be imprisoned by omniscience. It isn’t something that an ordinary mind can handle. It took me years just to not be overwhelmed by the all-seeing eye, and I was useless for all that time. It is a curse; it is the ultimate burden for he who carries omnipotence. But you are not omnipotent. You will be forced to watch all the misery in the world, and you won’t have the power to do anything about it,” said Caelicola, struggling to catch his breath.

            Caelicola walked away from his catatonic enemy. His feet treaded slowly through the warm puddles on the surface of his island. When he reached the opening to the cave in the center of the isle, just a short distance from where his family hid, Caelicola pulled the fingers on his right hand together.

            Though he could do nothing about it, Hatasuko watched a giant square of purple light appear on the ground beneath him. He knew that Caelicola was using the creation of matter, but he could do nothing to stop it. The purple glow transformed into matter, into a very dense shell of metal, and it trapped Hatasuko inside. He wondered why Caelicola had done this, but he could hardly think at all; his mind was overwhelmed by omniscience and the screams in the tempest. He felt like he was being crushed between the two. In this state, he could see a series of creations through the walls of this shell, but he could not do anything about it.

            Caelicola first created a section of the metal shell with mechanical refrigeration, and then he created an enormous quantity of food inside it. Afterward, he created a one-way pressure valve through which something could be transferred from the inside to the outside. Next, he made a mechanical system inside the steel shell which could recycle the air. Lastly, Caelicola created a large section of parts and tools, all made of the same components for the mechanical systems in the ship.

            Caelicola said, “I know you can hear me, Hatasuko. I know you can hear everything now. I am ejecting you from this world, but I won’t kill you because I need you alive. This voyage will be the hardest trial of your life. I hope that in the end, you’ll understand why I had to do this. Thank you for protecting this world and its people from the Interfecti. Thank you for doing what I could not. Every one of us owes you more than we can say. Goodbye.”

            Caelicola teleported to the side of the steel shell and pressed his left hand upon it. He closed his eyes, pulled his fingers together, and activated the creation of energy. With all the strength he had left, Caelicola launched the spaceship into the sky with a surge of kinetic energy; the recoil destroyed the ground beneath it. The shell flew into space so swiftly that it disappeared in an instant; Caelicola could not even watch his enemy fly away. If he had not destroyed the shockwave which resulted from the launch, then it would have devastated his island. Tsunamis would have destroyed half of Agrideī. But due to this massive exchange of energy, Caelicola fell unconscious on his island. 

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