Infinite Mage

Chapter 101: Meeting God (2)

Shirone felt as if he had been hit in the head with a hammer. He could believe this place was the afterlife, such was its plausible reality, but meeting a god was an entirely different matter.

“You’re a god?”

“Is it hard to believe?”

“Well, I didn’t even know gods existed, but if they did, I didn’t think they’d be so human-like.”

The woman smiled.

“All creations inevitably resemble their creator. Everything made by humans contains human thoughts and forms. Plants, animals, mountains, and seas, they all resemble god. But to varying degrees. The standard is creativity. For instance, a squirrel is more creative than a rock. In that sense, humans are quite similar to god. And Shirone, you are among those most akin to god.”

The woman reached out and gently stroked Shirone’s face.

“Shirone, would you like to create a world with me?”

Shirone was confused. Everything was too sudden and unfamiliar. Above all, the woman's statement that this place was not the afterlife lingered in his mind. Perhaps there was a glimmer of hope.

“Is there no way to return?”

The woman looked at Shirone as if surprised, then shook her head.

“Unfortunately, Shirone, there’s no way back. Wasn't it your choice to end your life? Do you now wish to return?”

“That’s not it. I was prepared for this, and if it wasn't for you, I wouldn’t have regained my consciousness. Um… is it okay to call you this way?”

“Of course. The concept of a god is just that, a concept. I don’t have a name.”

“Then may I ask one more thing?”

“Hehe, anything.”

“Why are you lying?”

The woman's brow furrowed. Just that was enough to make the temple feel like it was shaking.

“Gods do not lie. No, they cannot lie.”

An omnipotent god cannot lie. Whatever they say becomes the truth. But Shirone read in the woman’s eyes. She was hiding something.

“When I asked if there was a way back, you said no. But that's not true.”

“Whether there is a way or not, since I said there isn’t, there is no way back. That’s why.”

“That’s a lie.”

The woman's shoulders twitched. Shirone did not miss her reaction. As she panicked, the temple's scenery wavered as if submerged in water.

“Are you really a god?”

It had been doubtful from the start. There’s no reason the god imagined by humans has to be the real one, but even so, the woman's reaction was too human-like.

The woman nodded as if understanding something.

“Shirone. We have different concepts of a god. That’s where the misunderstanding lies. God isn’t as noble as you think. God is just a designer of the world.”

The woman extended her hand, and a glass orb floated above her palm. Inside the orb was a miniature village, with people sparsely scattered around.

“As you see, I created this village. Of course, it’s a model. But I can also move people like this.”

The woman put her finger into the orb and moved a farmer, who was feeding a horse, to a nearby field.

“See, the farmer has moved. Changing space means time was assigned. Can you find any difference between this world and the one Shirone lived in? None. This is what a god is. I am now the god of this village.”

The woman brought the orb closer to Shirone’s eyes.

“A god is merely a designer who can create a dimension one step lower than the one they reside in. Yet, why does god feel absolute? This is the interesting part. This farmer won’t realize that some force has moved him to a nearby field.”

The woman drew the orb back and cradled it in her palms. As she spread her arms wide, the village rapidly expanded, engulfing the temple.

Shirone looked around. Suddenly, he was in the village. The two of them stood at opposite ends of a path, facing each other. The other people remained still.

The woman approached the farmer tending the field.

“This farmer doesn’t know how imperfect my world is because he was born here. There’s only one way to know.”

“The Immortal Function.”

“Correct. The Immortal Function expands your senses as a whole. This village is contained within the orb. So, it’s not an exaggeration to say there’s no world beyond this orb.”

The woman touched the farmer's shoulder. He turned into light, covering the entire sky. Then, as she clenched her fist, the scenery shrank, and the entire village was again encapsulated within the orb.

Shirone quietly observed the orb, now filled with light emanating from the farmer.

“The farmer expanded to the whole through the Immortal Function. But even so, he cannot perceive my existence. The same goes for you, Shirone.”

Shirone felt the farmer’s state was not unrelated to him. Had the woman not attempted a hijack, he too would have dissipated into meaningless light.

“What do you want from me? Knowing such facts, what can I do?”

“Exactly this, Shirone.”

The woman placed the orb between her palms and pressed down. The orb shrank and compressed into a black dot.

“Spot…”

“Yes. This is the essence of the world we live in. The world you dwell in is merely a dot. But if you go inside, an endless world unfolds. It’s the space-time matrix.”

The woman demonstrated directly. As the landscape in the orb vanished into a point, a new world was born. A world within a world, and then another world within that... Then, as she pressed her palms together, the orb disappeared. Billions of worlds vanished in an instant.

“Please enter the space-time I created. There, create your own space-time. Then, a perfect universe will be born.”

For reasons unknown, she seemed to desire innovation in her world. It wasn’t an entirely unwelcome proposal. Becoming a god of another world as the price for facing death seemed like an acceptable ending.

“I can’t do that.”

The woman asked, puzzled.

“Why not? There’s no reason or justification for refusal.”

“If I enter your space-time, I would have to sacrifice someone else like me.”

A flicker of sorrow passed through the woman's eyes. But her emotional change was brief, and she returned to a cold expression, speaking to Shirone.

“What does it matter? It’s a world you create, after all.”

“But you are not a god.”

For the first time, hostility appeared in the woman's eyes.

“You’re a human, just like me, inhabiting the same world. The fact that you brought me here before being completely dismantled is proof. If you were truly a god, shouldn’t you exist outside this world?”

The woman did not deny it. But it didn’t change the outcome.

“Shirone, you must follow me. I called you here for a purpose. If you refuse, we can proceed with the dismantling process right now.”

Her power had reconstructed his mind, so it might be possible for her to reverse it as well. However, now that there was even a slight possibility of returning to his original world, Shirone had no intention of complying easily.

“I will not be dismantled.”

The woman extended her hand towards Shirone, casting the omnipotent dismantling. However, Shirone did not disintegrate. He was already in the Spirit Zone.

“You’ve hit upon another problem. An excellent choice.”

The woman’s arm slowly lowered.

“Now I understand. The Spirit Zone was also a Spot.”

A Spot could infinitely delve deeper, following the principles of the space-time matrix. That was why Shirone, as a spirit, could enter another Spirit Zone.

“And this place is… your Spirit Zone.”

Shirone concentrated the energy of light. The woman grimaced, displeased. The red glow emanating from Shirone’s body was pressuring her with a menacing aura.

It had been five days since Shirone's death.

All the students had regained their memories. The children were especially confused. But they were geniuses with exceptional mental strength, so the aftereffects were less severe than expected.

However, the real challenge was just beginning.

The incident of the academy being occupied by the miscreants exposed the vulnerability of the security system. Especially for an academy operating a dormitory system, safety was a top priority.

The biggest problem was that there had been a student death. And it was Shirone Arian, a promising student of the academy.

At the request of Yiruki and Nade, Shirone was in the infirmary, not the mortuary. Logically, a funeral should be held, but the teachers were wary of taking any action.

The reason the student council had yet to determine responsibility was because Shirone’s death was not officially declared.

In effect, they were planning to label Shirone a ghost and evade responsibility.

Of course, many teachers felt guilty about this approach. Currently, they were gathered in the teachers' meeting room, emphasizing the urgency of the matter.

“We must hold Shirone’s funeral immediately. We have to inform his parents as well. If we don’t handle this now, the academy’s policy will be criticized in the future.”josei

“It’s not a decision to be made lightly. If the news of a student's death spreads, the repercussions will be huge. We could lose the reputation we’ve built up in an instant.”

“So, we lie that a dead student is alive? It’ll come out eventually! The academy’s position now should be to make a declaration of conscience. It's not about reputation, the academy might even be shut down.”

“Who doesn’t understand that? Can’t we just take a little more time to think?”

“The more we delay, the worse it gets. Why can’t you see that? Currently, the whereabouts of Arcane’s disciples are also unknown. The failure to capture the criminals is also a critical issue. We need to act now.”

The teachers delaying Shirone’s funeral were divided into two groups. Those making political calculations wanted to draw out time and gather the students' anger. 

On the other hand, there were teachers who genuinely couldn't accept Shirone’s death. Prominent among them were Ethella, Thadd, and Siena, who were directly involved at the scene and doubted Shirone's death.

“Headmaster, please speak up! I heard the student council is convening today. The teachers must act.”

The teachers' urgency was partly influenced by the student council. If students backed by powerful families began accusing the academy, they might miss the opportunity to act.

“I suggest we wait and see.”

The majority of the teachers stood up.

“Headmaster!”

Alpheas understood their feelings. The longer they delayed, the more the academy was at a disadvantage. But for him, something was more important than the academy's survival. It was determining Shirone's exact condition.

Was Shirone really dead?

It was a preposterous notion to entertain at a magic academy, the symbol of intellect.

That’s why he was more cautious. If it wasn't Shirone, would such doubts even arise?

‘I must think rationally. But I can’t.’

Perhaps Shirone was receiving special treatment. But even knowing this, Alpheas couldn’t ignore the subtle feeling lodged in a corner of his mind.

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