Wrought King of Iron

Chapter 7: Land of Steel

Humanity has existed for around 6 million years on this planet. With all this time, we spent it creating a society, improving our technical skills and craftsmanship in order to create more efficient and more useful products. However, with the development of science and technology, humanity started detaching itself from nature. The planet was seen less as a friend, and more as a resource we could use to fuel our ever lasting hunger for growth. We plundered, we stole, we defaced our planet without consideration of nature. Our narrow minded focus on growth without foresight for future generations has led to the planet dying. Our focus on instant gratification and happiness prevented us from truly understanding our responsibility to take care of the planet, which in turn could benefit future generations in need of resources.

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'What is 'The Spider' you speak of?' I asked Zelretch.

'The Spider is the most superior life-form of the celestial body Mercury. It is essentially the planet's soul, with unique abilities ascending its power to the realm of gods.' He said this with a completely straight face. To most, the concept of a planet having a consciousness sounds ludicrous. But I understand all too well what he meant. 

I remember the figure of a man with white hair and dark skin, standing upon a hill of swords piercing his fractured self. He was a broken man, following a broken ideal, acting as a mere machine to achieve it. The situation was desire and many lives were at stake. He could not bare to allow anyone to die, and so he struck a deal. He struck a deal with the devil. He gave his afterlife up to the being known as Alaya, the collective consciousness of humanity's will to survive. When his life ended he continued to save people but not in the way he wanted. Not in a way he could be satisfied with. That is because the true form of humanity's consciousness is that of an endless cycle of death and destruction. Counter guardians kill humans to save humans.

Archer gave up a peaceful end in order to save humanity. And upon death, became a cog within the rotating machine that is Alaya, for all of eternity. He killed so many people. He saved many more than he killed. Was this not what his dream was? Does a Hero of Justice not defeat the evil and save the good? He tried to be content. He endured and endured and endured and endured and endured and endured and endured and endured and endured and endured, until he could no longer endure it. The pain of having to kill and kill and never being able to see those you have saved was unbearable. He did not have the heart to call himself a hero. When thrust into the position of a killer, Archer could only view himself as a garbage man. He would clean up after humanity's messes for all eternity in the most gruesome way possible. Even if lives were saved, his job was that of killing and killing and killing, so to him it never felt heroic. He just watched as he drove many to despair.

I realised something upon witnessing his life. I understood that even if this was objectively the correct path, all it brings is suffering. My wish to be a Hero of Justice was originally fuelled by my desire to share the happiness of those I save. If that is not possible, then of course I would lose despair. Archer's life was truly tragic and so I couldn't help myself from shattering such a twisted form of my ideal.

'Why would the god of a planet come to destroy Earth? Is this some sort of alien invasion?' I said that half jokingly, and half serious.

'The consciousness of the Earth, Gaia, sent out a distress signal to the other celestial bodies in our solar system. In some distant future, Earth would have died, and no life could naturally live anymore. No planet would be satisfied with such an ending, however Gaia would be as long as the rest of the lifeforms die out. After all, no one wants others to use their corpse long after they die.' It was almost as if he was reading my previous thoughts about Archer. Alaya really was just using his dead corpse for its own purposes. 'However, in this Land of Steel, humanity stubbornly created life forms to out live the planet. Ones that could sustain itself upon the carcass of mother nature herself. They were genetically engineered species of A-rays, human genes mixed with other species, as well as the Ether liners. These life forms could withstand the existence of high amounts of ether, which powers magecraft, in the atmosphere.'

'I didn't really expect humanity would die off easily, but they are truly tenacious. So, what, because of the stubbornness of humanity, Gaia sent a kill order out to other planets? But I don't understand why that is even relevant now. You said distant future, right? This should only happen in thousands of years right?'

'Even so; either this signal transcended through time and space, or more likely, The Spider arrived 5000 years too early beyond the bounds of time. Either way, the truth remains that a planet destroying behemoth lies in its Crystal Valley in South America. Its beginning to stir into motion, and when it awakes, you have to be ready to destroy it.'

Even if he tells me all this jargon, all I understand is that there is a threat I need to kill that has the capability of destroying the planet. Clearly an easy task in my book. 'So what do I need to do?'

'There are two things we must do to avert the end of the world. One - prevent the planet from dying. This task is mine, for only I will live long enough to achieve this.  And two - kill Type-Mercury. Defeat The Spider at all costs, or it will be over for everyone.'

'I see. That makes sense. Except you have repeatedly told me many times that if I were to fight it, I would die. So can you get to the part where you tell me how to get stronger?'

'Of course, doing what you have always done for the past year or so will help to strengthen your projection magic, but that has its limits. Therefore, once the term starts, every week come find me at Clocktower and I can use Kaleidoscope to allow you to peer into other universes. Watch the vast collection of you in action. Witness countless new techniques and amalgamate them into your fighting style.'

'But, improving my techniques still won't elevate me to the realm of the gods. If I run out of mana quickly, and if my projections lack the power to damage The Spider, what good will it do. Fundamentally, this training is flawed in the sense that what I also need to grow is my mana capacity. However it is nigh impossible to gain magic circuits or to improve their rotational ability. How can I overcome this flaw.'

'I won't reveal to you now how such a change will occur within you. All I can say is that within the next near-death events you shall experience, there will be vast array of opportunities for you to grow. By the time of its awakening, you will be ready.'

After he said those words to me, the microcosm disappeared, and no time had passed at all. Zelretch stood up from the bench, said farewell and walked away. I was completely bewildered by this turn of events.

Most people would be quaking in their boots upon being told to shoulder the fate of the world. But I wasn't. To me, this was another step on the path to becoming a true Hero of Justice who can save everyone. Though, there was always a deep-seated fear within my soul that was scared to lose. Not because I would die. But because if I lost, everyone else will die because of my weakness. All I have to do is win.