Astromancy, the most profound and ultimate Magecraft of astrology, had been passed down from the Chaldeans, the originators of stargazing, into the modern age.
It gathered the Mana that filled the earth and sky, then drew together the cosmic Mana from beyond the heavens into a single stream, like a miracle of stars linking planets together.
Or rather, Astromancy in its original form was a Magecraft system built on drawing power from the universe itself.
It was only with the passage of ti and the decline of Mystery that it gradually beca centered on predicting the future and observing celestial bodies.
As the Lord who presided over the Departnt of Astromancy, Marisbury understood that fact better than anyone.
Kirschtaria had already displayed his mastery of Astromancy in the Atlantic Lostbelt, turning the Mana of the heavens into a weapon. In the modern world, there were very few Magi capable of standing against him.
Even if Shiomi had not intervened at the ti, Morgan or Skadi could still have neutralized it if they had gone all out.
But that had only been Astromancy used as an offensive tool.
Conversely, what if Astromancy were used as a thod of gathering Mana and applied to an even greater objective, such as... [Human Order Preservation]?
"The universe allows for limitless possibilities, and so it gives rise to countless parallel worlds and histories that branch in different directions," Shiomi said slowly after sorting out his thoughts. "For example, a King Arthur who chose the Holy Sword as a main weapon and one who chose the Holy Lance would have differences in their experiences, but in the end they would still arrive at the sa destination."
"But possibilities without limit would exhaust the lifespan of the universe itself. So at a certain point in ti, exceptional worlds that deviate from the 'strongest and most stable path' must be pruned away to prevent improper waste of energy."
Morgan raised a hand.
"All seven Lostbelts fall into that category. They were originally branches that had already been pruned from the Tree of Ti.
"The universe itself is unstable by nature. What keeps its past, present, and future stable are precisely 'pruning' and the 'Record Belt.'"
"That the two of you understand the current situation in that way is a result I could only welco," Marisbury said with a smile. It was perfect, utterly devoid of feeling, a smile that was false in every possible sense. "Human prosperity itself is an extrely unstable thing. After seeing the seven Lostbelts, you should already understand that whether humanity becos too weak or too prosperous, it loses possibility in the end and becos a pruned phenonon. Of course, a history in which humanity never ca into being in the first place is another outco altogether."
"So?" Shiomi said. "Chaldeas predicted that humanity... no, that Human Order itself would inevitably head toward destruction. That outco runs contrary to the Animusphere Grand Order. It was sothing Marisbury could not accept."
"That is only one side of the matter." Marisbury's wording grew noticeably more cautious.
Morgan imdiately caught the change.
Up to this point, her fairy eyes had been able to tell clearly whether this simulated Marisbury personality was lying.
But limited truth was not the sa as complete truth.
Depending on how the listener interpreted it, it could expand into sothing that deviated from the proper answer.
That was an important lesson Morgan had learned through her ti with Shiomi.
"Or perhaps there is another possibility," Morgan said, voicing her own hypothesis. "Proper Human History may originally have had a far more distant and lengthy future ahead of it, enough ti to face its own destruction. But the birth of sothing may have drastically shortened the lifespan of Human Order."
"..."
Marisbury maintained his smile, but said nothing.
In response, both Shiomi and Morgan felt a clear surge of hostility.
"The answer is the final completion of Chaldeas." Morgan pointed at the celestial sphere itself. "By defining Earth as an existence with a soul, then creating a copy of its model, the final result was a miniature replica of Earth itself: the Human Order Preservation Celestial Sphere, Chaldeas."
Though the Human Order Preservation Celestial Sphere seed to exist right here, in truth it occupied a phase completely different from that of humanity.
Human perception and human knowledge could only grasp its outer appearance. They could not observe the details inside the celestial sphere itself.
That was why Chaldea used the Near-Future Observation Lens Sheba to observe the surface of the celestial sphere, the city lights on its land.
Because its reference point was set one hundred years into the future, Chaldeas also ant the Earth of the future.
"So which was it?" Shiomi asked. "Did the completion of Chaldeas shorten the lifespan of Proper Human History, or did Proper Human History only have a little over a hundred years left to begin with? What do you think, Marisbury?"
Of course, that question received no answer.
Chaldeas would not respond.
It concerned secrets on an even deeper level.
"In any case, the destruction of Proper Human History could not be avoided. And so Chaldeas, acting in accordance with Marisbury's expectations, formulated the plan known as the Bleaching of Earth," Marisbury said. "By exchanging the surface of the planet with the surface of the celestial sphere, all of Proper Human History up to 2017 would be frozen in place. Then, on the bleached planet, the seeds known as Fantasy Trees would be planted. Through the branches of those Fantasy Trees extending into the universe, energy would be gathered from the cosmos."
"...Because a human history that prospers forever without destruction might be judged by the universe as a history that had lost its possibilities, and thus be classified as a pruned phenonon and cut away. So the final conclusion was to seize all the energy within 13.8 billion light-years of the universe and use it to preserve the Human Order of this planet..." Shiomi's face had already gone pale.
That was the choice Marisbury had made for the sake of [Human Order Preservation].
To a Magus, the goal would always matter more than life.
That was why, when faced with Daybit's gun, Marisbury had chosen to kill himself before Daybit could.
Chaldeas had already been completed. From that point on, everything would unfold beneath Chaldeas's gaze, along the path Marisbury had anticipated.
"Originally, the Bleaching of Earth was supposed to be carried out at the end of 2016. But then an unexpected accident occurred," Marisbury said. "That was the Incineration of Human Order brought about by the man who called himself the King of Magecraft."
Through the great undertaking of the Incineration of Human Order, Goetia destroyed the Quantum Ti-Lock, in other words, the foundation of Human Order, and thereby achieved the total negation of human history.
Because Chaldeas existed, Chaldea itself was protected from being directly destroyed by the Incineration of Human Order through its special magnetic field.
Of course, if Chaldea had then failed to stop Goetia's Incineration of Human Order, Chaldeas would have been reduced to ash along with everything else.
"However, the surviving Chaldea proved just as outstanding as Marisbury had expected. Even without the other Masters of Team A, the surviving personnel alone succeeded in restoring Human Order, allowing his plan to proceed smoothly," Marisbury continued.
Even though there was no emotion in him, Shiomi could still sense a mocking undertone from that false smile.
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