[226] Episode 5 · Paradox Spiral! (24)

Chapter 226: Episode 5 · Paradox Spiral! (24)

On the television screen, an intense battle between Araya Souren and Ryougi Shiki was unfolding.

Araya Souren, using his remaining left arm to block the ancient blade in Shiki's hand, moved like a serpent across the floor, aiming for her neck.

Because his left arm contained a sarira, even the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception couldn't sever it.

With all his strength, he launched a ferocious assault on Shiki. Compressing space with his palm in an instant, he sent crushing impacts from various angles toward her body, each strike powerful enough to shatter bones.

"—Relentless!"

Faced with Araya's inescapable attack, Shiki chose to retreat momentarily. But she had no intention of fleeing. Instead, she leapt into the air, and in a brief opening, drove her blade straight into the mage's chest.

"—Don't mess with me!"

Feeling the bitter taste of death, Araya immediately countered with a kick aimed at the girl before him.

The astonishing martial prowess he had once displayed resurfaced, but the now-alert Shiki dodged his strike by retreating beforehand.

Even Araya Souren, standing against this girl whose agility and lethality had surpassed human limits, felt a flicker of fear.

Realizing he no longer had the upper hand, Araya abandoned the fight entirely. His body vanished as he erased his form from the scene.

When her enemy suddenly disappeared, Shiki hesitated only for a moment. Quickly understanding his intent, she smirked coldly and, crouching at the edge of the apartment, leapt into the void.

"I won't let you escape."

Like a white butterfly, the girl's figure gleamed brightly in the night sky.

At the same time, under Araya's control, the entire apartment began to shake violently. Determined that destroying the barrier was the only way to kill Shiki, he acted without hesitation.

But what Araya Souren never expected was that Ryougi Shiki, whose body was nothing more than that of an ordinary human girl, would dare to leap from the tenth floor without hesitation, charging toward him like a ghostly apparition.

"Ryougi—Shiki!"

Araya Souren couldn't suppress a roar.

But in the very next moment, before his roar had even subsided, the girl's blade had already pierced through his body, forcing blood to gush from his mouth.

"Bang!"

After falling tens of meters from the sky, both of them slammed into the dust-covered ground at the same time.

Despite the deceleration provided by Araya's stasis barrier, both sustained severe injuries upon impact.

"I truly didn't expect this. You were prepared to hit the ground if you couldn't cut me, weren't you? No... even if it meant mutual destruction, you'd still have done it."

Looking at the unconscious Shiki, Araya Souren, now hovering on the brink of death, muttered with displeasure:

"This recklessness… is more befitting of a girl your age."

At the same time, Aozaki Touko's figure emerged from the shadows. She approached slowly, gazing calmly at the fallen Araya Souren, and said:

"How pitiful, Araya. Why push yourself to such extremes? Why are you so obsessed with the pursuit of the Swirl of the Root? Don't tell me you're still clinging to that old dream from your days as a monk, of saving humanity?"

In response, Araya Souren coldly replied:

"I am nothing. I only seek conclusions. If I can confirm that humanity itself is an irredeemable, grotesque existence, I can finally be at peace."

"So that's why you're chasing the Swirl of the Root? It holds all records—or even if it doesn't, it can return everything to nothingness."

"Exactly. I was only a few steps away, but the world itself blocked my path. Even those born with a natural connection to the Root are stopped. What an ugly display of resistance before death. No one acknowledges the crisis of the world, yet everyone unconsciously wishes to live. They indulge in their pleasures while ignoring the decay of the world, and yet instinctively reject anything harmful to it. What is this contradiction? The desire to live pollutes the prayers for survival. That malevolent intent… that is my true enemy."

"The world? Araya, no, this time it wasn't the Counter Force of humanity that stopped you. You did remarkably well; the Counter Force didn't even activate. From beginning to end, the only thing that brought about your downfall was a single force—something as simple as the familial love of a person named Tomoe Enjou."

"Even him? Don't fool yourself. Behind his actions was just another despicable person trying to preserve the world of humanity. The real Tomoe Enjou would never have acted that way. What drove him wasn't some familial love. Humanity doesn't have such things. All they have is the selfish desire to survive. That so-called 'familial love' was nothing more than a mask to conceal his ugly, true intentions."

"Araya, let me tell you something interesting. Although you might not know it, a renowned psychologist once proposed the concept of a 'collective unconscious.' He believed that the deepest layer of human consciousness is connected to a single, shared lake—what could be described as the unified opinions of humanity's unconscious mind. He called this the Alaya Consciousness."

"…What?"

"Isn't it strange, Araya Souren? The world has laid a cruel trap. This situation is riddled with contradictions, yet in the end, you, the supposed master of control, are the greatest contradiction of them all."

Hearing Touko's words, Araya Souren fell silent. After a long pause, he spoke in a voice barely above a whisper:

"This body… has reached its limit."

"Starting over again, are we? How many times has it been now? You never learn, do you?"

"A body unprepared for this battle… If we meet again, it will be in the next century."

"By then, there will be no such thing as mages. How lonely that will be. Even so, will you still not stop?"

"Of course not. I will never admit defeat."

"Araya, what are you pursuing?"

"—True wisdom."

"Araya, where are you seeking it?"

"—Only within myself."

"Araya, where is your goal?"

"Isn't it obvious? At the end of this contradictory world, at the terminus of that infinite spiral!"

As his words faded, the mage Araya Souren dissolved into the wind.

...

The shocking intensity of the battle, combined with its dark and somber resolution, left all the viewers with a sense of suffocating awe.

Unlike any of the previous episodes of The Garden of Sinners, Paradox Spiral delivered not only profound, enigmatic philosophy but also a nihilistic core that left an empty, haunting impression.

It also boasted a runtime and action sequences that could rival any of its predecessors.

From start to finish, the film provided little room to breathe.

The density of the narrative was enough to overwhelm and captivate any audience, leaving them in awe.

Even the most critical aristocrats, watching the climactic scenes, found themselves unable to openly voice any complaints about the film.

All they could do was silently grumble in their hearts, conceding to its undeniable impact.

At this very moment, as everyone was still immersed in the experience, the final post-credits scene of Paradox Spiral began to play.

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