I was Caught up in a Hero Summoning, but that World is at Peace (WN)-Chapter 2256: Intermission: Tears of the Ice Oni - Part 2

Once she became aware of it, her actions were swift, befitting someone under the command of the War King. Epsilon couldn’t bear a life without Miyabi, and so she resolved to resurrect her.

If it's simply resurrecting the dead, for someone like Epsilon, who possessed the highest level of power even among Peak Count-ranks, it was not particularly difficult. However, there was a fundamental time limit associated with resurrection.

While the exact timeframe remained unclear, the general consensus was that revival was only possible within roughly one month of death. Beyond that, resurrection was considered impossible.

Though not publicly known, this was due to a system akin to reincarnation in Trinia. In this world, the soul of the deceased would, after a certain period, be transferred to God Realm and taken into a special space located in the innermost sanctum of the Temple of Life, where the God of Life resided. There, it would be broken down into fine soul particles, mingled and merged with other deceased souls, and eventually reborn as a new soul of life.

Therefore, it wouldn’t be incorrect to say that a soul past a certain period…… about a month, essentially ceased to exist. As such, resurrection beyond that point was deemed impossible. Even Epsilon, though not fully knowledgeable of the mechanics, understood that reviving a long-deceased soul was beyond her capabilities.

And yet, strangely, when it came to Miyabi, she had an almost unshakable intuition…… a near certainty that resurrection was possible.

And in fact…… she was right. There were several miraculous factors surrounding Miyabi.

First, Miyabi was an Otherworlder, and thus outside the scope of Trinia’s reincarnation system. Due to a contract between Shallow Vernal and Makina, the souls of otherworlders who died in Trinia would be returned to Makina’s world.

This wasn’t something that Shallow Vernal or Makina manually oversaw; rather, it was a condition encoded into the Hero Summoning itself: where upon death, the summoned soul would return to Makina’s world. That was how it was supposed to work…… under normal circumstances, that is.

Tendouin Miyabi was the first to permanently reside in this world as a Hero, and aside from Neun, was the first Otherworlder to learn magic. At that time, no one was aware that Otherworlders might possess unique magical affinities.

Neun’s exceptional talent for Tempering Magic was attributed to personal aptitude, and no one had thought to investigate whether Miyabi might possess similar aptitude for a specific kind of magic.

Miyabi, in fact, had an exceptionally strong affinity for a kind of "magic that imbued words with magic power"…… what might be called Spirit Speech. However, since she was constantly surrounded by the War King’s subordinates, who were all stronger than her, her magic was ineffective against them, and she never realized her affinity.

Then, in her final moments, without knowing any of this, Miyabi had spoken these words…… "Even if this body perishes, my soul will always be with my beloved Ix-sama"……

Yes, those very words caused Miyabi’s soul, which should have returned to her original world, to remain beside Epsilon. Her soul, being outside Trinia’s system…… combined with that magical vow, made her resurrection possible.

But simply bringing her back would be meaningless. Miyabi hadn’t died from injury or illness, she had died of old age. If revived just as she was, she would soon die again.

Therefore, Epsilon needed a solution, and she wrestled with the problem.

The first idea that came to mind was to rejuvenate Miyabi's youth after reviving her. Though complex, this was theoretically possible using advanced Space-Time Magic.

However, reversing time, even for specialists of Space-Time Magic, was incredibly difficult. Epsilon herself wasn’t particularly skilled in that area and didn’t have confidence in her ability to make precise adjustments.

For Epsilon, who had lived tens of thousands of years, a span of a hundred years was negligible, but for a human like Miyabi, even a slight miscalculation could be catastrophic. The risk of failure was too high to ignore.

And more importantly, even if it succeeded, the problem of lifespan disparity would eventually resurface. And so Epsilon reasoned, it would be better to eliminate that root issue altogether……

Thus, she arrived at the idea of reincarnating the soul into a different species. She had heard of such a technique before, magic capable of reincarnating the soul of the dead into a new body of a different species. However, such magic were classified as forbidden arts, Taboo Magic.

Moreover, though rumors and legends about such forbidden arts still linger to some extent, concrete records, documents or books detailing their specifics, are virtually nonexistent, as if someone had deliberately erased them from history.

Fragments of forbidden tomes or depictions in murals do occasionally appear at auctions and similar venues, but it is no exaggeration to say that a complete forbidden book "almost" does not exist in this world…… yes…… almost.

As if her skin being seared, an oppressive force of such overwhelming magic power that even Epsilon, a Peak Count-rank, felt it bearing down on her.

And yet, exposed to that tremendous power, Epsilon bowed her head deeply.

[Please! I beg of you, grant me permission to view the forbidden tome that contains resurrection-related forbidden arts!]

[……I don’t…… really mind.]

The one who responded to Epsilon’s desperate plea in a detached voice was the Death King, Isis…… The exact reason remained unclear, but perhaps because even those who sought to destroy forbidden texts did not dare interfere with her, Isis was one of the very few beings in the world known to possess such tomes in a complete and unaltered state.

At this point in time, she had not yet encountered Kaito, and was still widely feared as a symbol of death, especially in the Human Realm. Isis was, in those days, perpetually ill-tempered, and even Epsilon found it immensely nerve-wracking to face her. Nevertheless, she managed to obtain permission, and was granted access to the forbidden tome she sought.

As one might expect from something branded as a "forbidden art", its contents were extremely complex. Even for someone like Epsilon, deciphering it to the level where she could understand and safely perform it took over half a year, but driven by her unwavering devotion to Miyabi, she persevered, painstakingly unraveling its mysteries.

And then, after countless preparations…… she painstakingly constructed an enormous and intricate magic circle without a single error, completed the ritual to reincarnate Miyabi, and all that remained was to carry it out.

There is one thing that must never be forgotten. The act of reincarnating the soul of the dead into another being is Taboo Magic———- designated as a forbidden art. In other words…… "someone decreed it to be forbidden".

So then, who was that someone? It was none other than Life, the Supreme God who governs the fundamental structure of reincarnation in Trinia and presides over the laws of all living beings.

Simple resurrection poses no issue. Since there is a grace period before the soul of the deceased returns to the cycle of reincarnation, she tolerates resurrection to a certain degree, albeit with some restrictions.

However, altering the soul of the dead into a different existence, reincarnating it without passing through the world’s system of rebirth, is an act that encroaches upon God's domain. It lies outside what she can allow.

Thus, Life descended into the Demon Realm. Her purpose, of course, was to warn Epsilon, who was attempting to perform such a forbidden reincarnation. And if necessary…… to carry out a "purge".

But Life’s steps came to an unexpected halt upon reaching the Demon Realm.

[……Why? Why are you the one standing in my way?]

[Well, things happened. I’m sure you’ve got your own reasons, Life-san, but…… just this once, could you look the other way?]

Standing in front of Life was one of the Six Kings, cloaked in a black robe…… the Phantasmal King, No Face. Life hadn’t anticipated the Phantasmal King’s appearance and frowned with displeasure.

Though No Face spoke with an apologetic tone, the killing intent in the air spoke louder than words…… that if it came to it, she would stop Life by force……

The Phantasmal King was a being capable of standing on equal ground with Fate, the most powerful of the Supreme Gods. Even for Life, there was a strong possibility she would be outmatched.

More than that, a direct clash between herself, a Supreme God, and No Face, one of the Six Kings, could potentially fracture the Friendship Treaty between their realms.

[I’m not asking you to let everything slide in the future. Just this one time, please……]

[………………….Very well. Just this once, I will overlook it in deference to you. However, with her current ability, she is unlikely to perfectly execute that ritual. The chance of failure is high. Even if she fails once, I will not allow a second time.]

[Of course. If it comes to that, I won’t interfere either. I just want you to give her one chance.]

[……It’s a bit surprising, but I have no reason to question your personal decisions. Well then, I shall take my leave.]

Why No Face appeared to protect Epsilon remained a mystery, but for Life, relationships and schemes of that sort were matters of little interest.

Having declared she would not overlook a second attempt, she returned to the God Realm.

Left alone in the now-empty space, No Face let out a dry chuckle and murmured with a touch of melancholy.

[……I guess this just reminded me of the past. I ended up helping out before I realized it…… I really am too soft…… aren’t I, Iris?]

<Afterword>

? ? ? : [By the way, where’s Serious-senpai?]

Makina : [Ah, she came to me asking if I could turn off that system that lets her see the main story while she sleeps, even just for a bit. Once I disabled it, she happily went off to sleep.]

? ? ? : [……How pitiful. But still, it’s strange, isn’t it? Why does a book even exist that contains such a forbidden art, something that, under normal circumstances, should be impossible to perform, as it's practically within the realm of the Gods……? No matter how you look at it, that source of all the trouble must be involved, right?]

Makina : [Unn. Apparently, back in the day, she was experimenting with all kinds of things. She created books on forbidden arts, basically ritual formulas meant to replicate the Gods' Authority, and then scattered them randomly throughout the Demon Realm. Later on, Gods who didn’t know the full story realized how dangerous they were to the world and rushed to classify them as forbidden arts, then tried to retrieve or destroy them. Looks like they weren't able to retrieve those Isis had though.]