Creating Anime In A Fantasy World

Chapter 228: The Screening of Paradox Spiral Concludes! (Part 2)

Imperial Mage Academy.

As the ending theme slowly faded from the screen, the mages fell into a moment of stunned silence. It took quite some time before anyone spoke—then, as though a dam had broken, discussions erupted all at once.

After all, from Shiki’s battle with Souren to the film’s very last scene, the concepts presented in Paradox Spiral had far exceeded their imagination. There was so much to dissect, so much to debate.

“I still can’t believe it—Shiki actually defeated Souren in that way.”

“Right? In a sense, Shiki was the one who ended up being saved by Araya. To borrow his own words… that’s what you’d call karma.”

“But what about that thing both Araya and Touko kept mentioning—the Counter Force? Just what exactly was it supposed to be? It sounded ridiculously powerful, but the whole series up until now never brought up anything like it.”

“You weren’t listening to Touko’s final lines? She said the deepest layer of every human consciousness connects to the same ‘lake.’ That collective unconscious, born from the sum of humanity’s subconscious minds, automatically expels threats in times of crisis. In other words, the Counter Force was in effect from the very start. Tomoe, Shiki, even Kokutou and Touko herself—they were all manifestations of it.”

“…I see. But didn’t Touko also say it wasn’t just humanity that had a Counter Force? She implied the planet itself possessed one.”

“The planet, huh? That’s quite a radical idea. Think about it: it’s only been a few centuries since our Empire’s mages confirmed that the world we live on is actually a sphere, not a flat plain. The Arch Mage of Astrology who first proposed it nearly overturned the foundations of magic back then.”

“Right. Who would have thought the ground beneath our feet was part of a massive sphere?”

“So if Touko claims the planet itself has a Counter Force… are we supposed to believe the world has a consciousness of its own?”

“No idea. At the end of the day, it might just be a unique setting of The Garden of Sinners. Our world doesn’t necessarily operate that way.”

“True. Besides, unlike their world, ours isn’t populated by humans alone. We’ve got plenty of other races. If the Counter Force exists to prevent extinction, wouldn’t that mean each race has its own Counter Force?”

“…Actually, I have a theory. Remember how The Garden of Sinners used the word ‘primate’ instead of ‘human’? If ‘primate’ really means all beings with self-awareness, then in our world, the Counter Force would encompass every sentient race, not just humans. A power ensuring survival for all intelligent species.”

“That’s ridiculous. If such a thing existed, wars between races wouldn’t happen.”

“Not necessarily. Even in The Garden of Sinners, humans still wage war against each other, don’t they? Collective unconscious is subconscious by nature—it doesn’t override individual will. It only manifests when certain conditions are met. That’s why magi are its greatest enemy—because they’re the ones most likely to cause a catastrophe that could wipe out an entire species.”

“…If that’s the case, then if a ‘primate Counter Force’ exists in our world—who would it see as its enemy?”

That question brought the room to a sudden halt.

Many of the mages froze, their faces stiff, as if each had reached the same conclusion—but none dared to say it aloud.

And so, after a brief silence, the discussion was conveniently steered elsewhere, buried beneath lighter chatter.

“Anyway, was it really Shiki who dealt the finishing blow to Araya? Something about it didn’t feel right to me.”

“I thought the same thing. The state she was in at that moment… it clearly wasn’t normal.”

“But Shiki only had two personalities, right? The male Shiki has already died, leaving only her true self. How could she become someone else entirely?”

“Do you remember the very beginning of The Garden of Sinners: A Study in Murder – Part 1? That snowy night when Kokutou Mikiya first met Ryougi Shiki. The two of them definitely saw each other then. But the next day at the academy entrance ceremony, neither Shiki nor the male Shiki seemed to recognize him at all. I thought it was strange back then, but I kept quiet. Now that I think about it again… it really is bizarre.”

“…Wait. Are you suggesting that there’s a third personality inside Shiki?”

“That can’t be possible, can it…?”

The idea was too far-fetched. Most of the mages in the hall rejected it outright, and even the one who raised the theory couldn’t bring themselves to believe it.

And so, that line of debate fizzled out unresolved. Instead, the attention of the mages shifted toward a topic far more comfortable—and far more popular.

Ryougi Shiki and Kokutou Mikiya.

In a sense, The Garden of Sinners could hardly be called a romance. And yet, precisely because of the heavy, almost oppressive main storyline, the fleeting moments of tenderness between those two stood out all the more sharply. A few glances, a single line of awkward dialogue—it was enough to strike everyone’s hearts.

Simply put, the audience was smitten.

“This couple? I ship it to death!”

Of course, more than a few men—and not a small number of women, either—were already shouting at the top of their lungs:

“Ryougi Shiki is my wife!”

…

At the very top of the Alchemy Tower—

Having watched the entirety of Paradox Spiral, Administrator Hohenheim let out a long, heartfelt sigh.

“To think that young Durin has once again given us such a staggering surprise. Taiji, otherworldly creation sorcery, Origin, the Counter Force, the problem of death itself… It may all be a fictional tale, and yet the logic behind it feels far too genuine to be dismissed as mere fiction.”

At his side, Arch Mage Rosa nodded in agreement.

“Indeed. What fascinated me most was the concept of Taiji, and Aozaki Touko’s theory of puppet substitution. The intricate form of that yin-yang diagram, the exploration of self and the ego—both are leagues beyond the current level of magical theory.”

“Exactly, exactly! I thought that Taiji diagram was incredible too. I’m going to carve it into a magic circle myself and study it properly!”

That boisterous declaration came from Arch Mage Warton. But judging by the expressions of the surrounding Arch Mages, no one took his words seriously.

After all, with his temperament, everyone already knew what would happen: whatever “research” he did would inevitably lead to nothing more than some kind of explosive magic based on the Taiji symbol. By this point, the rest of the Arch Mages were long used to his antics.