Book 2 Chapter 9
Episode 33
300 years ago.
Far away, beyond the dark blue mist of venom, a city wall, corroded by the abyss (深淵) and rotten to decay, came into view.
“Is that really the place that used to be called the Star of the South?”
At Archmage Rin's question, Friede, the Oracle of the Fire Dragon, took a long puff from her pipe and nodded gloomily.
“The Star of the South, <Orwardan>. It was a beautiful city where light poured in from all directions at noon. Now, I don't even want to go near it.”
“What should we do, Lista?”
They were on a sheer cliff overlooking the city. Faequirer Lista stood at the edge, silently gazing down at the city.
“Hmm, it seems like everyone would be in danger if we went in there.”
“Anyone can see that.”
“So Rin, just blow it up entirely.”
For a moment, she doubted her ears.
But Kieß, the court wizard, and Friede, perhaps disagreeing with Rin, simply grinned.
After blinking her wide eyes for a long time, Rin urgently spoke.
“Are you joking? Isn't that like a cultural heritage site? We should try to preserve its original state so it can be restored.”
Lista, looking back over her shoulder, then said this:
“There are times in life when you can just go for it and regret it later.”
“There you go again with the sophistry.”
“It's not sophistry. The three of you are many times more precious to me than cultural heritage like that.”
Lista always smiled seriously when she said things like that. As if there wasn't an ounce of pretense in her words. Rin averted her gaze and mumbled.
“…People will say something later.”
“I'll take the role of regretting it and getting scolded later. Isn't that what a leader does?”
“This isn't that simple─”
“─Rin, if you sometimes solve things lightly like this, the world might look different?”
So Rin.
Go ahead and do it to your heart's content.
“I hate complicated problems. How about you, Rin?”
* * *
“Now you understand, don't you? What it means to aim for the top position at <Delaiten>.”
Krista approached, arms crossed confidently.
“You can never reach the top position at <Delaiten> with such ordinary methods, not even if you died and came back to life.”
It certainly seemed that way.
So she had been pondering methods… but no matter how much she thought, only insufficient ideas to break Krista's record came to mind.
‘Is there really no way to use my power in a way that differentiates me from others?’
In an enclosed space like a labyrinth, indiscriminately firing offensive magic, regardless of its power, is impossible; there's a high chance that geographical features will collapse or be caught in the aftermath.
‘That's why summoning magic is overwhelmingly good in such confined spaces, but I can't use it…’
How could she easily surpass Krista's record? To graduate at the top, she had to set a record that not only Krista but no one else could approach.
- Rin, just blow it up entirely.
At that moment, an echo from the past warmly brushed through her mind, and Rain's eyes widened for a moment before she let out a chuckle.
“…Yes, sometimes it's okay to just go for it and regret it later.”
As she muttered to herself, an unusual magical energy flickered around her, making Krista raise an eyebrow in surprise. Logan asked.
“What do you mean by that?”
“It's just one of those things. Anyway, lend me your ear.”
As Rain whispered something to Logan, Logan's eyes, which had been tilted to listen to the plan, widened.
“Did I mishear?”
“You heard it correctly.”
“Are you serious? If we did that, we might even get disqualified!”
“I don't think that'll happen, but don't worry. If there's any trouble, I'll take full responsibility.”
Was this a problem she could take sole responsibility for?
Logan looked back at Rain in disbelief, but her eyes were utterly serious.
Facing those eyes, a hollow laugh eventually escaped Logan's lips.
“Well, even if we just do it normally, an A is a sure thing… but that wouldn't be fun.”
“Right?”
“I'll give it a try.”
Krista had to stare at Rain with an extremely wary look.
‘Disqualification? What on earth are they planning to do?’
The mention of "disqualification" or "fun" sounded like they were trying some strange trick, but would they treat a regular exam like a gamble?
“Disqualification? Fun? You're kidding! Are you planning to play some strange trick in a fight with me?”
“?”
“I won't tolerate that! This is an exam. You can't approach it with such a lighthearted attitude! You need to be more serious than ever!”
Krista burst into a fit of rage.
But, why, why was that Rain making such an incomprehensible and unbearably joyful expression?
“What am I supposed to do if magic is fun? It's fun even when I don't want it to be.”
“What…?”
“If you approach it with such a rigid mindset, won't you quickly get bored and drop out? Have you never enjoyed magic?”
Why was it that, for a moment, Krista, speechless, had an ephemeral shadow of the past gently brush through her mind like a spring breeze…?
- “Dad, look at this!”
Herself, brightly smiling and boasting to her parents after casting a beginner spell for the first time. But she immediately shook her head, erasing that echo from her mind.
She was not in a position to enjoy magic. Nor was she in a position to have a lighthearted mindset of "enjoying it."
Krista bit her lower lip and spoke as if spitting out years of pent-up feelings.
“…Saying 'enjoy it' is an irresponsible remark. You can't achieve anything by just enjoying it.”
With that, she turned her back and walked away, as if unwilling to hear any further arguments. Rain looked at her retreating figure with a puzzled expression.
“Why does she seem angry? Did I say something strange?”
“How would I know? There's a famous saying, 'One can fathom a hundred fathoms of water, but not one fathom of a woman's heart.'”
“Oh~ Master, you can say some pretty cool things, can't you?”
“Um-hah-ha, who do you think I am? I am Logan, the successor of the Chihak School!”
As the 10-minute discussion time drew to a close, the cadets sighed in despair and one by one moved towards their assigned caves. There was no point in sitting around here; they wouldn't learn the labyrinth's structure anyway.
“Professor.”
At that moment, Rain Ludwig of Team 12 approached Professor Kyle.
“Speak.”
“Any method is fine, as long as we eliminate all targets inside the labyrinth, right?”
“Yes, that's correct.”
“And there won't be any caves collapsing due to other teams' mistakes, right? Because all risks are controlled by your magic, Professor?”
“Of course.”
Rain grinned and turned around.
What was that?
Professor Kyle and the assistant simply tilted their heads, not understanding the meaning of that smile. Back at her spot, Rain spoke.
“Ready, Master?”
“I'll finish my part in 7 seconds.”
“It'll take me about 50 seconds, so let's finish it all within 1 minute.”
*Crack*, Logan lightly moved his body, loosening his joints.
“9 minutes. One minute left.”
As the assistant shouted that, Logan threw off his uniform coat. His body, intricately and complexly drawn with the magic circles of the Chihak School's secret art, Che-ryeong-gang, was revealed.
“Team 12, starting the exam!”
The moment Rain shouted that, the Che-ryeong-gang magic circle emitted light, spreading across her entire body.
“Hmm?”
Professor Kyle and the assistant, observing the situation through clairvoyance (千里眼), raised their eyebrows. The cadets standing nearby did the same.
“They're not going in through the entrance?”
“What are they doing?”
“If they're going to do that, why did they say they'd start the exam already? Do they have that much confidence?”
Krista also watched the screen with a dissatisfied expression, arms crossed.
‘What kind of trick are they trying to pull?’
At that moment, a chilling red light flickered in Rain's eyes.
“Huh…?!”
“Th-that…?!”
A deathly silver-white mark being drawn amidst the alluring red light… Each cadet gasped, and even Professor Kyle's eyes gleamed with surprise.
“Bell Sidious… at sixteen?”
The Ludwig Ducal Family's bloodline limit.
Bell Sidious.
Eyes known to possess the power to see through all abnormal abilities… A grotesque power that sends shivers down the spine of any mage who faces them.
‘Scarj and Cavem, famous as the Ludwig family's genius father and son, opened those eyes at seventeen and eighteen respectively, didn't they?’
Elin Ludwig also opened them around twenty-four, didn't she?
Faster than them?
The point is that unlike the bloodline limits of other noble families, which are relatively simple to awaken, mastering even the basics of this one is renowned for requiring immense talent and effort.
‘But what on earth are they doing in front of the entrance?’
Krista rolled her eyes in disbelief. Knowing the enemy's location beforehand was meaningless unless they went in and eliminated them directly.
┏ 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 ┓
The magic circle of the spell is 1 rectangle.
The rune symbol used is the mathematical Lutien.
Size 3 axels, range 5 gimite.
┗ 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 ┛
01010100010101, at that moment, in Rain's crimson-stained vision, all targets located inside the labyrinth were perfectly pinpointed beyond the terrain.
“Good, connect.”
Radiant threads of light unspooled from Rain's palm, then elegantly wove together above it, forming the shape of a magic square.
The magic square was an intersection of trapezoids and pentagons.
The runes carved were Yeon (連) and Jeon (傳).
To the telekinesis magic square,
‘Yeon (連): connecting’,
and to the electric shock magic square,
the property ‘Jeon (傳): transmitting’ is granted.
At that moment, Professor Kyle's eyes widened.
“Could that be…?”
*Shuurureuk*, strands of light flowed down Rain's feet, then shot into the labyrinth, leaving a long trajectory.
And one by one, the light that had penetrated deep into the labyrinth split into multiple strands, reaching the pinpointed targets.
“Good,” the moment Rain nodded, Logan, who had been waiting, emitting the light of Che-ryeong-gang from his entire body, powerfully raised his fist above his head.
“Urraaaaaaaaahp!”
With a powerful battle cry, he slammed his fist down hard on the starting point of the light ray.
A curtain of magical power, spread like a shroud over the skin by Che-ryeong-gang, exploded with overwhelming heat, doubling its destructive force.
And that powerful destructive force, which crushed the ground and sent debris flying like a hail shower, spread throughout the labyrinth by the 'Jeon' (傳) rune carved into the light strands.
*Kugugugugugugu───!*
A wave of destruction, spreading along the light rays, mercilessly obliterated the labyrinth's terrain. Violent roars erupted, and dust swirled, obscuring the window of clairvoyance.
“What?”
“What's happening?”
“What did they just do? Why are they destroying the labyrinth? Are they crazy? How are they going to go in now?”
The cadets merely whispered, but Professor Kyle and the assistant were different. The assistant stared blankly at the window that appeared from the magical device on his wrist.
“Remaining targets: 19, no, 11, no, 4?! P-Professor?!”
Professor Kyle, who had turned to look at the clairvoyance as if possessed, his two eyes behind his angular glasses opened wide, and he trembled (戰慄).
ㆍTeam 12 - Passage No. 12.
ㆍTime - 00:59.
ㆍRemaining targets - 0.
59 seconds.
It didn't even take one minute?
How could such an absurd… As he let out a blank, hollow laugh, the assistant collected himself and shook his head vigorously.
“Professor, this seems like an action that deviates from the purpose of the exam.”
“…?”
“The exam is to enter the labyrinth and confirm one's abilities, but they destroyed it to finish? It could be seen as a fluke… Shouldn't this be invalidated?”
“Why so?”
“An S-grade means perfect, but that can only be seen as far from perfect…”
Still staring blankly at the window, Professor Kyle spoke.
“Jimar, do you know that a genius is the creature furthest from the word 'perfect'?”
“Huh? What does that mean…?”
“The word 'perfect' refers to a state that strictly conforms to commonly accepted standards in the world. But geniuses who changed the world have always surpassed such standards.”
Unpredictable words and actions, ideas, and deeds… The behaviors of geniuses, which were considered incomprehensible in their time, become "commonly accepted standards in the world" as eras pass.
“Do you not understand what I mean? It's because a genius isn't someone who fits themselves into the mold of perfection, but rather a being who creates 'new perfection'."
“A new standard of perfection…?”
“Exactly! By such temporal evaluative standards, Rain Ludwig, that cadet, would indeed seem far from perfect.”
The assistant blinked.
While Professor Kyle was known to be generous with praise, this was the first time he had seen him lavish such fervent praise.
“Jimar, have you ever even once thought about destroying a cave?”
“I haven't tried… but I think I could do it if I wanted to.”
“Of course. Because that student has now forged a new path! What's important is that they were the first to think of and achieve something no one else had.”
And the magical knowledge and comprehension ability to perfectly execute such a reckless idea… Is that really a sixteen-year-old?
Have I found it?
Has it finally appeared?
A true genius (天才) who will breathe new life into the stagnant world of imperial magic… Kyle concluded his words, trembling with intense emotion.
“Watch carefully now, Jimar. Because on the day that student becomes an adult and a central figure in the magic world, the horizons of magic might change.”