Book 6 Chapter 14
Chapter 138
"That guy, now…"
"What did he just say…?"
The stunned gazes of the Imperial Army soldiers and adventurers converged. Distraught whispers spread throughout the ranks.
"He said he was testing the Mage Lord…!"
If an ordinary boy had said the same thing, everyone would have held their bellies and laughed. But the opponent currently before their eyes was…
'Let's not use Bell Sidious or Bell Quirius unless it's a truly dangerous situation. The Mind Barrier and Chains of Reverence are the same.'
He would compete with the skills and experience he had accumulated as Rin. He would also only use as much magic as Rin had.
"You impudent scoundrel, do you even know what kind of outrageous remark you just made to whom?"
Willis Kepel, captain of the Imperial Army's Special Magic Division, glared and tried to step forward, but Seigan raised a hand to stop him.
"His spirit is admirable."
Seigan Wolf Blado narrowed his eyes, as if the boy's provocation was beneath him.
I don't know what type of mage he is… Was there a school of magic that forged weapons with flames?
If close combat is his specialty, then all he needs to do is scout him one by one without getting too close. Wasn't an adventurer's life itself a battle with the unknown?
"Though he chose the wrong opponent to display his spirit to."
A suffocatingly heavy silence fell. The moment Aki reached out to Rain, whose eyes were welling up with tears.
"───!"
Trails of light began to weave, entangle, and dance on Seigan's palm.
Huh, Rain raised an eyebrow.
The magic circle was in the form of a triple octagon, with accumulation (蘊), capture (擄), and rotation (轉)… Was this magic the Iron Net Array?
It was a terrifying technique that first surrounded the opponent as if capturing them with countless iron chunks, then tore flesh and blood with fiercely rotating sawblades in the gaps.
"If the start is something like the Iron Net Array, I'm a little disappointed…"
That thought didn't last even a second. Because of a certain chill that assailed his skull.
What is this…?
It's different, something is different.
The Iron Net Array I know doesn't have sawblades flying out first like this. And iron chunks don't erupt from the direction the target evaded.
"Did I misread the runes?!"
Sawblades that tore through flesh and fur clothing in sharp trajectories, and were somehow attached to the iron chunks that now surrounded him.
"Did you think it was a normal Iron Net Array?"
As the walls of steel, with sawblades spinning madly, closed in from all directions, he briefly opened Bell Sidious to quickly examine the magic's structure, and a hollow laugh escaped him.
- What does that mean? The visual outcome of magic changes subtly yet significantly depending on how you solve the formula.
Memories of the final exam's top-rank determination match came flooding back. Didn't they say the visual result changed depending on how the mathematical formula was solved?
Not only that, but he could even completely change the order of magic activation?
The original formula for calculating the final coordinates of the Iron Net Array was 'complement of permutation,' but it seemed he had deliberately used the 'lexicographical order' to twist one solution method into three sequences of formulas.
"The Iron Net Array, a historic combat magic of the North. Everyone knows how to counter it, but if you modify it to suit the situation, it's no problem."
Seigan's explanation left even the reincarnation of the Archmage Rin unable to suppress his admiration.
He explained it so casually, but it was impossible without absolute skill to perfectly modify and control every magic.
"But, hmm──?!"
The moment the four rotating iron walls overlapped, his flesh should have been torn apart and crushed…
A flash with a fatally high temperature seemed to stream out from the gaps in the steel, then a crimson blaze erupted with a roar.
All the steel constructed by 3-star magic melted into dull yellow rust, and an intense heatwave swept through, evaporating all the moisture in the air.
"So what's next? This isn't all, is it?"
As everyone blinked in astonishment, Seigan's lips twitched.
'He blocked my magic?'
Was it just luck?
No, had there ever been anyone recently who could block his magic, even with luck? At that moment, rays of light began to weave on the boy's palm.
As if to challenge him in a duel of pride, the magic circle and runes the boy conspicuously constructed were exactly the same Iron Net Array that Seigan had used.
But… it was different.
Its form and activation principle were identical to a typical Iron Net Array, but something crucial was different. The magic's attribute was not steel, but flame.
"What… a fire-attribute Iron Net Array?!"
"Lord Seigan!"
A wall of flames instantly surged up, as if to surround Seigan, and the countless rotating blades of flame within its gaps would have incinerated his entire body into charcoal.
Had it not been for the 3.5-star-strength ice wall that instantly appeared and surged up around Seigan.
Rain couldn't help but let out a naive, hollow laugh.
'Did he activate the magic differently this time too?'
Originally, it was just magic to erect an ice wall, but to turn surrounding objects into an ice wall… Thanks to that, the activation speed was several times faster.
Whoosh… Seigan walked out through the chaotic, thick steam of fire extinguishment.
The corners of his mouth turned up ever so slightly, imperceptible to others.
'The magic circle was clearly an octagon, meaning steel, but did he change the attribute midway? Interesting, how on earth did he do that?'
He would find out slowly from now on.
If he poured out all the magic he had researched and prepared throughout his life, that guy would surely give him the answer.
With magic, of course.
"…Isn't that how we mages converse?"
The next moment, smiles, invisible to each other and to others, crossed in the air.
"…!"
"…!"
As lines of light elegantly wove in both their palms, miracles that altered natural law scorched the sky and carved the earth.
"The magic circle constructed is two layers of circles and one triangle, the runes carved are jo (助; help), long (瀧; waterfall), on (榲; warm)."
When the magic circle on the boy's palm shattered, fire poured from the sky like rain.
"The magic circle constructed is one layer of an octagon and two layers of pentagons, the runes carved are yu (蹂; trample), jung (蚛; worm\/poison), seong (晟; bright)."
When the magic circle on the woman's palm shattered, steel and poison and ice and electricity danced a dance of slaughter.
An infighting slugfest of Yorhen-type mages, something only those who have reached the pinnacle among the elites can display.
That divine spectacle offered the audience a thrill so breathless that even renowned magic festivals couldn't dare to provide it.
"What is it? Why do those two fighting a desperate battle look like they're enjoying themselves to me?"
Amidst the explosions of magic clashes, Prince Raida Eijin muttered in incomprehension, and Court Mage Leoren replied.
"They say masters who have reached the pinnacle in the One Star Seven Swords can converse with swords."
"Converse with swords?"
"Everything is communicated with just one sword. What does this mean? Just by seeing the opponent's swordsmanship, one can understand what years they've accumulated for it, how they've trained, and with what fervor they've researched."
"That's not some wordplay… how is that possible?"
"The two of them are seeing such things in each other right now. Your Highness will also understand when you become an expert in some field."
In fact, the two were seeing an illusion that didn't exist and couldn't be formed.
An illusion of sitting across from each other at a desk, showing the magic circles they had researched and explored, explaining their pros and cons, and exchanging feedback.
This was why Rain had lamented about the talkative juniors after entering <Delighten>. Mages had their own way of conversing.
"He keeps using fire-attribute magic to an astonishing degree. No, it seems like he's just using all magic as fire-attribute?"
To Commander Isaka's remark from the Special Magic Division, Captain Willis Kepel narrowed his eyes and replied.
"The strength of fire attribute magic is commonly known as 'flashiness,' but to be precise, it can be called 'strength.'"
"Yes. It's so powerful that it appears flashy; in short, 'simple strength' is the biggest characteristic of fire magic."
However, its drawback was also clear; as if it were the price of power, its mana consumption was more immense than any other attribute, commensurate with its strength.
"That's why fire-attribute mages are also colloquially called 'premature' due to that drawback."
"Right. Because even a slight mistake in mana distribution can instantly lead to mana exhaustion."
"But what on earth is it? That guy has already used 3 and 4-star level magic over fifteen times, how is he still so vigorous?"
I wonder too. Unless he has infinite mana, how on earth…?
He already chooses to use only powerful magic, and when it's activated with the fire attribute, he must be an absolutely formidable opponent for those facing him.
If it were me standing there instead of Lord Seigan, this match would have already…
'A spellcaster who uses all magic as fire attribute.'
Seigan naturally had that question too, but it was a delightful question rather than a perplexing one.
How long has it been, a battlefield where he pours out magic with all his might, yet the opponent counters as if it were natural.
'He blocks this too? Then what about this? How about this one? And this one?'
Seigan's eyes gleamed as he unleashed countless ice spears, glinting a brilliant blue under the sunlight.
"Don't fall yet. It's just the beginning!"
Feeling a sensation long forgotten… and thus sought for through long years, stirring in his chest.
The thrill of a magic battle, which he had never felt since becoming the Mage Lord.
Had he wanted a life where he was unconditionally worshipped by someone? Had he wanted a life where someone knelt without even genuinely fighting?
'No, I never wanted such a life even once.'
He wanted exactly this kind of life. He became a pinnacle just to fight pinnacles; the pinnacle itself was never the goal.
The pleasure (快感) when research that carved away his life collided with research infused with others' lives, the synergy when the cutting edge of that knowledge clashed.
For it was in such battles that new perceptions opened and the horizons of magic also newly opened.
"Hmm, they say a monster begets a monster… that monster elder Scalge has unleashed a greater monster upon the world."
Court Mage Leoren chuckled, watching the battle of the pinnacles.
It seems I'm probably the only one who figured out his identity… Though, of course, I partly knew thanks to Serwebon.
But it's strange. I clearly heard he died during the Black Spot incident, so how?
'Should I stop it? But if I stop the battle now and say something, would anyone even listen?'
Even His Highness Prince Raida can't take his eyes off it right now.
In that tightrope walk of a battle, where one wrong step would mean the end of everything, something only those who have reached the pinnacle can display.
"Ah, ah-ba, ow, ah-baat!"
"Abba, abba, abba, abba."
"It's okay, it's okay, mm, it's okay."
Kasena, who was coaxing and comforting the crying Aki, also couldn't take her eyes off the sight.
'That's the limit of magic…'
She was so close, and wide-area magic that could kill dozens of people was raging, yet no harm came to her.
It was proof of the two people's formidable magic control ability.
And above all, Rain was making an expression Kasena had never seen before. That expression of being so utterly delighted she didn't know what to do…
'At school, she usually just made a bored expression.'
Of course, that must have been the case. Her peer mages were all several steps below her.
But the mage before her eyes now was… the strongest battlemage of the current generation.
She bit her lip with a slightly frustrated feeling. So, if one's magic skill is outstanding, they can make Rain wear such an expression…
'The 300-year history of magic's development since my death is all embodied in this Mage Lord's magic.'
The boy admired it. Ideas never imagined in Rin's era, the use of mathematical formulas, the combination of runes…
"Amazing, truly excellent."
Therefore, the boy smiled.
If Shar'kas was simply the type to overwhelm with brute force… the Mage Lord, one might say, was a virtuoso who perfectly condensed the essence of modern magic and utilized it harmoniously.
At this rate, reaching the rank of Aquijard (5-star) would only be a matter of time?
'Now, the only magic attribute I can use here is fire…'
He couldn't use the unpredictability that arises from harmonizing various attributes, but in a test of strength, he held an absolute advantage.
'I can't say there's no risk, but I will perfectly dominate it. All of this fire. Just like Alakish used to.'
Amidst that fierce battle, adventurers and soldiers whispered in disbelief.
"He's on par with the Mage Lord?"
"What on earth is that guy?"
"Isn't the Mage Lord going easy on him?"
Similarly, Leoren's eyes narrowed as he watched the exciting fight.
'Certainly, general combat magic seems to be on par, but.'
Seigan hasn't drawn out his true power yet. That power that made him reign supreme over all battlemages.
'The Blado family's bloodline limit.'
Then, suddenly, a blade shot out from Seigan's ring and plunged deep into his palm. The moment Rain's eyes caught sight of it, a chilling tremor ran through her mind.
"It's been nine years. Since I used the bloodline limit against a mage."