The Heretical Bullet
“You wanna learn? You wanna get stronger?”
“Magic Bullet…… you say?”
“Aye. Forget everything you’ve learned until now, Seria. From here on out, you’ll be learning real combat magic. Not that limited stuff where you hide behind knights and chuck area spells from the rear. I’m talking techniques that still work even when lives are on the line in actual war.”
“Wait. Hold on a second……”
Seria sank to the floor, lost in serious thought.
‘Revolutionary.’ It was far more creative than she could have ever imagined.
‘Which makes it dangerous.’ This was a direct slap in the face to the established system of magic. If she showed something like this during the mid-term evaluation, there was no telling how public opinion would shift.
The Magic Tower’s standard magic. It was the system that dominated the current era, a scholarly framework recognized by countless people. Modern magical civilization had branched out from these spells, which meant any black magic that polluted or twisted them was fiercely rejected. And Magic Bullet was heretical enough to be called black magic.
‘It’s terrifying.’ The more she thought about it, the more grotesque Magic Bullet seemed. A spell that discarded everything else for the sake of a single purpose. And that purpose was pure slaughter. If someone could wield this magic with true mastery, most of the magical combat she had studied and practiced would become meaningless.
Theoretically, no spell could possibly be faster than Magic Bullet. It was a grotesque art that had taken the simplest magic and amputated everything except speed. No casting, no mental focus. Just swing and it’s done. Other battle mages who still respected the four stages of spell manifestation would be struck down by Magic Bullet before they could even react. Just like she had been moments ago.
At this speed, it wasn’t only mages who would be hit—knights would fall to it as well.
“I know exactly what you’re worrying about. If you show this magic, the academy will flip upside down. ‘What kind of heretical spell is this?’ ‘Where did you sell off the Magic Tower’s standard magic?’ ‘This is black magic.’ You’ll hear that kind of talk endlessly from now on.”
Dayman pulled a cigarette from the pack peeking out of Seria’s pocket and lit it. It was an easily predictable future. He had heard the same words himself. That was why his name had been the Mad Mage Calion. Black mage. Lunatic. Even the neutral factions had called him a gray-area figure straddling the line between black mage and archmage. But he had never regretted his choice. The efficiency and superiority of the magic system he created had been proven beyond any doubt throughout the Human-Demon War.
“But if you master it, you’ll be able to land a clean hit on that Octavia girl or whatever her name is.”
“And then get expelled for it. That’s what I’m worried about. I might even get kicked out of the magic department entirely.”
“Right. Probably. That’s why you need money and connections. Someone who can cover all the criticism that’ll come flying when you reveal this revolutionary attempt. Someone who can package it neatly and make the public see this magic in a positive light through the internet. That’s the kind of person you need.”
“So that’s why you needed money and backing?”
She had assumed it was just some delinquent running his mouth about living well, but it wasn’t that at all. At this point, curiosity got the better of her.
“Why, though? What are you ultimately trying to do?”
“To slay the Demon King.”
“The Demon King?”
“Aye. The Demon King.”
“Why go looking for someone who already died in the Human-Demon War?”
“He’s not dead yet. This time, I’m going to chop off all nine of his heads properly.”
Dayman exhaled smoke with a chilling expression. Even Seria had no choice but to acknowledge it now.
“……Just who are you?”
This wasn’t just some guy whose head got messed up after a motorcycle accident. This was clearly someone else entirely, wearing Dayman Calidos’s body.
At her words, Dayman let out a small chuckle.
“You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you, so I’ll explain that later, bit by bit. What matters right now is the relationship between you and me. So, are you going to learn seriously? Or are you just going to sit still?”
Smoke puffed out. He looked like a delinquent through and through. Remembering what this guy had just said made the cognitive dissonance hit hard.
“I……”
She couldn’t bring herself to say she would learn it right away. This was on a completely different level from simply getting stronger. It meant learning an entirely new field of magic.
While she wrestled with the decision, the warehouse door suddenly burst open.
“Is it this guy?”
“Y-Yes, that’s him!”
“Go.”
Several of Seria’s friends who had fled when seven knight faculty students raided the karaoke room yesterday scurried away just like before. After being guided by them, the newcomer firmly locked the warehouse door behind him.
“Dayman Calidos?”
He was an enormous knight. Unlike the knight faculty students they had met at the karaoke room yesterday, this one was wearing full plate mail. Two meters tall. Massive heavy armor. Shield and hammer in hand.
“Who the hell is that? Seria. You know him?”
“R-Rigel……”
Her face had gone pale. One of the monsters of the knight faculty, ranked just below Octavia. If Octavia was a speed-type knight armed with swiftness and flashy swordsmanship, Rigel was a power-type armed with overwhelming strength and destructive force.
“How did you find this place!……”
“Your delinquent friends. Not very loyal, were they? After a few punches, they spilled everything. But Seria, today I’ve got someone else to deal with before you.”
Rigel glared at Dayman as he spoke.
“The Calidos family’s troublemaker. You’re Dayman Calidos, right?”
“That’s me. What do you want?”
“I won’t kill you. But I’ll make you a cripple.”
Rigel took up a stance with the massive shield and hammer in each hand. Dayman smirked at the sight.
“Seria.”
“W-We have to run.”
The warehouse was a confined space. Even if they tried to escape, there was nowhere to go. The distance was at most five meters or so. On top of that, both the armor and shield were inscribed with anti-magic formations. And the opponent wasn’t here for a spar. He was ready to charge in and crush Dayman even if it meant taking a few wounds himself. There were no teachers or referees to stop him. This fight was fundamentally different from the training matches Seria had fought against Octavia in the practice grounds.
Instinctive fear gripped Seria.
“We have to run!! If you fight, you could really get hurt!!”
Dayman didn’t seem to care in the slightest.
“Hey. Lend me your staff for a bit.”
Dayman spoke in a relaxed tone, showing no tension, and took Seria’s staff in hand. Staff in his left hand near his heart, wand in his right. Seria’s eyes widened at the sight.
“You……!”
Wasn’t that the exact stance she had developed through countless trials to defeat Octavia? How did this guy know that posture?
“Hey, Rigel or whatever. Why are you looking for me?”
Dayman walked forward with an utterly confident attitude. Rigel’s brow furrowed. What was a mage thinking, walking up to a knight like that?
“That’s none of your business.”
Rigel began striding toward Dayman. Dayman casually overloaded and fried the staff’s auto-calculation system with his wand. Under normal circumstances, Seria would have screamed about how expensive the staff was. But right now, she was staring only at Dayman.
Just what was going to happen?
“You’ve got some nasty killing intent. Planning to fight me……”
Rigel suddenly charged. It was the blessing he had received—Instant Acceleration. Countless opponents who had assumed he would be slow because of his size and heavy armor had been laid low by this technique. With a chilling sound, the hammer swung. Dayman stared straight at it and instead leapt forward. The distance closed in an instant. Seria watched, unable to even breathe. And in the next moment—
CLANG!!!!
With a refreshing sound, Rigel’s hammer was sent flying. “Urgh!!!!” As if struck by some immense force, he lost his grip on the hammer and his stance collapsed. Unable to control his momentum, Rigel tumbled across the floor.
“Kyaaah!!”
Seria screamed as Rigel rolled right past her. While she hurriedly moved aside, Rigel sprang back to his feet.
“What the hell!! What did you just do!!!!”
“From the look on your face, you’ve never seen this technique before. It’s called parrying, young man.”
Dayman replied leisurely while puffing on his cigarette. And in the next instant—
“Huh?”
Dayman’s body vanished and reappeared beside Rigel. A chilling blue energy radiated from the wand in his right hand.
“Magic Sword??”
The aura was so vicious that Rigel momentarily mistook it for one. The blade swung toward Rigel. He desperately raised his shield to block. The magic blade scraped across the mana-infused shield.
SCREEEEECH!!
With that horrifying metallic sound, Rigel’s eyes widened. The shield had been torn open.
“Haha! The output on this thing is no joke!!!”
While Rigel felt both terror and confusion, Dayman was positively delighted. To think his power had increased this much just from changing bodies!!! Yet a pang of regret remained. In the past, during the fight against the Demon King—if he had possessed this body and this equipment, he could have taken the bastard down easily. He could have saved his comrades. That belated regret lingered.
“You!!! Just what the hell are you!!!!”
“Go take a nap.”
The wand flicked, and a Magic Bullet shot straight through the torn gap in the shield.
BOOM!!
With a thunderous roar, one side of Rigel’s helmet caved in severely. The intense impact made Rigel stagger, blood streaming from his nose, before he collapsed limply to the floor.
After casually dealing with him, Dayman flicked the burnt-out cigarette butt to the ground and walked over to Seria.
“Gimme another cigarette.”
Seria couldn’t continue speaking. Before a single cigarette could burn out, he had taken down the official number two of Octavia’s group. And he had done it while displaying techniques far too unorthodox for a mage.
“Those techniques just now! Don’t tell me they’re also……”
“Aye. They’re existing magic reworked and refined for combat. Parrying. Ghost Walk. And Magic Sword. Looks like people these days still use Magic Sword, at least.”
“They do. For cutting ingredients when cooking or during surgery. Only delinquents use it to stab people.”
Right. It was just that kind of trivial magic. Something used for cooking or when delinquents wanted to show off. It wasn’t the kind of magic that could render a knight faculty student’s shield unusable in a single strike.
Seria looked back and forth between the fallen Rigel and Dayman. She clenched her fists tightly.
“Give up, Seria. Mages are beings who can only do their part when protected by knights.”
It was the same thing Octavia had said to her with that strangely mocking smile after Seria’s first defeat. How long had she cried alone in bed that day out of frustration? She had wanted to deny those words, had challenged again and again, but only endless defeats followed. Not a single victory. She hadn’t given up, but even Seria was starting to grow tired.
“Why do you want to beat Octavia so badly? Mages can’t win against knights.”
Everyone had said the same thing. And though it was shameful to admit, Seria had started to wonder if they might be right—until Dayman appeared.
“I want to learn. I want to get stronger.”
Seria spoke with a determined expression.
“And I’m going to beat Octavia in front of everyone, so she can see it clearly.”
For the sake of her wish, she was willing to gamble.