Chapter 272
Chapter 272
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 272
Chapter Title: Magic Summit
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Crimson Garden August.
She, known as the Undying One, was a World Erosion entity who had lived an extraordinarily long time, even by this world's standards.
The curse and blessing she possessed, 'Eternal Immortality'.
Thanks to it, she had become immortal, but her body was doomed to slumber eternally, so she commanded countless hosts.
Even in her sleep, she could glimpse the world through them and survive.
One of the hosts she controlled had encountered a boy mage.
Conversations about the truths of magic with that boy, who possessed unparalleled talent in the arcane arts.
Even Crimson Garden hadn't realized it back then.
That a single conversation would utterly transform the boy's life.
"Why the hell did you do that and just leave him hanging?"
[ ...It's not like I abandoned him or anything. ]
Krash spoke to the crow perched before him as if scolding it.
After asking Byoren to give them some space,
Krash had once again come face-to-face with Crimson Garden.
The crow averted its eyes from Krash, responding with evident awkwardness.
[ From the start, I had no idea that conversation would lead to the Magic Emperor growing the way he did. It only came to light today. ]
Crimson Garden did remember that day's discussion.
The boy's talent had overflowed to such an intriguing degree that she wondered where the limits of his genius lay.
But that was all.
Even when he later made a name for himself, Crimson Garden never bothered to seek him out.
She had never even considered that the boy might still be searching for her.
[ At most, I thought our talk might have helped spark his talent a little. ]
The problem was that it had helped far too much, twisting the Magic Emperor down a warped path.
"You said the Magic Emperor went looking for you. Didn't you hear about it back then?"
[ ...The host he met at the time was a pessimist. She'd lost her husband and unborn child to World Erosion and was suffering from severe depression.
I tried to help her as best I could, but I couldn't stop her suicide. The village she lived in had a custom of not even making gravestones for suicides, so after erasing her traces, I didn't pay attention to that area anymore. ]
From Crimson Garden's perspective, since the host she'd cared for had killed herself,
she had deliberately ignored all information related to her to distance herself from the shock.
She really was a fragile soul.
And so, those coincidences piled up, ultimately leading the Magic Emperor to harbor an absurd obsession.
"Any thoughts on meeting him again?"
[ It shouldn't be a problem, but... ]
Crimson Garden showed clear displeasure in various ways.
[ I'm no stranger to the Magic Emperor, but would that guy really accept the truth quietly? ]
"It'd be weirder if his eyes didn't roll back in his head."
He might tear the world apart searching for Crimson Garden.
If that happened, no one would be able to rein in the Magic Emperor.
Not only would creating a safety mechanism go up in smoke,
but the help he'd planned to receive for fully absorbing the White Dragon King's power would vanish too.
There was nothing more troublesome than that.
'Using Crimson Garden as bait is way too risky.'
It was the most sensitive part of the Magic Emperor's life—his lifelong dream.
After pondering deeply for a while, Krash suddenly recalled one fact.
"The Magic Emperor wants a conversation partner on magic."
Crimson Garden turned to look at him just then.
"Why not just have me do it?"
Crimson Garden fell silent for a moment.
She seemed about to react as if he'd spouted nonsense,
but soon grasped his meaning and sank into thought.
[ ...So you're saying you'll impersonate me? ]
Krash nodded with an expression that said she'd got it right.
Crimson Garden's voice was always conveyed to Krash.
So if he relayed her voice to the Magic Emperor in her stead, he could become the conversation partner on the truths of magic that the Magic Emperor craved.
'Originally, I planned to trade on the location of a tool he needs to complete his magic race.'
But fulfilling the guy's desire for exchange with another seemed far more useful.
At the very least, it would solidly bring the Magic Emperor to his side.
[ It's not a bad proposal, certainly. ]
Crimson Garden eyed Krash with a slightly uneasy look.
[ But he's not the innocent boy from back then. The current Magic Emperor is an unpredictable loose cannon. ]
"That's why you came to him anyway."
The reason Krash sought the Magic Emperor's help in absorbing the White Dragon King's power was his knowledge of the research poured into creating the magic race.
The Magic Emperor had researched countless other races for his species creation.
Some of it even included unethical experiments transforming existing races into others.
'Right now, I have to use whatever I can get my hands on.'
A powder-keg situation where war with Ixion could erupt at any moment.
Krash needed to fully absorb the White Dragon King's power as quickly as possible.
"What do you think? Can it work?"
As Krash made his final inquiry, Crimson Garden let out a deep sigh.
[ I'll make it work. ]
She was speaking sense.
As Crimson Garden said, this had to be made to work.
Krash burst out the door.
Time to debate the Magic Emperor into oblivion with pure magic logic.
* * *
The Freyja Mountains.
On a vast plain where mountains stretched endlessly.
A boy gazed up at the sky.
The blowing wind gently tousled his silver hair.
His eyes, fixed on the heavens, seemed utterly devoid of emotion.
Sabak—
Then, the sound of footsteps reached his ears.
He turned toward the noise, and there stood another boy.
No longer a child, but with the face of an adult.
Krash Valheim.
The Magic Emperor, Terrasius Zeblam, stared silently at Krash as they faced each other.
"Feeling like talking now, Senpai?"
His face didn't so much as twitch, yet a remarkably cheerful boy's voice flowed from his lips.
The lively tone emerging from that inhuman expression was utterly eerie.
As if an emotionless being were mimicking human feelings.
A chill ran through Krash as he quietly regarded him before speaking.
"Magic is called the creation of all things, but in truth, it's merely the limit expressed within the shallow imagination of humans."
A sudden declaration of magic's essence.
For the first time, a subtle gleam crossed Terrasius's face upon hearing it.
Like looking at a cheeky child saying, 'Well, well?'
"Human imagination stems from what they've seen and experienced, which means expanding magic's domain equates to accumulating knowledge and experience."
As Krash continued, Terrasius's mouth opened in response.
"Even so, humans can't escape the knowledge they've seen, experienced, and acquired."
"Then, if one experiences the entire world and replicates it exactly to create a new one, can that be called a new world?"
The next words pierced straight through the magic race research Terrasius pursued.
"A world output from inputting one's own known information will only reach the same theories and conclusions—it can't serve as a solution."
Was all the research Terrasius had done truly valuable?
Did it hold value for those unethically sacrificed to his personal desires?
The moment Krash posed that question, Terrasius chuckled lightly.
Anyone could voice opinions up to that point.
"Thus, the first step is breaking the constraints on human imagination."
"Break them how?"
"Starting with the most basic: language."
The feel of the wind blowing toward Terrasius shifted.
"Language constrains basic human thought.
For example, the 12-character phrase 'I ate breakfast this morning' might be condensed to two characters like 'Bako' in some minority language.
Language is thus a fundamental constraint that crudely shapes human cognition."
Beautiful.
Pretty.
Even as countless images of beauty flood the human mind upon seeing something lovely, the constraints of learned language limit expressions to a finite set.
Thus, Krash argued for shattering language's limits first to expand imagination.
"From there, one by one, discard everything possessed: sight, hearing, smell, touch. The information gained from these basic human senses is merely the limit of the human species."
Birds crossing the sky can perceive ultraviolet light.
Whales gliding through water detect ultrasound.
Human perception of the world is but a tiny fraction.
"Only after breaking all such limits can one finally reach the foundation of magic."
Magic is imitating and manifesting what one has experienced and seen through imagination.
Thus, magic begins only with the experiences of the entire world.
The moment Krash touched on the truth permeating all of magic, Terrasius's eyes began to widen gradually.
"...You're full of wild ideas."
The unexpected response was flat.
Yet a subtle tremor ran through his body, excitement slowly building.
"Looks like there's a lot more to discuss."
His mouth began to itch.
Krash instantly recognized it as a good sign.
"Your turn."
This time, he signaled he'd listen.
A sly smile crept across Krash's lips.
And so the magical discourse began between them, continuing without end.
Sometimes listening to each other, sometimes refuting opinions.
The two ceaselessly opened their mouths in pursuit of magic's truths.
It stretched through the night.
And amid it all, Krash suffered the most.
'Damn it, never again.'
Though merely relaying Crimson Garden's words,
Krash had to act the part convincingly, speaking as if from the heart.
Even if acting was his specialty, sustaining it all night pushed him to his limits.
The problem was that the other two were having way too much fun.
'I forgot one thing.'
Crimson Garden was a hardcore magic fanatic too, and he'd pitted two of the same kind against each other.
How could the conversation ever end?
The issue was that it delved so profoundly Krash lost the thread midway, unable to comprehend.
It had entered the realm of pure genius.
Thus, Krash sensed it was time to stop.
He wasn't confident he could endure the discussion any longer.
"Dawn's breaking. Let's call it here—the others will worry."
"Ah."
[ Hm. ]
True to form as magic enthusiasts, they reacted identically.
The Magic Emperor, eyeing Krash with regret, belatedly realized he'd chatted with someone about magic's truths for the first time in ages.
"Terrasius Zeblam."
The heat from their magic discussion still lingered.
The Magic Emperor might have sensed Crimson Garden's presence through it.
"I've got one favor to ask. It's about a threat to my safety. I really want you to handle it."
Thus, Krash preemptively laid out the condition before doubts could arise, as a warning.
Even if you suspect something, pretend not to if you want future talks with Crimson Garden—and help me out.
The Magic Emperor stared fixedly at Krash.
Then, desire gleamed subtly in his eyes.
He'd already lost one chance at magical exchange once before.
He wouldn't let it slip away again.
Krash prodded that very point.
To keep from losing Crimson Garden beyond Krash, he'd aid him.
"...Got it."
In the end, even the Magic Emperor played along with his intent.
The lifelong void for the Magic Emperor.
Had been filled by Krash, chaining him utterly.
The wind carried Krash's jet-black hair fluttering.
A smile graced his face, illuminated by the rising sun.
"Good talk. Let's do it again sometime."
Poison recognized poison.