Chapter 149
Chapter 149
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 149
Chapter Title: Forced Breakthrough (4)
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Just as they were about to begin the operation in earnest, Tess, who had been lost in thought, suddenly spoke up.
“Wait. There's something I need to confirm before we go.”
“Hm? Confirm what?”
“If this operation succeeds, there's a high chance we'll end up in an all-out battle with the enemy. So there's something I need to ask you, Rian.”
“What is it? Is there something wrong with me?”
Rian looked bewildered. Tess turned to him with an unusually serious gaze and asked.
“Rian, have you ever killed anyone?”
The surroundings fell deathly silent. Rian, his sword at his side, could only blink.
Honestly, he'd never thought about it. No, was it something he even needed to think about?
Every knight vaguely makes a pledge to themselves. A sword is a tool for cutting people. He had believed that if one was prepared to wield such a tool for a lifetime, there was no need to worry about other secondary issues.
“No, I haven't. You?”
“A few times. When I went with my father to subjugate bandits.”
“Really? But why is that a problem?”
“Rian, the resolve to die and the resolve to kill are completely different. It's the same for mages, I'm sure, but we swordsmen especially have to cut people down with our own hands.”
The enemies Shirone's party faced weren't local thugs. They were the Parrot Mercenary Company, who had made a name for themselves in other countries. All of them were professionals who had experienced countless wars.
“Of course, I trust your courage. It's absurd for a swordsman to go their whole life without bloodying their sword. But if today is your first time, you might waver in battle.”
Rian exhaled with a hum and thought it over.
Wavering in battle. Of course, cutting someone down isn't a pleasant experience. But at the same time, he felt it didn't matter at all.
“Tess, killing is a dangerous and complicated issue. I understand why you're worried. But I will never waver.”
“You fool, that's what I'm saying—it's not that easy. To kill someone is…!”
“I've always been killing.”
Tess's eyes wavered. Rian looked at his reflection in his straight sword and continued.
“And… I have died countless times.”
In that moment, Rian turned to Tess with an intense gaze.
“Even when they said I had no talent, when they told me to give up the sword, even when I truly wanted to quit, I swung my sword. In that process, I killed countless enemies, and I was killed by countless enemies.”
Rian's straight sword stretched out toward the north. If he were a statue, he would have toppled forward under the sword's weight, but he stood as if his legs were rooted to the ground, not moving an inch.
“Do you understand, Tess? I have never once in my life held this sword with a half-hearted resolve. Whether there was an enemy before me or not, I have always swung it with all my life.”
Everyone could feel the determination in Rian's words. As if nothing had happened, Rian smiled and sheathed his straight sword on his back.
“I will never waver. I am Shirone's sword. I will simply cut down whatever is necessary to achieve what he desires. So there's no need to worry.”
This was it, the reason Tess had chosen Rian over the countless others who were talented with the sword.
Rian was dense. That was why he couldn't even open his Schema. But the human resolve that comes from the very weight of life itself was not something that could be produced by talent or skill.
After watching Rian for a moment, Tess turned to the others with a satisfied smile.
“Alright! My worries are gone. Let's get started.”
At Tess's words, Shirone and Amy's spirits ignited. Rian's declaration had stirred their fighting spirit.
“Then Amy, we'll go first.”
Shirone grabbed Rian and cast Photonization magic. A flash of light erupted, and the two vanished into the forest. Amy and Tess immediately followed.
The sight of two streaks of light passing through the dense forest was the pinnacle of dazzling. They traversed the woods with erratic movements, shifting between acute and obtuse angles as if reflecting off mirrors.
They didn't know the location of the magic circles, but by calculating the enemy's movements, they could estimate the approximate distance.
After wandering the forest for about ten minutes, they finally found the location of the first magic circle.
A magic circle is also a body of mana, so once it entered the radius of his Spirit Zone, he could clearly feel its presence.
Of course, if it had been enchanted with stealth magic, the difficulty of finding it would have been extreme. But no matter how rich the mercenary company was, preparing something to that extent was impossible.
Hiring a stealth mage would cost more than ten times the combined fees of all the mages needed for an intermediate circle, so in the end, it was not a cost-effective choice.
Rian cut a path through the dense thicket with his straight sword, revealing a magic circle drawn in a grassy clearing.
Seeing a magic circle in person for the first time, Shirone was surprised by its scale, which was much larger than he had imagined.
Amy looked around and nodded.
“It's an intermediate magic circle, just as I thought. They must have gone through a lot of trouble to make this.”
The magic circle, over five meters in radius, was emitting a reddish light as if reacting to the Spirit Zone.
Within it, circles of various sizes spread out like ripples, inscribed with beautiful diagrams that could be considered works of art.
“Hold on. Let me take a look.”
Amy, who had gained a fair amount of knowledge in her senior year, examined the magic circle closely.
The evaluation criteria for a magic circle could be broadly divided into three categories.
The first was the color of its light, which indicated the intensity of its mana. The second was the density of its functions, and the third was the connectivity of the magic circles drawn within.
In Amy's view, this magic circle was slightly lacking in color and density, but its connectivity was excellent. This meant it was highly likely they had enlisted the help of a certified organization.
“Hmph, this is going to be a pain. It looks like it was inscribed by an officially registered magic agency. I thought they would have hired some shady mages since the money was earned illegally.”
“Is that a major issue?
“The hallmark of a registered agency is that they design by the book, which means good connectivity. In other words, the magic circle's durability is high. Can you really do it in ten minutes?”
“I'll have to give it a try. To be honest, I'm not sure if I'll succeed.”
“What? How can you say that now? We're carrying out this plan because you said you had an idea.”
“Sorry. But I do have some confidence. And if it succeeds…”
“If it succeeds?”
Shirone looked up for a moment, ran some calculations in his head, and then revealed an approximate figure.
“I might be able to destroy it not in ten minutes, but in one.”
“What? One minute?”
Amy's eyes went wide. This was an intermediate magic circle. Neutralizing it in under a minute was nearly impossible for anyone other than a professional dismantling team.
Magic circles inscribed by official agencies boasted high durability. Therefore, even if one cast a powerful physical magic spell to pulverize the ground into gravel-sized pieces, there was a chance the concept of the circle would remain.
Amy figured they would have to grind the ground into pieces at least the size of peas, and as far as she knew, Shirone didn't have a spell with that kind of power.
“What exactly are you planning to do? Are you sure you know what you're doing? Just breaking it haphazardly won't work. No, if you do that, the magic circle might just break apart, making things even more difficult.”
“I see. Well, I'll give it a try.”
Amy grew increasingly anxious. From his answer, it was clear he hadn't thought that far ahead.
*Can he really do it?* If he failed here, they would have just wasted precious time.
Shirone took his position in the center of the magic circle. Amy, who had expected him to launch a vertical attack from the sky for maximum power, tilted her head at this unexpected move.
“What are you going to do from there? You can create a shockwave from a stationary position?”
“Yeah. But this is my first time trying it, so it could be dangerous. Stay outside the radius.”
At Shirone's words, the other three stepped back.
Although they were anxious, their anticipation was just as great. If he succeeded, they could instantly reverse this unfavorable situation.
As more magic circles were destroyed, the enemy's operational range would gradually shrink.
In that case, their side, with two mages, would have vastly superior firepower, making it possible to end the battle quickly.
Shirone closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He spread his legs, slowly bent at the waist, and aimed his fist at the ground.
There was no immediate visible change. The atmosphere was so peaceful it felt out of place on a fierce battlefield.
But Amy was different.
Her eyes, which had been watching Shirone skeptically at first, were now filled with shock, and her shoulders were trembling.
“Shirone, you…”
Tess looked at Amy, puzzled. Though she couldn't see anything herself, Amy's face was pale as if she had seen a monster.
“Amy, what's wrong? What is Shirone doing?”
“I can't believe he's using *that*… No, on second thought, that move was possible.”
“What is it? I'm curious, so explain.”
“We should get further away first. This could be really dangerous.”
As Amy backed away, Rian and Tess followed her.
Even as they moved, the swordsmen felt a sense of wonder. The distance Amy had retreated was more than double the distance they had moved back before.
“Now explain. What exactly are you seeing?”
“I'm not seeing it, I'm feeling it. The change happening to Shirone.”
“Feeling it? What do you feel?”
“The Spirit Zone. Right now, Shirone's Spirit Zone is moving at an incredible speed.”
Even as she spoke, Amy couldn't believe it. How immense must one's endurance be for their Spirit Zone to expand and contract so rapidly?
*It's definitely a mental pulse. But it's too fast. This is at least on Teacher Etella's level.*
The mental pulse Amy was currently feeling from Shirone was exceeding ten cycles per second.
But Shirone was not satisfied with this.
In the Class Five mental pulse test, he had scored 410 points. He had once sustained 13.6 cycles per second for 30 seconds.
Therefore, he figured he needed to be at least twice as fast. The radius was different.
Back then, the maximum expansion radius had been 20 meters in diameter, but now, the 5-meter diameter of the magic circle was sufficient. Since the round-trip distance was shorter, the pulse speed should naturally be faster.
The problem was whether his mental strength could withstand it.
*I have to do it. I need to control it more precisely.*
As Shirone slightly furrowed his brow, Amy, who immediately sensed the change, spoke in a trembling voice.
“My god. It's getting… faster.”
As the radius narrowed, the frequency of the mental pulse began to exceed 15 cycles per second.
One could guess how fast this was by realizing it's impossible to count from 1 to 15 in a single second.
An ordinary mage's mind would have collapsed long before reaching this point.
However, Shirone's endurance, enhanced by his Adamantine Body, was currently at a level that defied comparison.
Finally, the maximum expansion radius of his Spirit Zone matched the border of the magic circle. The remaining process was to cast the spell while maintaining the current rhythm.
Enduring the dual strain of the mental pulse and spellcasting required immense concentration. Shirone gritted his teeth and attempted the trump card spell he had only ever conceived of in his mind.
*Photon Frenzy!*
As he filled the pulsating Spirit Zone with photons imbued with mass, an astonishing phenomenon occurred.
The Spirit Zone took on the color of light, and for the first time, Rian and Tess could see with their own eyes how Shirone's mind was moving.
*CRACK-CRACK-RUMBLE-CRACK!*
As the sphere of light repeatedly expanded and contracted, cracks began to form on the ground. Soon, it split apart into large rocks with a loud crack, then shattered again into thousands of fragments.