Chapter 248
Chapter 248
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 248
Chapter Title: System Operation (1)
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Silence fell where the sound of the wind had passed.
The students were speechless. In the span of just five minutes, Shirone's storm-like assault had brought Dante, known as the kingdom's greatest talent, to his knees.
"What? Is this for real? The Dante...?"
A student shot up and shouted.
"Shirone took him down! He took down Dante!"
As if on cue, Training Ground 2000 erupted with cheers.
"Wasn't that too one-sided? Was he just no match from the start?"
"Even Dante can't do much against Shirone. I knew Shirone would win from the beginning!"
Students chimed in one after another. Among all the students in the kingdom's magic academies, Dante's defensive prowess was considered the best. It was only natural for them to be excited, seeing such a mage get beaten without even a proper counterattack against Shirone's onslaught.
If a defensive barrier could be broken once, could it not be broken twice?
The duel wasn't over yet, but judging by the fight so far, the momentum seemed to have already shifted to Shirone.
As the emotions of the crowd boiled over, a heated fighting spirit soared into the sky. The only ones maintaining their cool composure were Alpheas and Olivia, the hidden protagonists of this duel.
The opening of the match had been unexpected for both of them. Olivia hadn't anticipated Dante would be brought to his knees so easily, and Alpheas was astonished by Shirone's lightning-fast assault.
But this was the world of magic. No, not just magic; all competition in the world was bound to be relative.
"A mage..."
Alpheas chose his words carefully, as if defining something of great importance.
"...is an inhuman human."
"..."
Olivia held her tongue. Now that Dante had taken a blow, there was nothing left for her to discuss with him.
"After all, most humans can't even enter the Spirit Zone. Once you've entered a magic academy, it's safe to say you've surpassed the level of an ordinary person."
Olivia's eyes sharpened. Twisting Alpheas's words, it meant that even the great Dante was nothing more than a magic academy student.
"So what? Dante hasn't lost yet."
Alpheas ignored her and continued.
"But... when you gather children who have transcended the human category, a very interesting phenomenon occurs. Among them, someone transcends again. They then compete at an even higher level, and from there, someone else emerges."
Contrary to Olivia's expectation, Alpheas hadn't brought this up to belittle Dante. He was reflecting on his own life through the duel of these two students who had surpassed the ordinary.
"To climb to the very end, where there's no higher place to go. Isn't that the realm of a Grade 1 Archmage?"
Alpheas turned to Olivia with a hint of a smile. She was lost in thought, a prim expression on her face. It was an oddly cute look for her age.
Olivia finally spoke.
"...Are you looking down on me because I'm Grade 2?"
Alpheas didn't answer, turning his head back toward Training Ground 2000.
How could one look down on a Grade 2 Archmage?
But then again... no mage who had reached that level would be satisfied with their position.
Once they entered the realm of an Archmage, anyone would strive for Grade 1.
They just hadn't been able to reach it.
Student, professional, or Grade 2 Archmage—competition was unavoidable.
The world of magic was a place where one had to fight a lonely battle their entire life to take one step further from where they stood.
Alpheas, too, had dreamed of becoming a Grade 1 Archmage in his youth.
The future was unknown, but there was a time when he and others had expected, nine times out of ten, that he would achieve it.
But after losing his wife, Erina, he wandered for ten years, and his brilliance faded.
If he had started again even then, could he have become a Grade 1 Archmage?
Alpheas could say with certainty that it was impossible.
Grade 1 wasn't like that. It wasn't a position someone who had wasted a decade could aim for, surpassing countless geniuses.
Then what about Olivia?
She was a brilliant woman and hadn't lived a dissolute life like him. On the contrary, after failing in love, she had honed her magic even more fiercely, driven by a single-minded desire for revenge.
Alpheas wanted to know. Just how closely had Olivia witnessed the radiant glory of that position?
"It's not that you didn't try, is it?"
Alpheas's question was abrupt. But Olivia understood it immediately. She, too, was a mage.
Olivia blinked her long eyelashes, sinking into calm thought. Then, she pouted her lower lip and spoke.
"Grade 1. That's not a realm you can reach just by doing your best. No, I don't know. Maybe there's someone in the world who worked harder than me. But at least in my opinion, it's a domain of absolute talent."
Olivia reflected on her past years to gauge the credibility of her own answer. Then, recalling something she had overlooked, she slowly added.
"Or... the domain of madness."
Alpheas's eyes half-closed. Deep wrinkles formed around them, and the light in his pupils seemed to be sucked into an abyss.
"You mean Gaold."
Mikea Gaold, a graduate of Alpheas Magic Academy and the president of the Tormia Magic Association.
During his school days, no one had thought he would become a Grade 1 Archmage.
They thought he would become a good person.
He was a truly kind child. A devout believer, a student who had said his dream was to preach love to the world.
Now, that same person had become the kingdom's greatest Archmage, standing at the pinnacle of the Red Line.
It might be the greatest honor for a mage, but for Gaold himself, it could be a terrible thing.
Olivia dredged up a faint memory.
There was a day when the eyes of the world's most powerful people were focused on Alpheas Magic Academy.
It was an event that transcended the normal affairs of humanity, and Olivia had been one of those present.
"I'm sorry about what happened to Miro."
Alpheas remained silent. Adrias Miro. And Mikea Gaold. Thinking of his two disciples still made his heart ache.
Olivia suddenly recalled something and asked.
"The Paranormal Research Society, was that the name?"
Alpheas nodded bitterly. All the incidents that had shaken the world began there.
"Miro and Gaold were both founding members. A pair of troublemakers. They were a real headache back then, always causing ridiculous incidents. But it's because of them that this world exists as it does now."
"Does it still exist? The society, I mean."
Alpheas's lips curled into a smile. Thinking back, it was a truly ironic twist of fate.
"Shirone, Iruki, and Nade. The protagonists of this duel and the academy's biggest troublemakers are keeping it alive. They're Miro's direct successors."
Olivia's eyes shone as she looked at Shirone.
The Paranormal Research Society seemed out of place in a magic academy that pursued intellect, but the more one thought about it, the more one trembled at the sheer scale of its true purpose.
If Miro was at the center of the society back then, Shirone was now. It might have been a coincidence, but she felt there must be an unknown thread, one that couldn't be analyzed by cause and effect, connecting the school's only Unlocker to his decision to join Miro's society.
The students' cheers grated on Dante's nerves. He wanted nothing more than to jump up and slam Shirone to the ground, but he needed at least two more seconds to recover from the shock of the Anti-Magic.
'Damn it. I still can't get up.'
Shirone's attack was a marvel that couldn't be described as merely violent. If he had been even a fraction of a second late in casting his defensive magic circle, the match might have already been over.
'But I endured it. That's all that matters.'
For a defensively-oriented mage, danger was familiar. To him, who could only win by withstanding his opponent's attacks, being knocked down once wasn't as critical as it would be for a mage with a different style.
But the shame etched into his heart was considerable.
No matter how insignificant it was, this was the first time in any fight that he had been knocked down so quickly.
'Two seconds. One second. There.'
Dante finally recovered from the shock and slowly pushed himself up. It was an unbelievable turn of events, but looking back, it might have been an inevitable result.
He hadn't been careless. But a tension more terrifying than carelessness had robbed him of his quick judgment.
Fear is always greatest before something happens. Now that he had experienced Shirone's capabilities firsthand, he would never again fall so helplessly.
"I'll give you credit. There are only a handful of people in the entire kingdom who could push me this far. I'll put you somewhere in the top 20."
Shirone said nothing. Dante's arrogant attitude, ranking a fellow student, didn't even register.
It had been an all-out assault with Immortal Function unleashed. Honestly, he had thought the duel was over. But Dante hadn't stayed down. That fact frustrated Shirone.
Dante steadied his Spirit Zone and spoke.
"But from now on, things will be different. You'd better prepare yourself..."
"Dante."
Shirone cut him off, as if there was no need to hear more.
He had to ramp it up even more. He needed enough power to ensure Dante could never get back up.
"This is the last time I'm warning you."
As Shirone transformed into a flash of light and shot toward him, Dante felt his heart drop and hastily cast Teleport.
Narrowly evading Shirone's snapping jaws, he breathed a sigh of relief. Judging by the distance, a slight delay in his retreat would have resulted in a collision.
Did he want mutual destruction? No, he must have anticipated this reaction.
The initiative in the battle was still held by Shirone.
'But I'll turn it around here.'
As Dante, who had been repeatedly retreating, changed direction, Shirone's flash of light also sharply angled to pursue him.
Within the ten-meter radius of a single teleport, two streaks of light embroidered the sky with their relentless movements.
The students' eyes widened in disbelief. It had only been a year since Shirone had taken his promotion exam using Teleport on the Uncrossable Bridge.
Of course, even back then, Shirone had a record of clearing the Dragon's Maze, a level 10 difficulty, but the techniques he was displaying now were all advanced skills used by professionals.
Dante was also using skills of the same level, but he was a specialist who had trained steadily at the Royal Magic Academy since he was young.
In short, Shirone's growth rate was too fast. It even made one wonder if time flowed differently for him.
"Just when did he reach that level...?"
The moment Mark muttered, Shirone and Dante simultaneously charged at each other.
The hearts of the students stopped at the same moment.
Shirone and Dante had likely not expected the other to charge. But neither of them considered dodging.
It was a game of chicken where if one didn't yield, both would lose their lives.
The two flashes of light met on a horizontal line. Just as the students squeezed their eyes shut, thinking it was the end, the two figures at the center of the line veered off in different directions at the exact same moment.
Mark couldn't tell with his eyes who had evaded first. Even in a game of chicken, the two were neck and neck.
"Does this mean their magical sense is on the same level?"
Iruki was genuinely impressed. Although he had been knocked down once, Dante's movements were so incredible that the title of the kingdom's best was not wasted on him.
Shirone and Dante were chasing each other's afterimages.
Their eyelids were fixed as if frozen, and their pupils were absorbing their entire field of vision.
Even while displaying a level of concentration that surpassed human limits, Shirone was amazed by Dante's defensive skills.
'His defensive sense is incredible. I can't find an opening to bite into.'
Dante's movements, when he was determined to defend, were a work of art. If Shirone advanced ten meters, Dante would retreat ten meters. Even if Shirone varied it to 9.8 meters, Dante would pull back, maintaining the exact same distance.