Chapter 396
Chapter 396
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 396
Chapter Title: Taking the High Ground (5)
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“How about that? My strategy. Worked like a charm, didn't it?”
Screamer licked his lips.
He'd figured the kid wasn't one of the good ones anyway. No, even if he were, would anyone in the graduating class trust others more than themselves?
Still, such a strong assertion of self was a bitter pill for others to swallow.
“Whatever. A Reverse Position? Are you trying to throw the game? You should’ve at least told us beforehand.”
“Hehe, my bad. It was my trump card, so I was saving it. Anyway, since I took down Maya, we have the advantage now, don't we? I was actually planning to get her disqualified right there.”
But Nade’s interference had ruined that.
Ider prided himself on being crazy, but Nade's expression at that moment had been something that deviated far too much from the normal range.
“Ider.”
At the sound of Shirone’s voice, Ider turned around.
“Huh? Shirone, this is our side of the field, you know? Oh, I guess the rules don't forbid it? Still, it's cowardly to eavesdrop on our strategy.”
“...Why did you do it?”
Ider tilted his head. Then, as if he’d just realized, he snapped his fingers and spoke.
“Ah, you mean Maya? What about it? Surely you didn't come all this way just to say something frustrating?”
“I’ll ask again. Why did you do it?”
Ider’s expression soured.
Having shown his true colors, he no longer showed any of the previous deference he had for his seniors.
“What’s the problem? I was just trying to put the guard in a daze. You hit Screamer, and you hit Nade, too. Maya was just ridiculously weak. If it had been Amy…”
“Don’t misunderstand. I didn’t come here to get angry. That’s not what I want to ask.”
“Oh?”
Ider laced his fingers together and cradled the back of his head.
“I’m sure I made myself clear. After the survival test.”
Shirone’s eyes turned to ice.
“Don’t mess with me.”
“…”
*Whoever pulls any tricks, I'll crush them first.* He had definitely said that. In short, Ider had just landed himself on Shirone's hit list.
“Hahaha! So what, am I supposed to say, ‘Oh, I understand, I’ll never mess with you again’?”
Before, he might have at least pretended to be scared, but now that he had the power of the great organization known as Fermi behind him, he feared nothing.
“As long as you know. That’s all I wanted to confirm.”
Shirone turned and walked back to his team’s side.
His friends approached him. With only a minute left until the start of Round 6, they needed to come up with a strategy quickly.
“Shirone, let’s play defense this round. It’ll take time for Maya’s mental strength to recover.”
“No, I’m ending it here. I’ll handle it, so you guys stop Screamer’s team. If it’s just one forward, they won’t come for backup.”
Maya wouldn’t be able to recover during the match. For her, who had enhanced her Omnipotence by excluding Schema, Ider's violence had left too deep a wound.
Iruki said.
“Shirone, don’t get worked up. I’m pissed off too, but winning is what’s important right now. Losing will only make it worse. You know that, right?”
“I’m fine. It’s really nothing.”
Shirone smiled only with his eyes, then his expression suddenly turned cold as he turned away. A terrifying chill emanated from him, and his friends made way.
“We’re in trouble. That guy, he’s really pissed.”
When he got like this, no one could stop him.
As expected, the moment Round 6 began, Shirone flew straight for Ider, his eyes fixed on nothing else.
“Hoo, this is giving me the chills.”
The corners of Ider’s smiling mouth twitched. His expression was a strange mix of fear and ecstasy.
The one with the strongest mental fortitude in the graduating class was flying toward him, intent on crushing him.
“But that just makes it more fun for me.”
The thought of the misery of being unable to touch a single hair on the head of the opponent he wanted to kill sent a jolt through his body.
Ider weaved through the barrage of Photon Cannons, further amplifying Shirone’s misery.
“Hahaha! What are you going to do? I’m not getting hit at all. Are you going to spend a lifetime trying to land a hit for Maya?”
Shirone didn’t reply, landing in front of the flag.
Wind Cutters formed in Ider’s hands. He planned to counterattack the moment Shirone grabbed the flag and finish him.
“Ataraxia.”
A pale light formed ten meters above the summit, drawing a massive circle, and gasps of admiration erupted from outside the battlefield. It was a halo twice the size of the one he had used against Dante.
Ider stared blankly up at the luminous ring. Then, realizing something, he hastily retreated outside its radius.
*Damn it. This guy is so annoying.*
So there was a way. By casting Ataraxia over the high ground, he couldn't approach rashly even if Shirone grabbed the flag.
*In that case…*
Ider crouched low, calculating the right moment to spring forward. Once the magic circle was complete, he knew there would be no chance.
“Thirty seconds.”
Shirone said.
“You have thirty seconds. If you can’t stop me within that time, you will never be able to defeat me.”
*I know that, you bastard.*
He knew, yet he hesitated, because he had seen the power of Shirone’s magic circle with his own eyes.
If he charged in to attack and got caught in it, regardless of the outcome, he might be lying in the infirmary for the next round.
*No way… I won’t die, at least.*
It was just Trial 2000, after all.
It was a choice he would never make in a real battle, but through the filter of a simulation, it transformed into a fight worth taking.
*I’m going in!*
The fact that a mage's power drops by more than half while multitasking also contributed to Ider's decision.
It should have been that way.
But when a Photon Cannon grazed past him, rattling his eardrums, he couldn’t help but feel his hair stand on end.
*Damn it! Is it no use?*
In terms of pure combat ability, Shirone was expected to be among the top class of the graduating students.
Even while multitasking, the power of a single shot was more than Ider could handle.
*No, I won't get hit anyway. He can never hit me.*
The price he’d paid for his deal with Fermi was certainly worth it.
With Ghost Movement alone, it felt like he could graduate even without the help of Fermi’s gang.
“What’s this? The great Shirone is nothing special, huh? You were so pathetic you just sat there sucking your thumb while Maya was getting beaten up.”
Shirone fired his Photon Cannons at maximum speed.
But Ghost Movement unfailingly pushed Ider’s body aside, allowing him to dodge the flash of light.
“Hahaha! I told you it’s useless! That’s why from the start—!”
At that moment, *thwack!* A powerful impact struck the back of his head.
*Huh…?*
One of Ider’s legs buckled.
The AT Algorithm was broken. That fact was more terrifying than the pain of the Antimagic.
He looked up in disbelief, Shirone’s face blurring and swaying. The impact was much stronger than he’d expected.
*A direct hit.*
But how?
The AT Algorithm responds to any object that creates air resistance. Whether it came from behind or rose from the ground, it should have reacted.
“What… is that?”
As his focus returned, he finally saw the Photon Cannons floating around Shirone.
They weren’t particularly larger or clearer. It was just that an eerie red dot was embedded in the center of the light.
“Laser Guidance Algorithm.”
Dorothy murmured.
It was an advanced Schema on par with the AT Algorithm. That was because the Omnipotence of a laser itself was of the highest grade.
*So that’s why I…*
Dorothy’s own constructs were equipped with a function similar to the AT Algorithm. But the Laser Guidance Algorithm was a natural enemy to any auto-reflex function.
“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!”
Ider flew around the high ground, dodging the Homing Photon Cannons. But no matter where he fled, he couldn’t shake them.
He wanted to peel off the skin marked by the red dot.
This was magic that packed a punch nearing 8,000 press per shot.
*Damn it! What kind of magic is this?!*
The flight trajectory of the Homing Photon Cannons, which had intercepted a Level 7 drone, was fast enough to catch up with the movements of a frontline pro mage.
With Ider’s skill, he couldn’t escape the clutches of the Laser Guidance Algorithm, and in the end, he was caught.
“Kugh!”
Just before colliding with a Homing Photon Cannon, Ider’s body swayed from side to side, and the flash of light grazed past him.
The feeling of relief was brief; true terror soon followed.
Eight photons were closing in, endlessly sliding over his AT Algorithm like hyenas circling their prey.
“Huh? Huhhh?”
His body shook against his will, and nausea rose in his throat. But the fear of the impending impact was even worse.
“Aaaaaaaargh!”
A Homing Photon Cannon snaked up his waist and exploded against the back of his head.
“Kugh!”
It was powerful enough that he would have already lost consciousness if not for the durability he’d gained from passing Survival Stage 4.
Having crashed to the ground, Ider lifted his head. His emotions were laid bare, his face twisted into a demonic mask.
“This piece of shit…!”
*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*
Ider’s voice was drowned out by the successive shockwaves from midair.
The Homing Photon Cannons showed no mercy. The callous light simply bombarded wherever the laser guided it.
“Gyaaaaaaaah!”
Ider clutched his head in agony. It felt as if hundreds of awls were digging into his brain.
Realizing he couldn't win like this, he saw Shirone approaching and hastily fell to his knees.
“I-I was wrong! Shirone!”
Shirone’s steps halted.
“I was wrong! I won’t do it again. Just take the flag and end it. Please!”
“What did you do wrong?”
“Hitting Maya. I’m also sorry for hiding my true intentions and pretending. This is just who I am. I can’t help it. But I’ll never do it again. I’ll apologize to her, too.”
A mage knows precisely how their actions affect the outside world. That is why they do not show anger. Except when that very act converges on the best possible outcome.
“...Make sure you apologize to Maya.”
Shirone walked right past Ider.
*Ah, Shirone. You really are…*
Ider’s eyes flickered as he looked back at Shirone.
If he could just land a solid blow on the back of that head. If he could beat Shirone to a pulp while looking into his eyes as he lay there bleeding.
How thrilling would that be?
A thrill so intense the mere thought of it could make him lose consciousness.
The promised pleasure guided him into the Spirit Zone. The AT Algorithm activated, and the Ghost Movement spell began to envelop him.
*I can do it. From this distance, he can’t even counterattack!*
Shirone looked up at the sky. Hot rage burned in his mind, but even that quickly froze over.
The sky is cold.
One hundred percent concentration sharpened his Spirit Zone, and his Schema and Omnipotence created a powerful chemical reaction.
Suppressing even a sliver of anger, adding it to his magical power.
That was the wrath of a mage.
*Now!*
Just as Ider, his eyes wide, was about to spring at Shirone, Screamer shouted.
“You idiot! Up! Look up!”
Ider craned his neck straight up, his face going blank.
He saw the Ataraxia, now complete. And from even higher, the laser of a Homing Photon Cannon was aimed between his eyes.
Its power and scale were different from the one used on Dante. The sync rate then had been fifty percent, but now it was eighty percent.
“Son of a bitch!”
Ider clutched his head and curled into a ball.
The Homing Photon Cannon pierced through Ataraxia, and a colossal flash of light shot straight down from ten meters above.
“Gyaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
A waterfall of immense mass converted into Antimagic, shattering Ider’s mind. *Splat!* Blood gushed from both his nostrils like a cannon blast, and tears of blood streamed down his face.
*Drrrrrrrrrr!*
Ider’s body began to vibrate at a terrifying speed.
The knockback effect doesn’t apply to humans, but the interaction between spells was being fully realized.
The AT Algorithm, caught in the shockwave, activated its primary function and began to move Ider.
The only problem… was that there was nowhere to escape.
“Gweeeek! Gweeeeeeeek!”
Trapped in the massive flash of light, Ider was thrown about at incredible speed. It was as if someone had grabbed his spine and was shaking him around at will.
*Crack! Crunch!* The sound of bones breaking throughout his body sent a shock through everyone watching.
The flash of light lasted only 1.6 seconds, but it was more than enough time for not a single bone to be left intact.
Thrown out of the light, Ider tumbled down the hill. He lay on his back, staring at the sky, his eyes devoid of pupils.
Only after Ataraxia had vanished did Shirone turn and walk back to Ider.
Even seeing Ider’s limbs bent at impossible angles, his gaze remained placid.
“That promise to apologize to Maya—make sure you keep it.”
If it had been Shirone who was broken, would Ider’s actions have been condoned?
Was it Maya’s un-mage-like weakness? Or Ider’s all-too-mage-like wickedness?
Was this, too, just another part of the graduating class’s ruthless competitive system?
There was no need to judge. Shirone would continue to move forward, and Ider’s journey in the graduating class ended here.
For a mage, that was all that mattered.
The doors to the battlefield opened, and medics rushed in.
(End of Volume 16)
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