Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Limitless (7)
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Shirone's mind expanded like a supernova, spreading out endlessly. A perfect release. Transcending modularization, all the numbers in the world rushed in, compressing into a single point.
Targets began to explode in rapid succession!
His targeting speed suddenly skyrocketed. Two streaks of light shot out simultaneously from Shirone's Spirit Zone.
“Senior, he's doing a double!”
“No, a double is impossible without Savant Syndrome. This is on another level.”
Seriel couldn't believe the scene unfolding before her eyes. The number of light streaks was increasing from ten to twenty, from twenty to a hundred.
Shirone felt a sense of perfect liberation. It was as if he was seeping into every corner of the world. The stronger this feeling grew, the fainter his thoughts became. He couldn't think of anything; only his senses reached out to all of creation.
The Spirit Zone expanded endlessly. Once it surpassed eighty meters in diameter, all the streaks of light merged, filling the Spirit Zone with brilliance. It was just a giant photon, and even Shirone's figure was engulfed in the light.
Targets exploded the instant they appeared, and the rate at which his score climbed became incredibly fast.
‘Ah… Ahhh…’
Shirone shed tears as he felt his presence gradually fading. He had transcended numbers. Everything. This was the end. All that remained was to seep into the world.
‘Grrr! It's not over yet!’
Iruki gritted his teeth. He saw Shirone's score climbing menacingly, but it didn't matter. If Shirone had increased his speed, then he just had to go even faster.
‘A savant's calculations have no limits! Whether it's a trillion or a quadrillion, I'll calculate them all! I'll see the very end of all numbers in existence!’
Iruki's Spirit Zone moved at a speed the human eye couldn't follow. I'll win. I can win! Time remaining: one second! 0.9 seconds! 0.85 seconds! Dammit! Why is time moving so damn slow!
Beep—!
The minute that had felt like an eternity was over. The targets scattered like illusions, and Shirone and Iruki collapsed simultaneously.
Unlike the panting Iruki, Shirone was motionless. He had already lost consciousness.
Iruki lifted his head and checked his score.
1,247 points.
An unprecedented record in the history of the magic academy. It was a score that surpassed Amy's record by a whopping 260 points.
‘Did I win? But why can't I hear anything? What's Shirone doing?’
When Iruki turned his head, Shirone was kneeling, his face buried in his chest, completely still. He seemed to be breathing, but there was an empty feeling, as if life had left him.
Iruki shifted his gaze to Shirone's scoreboard.
1,253 points.
“S-Senior! Shirone, he...!”
“Shirone won!”
Seriel cut Mark off and rushed forward. He had defeated Iruki, a talent who had given even her goosebumps. She felt like giving him a kiss on Amy's behalf. Of course, that was only if Amy would allow it.
The other juniors, not wanting to be left out, headed for the Image Zone. They all offered their congratulations, shaking Shirone.
“Haaaahk!”
Coming to his senses, Shirone's eyes flew open as he gasped for air. His mind, which had been buried in a realm of meaninglessness, was being reconstructed, and things like the names of objects and emotions began to embed themselves anew.
While Shirone's side was abuzz with activity, no one approached Iruki. Only Nade placed a hand on his shoulder.
“You lost in the end. But it was a great match.”
“That's not much of a consolation. You compete to win.”
Nade chuckled and turned his head toward Shirone. He was truly a remarkable talent. To others, it might have seemed like a simple targeting test, but Nade, who knew of Iruki's talent, couldn't even begin to fathom the immense enlightenment contained within Shirone.
‘Congratulations, Shirone.’
Surrounded by students, Shirone didn't look happy despite his thrilling victory; instead, he wore a sad expression.
Etella watched him with a serious expression, lost in thought.
The score difference between Shirone and Iruki was only six points. But in terms of mental speed, six points was an enormous gap.
‘Shirone. Could it be...’
In the final moments of Speed Gun, Shirone's Spirit Zone was completely filled with light. A situation absolutely impossible with the photon output battery. But there was one exception.
‘Did he transcend numbers?’
Numbers are infinite. Even if Iruki performed numerical sequences for ten thousand years, he would never move past the starting point of the journey of numbers.
‘Shirone, since when did you know?’
Numerical sequences strengthen the mind by expanding upon numbers. So, what happens to the mind if one transcends numbers?
It expands into infinity.
Mages refer to this phenomenon as the ‘Immortal Function,’ meaning the function of immortality, but Etella, being a cleric, knew another name for it.
‘Nirvana.’
It's a concept that doesn't need to be taught at the magic academy level—and shouldn't be. Infinity is the realm at the symmetrical point of the finite. The moment one enters it, their individual existence is extinguished.
Tears welled up in Etella's eyes.
‘Shirone. You mustn't. No matter how radiant it seems, no matter how brilliant it looks, the moment you enter infinity, you will...’
...vanish.
Great monks, through long ascetic practices, realize the impermanence of the world and enter the realm of Nirvana, leaving everything behind.
But Shirone was different. For an eighteen-year-old boy who still had to learn about the world and achieve his dreams, infinity was far too dangerous.
‘The fact that he only fainted means it wasn't a perfect entry. But if he had truly entered...’
Etella wiped her tears and approached Shirone. His sad face said it all.
“Shirone, you...”
“I'm sorry, Teacher.”
“Since when?”
“I went on a very long... journey.”
It was a conversation like a Zen dialogue between monks. Perhaps only Shirone knew its true meaning.
Etella couldn't offer any advice. Since Shirone had realized it and stopped on his own, the choice should rightfully be his.
“Don't worry, Teacher. I really didn't know it would happen.”
All Etella could do was look at Shirone with gentle eyes and say,
“Yes, Shirone. I love you.”
The students' eyes widened as they let out strange noises.
“Whaaaaaat?”
A teacher confessing her love to a student. Not only was the situation itself absurd, but the timing was also strange.
Shirone bowed his head deeply with a reverent heart. The profound meaning in Etella's words struck him to the core.
“T-Teacher! Did you just say you love him? There's a whole fan club for you at the academy, you can't just betray them like this...!”
Etella tilted her head.
“Fan club? What's that? And I love all of you, my students.”
“W-What? Is that what you meant? Hahaha! And here I thought! I love you too, Teacher~!”
“I love you too, Teacherrr!”
The male students began to competitively confess their love. Etella, not at all displeased, patted the students' heads.
“Alright, let's wrap up the test. Everyone, gather 'round.”
The students lined up in front of the Image Zone. Having given it their all, their faces showed relief, regardless of the results.
“Good work. It's nice that we finish early on test days, isn't it? Get plenty of rest, and let's resume our training with renewed energy next time. You all worked hard.”
When Etella bowed in the manner of a cleric, the students followed suit—half in jest, half as a sign of respect.
“Thank you for your hard work, Teacher!”
Etella headed down the mountain first to report the test results to the academy. The students, on the other hand, lingered, savoring the afterglow of the incredible duel.
“Shirone! This is great! I'm sure Amy will be happy too. No, wait, will she be angry that her record was broken? Who cares! Her boyfriend won! Hohoho!”
Shirone endured Seriel's chatter with a weary face. He felt like he would do anything to make her stop talking.
As if his prayers were answered, Seriel miraculously stopped talking and looked over somewhere.
Iruki was approaching.
The students watched with intrigued eyes. They were curious to see how the arrogant genius would gloat this time, but the words Iruki uttered were surprisingly bland.
“I lost. It was a complete defeat.”
Shirone shook his head.
“No. I don't think so.”
“There's no need to be humble at a time like this. Especially when you're hearing a declaration of defeat from a genius like me.”
“I really don't feel like I won. This was a targeting evaluation. But the magic I cast at the end hit the entire space.”
“Keke. You're so rigid. That's still targeting, anyway. You just increased the power of the photon output to eliminate everything at once. You won, so don't worry about it.”
“By that logic, the same could be said for you. If you had maximized your explosions, you could have produced a similar effect.”
Iruki clutched his stomach and snickered.
“True, that's one way to do it. But it would take quite a long time to cause an explosion of that scale. Of course, I was pretty desperate back there, so I might have been able to shorten the reaction formula, but I wouldn't have gotten a good result anyway.”
Shirone understood. But Iruki's behavior was so different from usual that he couldn't bring himself to reply. If he could be this gentle and persuasive, why had he been so confrontational before?
“Don't tell me you did it on purpose? To provoke me?”
Iruki blinked as if it were an interesting idea, then brought up something completely unrelated.
“I research explosions. To borrow your words, the kind of explosions that could kill everyone in a city.”
Shirone's brow furrowed slightly.
“But Shirone, you're misunderstanding. An explosion isn't a violent phenomenon. Violence contains the will to harm someone. But an explosion has no will. It's simply energy that is far more powerful than human standards.”
“Just because it has no will doesn't mean people don't get hurt. Because it's people who wield that energy.”
“Exactly. That's why I define an explosion like this: uncontrollable energy. But you know, Shirone, energy is life force. So what would happen if humans could perfectly control explosions?”
Iruki spread his arms wide to express the immensity.
“A new era would dawn. An explosion powerful enough to blow away a city contains enough energy to feed a hundred thousand people. If we could control that, there would be no need for wars to take what belongs to others, and everyone could lead prosperous lives.”
A kind emotion settled on Shirone's face.
“You should have just said that from the beginning. Then we wouldn't have had to fight.”
Iruki gave a bitter smile.
“I told you. Ideals are just ideals. One mage can't change the world. Even if I could control explosions, someone would use that power to kill tens of thousands of people. But Shirone, I'm going to do it anyway. Because someone has to.”
“You shouldn't. I understand what you mean, but that's a choice that will only make you unhappy too.”
“Haha! Right! That's why I said that to you!”
Iruki slumped down where he stood and looked up at the sky.
“Should I just quit here? I could just mess around in Class Five, and if that gets boring, I guess I could go delve into some dungeons. Maybe a dangerous guy like me should never have been born.”
Shirone looked down at Iruki with complicated feelings. What was this kid? An idealist? A realist? Or was he an undefinable eccentric?
“So from now on, you have to take responsibility for me.”
“Huh? Responsibility?”
“You can stop me from running wild. If, in the distant future, the path I'm pursuing leads to tragedy...”
Iruki said in a sincere voice.
“You have to stop me. If you decide I no longer deserve to exist, then end my life with your own hands.”
Iruki's way of thinking was cold. But because of that, he saw the light and dark sides of the path he pursued with perfect clarity.
If it was something that someone absolutely had to do, Shirone thought that the right person for the job had to be Iruki.
“Alright. I'll stop you. No, I'll make sure you never make a terrible mistake.”
Nade, seemingly moved, trembled before throwing his arms around both their necks and heading down the mountain.
“Aaaah! I really like you guys! Let's work hard together from now on!”
Caught in Nade's embrace, Shirone and Iruki looked at each other and smiled. It was the day Class Five's three musketeers were formed.