Chapter 237
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 237
Chapter Title: Little Sister's Theory
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It was the next day when he opened his eyes.
His eyes snapped open early in the predawn hours.
"Mm."
Peering out the window, he saw they were still high in the sky.
Should he step outside?
The thought crossed his mind briefly, but he figured there wasn't much to do out there anyway.
He pulled an old notebook from his dimensional bracelet.
"Where should I even start fixing these..."
As was his habit, he let his pen dance across the page while organizing his thoughts on magic.
"Let's tackle [Volcanic Eruption] first."
Its devastating explosive power and lava surges, combined with the massive volcanic terrain it created, were variables potent enough to shift the entire battlefield.
And if infused with his own attribute, it could rapidly drain the enemies' mana too. In large-scale battles, was there any spell quite like it?
But...
"The biggest issue is the sheer size of the magic circle."
And the mana it consumed was no joke either, making it impossible for one person to handle alone.
"I can't keep borrowing other mages' power every time I use it. Need to find another way."
The first idea that came to mind was a dream spell.
But recreating equations this complex with a dream was beyond even that.
What about enchantment magic, then?
"The problem is paper's durability. The scale's too huge, so compression is essential, but then the paper can't hold up. Making it into a book with extra pages would take nearly five volumes' worth."
Just crafting it would probably eat up a whole month.
He could do it if he had to, but he didn't have the luxury of that much time.
Scratch-scratch-scratch-scratch.
Flip—
The pages flew by at a rapid pace.
Each time, new methods were proposed and discarded in turn.
This, too, was a small epiphany for Jun.
The act itself helped solidify his vast magical knowledge, often yielding unexpected gifts along the way.
How long had he been lost in these magical musings?
Knock knock.
Someone was at the door.
Yet no presence stirred outside.
"..."
He quietly gathered his mana and opened the door.
Flutter flutter...
A single paper bird was pacing in front of it.
"A note...?"
Jun extended his hand, and the paper bird alighted upon it.
Confirming the mana had dispersed, he unfolded the paper.
"Hm."
It was a summons from Lanes.
"I never imagined I'd see you again so soon. After all that in Blackout, you don't seem the least bit worn out."
"I didn't exactly seek out those incidents..."
"Heh, I suppose not."
Jun felt utterly wronged, but Lanes merely chuckled.
"So, what did you need me for?"
"I saw the traces of the magic you unleashed in the north."
"Ah."
He had questions for her about spirit magic anyway.
And right on cue, she'd summoned him first.
"It looked like you summoned a spirit. Was I right?"
"It wasn't intentional, but that was the result."
"The process struck me as utterly novel. Using your attribute as bait to link the spirit realm here."
"Is that so?"
"You probably know this already, but spirit summoners have become exceedingly rare. Even spotting a spirit in this world is no easy feat."
Come to think of it, Ifrit had mentioned being cut off from this world for ages.
'Is it connected to the gods falling into a long slumber?'
For now, it was just a vague hunch.
Not based on any clear reason, but rather the broader worldview that came with reaching the 6th Circle.
"This world has been severed from the spirit realm for centuries now."
"What? Then how do the remaining spirit summoners even exist?"
"Contracts forged before the severance. They've merely extended those, passing them down generations. Even that required the spirits' permission."
As she spoke, Lanes eyed Jun up and down.
"When I first saw you, your internals were a total mess. Without that high priest's unique divine power, even I would've needed months of rest."
"...Yes."
"The worst injury came from that bizarre final spell... but you'd already been gravely wounded before that. The price of unleashing spirit magic, right?"
"Yes."
Her tone was as if she'd witnessed it firsthand.
The eyes of an 8th Circle grand mage could discern phenomena through mere observation alone.
"Connecting two severed worlds with magic? Inevitable backlash. You must've been shocked. Far more mana consumed than your calculations predicted."
"Because the worlds are severed?"
"Exactly. Magic manifests the nonexistent into reality—a miracle. But the grander the scale, the vaster the energy toll."
That explained it. No matter how he crunched the numbers, Ifrit's presence had drained his mana far beyond expectations.
Now the mystery was solved.
"Looks like there's another way."
Jun gazed at Lanes with his silver-gray eyes.
Thanks to that same uncanny perception, she read the emotion in his gaze this time too.
"Ifrit must've told you. Chatty spirit, that one."
"He told me to learn about spirits from you."
"I see..."
Lanes closed her eyes briefly, then opened them.
"Jun. You once asked me why I never announced reaching the 8th Circle."
"Yes."
"The answer is simple: my own stubbornness."
Confusion flickered across the grand mage's face.
A tangle of emotions surged.
Regret toward the past, profound curiosity, soaring anticipation.
Seeing some of it directed at him, Jun inwardly questioned it.
"This'll be a long story."
Lanes' gaze drifted into the past.
The previous emperor's sibling, who had shed her imperial name.
Thus, the name she gave herself: Lanes.
She had one little sister.
Like Lanes, the girl sought freedom through magic, her passion for it deeper than anyone's.
"My sister and I longed to escape the imperial family for ages. It started young, sparked by a traveling magician's show."
Threads of mana danced from Lanes' fingertips, forming a bird.
A mere trifle.
Hardly magic—just mana shaped into form.
But as the bird flapped its wings, the trifle became a miracle unmatched anywhere.
The solitary bird soared freely through the vast room.
Jun's eyes widened impossibly.
'No magical formula at all. Just a fragment of manifested "phenomenon" from pure mana. How is it moving on its own?'
And that wasn't all.
Peep~
The sky-faring bird chirped. As if endowed with emotion, it glided freely before passing through the airship's glass and vanishing back into nature.
"The magician's spell back then wasn't quite like this, but to our eyes, it was boundless freedom."
Thus, the two girls yearned to fly like birds from the imperial cage.
"But my sister had no talent for magic. None at all."
Unlike Lanes, who sensed mana readily, her sister felt none whatsoever.
Odd, for imperial blood.
Soon, they learned why.
"She was born with potent spirit blood. She could never be a mage. She felt spirits instead of mana."
But as mentioned, spirits no longer existed in this world.
That's where the trouble began.
"Her blood was too potent. Yet no spirits here. Her soul began drifting beyond this world, toward the spirit realm."
Like a butterfly shedding its cocoon, her soul sought to abandon her human body for the unreachable spirit realm.
"An inexorable natural law no one could halt. So she desperately sought a way to open the spirit realm's gate."
No easy task.
But not fruitless.
"Fortunately, she had innate insight. She intuitively grasped phenomena and magical flows, building her own theory."
"..."
"The foundation of my magic is that theory. Until she departed for the spirit realm, no mage ever acknowledged it."
With those words, Jun recalled her actions.
Treating all talents equally, regardless of status.
Her fierce desire to reform the rigid mage society.
Her life spoke for her wishes.
"You want her theory... accepted by all mages?"
"...Yes. It's the only way to justify her existence."
He remembered her earlier words.
Her reason for hiding her 8th Circle ascent: stubbornness.
Literally so.
She wouldn't reveal reaching the 8th Circle.
Not until she established the groundwork for every mage to embrace her—and her sister's—theory.
Until all could accept it firsthand.
Only then would she claim her place.
So all could truly embrace, understand, and praise her departed sister's theory.
'That's why she despises the rigid mage society so much.'
A daunting task.
Mages rejected new paths, trapped in their self-made molds, stunting progress.
Countless new roads in the world, yet they clung to stubbornness.
"No mage has matched my vision. Or they've needed far more time."
Even she had struggled to formulate the theory.
Her magic leaned on intuition over insight, and innate blood power defied theoretical explanation.
Then came a turning point.
Jun.
The very reason for her interest in him.
He wielded [Demon God Body], yes.
But his magic was all theoretically sound.
And he'd even opened the spirit realm's gate.
"Perhaps you could embrace my magic."
Thus, the 8th Circle grand mage asked.
Would he become her disciple?
Jun slowly opened his mouth.
"I'm sorry."
A refusal laced with deep regret.