The Falling Star
Woong.
The surrounding mana began to churn violently, wrapping around my body.
A miracle that occurs when one's realm ascends.
It was a setting from the original novel that often staged dramatic scenes. Though it wasn't on the scale of the miracles that accompanied a transcendent's ascension, a portion of the island's mana still began gathering near my heart.
The fifth circle, and the witch's mana.
Two forces that could never normally intertwine began to entangle and vibrate violently.
"My lord…! That power…!"
Seria's trembling voice came from behind me. To her eyes, it must have looked as though I had become a black mage.
"I'm fine. Fall back."
After sending Seria away, I fixed my gaze forward.
The SI-07, a one-time-use beam cannon that had been overhauled so it could fire only once by grinding up the chief mage and the blacksmith. The compressed mana stone inside the barrel was inscribed with countless amplification magic circles.
I didn't have time to solve the problems.
Unable to resolve the issue of the barrel melting from the generated energy, I could only make it disposable. And that was back when I was only a fourth-circle mage.
The mana now raging in my heart was on an entirely different scale. I couldn't be certain whether the beam cannon could withstand this immense energy—the fusion of fifth-circle mana and the witch's mana.
But the gamble was worth taking.
I placed both hands on the SI-07. There was no separate trigger mechanism.
Woong.
The gray mana flowing from my fingertips began resonating with the mana inside the barrel. As energy far exceeding its limits poured in, the barrel—engraved with cooling magic circles—glowed crimson in an instant, and a vibration that felt as though it would explode at any moment rippled outward.
"Just a little longer. Hold on a little longer."
The speed at which I compressed and fired the energy had to outpace the rate at which the barrel melted. The steel composing the barrel couldn't withstand the heat and began dripping away. Yet the mana extending from my hands was one step faster, swallowing every mana stone inside the barrel and condensing it into a sphere of light.
The target is Lexion, the Empire's admiral, still preparing his mental-image attack from the sky above.
The moment firing preparations were complete, Lexion—who had sensed the massive mana wave—lowered his head and looked down at me. Asterion's gaze through the demonic eye had also turned fully toward me by now.
It doesn't matter.
Feeling threatened, Lexion redirected his attack toward me. But I was faster. The beam cannon's projectile traveled at 299,792,458 m/s in a vacuum.
You're slower than light.
No matter how transcendent one was, nothing with mass could surpass the speed of light.
"Explode."
The light that left the barrel even outran sound itself.
A flash.
The moment the ashen beam shot from the muzzle, every color along the eastern coast was swallowed by white radiance. Even the tidal wave Lexion had been bringing down on me seemed frozen in place before the trajectory of light.
The energy contained within the beam instantly evaporated the seawater in its path, streaking straight forward and piercing Lexion's heart with perfect accuracy. Because he had drawn up his aura to protect his body while preparing his mental-image attack, even a transcendent's physique offered no defense.
The ashen flash erased Lexion's entire left chest without meeting any resistance. Lexion's eyes filled with bewilderment as he tried to act, but every movement was meaningless before the speed of light. And after that fleeting instant passed—after the light had painted the coast white—a thunderous roar shook the entire shoreline.
Boooooom!
Kraaaaaaaaang!!
Seawater from all directions rushed in to fill the void left by the evaporated ocean along the beam's path. The parted sea crashed back together. The impact sent a pillar of water soaring into the sky, and the collapsing waves swallowed what remained of the imperial fleet without exception.
"Kgh…!"
"Aaaagh!"
"We're sinking…!"
The hundred-plus imperial ships that had filled the strait were shattered by the waves. The imperial soldiers who had survived thrashed in the water before sinking beneath the sea.
Hisssss.
The SI-07 that my hand had touched finally melted completely, unable to withstand the heat.
"Haa… haa…"
"My lord…!"
As I barely stayed upright on trembling legs, Seria, who had approached at some point, supported me.
"My lord! Are you all right?!"
Concern for me outweighed any questions about the attack that had just occurred in Seria's voice.
"I'm fine. I just overextended my mana and lost some strength, that's all."
Leaning on her shoulder, I looked up at the sky. The heavens had been cleanly pierced through the clouds. The vortex and mana storm Lexion had created were already gone. And then—something fell toward the sea, scattering blood through the air.
It was Lexion's corpse, his left chest completely erased without a trace. His expression was vacant, as though he hadn't even understood why he had died. The transcendent's sense of omnipotence that had seemed ready to claim the world moments ago, his twisted affection for a single woman, even his pride as the imperial admiral—all of it scattered as sea wind passed through the empty cavity where his heart had been. The empty shell that had lost its master plummeted into the sea.
Splash.
A new star's fall. I could hardly believe I had brought it about with my own hands.
With Lexion's death, Asterion's gaze filling the sky grew even heavier.
"What are you looking at?"
I raised my middle finger toward the sky.
Creepy bastard.
His eyes stared at me for a moment longer before gradually fading away one by one, as though he had lost interest. Once Asterion's gaze had completely vanished, the unpleasant sensation that had been crawling over my body disappeared with it.
This incident had confirmed something for me.
Asterion fears the birth of the great witch.
Fortunately, nothing else headache-inducing occurred.
"Ugh…"
As my legs gave out and I staggered, Seria caught me in an embrace-like hold.
"My lord! You mustn't push yourself. I'll call the medics at once—!"
"No, I'm fine. It's really over now."
The imperial main fleet that had been boasting its might until moments ago now left nothing but floating planks on the sea. The imperial soldiers who had barely survived clung to the drifting wood, crying out for rescue. With even the admiral they had trusted and followed dead, they no longer possessed any will to fight.
I squeezed out the remaining mana and opened the communication network.
> All batteries. Cease fire.
My voice reached the knights stationed throughout the eastern coast.
> Admiral Lexion, the enemy commander, has been killed in action. Accept the surrender of the remaining forces and proceed with post-battle cleanup.
A brief silence followed my words over the network, then cheers began erupting from every corner of the island.
"Waaaaah!"
"Victory! We defeated the imperial fleet!"
"Long live the kingdom! Long live Lord Ian!!"
The eastern naval battle of the Espada Kingdom.
We had completely crushed 133 imperial ships and a Sword Master.
"Let's head back, Seria."
"Yes, my lord!"
Supported by her, I turned around.
@@@
The next day.
Crown Prince Callian's office.
A suffocating silence filled the room.
"Say it again."
The intelligence chief, prostrated on the floor, spoke with a trembling voice without daring to raise his head.
"…A report has come in that the 133 ships of the southern fleet dispatched to the eastern coast have been annihilated. There are very few survivors, but they are all currently detained by the kingdom, so we have been unable to obtain detailed testimony."
Callian's expression twisted.
"Annihilation of the fleet? Well, they could have been swept away by currents or fallen to tactics. But that's not what I'm asking about, is it?"
Crash!
Callian slammed his desk.
"Lexion. The entire empire clearly felt that he had reached the realm of Sword Master."
Yesterday afternoon, a wave announcing the birth of a new transcendent had also reached the imperial skies. Though it was weaker than those of other transcendents, the energy was undoubtedly that of someone who had ascended. The imperial faction had rejoiced at the birth of a new Sword Master in the empire, while the noble faction had grown tense. But that sentiment hadn't lasted even a few minutes.
"He was extinguished before he could even fully demonstrate his power as a transcendent."
Callian's voice was laced with doubt.
"Who killed him?"
At his words, the intelligence chief lowered his head even further.
"Th-that is… We currently suspect the King of the Magic Kingdom."
"…The King of the Magic Kingdom?"
"Yes, Your Highness. The moment the admiral ascended, reports came in that the Magic King's mana was detected in the skies above the eastern coast. Furthermore, all detection magic was subsequently severed by his mana."
"He judged it a violation of the rules, then."
Even so, it was too fast. The empire hadn't been disobeying his rules all this time, and he wasn't the type to execute someone on the spot without a single warning.
"Did the Espada Kingdom and the Magic Kingdom join hands?"
This is troublesome.
With the information Callian currently possessed, that was the only conclusion he could reach.