Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: The Archmage's Isolation Realm
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Unfortunately, it was impossible to meet directly with Earl Ludwig Everglow.
If there was an accident en route, I might arrive late to the thesis verification.
Instead, we corresponded by letter...
And regarding countermeasures for the "Empirical Defense Against an Archmage," Earl Ludwig offered this assessment.
"Hmm... we're screwed."
"Isolation Realm?"
Is he referring to the isolated system I know...?
Nah, no way.
Closed systems, maybe, but a perfect Isolation Realm is impossible. The only true one in existence is the universe itself.
These people who barely grasp thermodynamics wouldn't even distinguish between the two.
"...He sounds dead serious."
What happens if you get sucked in?
Unfortunately, Ludwig's letter didn't cover that.
Just assume unconditional defeat the moment you're pulled inside.
...That was the vibe.
In the end, truth eluded me as thesis defense day broke.
Outside the imperial capital's gates.
Eastern sector: Wasteland Mountain.
No birds, no flowers, but a truly beautiful day.
Still, graduate students suffer even now...
A simple spectator stand and arena stood in the basin near the summit.
Last night, some lab's mages must've hauled gear here, cursing "fuck" nonstop.
My original sin runs deep.
Sorry, comrades.
I scanned the surroundings.
The Dean, Valerius, the Princess, countless school heads.
The Empire's top mages assembled.
Before me: Dolloren and Giuseppe.
Giuseppe said to Dolloren,
"School Head. Go easy. Junior Isaac is our school's future."
"...I said I get it."
"..."
Giuseppe clearly didn't buy it.
Moments later, he approached me.
"Can't handle it? Forfeit. No need to go all out."
"..."
Normally, it'd be "You got this," right?
If Giuseppe's like this, the stakes are sky-high.
Soon, the Dean's opening declaration kicked off the defense.
"As the data shows, at constant temperature, pressure and volume are inversely proportional; at constant pressure, volume and temperature proportional. This forms the core of my proposed 'Ideal Gas Law'."
The audience nodded.
Hard to refute.
Any curious mage could verify it experimentally.
Magically proven already.
"Per this law, gas volume shrinks steadily as temperature drops. Extend the graph—what happens?"
Dolloren replied,
"Volume hits zero eventually."
"Correct. At a specific temperature, theoretical gas volume reaches zero. That point sets a universal cosmic baseline."
Dolloren smiled faintly.
"Quintessential survey school thinking."
"Thanks."
"One question: Is zero-volume temperature actually achievable?"
I shot back,
"Impossible."
She cocked her head at my certainty.
"How so firm?"
"Gas nearing zero volume demands near-infinite mana to compress further."
"You breached instant-infinity bounds with calculus yourself. Now infinity's off-limits?"
"..."
"Magic knows no impossible. 'Impossible' just means short on mana, affinity, or control."
"..."
Equating math infinity to physical? Fallacy.
Dolloren pressed,
"Still deem it impossible?"
"Yes."
"Why so convinced?"
"Because..."
Much to say, none answerable.
Even virtuoso pianists need pianos.
This world lacks 'thermodynamics' and 'quantum mechanics'—the piano.
My silence drew her nod.
"Right. Words must halt sometime. Someone draws the line against infinite regress."
"..."
"Now, magic asks."
Her smile vanished.
"Empirical defense proposed."
"...Prove absolute zero's impossibility?"
"No. Me. I'm attacker. I say absolute zero's possible."
"...Pardon?"
Burden of proof on her—got it.
But how?
Great as Dolloren is, impossible stays impossible.
Then Valerius gasped,
"Dolloren! Not that here?!"
Chaos erupted.
"Oh no... she's serious."
"Prepare! Incantations!"
School heads grouped for defenses; even Valerius muttered prep.
Doom loomed.
Know the threat to counter.
Detection magic first, as always.
Intent linking to mana field...
Linking...?
Wrong.
Mana field twisted.
Heh, Dolloren grinned.
Twist's epicenter: her.
Rotating black hole dragging space—the mana field coiled around her.
Ludwig's advice flashed.
...Too late.
This is Isolation Realm.
Flee.
F=ma
I hurled toward opposite peak.
Farther? No.
Twisted field mangles composition.
Now she thumbnail-sized.
...Safe?
Yet afar, her voice crystal-clear.
"Pathetic. Dodge? Flee beyond the range."
Ear-whisper, echo-free.
"Isolation Realm formation. Absolute zero."
⟨ Absolute Zero ⟩
Consciousness blacked.
Mages attaining enlightenment birth a "Tragic Wish."
Humans of boundless desire, granted mana's omnipotence—inevitable.
Yet nature's laws outlast magic, barring the wish.
Mages craft their nature.
Sundered from world, pure projection of wish.
"Isolation Realm."
First Emperor realized it first, banishing Demon King eternally.
His realm's worldly scar leaks otherdimensional beasts still.
Northern monster front's origin.
Not all mages claim clear wishes.
Mana-beloved, dragon-slaying at ten, overripe—what wish?
Dolloren's realm?
Dean recalls her archmage trial.
Her realm: void.
Dean remembers:
Now understood.
"Experiment anything offered."
Pure Dolloren.
As if echoing Dean, she declared,
"Isolation Realm formation. Absolute zero."
⟨ Absolute Zero ⟩
Her-corroded mana field devoured the mountain whole.
I stood in alien space.
Wasteland Mountain intact, sky altered.
Blue ousted by ash-gray.
Fortune: not alone.
Giuseppe, Valerius, Dean, school heads—all here.
Heads murmured,
"No sun, moon—just gray."
"Legendary: own-laws space."
"Yet... unchanged."
Dolloren responded,
"Here, my magic deems absolute zero possible."
Hand toward me: central sphere "something" formed.
Detection reflex.
Normalized: internal temp 0K.
Absolute zero.
Unlike zero-volume vacuum.
There: motion halts.
Thud-thud.
Disaster instinct—heart raced.
Soon: anomaly in zone.
Higher-D slice: pitch-black remnant.
Outline-free, textureless black.
Murmurs swelled.
"What... nothing visible."
"World severed."
"Mana sense fails."
Princess paled to Valerius,
Valerius stiff,
"..."
Dean alone calm.
I refocused black sever.
Knew vaguely: photons etc. bosons annihilated at zero.
Strictly: proper BEC merges light to wave, heat-impact surroundings.
No.
Definitive zero: heat forbidden.
Rule birthed energy-silent blackbody.
"Insane..."
Impossibles piled.
Thermo catastrophe.
Its existence: law-break.
Whooo-!
Fierce winds assailed zero's edge.
Rapid cooldown spread.
Not wind alone.
Mountain moisture froze, expanded—peaks shattered.
Roooar-!
"D-Danger!"
"Defenses now!"
No burial.
Earthflow parted people.
"S-Survived."
Head's relief: Dolloren beamed,
"People don't die. Space rule."
"..."
Nonsense, baffling.
Yet true: body heat intact.
All unshaken by zero-bound winds.
Safeties exist.
...Principle? Unknown.
Overly contrived.
Magic enables?
How?
Zero spawned more havoc.
Rushing air densified centrally.
Light grossly refracted.
Corona-glow surround: subzero neutral plasma.
Dolloren grinned,
"Each speck: centuries' research. Amazing, Isaac!"
She reveled.
Prime materials, yes...
Couldn't grin.
Told her,
"This pace—we all perish."
Words barely out: range collapsed.
Booom-!
Roooar-!
Unhurt again.
But.
Rubble wind-borne to zero.
Ten-thousand tons: handful pitch degenerate.
"Neutron star guts only..."
Naked-eye.
Awe-striking.
Marvel too long? Merge with "handful."
...All here too.
Dolloren nonchalant,
"Relax. People immortal, as said."
Quoted defense back,
"...Such certainty how?"
Instant,
"Mana loves me. My rules unbreakable."
"..."
All archmages...?
Valerius differed.
She,
"Doubt safety? Forfeit defense."
"..."
"But miss this forever?"
Pointed zero.
Doom to most; not me.
Non-reflective blackbody.
Subzero plasma.
Degenerate matter.
BEC.
'Naked-eye elsewhere? Never.'
Craved deeper probe.
Past: science. Now: magic-blend.
Dismantle absurdity.
"Fight itch scratched?"
"Yes."
Anyway... full throttle.
∂u/∂t + u⋅∇u = −1/ρ∇w + ν∇²u + 1/3ν∇(u⋅∇) + g
Hell-wind harnessed somehow.
Energy dump.
E = hν
Zero-rush winds: touch-to-ash inferno.
'Ironball shot' mana x hundreds strike.
Swallow unscathed?
'Work, please...!'
Blazing gale stormed black void.
End.
Density-shock expected: silence from zero.
"Insane..."
My curse,
"Fun try, futile."
"Damn..."
No quit: recompose.
Vacuum now.
No heat-medium: isolate zero.
Composition snag.
Zero-adjacent degenerate.
Variable-equation? Clueless.
Feynman senior baffled too.
Calc-fail: collapse.
Crack!
"Gah!"
Backlash scorched. Rebound.
Done.
Laws warped; magic null.
Whiii-!
Zero-storm: helpless.
Did utmost.
...Postpone master's semester?
Viable.
Master's mere.
Then Valerius telepathed,
Wish?
What.
Soul, image, will, wish... otaku jargon again.
Yet hint gleaned.
Like paradox-extreme force then...
Impose law space-wide.
Which law?
Thermo tower crumbled—what anchor?
Dean's telepathy,
Familiar rule?
Unknown, yet scene surfaced.
Blankly eyed Dolloren.
Heh. She grinned.
"Quit? Master's later?"
"No. Master's slip—professor how?"
"Then? Thesis tweak?"
Never.
Answer found.
Pre-grad ancient recall.
High school to undergrad: endless drills.
All-nighters physics tomes.
Ubiquitous final line.
Hardships born grad's line-absence?
"Isolation Realm formation."
To zero-air, uttered that line.
"—However, friction and air resistance ignored."
Snap.
World blacked.
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