The Turning Point of the Scenario
In front of the entrance to the Demon Palace at Jerion Academy, a young noble with long, silver hair tied back stood waiting. His name was Nia Cynthia. An active-duty Magic Knight, he was one of the empire's most promising prospects, even designated as the successor to the Master of the Yellow Magic Tower.
As Nia approached the entrance of the Demon Palace, the guards, who had been notified of his arrival beforehand, saluted him.
"At ease," Nia said, acknowledging their salute as he walked past them toward the entrance. He raised his hand and reached out toward the barrier.
Crackle!
The moment his fingertips brushed the boundary, a spark erupted, pushing him back. As expected. He had entered the Demon Palace frequently during his days at Jerion Academy, but now, the labyrinth no longer permitted his entry. Attempting to force his way in would undoubtedly result in instant death, his body charred to ash.
Nia clicked his tongue, rubbing his slightly singed fingertips. His magic had progressed by leaps and bounds since his academy days. Yet, he could not bypass even a fraction of the barrier erected by the Evil Zone.
Vile bastard. Nia grimaced in disgust. To erect such a barrier, allowing only children—who stood no chance of reaching him—to enter and fight his Apostles. It was petty and cowardly beyond measure. And that was precisely why Nia had come to test his magic today. He refused to leave everything to children any longer. That was his purpose here.
This was also the primary reason Nia had aligned himself with the 1st Prince. The 1st Prince was a reformist. He sought to overhaul broken systems and invested aggressively in anything worth testing. His approach was vastly different from that of the 3rd Princess's faction.
The 3rd Princess's faction always said of the 1st Prince's supporters: Reform is harder than revolution. Ironically, this very sentiment was what drove the 1st Prince to focus on rallying the existing establishment rather than relying solely on the rising generation.
Though the 1st Prince often appeared reckless, he was a deeply calculating man.
To realize the ideal empire he envisioned, the 1st Prince was a man who sought to grasp the present in his hands to forge a path toward the future. Nia had been deeply moved by him. The 1st Prince was undoubtedly a man fit to be an emperor, capable of transforming the empire into what it ought to be.
I shall seize the present. Therefore, be my future. For a vassal, no words could be more profoundly moving. Nia had gladly accepted the 1st Prince's offer, vowing to place him on the throne.
What I accomplish today... would be one of the stepping stones toward the 1st Prince's future. Nia began pouring chemical reagents onto the ground. Drawing his wand from his hip, he used the liquid to trace a magic circle.
After taking his time to complete the intricate array, Nia tapped his wand firmly against the center of the magic circle. Instantly, the mana within his body began to surge violently.
Magic was an act of defying the laws of the world. A mage's true caliber was measured by how effectively they could blind the eyes of the world to bend those laws. In evading the world's gaze, Nia possessed a natural, peerless talent.
The magic circle beneath Nia's feet began to radiate a brilliant light. An incantation designed to deceive the world flowed from his lips.
Youth-Restoring Magic
The moment the magic circle unleashed its full radiance, Nia vanished into the light. Step. A moment later, a young boy stepped out from the fading glow.
The boy, appearing to be in his mid-teens, wore the oversized Magic Knight uniform Nia had just been wearing. He was the spitting image of Nia's childhood self. Nia clenched and unclenched his fists. He could feel his body had shrunk. His face and skin felt remarkably youthful.
Controlling the exact age is still difficult. He had aimed for his late teens, but he had ended up in his mid-teens instead. It was proof that the magic was still incomplete. Furthermore, the amount of mana residing in his body had plummeted compared to his original state.
As mentioned, magic was an act of deceiving the world. To successfully pull off the deception, Nia had to forcibly suppress his original mana. While he would recover his full power upon returning to his true form, there was a strict limit to the mana he could wield in this state.
No wonder youth-restoring magic has never been widely adopted. It would be a different story if one could retain their original strength while becoming younger, but growing this weak made it incredibly difficult to perform well inside the Demon Palace. Moreover, very few people could cast youth-restoring magic to this degree in the first place.
It was only possible because Nia was a Magic Knight of exceptional talent and skill. Ordinary mages wouldn't even dare to attempt it. The risk of one's body turning into something entirely different during the process of deceiving the world was far too high.
Besides, as of right now, it's not a spell I can cast on anyone other than myself. It was a magic with many flaws left to correct. Yet, Nia was determined to perfect it. If he could, a direct confrontation with the Evil Zone would no longer be a mere pipe dream.
Now, then. It was time to test if he met the entry requirements of the Demon Palace. Nia reached out toward the entrance once more. This time, unlike before, his hand passed through without a single spark. Nia's eyes widened. It worked. He could actually enter the Demon Palace.
"Lord Nia Cynthia, you succeeded!" the guards exclaimed, their faces filled with awe and astonishment. This success meant they had taken a monumental step forward in conquering the Demon Palace.
"Yes. I will be back shortly."
"Won't it be too dangerous, milord?"
"I have entered the Demon Palace more times than I can count over the last three years. If I am in danger on the first floor, I might as well never set foot in here again."
Telling the guards not to worry, Nia stepped inside.
Soon, the interior of the Demon Palace unfolded before his eyes. Overhead, the artificial sun created by the labyrinth beat down on him. Since the Apostles had been cleared out not long ago, the Gray Forest remained unchanged, wrapped in a quiet silence. There was no trace of any Apostles. It wasn't the season for them to spawn.
Nia exhaled softly. Stepping into the Demon Palace after so long, he felt a strange pressure he had never experienced before. Though his mana pool had shrunk, his honed senses as a mage remained intact. Perhaps that was why he could faintly perceive the presence of the Evil Zone residing in the deepest depths of the labyrinth.
It took his breath away. What kind of monster was he dealing with? Even from this immense distance, the entity managed to imprint a primal fear into his soul. At this level, I'm still nowhere near ready. Nia clicked his tongue. He realized he still had a long way to go in researching his youth-restoring magic.
Let's head back. He had proven he could enter. Believing this alone was a massive achievement, Nia was about to turn around when—
Shiver.
A sudden, chilling sensation crept up his spine.
The moment Nia slowly turned his head—
Creeeeak!
A pitch-black entity, vaguely resembling a human silhouette, was tearing itself free from the wall of the labyrinth. Black fluid dripped onto the ground as it emerged. Simultaneously, a long cord connected to the creature's abdomen snapped and severed.
Nia's eyes widened in instant realization. An Apostle. An Apostle had just spawned out of nowhere. At this time? He didn't know why. No matter how much one researched the Demon Palace, it remained an unpredictable place. Nothing that happened here was beyond the realm of possibility. Perhaps the labyrinth itself had faintly sensed Nia's anomalous existence—an entity that had entered by deceiving the laws of the world. In response, the Demon Palace had dispatched a countermeasure.
Nia drew his wand. Having identified his opponent as an Apostle, he did not hesitate. Though his mana was depleted, his foe was a newborn. Just as Nia channeled his mana to strike the Apostle down before it could fully form—
Fizzle!
The mana gathering at the tip of his wand suddenly died out.
"What?!"
That wasn't all. The remaining mana in his body began to be violently sucked into the wand. A dark, crimson light, unlike anything he had ever seen, began to spread from the wood.
"Ugh?!"
Nia let out a panicked cry and tried to fling the wand away. However, the mana surging from the wand greedily bound his hand, locking it in place. The moment Nia saw this, he realized the truth. This power... could it be a Unicorn's Horn?
The Mystery of the Unicorn. A bizarre Mystery that hunted and devoured the mana of underage, immature beings. This wand had been crafted by melting down a Unicorn's Horn. The Unicorn was an incredibly peculiar entity. It was a master of stealth, capable of hiding its presence so perfectly that even highly skilled mages would fail to notice it until it had completely devoured their young mana.
Thus, there was a saying: The Unicorn is a Mystery invisible to adults. That was why Nia, despite being designated as the successor to the Magic Tower Master, had failed to sense the Unicorn's Horn embedded within his wand. However, Nia was currently in a youth-restored state. The Unicorn's Horn, which had remained completely dormant whenever he used his magic before, had finally begun to exert its true power.
Panic washed over Nia's face. This wand had been custom-made by a blacksmith recommended by a close acquaintance. For a Unicorn's Horn to be hidden inside it could only mean one thing. A trap. Nia realized he had been betrayed by his acquaintance. He didn't even need to think hard to know who was pulling the strings. The 3rd Princess's faction. It was undoubtedly a trap laid by them.
"Damn it!" Nia cursed, straining with all his might to let go of the wand. But the Unicorn's Horn only devoured his mana with greater greed, refusing to detach.
Crack, snap!
In the meantime, the Apostle had fully formed.
With a hard carapace covering its back and massive blades extending from both hands, the Apostle rolled its eyes around before locking its gaze onto Nia. Its four pupils spun in a grotesque circle.
"—!"
The Apostle let out a deafening roar. It kicked off the ground, charging straight toward Nia.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Without mana, a mage was utterly defenseless. To make matters worse, Nia's body was younger, and he had yet to fully adapt to his altered physical state. Nia desperately threw himself aside to dodge, but the Apostle was already right in front of him.
Am I going to die? Just like this? He hadn't even fulfilled the 1st Prince's ambitions. He hadn't seized control of his family to ensure his sister, Nikita, could live freely without being shackled by their household. He couldn't even keep his promise to his deceased mother. As his life flashed before his eyes, a desperate cry echoed in his mind. No! Just as Nia prepared to force his remaining mana to go berserk for one final, desperate struggle—
Claaaaang!
A boy stood in front of him, intercepting the blow. He was a black-haired boy, even shorter than the youth-restored Nia. The moment Nia saw him, his eyes widened in shock.
"You..."
Hanon Airey. He was a member of the student council, just like his sister, Nikita. The boy let out a sigh of relief as he looked back at Nia.
"I made it in time."
Then, his crimson eyes locked onto the Apostle. Raising the edge of his hand like a blade, Hanon let out a cold, sharp smirk.
"They really rolled out the red carpet for a guest."
Then I'll have to chew it up and swallow it whole.