Magic Academy's Genius Blinker - Chapter 246
Chapter 246
The Witch (13)
***
There’s always a way out, even if the sky falls. I came to believe this saying because of what happened when I was fifteen and my parents passed away.
It’s still a numbing and depressing memory to look back on… but since this doesn’t seem like the right time for reminiscing about the past, I’ll skip it. Anyway, I want to say that I’ve always lived with the mindset of “What’s the worst that could happen?”
No matter what happened, there was always a way to solve it somehow, and each time I overcame a crisis, I comforted myself by thinking, “I did it again this time.”
It wasn’t any different after coming to Aether World. I’ve been through so many difficult and harsh experiences here that can’t even be compared to what happened on Earth, but I’ve overcome all those adversities to stand here now.
However, this time might be a bit difficult.
“Try reverse calculating!”
-Impossible due to insufficient mana from the user.
“Then find any method, anything will do!”
-Does not exist.
Listening to the cold voice of the Bulbul Glasses, I chewed on my lip. Watching me, Melisher, sitting on her broomstick, smiled with a relaxed expression.
“Do you understand a little now?”
It’s a bluff. Melisher no longer has the strength to use magic. If I decided to attack, I could kill her immediately.
However…
Would that action have any meaning?
[Impossible]
[Impossible]
[Impossible, impossible, impossible…]
I couldn’t help but feel discouraged by the “impossible” messages filling one side of the Bulbul Glasses.
Releasing the illusion barrier is impossible no matter what method is used. Even if I killed Melisher, I was destined to be trapped here forever.
This situation wasn’t recorded in the Bulbul Glasses either.
Originally, the “illusion barrier” existed for the convenience of boss battles, and it was normal for it to automatically collapse when the player entered and successfully defeated Melisher.
But now, instead of a boss battle, I’m trapped in a “boss room” created for the boss battle with no way out forever.
Is this the difference between games and reality?
I’ve always been careful not to confuse games with reality, but how am I supposed to deal with such a huge variable that occurs despite all that caution?
“Huhuhu, what’s wrong? Have you already lost your will?”
I kept my mouth shut and raised my head to meet Melisher’s eyes.
“If you want, try begging on your knees. Then I might specially…”
[Blink]
“…Huh?!”
I couldn’t stand to see that woman running her mouth anymore, so I flew up towards the sky, and she hurriedly retreated. Since I had already anticipated this, I took out one of the witch hunter’s magical tools and threw it into the air.
[One-Armed Monkey’s Claw]
Swish!
A net shaped like a monkey’s arm sprang out in mid-air and entangled Melisher’s body. However, she clicked her tongue and lightly shook her head, tearing the net to shreds.
But it was enough to bind her feet for a moment, so I approached within arm’s reach and swung my sword, but Melisher sharply bent the direction of her broomstick and plummeted downwards.
There’s a slight gap between blinks. No matter how hard I try, it’s an unavoidable delay to exert the delicate control of distance and the concentration to clearly cut it off.
Most mages would catch that brief opening when facing me, and Melisher was no exception.
Judging that this was my weak point, she tried to draw out magic while falling from her broomstick, but…
Click!
“Sahalen’s Beaker.”
An ancient artifact cherished by witch hunters, it has the characteristic of being able to bind the opponent’s soul with an engraved barrier sealing technique, but that effect only works on novices.
The true power of this artifact is revealed when all the evil spirits sealed inside it explode.
Whoosh!
I threw the beaker at Melisher, who was pointing her broomstick at me, and she hurriedly spread a shield, sensing the danger too late.
“It’s useless.”
Even if it were a magic shield made of physical force, it might be different, but a shield of illusion and fiction created with insufficient magic power can’t block that.
Crash!
…Thud!
An impact sound so cute it’s hard to believe it’s an ancient artifact.
However, the effect was certain.
“Ah, ugh, urgh…”
Melisher, who was pierced through her entire body by Sahalen’s Beaker, suddenly hugged herself tightly as if being crushed, and started coughing up blood.
“Cough…!”
If her magic power had been even slightly intact, it would have been difficult to hit her with such a clumsy throw, but Melisher was already at her limit, so I was able to land a lucky hit.
Melisher, who fell to the ground coughing up blood, rolled around for a while before collapsing on the floor in a corner of Arcaneum’s building.
I didn’t miss that opportunity and approached her using blink, then thrust my sword into her chest with all my might.
Stab!!
“Kugh…”
I missed.
The trajectory of the sword was twisted by a hastily created barrier, and I ended up stabbing her shoulder.
Very shallowly at that.
Crackle!!
I wanted to stab her vital point once more, but red lightning started flashing from her body, so I had no choice but to jump back greatly.
“Haa, ha… disgusting bastard… to think you were hiding such an artifact…”
Melisher, who barely managed to get up using her broomstick for support, raised her head unsteadily. Even while sweating profusely, she forced a smile.
“Hu, huhu. Yes, you might be able to kill me. So… what are you going to do?”
Crash!!
Glass shards burst out of thin air, and cracks started to form in the space. Through the gaps between the torn spaces, a murky void is visible.
Literally a space where nothing exists. The true form of the illusory world created by Melisher’s magic.
Even if her life ends, this world will never disappear, and it will remain in a form of nothingness where no direction, time, space, or color exists… tormenting me forever.
“Hm? Come on, say something. Do you think anything will change if you kill me? You’ll live forever in that hell, unable to die.”
There’s no way.
Killing Melisher isn’t even a second-best or third-best option, it’s just venting frustration. Yet, I pointed my sword at her.
I could cut off her head in the next few exchanges since she no longer had the strength to fight.
But why can’t I move readily?
Guilt?
There’s no way that’s it.
I have no hesitation in killing evil people, and I’m confident that I won’t hesitate when I need to cut someone down.
But… if I really cut down Melisher here, will all methods truly disappear?
That’s what I was afraid of.
“Do you still think there’s a way? You’re so pathetic… You’re no different from other mages after all.”
It’s a variable.
This was just a small accident caused by an unpredicted variable.
Then, I need to introduce another variable. I have always been a variable in this world, so it should be possible this time too.
Even though even the Bulbul Glasses couldn’t reverse calculate the magic, even though none of my physical attacks worked.
Somehow.
If I keep wracking my brains to come up with a method, like before, I should be able to create a “variable” that can completely overturn the story…
“…There’s no way I can create one.”
Once I realized that no magical interference is possible in the illusion barrier, I’ve essentially reached my limit.
All the means and methods I have are blocked. Even the Bulbul Glasses couldn’t come up with any solution, and I have no magical knowledge.
Moreover, I’ve never experienced this situation in the game…
As just an ordinary “person” who is neither a mage nor anything else, there was nothing I could do.
That was the conclusion I reached.
Once I thought that far, the strength left my hand holding the sword.
As I lowered the Terivon Sword, Melisher’s mouth corners lengthened like a shadow cast by the sunset in the darkening night sky.
“That’s the correct answer.”
“You can’t do anything.”
“Did you get cocky because illusions don’t work on you? But what can you do about this?”
Melisher started approaching me one step at a time.
“None of your magic works on me. No matter what magic, artifact, or magical tool you pull out right now, here, it’s useless against my illusion!”
Having reached arm’s length, she bared her teeth and smiled sweetly.
“How does it feel to experience the helplessness of not being able to do anything?”
Melisher whispered to me.
“That’s how I felt.”
She was right.
There was nothing I could do alone right now. No matter what I did… there was absolutely no way to create a “variable” that could completely overturn the story here.
“Submit.”
It was quite a sweet temptation.
“Kneel down and offer me your soul. It might be better than wandering here forever. You’ll live a life worse than a worm as my slave for the rest of your life… but I promise I’ll definitely kill you someday. Hm? Isn’t this quite a good offer?”
Yes.
She wasn’t wrong.
I can’t use magic.
Probably, forever.
Even if I stay here for tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of years without being able to die… I won’t be able to use magic.
How ironic that I possess an item with most of this world’s magical knowledge, yet I’m in a position where I can’t use magic.
Someday, after a very long time passes, the Bulbul Glasses might analyze this illusion barrier.
Then the glasses will say:
“If you use such and such magic in such and such a way, you can escape.”
When that time comes, I’ll despair again. There is no bottom to despair. The moment even a slight hope shines through, you’ll be lifted high into the sky only to fall again.
For me, who can’t use magic, a method that requires using magic is nothing more than hope torture, and that… will completely break my sense of self.
“Now, choose.”
It was the last chance.
She spread her arms wide towards me, completely defenseless without even a shield. If I swung my sword, I could cut off her head immediately at this distance.
“Go ahead and kill me if you dare.”
She was confident.
That I wouldn’t swing my sword.
She was right.
I had no will to swing my sword at all. She was the only escape route left.
And so.
Just as I was about to make my final decision.
…Suddenly, something black fell from the sky.
Thud!!
“…Huh?”
“Ah?”
Melisher and I looked at it almost simultaneously.
It was a familiar appearance.
“Black bob cut, black eyes.”
A small girl wearing a black Stella uniform with beautiful golden trim.
“Flame.”
She raised her head with difficulty.
Was it a coincidence that she looked straight at me without needing to turn her gaze?
Looking at her smiling foolishly, I didn’t have any doubts.
“Wait…”
To be precise, there was no time to have doubts. My sword was glowing again, and it was tracing an arc precisely towards Melisher’s chest.
“This is wrong-”
Stab!
End of Chapter
ComanderAnder
Wait what? Was he having a moral or ethical dilemma? Confusion