章 129: Chapter 128: Perfect Phantasm
Gekai had seen dozens of extremely talented individuals over the years. It never lacked them in any manner. Even during the supposed end of the Age of Gods, it remained true.
In the past fifteen years, there was only one person who could be called the incarnation of talent itself.
The Silence, Alfia.
Her epithet came from the fact that the battlefield turns silent whenever she is there. She alone is comparable to a huge army due to her magic. The super-short chant [Satanas Verion] and [Silentium Eden] gave her the means to attack and defend. Her final magic, Genos Angelus], could affect the battlefield on a large scale.
Moreover, she also learned dozens of 'ritualistic magic' that many deemed as useless—simply because she could learn it easily.
As a result, her progress with the Modern Magicka had always been the fastest out of everyone. Her sheer talent was enough to make her learn [Mana Furnace] as well as several Grand-scale Magicka.
Unfortunately, her "illness" had held her back from fully realizing her potential. Mana Furnace was used to hold the illness back while the Grand-scale Magicka could be barely used.
In the end, an interesting question is formed:
"What would Alfia look like without her illness?"
'I shall see that today.' Nobu thought as he went through the plan. 'A chance to reverse her illness to its weaker state before it…'
"Infinitus commuto." (Infinite Conversion.)
A strong psychic chill came out of Nobu. His [Infinite Conversion] state allowed him to harness magical power to the extreme and distort mysteries at will.
A familiar itchy feeling came to his chest.
'Modify the target's state to ten years ago?'
'Confirm.'
In an instant, a distortion swept over her body. Nobu's keen eyes noticed the changes that underwent during this process. The charge targeted her 'entire being', thus she lost the dream organs she had previously formed.
Other than that, she also lost her status as a Creature.
Her eyelids trembled as it happened. It wouldn't be long before she wakes up. Even so, Nobu chose to deal with it at this exact moment.
One of the things he learned when he could see the 'distortion' of the Holy Grail's ability was its remnants. There are bits of distortion that remain every time he uses it on a target—be it a person or a thing.
These remnants are the fragmented 'miracles' that the grail produces. With better knowledge and power, Nobu could still use these 'bits' of miracles to achieve an effect.
"Viri da vis venio verum. Hoc miraculum sum implementum." (Let this man's wish be fulfilled. Let this miracle be fulfilled.)
The entire room was dyed in a golden glimmer. A huge magic circle consisting of hundreds of smaller circles appeared on the ground. The amount of mysteries being distorted at this moment is extremely huge.
The next moment, a 'miraculous' thing happened. Instead of the astral body, what came out of Alfia is her soul. It didn't have any clear characteristics, only a vague outline of Alfia. Still, there is a vague feeling that other people would know it is 'Alfia' just by looking at her.
Using the higher-order property, 'talking' could be skipped. A single glance was all it took for Alfia to 'inform' Nobu of her intention.
'What is this?!'
'Calm down. I'm trying to resolve your problem.'
'Problem? You mean my illness? Isn't that close to impossible?'
'What can you see right now?'
'...'
Perhaps due to her surprise, Alfia did not act like her usual self.
'It is similar to a surgical operation.'
'...This is similar to the creation of dream organs.'
'Yes. I based it off from there.'
'What do you plan to do next?'
'Under this state… It should be enough to 'heal' you completely.'
Several seconds later, they stopped their conversation. Alfia chose to completely trust in him, mostly due to his previous actions as well as expertise.
Slowly, Nobu analyzed Alfia's 'soul' with [Correspondence]. Although this is not the first time he saw an actual soul—as a result of his experimentation from Mana Furnace and Infinite Conversion—seeing one is still a novel experience.
'There goes the confirmation.'
When Mahito uses his cursed technique, what he affects is this exact portion. By modifying the information on the blueprint, he could forcefully turn a living human being into a cursed spirit into a split second—that, or make someone implode with a touch of his hand.
'To the actual process…'
Nobu emulated Mahito's cursed technique by utilizing things from the Modern Magic System. One of them is Aristotle's On The Soul which puts forward the characteristics of a rational soul. Unsurprisingly, his idea became a stepping stone for magicians in manipulating the soul.
Thus, the On The Soul Nobu referred to is the revised version that came from a thousand year lineage.
'Souls are receptive to pain, in turn making sense of touch a fundamental sense. If I go down from here, that 'disease' should be connected to it.'
A soul works in a way that it sends its 'viewer' huge chunks of information with a single look. Fortunately, Nobu wasn't bothered by any of it with the help of his nine partitions.
After a while, he managed to find the 'information' where Alfia's disease lies. He also noticed that things became more metaphysical as he went through this process, something completely normal when it comes to the soul.
'Here it goes…'
*****
The very first thing Alfia saw when she opened her eyes was a stone ceiling… and a pair of golden eyes looking back to her. She didn't see a hint of sweat on him upon finishing a rather major operation.
"How are you feeling?"
"Quite dizzy."
She tried to stand up on the bed but to no avail. Her body felt quite foreign to her. It didn't feel the same as before.
'Light..?'
Being inflicted with a disease that 'shortened' her lifespan every time she used a high-load magic, she felt how heavy the aftereffect was. She was supposed to be bedridden after barely surviving the Black Dragon, but she kept going.
She continuously consumed high-grade potions to keep it at bay. When she was turned into a Creature, that need was alleviated. She no longer felt as burdened as before. Still, she could feel her life slipping away.
Despite the creation of [Mana Furnace] that should have lengthened his lifespan, it was still not good enough in the face of her 'illness'; it merely extended her lifespan to two years.
It is the first time she felt 'liberated'.
"How did you do this..?"
"It's quite a long story." Nobu replied as he chose a wooden chair for himself. "I focused on theories back then. When my power reached this level, they simply caught up. You mustn't underestimate the study of souls back in my world."
"It's self-explanatory… For a civilization to create something such as the [Mana Furnace]..."
After a while, Alfia managed to stand up.
"...I don't even know what to say to you." She bluntly said. "Being this good to others without anything in return… it contradicts the practical side you've shown so far."
"It just works. I stated I would deal with the trouble that I brought to this world."
Within those three months, the times he talked with Alfia was not low. It happened nearly every time he made a trip to the dungeon. Although she made a bad move similar to his King, she is trustworthy enough to keep this world's well-being.
"How about this, then?"
Nobu began proposing something.
"If my world is in trouble, can you lend a hand?"
"...That's it?"
"Yes."
Alfia distinguished his usual 'straight-faced jokes' to a serious statement such as this. She knows it is the latter this time.
She frowned slightly at the prospect of Nobu, an all-powerful Magister who managed to 'modify' her soul, having second thoughts on a certain possibility.
Soon, she regained her calmness.
"I shall do my best."
*****
"Phew…"
It took a few more hours before I settled everything. I sent my King back to England and took care of the affairs back in Gekai before I got this moment of peace.
I laid down on my bed, staring at the ceiling blankly.
Looking at the alarm clock, I still have two more hours before the day starts. I no longer needed sleep as a Magister, but 'resting' for an hour or two feels good enough that we do it anyway.
…
Opening my eyes, I found out that two hours had already passed. My mind felt more refreshed from the brief sleep.
'Two hours is this fast…'
It seems like a sleep normal college students would get. Fortunately, I am already way past that. When I decided to aim for a Master's Degree early on, I experienced it quite a bit but managed to handle it thanks to magicka.
Standing from my bed, I fixed my hair before preparing Shiina's breakfast. It is the usual routine I have done since half a week ago. It reminded me of the normal life that I had a few years ago.
If I hadn't stupidly gone after that Demon…
'Nevermind.'
Thinking about that thing is useless. I am happy as to how I am right now. If I need to do something to win against Suimei's greatest enemy—the Twilight Syndrome—then so be it.
I refuse to believe that there isn't a solution. If there really isn't one, then I shall create one for myself.
Then again, I believe Suimei could handle it. That should've been how it went through the nine iterations I witnessed before. The only unknown thing is the number of things to be sacrificed during that fight.
Without minding the time, I managed to completely prepare everything. All that is left is to wake up Shiina if she still hasn't done so.
As I walked up to the bathroom, I heard a faint sound of water dripping down. I knew she already woke up by herself. As such, I chose to wait in the living room.
"{Goshujin-sama.}"
A familiar sound rang in my ears.
"{I encountered an anomaly.}"
"Anomaly?"
"{It was a dream.}"
Miku began telling me the contents of her dream. From the 'absolute darkness' covering the sky up to a white light splitting it apart, she told everything.
'Darkness… It sounds similar to the one in the vision.'
I recalled the events that my EX-rated developmental ability, [Revelations], showed. It has the effect of guiding me to the most optimal path. That was how I managed to summon forth [Ein Sof]. This was something partially-used when Galahad helped me with it.
I am still studying how to actively use it. Perhaps it would lead to a better outcome for everyone. Once it happens, I could live a better life—one without the worries of Twilight Syndrome and the likes.
'I should really peek at the future later.'
I have a hunch it'll show me something unexpected.
"Nobu."
"You're done?"
I looked back and saw Shiina with slightly wet hair. She used the technique I taught her to easily dry it.
Seeing her becoming slightly more independent, I smiled inwardly.
'Sakurasou is a big no-no…'
Thinking of her possible future within that house, I clicked my tongue. It is best to make Shiina more independent so that she could easily handle things in the future.
Of course, another reason why I am doing it is that I already saw how good it'll be for her to be like that.
For a moment, our golden pupils met each other.
*****
In another possibility, a world couldn't be seen by a certain person, the fight kept going…
Rather, it was already finished.
"...Damn it."
With a sullen look, the current Tower Head tightly gripped his fist. His other arm remained swaying lifelessly on his left sleeve. If one were to look at it, it is badly mangled—to the point it should've been cut down already.
Black spots infested it everywhere. An ominous aura came out of it just by existing.
Bam-!
"You're still alive, kiddo."
The man who entered the Tower Head's office took the cigar in his mouth… and swallowed it. It was a lean middle-aged man with a beard that matched his white hair.
Seeing him, Suimei immediately grasped his other arm and pulled it out.
Psshk-!
Black blood splattered all over the room. Nevertheless, he remained expressionless before throwing the said arm to the middle-aged man.
"You really…"
"It's good we haven't lost you." Suimei stated bluntly.
"Eh… It feels like I haven't done much."
"You already did. If you died, there won't be anyone who could handle these."
The middle-aged man smiled before opening his mouth. Surprisingly, it grew large enough for Suimei's arm to fit within. A second later, not a trace of the corrupted arm could be seen.
The man had a single power: to 'erase' anything he devours. From forbidden cursed items up to corrupted items by Twilight Syndrome, he was the one responsible for serving as their 'disposal site'. His importance couldn't be easily dismissed.
Suimei heaved a sigh of relief as sweat and blood mixed on his mouth.
"We'll have to deal with Reiji's next. His Eternal Freeze kept it at bay."
"Alright, alright."
Within a blink, the middle-aged man known as "Gluttony" saw the aftermath of the Battle Against End.
On this day, every single human learned the horrors that came with them for thousands of years. The strongest of their world came together in an attempt to end the looming end.
It resulted in many sacrifices and heavy casualties, with humanity's population being wiped by two billion. Many high-end powers also lost their lives during this battle. Even the powers from another world, Gekai, also experienced severe injuries as well as casualties.
Just as Gluttony's sight went across a city, he saw a strange incongruence. In the midst of destroyed buildings and rubbles is a completely functional fountain. A white-haired man seemed to be playing an electric guitar as his sole audience watched him.
"...Sigh…"
Suimei sighed at the state of the girl. Ever since a certain someone disappeared and later on revealed to have died, her mental state had always been unstable. Beneath her calm mask lies unpredictableness.
They are fortunate enough that her 'unpredictableness' is aimed towards their enemy.
The golden-haired girl felt the gazes of the two and paid it back.
In an instant, Gluttony saw the 'nigh-infinite' amount of negative emotions stored inside her. They are akin to strings of wool that are tangled for a long time.
A second later, the girl continued painting.
The fifth special-grade sorcerer continued to paint her perfect phantasm in an imperfect world.
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