[626] Prajna's Magic (3)
A white radiance swallowed the Colosseum's vista, and the audience could see nothing.
Only the analysts linked to the main system were scanning the battlefield through code.
"That's the Ataraxia barrage."
It was a wide-area projection spell so emblematic of Shirone that Spirit Magazine had even featured it.
"What's the impact amount?"
"About 18 million Crash."
That was seven times the power of Ataraxia's melee photon cannon, but by now numbers didn't startle anyone.
When the glare faded, the spectators' eyes swept across the vast Colosseum field.
"Unclear."
Most of the participants were clustered at the Colosseum's edge; only Eden stood in the center, holding an Absolute Barrier.
"Ughhh!"
She had once stopped Ataraxia's photon cannon in the Scramble Royal, but in the 2000 System there was no draw ruling.
"He hit her square on."
Shirone had managed to cleave the high-output mass wave with his body as a blade, but the impact was beyond what Eden could endure.
"Check the parameters."
"Her mental strength has dropped to two percent. It was close—unlucky for Shirone's side."
"No. I think he knew."
As Baikal finished speaking, Shirone stepped forward and began channeling the photon cannon.
'No one here is weak.'
He didn't obsess over fighting the whole crowd; he put everything into toppling the enemy in front of him.
'I'll take Eden out first!'
Climbing step by step was the only path to the top of the pyramid.
"Hah!"
Eden tilted her local shield, and the photon cannon's flare glanced off at an angle.
"Good choice. Lowering the tilt has the same effect as thickening the barrier."
'Then…!'
Watching the participants surging up behind Eden, Shirone compressed the photon cannon in his right hand.
"Yaaaah!"
The sphere of light, trembling beyond the domain of vibration, stretched outward through Magical Action.
"Projectile speed: 400 meters per second!"
The photon cannon, flying at supersonic speed, slammed into the barrier again and made Eden's head ring.
"Guh!"
At that velocity, the impact didn't spread over the slope—it concentrated to a point.
"Eden! Attack!"
Shirone teleported into her embrace and fired the photon cannon; Eden opened her arms.
"You lost, Shirone."
A crushing blow struck her brain, and the bracelet on Eden's Spirit Zone lit red as the Spirit Zone vanished.
- Participant No. 25 has exited the 2000 System.
Leaning his full weight on Shirone's shoulder, Eden heard Shirone's voice at her ear.
"Good work."
Her eyes slid shut.
"Thank you."
A devout follower of the Yor faith, Eden's record would show she used no violence until the end.
"Finish them now! No second chances!"
If Shirone reopened Ataraxia now, eliminations would come in droves.
He pushed off the ground toward the participants sprinting from the Colosseum's edge.
Eden fell unconscious to the ground, and a streak of light reached the center of the twenty-six.
"You're gonna see this through to the end, huh?"
When Boyl cast Ascension, a blue-skinned Gaos crackling with faint electricity appeared.
"Oh?"
Spines ran along its spine, and where a tongue should be was a muzzle-like opening in its jaw.
"There's a functional change. Mongsa."
Mongsa—altering a creature's form to change its function—was one of the most difficult Ascension techniques.
"I haven't seen this in a graduation test."
Instead of raising tiers, Boyl had trained Mongsa solely to pass the graduation exam.
"Go! Gaos!"
Kraaaaar!
The electric-blue Gaos lashed out with its claws; Shirone teleported back to create distance.
"Now!"
Closer's Eruption detonated in place and Sabina's Wind Cutter sliced through the air.
Fire Strike, Ice Wave, and the thirty-six prescribed magics, all amplified by Suavi's buff, poured in.
'Sibulsangpokmae!'
Distorting space-time, Shirone rode the flash beyond the radius and a Screamer's back-kick slammed into his abdomen.
"Ugh!"
The air burst outward and Shirone's body was flung away.
"It landed properly!"
A Screamer's specialty was physical attack—not magic—so if it connected, any mage could be killed instantly.
"Air pressure increase detected. Air Shield engaged."
Compressing air around his abdomen saved him from death, but it was a desperate use of magic outside his specialty.
"Damn! That was close!"
As Screamer seethed, Kongur drew dozens of steel wires from between her palms and charged.
'Shirone. You're pretty cute, you know that?'
Kongur's appearance was deceptive—though feminine-looking, she wielded steel-level mage magic with brutal efficiency.
"Fences of Death."
When she spread her arms, the wires launched like a torrent toward Shirone.
Barbed every ten centimeters, they would shred anyone caught without time to react.
"Hah!"
Shirone twisted his waist; the wires grazed his abdomen, bent, and slid free.
"Missed…!"
'You can't dodge my love that easily.'
The wires curved like burning hair and sliced across Shirone's arms and legs.
The mental shock slammed his brain; Arin cast Shadow of Capture to bind Shirone's body.
"Canis! Now!"
'Power of Darkness.'
From Canis's shadow extended saw-blade-shaped darkness aiming for Shirone's throat.
"Guuuh!"
With diamond-like mental fortitude, Shirone shattered Arin's spell and, with no time to evade, unleashed Rampage.
Patter—patter—patter—patter!
The Power of Darkness scattered like charred paper, yet Canis's lips curled into a sneer.
"I figured you'd do that."
Light and Shadow—Avatar reversal.
The shadow beyond the veil of light ballooned like a blister and suddenly pierced the Rampage.
'He pierced the light?'
Shirone, struck by the Power of Darkness, was swallowed by the shadow and pushed back to the Colosseum's edge.
'Don't be so surprised. I prepared that technique only to bring you down.'
"Seems like it still won't work…."
As Shirone was forced back, small sighs of regret leaked from the stands.
"Who can you blame? You brought this on yourself."
Emotionally similar to the audience, Baikal nevertheless remained cool in his scout's assessment.
"It was probably the only option. I'll concede that. But you must also admit that it's impossible now."
Elizabeth reported, "His percentage has fallen to seven percent. If he can't recover, he'll be eliminated."
"Goooooo!"
Kaden, chanting Cross Sword, took the lead while the other participants raced to follow and equipped their magics.
"What will you do now, No. 27? If you can't show us anything more here, your graduation exam is over."
"Hoo—"
Shirone exhaled and expanded his Spirit Zone; every participant's eyes widened at once.
"What the—?"
Elizabeth read a change in the main system.
"It's Slow magic."
Time-slowing using light acceleration was wondrous, but photonization was basic for any mage.
"Hah! So all that's left are parlor tricks!"
Almost at once, participants equipped photonization batteries and the slowed time snapped back to normal.
'Shirone, Slow isn't meant for this.'
Unless you stabbed holes with instant magic circles like Dante, Slow was a tactic that only worked on ignorant brigands.
"Huh?"
Suddenly the Slow lifted.
As the participants felt the change, the analysts in the VIP section winced with headaches.
"Ugh!"
Hearing Elizabeth's groan, Baikal said, "They can't adapt, it seems."
The error that Sibulsangpokmae induces struck the analysts' brains directly.
"That's part of it, but this one's different."
"Different?"
"It's not time."
Elizabeth hesitated, searching for the right words.
"Space exists simultaneously.
Sibulsangpokmae—Force Dimension (4th-dimensional combat space)."
"What the hell is that?"
The charging participants froze, dumbstruck by what unfolded before them.
Twelve Shirones stood there, each holding a photon cannon in his palm in different poses.
"An illusion spell?"
As the first Shirone fired a flare, photon cannons erupted from all directions.
"Damn!"
Diving in, Kaden deflected light with Cross Sword and Dante's instant magic circle collided with overwhelming force.
"Ugh!"
From the defenders' faces alone, the participants could guess what was happening.
"They're not illusions."
All twelve Shirones were real.
"Is that even possible?"
Baikal's question went unanswered.
"This isn't just an analyst's call. But numerically, it appears No. 27's time-distortion ability has been rendered through spatial coordinates."
The only one who could give a definitive explanation was Miro, who first detected Sibulsangpokmae.
'Time and space are fundamentally one system.'
When Sibulsangpokmae is activated, countless possibilities—including pasts and futures—materialize as golden threads.
'If you then use the temporality of Slow magic to add another dimension…'
Possibilities that existed only as such overlay onto real coordinates.
In other words, he governed a fourth-dimensional space—the same mechanism Gehhin used to create the Istas upper layers.
Slow magic's temporal energy was consumed to maintain the Force Dimension, so time flowed normally; the issue now was space.
"Damn it! Where does something like this come from!"
The intimidation of twenty-six people pressing one Shirone vanished in the face of having to fight twelve Shirones.
'We can still fight like this.'
The Force Dimension's effectiveness depended on the level of Slow magic; Shirone's current four-dimensional combat space covered a sphere twenty meters in diameter.
Not huge, not tiny—but everyone knew fighting inside it would be suicide.
"Everyone out! Get out of here!"
As all participants retreated toward the Force Dimension's boundary, the twelve Shirones flashed their eyes, searching for targets.
"The tide has turned!"
Having victory snatched away and being forced into retreat, even Baikal was at a loss for words.
"Avatar techniques aren't a measure of strength but of attainment. So you don't see instant effects, but…."
Miro followed Shirone's movements and said, "Their advantage is you can graft them onto any magic."
'Now!'
Shirone gritted his teeth and fired the photon cannon.
4th-Dimensional Combat Method—Quantum Superposition.
The twelve Shirones overlapped in reality and simultaneously unleashed blazes of light at Boyl.
"Gah!"
Concentrated impacts struck his back from all directions; a massive shock rolled through and Boyl crumpled to the ground.
- Participant No. 17 has exited the 2000 System.
Participants who had barely escaped the Force Dimension stared blankly at the fallen Boyl.
Even then, the twelve Shirones in the four-dimensional combat space kept their sights on all the participants.
'Damn it! How the hell are we supposed to beat someone like that?'
The pressure that gave everyone a headache was worse than the blunt assaults of Infercus in the first evaluation.
"All the techniques learned through countless situations were integrated into a single avatar called Sibulsangpokmae."
Miro propped his chin on his hand and smiled with satisfaction.
"That's when Prajna's magic begins."