Chapter 134: The End of Magic
Shirazawa looked at his work with an appreciative nod.
To him, restoring the wasteland was nothing more than a casual lifting of his hand. Ever since his apotheosis, the raw energy inside his body had ballooned far past his initial estimates, reaching a scale massive enough to fundamentally alter the world. The only catch was that his application of these new powers still required some serious fine-tuning, which would take a good chunk of time to master.
The knowledge D had given them was just a foundation. If they wanted to push their limits and grow even stronger, they had to actively figure out the nuances on their own.
"Let's go, Darling."
"Yeah."
Shiro linked her arm through Shirazawa's, ready to get back to their peaceful honeymoon.
"Wait! My lord! Please allow this old man to follow by your side! Even if it means serving as your lowly footman, this old man is completely willing!"
Old man Ronandt came scrambling after them, clearly lacking any intention of giving up. This was a literal miracle! As long as he stuck close to this master, he was bound to learn an infinite number of things. It was just like his time in the labyrinth; the tricks he had reverse-engineered from the Parallel Minds had benefited him for a lifetime.
Shirazawa frowned. "Beat it before I actually decide to murder you."
"My lord..."
"Scram!"
"My lord..."
"..."
This old eccentric was so utterly consumed by his obsession to unlock the ultimate secrets of magic that he didn't care about dying, which was rapidly draining Shirazawa's patience. The old man desperately clung to the hem of Shirazawa's pants, begging with everything he had.
"This old man has spent his entire life in bitter cultivation, all to unravel the mysteries of magic. My lord, please bestow your guidance upon me!"
The corners of Shirazawa's mouth twitched slightly.
"My lord, I swear on my life that I won't utter a single syllable to anyone else..."
Ronandt prattled on, spit flying everywhere. The more Shirazawa listened, the more irritated he became, until he finally just kicked the old man away.
"Fine. Hit me with your absolute strongest spell."
He decided it was time to give this codger a harsh reality check. Simply put, a guy like this would never give up until he actually learned a lesson. Shirazawa was fully prepared to let him taste the utter despair of a shattered worldview.
"Uh..." The old man hesitated.
"Hurry up, don't drag your feet." Shirazawa urged. He wasn't about to waste his precious romance and bedtime hours on a stubborn old man.
"This old man understands."
Realizing that the master was testing his capabilities, Ronandt instantly poured his entire focus into chanting his absolute best fire-element spell.
"Blazing hellfire, winds of fury, incinerate all that stands and burn away every sin!"
"Meteor Shower!"
A massive, crimson magic array unfurled directly over Ronandt's head. Layer upon layer of dense fire elements coalesced into an angry cloud, condensed into brilliant flaming comets, and came raining down straight toward Shirazawa.
"That's it? Kind of weak," Shirazawa muttered, rolling his eyes.
"It's not that weak. An output of this level is already enough to leave a scratch on Mera." Shiro offered a rare bit of fair commentary to support the old man, but that was about the extent of her praise.
However, the magic show wasn't over yet.
Ronandt wanted to lay out his entire arsenal, so he began weaving the tricks he had reverse-engineered together, unleashing an even higher tier of rapid-fire spells.
"Super Fireball! Greater Fireball! Ultra-Great Fire Dragon Burst...!"
Array after array lit up in rapid succession as Ronandt unleashed a massive barrage of low-tier fire spells all in a single instant. This was a brand-new magical methodology he had personally developed.
Standard mages universally believed that low-tier spells were fast but possessed utterly pathetic destructive power. This mindset was an inherent flaw among magic users because casting usually required chanting, channeling, and building momentum—the longer the process, the greater the output.
Low-tier spells bypassed that entire buffer window, executing almost instantaneously. By using the training methods he had reverse-engineered, Ronandt had repeatedly blasted himself with low-tier spells to forcefully grind his fire affinity, resistances, and skill proficiency. He kept at it until his low-tier spells pack a punch rivaling high-tier magic, effectively birthing the ability to unleash high-tier destructive power instantly.
This shocking methodology was something an ordinary human would never even dream of attempting because the training process was pure, unadulterated torture. It didn't just break the body; it completely shredded one's sanity and mental fortitude. A single slip-up meant dying by your own magic, making it practically indistinguishable from suicide.
But Ronandt's logic was entirely detached from standard common sense; he simply refused to walk a conventional path.
"Hah... hah..."
Ronandt panted heavily, his mana reserves completely bottoming out in a single instant. But as he looked up at the sky tightly packed with colossal fireballs, a smile of pure satisfaction spread across his face.
Honestly, an onslaught of this caliber could easily level an entire imperial capital without breaking a sweat. The master would undoubtedly look at him in a whole new light, take him on as a disciple, and join him in exploring the absolute peak of magecraft. Just thinking about it made his heart flutter a bit.
The overwhelming sea of flames cascaded down toward Shirazawa. Even Julius and Aurel, who were watching from a safe distance, felt the blistering heat wave wash over them, leaving them thoroughly stunned.
"The old man might be a total freak, but his magical accomplishments are the real deal," Aurel noted with heartfelt admiration. Beside her, Julius nodded in absolute agreement. He was incredibly proud of his master. Regardless of his eccentricities, anyone capable of pushing magic to this extreme boundary deserved utmost respect.
Yet, Shirazawa didn't show a single flicker of emotion, a highly enigmatic smile playing on his lips instead.
An output of this level could maybe pose a slight threat to Leest, but if it were Sophia, she could completely shrug off this kind of damage. He casually reached out a hand and traced a light line through the empty air. He was going to show old man Ronandt what the view at the absolute end of magic actually looked like.
"Antimagic Field!"
"Deploy!"
The moment the words left his mouth, a highly familiar, jade-green barrier materialized around him.
Shiro, who was still holding onto Shirazawa's arm, was completely speechless. *So you straight-up stole Potimas's signature skill.* Was he intentionally trying to show the old man how brutally unfair the world could be? This annoying barrier had caused the two spiders a massive amount of grief in the past, and they had absolutely loathed it. Especially when their best magical fields were completely locked down, the sheer suffocating frustration was enough to drive anyone insane.
The Antimagic Field crystallized in an instant, rapidly expanding until it swallowed the entire oncoming sea of fire.
In a flash, the magic nullification kicked in. The violent fire elements permeating the air vanished into nothingness, and the countless massive fireballs collapsed into thin air.
Ronandt's eyes went completely wide, his jaw dropping. "How is this possible?!" the old man shrieked, losing his voice.
The magical legacy he took immense pride in was rendered completely useless before this master! This wasn't magical at all—it defied the very definition of magic! Ronandt stood entirely frozen, completely at a loss for what to do.
But the nightmare didn't stop there. As the barrier expanded to wash over his own frame, every single passive skill running on his body instantly shut down.
"My skills... I can't cast my skills?!" Ronandt was thoroughly traumatized this time. The magic he had spent his entire life researching was completely out of his reach!
"Impossible... how... why is this happening...?" He clutched his staff in absolute disbelief, staring at his trembling hands as if he had just seen a ghost. Was this entire sequence really not a dream?
It wasn't.
Shirazawa let out a soft chuckle. "This is the true peak of magecraft. Keep it in your memory."
"The ultimate end of magic... is the complete absence of magic!"
Leaving the old man standing there like a wooden statue, completely lost in a spiral of absolute shock, Shirazawa turned around and strolled away with Shiro. His existing common sense had been thoroughly turned upside down, and his faith in magic had completely crumbled like a house of cards.
"No magic... no magic..."
"No magic..." He muttered to himself, his mind entirely consumed by those words.
Once they had walked a fair distance away, Shiro rolled her eyes at him.
"You really have a wicked sense of humor."
"To a magic fanatic like him, a move like that is a literal critical hit to the soul." She couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of sympathy for the old codger.
"Well, you have to break down the old before you can build the new. That old man has a highly unique brain structure; who knows, he might actually end up helping us find a way to bypass or counter magic nullification fields," Shirazawa countered, tossing his hands up as he revealed his true motives.
"You're unbelievable," Shiro said, caught between laughing and crying. "By the way, since your raw strength has recovered, does that mean your stamina and constitution have also..."
"The look on your face right now is making me a little nervous." Shirazawa took a half-step back, his lower back already throbbing with imaginary soreness.
"Darling~"
"Hey, hold on, let's at least wait until we get back..."
"Don't you think a quiet little grove sounds way more thrilling?"
"Only if there isn't a crowd watching."
The very next second, the pair vanished on the spot. By the time they materialized again, they were already sitting inside D's two-story modern house back on Earth.
D probably never would have guessed that her private room would end up being commandeered like this.
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