In a blur of consciousness, I erected the magic.
I stretched out my hand. I waved at the void. The magic circle unfolded. My magical power was drawn into it. Is it lacking? No, it’s not lacking. My calculations were perfect.
The cost?
Already paid.
The completed magic circle. I slipped my hand inside.
At the same time.
Fried blood, spilled blood, splattered blood seeped into the wound. The gaping wound healed. Warmth surged in my cooling body, and my wobbling form regained its balance.
I exhaled the rough breath and glanced down.
I confirmed that my torn clothes returned to their original state and tidied my messy hair.
Then I reached out to the Nameless One, who was walking toward the door of Paradise. A mass of pure magical power was shot forth. It divided into countless threads and blocked its steps.
“Oh? Weren’t you dead? You should’ve been dead! What was that bizarre act just now?”
The Nameless One, with wide eyes as if genuinely surprised, asked while breaking the threads that bound its legs.
I ignored its words and looked at Noah.
Noah was also looking at me with a face full of questions.
“Curious about the magic I just created? Want to know how it works?”
Ugh- Noah slowly nodded her head.
Just now, I died.
More precisely, my body died.
How could I live when my heart, the most vital organ of a human, was pierced?
Yet, I remained alive because I transferred my soul into Noah’s consciousness just before the attack.
The dead body was rebuilt based on the memories and physical sensations Noah had drawn of me.
Right. This body and its organs were not originally mine.
They were newly created with the combined information of the sensations in Noah’s memory and my own.
A bit unsettling, but…
It doesn’t matter anymore.
So, should I say this or not?
If I say it, how would I explain it?
In that fleeting moment, I pondered a lot.
I quickly decided on my answer.
“I won’t tell you.”
“…What?”
“You kept a secret too, didn’t you, Noah? So I won’t say anything either.”
This arrogant kiddo.
I had been waiting to hear what they would say, but they didn’t reveal their plan until the very end.
They blabbed about how friends should have no secrets and were trying to take a huge secret with them to the grave. An incredibly arrogant and wicked little one.
Well, that’s that.
If I think that I died trying to protect them, that fragile kiddo would surely feel guilty.
If that happens, they’d likely want to sacrifice themselves again.
I don’t want to see that kind of sight anymore.
I want to see them smile, not despair.
Noah looks best with a silly grin.
So, I won’t say anything.
“I was going to let you go, but it’s annoying now. Just stay tied up there.”
I clicked my tongue and turned my back.
My movements were natural. My breathing, voice, sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste—everything was just like my original body.
A natural result.
Since I thought of and created the magic, it couldn’t be anything less than perfect.
Satisfied, I nodded and continued my actions, when suddenly, crack- I heard the sound of chains trying to break free. I turned to see the culprit, Noah, and chuckled.
“Noah. If you want that to be freed, from now on, listen carefully to everything I say, the magic I use, and the miracles it creates. If you remember every little thing without missing anything, then I’ll let you go then.”
And.
“I’ll even give you a special gift.”
That gift would surely make Noah very happy. They would beam with joy, and maybe even cry.
Of course, they might have a bit of a hard time afterward.
Still, they won’t despair.
Because it’s a gift for that purpose.
I unintentionally hid my smile and looked down at my feet.
I saw the spirits staining the ground black.
I lifted my head.
I saw the Nameless One, spreading dark wings so black it seemed to carve a hole in space.
I saw the darkness that stained the entire world.
And amidst that, I saw a faint light.
I reached out my hand toward that light. I grasped the light. I unleashed the magic flowing within me. The light spread. The darkness receded. Winter passed. The black sun was obscured.
And.
There, at the edge of the horizon, stood a being.
A being presumed to be the end stared at me.
I also looked at it.
It was blurry. The colors were not vivid.
It simply felt like a form standing in that place.
That is, the end.
Smiling brightly, it came to a halt.
At the same moment, the sound that had vanished returned. The stilled magical power surged. The air that had not flowed began to flow, and a world that had felt lifeless pulsated with life.
The roar of spirits echoed. Their march shook the earth. Thunderclouds filled with lightning gathered, and a chilling wave sounded heavily. Among that, the sharp sound of mortal attacks and innumerable trivial magics unfolded.
I stood at the center of it all and closed my eyes.
I learned what the end was, who it was.
Just now, with one action of the end.
What had been mere conjecture became certainty.
But, it doesn’t matter to me now.
That is something Noah must handle.
Therefore, I decided to focus on the matters right in front of me.
I cleared my mind.
I felt the magic in the atmosphere, the world’s magic.
The magic that had fled in fear of the end gradually began to gather around me. It wrapped around me and welcomed me.
I too welcomed the magic.
With my eyes still closed, I reached out my hand forward. I grasped the magic. The magic’s performance was just like before, as if rewinding time.
I turned my hand, grasping the magic, to the left.
Tick-tock.
The sound of a clock ticking echoed.
I opened my eyes.
All the attacks directed at me had vanished.
The spirits seemed stunned as well, their chaotic roars came to a stop.
But, that was just for a moment. Soon after, they began to scream madly again.
The roars that couldn’t form words struck my ears. The thunderous footfalls steeped in rage shook the sky. Dragon wings, wyvern wings, manticore wings, the flapping sound of all sorts of airborne monsters erupted in my ears like a swarm of insects.
I reached out my hand toward them. I spread my palm.
Like catching bugs, I swiped.
At the same time.
―――!
According to my will, the magical power of the entire area crushed the insects. It smashed, crunched, chewed, and erased them without a trace. Then, it shut the mouths of those standing on the ground. I devoured the sounds seeping out from within. I halted those arrogant footfalls. I shattered the sharp sounds of weapons.
In the perfect silence that followed,
“If you use magic to that extent, sacrificing so much, you might be erased from others’ memories. Are you sure you won’t regret it?”
The Nameless One sneered.
Regret, huh.
I turned my head and looked at Noah.
I recalled the conversation we had not long ago.
They said they would grant any reasonable request.
And, as if fully trusting me, they assured me that they would do the same.
Thus, I said,
“A genius does not regret. I simply won’t do anything regrettable.”
Even if I’m erased from memory, I won’t regret it.
Absolutely not.
“Aha, your arrogance is sky-high.”
“I am not arrogant.”
The Nameless One’s smile deepened. Wings unfurled. Divine power burst forth from there. The released divine power turned into chains that tightly bound my body. Next, guillotine-like blades rose around my neck. Their edges were infused with the horrific divine power that had shredded my body earlier.
But my mind was not focused on those. More than the blades rushing toward my neck, I was more concerned with Noah’s expression.
It was a look as if asking what I was saying.
Did they truly think I was arrogant?
What is arrogance?
There are many meanings, but essentially…
It means conceited and haughty, right?
Being conceited means to overstep one’s bounds.
Being haughty means boasting or belittling others.
Yet, I acted within my bounds.
Boasting? It’s not boasting; it’s simply the truth.
Moreover, I didn’t belittle others.
Is giving advice to someone lower than me belittling? No, absolutely not.
Yeah.
Indeed, I’m not arrogant.
“I am not arrogant.”
Noah’s face twisted even more.
They should be supporting me, yet their face looks like that. I will have to slap them later.
I turned my gaze and faced the blades that had reached my neck.
“I was rather humble. I always thought of myself as lacking, believing there would be wizards greater than me someday.”
Clang- The attacking blades halted.
“But from now on, I’ll stop being humble.”
Crack- The chains binding my body bent.
“It seems there won’t be any wizards surpassing me, either in the past or the future.”
Tink- A colossal scale emerged behind me.
A scale beautifully balanced horizontally.
On the left was the cost I paid; on the right was the result I desired, perfectly matched.
“And seeing that Noah does not believe me, I can’t help but feel offended.”
I reached out my hand.
Tink- The scale tilted.
To the left.
“So, Noah, pay attention. Let’s see if I was truly arrogant or not.”
And again.
Tink- The tilted scale balanced again.
At the same time.
The chains that bound me broke.
The blades rushing toward my neck shattered.
The divine power covering the world dissipated.
The spirits standing on the ground vanished.
The smile faded from the Nameless One’s face.
