Ch.254254. Mir Park Blockade Battle (3)

# Magic Shield.

From the beginning, I felt it was a power that was only useful for defense, not something that could be used to bash like an actual shield—in many ways, a burdensome ability.

But… it’s not magic?

“What… do you mean? A power that consumes life to use…”

How could such a thing exist in this world?

It doesn’t make sense even theoretically. If it consumes life, what, is it some kind of magic that sacrifices lifespan?

I could understand something like sacrificial arts that steal power from other living beings, but this had to be nonsense.

However, the person who said this nonsense was Professor Denis.

“Is it because I’m using too much mana? Exhaustion or other symptoms that come with mana deficiency? That’s something I can control with proper regulation. What are you so worried about?”

“…I told you, it’s not magic.”

“Well, it might be a bit different from conventional magic. You’ve said yourself that unique magic requires a different perspective compared to existing magic…”

Though I kept denying it… Professor Denis was already staring intently into my eyes.

As if to say, you already know.

‘No. That can’t be right.’

If such magic truly existed, and if my magic shield consumed life, there would be a major contradiction.

“You know how long I’ve been using the magic shield. It’s been quite a while. Since I mastered it, I’ve barely been able to use any other magic, so I’ve only used that. If it were as you say… shouldn’t my body have shown abnormalities by now?”

If it were a power that consumed life, I should have collapsed long ago.

I slowly laid out my argument in rebuttal.

“You. You’ve already collapsed multiple times and couldn’t get up.”

Professor Denis pressed firmly on my painful wound.

“And it wasn’t just collapsing. All the mana in your body was drained, and even after resting for a week straight, your body was still creaking. Am I wrong?”

“That may be true, but…”

Wasn’t that due to physical fatigue on top of circuit exhaustion?

Was it really because I had been using my unique magic repeatedly?

As I questioned myself, Professor Denis struck at my core once more.

“The Plague Rat Shanbereshu. The Distorted Pimpert… no, it would be more correct to call him Defornice III.”

“!!”

Why were those names coming up?

They seemed too far removed to be related to my unique magic.

Except for one thing.

No way.

…No way.

“At the scene where Shanbereshu’s corpse remained, there were clear traces of someone who had released all their internal mana as magical power to deliver a decisive blow. I had no idea it was your power… Junon.”

He… figured it out?

My pounding heart sank in that moment.

“The giant rat’s flesh itself was pierced by a long spear, and the contact area seemed to have melted away as if it couldn’t withstand it.”

“…”

“Magic that consumes a lot of mana? Sure. Those are a dime a dozen. If we’re talking about such cases, even those dregs in Class F have plenty. But there’s no record of a patient who couldn’t recover for days like you.”

Professor Denis was asking me.

Are you still going to deny it?

“…You’ve never experienced magical exhaustion, have you?”

“Ah…”

Come to think of it… that does seem to be the case.

Considering my magical index, I don’t have much innate capacity, so I should have experienced it at least once when pushing myself too hard, but I was fine when others were suffering.

Even in the past.

I sat up slowly and looked at my two hands.

They were trembling. At the realization that I had been consuming myself with my own hands.

Then, shifting my gaze back to Professor Denis, I asked:

“You once said that unique magic never disappears. So, does this mean my unique magic… will manifest as a different kind of power later?”

“I’m sorry. It’s a completely different concept, so I can’t tell you about that.”

“…”

“But there is one thing I can tell you for certain.”

One thing for certain?

With no information at all, the fact that he could tell me one thing for certain naturally made my ears perk up.

And what I heard was:

“That power you used against Shanbereshu and Defornice III, if you continue to use it, you might die before long.”

It was a warning no different from a death sentence.

***

-‘Never forget what I’m telling you. You must not use that power anymore.’

Denis had warned Junon again as he left after their long conversation.

But even as he himself doubted and searched through documents, hoping it wasn’t true, evidence proving that the boy was an Alkaid kept emerging.

A perfectly split 50:50 magical adaptation ratio.

An unclear magical armor form and a unique magic of the mana-canceling type that could hardly be considered fixed.

The Calix summoning record and an abnormally high magical armor compatibility.

There wasn’t even the slightest point to argue against.

Only a few minutes had passed since he entered Muniher’s office, but nothing had changed.

“…What happened to the boy?”

Muniher, lost in thought in her office, quietly asked Denis who had come to visit.

“I conveyed the message somehow, but…”

Denis was equally troubled.

The talent that Muniher had discovered, the boy she had personally taught and grown interested in.

The two people with bitter pasts sighed repeatedly at the fact that he turned out to be an Alkaid.

“Here. I managed to get his withdrawal form.”

The academy withdrawal form that Junon had rewritten himself. Muniher pressed her temples again at the fact that she had to allow his withdrawal for his sake.

“…Is there no option for us to protect him at the academy?”

“You need to steel yourself, Muniher. We know well what the fate of an Alkaid is like.”

“…”

Just as God bestows power upon humans facing trials, paradoxically, that power is never gentle.

That power, granted for humanity’s sake, turns the recipient into an apostle, and the future of a human who becomes an apostle is cruelly short-lived after saving humanity.

Lord Alkaid.

When news spread that he had miraculously risen after once falling, the imperial citizens cheered, but the reality was that he had merely survived by receiving his wife’s life, and the couple, who had given birth to twins just two years prior, had to breathe their last far too early.

Junon must not be burdened with such a responsibility.

“I’ll go to the Empire, Muniher.”

“To the Empire?”

“If we can call for reinforcements from the Ardelion Duchy, he won’t have to fulfill the duties of an Alkaid.”

So that the Alkaid cannot fulfill his duty, so that the young man’s life doesn’t turn into a tragedy.

They devise countermeasures, remembering the person who was their benefactor and friend.

“Hah…”

Meanwhile, left alone in the mock battle room after Professor Denis had departed, he lay down spread-eagle once more.

Even with his eyes closed, the light seemed unusually bright today, so he covered his eyes with his palms to block it out.

Professor Denis’s warning replayed in his mind.

-‘You probably haven’t been consuming your life all this time. As I said earlier, just twice. It was probably only consumed when you tried to draw out mana that shouldn’t exist.’

-‘So… don’t use it anymore. Ever.’

Once against Shanbereshu. Once against Defornice III. Exactly twice.

And one last time. If he wanted to defeat that one, he would definitely need to use it once more.

He had been prepared to collapse afterward since he had made that assumption from the beginning. Now, hearing such words, he couldn’t help but feel conflicted.

After realizing the true nature of his power, he read a letter.

Not a lengthy letter, but just a few brief words, yet one sentence immediately caught his eye.

『The withdrawal form is prepared, Junon. -Muniher Zelvartan Emerald』

Professor Muniher, having also received the news, had attached the paperwork, indicating she would approve his withdrawal.

What professor would want a student to continue fighting as an academy student while consuming their very life? At least, she was not such a person.

Thanks to that, it didn’t take long to fill out, but.

“What… should I do?”

If he didn’t use that power, his plans would be completely twisted.

With the mindset that he shouldn’t just lie there, Junon got up again and walked out of Mizar Hall, beginning to walk without a destination.

***

Denis, who had shown his determination to head to the Empire to Muniher, was about to immediately inform Dalia of the truth as well, but,

‘…Come to think of it, that oracle wasn’t just one.’

Realizing there was another formation composed of a clock face and hands, he turned his steps.

“What brings you here, Countess Beryl?”

The only one welcoming her here, just before her departure for the Empire, was a single person.

A girl with blue flames and red hair tied neatly in a ponytail. It was Michelle.

“As I thought.”

“Pardon? What do you mean?”

Denis, who had abruptly come to the Tembris annex, narrowed his eyes as he looked around before speaking as if he had realized something, so from Michelle’s perspective, she couldn’t understand what was happening.

‘You are those clock hands.’

Denis muttered with a face full of conviction.

Swish.

A piece of paper emerging from her pocket is placed in Michelle’s hand.

“A map…? Where is this?”

“The location of the ruins containing the oracle.”

“O-Oracle?”

“Yes. When the time comes… it’s a place you all must go to.”

There were two oracles in the ruins.

One foretold the appearance of an Alkaid and signified the crisis of the duchy.

The other was… an oracle that only the Tembris party could understand, fallen from the largest constellation occupying the northern and southern skies.

Denis had tried every means to interpret the clock oracle, but it only yielded a few symbols. There were no more clues to be obtained.

‘In other words, you must interpret it yourselves.’

The symbols drawn on the clock hands were six in total, including the blue flame.

It was a device that would only activate when all six designated individuals arrived at the specified location.