Chapter 326

C326. Dog (3)

The Elven kingdom of Fildegreen.

A place that, although it had once been completely destroyed by the sins, was now recovering its former appearance thanks to the help of the Wizards.

…If only the incident from a few months ago, when the entire western area of the royal castle was suddenly destroyed, hadn’t happened, it would have been restored even faster. Observing that landscape, Rine looked up at the sky, remembering the doubt that had recently been born.

The first thing she thought of was the Machine God.

Before, she couldn’t even perceive it, but now, after reading the Library of Ten Thousand Years, even if she didn’t know its complete functioning, she could manifest it in this world: a “created god.”

According to Rine Groff, the Machine God could show overwhelming power simply with its manifestation.

A power capable of effortlessly crushing the sins she had faced before in Fildegreen.

And yet… lately, she felt something strange.

It was something she discovered additionally in the Library of Ten Thousand Years, something she hadn’t been able to study fully yet.

“……The black things were created in a similar era to the Machine God.”

A direct, simple piece of data, but one that should never have been heard, leaving Rine completely confused.

Until then, Rine had thought that the Machine God was an ancient artifact, something so far in the past that no records even remained.

But that wasn’t the case.

It was mentioned that the Machine God had been created in the same era as the black things.

That is: when the black things ran rampant through the world trying to destroy it… the Machine God also existed.

A Machine God that, just by manifesting, could deal with the sins immediately.

Something didn’t fit.

From the moment the black things appeared, the world suffered damage close to destruction.

Although they were eventually eliminated by another existence, the starting point had been them.

And yet… there existed an entity capable of crushing them overwhelmingly.

Of course, Rine still didn’t fully understand the nature of the sins.

Her hundreds of years had been dedicated entirely to manifesting the Machine God.

She still hadn’t reviewed the entire library, so her assumptions were many…

But there were two that had greater credibility.

“Either the sins have something I haven’t discovered yet, or…——”

—Creak…—

“…the Machine God was created to stop another existence that wasn’t the sins.”

Rine immediately remembered what happened that night, when Red Moon—no, Yutia Bloodia, had visited her.

At that moment, Rine had shown all her power.

To demonstrate that she could stand on Yutia’s level, she had brought out the Machine God.

But in an instant…

Everything came to nothing. The Machine God, having emerged by breaking the galaxy, disappeared as if it had never existed. The manifested entity vanished, leaving only a bright sky.

And then, while smiling but clearly containing her anger, Red Moon tapped her on the head, just like someone scolding a child.

“Does the Great Moon belong to you, perhaps?”

Without realizing it, Rine rubbed her head remembering Yutia’s words, who had spoken as if she were dealing with a little girl.

…Although it was too painful to call that an affectionate gesture.

When she remembered that moment, her expression puffed up with annoyance. She knew there was a big difference between the two, but understanding it so directly… the frustration increased.

As she stroked the place where she had been hit…

“…Not everything is brute force.”

She justified herself and then remembered the new doubt she had.

About Red Moon, Yutia Bloodia.

The Machine God was undoubtedly stronger than the sins. And yet, Yutia had completely nullified such power.

In an instant that Rine couldn’t even perceive. Just by lifting an index finger.

…What the hell was that?

Since then, she had been reviewing the library looking for information on Yutia’s power. She also tried to investigate the existence called “Yutia.”

But she found nothing.

Although she had searched so much, not a single clue. As if someone had erased all information about her.

Of course, there were countless books in the library she hadn’t been able to read yet.

Her thoughts continued for a long time…

---

The light created before Alon Palatio’s eyes seemed so weak that it could go out at any moment.

At first glance, it looked like a failed spell.

But no wizard present in the demonstration hall thought Alon’s spell had failed.

Not the wizards of the 2nd Circle, newly recognized as Wizards.

Not the professors with decades of experience—not even Sharan, who was staring fixedly at the spell at that moment.

It was logical.

Just seconds before, that faint light…

Had turned into a massive sun that melted the demonstration hall.

And seeing that absurd spell—

“See? I told you. That is Light—”

“It’s impossible—how…?”

“Are you still saying the same thing after seeing it with your own eyes?”

The wizards who were amazed at first took the opportunity to reclaim against those who doubted Alon’s power.

It was a phenomenon difficult to believe without seeing it directly, which is why sides had emerged.

And just when the wizards who had witnessed it first were puffing up with pride…

“Eye of the Sun—”

A new doubt appeared in everyone’s eyes.

The Marquis’s spell, which they believed “complete,” began to change once more.

Sharan remained in shock even after all the magic ended. She looked without blinking at Alon… or rather, at the place where his magic had manifested.

Yes, what the Marquis had shown was Light.

It wasn’t a trick or deception, just as she had suspected before. Her intuition, capable of understanding the structure of a spell just by seeing it, told her it was Light, and her eyes confirmed it too.

But what had unfolded before her…

Was completely different from the Light she knew.

She herself had seen how the structure of the spell transformed.

How…? How was that possible?

And even seeing it directly…

She couldn’t understand the principle by which the magic changed in that way. Although her eyes were capable of seeing magical structures that others would never notice…

The Marquis’s magic was impossible to interpret.

It was strange.

Although it had the basic structure of Light, it changed within it.

How on earth did he bind the mana with that dense pattern?

And how did he apply an expansion inside the core?

Inverse law? The Lehiman Paradox?

Thousands of hypotheses were born and crumbled in her head.

But no matter how much her mind spun…

She couldn’t understand the magic of Marquis Palatio.

And then a new emotion emerged.

All the aversion she felt toward him because of the rumors… disappeared. Also her pride in the achievements of wizards of past generations.

The only thing Sharan felt now was…

Information. Curiosity. And a thought that made her vibrate.

“This is not common magic.”

And it wasn’t even an Origin.

An Origin consisted of creating one’s own magical system, not distorting an existing one.

“Definitely—”

Her brilliant mind began to link the oldest rumors about Marquis Palatio.

The hidden figure of the Kingdom of Asteria.

A wizard who handles primeval magic almost nonexistent nowadays.

“The Lightning Receive”, Kalanon.

The apostle of Kalanon.

Rumors, rumors, and more rumors, forming into knowledge inside her head.

And everything pointed to one thing:

“Magic in its primitive form.”

That’s right.

Primeval magic, today almost despised by modern wizards.

Sharan, by pure instinct, had a revelation close to certainty:

“There lies the method to ascend to the 9th Circle!”

Something she had never been able to understand since she reached the Origin…

It was there, in the primeval magic that Alon had just deployed.

That’s why—

“I want to learn it.”

Unlike the emptiness she felt seeing the 9th Circle as something unattainable… this time she saw a clear goal.

But then—

“…Ah.”

She let out a small exclamation. She had remembered what happened the day before. Her pupils trembled slightly.

Although she was obsessed with magic, she wasn’t alien to the basic concepts of human relationships and etiquette.

And she could perfectly imagine how grave the lack of respect she committed against Marquis Palatio was.

…So grave that she couldn’t complain even if he showed hostility toward her.

Yesterday, Sharan wouldn’t have paid attention to that hostility.

But today… no.

“I should have listened to the Blue Tower Master…”

She squeezed her eyes shut, regretful.

But regretting wasn’t going to solve this terrible situation.

So she started thinking as fast as she could. She was desperate to learn that magic from the Marquis.

But even among friends, a magic that can only be learned as a disciple… she couldn’t simply receive it in the current situation.

That’s why.

“I must get his forgiveness…!!”

With trembling eyes, she looked at the Marquis who was down below, standing with serenity.

---

“It seems I was tenser than I thought.”

Alon sighed.

When he did the first demonstration of Light, he had made a mistake by not using the proper seal, so he had to cancel and re-execute the spell.

“…Did it turn out okay?”

He saw Heinkel discreetly raising a thumb from the upper part of the hall, and then he looked at the state of the destroyed hall.

“……I hope it won’t be a problem.”

He didn’t have to pay for the damages. Well… technically he should…

“But Penia said she would handle it…”

The previous time Penia had also said she would resolve it, so surely this time would be the same.

Although he still felt somewhat embarrassed.

Knowing that his body would suffer mana exhaustion if he cast another spell, he reflected on the perfect Light he had created.

“This should be the complete version.”

Unlike when he only used phrases, this time he employed the appropriate seal.

Thus, the Light—no, Eye of the Sun—had been completed perfectly.

Of all the seals he knew, that was the only one that worked when combined with the interpretation of Light.

In conclusion: Alon had manifested the Eye of the Sun perfectly.

But even so, he felt something strange.

“Something is odd.”

Because—

“……I feel like it is used in another way.”

He himself, as the creator of the spell, couldn’t ignore that sensation.

The first Light he made with a seal had been clearly offensive.

But the one he had created now…

“It feels as if it were a piece of another magic.”

While he was thinking about that…

He heard the voices of the wizards growing, so he turned toward Penia.

“Marquis!”

“Penia.”

“You achieved it perfectly.”

“It seems so. Although I still have doubts.”

“Ah, that… That about it feeling different from the previous Light, right?”

As expected, Penia also had the same impression.

“Yes, that.”

“Hmm… I still think it is correct. Maximum compression concentrated on a point and then released all at once… its destructive power…”

Penia looked at the destroyed cliff.

“It is more than enough.”

Alon agreed with a slight nod.

Then—

“Marquis Palatio—!!”

From the stands, Selaim ran toward them.

“Tower Master.”

“I saw it! It was incredible! Was that really Light!?”

Although it could be called something else, the essence was still Light, so Alon nodded.

“Yes. What you saw was Light.”

“Khh—! Incredible!”

Selaim was exaggerating a bit flattering him.

Alon, somewhat uncomfortable, accepted his praises… until he noticed something.

Behind Selaim…

Sharan was there.

With her head down, unable to see her expression.

Alon remembered yesterday.

“…She had said she would become a dog to be my disciple.”

He had no intention of accepting her as a disciple. Much less did he want to hear her bark.

So he spoke with complete calm—

“Tower Master. About yesterday, you don’t have to—”

“Woof.”

He couldn’t finish.

“Arf– woof woof woof!! Grrrrrr—!”

The demonstration hall, which was about to become noisy, fell into total silence.

…In that huge and silent hall, only Sharan’s barks resonated.

“No, t-this… There is no need to—”

“Grrrrr— WOOF WOOF AAAAA WOOF!!”

The Tower Master, as if she had never had dignity, was barking like a crazy woman.

“W-what… what is this? Is she… is she right in the head…?”

Alon felt genuine fear.