Chapter 35
There was only one serious problem.
That guy in front of me was more of a tough opponent than I'd expected.
The two quick fire spells I had casually thrown into the basement to test its strength disappeared without a trace.
It felt like magic just wouldn't work on it at all.
I wondered if it was an issue with the element, so this time I formed a stone spear and fired it off lightly, but the result was the same.
Seeing it turn to sand and scatter before it even reached the golem's core made my head ache for no good reason.
“Hmm... this is going to be pretty annoying.”
Just as the urge to ditch the whole Estelle-senior business and call it quits hit me hard...
-Wooooooong!!
The golem that had been still started moving again.
Before I could react, a massive fist flew toward me at breakneck speed.
“Lunaris! Watch out!”
Claire's frantic shout came with a gust of wind magic that shoved me aside.
A thunderous boom erupted around where I had been standing, and a storm of mana raged through the area.
For an instant, I had the eerie feeling that mana was being sucked out of my whole body.
I instinctively wrapped myself in mana, but Claire couldn't do the same.
“Cough, cough! W-what is this...!”
“Claire, fall back.”
Claire's face as she staggered was deathly pale.
Those were the symptoms of mana depletion.
I studied the golem's core closely.
A magic circle drawn in layers upon layers, so densely overlapped it was hard to make out.
Even so, figuring out its function wasn't all that difficult.
That was because the shapes making up the skeleton of the magic circle were something I'd drawn myself once before.
...Looks like I accidentally helped Senior Estelle finish her arcane golem. Unintentionally, of course.
Forcing down the heat rising in my head, I analyzed the golem's workings.
The core of that complicated magic circle was ultimately just the fact that it absorbed mana.
There was a reason it was called an arcane golem.
I could see why that enormous body was made entirely of mana.
It was the natural enemy of knights, and at the same time the natural enemy of mages.
It was the very definition of a perfect arcane war machine.
I didn't know this one's weakness, but I did know how to deal with it.
It's simple.
Crush it with a more overwhelming spell.
There is no magic spell that can't work. What's not working? Then you just don't have enough mana.
“It's been a while.”
Huuup—taking a deep breath, I began drawing up the mana within my body in earnest.
The lethargic mana that had been lying dormant inside me swirled and wrapped around me.
It's been a very long time since I've used magic the normal way, like other mages.
These days, since I started making full use of natural mana, I hardly ever use the mana inside my body.
On days when I force myself to use too much magic, my body gets heavy like waterlogged cotton and I can't even sleep properly.
But right now was a moment when I had to push myself.
A frost-colored magic circle spread above my head.
The air froze.
I wondered if a cold wind was blowing around me.
In the next instant, a savage ice storm swept toward the golem.
The wind that touched the arcane golem's body scattered into mana particles.
Even so, the lingering cold still bound its feet.
“This isn't enough...”
I had to raise the power further.
A high-tier spell that ate up a bit more mana still wasn't enough.
I needed a decisive blow...
The truth was, the amount of mana I could handle at once was limited to about this much.
If I tried to force more mana in here, the mana would scatter before the spell could even be completed.
Then... what if I layered natural mana on top of my own? Wouldn't that increase the total amount of mana forming the spell?
But in this situation, with the spell already being pushed to its limit, could I pull in natural mana with telekinetic magic and mix it in?
Could I run two different calculations at the same time?
...I don't think it's impossible. With my talent, that should be enough. Probably.
The problem was that it would take quite a while. And that golem wasn't going to sit around waiting.
Reluctantly, I raised my head and swept my eyes over the people upstairs who were just standing there and watching.
Finding someone usable wasn't all that difficult.
Setting aside personality or skill, if I picked someone with a high mana pool, I was already halfway there.
“You there, you, and you. Come down here for a second.”
The moment I pointed at a few people, murmuring voices followed.
Seeing them blink as if they didn't even realize they had been singled out made a sigh escape me.
“So... the second-year top senior whose egg was cracked, and the one over there who's been fidgeting with his sword hilt because he's itching to fight, and Miriel, was it... anyway, the red-haired senior. Hurry up and get down here already.”
“W-who are you calling egg-cracked?!”
The senior, who had somehow kept his masculinity intact even after taking the Heavenly Demon TS Beam, snapped in outrage, veins bulging in his neck.
The other two came down to the basement at once without a word. At least those two seem reasonable.
Then, another person I hadn't called out ran down the stairs.
“Senior Kaizel, just watch from upstairs. I'll go down in your place.”
Black hair and a thoroughly arrogant expression.
So... Edwin, was it?
“I don't remember calling you.”
Frowning, I saw Edwin twist the corner of his mouth and say.
“Aren't you the one who gathered the aces present here?”
“That's true, but not you.”
“What are you talking about! Do you really think there's anyone here with better magic than me? ...W-well, excluding you, of course!”
At that awkward add-on, a snort of laughter slipped out of me before I could stop it.
Come to think of it, he's about the same as that senior anyway.
Not wanting to keep arguing pointlessly, I got straight to the point.
“Keep that golem busy for me. Roughly... three minutes?”
At my words, Senior Miriel's eyes lit up.
“Looks like you have some kind of plan?”
“A plan, huh? Not really, just...”
Trailing off, I scrawled a new magic circle in the air.
With a light push, I could feel the mana swirling around me rapidly expanding.
“I'm going to crush it with overwhelming magic.”
The arcane golem was the first to react.
Sensing the threat instinctively, it immediately charged toward me.
“Miriel, enchant my sword.”
At the same time, the student holding the sword shot forward, leaving behind only that brief sentence.
The golem's blue fist and the sword collided head-on.
With a sound like metal being crushed, the sword began to melt.
But only for a moment, red mana wound itself around the blade.
“Hmm~ I didn't expect to be taking orders from someone even at the academy.”
Senior Miriel gave a slight smirk as she drew a magic circle.
“Still, well, just this once, I'll humor you.”
At a short distance, Edwin kept hurling earth spears one after another.
“Your opponent is over here! Guess you're too stupid to even recognize a pure-blooded mage?”
Though he didn't deal any meaningful damage, it was enough to draw the creature's attention, which moved by instinct.
Yeah, good. You're doing well. This should be enough to hold out for about three minutes.
I closed my eyes and focused.
I scraped together every last bit of mana inside my body.
At the point where I'd reached my limit, I forced myself to take one more hard step forward.
I layered on top of it the telekinetic magic formula I'd used as naturally as breathing ever since becoming a high-tier mage.
Squeezing space itself, I carefully mixed natural mana into the spell.
At first, the two different types of mana that had been separate like water and oil began to mingle together under the control of telekinetic magic.
“...Hang on.”
I forced down the fatigue, exhaustion, and lethargy that were suddenly washing over me.
Something hot began to bubble up inside my body.
My vision seemed to go distant, but I clenched my teeth and focused.
Amid the surging storm of mana, I meticulously built the magic circle up layer by layer.
Magic circles floated above my head and intertwined with one another.
Blue and pure-white mana particles poured down like starlight in the night sky.
Sweat rolled down in thick drops from my forehead.
My hair and the hems of my clothes whipped violently in the wind.
At that moment, I felt something in my mind snap with a soft pop.
I can't really explain it properly in words.
It was like something I could almost grab if I just stretched out my arm...
Taking another deep breath, I lifted my arm.
Magic circles spread out in four and five layers at regular intervals, centered on the golem's body.
Everything in front of me went pitch black.
A shrill ringing echoed in my ears.
Far away, I saw a sparkling point of light.
Carefully, I reached out my hand.
The moment I grasped that 'star.'
Everything before my eyes turned white.
-KWAAAAAANG!!
A pillar of light slammed down onto the golem's head.
I somehow succeeded in unleashing a spell that far surpassed the amount of mana the arcane golem could absorb.
The arcane golem's form, pierced by the pillar of starlight, shook violently.
Soon, the core at its center burst with a crisp crack and shattered to pieces.
The blue mana that made up the golem's body began scattering in all directions like mist.
As if stardust were being scattered, the underground chamber shone brilliantly.
How much time had passed?
As the mana storm filling the basement subsided, the thick dust and fragments of light slowly dispersed.
The massive arcane golem was nowhere to be seen.
Only the shattered crystal fragments rolling across the floor testified that a golem had been there moments ago.
I sat down beside them and panted heavily.
I felt completely hollow inside. It was the result of pushing my mana all the way to the limit.
With my head spinning, I flopped straight down onto the floor.
The ceiling spun round and round.
A phantom ringing lingered around my ears.
Lying here like this, I couldn't tell whether this moment was reality or a dream.
I should be heading to bed instead of doing this here... the problem is, my body won't move at all.
An overwhelming lethargy crushed me. Wow, at this rate, I think I've used up all the motivation I'll ever have in my life.
Something this bothersome, I can't do twice. Seriously.
As I blankly counted the cracks in the ceiling, some shadow blocked my view.
I turned my head a little to look, and the first thing I saw was the swordsman who had charged the arcane golem first.
His face was smeared with dust and cuts of every size, but it was impassive.
But there was a faint smile at the corners of his mouth.
“...Among the mages I've seen, you're by far the best.”
He was breathing hard as he abruptly held out his hand to me.
“You seem stronger than even the student council president.”
I stared blankly at the callused hand held out before me, then let out a tired sigh.
“I don't even have the strength to... take your hand... so I'll just lie here a little longer...”
“Hahaha, I understand. Leave the rest to us and get some good rest. Well done, Lunaris Evermoon.”