Chapter 26: Dreams of Youth and True Talent

A demon they could only capture through everyone's combined strength.

While the Professor wasn't one to obsess over achievements, no first-year Academy student had ever accomplished something like this before.

'When he learns how much his students have grown, he'll surely be proud.' With that thought, Ciel took the demon's shattered head and arranged it into something resembling a bouquet.

'Why is the Professor making that expression?'

What could be the reason?

She had expected them to smile proudly and say "As expected of my students" while patting her head, but the Professor only wore a bewildered expression.

Cold sweat dripping down, face turning pale.

To an observer, it might seem like fear, but...

'There's no way the Professor would be afraid of some mere demon!'

This was the Professor who had stood proudly even before mythical monsters. They wouldn't be shocked just from having a corpse presented to them. There must be another reason.

So what could have startled the Professor?

Why did they wear such a bewildered expression?

The answer to that question came unexpectedly quickly.

[The students have grown quite ruthless in my absence.]

A voice suddenly rang out from behind.

When she turned her head urgently, she saw a demon's face.

With her magical insensitivity, she couldn't even properly sense presences, but surely the Professor had detected this demon's approach long ago.

They had barely managed to defeat one, and now another demon joins the fray.

Though the situation could only be described as hopeless, none of the students, including Ciel, showed any signs of intimidation.

The Academy's professors were here.

Moreover, they themselves were no negligible force either.

'This time we'll protect the Professor for sure!'

Class A's fighting spirit burned with competitive drive.

They'd already killed one demon - what's one more?

Let's gather our strength again and take this one down too. As the students silently reached this agreement, they assumed combat positions. Ciel, who had torn off the head, gripped her sword once more.

She swung her blade immediately.

A barrage of attacks followed. Even for a demon, blocking all of this should have been impossible, and yet...

"...Huh?"

Her face suddenly colored with confusion.

The demon had just stood there with an unpleasant smile. Yet not a single wound could be found on its body.

[If that's all you've got, I suppose it's my turn.]

The demon didn't attack them.

It didn't cast magic or draw a sword to charge at them.

It merely shed its disguise and revealed its true nature.

Yet that alone made it impossible to look at them directly. Her head spun. Nausea welled up. Her body wouldn't listen. Even standing became impossible.

People began collapsing helplessly to the ground.

Only then did Ciel realize her foolishness.

'This was never an opponent we could face.'

She had been arrogant. Taking down the enemy the Professor had prepared for practice...

She had overestimated her abilities because of that. There must have been a reason why they had been so shocked. She had made a thoughtless misjudgment.

[While I don't particularly care for kinship... Since he died fulfilling my request, I should at least avenge him.]

Crime and punishment. Proper punishment must follow committed crimes. In other words, I'll take your heads as trophies too.

The demon approached slowly with those words.

It caressed her fallen nape. Tears rolled down Ciel's cheeks at the killing intent that transmitted.

But everything was already too late. The opponent was clearly a being beyond common sense. Even Professor Sylphie, who had tried to counterattack with her staff, collapsed helplessly.

Her goal of finding who destroyed her family.

Everything she had hidden for that purpose - her name, identity, even her gender.

It would all come to nothing.

By the demon who called itself Gamigin, the Fourth.

Everything she had was about to crumble. Surely that ending awaited her...

Footsteps could be heard.

Footsteps that shouldn't be possible rang out.

They had just expended their power firing all manner of high-level formulas. Moreover, they were a mage. There's no way they could withstand pressure that had brought down even the swordsmanship professor.

And yet. Despite all that.

The footsteps continued to echo.

They walked proudly alone toward the demon.

Gamigin smiled as if intrigued. Faced with an overwhelmingly powerful foe, the Professor calmly opened their mouth and muttered.

"You lot really never get tired of this, do you?"

*****

"Are you really sure about choosing that? An opportunity like this won't come again. Perhaps you should reconsider..."

The Imperial reward.

When ordered to choose any item desired from the treasury, the accompanying keeper advised thus.

The reason was quite simple.

The item I had chosen was a fundamentally flawed failure from its very design.

Dragon Heart - a precious material. Whether made into a staff, forged into a sword, or refined into an elixir, it would surely have become a priceless treasure.

But what was created was an auxiliary magic stone.

An item that converts the immense magical power dwelling in a dragon's heart into a form suitable for the user, throwing away all efficiency.

While it could be used as a backup when magical power runs low...

A true genius, an archmage who has reached that level, would never struggle with insufficient magical power.

An ordinary mediocrity, a mage who has hit their limits, wouldn't be able to properly utilize magical power no matter how much they had.

A puzzling item, unclear who it was meant for. Ultimately, a historic failure that was like throwing the world's most precious material on the ground.

However, despite all that.

I picked up that necklace without a moment's hesitation.

Because that meaningless defective product was the only means that could fill the talent I yearned for.

"You lot really never get tired of this, do you."

I touched the necklace while saying those words.

The magic stone replicating the quality of the infused magical power refined its immense power to suit me.

I'm already having to use the trump card I wanted to keep hidden until the end. The fact that I'm smiling even in this situation must mean I'm still immature.

[As expected... I knew you would entertain me.]

The demon laughed while emanating an ominous presence.

The pressure directed at me intensified further.

Normally, I would have been crushed without resistance at this level of power, but it's fine now. I mostly figured out the demon's magic system when I encountered it before.

Calculating and negating spell formulas before being affected was actually possible even without the necklace. Though I would have died from magical power depletion in less than a second.

[It seems I'll finally get to have a proper fight.]

The demon mutters while observing me.

But I had no intention of going along with their wishes.

"I have no interest in enjoying a fight, so I'll end this in one move."

The magic stone is ultimately disposable.

No matter how extraordinary the Dragon Heart's magical power, considering conversion efficiency, I needed to avoid a battle of attrition.

Therefore, what's needed is a single decisive blow.

I have no intention of letting this develop into a proper fight. I'll just overwhelm them with pure power and finish them in one strike.

Once decided, there's no hesitation. I completely negate their attacks while simultaneously preparing my spell formula.

I didn't need to think about what formula to construct.

I'd been thinking about that one since ten years ago.

'Looking back now, it's a bit embarrassing.'

When I was young, I thought I was a genius.

Since I could understand and freely manipulate any magic I saw. I had absolute confidence that I could make my name known throughout the world.

Though reality eventually crushed me, it doesn't change the fact that I once sincerely aimed for the peak.

Innate flaws can be overcome someday.

Something like insufficient magical power can be solved through effort.

With such naive thinking, I had created countless spells beyond my means. Picking just one shouldn't be difficult.

[This is...]

The earth trembled as the formula was constructed.

The demon looked up at the presence felt from above.

Falling Star.

A star falling in response to my will. The demon immediately leapt away from the attack that would erase the surrounding area.

He seemed to struggle even with his demonic power.

But his strength was even greater than expected.

While the demon posing as a prince was immediately neutralized without resistance... Perhaps their ranks differ, as this one is holding up quite well...

No, more than holding up - he's actually blocking it.

Shadows pour from his body, taking the form of four giant beasts. The black wolf greedily devoured the massive star whole.

[How disappointing. While I acknowledge your strength, isn't it arrogant to claim you'll finish me in one move?]

The demon who accomplished a feat far beyond common sense declared this to me with a playful smile.

But I couldn't feel any tension from seeing that.

Even foolishness has its limits, doesn't it?

Don't underestimate my youthful stupidity. These are spells seriously conceived by someone foolish enough to believe they could actually make their name in history.

The peak I aimed for in my most naive period.

How could it possibly end with just one meteor?

I freely copied and modified the constructed formula.

Mental shock from deploying thousands of formulas at once?

Let's shift the target to the enemy and pass it on to them.

The massive magical power needed for each formula?

Solve it through recycling. Immediately break down manifested formulas to use as fuel for the next.

A smile naturally forms on my lips. Looking down at the demon with infinite arrogance, I declared.

This battle is my victory.