C99
‘Such a fool... Really, such a fool...’
Even though he had approached her first and handed her coffee, she ruthlessly brushed away his hand. Amy closed her eyes tightly as if turning away from the scenes dotted with her regret. She then shouted with all her might.
“Shirone!”
Shirone smiled. It was fortunate that Amy had her memories back. At least in the last moments, he could leave as Shirone, who remained in someone's memory.
"Thank you, Amy."
Shirone's tears fell on Amy's cheeks.
'Why are you crying, Shirone?'
Amy was anxious. Something was wrong. Then, the moment she saw the will to live slowly slipping out of Shirone's eyes, she realized.
“Shirone! no!"
"I'm sorry. I couldn't keep my promise."
Shirone embraced Amy and fully opened Immortal Function. As his consciousness expanded infinitely, his ego began to fade away like dissolving in water.
'Goodbye to everyone...'
Father, mother, members of the Ogent Family, and friends at school. Receiving the love of so many people, Shirone could smile. A huge light filled the area below the cliff. The falling students, Iruki and Nade, even Thad, were all enveloped in the light.
The next moment, a massive flash surged vertically.
It was Mass Teleport that moved as many as 400 people at the same time.
'Ah, I see.'
Lying on the ground, Arcane watched the flash above the cliff split into dozens of strands. In the final moments, he was finally convinced. Where he had been and what a wonderful life he had lived.
'It's a playground that you'd never tire of playing in for a lifetime. Isn't that right, Alfeas?'
The legendary Archmage who dominated the world passed away just like that.
"Master?"
Canis was dumbfounded in front of Arcane's corpse. Wasn't he still a disciple of him? But he left without even leaving a will, doing only what he wanted until the end.
"Was it really nothing? Were we just tools?"
Canis ran to Arcane and shook his collar.
"Get up! How can this be! I should die instead! Why did you leave me behind!"
Arin approached Canis with sad eyes. Reflected in the crystal, his figure was that of a person made of a viscous liquid. That figure did not stay still for a moment, spreading like a liquid and then rising again into the shape of a person.
"No, Canis. It's not because of you that he died. That man used us. He's a villain."
“Kekeke, what’s wrong? It looks like you've realized it now."
Harvest said in a muffled voice.
"That's right, Canis. We all died because of you. Arcane, me, and someday Arin will die too."
Arin, who had been glaring at Harvest, hurriedly turned his head to Canis. As expected, his figure had collapsed into a watery liquid and clung to the ground.
"Why? What did I do? Because I survived in Ladum? Because I'm an unlucky child?"
"It's because you're weak."
Harvest's conclusion was simple.
"How long are you going to live, just waiting for others to recognize you? There's no such thing as having to live like this or having to die like that. Arcane just lived his life."
Arcane gave up his life to uphold his evil beliefs. Harvest fulfilled his contract as a magic creature, even choosing to self-destruct.
'I... What was I going to die for?’
He couldn't find anything. He was nothing more than a wild horse with covered eyes. His life was made up of nothing but shells.
"Like Master...."
"Yes, and like that boy."
In the center of the 400 scattered students, Shirone was lying down. He said he wouldn't hurt anyone, and he kept his faith until the end.
Canis approached Harvest and checked its condition.
“How are you?”
‘If you ask me, I will die. Because if I don't parasitize life, I can't live.”
Arin said.
“All you have to do is sign a Master-Servant contract with me. Canis will not be able to hold on because his mental strength is exhausted."
Harvest shook his head.
"I'm sorry, but that's not possible."
"What? Why? You will perish at this rate!”
“Because my master is Canis.”
Harvest's words pierced Canis' chest. Now it was time for him to stand up for his beliefs. Could he really endure it? If he wasn't careful, both of them would lose their lives.
"Harvest. I will accept you as my dependent. But I won't forgive a second betrayal."
"Kekeke. I understand, Master."
“Canis! It's too dangerous! If something goes wrong...!"
Arin stopped talking. As the mud soaked into the shape of Canis, which was made of liquid, it was becoming hard. Will he one day be able to gain an unshakable heart? Like Shirone, who he admired as a genius.
Canis put his hand on Harvest. As the subordination contract progressed, Harvest began to suck up what little life force was left. His consciousness sank into darkness, and his eyes slowly closed.
Away from Canis and the others, Alpheas stood sadly. He had saved his students with his lifetime of experience, but he had lost so much.
"Principal."
Ethella was of the same mind. Starting today, there will be big changes in the magic school. The students who have regained their memories will fall into confusion, and the mistake Alpheas made 40 years ago will also come to the surface.
“Ethella, I am a sinner.”
"Don't blame yourself too much. If even mistakes are unacceptable, human existence itself is a sin.”
Alpheas shook his head. Anyone can make mistakes. But everything comes responsibility. Like Arcane, he had no intention of running away.
“He is the one who raised Dark Magic to the ranks of great magic. Harvest can be considered a breakthrough in the field of memory transfer. Abyss Nova will be registered as a prescribed magic in the Magic Association.”
In front of Arcane's corpse, Alpheas clasped his hands and mourned his death.
“Arcane, the Archmage who was always a young boy. The path of magic you have walked will be passed on to future generations."
Alpheas, who opened his eyes, seemed refreshed. On the other hand, Ethella was still worried. It was an incident where all the students' lives were threatened, so it wasn't a problem that could be dealt with within the school.
“Principal, what do you plan to do next?”
"What can I say? I'm just waiting for my own fate. Instead of worrying about punishment, how about honoring today's hero?"
Alpheas looked around to find Shirone. The more he looked, the more amazing the boy seemed. He couldn't guarantee that he could transport 400 people at once, even if he were to do it himself.
"It's a disaster!"
At the place where Shirone had collapsed, Amy was sobbing.
Alpheas and Ethella, feeling the unusual atmosphere, hastened their steps. Iruki and Nade were running from afar.
However, before they arrived, Amy cried out first.
“Shirone is not breathing!”
Meeting the God (1)
Shirone expanded massively and then faded. He was permeating everything, forgetting even the lingering attachment to the world. Then, a powerful force pulled him into a single point. If there was something more than life to a human being, it could be called the hijacking of the soul.
"Gasp! Gasp!"
As Shirone's mind was reassembled, his memories before attempting the Immortal Function came back. Trembling for a moment at the fear of his death, he let out a rough breath and checked his body condition. Apart from being naked, there seemed to be nothing particularly wrong.
"Where am I?"
It was a space filled with white. In this place, where a monochrome landscape stretched infinitely, he couldn't feel any sense of distance. He tried moving slowly, but he didn't even feel like he was going anywhere.
'It's very strange. It feels like all my five senses are paralyzed.'
Shirone suddenly came up with a unique idea. As an experiment, he slowly bent his knee and took a step forward, as if climbing a staircase. Surprisingly, his body floated upward.
"Huh?"
Shirone climbed the endless staircase. He paused for a moment and looked around, at a loss for words.
"..."
He didn't feel like he had gone up high. No matter where he moved, it was the same white landscape.
“There is no distance.”
If it couldn't be measured, then space wouldn't be established. To confirm his hypothesis, Shirone tried going down this time. As expected, he hadn't moved anywhere.
As he couldn't find any more meaning in moving, he heard a woman's voice.
“Awesome. You've grasped the meaning of space. You're indeed worthy to be here."
Shirone did not look back. There was no concept of direction in this place, after all.
"Who are you? Am I dead?"
A beautiful woman emerged from a gap in the white landscape. As the sense of distance appeared, the scenery changed in an instant. A gigantic temple, unlike anything Shirone had seen before, loomed over him, as if it would crush him.
"Wow..."
It was on an unimaginable scale. Even ancient temples weren't this big. Hundreds of pillars supported the ceiling, with each of them reaching about 2 kilometers in height.
"Where on earth is this..."
"Nice to meet you, Shirone. I've been waiting for you."
It was a woman with aqua-colored hair that reached down to her ankles. Shirone had never seen such a beautiful woman in his life. It was not a matter of appearance, but the value of her existence. Just as a man in love feels his lover is the most beautiful person in the world, her value here was absolute.
"Oops!"
Shirone hastily covered himself. He had been confidently exposing his naked body without realizing it.
“Hehe. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Because this isn't your world. Your body is still in the original world.”
With a wave of her hand, she clothed him instantly. Shirone stared blankly at his own figure until he finally gave up. There was only one thing that immediately came to mind.
"Is this the afterlife?"
"No, it's not the afterlife. It's just a different 'Spot' (Point/Dot. 스폿(점)) from where you lived."
Shirone tilted his head. A 'spot' is a one-dimensional space without dimension. When a spot moves, it becomes a line, a line moves and becomes a plane, and a plane moves to form a three-dimensional space.
"Could it be...?"
Shirone recalled the white space he had been in just a moment ago..
"That's right. That's the 'spot.' It's not without space but compressed infinitely."
If she was right, it made sense that he couldn't feel a sense of distance. However, even if trapped in one dimension, his body was three-dimensional. If he could measure the distance between his right and left arms, wouldn't space exist?
"Ahh, so there's a three-dimensional space inside the one-dimensional space."
"You have an incredible insight. That's right. That is the essence of space-time. No matter how vast the world is, from a distance, it appears as a mere point. Conversely, no matter how small a point is, if you go inside it, an infinite world unfolds."
Shirone finally felt calm. There was no need to be afraid if this world allowed logical conversation, even if it was the afterlife.
“Then who are you?”
The woman laughed like an idiot. Although it felt eerie, it was beautiful to Shirone. She was the most valuable being in this place.
“I am God.”
---------------------
The magic school was in a state of total chaos.
It took a full 8 hours to clean up Arcane's corpse and send the students back to their dormitories.
The students were still memory-blocked, lying in their rooms. If the teachers regained their memories, the work would proceed faster, but the headache of the chaos that would ensue when all the students came to their senses was daunting.
To make matters worse, Canis and Arin, the suspects in the case, disappeared, so Nade, Iruki, and Amy were the only ones taking care of Shirone, who eventually moved to the infirmary.
In fact, "looking after" was not the right term. Shirone was not breathing, and his heart had stopped. But no one dared to say the word "death."
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Tags:
Infinite Mage (Novel)
