Episode 234 – World’s Demise (5)

World’s Demise (5)

Emerging from the nearly demolished Jade’s mansion, I was covered in debris and dust.

Ding-

“…?”

It had been quite a while since I received a message on my smartphone.

It was for [At Your Service].

I had stopped that petty business since I didn’t need to earn that small change anymore, but the phrase was too familiar.

[Are you there @@@@ At Your Service?@@@@]

I could tell it was Layla just from the way she typed.

“…Why all of a sudden?”

Shouldn’t she be busy with the barrier?

I replied casually.

[I’m no longer in business.]

[Oh no!!! You can’t!!!!]

She immediately followed up with another message.

[Can’t you just help out this one last time?! This is extremely important!!!]

She sent a rather large photo along with it. A panoramic shot of a vast cliff. At first glance, it looked like an alien geometry, but it was a barrier blueprint.

[Please just let me know if this barrier formula is implemented correctly. I beg you… I’ll pay whatever it takes!]

“Ah.”

Indeed, a Barrier is a formula made up of numerous reviews. It’s massive and complex. The biggest problem is that even if the barrier doesn’t work, it’s hard to tell which part is wrong.

They seem to want me to review it for them.

“…I suppose I could do it.”

The blueprint itself was already complete, so all I had to do was check if the magic flowed correctly through the circuit and if there were any mistakes in the configuration.

That’s easy enough.

As I’ve said time and again, my 「Notepad」 is akin to a computer. Performing one-dimensional calculations on an already created formula is something I can do mechanically, as long as I have enough magic.

[Since this will be the last request, I will not charge a fee.]

Having replied that, I scrutinized the barrier.

The formula of the barrier on the smartphone screen. A blue current began at its starting point. It was the flow of magic being calculated by the 「Notepad」.

I analyzed them, searching for any flaws in the design, and found where the magic had become entangled.

I corrected the circuits that needed fixing and adjusted inefficient routes to be more efficient.

It was a simple verification.

* * *

Petra Hospital’s research lab.

“I’ve got it!”

Layla’s eyes widened in excitement. She beamed a radiant smile, as if she had gained the world, upon receiving the reply from [At Your Service]. In contrast, Elise furrowed her brow.

“What?”

“Elly! It’s here! Look at this!”

“…It’s only been 30 minutes.”

Elise was skeptical, and she had every reason to be.

Even for an expert, reviewing a Barrier formula would require at least 3 to 4 hours. It was that extensive.

“Just take a look for yourself, Elly!”

Layla displayed the message from [At Your Service]. Elise scanned the reply with narrowed eyes.

“…Huh?”

An exclamation escaped her lips.

She stared intently at the barrier configuration provided by [At Your Service], comparing it with the original blueprint.

“…”

The part that had bothered her the most.

The section she had worried might be incorrect was clearly pointed out.

But that wasn’t all. Several inefficient circuits had also been neatly revised. It was much more comfortable and effective.

“This… this will work.”

“See!”

Layla, too, was grinning from ear to ear as she scanned the blueprint from top to bottom.

“Look. I told you it would work. This person is a real expert.”

Indeed, it was [At Your Service]. The all-rounder expert who seemed to be capable of anything…

That’s when it happened.

Suddenly, Layla’s expression turned serious.

She was looking at a certain part of the barrier formula. A specific section that [At Your Service] had personally modified.

The circuit of the formula he had corrected had a certain concept.

First, he cut out the redundantly overlapped circuits and replaced them with a single circuit to pursue efficiency. If there were tangled circuits, he would remove them entirely and graft in simpler ones.

The result was very neat, allowing for high output with minimal magical power.

And all of this was completed in just 30 minutes.

As if this method was very familiar to him. As if he had been using magic in this way for a long time.

──However.

Layla had seen a ‘pattern’ similar to this before.

No, it was the pattern of the formula she had studied and researched countless times.

An extremely efficient configuration.

The ‘chimeric’ compatibility that could freely combine any formula.

A mage always leaves their own trace when using magic. It cannot be hidden, no matter how hard one tries. Individual habits seep into magic itself.

Layla had studied those habits. She had spent countless hours researching, analyzing, and deconstructing his Magic Spells.

All to track down a certain villain.

“…Could it be?”

Mila’s arch-enemy.

The villain who arrived in Trick City like a dark cloud.

His name── Raquel Dra.

“Layla!”

Elise called out to her. Layla lifted her head blankly. Elise had a bright smile on her face, as if she had found an answer, and Layla felt a similar sense of resolution.

“Follow me!”

“…Okay.”

Layla followed her with a slightly creaking heart.

…

Patients flooded into Petra Hospital. Ken Petra only admitted patients, turning away their families due to the shortage of beds, and temporary tents were set up in the park. However, the most crucial barrier was still not ready.

“…Are you sure this will be okay?”

It was the secretary speaking. Ken Petra in his office looked at him.

“Miss Elise is currently working on the barrier, but…”

A barrier to slow down the spread of death. That information had already been leaked.

If the barrier wasn’t completed in this situation, or if a faulty one was created, Ken Petra would suffer a severe political blow.

“If it doesn’t come to fruition, then that’s the measure of the idea.”

Ken decided to trust Elise.

The offspring of a lion is still a lion. There’s no need to overprotect a cub that’s prepared to be driven to the cliff.

“Find the bastard who leaked the information. Take this opportunity to catch all those who sell out our secrets.”

“Yes, I understand.”

The secretary bowed and left.

…

Elise was in the middle of constructing the barrier in Petra Park based on the blueprint. She finely crushed mana stone powder to draw a ‘circle’, then firmly anchored it with her own magical power [magnetism].

It covered the entire Petra emergency room and the park where the temporary tents were set up.

“Layla! Don’t just stand there, move!”

“Ah, ah, okay.”

But Layla was sluggish.

Suddenly lost in thought, she acted as if she wasn’t present.

“The curves are all crooked!”

“Ah. Got it. Just a moment.”

It was when Layla was clumsily hindering the work.

“Is there a part I can help with?”

Someone approached. Elise looked over and flinched, her shoulders trembling.

It was Theia Esil, a professor from the National University.

She had somewhat regained her senses.

The pain was still lingering in her body, but it was irrelevant since she couldn’t feel it anyway.

“Gosh, it’s the professor. Are you okay?”

Layla also noticed her belatedly. Theia shrugged her shoulders and replied.

“I’m trying to get better by helping you guys.”

“…Over here.”

Elise handed her a part of the blueprint.

“Just draw the circle that will contain the barrier.”

“Will do.”

Theia nodded as she received the blueprint.

“…But.”

Then, turning to Elise, Theia asked,

“Who brought me here?”

“It was a taxi driver.”

“…A taxi driver?”

“Yes.”

It was indeed a real taxi driver.

A middle-aged man who had personally brought Theia in and even admitted her to the hospital.

“No, now’s not the time for idle chatter.”

Elise quickly waved her hand. Theia, with a twitch of her eyebrows, moved to the other side along with the mana stone powder.

They first drew a large ‘circle’. It was to define the space that would contain the barrier.

The admitted patients watched with a mix of worry and concern, and when the circle was complete, Elise stood at the starting point of the barrier formula.

“I’ll give it a try.”

“Go Elly!”

Layla cheered with a raised fist, and Theia, with her arms crossed, watched Elise.

Elise first levitated the ‘mana core’ that had been urgently airlifted at the cost of millions of ren.

“…Huh.”

She took a deep breath.

Recalling the blueprint saved in her mind, she placed her hand on the mana core. She intended to use it as a medium to commence the construction of the barrier…

“We have a problem. We might be a bit short on magical power.”

She knew it by intuition.

The mana core and her own magical power were not enough.

Although the mana core amplifies magical power, a barrier of this magnitude required an unimaginable amount of it.

Then Theia snapped her fingers.

Snap!

With that gesture, Theia’s own magical power shot out like lightning and infused into the mana core. The mana core swelled with a bright light, shaking intensely.

“I’ve injected magical power into the mana core. That should be enough now.”

In an instant, a sufficient amount was charged. Elise was greatly surprised.

Even though it seemed like no big deal, what just happened was an incredible technique.

Concentrating magical power like a flash of lightning and firing it, and then ensuring that the power doesn’t dissipate into the atmosphere but instead precisely permeates the mana core, was a very advanced skill.

“…Are you okay?”

But Theia was a patient with the ‘death curse’. If a person afflicted with the death curse used magical power, the backlash of pain could be a thousandfold.

“I’m not okay. But, that barrier is more important.”

Theia looked at Elise. Elise, nodding, placed her hand back on the mana core.

“Hoo…”

───.

Magical power surged from the mana core. The circuits of the barrier that Elise had envisioned extended into the air.

They flickered imperfectly for a moment, but Elise activated her 「Magnetism」. She continued to unfold the structure, firmly holding the malleable parts together with her magnetism.

Tzzzzzzt─

The barrier that began in the circle slowly extended outward, forming the shape of a sphere as it rose.

Theia and Layla watched the spectacle.

No, everyone around Petra Hospital watched.

Elise, despite sweating profusely and gasping for breath, did not give up.

Goooooo…

The trembling that arose from the ground, the turbulence of the air trapped within the circle, the phenomenon of the barrier formula reacting and resonating with the ley lines.

The streams of magical power following the design of the barrier soon reached a large point on the ceiling and coalesced.

Boom──!

Eventually, it settled down like a dome encompassing the entire Petra Hospital.

The wave barrier was complete.

“……Ugh.”

Elise knelt on one knee. There was no time to smile. She had nearly exhausted her magical power. Layla supported her as she almost collapsed.

“Elise.”

Suddenly, it was Theia’s voice. She nodded her head, looking alternately above and below at the blue-formed Barrier membrane.

“Perfect.”

─ With those words, she collapsed.

“Damn! Professor Theia! Ah! Elly!”

Layla, not knowing what to do, picked up the two who looked nearly dead.

* * *

A space buried in darkness. In some vast underground unknown to anyone, an old house exists. Nothing can be seen, just an emptiness.

But ‘he’ is walking towards that place, like a black hole.

Thud. Thud.

The hollow sound of footsteps.

His long legs stride with dignity.

He walked through the darkness. There was not a speck of fear or terror.

He fixed his eyes only on what lay before him. At the end, there was a tea table.

One desk.

Two chairs.

He sat down on a chair.

Leaning back, he was lost in thought for a moment.

“……World’s Demise.”

His lips frowned as he murmured, a sneer distorting his brow.

He had met countless people in his life. Some deluded themselves into thinking they were stronger than him, but in reality, there were none.

He had long since realized the ‘infinity’ contained within his own flesh. He was aware of its irreversible power.

However, he did not flaunt it.

He did not reveal it.

He did not expose it.

Because to boast of his own violence and destructiveness in words and deeds is not noble. It is an act of exceedingly poor taste.

That’s why he finds the lunatic who calls himself demise laughable.

Feeling pride in something that should not be a source of pride, a mere crumb of an ego, he finds them merely pitiful.

“……The darkness is thick.”

He used the darkness as a blanket to lean on himself.

There was still plenty of time left, but there was no need to look at a clock.

He was just waiting.

To bring down the hammer on the ignoramuses who do not know the demise of this world.

To teach the clear logic of violence to the street thugs who overestimate themselves and engage in sheer folly.

Jade closed his eyes as a nobleman.

……And so a week passed.