C161
“If she come in contact with the person who has had the magic taken away, the Extortion will be lifted?”
The fact that there was no answer from Marsha was enough to convince Shirone that this was the correct answer.
Nevertheless, the feeling of discomfort remained. If the constraint of Extortion was contact, widening the distance was somewhat understandable.
But the problem was that Marsha was in an overly advantageous position. She has stolen numerous magic that utilize God Particles, while he had to rely solely on Wind Cutter.
Wasn't it a situation worth fighting? Yet, she fled as if terrified, dozens of meters away.
‘What is Rule Eater….'
Shirone opened his eyes. Now everything is clear in his mind.
'I've found it! The mental loophole. Marsha isn't perfect either.'
Thinking about it, it was a simple issue. Upon contact, Extortion is canceled. If she could take away her opponent's magic simply by that constrain, who in the world would be able to beat her? In the end, there must be an additional cost involved.
He doesn’t know what the price would be, but it would have been closely related to the trauma that led to her Rule Eater.
‘Rruke Eater is a being with mental bias. In order to possess such an enormous ability, you have no choice but to endure the trauma that created the ability in the first place.’
Therefore, she cannot be approached. The chance that she would have to pay the terrible price became incredibly high once Shirone found a way to cancel Extortion.
What she truly feared wasn't the return of the stolen magic. It was the horrendous cost that would occur simultaneously with the cancellation of Extortion.
'But countless amounts of magic must have been stolen so far. How did she overcome it then?'
The answer to that came quickly. As soon as Shirone found the answer, he immediately charged at Marsha.
There was no time to think. Marsha had been stalling for time until her reinforcements arrived..
Deprivation of one's ability by risking one's most terrible pain.
As long as there was a chance Shirone might trigger that cost, Marsha would never engage in combat.
On the other hand, if it weren't for that level of fear, the magic of Extortion would never have been possible in the first place.
Shirone was no longer afraid. There was still time. Somehow, he had to capture Marsha before the reinforcements arrived.
"Ugh!”
Marsha let out a groan and moved away. Her face paled even at the slight narrowing of distance between her and Shirone. The playful tone and the charming expression were no longer visible.
'I can do this! I can get my magic back!'
Shirone, who found a ray of hope, continued to chase Marsha. Of course, it was close to impossible to chase after a mage who was casting Teleportation, but he couldn't stop with the thief who had stolen his entire life right before him.
"Shirone! It's dangerous!"
Shirone looked up at the sky at the sound of Tess' voice. With a thunderous noise, about ten streaks of light raced through the sky and descended.
Color returned to Marsha's face at last. In contrast, Shirone felt drained of the strength even to run.
He had thought there was enough time. But it was a misjudgment. The surviving subordinates had used a magic circle to arrive in an instant.
“Hohoho! Finally, they've arrived. It's all over now!"
About 20 Schema users users swarmed around Marsha. It was impossible to break through that crowd and capture Marsha.
“Shi- Shirone….”
Amy bit her lip, holding back tears.
Is it really going to end like this? Shirone may have to give up his dream of becoming a mage.
'It doesn't make sense. He really liked magic. He worked so hard for it.'
Shirone looked at Marsha as if he had given up everything. It was the most vacant expression a human could have.
“Oh my, Shirone? Why are you looking at me like that? Ah, because of the magic? It's okay. You're young, you can just start over from the beginning. Of course, the magic I've stolen from you, you'll never be able to use, even if you try for a lifetime."
"Even Sound Magic was stolen from someone else, wasn't it?"
“Huhu, right, well. You know, I have a bit of kleptomania. You said you understood me before, but now you're suddenly being so petty? You willingly gave 50 silver for the pottery, but you can't give up your magic? Why? After pretending to be so kind, is it too, too precious to give magic to others?"
Tags:
Infinite Mage (Novel)
