New Side Story Chapter 14 (Main Story 10.14) 『The 0.2-Second Magic Circle and the Once-in-a-Millennium Genius』
The steel fortress city of Dilmunt.
This massive city‚ standing tall in the northern reaches of the kingdom‚ boasted an overwhelming presence with its black-iron ramparts that pierced the heavens and its geometrically clustered magitech chimneys.
Beneath the city‚ countless magitech circuits ran like blood vessels‚ while the Mana Rail Express that raced across the surface continued to transport tens of thousands of people and vast quantities of goods every day according to an exact timetable.
Military affairs‚ logistics‚ magitech research‚ and national defense.
Every element that formed the flesh and blood of the nation was supported by the enormous magitech infrastructure that crisscrossed this city in every direction.
In other words‚ Dilmunt was nothing less than the kingdom’s “heart that must never be allowed to stop.”
And now.
In the central district of this extremely vital city.
One of the kingdom’s highest peaks of magitech wisdom was on the verge of breaking down in a grand and utterly hopeless fashion.
Mage A: “Triple the first defensive barrier!”
Young Military Mage: “Please wait!”
The young military mage who had been staring intently at the instruments cried out in a voice that was almost a scream.
Young Military Mage: “With the current abnormal mana flow‚ multilayering the barrier will be completely counterproductive! We should temporarily release the outer barrier and deliberately create an escape route for the expanding energy!”
Mage B: “What nonsense are you spouting! If we release that level of output energy outside‚ the surrounding districts will be blown away without a trace!”
Young Military Mage: “But if we keep sealing it in like this‚ the pressure inside the core will breach critical levels!”
Senior Mage: “Then just do both!”
Another senior mage shouted with bloodshot eyes.
For an instant.
The tense control room fell silent as if water had been poured over it.
Young Military Mage: “…Both… you say?”
Senior Mage: “Triple the barrier to guarantee overall durability‚ while releasing only part of the upper section.
Physically suppress the furnace’s pressure while guiding and discharging only the surplus energy into the sky above!”
Young Military Mage: “In theory… it’s possible‚ but!”
Senior Mage: “If you can do it‚ then do it right now!”
Young Military Mage: “Y-Yes‚ sir!”
Three high-ranking mages almost simultaneously abandoned their complex chants and activated their magic.
Pale blue geometric patterns of light raced through the air in multiple layers.
One.
Two.
Three.
Thick absolute defensive barriers unfolded firmly‚ enveloping the runaway giant magitech furnace.
At the same time‚ just as designed‚ only a portion of the outer upper section was released‚ forming an exhaust port to vent the surplus mana into the heavens.
At first glance‚ it was an extremely fine decision.
A localized yet rational coordinated play by the kingdom’s highest-ranking mages.
But.
The next moment.
The magitech furnace.
—Thump.
It beat once‚ unnervingly large‚ like a giant heart.
Someone: “…Ah.”
Someone let out a voice of despair.
—ZUGAAAAAAAAAN!
A roar that mercilessly shook the eardrums.
High-density mana‚ boiling red-black‚ erupted all at once from the bottom of the furnace toward the sky.
The thick defensive barriers warped under the tremendous internal pressure‚ and the energy surged toward the exhaust port that was supposed to have been released.
But that enormous energy flow caused a “fatal interference” midway with the formulas of the triple-layered solid barriers.
Mage C: “What is this!?”
Young Military Mage: “The mana flow is reversing from the exhaust port back into the core!”
Mage B: “Reversing!?”
Young Military Mage: “No‚ that’s not it! It’s not a simple reversal! The phase of the exhaust pathway is interfering with the third-layer barrier structure‚ forming a vortex of mana!”
Mage B: “So what does that mean!”
Young Military Mage: “…”
Mage B: “I’m asking you what it means!”
Young Military Mage: “The situation—has deteriorated into an even worse form than before!”
For an instant.
No one could form words in the face of such despair.
The magitech furnace pulsed once more.
—Thump.
It made an eerie fetal movement.
Mage D: “Who was it!”
One mage screamed hysterically.
Mage D: “Who said to triple the barrier!”
Mage B: “That was you!”
Mage D: “I only triple-layered the defensive wall to guarantee overall durability!”
Mage B: “And that created the fatal interference!”
Mage D: “You were the one who released the upper section!”
Young Military Mage: “I only formed the exhaust port exactly as instructed!”
Mage D: “And that was the cause of the vortex!”
Young Military Mage: “Who was the one who said to do both!”
Senior Mage: “I merely presented a theoretical possibility!”
Young Military Mage: “You clearly ordered us to execute it!”
Senior Mage: “I did give the order‚ but!”
Mage D: “Then the full responsibility lies with you!”
Senior Mage: “Why is the responsibility being directed at me alone!?”
Senior Officer: “Silence!”
A roar that seemed to rise from the pit of the stomach made the air in the control room quiver.
Those who prided themselves on being elites all shut their mouths at once.
A senior officer of the Military Magitech Technology Bureau.
The man in a military uniform mixed with white hair roughly wiped away the beads of sweat on his forehead.
Senior Officer: “…Determining where responsibility lies will come after everything has been settled.”
Young Military Mage: “But‚ Your Excellency—”
Senior Officer: “Right now‚ think only of stopping that runaway furnace.”
Pressed by those low‚ heavy words‚ everyone turned their gazes back to the magitech furnace displayed on the main monitor.
The giant furnace.
The pulsing red-black light.
The magitech circuits stacked in complex layers‚ like a work of art.
Originally‚ it had been the central device for maintaining a kingdom-class wide-area defensive barrier.
Hundreds of outstanding mages.
Decades of blood-soaked research.
Enormous national budgets.
And the kingdom’s highest intellects.
All of that had been brought together to create the kingdom’s pride: the newest model of magitech calculation furnace.
Now.
That crystallization of everything.
Refusing all control‚ was running wild at full force in the direction of destroying itself.
Young Military Mage: “Core output rising further!”
Senior Officer: “What percent is it now!”
Young Military Mage: “One hundred twenty…!”
Senior Officer: “One hundred twenty!?”
Young Military Mage: “…No‚ one hundred forty!”
Senior Officer: “Why is it rising so sharply!?”
Young Military Mage: “We’re analyzing that with all hands right now!”
Senior Officer: “Is the analysis result not out yet!”
Young Military Mage: “Not yet!”
Senior Officer: “Why!”
Young Military Mage: “Because the internal interference state is far too complex!”
Senior Officer: “That’s not an answer!”
Young Military Mage: “But as a fact‚ it is complex!”
Another person appeared who could no longer endure the fear and clutched their head.
Not a single person here was a fool.
There was not a single incompetent individual in this control room.
Rather‚ those gathered here were all frontline mages with outstanding achievements even within the kingdom.
Authorities on defensive barriers.
Leading experts in mana fluid engineering.
Chief engineers of magitech furnace design.
Elite military mages specializing in emergency response.
Each of them was‚ without question‚ a genius in their own specialized field.
That was precisely why.
The moment an unexpected error occurred‚ every single one of them immediately output the answer they believed to be the “best” from within their deep knowledge—localized as it was.
Mage E: “We should further reinforce the barrier!”
Mage F: “No‚ we should deliberately release the mana!”
Mage G: “We should physically cool the core!”
Mage H: “We should temporarily halt all calculations!”
Mage I: “Foolish! If we initiate a shutdown process now‚ there’s a risk the internal formulas will collapse under their own weight!”
Mage J: “Then we have no choice but to reverse the mana circulation!”
Mage K: “Doing that will cause another fatal reverse flow!”
Mage L: “Then add an auxiliary formula and—”
Mage M: “Wait!”
Mage L: “What!”
Mage M: “That auxiliary formula will interfere with the cooling calculation system I constructed!”
Mage L: “Then I’ll temporarily release that system!”
Mage M: “Don’t release the cooling! The core will physically melt!”
Mage N: “Then what in the world are we supposed to do!”
“…”
For an instant.
Everyone was enveloped in a heavy silence.
No one could produce the correct answer.
Amid that‚ one young mage hesitantly opened his mouth.
Young Mage: “…Everyone‚ just once.
How about we stop the formulas each of us is in charge of?”
Everyone’s sharp gazes stabbed into that man at once.
After several seconds of freezing silence.
Multiple Mages: “Rejected!”
Several voices of refusal overlapped.
Mage O: “Try stopping the formulas in this extreme state and the core pressure will explode outward all at once!”
Mage P: “The first barrier should still remain!”
Young Military Mage: “No‚ it doesn’t remain!”
Mage P: “What!?”
Young Military Mage: “Because of the earlier mana interference‚ the second and third layers have merged on their own!”
Mage P: “Merged!? No such function existed at the design stage!”
Young Military Mage: “There’s a possibility the furnace is repeating optimizations on its own‚ as if it were a living thing!”
Mage P: “What good does optimizing toward self-destruction do!”
—Zun.
A dull impact like a ground tremor greatly shook the floor of the control room.
Everyone’s mouths stopped cold.
The solid black-iron outer wall of the magitech furnace.
A single deep crack‚ like a lightning strike‚ ran across it.
Sinister red-black light began leaking from the gap as super-high-pressure steam.
Someone: “…”
Someone swallowed a small breath of despair.
Someone: “This is bad.”
This time.
No one denied those words.
It wasn’t technical jargon or a magitech engineering analysis result.
Simply‚ from anyone’s eyes‚ it was intuitively a “fatally too late” state.
Senior Officer: “What’s the evacuation status of the surrounding residents!?”
Young Military Mage: “District One is complete!”
Senior Officer: “District Two!”
Young Military Mage: “Not yet!”
Senior Officer: “Why! Hurry them!”
Young Military Mage: “Before the residents could even begin evacuating‚ the roads around the training grounds melted and deformed from the leaked magitech heat!”
Senior Officer: “Then use the alternate-route transport network!”
Young Military Mage: “Some of the train lines have also stopped!”
Young Military Mage: “The synchronization rate of the magitech circuits is being affected by magnetic field interference from the furnace’s runaway—”
Senior Officer: “So what does that mean!?”
Young Military Mage: “…The means to escape are overwhelmingly insufficient!”
At that report‚ the color completely drained from the senior officer’s face.
Dilmunt was not a fortress for soldiers alone.
Nameless workers in the magitech factories‚ merchants‚ students‚ and powerless children.
Tens of thousands of people were earnestly living their lives inside this giant iron cage.
And the majority of those lives did not even accurately know how terrible a crisis was occurring right under their feet at this very moment.
◇
Child: “Mom!”
Beyond the warped street‚ a child’s wailing voice rang out.
Child: “Mom‚ where are you!?”
An eerie alarm was sounding throughout the city that was dyeing itself red-black.
The ground was shaking small repeatedly‚ like the heartbeat of a living thing.
People were fleeing about the stone pavement with faces full of anxiety.
Those hurrying ahead in silence.
Those tightly pulling a child’s hand.
Those running while clutching precious luggage.
Those frantically closing the iron shutters of their shops.
Citizen A: “It’s fine!”
Someone shouted as if trying to convince themselves.
Citizen A: “The military will handle it for sure! It’s always been that way!”
Citizen B: “Yeah‚ that’s right.
Our army is excellent.”
Someone else agreed in a trembling voice.
Girl: “But that…”
At one girl’s words‚ people were drawn to look up at the sky.
In the direction of the central district where the training grounds were.
Beyond the black-iron chimneys.
Sinister red-black light was unnervingly invading and dyeing the midday sky.
Seeing that abnormal spectacle.
No one
could seriously think
“It’s fine”
anymore.
Citizen C: “…Is that really not a military exercise?”
Citizen D: “I don’t know.”
Citizen E: “Did some large-scale monster appear or something?”
Citizen F: “No way.
This is a steel fortress.”
Citizen G: “Then what in the world is that…!”
Not a single person could answer.
◇
Senior Officer: “The calculation furnace’s runaway!”
Military Command Room.
Young Military Mage: “Continuing!”
Senior Officer: “Output!”
Young Military Mage: “Still rising!”
Senior Officer: “Do something to lower the output!”
Young Military Mage: “We’re currently examining methods with all hands!”
Senior Officer: “There’s no time for examination! Execute immediately!”
Young Military Mage: “That’s why I’m asking which method we should execute!”
Roars.
Alarms.
Magitech terminals blinking red continuously.
Everyone in the control room was literally desperate.
No one was fleeing from their duties.
No one was cutting corners.
Rather‚ every single person was responding with the best formulas they knew‚ pouring everything they could into it.
That was precisely why.
Even more so.
The situation tangled together like a spider’s web and accelerated in the worst direction.
Senior Officer: “…”
The senior officer simply stared at the magitech terminal that had dyed itself completely red.
There‚ hundreds of enormous numerical values were constantly listed.
Temperature.
Pressure.
Mana quantity.
Barrier strength.
Calculation load.
Synchronization rate.
All of them were abnormal values that had completely breached the design limits.
And those abnormal values were being frantically corrected by hundreds of different formulas‚ each struggling individually and killing one another.
Senior Officer: “…All of it.”
The senior officer muttered in a hollow voice.
Senior Officer: “All of it should be correct.”
Young Military Mage: “Your Excellency?”
Senior Officer: “If you look at each one cut out individually.”
With bloodshot eyes‚ he stared at the magitech furnace in front of him.
Senior Officer: “Each individual formula—every single measure should be theoretically correct.”
No one could reply.
Senior Officer: “And yet—”
—Thump.
The magitech furnace pulsed unnervingly once more‚ as if mocking them.
Senior Officer: “Why has it come to this.”
There was still not a single person in this room who could answer that question.
Only the cruel reality was there.
The kingdom’s highest intellects were each producing nearly perfect localized correct answers in their specialized fields.
And those supposedly perfect correct answers were grandly tripping one another up and strangling one another.
The steel fortress city of Dilmunt.
In that absolute domain where the kingdom’s highest magitech gathered.
Now‚ the kingdom’s highest intellects—not a single one of them—
“What should we do next for the whole”
had completely lost their understanding.
And.
A second deep crack ran across the outer wall of the magitech furnace.
—Pishii.
Not a single person in this room missed that small sound of ruin.
Yet not a single person could immediately move to the next move.
Because if they carelessly made the next move‚ while there was a possibility it might save the situation‚ there was an equal possibility it would pull the trigger and worsen things further.
Senior Officer: “…”
The senior officer slowly drew a breath of resolve.
He opened his trembling lips‚ about to issue a command that assumed the worst.
It was at that moment.
—ZUDOOOOOON!!
A massive explosion that shook heaven and earth rang out from the center of the training grounds.
An overwhelming red-black heat wave spread in all directions‚ crushing the first barrier like scrap paper.
Someone: “Everyone‚ get down—!”
Someone screamed.
But far faster than that warning.
—GAAAAAAN!!
A single flash of a white blade cleaved the blast wave that carried the physical mass of ruin cleanly in two from the front.
White-silver armor radiating an overwhelming presence.
Black-iron ground scorched red-black by the heat wave.
And a single large man standing composed amid the raging flames‚ a giant greatsword as tall as himself resting on his shoulder.
Leon: “…”
Leon Valks looked up at the sky where the blast wave had been erased by his own intense sword strike‚ then furrowed his brows just a little in displeasure.
Leon: “…So?”
From behind him‚ a military mage who had collapsed to the ground in terror cried out with a face that looked ready to burst into tears.
Military Mage: “So‚ it’s an extremely too-late state!”
Leon: “I can see that just by looking!!”
Brute-force physical laws (Leon) and the runaway highest-peak magitech calculation furnace.
The historically worst day of the steel fortress city of Dilmunt.
From here‚ the curtain truly rose.
An explosion had occurred.
—No.
To be precise‚ it had not yet reached a full-scale great explosion.
But a massive lump of energy capable of blowing the entire city to smithereens was currently sprinting at full speed toward ruin.
Young Military Mage: “Second defensive barrier‚ completely collapsed!”
Young Military Mage: “Fixed third calculation system‚ overflow!”
Young Military Mage: “Core temperature rising further!”
Senior Officer: “Rising—how much is it now!”
Young Military Mage: “Unmeasurable!”
Senior Officer: “Did the measuring instruments break!?”
Young Military Mage: “Yes!”
Senior Officer: “Then connect the backup measuring instruments—”
Young Military Mage: “Those also burned out from overload the moment they were connected!”
Senior Officer: “Whyyyyyyyyy!”
The central training grounds of the steel fortress city of Dilmunt no longer retained their original form.
The thick black-iron ground had melted into a red-black scorched mess‚ and around the giant magitech calculation furnace‚ the space itself was warping like a heat haze from the enormous waste heat.
And.
At that worst heat source.
Leon: “…I see.”
Leon Valks carelessly wiped the sweat from his forehead with a large hand.
Leon: “So it’s extremely dangerous‚ is that it?”
Military Mage: “You can see that just by looking! It’s dangerously extreme!”
Leon: “Mm‚ I think so too!”
ZUDOOOOOON!!
The next moment.
From the exhaust port of the magitech calculation furnace‚ a tremendous lump of heat wave surged up like a giant serpent crawling along the ground.
Military Mage: “Lord Leon!”
Leon: “Stay back!”
Leon barked once‚ then drew the giant greatsword from his back.
A thick blade radiating a dull white-silver light.
Its name was the greatsword—Ragnarok.
Leon: “《Holy Knight Style · Third Barrier》”
He swung it down with a grand motion.
He did it with pure physical strength alone‚ and fighting spirit refined to the absolute limit.
Yet.
The moment that greatsword split the layers of space.
The lethal heat wave that had been surging toward him.
—Was splendidly bisected cleanly in two.
With a heavy roar of “Gooooon‚” the heat winds that veered left and right blew away the thick defensive walls at both ends of the training grounds in spectacular fashion‚ avoiding the mages trembling behind Leon.
Leon: “…Good.”
Leon nodded firmly to himself alone.
Leon: “That made things a little quieter.”
Military Officer: “Where exactly!?”
The military officer who had collapsed behind him shouted half in tears.
Military Officer: “No‚ that blast wave just now—you cut it with a physical sword‚ right!?”
Leon: “Yeah‚ I cut it.”
Military Officer: “Can a magical blast wave be cut with a sword!?”
Leon: “As you just saw‚ it could.”
Military Officer: “That’s not the issue!”
Leon furrowed his thick brows in dissatisfaction.
He didn’t really understand why he was being yelled at so much.
But.
The magitech furnace before him‚ raising eerie flames‚ began to play another unsettling abnormal sound.
—Giiiiiiiiiiin.
It was a terribly unpleasant high tone that seemed to scrape the eardrums directly.
Strength naturally entered the thick palm gripping the sword.
Leon: “What’s next.
If you’re coming‚ come all at once.”
Young Military Mage: “The mana circulation in the core is reversing!”
Leon: “So?”
Young Military Mage: “At this rate‚ the runaway wave will propagate to the foundation of the kingdom-class barrier!”
Leon: “So what happens then?”
Young Military Mage: “There’s a possibility the entire Dilmunt will be blown away!”
Leon: “Then say it that clearly from the beginning!”
Leon roared.
Immediately after.
Scorching heat waves and a rain of giant rubble poured down mercilessly once more.
Leon: “Ooooooooooh!”
He swung Ragnarok in a horizontal flash.
The blast wave was cleanly split.
Furthermore‚ he smashed down hundreds of kilograms of black-iron fragments flying like bullets with a grand swing.
He sliced through heat waves.
He pushed back collapsing giant steel beams of magitech devices with his body alone.
He smashed raging flames with pure force.
Military Officers: “…!”
The military officers completely lost their words at the spectacle.
Around them.
Mages with the kingdom’s highest intellects continued deploying complex and bizarre magic circles.
Multiple layers of advanced calculations‚ formulas with enormous numbers of characters‚ magitech theories incomprehensible to ordinary people‚ and the newest magitech calculation support devices.
Using those highest-peak technologies‚ they were still struggling desperately.
Mage Q: “First formula‚ correct it immediately!”
Mage R: “No‚ wait! If you activate that formula‚ it will interfere with the phase of the second barrier!”
Mage Q: “Then temporarily release the second barrier!”
Mage R: “Don’t release it! Doing that would expose the core and wipe us all out!”
Mage S: “Then an auxiliary barrier—”
Mage R: “I just said that would interfere!”
Mage T: “Who added an auxiliary formula here without permission!”
Mage U: “That was me!”
Mage T: “Why do something so unnecessary!”
Mage U: “Because I judged it necessary at the time!”
Mage T: “It’s completely unnecessary now!”
Mage U: “Then say so from the beginning!”
Mage T: “I’ve been saying it this whole time!”
Mage U: “There’s too much specialized terminology—I can’t catch it!”
They were clashing their highest wisdom against one another‚ and splendidly spinning their wheels.
And.
Right beside that chaos.
Only Leon.
Leon: “Hmph!”
Was simply swinging his greatsword straight ahead.
Zudoon!
(Slicing the surging blast wave)
Leon: “Uooh!”
He swung the greatsword further.
Bagoon!
(Smashing the flying giant rubble)
Leon: “Next!”
He swung the greatsword again.
Doooooon!
(Scattering the erupting pillars of fire without a trace)
Leon: “Is there still more coming!”
Without even a pause for breath‚ he swung the greatsword.
While looking up blankly at that tremendous grand performance‚ one young officer muttered to the superior officer beside him.
Young Officer: “…That guy.
Even though he’s using the most primitive means on that battlefield.”
Superior Officer: “…”
Young Officer: “Isn’t he the one getting the job done most reliably?”
No one could answer.
They couldn’t answer.
Because that was precisely the single fact clear to anyone’s eyes on this mad battlefield.
◆
Ten minutes later.
Young Military Mage: “Fourth defensive barrier‚ collapsed!”
Young Military Mage: “Fifth calculation system‚ completely stopped!”
Young Military Mage: “Sixth auxiliary formula has newly begun running wild!”
Mage V: “Who! Who made another unnecessary formula run wild!”
Mage W: “I’m not making it run wild! It’s running wild on its own!”
Mage V: “Then why is it running wild!”
Mage W: “That’s why everyone’s been clutching their heads this whole time because we don’t know!”
Leon: “…!”
Amid the fierce interweaving of scream-like roars and alarms‚ Leon quietly closed his mouth.
Then‚ slowly‚ he looked up at the giant magitech calculation furnace violently scattering sparks.
The black-iron furnace.
Countless geometric magic circles.
The kingdom’s latest magitech.
Kingdom-class budgets.
The highest technical experts.
The frontline elites the military prided itself on.
All of that had gathered—and now every single one of them was fatally at a loss.
Leon: “…Hey.”
Leon lightly tapped the shoulder of an officer nearby who was desperately pounding on a magitech terminal.
Officer: “Hii‚ yes!”
Leon: “Can I ask one thing?”
Officer: “W-What is it!”
Leon: “About that furnace.”
Leon pointed with his thumb at the sinisterly runaway giant calculation furnace.
Leon: “If I break it‚ will its function stop?”
Officer: “…Huh?”
Leon: “If I completely physically destroy it‚ the runaway will stop‚ right?”
Officer: “That’s… well‚ in theory‚ yes‚ but.”
Leon: “Then.”
He readjusted Ragnarok on his shoulder.
Leon: “Isn’t it just a matter of me cutting it down from the root in a single stroke?”
For an instant.
The surroundings that had been enveloped in roars and alarms fell unnaturally silent.
One of the officers slowly opened his mouth with a twisted smile.
Officer: “…Eh?”
Leon: “I said.”
He layered the words once more with an extremely serious face.
Leon: “It’s broken and causing trouble‚ right?”
Officer: “Yes.”
Leon: “It’s running wild out of control‚ right?”
Officer: “Yes.”
Leon: “At this rate the entire city is in danger.
Right?”
Officer: “…Yes.”
Leon: “Then.”
Leon stared straight at the violently flickering furnace.
Leon: “—I’ll break it.”
It was an all-too-simple‚ all-too-straight declaration.
The surrounding mages doubted their own eyes in astonishment.
Military Mage: “P-Please wait‚ Lord Leon!”
Leon: “What.”
Military Mage: “That’s the kingdom’s highest secret‚ the highest-peak magitech calculation furnace‚ you know!?”
Leon: “I know.”
Military Mage: “It’s the foundation of the kingdom’s military and magitech infrastructure!”
Leon: “I know that too.”
Military Mage: “The construction cost alone is the national budget’s—”
Leon: “I don’t know about that.”
Military Mage: “You don’t know!?”
Leon: “Idiot! There’s no way a mere knight like me would remember the concrete amount of the budget!”
He raised his voice just a little‚ looking somewhat offended.
And.
With extremely serious eyes‚ he once again stared at the furnace pulsing madly.
The giant lump of iron continuing to radiate red-black light with a roar.
Beyond it spread the city of Dilmunt.
The steel city.
Black-iron ramparts.
Magitech chimneys.
Mana rails.
In the midst of that peace‚ tens of thousands of citizens who knew nothing were living ordinary lives at this very moment.
They would greet the morning unchanged‚ head to work‚ exchange words with family‚ and gather around a warm meal at noon.
That ordinary‚ beloved daily life.
There was absolutely no way he would allow it to be stolen by their own military’s blunder‚ no matter what.
Leon gripped the hilt of the giant sword so tightly it seemed ready to break.
Leon: “If it’s money‚ we can earn it again.”
A low‚ heavy voice rang out.
Leon: “If it’s a magitech furnace‚ we can rebuild it.”
No one could return a single word.
Leon: “But—”
Leon’s eyes sharpened like an unsheathed white blade.
Leon: “Lost human lives can never be remade.”
At that moment.
The taut air that had lain around Leon transformed completely.
Until just now‚ the man who had simply been cutting blast waves with pure physical force.
But standing there now was.
Clad in white-silver armor without a single hesitation.
A single “Holy Knight‚” the kingdom’s greatest shield.
Leon: “That’s why.”
He raised Ragnarok straight into an upper stance.
Leon: “I will cut this down from the root and stop it.”
Toward the runaway magitech calculation furnace‚ he took one powerful step that made the earth burst.
—It was at that moment.
Giiiiiiiiiiiiin……!
From the deepest part of the furnace‚ an abnormal sound of a clearly different dimension from before rang out‚ as if space itself were screaming and creaking.
Leon’s feet stopped cold.
Leon: “…What happened?”
Officer: “Core output… rising sharply further!!”
Leon: “Same as always‚ is it.”
Officer: “No!”
The officer’s voice cracked completely from pure despair.
Officer: “The rate of rise is a different dimension from before! It has completely breached the critical point!”
The magitech calculation furnace transformed from its sinister red-black color into an unnervingly dazzling “pure white” radiance.
An all-too-dense and dazzling light of ruin that leveled the world.
Leon narrowed his eyes strongly.
Leon: “…So?”
Officer: “It’s going to explode massively!!”
Leon: “That’s why! Say the conclusion that clearly from the beginninggggg!!”
He roared fiercely.
Yet without retreating a single step‚ he once again raised Ragnarok straight toward the approaching overwhelming white light.
It was at that moment.
In the distance.
From beyond the great sky surrounding the fortress city‚ a single thread of wind slipped through gently.
The raging heat and the despair that had dominated the battlefield.
It sliced through them sharply and vividly for just an instant.
An endlessly transparent‚ cold wind.
Leon was the first to sense the true nature of the presence that wind had carried‚ and the corner of his mouth curved into a bold smile.
Leon: “…Hm?”
The mages in the control room had not yet noticed the anomaly.
But.
Toward the giant iron cage of Dilmunt that was on the verge of collapse.
A single genius who would correct the worst bug.
Was already closing in right there.
The steel fortress city of Dilmunt.
In one room of the magic academy that boasted outstanding history and authority even within the kingdom.
Teacher: “Now then‚ in this higher-order formula‚ if one omits the ‘Second Calculation Domain‚’ what kind of influence will arise in the mana circulation—”
The teacher’s muffled voice rang low in front of the giant blackboard.
In the vast lecture hall rising in tiers‚ several dozen students were holding their breath.
All of them were carefully selected eggs of noble mages from various parts of the kingdom‚ with promising futures guaranteed.
Magitech theory‚ formula construction‚ mana calculation‚ and the basic structure of kingdom-class barriers.
Every one of them was advanced and abstract content that would take ordinary humans years just to understand a single concept.
Teacher: “…Now then.”
The teacher looked widely around the silent classroom.
Teacher: “Is there anyone who can answer logically?”
Several seconds of heavy silence dominated the space.
The students stared at the blackboard‚ unable to move even a little.
The development diagram of the complexly combined three-dimensional magic circle‚ the enormous calculation formulas exceeding hundreds.
They desperately spun their brains trying to derive the correct answer from that sea of information.
Male Student: “Um…”
One male student hesitantly raised his hand.
Male Student: “If you omit the Second Calculation Domain‚ an error occurs in the auxiliary calculation of the Third Domain and…”
Teacher: “Close.”
The teacher shook his head gently yet mercilessly.
Teacher: “You’re almost there.
But your perspective is a little too localized.”
Male Student: “Ugh…”
The student slumped his shoulders in disappointment.
It was at that moment.
From the seat by the window in the very back of the classroom‚ where morning light streamed in.
Tia: “…It’s not the Third Domain.”
A terribly clear‚ dignified small voice pierced the silence.
The teacher turned around in surprise.
Teacher: “Emeraladia?”
Tia: “Yes.”
The girl answered matter-of-factly while still vaguely gazing at the black-iron magitech chimneys spreading outside the window.
Tia: “If you omit the Second Calculation Domain‚ the one that receives the fatal influence is the ‘Fourth Domain.’”
Teacher: “…Please continue.”
Tia: “The auxiliary formula of the Second Domain appears at first glance to support the adjacent Third Domain‚ but in reality it is dummy code for correcting the mana conversion efficiency of the Fourth Domain behind the scenes.
Therefore‚ if you delete this—”
The girl rested her elbow on the window frame and lightly slid the fingertips of her free hand.
In the empty air that should have held nothing‚ mathematical formulas tinged with pale emerald light floated up soundlessly.
Tia: “The circulation efficiency decreases by 7.2 percent overall.”
The teacher’s eyes widened in admiration.
Teacher: “…Correct.
A perfect analysis with no room for criticism.”
From various places in the classroom‚ small sighs mixed with resignation rather than jealousy leaked out.
Student A: “It’s Tia again…”
Student B: “I was desperately calculating a completely different dummy formula this whole time.”
Student C: “Cheer up.
Same here.”
Student B: “That doesn’t console me at all!”
Such exasperated whispers spread through the classroom like ripples.
Emeraladia.
Nickname: Tia.
Eighteen years old.
And—she was called by those around her‚ with reverence‚ the “once-in-a-millennium genius.”
What was once in a millennium.
Extraordinary mana quantity?
Precise formula construction ability?
Super-high-speed calculation speed?
Or absolute aptitude for magic itself?
The answer was.
—All of them.
But.
Tia: “…”
Tia herself did not look even a little happy about having derived that correct answer.
Tia: “Teacher.”
Teacher: “Yes‚ what is it‚ Emeraladia.”
Tia: “Will this formula appear on tomorrow’s exam?”
Teacher: “Yes‚ I will definitely include it.”
Tia: “I thought so.”
Tia’s refined face clouded just a little‚ and she let out a deep sigh.
Tia: “Then I’ll memorize it right here and now.”
Teacher: “…With just that short explanation just now‚ you’ve memorized everything?”
Tia: “Yes.
I’ve completely grasped the logic of the formula structure‚ so it’s already settled in my brain.”
Teacher: “…I see.”
The teacher lost his words for a while and could only stand there dumbfounded.
He had intended to have grown used to such unreasonable scenes since meeting this genius girl.
Or so he thought—but even now‚ he could by no means grow used to her unfathomable talent.
The teacher cleared his throat lightly and turned back to the blackboard as if to pull himself together.
Teacher: “…Then let’s move on to the next problem.
This is of an even higher dimension—”
It was at that moment.
In the center of the lecture hall‚ the empty void that should have held nothing.
—Pishiri.
Warped with an ominous sound like hard glass cracking.
Tia: “?”
Tia shifted her gaze for the first time from outside the window to the center of the classroom.
The next moment.
As if tearing through space‚ a pale blue flash floated up.
A powerful magitech communication via three-dimensional hologram.
Moreover‚ it was by no means a closed circuit of the kind used inside the academy.
Teacher: “The military’s… line?”
The teacher’s face instantly turned an ashen color.
The crest displayed in the air‚ adorned with a sharp sword and sturdy shield.
It was none other than the “Highest Secret · Emergency Line” permitted for use only by the central core of the Dilmunt military.
Normally‚ during a peaceful academy class‚ a forced direct communication from the military intervening was a situation that would never happen even if heaven and earth were turned upside down.
Teacher: “…Connecting.”
The teacher stretched out a trembling hand and approved the spatial formula.
The light in the air flickered intensely‚ then stabilized.
And.
Military Communication: 『Is Emeraladia Aurelia there!!』
A bloodshot man’s desperate roar rang throughout every corner of the classroom.
The temperature of the space froze.
The students all turned their gazes at once toward Tia in the last row.
Tia intuitively felt an extraordinarily troublesome and unpleasant premonition.
Tia: “…I am here‚ but.”
Military Communication: 『Come to the military’s central training grounds at once!』
Tia: “I refuse.”
Military Communication: 『An immediate answer!?』
Tia: “I’m in the middle of an important class right now.
It’s content that will appear on tomorrow’s exam.”
Military Communication: 『This is not a conversation on that level! It’s a national-scale emergency!』
Tia: “Then please explain it that way from the beginning.”
Military Communication: 『The newest model of magitech calculation furnace has completely run wild beyond control!』
Tia’s emerald eyes narrowed just a little with intellectual seriousness.
Tia: “…Runaway‚ is it?”
Military Communication: 『Currently multiple high-ranking mages the military prides itself on are responding with full force‚ but it accepts no control whatsoever!』
Tia: “What about the military’s exclusive magitech calculation engineers?”
Military Communication: 『They’re here!』
Tia: “Kingdom-class barrier mages?”
Military Communication: 『Those too!』
Tia: “The chief technicians specializing in magitech furnace design?”
Military Communication: 『Everyone is assembled on site!』
Tia: “…”
Tia fell silent for a while.
The unpleasant premonition swirling in her chest grew one shade thicker and stronger.
Tia: “Then.”
She inquired in a voice from which emotion had been stripped away‚ cold.
Tia: “Why are you calling ‘me‚’ who is nothing more than a mere student?”
From the other side of the communication‚ a heavy silence returned for a moment.
And.
Military Communication: 『…No one here knows how to stop that furnace.』
The air in the lecture hall fell completely silent this time.
The students who until just now had been half-jokingly laughing “It’s Tia again” no longer laughed even a little.
Tia slowly turned her gaze outside the window.
The sky of Dilmunt.
The black-iron towers standing in orderly disorder.
The Mana Rails running in complex networks like a mesh.
And far away‚ from the city’s central district.
Sinister red-black flashes and a giant white pillar of smoke piercing the heavens were rising.
Tia: “…”
The teacher looked at Tia.
After a while of silence‚ he quietly opened his mouth.
Teacher: “Emeraladia.”
Tia: “Yes.”
Teacher: “Go.”
Tia blinked her eyelashes as if a little surprised.
Tia: “But‚ Teacher’s class…”
Teacher: “If this city disappears‚ tomorrow’s exam will be the least of our worries.”
The teacher forced a smile by moving his twitching cheeks.
Teacher: “Please.
Help the people at that site.”
At those words‚ Tia knitted her brows just a little and made a troubled face.
Tia: “…Again?”
Someone in the classroom let out a small laugh as if to release the taut tension.
Student A: “Again‚ huh.”
Student B: “If Tia’s going‚ then it’s already safe‚ right.”
Student C: “Yeah‚ yeah.
Just go solve it in a flash like always.”
Student D: “After all‚ you’re the once-in-a-millennium genius.”
One after another‚ voices mixed with affection flew from her friends.
There was not a trace of malice or jealousy there.
Rather‚ what lay there was an all-too-pure and absolute “trust.”
A problem occurred.
The adults are at a complete loss.
Then let’s call Tia.
She’ll surely manage somehow.
Tia: “…”
Tia narrowed her emerald eyes just a little and muttered quietly.
Tia: “Everyone.”
She stood up from her seat with dignity.
Tia: “What exactly do you all think I am.”
Students: “A genius.”
Students: “The once-in-a-millennium girl.”
Students: “A walking ultra-high-performance magitech calculation machine.”
Tia: “…”
Tia let out another deep sigh.
Tia: “That last person.”
Student E: “Yes!”
Tia: “I’ll make sure to remember your face thoroughly later.”
Student E: “I’m sorry I got carried away!”
Soft laughter returned to the lecture hall that had been taut.
Tia walked toward the window with unhesitating footsteps.
Teacher: “Emeraladia!”
The teacher hurriedly called her to a stop.
Tia turned around.
Teacher: “…Be careful.”
Tia: “It’s fine‚ Teacher.”
At that unhesitating reply‚ the teacher lost his words for just a moment.
Tia smiled faintly with a cool face as usual.
Tia: “I’m good at solving puzzles like this‚ after all.”
And without hesitation‚ she flung open the old window frame widely.
Student F: “…Eh?”
One student let out a vacant voice.
Student F: “Tia‚ don’t tell me…?”
Tia: “Well then.”
Tia lightly placed her slender foot on the edge of the third-floor window.
Tia: “I’m off.”
Teacher: “W-Wait a moment!”
The teacher raised a voice like a scream.
However.
By then‚ already.
The girl’s small body had vividly floated up into the void outside the window.
Pale emerald mana wrapped around her slender silhouette in multiple layers.
Wind.
At first it was nothing more than a gentle breeze that softly swayed her blonde hair.
But the next moment.
—Don!
The air of the space burst with an explosive impact sound.
Students: “Fast…!?”
The students in the lecture hall all rushed at once to the flung-open window frame.
But Tia’s figure was already far away—.
She was soaring straight through the sky above the giant black-iron city at the speed of a single emerald comet.
◆
Cutting through the wind‚ traveling the great sky.
Below‚ Dilmunt’s hard cityscape flowed rapidly backward.
Black-iron ramparts piercing the heavens‚ geometrically aligned magitech chimneys‚ complexly intertwined double tracks of Mana Rails like a mesh.
And.
The battlefield she aimed for came into view.
Tia: “…Huh?”
Tia soaring through the sky furrowed her well-shaped brows suspiciously.
Even from a distance‚ it was clearly visible.
The military’s central training grounds.
Only that place was clearly defying physical laws and becoming strange.
The sky was sinisterly red.
The ground was melting in places into a sticky black swamp.
Tia: “…”
She lowered her altitude further and closed in rapidly.
The full picture of what was happening at the training grounds flew into her retinas.
Tia: “…………Huh?”
An unconscious vacant voice leaked from Tia’s mouth.
The giant magitech calculation furnace.
Runaway that had literally fallen into an uncontrollable state.
Multiple absolute defensive barriers interfering with one another in complex and bizarre ways.
Catastrophic system crash.
Soldiers screaming and fleeing in panic.
Several elite mages with bloodshot eyes desperately assembling localized formulas.
And.
At the center of that hell.
A single large man clad in white-silver armor.
Leon: “Ooooooooooooooooooh!”
Was swinging a giant greatsword as tall as himself with full force‚ madly‚ space and all.
ZUDOOOOOON!!
The lethal blast wave that erupted from the core was once again split cleanly in two by tremendous sword pressure.
Tia: “…”
Tia came to a complete stop in midair at the spectacle.
For several seconds‚ she remained blankly silent.
Tia: “What.”
A mutter leaked out unconsciously.
Tia: “What is that gorilla-like person doing.”
Immediately after.
From the ground far below‚ Leon’s deep roar from the pit of his stomach pierced straight through‚ carried by the wind.
Leon: “I’m cutting the heat!!”
Tia: “I can see that just by looking!!”
Tia reflexively shouted a full-force retort from the sky.
After saying it‚ even she was surprised.
Why had her small mutter been audible amid this earth-shaking roar.
Why had that large man bothered to reply so politely in this extreme situation.
But more than such trivial questions.
The reality of destruction lying before her eyes was the problem that needed addressing now.
Tia slowly shifted her gaze to the magitech calculation furnace burning pure white.
And‚ as always.
She began analyzing the “world” that only she could see.
The currents of mana racing through the atmosphere.
The physical structure the core possessed.
The base formula that had become the nucleus of the runaway.
The fatal interference points between the barriers.
The calculation circuits repeating reverse flows.
The fatal noise emitted by the auxiliary systems.
The mana supply lines pouring in from outside.
One.
Two.
Three.
Enormous fragments of information flowed into her brain like a muddy torrent.
In the depths of Tia’s emerald eyes‚ countless formulas clicked together at ultra-high speed‚ neatly assembling.
Tia: “…”
Normally‚ a clear “answer” should have been produced here.
Where was it broken.
What should be optimized.
Which unnecessary formula should be cut.
Which mana supply line should be cut off.
In her special domain‚ all of that was visible as visual light.
To her‚ the world had always been just a little simpler than it was to other humans.
Difficult problems only needed to be broken down finely.
Complex formulas only needed to be carefully unraveled one by one.
If she didn’t understand‚ she only needed to sink her thoughts even deeper.
That was why.
From the day she was born until today.
There had not existed a single problem in this world that she could not solve.
Tia: “…………”
From Tia’s refined face‚ the expression of absolute composure disappeared second by second.
Tia: “…Strange.”
She ran the analysis once more.
She pursued the mana currents‚ dismantled the formulas‚ and searched for the true cause.
Tia: “Wrong.”
Once more.
Tia: “Not here.
Even if I cut this function‚ the runaway won’t stop.”
Further‚ into the abyss of thought.
Tia: “…Why?”
That voice trembled faintly and melted small into the hot wind.
What lay before her eyes was a giant magitech calculation furnace that had completely broken free of control and run wild to the limit.
And inside it‚ the all-too-many “supposedly correct localized formulas” that the outstanding mages had added afterward were logically destroying one another‚ transforming into complex and bizarre spaghetti code and triggering an unsolvable death loop.
Tia understood‚ for the first time in her life‚ the true nature of unreasonableness.
This.
Even with my wisdom‚ it cannot be finished easily.
At that moment.
An officer on the ground holding a broken measuring instrument raised a voice filled with despair.
Officer: “Core output has completely breached the critical point! And it’s still rising!!”
Tia slowly looked up at the giant furnace that had reached its limit.
And for the first time in her life‚ she swallowed just a little breath at the unknown fear.
Tia: “…This.”
The raging hot wind violently tousled her beautiful hair.
Tia: “…Might be far worse.”
The iron lump before her eyes pulsed unnervingly‚ red-black‚ intensely‚ like a giant heart.
Tia: “Than I had assumed.”
—The once-in-a-millennium genius.
It was the moment she realized‚ for the first time in her life‚ the possibility of her complete defeat.
Time is endlessly unfair.
It is not given extra only to those who strive.
Nor does it stop and wait for those with talent.
Still less does the time of this world possess the mercy to gently watch over a human who is just about to reach the correct answer.
Tia: “—Seventh Absorption Array‚ maintain!”
Emeraladia’s clear voice sharply sliced through the mad roar.
Centered on her slender body‚ multiple layers of giant geometric patterns unfolded into the air.
One.
Two.
Three.
No‚ there was no longer any meaning in counting the number.
The complexly combined advanced formula groups gradually‚ little by little‚ absorbed the enormous energy erupting from the runaway giant magitech calculation furnace‚ killing its murderous intent.
The atmosphere screamed and trembled.
The stone pavement underfoot began melting red-black from the abnormal heat.
On the solid walls of the training grounds made of black iron‚ countless cracks already ran like a mesh‚ reaching the limit where collapse could come at any moment.
Young Military Mage: “Output still rising!”
Young Military Mage: “Sixth defensive barrier‚ remaining durability rate 42 percent!”
Young Military Mage: “Core pressure increasing further!”
The military mages successively shouted the numerical values of the broken instruments.
In those voices seeped an unconcealable primitive fear‚ as if peering into the brink of death.
Tia: “Don’t shout!”
Tia yelled without even turning around.
Tia: “All unnecessary adjectives become noise! Report only the necessary numerical values accurately!”
Young Military Mage: “Y-Yes!”
Tia: “Next!”
Young Military Mage: “Core temperature‚ currently—”
Tia: “Numbers only!”
Young Military Mage: “Two thousand eight hundred seventy degrees!”
Tia: “Rate of rise!”
Young Military Mage: “Approximately thirty-one degrees per second!”
Tia’s emerald eyes narrowed slightly.
In the fraction of a second after hearing those inorganic numbers‚ hundreds of calculations ran simultaneously in her brain.
The physical structure the magitech furnace possessed.
The remaining durability value of the barriers and their wear rate.
The saturation state of the mana concentration filling the surrounding atmosphere.
The reverse calculation to the root cause that had led the calculation furnace to runaway.
And the absolute limit value of the absorption formula she herself was deploying.
—The most important factor that floated up after overlapping all of them.
The “time” remaining in this world.
Tia’s Thoughts: (…I can still make it)
Tia clenched her trembling back teeth and sharpened her thoughts as if telling herself.
She stretched her right hand straight out.
Its fingertips were trembling finely in convulsions from the overload of mana exercise that had exceeded the limit.
Yet there was not even a single second of leeway to worry about that.
Tia: “Second auxiliary formula‚ deploy!”
A new emerald magic circle floated up dazzlingly in the air.
Immediately after.
A torrent of light that erupted from the magitech calculation furnace mercilessly slammed into its center.
—Goo!!
Tia: “Kh…!”
Tia’s feet slid half a step backward‚ unable to withstand the physical impact.
The stone pavement she stood on shattered in a spiderweb pattern.
Leon: “Tia!”
Tia: “I’m fine!”
It was an immediate answer.
There was no way she was fine.
Her mana circuits were so hot they seemed ready to burn out‚ and even breathing was painful.
Yet.
Just because she was not fine did not mean she could stop here.
Here there was a living city.
People living ordinary lives.
The academy she herself attended.
Around now‚ in a corner of some dim underground shelter‚ those noisy friends of hers should also be holding their breath and trembling.
And above all.
If this absolute defense line was breached‚ the steel fortress city of Dilmunt itself would disappear from the map without a trace.
Tia’s Thoughts: (That’s why—)
Tia: “It’s not over yet!”
Tia shouted intensely.
The rotation speed of the magic circles jumped even further beyond the limit.
The enormous runaway energy was forcibly dragged into the formulas she had woven.
For an instant.
Truly‚ for an instant so short one forgot to breathe.
The furnace’s output numerical value that had been rising madly turned slightly toward descent.
Young Military Mage: “It dropped!”
Young Military Mage: “Core output‚ decrease confirmed!”
Young Military Mage: “Lady Emeraladia’s formula is canceling out the runaway!”
From the control room that had been completely sunk in despair‚ an earth-shaking cheer rose.
Someone clenched their fist as if in prayer‚ someone floated tears of relief.
Tia too exhaled a long‚ hot breath for just a moment.
Tia: “…Naturally.”
She smiled just a little boldly.
Tia: “Who do you think I am.”
The once-in-a-millennium genius.
She had always been called that.
From a young age‚ the adults around her had been astonished every time they looked into her eyes and prostrated themselves before her talent.
Teachers had placed limitless expectations on her‚ and renowned mages had envied her too-young talent.
Children of the same age had‚ at some point‚ come to mutter it as if it were an unchanging law of nature.
—If it’s Tia‚ she’ll definitely be fine.
If a problem arises‚ Tia will unravel everything.
If a barrier breaks‚ Tia will fix it instantly.
If there’s an incomprehensible higher-order magic no one can solve‚ Tia will complete it perfectly.
And she had actually‚ calmly‚ accomplished all of that.
So this time too‚ she would absolutely pull it off.
She had believed that without a doubt.
Leon: “—Tia!!”
Suddenly.
Leon’s ear-splitting roar rang from behind.
Leon: “Get down at once!”
Tia: “Kh!”
By conditioned reflex she slid her slender body low.
The next moment.
An invisible high-pressure shockwave released from the fissure in the magitech calculation furnace was cleaved cleanly in two from the front by a white-silver giant blade.
—ZUGAAAAAAAAAAN!
The bisected blast wave split violently left and right.
The iron-plate ground was deeply gouged‚ and the military mages nearby were almost blown away like dry leaves all together.
Leon: “Hurry and maintain the barrier!”
Young Military Mage: “Maintaining it!”
Leon: “I’m saying that because you’re not maintaining it!!”
Leon shouted back.
On both arms gripping Ragnarok‚ countless blue veins already bulged.
The once-radiant sacred white-silver armor was scored with dozens of deep wounds‚ its surface blackened with soot‚ and parts of it discolored red from the heat.
Yet still.
Leon did not retreat a single step from the front of the mad furnace.
Tia: “Are you all right‚ Lord Leon!”
Leon: “Do I look all right!?”
Tia: “No‚ not at all!”
Leon: “Then don’t ask such unnecessary questions!”
Tia: “That’s certainly true!”
While retorting‚ Tia once again operated the magic circles to precisely control the overflowing mana.
Leon too readjusted his greatsword in preparation for the next shockwave’s assault.
Even so.
Ruthless time alone continued to be carved away relentlessly.
Ten minutes.
Twenty minutes.
Thirty minutes.
No one tried to look at the clock hands anymore.
Because even if they did‚ the remaining time would not increase by even a single second.
And.
A stifling hour passed.
Tia: “…Kh.”
Tia’s knees trembled slightly from the exhaustion of overload.
Her breathing was ragged‚ and sweat flowing from her forehead traced down her pale cheeks.
The magic circles she was currently maintaining consumed a desperate amount of mana that would normally require dozens of kingdom-class mages working in shifts to sustain.
She was controlling it alone‚ holding it in place by force.
Leon: “…Tia.”
Leon spoke in a low‚ heavy voice with his back still turned.
Tia: “I can still go on.”
Leon: “You should have long since exceeded your limit.”
Tia: “…”
Leon: “Rest your hands a little.”
Tia: “If I rest my hands here now‚ this city ends.”
Leon: “Then think of a different approach so that it doesn’t end.”
Tia did not answer.
She was thinking.
Constantly.
Without even a single second of leeway to rest her thoughts.
In her brain‚ countless formulas were assembled and then immediately discarded the next moment.
First one.
The interference site is wrong‚ no good.
Second one.
Construction speed won’t make it in time.
Third one.
Can’t interfere with the root of the furnace’s basic structure.
Fourth one.
Success rate a mere twelve percent.
Fifth one.
Physical damage to the surroundings far too great.
Tia’s Thoughts: (Wrong‚ that’s not it)
Tia bit her lip hard.
The iron taste of blood spread in her mouth.
Tia’s Thoughts: (This isn’t the correct answer I’m seeking either)
The answer should be somewhere.
Absolutely.
A perfect‚ beautiful mathematical formula that she simply hadn’t found yet.
But she couldn’t find it.
That stern reality gradually dominated the depths of her chest coldly‚ like ice.
Young Military Mage: “Core output!”
Young Military Mage: “Rising again!”
Senior Officer: “What’s the current numerical value!”
Young Military Mage: “It’s increased another seventeen percent beyond the highest value measured earlier!”
Tia’s emerald eyes shook intensely.
At that moment.
In one corner of the giant emerald absorption magic circle deployed in the air‚ an ominous crack appeared.
—Pishii.
Tia: “…!”
The color of blood drained from Tia’s face all at once.
Tia: “Bad—”
The next moment.
That crack raced across the entire magic circle at a speed that made repair impossible.
Leon: “Tia!”
Tia: “Not yet—!”
She thrust both hands strongly forward.
She poured all the mana remaining in her body‚ attempting forced repair and reconstruction.
Yet.
Her mana circuits had long since reached their absolute limit.
—Parin!
The giant absorption magic circle shattered emptily in the air like glasswork.
Tia: “—Kh!”
The violent recoil from the formula collapse struck‚ and Tia’s body was greatly flung backward.
Leon immediately and firmly caught her small body with one large-tree-like hand.
Leon: “Don’t do anything reckless!”
Tia: “It’s not over yet!”
Tia forcibly shook off Leon’s arm.
Her footing wavered‚ her vision distorted.
Yet she fixed her bloodshot eyes only forward.
There stood the magitech calculation furnace‚ unchanged—no‚ raging even more intensely and despairingly with pure white light than before.
How much leeway remained.
Tia coldly ran calculations in the extreme state.
The remaining time until the furnace breached true criticality and completely collapsed the city with it.
And the time required for her own brain to derive a solution that would break open this worst situation.
The answer produced by the ruthless mathematical formulas was cruelly clear.
Tia’s Thoughts: (…I won’t make it)
Those words of despair.
Floated up clearly as fact in her head for the first time in her life.
Tia could not take even a single step.
She had believed that if she strove harder than anyone‚ she could make it in time for any amount of time.
She had believed that if she sank her thoughts even deeper‚ she could always arrive at the correct answer.
If she had talent‚ then there existed nothing in this world that she could not solve—she had truly believed that.
But.
Reality was not that kind.
Leon: “…Tia.”
She could hear Leon’s voice.
Yet right now she could not even produce a voice.
Leon: “I’m going to cut this right now.”
At those words‚ Tia’s eyes moved faintly.
Tia: “…You mustn’t‚ Lord Leon.”
Leon: “If we just stand by like this‚ this city ends either way.”
Tia: “But if you destroy the runaway furnace with pure force like that‚ the energy will lose all directionality at once and explode!”
Leon: “I’m well aware of that‚ a hundred times over.”
Leon stared at the giant lump of iron raising intense pillars of fire.
Leon: “That’s why I’ll cut it and fling the damage of ruin as far into the distant sky as possible‚ trajectory and all.”
Tia: “That’s—!”
Tia’s voice trembled thinly with fear.
Tia: “That’s absolutely impossible! There’s computational impossibility!”
Leon grinned boldly.
Leon: “Is that so.”
Tia: “This is no time to be smiling!”
Leon: “No.
It’s the first time I’ve heard you utter the word ‘impossible‚’ so I thought.”
Tia: “…”
Tia could answer nothing.
At that very moment of mortal peril.
High above‚ the giant magitech projection deployed for military emergency communication suddenly flickered.
What appeared in the light were several imposing human figures.
The Supreme Council of the Kingdom—the highest power holders who held authority at the center of this nation.
Supreme Council: 『Physical destruction of the furnace is absolutely not permitted.』
An aged yet arrogant low voice filled with dignity rang across the training grounds.
Leon frowned more viciously than ever in displeasure.
Leon: “…Huh?”
Supreme Council: 『The magitech calculation furnace is not equipment belonging to Dilmunt alone‚ Holy Knight Valks.』
Another councilor layered cold words from the other side of the communication.
Supreme Council: 『It is deeply connected to the wide-area defense network of the northern kingdom‚ the magitech circuits for logistics‚ and even the barrier control of multiple cities.』
『If you destroy it with pure force.
The magitech infrastructure will come to a complete stop on a national scale.』
『That damage will not end with the loss of this one city.』
Tia listened to those words without saying anything.
She understood the cold pointing-out that had been thrust at her all too painfully.
No‚ her excellent brain had produced its objective correct reasoning all too well.
Those power holders were not simply clinging to their vested interests.
If this furnace was completely lost‚ someone else in another city would certainly fall into distress.
Multiple cities that had lost their defensive shields would become defenseless‚ the nation’s logistics would break down‚ and the lives of countless people would collapse.
That was precisely why the ruthless decision they had handed down could not be declared completely wrong even in the logic of cold rulers.
That was precisely why.
Intense anger welled up at her own powerlessness and the unreasonableness of the world.
Tia: “…Then.”
Tia slowly raised her face.
Tia: “What are we supposed to do.”
Supreme Council: 『Destruction of the furnace is absolutely not permitted.
Maintain the furnace body while stopping only the runaway formula.』
Tia: “That’s…”
Tia’s voice grew just a little larger in the taut air.
Tia: “That’s absolutely impossible!”
Everyone present fell silent as if water had been poured over them.
The once-in-a-millennium genius.
Emeraladia Aurelia.
She who had calmly unraveled every difficult problem had clearly‚ before others‚
declared complete defeat with “impossible.”
Tia: “There is overwhelmingly insufficient time to perform formula analysis!”
Tia shouted.
Tia: “If we destroy it the city and national infrastructure vanish! If we leave it a great explosion will create an even worse situation! The defensive barriers and the mages’ spirits have long since exceeded their absolute limits!”
She clenched her small fists so tightly they seemed ready to break.
Tia: “Then what exactly are you telling us to do!”
No reply came from anywhere.
Neither the Supreme Council beyond the communication nor the military on site.
No one possessed a solution to that difficult question.
Tia glared at the magitech furnace radiating eerie pure white light.
There still remained‚ for the time being‚ a “means.”
To be precise‚ it was not something reliable enough to be called a method—just a suicide charge.
Directly.
Touch the core of that mad furnace.
Physically interfere with the internal magitech calculation structure with mana and forcibly stop the spaghetti code that kept running wild from the inside.
There was no way of knowing the odds of success at all.
In the first place‚ it was doubtful whether she could even reach the main body of the furnace alive amid the hell of lethal waste heat swirling.
But.
There remained not a single approach that could be tried within this remaining scant time.
Tia: “…Already.”
Tia muttered small.
And she powerfully stepped forward one step‚ prepared for death.
Tia: “I’ll touch the core of that furnace directly and stop it.”
Leon: “Stop.”
Immediately‚ Leon’s short‚ sharp restraining voice flew.
But Tia did not stop her feet.
Leon: “Are you seriously planning to die.”
Tia: “I understand.”
Leon: “No‚ you understand nothing.”
Leon blocked her path with his giant body standing in the way.
Leon: “That face is the face of someone prepared to die.
Not the face of someone heading toward difficulty while holding a future.”
Tia: “…”
Tia stared fixedly at Leon’s white-silver chest‚ so large she had to look up.
Tia: “Then…”
That voice trembled faintly this time.
Tia: “What exactly am I supposed to do…!”
Those words were not an intense roar.
Nor an unsightly complaint.
Simply—a terribly fragile and poignant scream from the girl who had remained an undefeated genius since birth‚ seeking the “correct answer” from someone other than herself for the first time in her life.
Tia: “I…”
She clenched her small fists tightly.
Tia: “I’ve always managed somehow with any problem until now.
I had to manage somehow.”
Leon: “…”
Tia: “Because everyone says ‘If it’s you‚ you’ll be fine.’
‘If it’s Tia‚ she can do anything‚’ and believes in me…!”
Behind them the furnace roared madly‚ and lethal hot wind blew through between the two.
Tia: “That’s why.”
Tia raised her face once more and stared straight at the magitech furnace radiating eerie white light.
Tia: “For me to give up without doing anything here… that’s something I absolutely cannot do.”
Leon said nothing for a while.
Several seconds.
Or perhaps a silence shorter than a single breath.
And.
He quietly advanced one step forward‚ slipping past Tia’s side.
Leon: “Then.”
He deeply readjusted the greatsword Ragnarok on his thick shoulder.
Leon: “Absolutely do not die.”
Tia: “…Eh?”
Leon: “I’ll clear everything cleanly from the path ahead of you.”
Tia’s emerald eyes widened just a little in astonishment.
The next moment.
Leon’s strong legs powerfully kicked and split the half-melted black-iron ground with a roaring sound.
Leon: “Let’s gooooooooo!!”
The white-silver giant blade once more.
Was swung with pure physical force toward the roaring‚ burning magitech calculation furnace.
Leon advanced forward.
Leon: “Let’s gooooooo!!”
The giant sword Ragnarok was swung with full force‚ space and all.
A dazzling white-silver trajectory cleaved the scorching torrent that erupted from the runaway magitech calculation furnace straight from the front.
A roar that shook heaven and earth.
Raging explosive flames.
The earth screamed and shook intensely.
The energy bisected by the greatsword veered left and right‚ blowing away the thick black-iron walls surrounding the training grounds without a trace.
But.
Even so.
It was still overwhelmingly insufficient.
Young Military Mage: “Defensive barrier‚ redeploy immediately!”
Young Military Mage: “First layer‚ deployment complete!”
Young Military Mage: “Second layer—”
Bakiiiiin!
With a high-pitched sound like cold glass breaking‚ the barrier that had just been assembled shattered emptily.
Young Military Mage: “Wha…!?”
Young Military Mage: “The speed of collapse is too fast!”
Young Military Mage: “Third layer‚ hurry!”
Desperate magic circles were layered multiple times into space.
One.
Two.
Three.
The kingdom’s highest-peak mages squeezed out all their remaining mana as if carving away their own lives.
Yet still.
The runaway of the magitech calculation furnace never slowed its speed.
Young Military Mage: “Core output has completely breached the danger zone!”
Young Military Mage: “Until criticality‚ remaining—”
Tia: “That’s enough of those numbers!”
Emeraladia shouted sharply.
And she ran.
Toward the center of that hell where lethal hot winds raged madly.
Military Mage: “Lady Emeraladia!”
Military Mage: “Stop‚ don’t rush ahead!”
Leon: “Tia!”
Leon’s taut restraining voice rang from behind.
Yet still.
Her feet no longer stopped.
Tia’s Thoughts: (I won’t make it)
She already knew that perfectly well.
Her excellent brain had already produced the ruthless and cruel calculation result.
Yet still.
Tia’s Thoughts: (Even so—I can’t end without doing anything!)
One step.
Another step.
She charged her slender body forward.
The soles of her shoes were scorched by the heat quantity.
Her uniform was torn in places by the ferocious hot wind.
Tia: “—Kh!”
Her favorite checkered skirt was violently ripped by the heat wave.
The defensive amulet fitted on her arm reached its limit from overload and shattered into powder.
Her blonde hair was blown backward by the intense wind pressure.
Intense heat that seemed to burn the skin directly.
Just inhaling made her lungs hurt as if scorched.
The multiple layers of protective barriers she had deployed to protect herself shattered one by one without mercy each time she approached the furnace.
Parin.
Parin.
Parin.
Yet still.
She did not give up‚ continuing to stretch her hand straight out.
Tia: “Just… a little more…!”
The distance to the furnace core was only a few meters remaining.
The answer was there.
If it did not exist‚ she would construct it right here.
Directly interfere with the deep-layer internal structure.
Forcibly stop the formulas that had tangled complexly and run wild‚ one by one by hand.
That was the only way.
—Because there remained no other method to save the tens of thousands of lives living in this city.
Zudon!!
Tia: “—Kh!”
From a blind spot‚ a sudden high-pressure shockwave slammed mercilessly into her slender body.
Her body floated.
Heaven and earth reversed violently.
Leon: “Tia!”
Leon’s white-silver giant blade flashed.
Most of the shockwave was cleanly split.
But even so‚ he was a fraction of a second too late to completely cancel it.
The residual energy that could not be cut cleanly struck Tia’s body without mercy.
Tia: “—Kah…!”
She was slammed hard against the black-iron ground.
She couldn’t breathe.
Her vision swayed‚ the ringing in her ears would not stop.
In the distance‚ she could hear someone’s desperate voice calling her name.
Tia: “…Still.”
She planted a trembling hand on the scorched ground.
Tia: “I can still stand…!”
Strength would not enter.
Yet she forcibly raised her face.
The magitech calculation furnace.
Red.
White.
Cruelly dazzling was its radiance.
The massive quantity of energy that would erase the city itself from the surface of the earth.
And.
To Tia‚ the once-in-a-millennium genius‚ that reality was already clearly known.
Tia’s Thoughts: (…I won’t make it)
There was no longer even a need to recalculate in her brain.
The remaining time until criticality.
The time required for analysis.
The time needed to safely rebuild the formulas.
All of it was overwhelmingly insufficient.
Tia: “…It’s already no good…”
For the first time in her life.
Words of despair acknowledging complete defeat leaked powerlessly from her lips.
—It was at that moment.
From the world‚ all “sound” cleanly vanished.
The raging explosion sounds.
The mages’ grief-stricken screams.
Even the sound of the raging storm.
Nothing could be heard.
It felt as if the world itself had completely stopped for an instant.
Tia moved her heavy head and slowly raised her face.
And.
Tia: “…?”
She stared at “that” which was there‚ as if doubting her own eyes.
Directly above the giant magitech calculation furnace.
Exactly at the epicenter of ruin.
There—floated a single magic circle tinged with pale blue light.
Small.
All too small.
Before the giant magitech furnace that was about to swallow the city‚ it looked like nothing more than a childish‚ trivial scribble—an extremely tiny magic circle.
It had no complex structure.
It was not multi-layered in multiple deployments.
There was none of the oppressive‚ solemn mana pressure that kingdom-class magic of the military prided itself on possessed.
Simply.
There.
It existed quite naturally‚ just quietly.
Tia: “…What is this.”
Tia’s emerald eyes began moving at ultra-high speed‚ spurred by instinctive intellect.
Analysis.
Read the structure of the formula.
Pursue the calculation expressions drawn.
Search for the vectors of the flowing mana pathways.
—But she could not.
Tia: “…?”
Wrong.
It was not that even her brain could not read it.
She was not being given even the time to read it at all.
The time that magic circle “existed” in space was all too—all too short.
Not one second.
Not even half a second.
Far‚ far more overwhelmingly short.
Tia’s perception as the genius called “once in a millennium‚” in the extreme concentration‚ finally captured the true numerical value.
Tia: “…0.2 seconds?”
The moment those words of astonishment leaked from her lips.
The magic circle vanished into the air as if melting into the morning light.
Nothing happened.
There was no ear-shattering great explosion.
No impact of the earth.
No violent torrent of light.
Simply.
Everything became quiet as if it had been a lie.
Someone: “…Eh?”
The lethal hot wind that until just now had been burning the skin had cleanly vanished.
The red-black mana that had been running wild madly existed nowhere.
Instead.
Countless beautiful particles of light were slowly rising from the silenced magitech furnace.
As if the soul of a fiercely burned-out flame were quietly returning to the sky.
Someone: “…Did it stop?”
In the space dominated by silence‚ someone muttered blankly.
An officer on the ground peered into a broken measuring instrument with a trembling hand.
Officer: “Core output…”
The officer’s voice trembled intensely as if witnessing an unbelievable miracle.
Officer: “…Zero.”
Young Military Mage: “What!?”
Officer: “It’s zero! Completely subsided!”
He hurriedly looked at a backup measuring instrument of another system.
Officer: “Core pressure‚ stable! It has fallen below the danger numerical value!”
Officer: “Magitech calculation furnace‚ returned to a completely normal operating state…!”
No one.
Could produce even a single word.
Eventually.
Someone: “…Who in the world did it?”
That blank mutter alone was dropped into the training grounds that had regained their original quiet.
Tia answered nothing.
No‚ she did not possess the words to answer.
She stared fixedly at the black-iron magitech furnace.
The residual mana drifting in the air‚ the traces of rewritten formulas‚ the signs of interference applied from outside.
Something‚ fragments of that
“correct answer”
should have remained.
If such a national-scale catastrophic runaway.
Had been completely stopped with only an instant—a mere “0.2 seconds” of calculation.
Absolutely.
No matter what master of magitech‚ some kind of trace should remain in space.
Tia: “…Analysis.”
Tia stretched out her trembling right hand and held it over the space of the silenced magitech furnace.
She flowed an extremely small amount of mana.
She read the phase of space.
She pursued the residual echoes of the rewritten formulas.
She traced the currents of mana that had been violently reversing as deeply‚ deeply as possible.
And—.
Tia: “…There’s nothing.”
In the void‚ there was not a single catch.
She sank her thoughts once more.
Tia: “…Truly‚ nowhere.”
Even deeper.
She thoroughly analyzed down to the more microscopic domain.
Yet still.
The traces of interference of who had touched it existed nowhere.
To be precise.
Only the all-too-perfect result that “the system had returned to its initial normal values” lay there sternly.
The mad formula groups that until just now should have been the nucleus of the runaway.
The pale blue magic circle that should have existed.
As if—from the very beginning‚ such a distortion had never existed in this world.
They had been beautifully erased from the world without a trace.
Tia: “…Impossible.”
Tia’s clear voice trembled faintly.
For this hour and a half.
She had continued carving away her own life and spirit.
She had rebuilt hundreds‚ thousands of enormous higher-order formulas‚ and still.
She had been unable to derive a solution that would stop that catastrophic runaway.
And yet.
Some nameless “someone” lurking somewhere in this iron cage.
In a mere 0.2 seconds.
With only that instant‚ had perfectly finished it.
Tia: “…I.”
Tia stared at her own small hands‚ dirty with soot and mud.
Tia: “Don’t understand the world at all‚ do I.”
It was frustrating‚ pathetic.
The depths of her chest hurt as if tightly squeezed.
The limits of the talent she had prided herself on had been shown to her in a form more ruthless and cruel than anything else.
And yet.
Why was it.
Her lips were on the verge of chuckling.
Tia: “…What is that.
That’s the height of unreasonableness.”
The world was still this vast and deep.
No matter how much scholarship she mastered.
No matter how deep into the abyss of thought she dove.
There certainly existed a domain of overwhelming height that the current her could by no means reach.
That was‚ for the girl who had remained an undefeated genius‚ just a little frightening.
Yet even more than that.
To the point that the pulse in the depths of her chest beat intensely—she was happy from the bottom of her heart.
At that moment.
Leon: “Hey‚ Tia.”
She slowly raised her heavy head.
There stood the large-tree-like sturdy Leon in a guardian pose.
His entire body was covered in wounds.
The once-beautiful white-silver armor was dirty with black soot and dented here and there.
Yet still he proudly readjusted the greatsword Ragnarok on his thick shoulder with boldness.
Leon: “Can you stand‚ little lady.”
Tia: “…Yes‚ more or less.”
Leon: “I see.”
Leon turned his gaze toward the black-iron magitech furnace that had fallen silent as if it had been a lie.
And he gazed dazzlingly at the countless particles of light rising quietly from there into the clear blue sky.
Leon: “Looks like we made it in time.”
Tia: “…Who exactly stopped this runaway?”
Leon: “Who knows.”
Tia: “Please tell me without hiding it.
You actually know‚ don’t you?”
Leon did not answer immediately.
He simply smiled just a little proudly‚ as if boasting of his prized partner.
Leon: “Probably‚ you see.”
Tia held her breath and waited for his next words.
Leon: “A genius (idiot) I know who twists some extraordinarily troublesome logic.”
Tia: “…Who is that.
Some highest executive of the kingdom’s military or something?”
Leon: “Nothing that grand.
After all‚ the person himself doesn’t think of himself as a genius in the slightest.”
Tia: “…Hearing that just makes me even angrier!”
Leon: “Haha‚ I’m sure it does.”
Leon laughed it off grandly as usual.
Tia once more looked up at the giant magitech calculation furnace that had completely regained silence.
A mere 0.2-second flash.
Only that instant.
In the place of absolute height that she had been unable to reach even after carving away an hour and a half of her life.
Someone somewhere certainly existed.
Frustrating.
Extremely‚ to the point of tears‚ frustrating.
Yet.
On Tia’s lips floated a smile the likes of which she had never shown before.
Tia: “…I’d like to meet them once.”
Leon: “Before long‚ whether you like it or not‚ they’ll come rolling in front of you from their side.”
Tia: “No‚ I’ll absolutely go meet them myself.”
Tia looked up at Dilmunt’s endlessly high and clear autumn sky.
The countless residual lights melted beautifully and vanished into the dazzling morning sunlight.
Tia: “…Next time.”
Truly small.
Yet with a voice of steel-like certainty that would absolutely never waver again‚ she swore.
Tia: “I will absolutely never lose in a way that doesn’t even let me perform a debug (analysis).”
That vow to the blue sky was still known by no one in this world.
Nor that this genius girl who had been revered as once in a millennium had‚ on this day‚ for the first time in her life‚ come to know the taste of complete defeat.
And.
That that overwhelming defeat itself had been‚ for her‚ the greatest encounter with an unknown existence of destiny whose back she‚ for the first time in her life‚ “truly wanted to chase.”
New Side Story Chapter 14 『The 0.2-Second Magic Circle and the Once-in-a-Millennium Genius』 End
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