Ever since I mastered the Second Rank Magic, Gate, I had been honing my skills for the First Rank.
Even for someone as naturally gifted as myself, mastering the technique known as Avatar—renowned as the ultimate form of magic—had proven an agonizingly difficult task. No matter how much I practiced, I could never quite grasp the feeling. Yet, I had managed to secure at least a small foothold.
Then, I saw Reiji’s incomplete version.
There are things one cannot see subjectively that become clear through an objective lens. The mana fluctuations, the seams, the purity... observing Reiji’s unstable magic provided the final pieces of the puzzle I had been missing.
Reiji... you have my thanks. You gave me the hint I needed.
"I-it's a lie...! It has to be a lieeeee—!"
Reiji screamed, his form now a pillar of living flame. His voice and expression were drenched in pure despair.
"I... do you have any idea how much...! How much hellish agony I had to endure to learn that spell...?!"
His despair was justified. Avatar was a pinnacle, a state reached only after blood-spitting effort. To see it imitated so effortlessly—it was only natural he would lose his mind. Of course, my success was also the result of my own relentless daily grind.
"Hell," you say? Hmm... Hell, huh?
"Don't look down on me."
The darkness coating my body surged, rippling outward as if to crush Reiji's presence. Anger bubbled up within me. Reiji was a future hero. One day, he would endure suffering I couldn't even fathom, yet he would still draw his sword and fight. But as for "hell"... right now, I'm the one with more experience in that department, aren't I?
"Your 'hell' is nothing more than lukewarm to me."
I threw myself forward, a shadow of pitch-black darkness colliding head-on with the incarnation of fire. With a sharp hiss, my darkness snuffed out Reiji’s flames.
"U-aaah...!" Reiji cried out.
When two casters use the same magic, the winner is determined by mana and concentration. Including the power of our Holy Swords, our current mana was equal. But Reiji's focus had snapped. In a contest of wills, I would win every time.
I swung Zest. Reiji’s defense was dull. Both his speed and his radiance had faded.
"Agh—!"
With a single stroke, I sent him flying into the wall. He looked like he was on the verge of tears. As I stepped toward him, my internal mana wavered.
It was still incomplete. I couldn't fully maintain a First Rank spell yet. If I let my guard down, I'd revert to my physical form. It wasn't a level of mastery I could trust my life with in a high-stakes duel, but against an overwhelmed opponent, it was enough.
However, for me, even an incomplete Avatar offered a massive advantage: I could discard the vessel of the flesh. Having become magic itself, I no longer had a concept of a mana capacity.
I could absorb everything. I could become infinitely stronger.
"—Full Drain."
I raised the Jet-black Sword. Reiji’s mana began to pour into it. The flames vanished, the heat died, and his power was sucked dry. Reiji’s choice had been his downfall. Zest’s core ability was the absorption of all energy. By turning himself into magic, Reiji had essentially become a concentrated lump of energy for Zest to feed upon.
『It is difficult to absorb highly controlled energy,』 Zest muttered grumpily in my mind, 『unless the target is yourself, of course.』
He was clearly still bitter about the time I used him to drain my own lifespan. Well, it didn't matter now.
Darkness billowed from me. Reiji was empty; his Fire Avatar had collapsed. Meanwhile, my mana had swelled to unprecedented levels.
"A-aaa... aaaah..."
Reiji looked up at me from the floor, trembling. The very air creaked with my breath; the ground cracked beneath my feet. This was no longer just a spell; it was a walking catastrophe.
『With this much mana... I can use that technique,』 Zest whispered.
His memories of the First Savior flowed into my mind. I see... so that was how he used his power.
"It's over, Reiji."
I swung Zest upward. The darkness of the blade and the darkness of my arm were one. I brought the Jet-black Holy Sword down, infused with a sense of omnipotence, as if I could slice the very world in two—
"—Overvoid."
The world went black.
A void centered on Zest swallowed everything, devouring Reiji and the space around him. The wave retained the properties of Full Drain, consuming all energy in its path even after leaving my hand.
"A-aaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"
Reiji desperately swung his twin swords to resist. The sword in his right hand glowed red, but the light was immediately devoured by the darkness. No matter how much he struggled, the void ate it all, growing larger with every scrap of energy it consumed.
Just before being swallowed by the jaws of darkness, Reiji’s face was twisted with pure terror. That wasn't a look a hero should wear. You aren't a hero yet.
The deep darkness swallowed him whole.
Silence returned to the basement. I deactivated my Dark Avatar and returned to my original form. At my feet lay the unconscious Reiji, covered in wounds.
Of course, I was in no better shape.
"...That was close."
If I had made one wrong move, I might have lost. It was only through the luck of my multiple Gate deployments that I found a opening.
『Claude, do you remember the scene you saw in the Master Eye?』
I remember. You're thinking the same thing, Zest? In that case, this is the right place to use that power. It’s a gamble, but it's worth a try.
『Let us begin. Bring me close to Reiji.』
As instructed, I brought Zest toward the fallen boy. I recalled the vision from the previous Master Eye—the terrible fate where Irene transformed into a monster and was killed by Reiji. In that moment before her death, it looked as though she had entrusted her power to him. She had even said, "I'll give you all of my life."
『Transferring.』
The power of the Apostle we had extracted from Irene didn't suit our bodies, so we had kept it stored within Zest. Now, we moved that power into Reiji. This would bring him closer to his state in the Worldline as It Should Be.
『...It integrated smoothly.』
Reiji’s body took on a white glow. Good. The destiny was back on track. Reiji had obtained his new power, just like in the vision.
Wait... wasn't this power restricted to those with the proper aptitude? Why did Reiji have an aptitude for Apostle energy?
『I do not know that either,』 Zest replied.
Well, he is the future hero. He must have some ridiculous innate talent.
『Claude, bring me close to those Holy Swords rolling around over there.』
"What for?" I asked, but I complied, moving Zest toward the Golden Twin Swords on the floor. After a moment, Zest’s arrogant laughter echoed in my head.
『Fuhahahahahaha! Fuhahahahahaha!』
"What's so funny? It’s creepy."
『Oh, nothing. Those Holy Swords looked like they were starting to suspect our true identities, so I simply told them to keep their mouths shut.』
"You did? That’s helpful. But why are you so amused?"
『It was nothing much. We just had a bit of small talk—how they were weak for being the swords of a Savior, how pathetic they were compared to us, and how we were clearly the superior pair. That sort of thing.』
"You... don't provoke them too much..."
I stored Zest back into my shoulder and exhaled. Logen, the mastermind, was dead. Irene was human again. And Reiji had the power the Master Eye demanded. I was a wreck both mentally and physically, but it was a solid result.
Time to go home and sleep.
...Wait. I was disinherited.
I suppose I’ll have to find a new place to live first.
In the infirmary of the Royal Castle, Irene woke to the sight of a white ceiling.
"...Where am I?"
Her head throbbed with a splitting pain. Her memories were a blurred mess. She remembered going to the basement, and she remembered Logen... but everything after that was a blank.
Yet, she had a faint feeling that someone had saved her. A man in black with a sharp tongue. Someone who had screamed her name with a look of pure desperation.
...Claude.
The moment that name crossed her mind, a violent headache struck.
"Ugh...!"
Static ran through her thoughts. It was a sharp, piercing agony, as if the world itself was forbidding her from reaching that conclusion—rejecting the very thought of him.
"Your Highness."
The door opened. Her childhood friend, the silver-haired Celestia, stepped inside. Her eyes held a weight of seriousness that Irene had never seen before.
"Tia...? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Celestia walked to the bedside and spoke in a low, quiet voice.
"Do you feel it? The headache?"
"...? Yes, but how did you—"
Before Irene could finish, Celestia leaned in close.
"I apologize for disturbing your recovery. But Your Highness, I have a request."
"A request?"
"I need you to use your Royal Rank Magic to reinforce my Secret Rank Magic."
Irene blinked in confusion. "For what...?"
"To see the truth."
Celestia gripped Irene’s hand with a strength that bordered on desperation. Her voice was steady and filled with conviction.
"I need to know... his true, hidden intentions."