Rest and Cedric had relocated to the forest where they used to train for combat against monsters.
It was the same place where Cedric had once lured the Rosemary sisters, putting them in grave danger.
"Uoooooooooh!"
Bellowing like a wild animal, Cedric activated [Physical Enhancement] and lunged at Rest.
"You're slow. Disappointingly so."
"Gwah!?"
Rest likewise bolstered his strength with magic, meeting Cedric's charge and slamming a fist directly into his face.
Cedric’s [Physical Enhancement] was actually quite proficient. He may have failed the academy entrance exam, but he hadn't been hailed as a genius for nothing.
"But... your combat instincts and experience in actual combat are non-existent. You're worse than I was before I became Sensei’s apprentice."
"Y-You...!"
"If you have the breath to groan, hurry up and fix your stance. Besides, your [Physical Enhancement] has already worn off."
Even as he spoke, Rest delivered a sharp low kick to Cedric’s shin.
"Ow...!?"
"Right, let's try another to the face."
Rest grabbed his brother’s hair as the boy flinched, pulling him close. He drove a brutal knee strike into Cedric's face.
A spray of blood erupted from his nose, and fragments of shattered teeth flew through the air.
Rest then seized him by the collar and slammed him onto his back against the hard ground.
"Gugeh...!"
"Now that I've actually studied interpersonal combat, I realize it all over again... Cedric, you really were weak."
His magical talent was rumored to be the highest of his generation, but that was where his strengths ended.
His martial arts were non-existent, and his magic activation speed was sluggish.
To be honest, the gap in their abilities was so vast that it felt like Rest could win by sheer force using nothing but [Physical Enhancement].
"Y-You... even though you're just a piece of trash...!"
"[Healing Magic]."
"Wh-!?"
Rest cast healing magic on the spitefully groaning Cedric, mending his injuries.
Cedric seemed unable to comprehend the meaning behind the action. He furrowed his brow and shouted with rabid intensity.
"You... are you mocking me!? Don't you dare take pity on me, you failure!"
"Pity? No, you're mistaken."
Rest sneered and struck Cedric with his next spell—a [Fireball].
"Gah!"
"This isn't mercy. If I paid you back for everything you did to me all at once, you'd probably die instantly. That's why I healed you."
He cast [Healing Magic] once more, restoring Cedric's body.
"Everything you... did...?"
"Seventy-five... Do you know what that number represents, Cedric?"
"............?"
A look of total confusion crossed Cedric's face.
As expected, he had no idea.
"It's the number of different spells you fired at me over those four years—from the time I was taken in by the Honorary Viscount Ebern House until I began serving the Marquis Rosemary House."
At the same time, it was also the number of spells Cedric had "taught" him.
Thanks to Cedric using Rest as a test subject every time he learned a new spell, the variety of magic Rest could utilize had increased considerably.
"Wh-!"
"I don't remember exactly how many times I was attacked with each one... but I’m the type to hold a grudge more than you’d expect. I’m going to pay you back for what was done to me, in full."
"Gfuh!"
Rest followed up with a [Sandball] spell, striking Cedric hard in the abdomen.
Cedric crumpled where he stood, hacking and vomiting the contents of his stomach onto the forest floor.
Rest healed the retching boy and began preparing the next spell.
"Come on, stand up. We still have seventy-three types to go. Let's finish this before dawn."
"Stop..."
"[Waterball]."
"Gueh!"
After that, for as long as time allowed, Rest used his magic to systematically assault Cedric.
[Fireball] [Earthball] [Waterball] [Windball] [Thunderball] [Poisonball] [Fire Blade] [Water Cutter] [Wind Cutter] [Earth Blade] [Fire Spear] [Wind Spear] [Earth Thorn] [Water Spear] [Rupture] [Explosion] [Wind Control] [Stone Bullet] [Water Burial] [Poisoning] [Magic Bullet] [Mud Bullet] ... ... ...
By the time Cedric had been reduced to a doll capable of nothing more than letting out faint groans of agony, the sequence of attacks with seventy-five types of magic finally concluded.
"...Retaliation is surprisingly unsatisfying. To be honest, I started finding it tedious halfway through."
He had finally returned everything that had been done to him, but it wasn't particularly enjoyable.
There was nothing to be gained from tormenting someone so weak, no matter how much effort was put into it.
At some point, it had turned into simple labor; Rest had been mechanically activating magic just to keep the count going.
"Well, perhaps this was a necessary ritual to say goodbye to that house. Thanks to this, I think I can finally forget the Honorary Viscount Ebern House and move forward as a new person. You were useful as a warm-up, at least. Thank you."
"............Eh."
"...Hm?"
"I won't... forgive you... Never... No matter what happens, I'll definitely... have my revenge..."
"............"
Even as he lay broken on the ground, Cedric glared at Rest with eyes full of pure, unadulterated hatred.
To think he still had the energy to spit out threats after such a beating... in a sense, he was a sociopath worthy of some degree of praise.
"Not just you... those women who looked down on me, too..."
"Those women... do you mean Viola and Primula?"
When Rest asked for clarification, Cedric’s bloated, swollen face twisted into a sickening grin.
"Those bitches... I'll kidnap them both and trample them... I'll never let them be happy... I'll violate them until they're nothing but tattered rags...!"
"............"
"No matter how much... you try to protect them, it's useless... I will definitely have them... It's your fault, because a failure like you existed...!"
"...That's enough. Be quiet."
"Wupp...!"
Rest doused Cedric's face with magically conjured water, forcing him into silence.
Truly, it was almost impressive.
"To be able to make me this uncomfortable—it's practically a natural talent. Any desire I had to let you off with just this much has completely vanished."
To begin with, Rest’s heart had already been mostly satisfied the moment Cedric failed the academy's entrance exam.
If Cedric hadn't chased after him to attack, Rest wouldn't have gone to these lengths to hurt him.
"But... you brought up Viola and Primula. You're trying to drag them into our mess...!"
It wasn't a question of whether the revenge Cedric was plotting would actually succeed or not.
The mere fact that he had uttered the names of the Rosemary sisters in such a context was a sin punishable by death in Rest's eyes.
"Hyahyahya... serves you right... spend the rest of your life trembling...!"
"You're the one who should be doing that."
"Heh...?"
Rest raised his right hand.
A black sphere manifested at the tip of his palm.
It was a void that did not reflect light in the slightest.
A [Dark Star] of such profound, stagnant depth it looked as though dark matter itself had been given physical form.
"Wh-What... is that... what kind of magic...!"
Faced with the [Dark Star] that radiated a bottomless sense of dread, the laughing Cedric's face contorted in terror.
He tried to crawl away along the dirt... but, naturally, Rest had no intention of letting him escape.
"[Bind]."
"Higiee!"
Chains of mana lashed out, binding Cedric and pinning him to the spot.
Then, Rest looked up at the [Dark Star] hovering at the tip of his fingers.
"Do you know what the highest honor is for a mage, Cedric?"
"What... are you..."
"If you don't know, allow me to educate you. It's not being appointed as a Court Mage, and it's not becoming a noble. The highest honor for a mage is 'the development of New Magic.'"
Rest spoke to the twitching Cedric in a flat, dispassionate tone.
"There are currently one thousand and seven spells officially recognized in this world and recorded in the 'Register of Magic.' The names of their developers are etched into the History of Magic alongside the formulas themselves."
In this world, there existed an organization known as the 'Council of Sages.'
It was an extra-legal group that transcended national borders, composed of mages powerful enough to steer the fates of nations.
To create a spell officially recognized as 'New Magic' by the Council of Sages was the pinnacle of achievement for any magic user.
"If one were to create a New Magic, the King would likely grant them a title higher than a Count, let alone a Viscount. Although, a mage of that caliber hasn't appeared in this country for over a decade."
Even if the Court Mages—supposedly the finest in the kingdom—were to pool their talents, developing a New Magic was an immense undertaking.
One could invent as many mediocre, minor spells as they wished.
However, creating a fundamentally new magic that surpassed existing ones was nearly impossible. On a global scale, a spell recognized as New Magic by the Council of Sages only appeared about once every five years.
"But, naturally... one yearns for it. So, after I was taken in by the Marquis Rosemary House, I decided to see if I could create a new magic of my own."
"............!"
"And... this is the result."
Rest looked up at the [Dark Star] and offered an ironic smile.
"It's good that I managed to create a magic with the effect I intended, but to be honest, it's a defective product. Just maintaining it consumes a staggering amount of mana. Its efficiency is abysmal."
This magic would likely never be recognized by the Council of Sages or recorded in the Register of Magic.
It was an ugly, failed spell that required a thousand units of mana to produce an effect worth one.
Without Rest's bottomless, infinite well of mana, it would be impossible to activate even if a dozen Court Mages attempted it together.
"Magic name: [Star Eater]."
A magic so utterly flawed, it was perfectly suited for Rest—the boy who had been mocked as a magicless failure.
Its effect was absolute: the annihilation of all things.
Anything that came into contact with this [Dark Star] would be erased from existence.
"It's a magic only I can use... but even so, I've finally learned how to narrow the target for annihilation. If I'm careless, it will consume the very atmosphere and space around it. As the name suggests, it could potentially devour the stars themselves."
"You're... lying... there's no way someone like you... could invent a New Magic...!"
"That's why I said it's a failure. Still, it's more than enough magic to handle someone like you."
No matter how much mana it drained, Rest's infinite supply would never run dry, but having his energy sucked away by the [Dark Star] was never a pleasant sensation.
"Well then, goodbye."
"Wait—"
"[Star Eater]."
Rest brought the [Dark Star] down upon Cedric as he lay on the ground. The black sphere swallowed Cedric's body whole.
"This is the end... for eternity."
It was the moment the long, twisted history between him and Cedric—his half-brother—finally reached its conclusion.
Cedric could no longer hurt Rest, nor could he take anything away from him.
He had become a physical existence that could never, through all eternity, do anything ever again.