Chapter 86

“Fire an Ice Bolt at me.”

Dale hesitated for a moment at Sepia’s words. He recalled the lethal modifier he projected onto his Ice Bolt—no, Ice Bullet.

The very next moment, just as Dale was about to deliberately reduce the spell’s power to fire it.

“Don’t worry about it. Fire it at full power.”

Sepia added as if to say there was no need for concern.

“…Understood.”

Dale nodded and stepped back.

“Ice Bullet.”

He condensed the blue magic generated from the ‘Four Circles’ and fired an icy bullet.

Thud!

Even with Dale’s own adjustments, it was incomparably faster and more decisive than during the Third Circle era, and its lethality and destructive power were equally beyond comparison. The very essence of slaughter, impossible to grasp even with an elf’s peripheral vision. It should have been.

“──!”

But the instant the ice bullet was about to plunge toward Sepia. The weave of blue magical power composing the Ice Bolt unraveled like a thread being pulled, scattering feebly.

“……!”

“Within the vortex of your blue magic, I could sense a point where it condensed into one.”

After blocking Dale’s Ice Bullet, Sepia continued.

“Moreover, judging by the ‘angle the arrowhead pointed’ in the cold air, I could predict which direction it would strike.”

The nullification was possible because I predicted the point where the magic originated and its trajectory.

“Before the magic was even generated…”

Focus not on the magic itself, but on the very elements composing it. Not solving problems after they occur, but sealing off the possibility of their occurrence altogether. This was a symbolic indicator of the philosophy pursued by the mages of the Blue Tower.

“Shall we try a slightly stronger spell?”

Sepia opened her mouth.

“…Are you asking about the strength of the Fourth Circle?”

“Unleash your full potential.”

Sepia smiled as if to say there was nothing to worry about.

Immediately after. Dale erected a wall of ice.

“Triple Barrel · 12-gauge buckshot.”

Using the ice wall itself as a ‘barrel of cold air’. Adding the formula of the triple barrel, it exploded, scattering dozens of pellets from three barrels. Or rather, it tried to scatter them.

“……!”

But nothing happened. The perfectly intact wall of ice simply remained fixed in place. The formula Dale was projecting held no meaning whatsoever.

“Think of magic power as water.”

Seeing this, Sepia spoke. As a high-ranking Water-attribute mage.

“Did you immobilize the magic energy structure to block the projection of the formula?”

“You grasp things quickly.”

Sepia nodded, then explained the basics of the Dispel spell.

If we assume that magic corresponds to the ‘water molecules’ that make up water, then magic is water composed of gathered water molecules. The formula projected onto that magic is akin to the individuality of adding sugar or salt to water to alter its taste.

However, if the mana itself—equivalent to water molecules—is fixed, the movement of those molecules approaches a state of rest, and the water freezes. And no matter how much sugar you pour onto ice, it serves no purpose.

‘I see why mages dislike the Blue Tower so much.’

Though the Blue Mage Tower is a branch of the Five-Colored Mage Tower, it would not be an exaggeration to call it the natural enemy of mages in a certain sense.

The Blue Magic Tower’s specialty lies in focusing its consciousness not on its own magic, but entirely on the opponent’s magic, thereby sealing off the very source of their intent. Spell Counter.

“Now, I shall demonstrate the movement of magical power before you.”

Sepia immediately began her practical instruction. The blue magic power generated within her circle swirled, enveloping her.

“Focus your consciousness on the blue currents and pinpoint the stagnation within the flow you sense there.”

The point where the blue current ceases. The point where the flow of magic power halts and coagulates. Yet focusing one’s awareness not on oneself, but on the opposing mage’s movements, was not as easy as it seemed. Therefore, Sepia deliberately made the blue current surge with exaggerated intensity, making it easier for Dale to grasp.

Dale focused his awareness toward that point. Treating the opponent’s magic as ‘water molecules,’ solely to pin down those molecules.

Just then, Sepia’s magic surged and stalled, and as if sniping that exact point, Dale fired his ‘Blue Particles’. It was a basic-level imitation of the 《Blue Dissonance》 Sepia had demonstrated earlier.

‘Merging it with sniping magic might be worth considering.’

As Dale calmly contemplated the application of this magic.

“……!”

Sepia gasped in surprise at Dale’s expression.

‘It’s just like hacking.’

It infiltrates just before the opponent’s magic crystallizes, disrupting its structure.

“Well done.”

The flow of magical power generated by Sepia, tangled and twisted into a muddy torrent by Dale’s intervention.

Thud!

Yet as Dale’s 《Blue Dissonance》 targeted one spell, another magical force coalesced within the vortex.

‘……!’

A bolt spell was fired, and Dale focused his consciousness once more. If he couldn’t stop it at the formation stage, he would seal the spell itself before it could be fired. As Sepia had taught him, Dale concentrated his awareness again.

What she unleashed was a basic-level Ice Bolt.

The point where the bolt forms ─ Predict its trajectory based on the direction the arrowhead points, and install a ‘magic-breaking trap’ along the path the bolt magic is fired.

The formula of another realm—by adding 「Dissolution」.

Thwack!

Sepia’s bolt was fired, and as expected, Dale’s Dispel Trap swallowed her bolt. But simultaneously, another bolt was fired.

“……!”

Two, three—Dale gritted his teeth before the barrage of bolts fired simultaneously. There were too many to handle one by one.

“You lost your Tempo.”

Watching Dale’s struggle, Sepia smiled as if she had known this would happen.

“The most crucial element in shutting down your opponent is gaining the upper hand in tempo.”

“Like how Sepia-sensei scattered the Blue Dissonance?”

“That too is a form of controlling the tempo.”

Controlling the tempo. In a battle between magicians, it meant having the speed advantage to act proactively.

“Then what do you think is the most fundamental aspect of controlling tempo?”

“Hmm.”

“Within the interaction with your opponent, it’s always maintaining a favorable exchange ratio.”

Sepia said.

“I fired off Bolt spells quickly, using low-cost magic to take the offensive.”

Low cost. Sub-magic spells that can be cast quickly and easily. Dale lacked the ability to nullify each and every one of them.

“For example, if we assume the cost of a Dispel spell is 5, Bolt’s cost is merely 1.”

The most basic and widely used foundational spell.

“If this 5:1 exchange were repeated over and over, which side would gain the advantage?”

The answer was obvious.

“The Blue Dissonance you showed was excellent.”

Sepia replied.

“But its value is far too great to be blocked by a mere bolt spell.”

“Indeed…”

Understanding the value inherent in each individual spell, and the advantage of acting proactively within the interplay of magic. Furthermore, when explaining ‘how to control the tempo,’ even Dale couldn’t hide his awe at that profound realization.

“You must maintain the situation where you can move proactively ahead of your opponent, from start to finish.”

Sepia’s subsequent explanation was the very embodiment of a ‘pure mage’. Unlike Dale, who could be called a heretic, Sepia’s enlightenment was one of walking strictly along the righteous path of magic.

“Then, starting now.”

Sepia opened her mouth.

“From the lowest-cost nullification spells to those that block the incantations of high-ranking mages.”

The way a high-ranking blue mage approached battle was very easy to understand.

“Let’s learn it slowly together.”

“Yes, Teacher Sepia!”

Tightly grasp the tempo of battle, never letting the enemy dictate the pace. Block, block, block, block, and block again. Until curses like “blue XX” spill from their mouths and their spirit collapses.

‘In a way, it’s truly vicious.’

Yet when used properly, it becomes the ultimate counter to mages, a natural predator. Simultaneously, understanding blue magic is akin to learning how to fight a blue mage. For Dale, it was the most flawless, supreme lesson.

“I’m already looking forward to seeing the results of your learning.”

Sepia smiled as she spoke, as if there were still mountains of things left to learn.

The essence of magic piled up by the Blue Magic Tower. It wasn’t something young mages of the third or fourth circle could simply imitate. Regardless of talent, properly understanding ‘nullification magic’ required a level of insight beyond that.

Yet she had copied that advanced magic simply by observing it, making it her own.

“Truly my disciple.”

“Because I have the greatest master.”

At Sepia’s words, Dale laughed as if it were someone else’s business. The fact that Dale had attained the realm of a 4th Circle Mage held special significance.

Just as Dale had never been an ordinary Third Circle mage, advancing from there to the next realm would require nothing less than an extraordinary realization.

Beyond talent or technique, it was a realm unreachable without an understanding of magic itself.

Even though Dale was a mage pursuing the path of an Apostle, the Fourth Circle enlightenment he ultimately grasped was not of that nature.

The secrets of the Azure Tower could only be grasped upon reaching the Fourth Circle. In other words, it signified an unknown realm that even the world-renowned Dale could not comprehend before attaining the Fourth Circle.

What realm would Dale, having grasped that very unknown territory, attain with his newfound enlightenment? Before Dale’s astonishing talent, what stirred Sepia’s heart once more was passion.

Not merely wishing for him to master blue magic as a secondary attribute like other dark mages, but hoping this child would truly grasp the very essence of blue magic.

Sepia was no longer merely a tutor instructing a novice. Just as the Black Mage had once accepted Dale as ‘his rightful successor,’ there stood a ‘proper successor’ who inherited the spirit held by the Elder of the Blue Mage Tower.

Clang!

Sword met sword. Not as the Shadow Blade, but purely as a swordsman gripping the hilt.

Dale’s knight’s sword clashed with the man known as one of the Seven Swords of the Continent.

He was fighting without using aura, though he had strengthened his body with acceleration magic like Haste. Still, it was no match for the aura wielded by the continent’s Seven Swordsmen.

“Master Confucius! How about you surrender now!”

Each swing of his sword was absurdly heavy and yet incredibly fast. Speed and weight. For knights who had reached a certain level, speed and weight were not mutually exclusive concepts. Yet, with every clash of blades, Dale steadily projected his ‘thoughts’ onto his sword.

The warrior’s sword, Peacemaker. That very ‘sword’s memory’.

Though he could not directly project the sword’s form, what constituted the blade was more than its outward appearance. The blade’s material, the magic imbued within it, the history embedded in its very body. It was precisely that sword he was secretly projecting, tracing and awakening the memories of the sword and the warrior.

Now, through the knight’s sword held in Dale’s hand.

At that very moment, Dale’s sword blocked the following strike from Sir Helmut.

‘……!’

It wasn’t skill or evasion. He blocked the vertical slash of the continent’s Seven Swords—a direct, downward strike—with his own sword alone, without even a hint of aura.

‘Now I understand.’

Even if it wasn’t a single sword strike wielded with full force, its weight could never be underestimated.

“How…!”

Sir Helmut gasped, unable to hide his shock.

“Didn’t I tell you, Sir Helmut?”

Dale, who had created some distance, grinned and adjusted his grip on the sword hilt.

“──It’s called the ‘Wizard’s Sword,’ so you’d be wise not to underestimate it.”