Magician in Type-Moon

Page 482

Space is torn apart, and the world is turned upside down.

The next instant—everyone was forcibly expelled from the barrier!

As if pulled by an invisible force, Alette, Elgo, Luvia, Van Fem, Isilid... all of them were completely driven out of the battlefield under Matou Ike's control.

Only one person remained in the same spot.

Juste, the reclusive alchemist.

Kiz, enveloped in the Star Cocoon, paid no attention to Matou Ike's actions, or rather, he was already aware of Matou Ike's next intention.

However, he didn't care.

—No deduction or calculation is needed; the inevitable outcome is already visible with just a glance.

The future is already predetermined.

“This approach is meaningless, Matouchi.”

Kiz's voice came in layers, as if echoing through countless times and spaces, each syllable carrying an unquestionable certainty, like a whisper from above.

But Matou Ike merely gave a cold sneer and stepped forward, controlling the power of her Reality Marble.

"Does it even make sense?"

“You won’t know until you try it.”

Magic surged forth from beneath her feet like a torrent, instantly engulfing Matou Ike's entire body.

He did not stop. The world before him rippled and peeled away layer by layer, revealing the young asteroid clones that were trying to stop him.

Their weapons gleamed, their sharp trajectories intersecting in the air like the orbits of celestial bodies, precise and unavoidable.

however--

"Fantasy collapses."

As the words fell, the intense magic instantly burned away all illusion.

The next second, the space trembled violently.

It was as if the entire atmosphere had been ignited, with intense heat waves sweeping upwards from the ground and across the battlefield.

The clones that had been closing in—along with their weapons, armor, and even their bodies—were torn apart, dissolved, and evaporated in that instant.

On the desolate landscape, only charred and burned marks remain, resembling the earth crushed by a meteorite.

The Demon Forest shattered amidst violent tremors, as if its own will were wailing in agony.

Every inch of branch and leaf, every root, exploded amidst the interplay of flames and magic.

This was different from the previous probing—this time, Matou Ike burned the entire Reality Marble without reservation, using it as a sacrifice to completely break the deadlock.

In the continuous explosions, the entire space began to shatter, the light bands hanging in the sky twisted and collapsed, and the ground cracked and peeled as if it had been eroded for thousands of years.

The boundaries of the world are no longer stable; surging magic pours down like a torrent, devouring everything that belongs to the inherent barrier.

"Does it make sense?"

Kiz's voice came again, calm and hollow, like a god standing at the known end, asking questions of those who were still struggling.

As his voice rang out, his part of the "world" burst forth with dappled starlight from the darkness. The stars, like burning embers, scattered and intertwined to form an invisible net that enveloped the entire battlefield.

In that instant, time seemed to freeze.

The air currents stopped, the magic solidified, and even the aftershocks of Matouike's Reality Marble collapsing seemed to be bound by invisible chains, frozen in mid-air.

At this moment, the world ceased to flow, and everything was twisted into a concept called "stagnation."

Matouchi was well aware of this.

In fact, he himself possesses a similar magic—the "Stillness" magic eye left behind by some reckless magician, which is now part of the power he controls.

This kind of concept-based magic is incredibly popular throughout the mystical world.

While not rare enough to trigger large-scale competition, their value is undeniable—they are not the kind of profound mysteries that can only be used for rituals or theoretical research, but rather "techniques" that can play a decisive role in combat and exploration.

A magician who has mastered this type of magic, even if only slightly skilled, can gain the upper hand over his opponent at crucial moments.

Whether it's weakening the enemy's offensive, forcibly seizing control of the battle, or creating a momentary chance of survival, it can be extremely effective.

But compared to "stillness," Kitz's "stagnation" is clearly a step further.

The former merely freezes a specified object or phenomenon in a predetermined state, while the latter drags the entire "world" into stagnation, causing everything to slowly operate according to the rules defined by Kitz.

This is like two completely different ways of ruling—

Chapter 539 Method

"Stillness" is like forcibly pressing the pause button, while "stagnation" is like completely changing the way time flows, making the opponent's chance of breaking free a pipe dream.

but--

There is no doubt that they are magic tricks from the same source.

"Stagnation" and "stillness" both essentially point to the interference of time; the difference lies only in the practitioner's control and the scope of the intervention.

Kitz's "stagnation" is indeed more ingenious; it does not simply deprive movement, but rather plunges everything into a slow, sluggish, and almost imperceptible state of stillness.

Even the slightest change can be stretched out as if it were eternal.

But this kind of magic is not unsolvable—

The etymology of stillness is "boundary".

It must define a static boundary for the world, specifying what should be frozen and what can be exempted, otherwise it cannot exist.

While "stagnation," as an extension of "stillness," can influence things on a larger scale, its core logic still cannot escape the limitation of "boundaries."

However, under Kiz's control, such "boundaries" are unlikely to have loopholes easily.

Since he was able to bring the entire inherent barrier to a standstill, it means that his computational power is sufficient to cover all possible variables and eliminate any anomalies before they occur.

Even if Matou Ike tries to find a flaw using his own magic principles, he is only facing a dead end that Kiz had already deduced.

but--

If they won't give us an opportunity, then we'll create one.

Nothing is perfect.

Just like the most beautiful flower, it will eventually wither.

Even the strongest fortress will eventually crumble.

Matou Ike's gaze lowered slightly. He did not try to break free from this "stagnant" domain, because it would be meaningless.

Instead of wasting magic trying to break through a well-calculated blockade, it's better to do the opposite—

The extreme point imposed by the concept of "stagnation" undoubtedly lies within Matouike herself.

This means that the magic power projected by Kiz, like countless chains, is mostly entangled around Matou Ike, in order to maintain the stability of the seal.

The whole situation is like a cup filled with water, and Matou Pond is the bottom of that cup.

All the power and all the suppression were concentrated on this point, pressing down layer upon layer, nailing him to the rules of this inherent barrier.

But all of this is based on one premise—that Matou Pond still “exists” here.

So, if—

Why is he, who was at the bottom of the cup, suddenly gone?

This idea is undoubtedly absurd, even laughable.

How can someone who is "stagnant" and locked in place make themselves disappear?

In the conventional magic system, this is almost impossible.

Of course, there are ways to get rid of it completely.

—As long as Matouchi “dies”, that’s enough.

If one dies within this inherent barrier at this moment, then the concept of "stagnation" projected by Kiz will naturally lose its object of restraint and collapse like a building that has lost its foundation.

—The problem is, what if Matouchi dies here?

That's not just a simple matter of lifting the lockdown.

However, such trivial matters no longer mattered to Matouike.

After all, the way he chose to "die" was certainly not to actually go and die.

Or to be more precise, even in a state of "stagnation," it wouldn't be so easy for him to commit suicide.

However, there are ways to work out within this inherent barrier.

That is--

"boom!"

In the completely "stagnant" space, a sudden explosion shattered the deathly silence.

Like a drop of water falling into a windless lake, ripples spread, stubbornly breaking the shackles of "stagnation".

That was an airflow that shouldn't exist—in this frozen world, traces of high-speed movement appeared.

Kiz's pupils contracted slightly.

"……interesting."

He muttered to himself, his gaze fixed on the slowly spreading shockwave, as if deep in thought.

But that's just the beginning.

Almost instantly, a second burst of air exploded, shaking the entire enigmatic barrier.

This time, the impact was even more violent than before, as if someone had forcibly driven a wedge into the "stagnant" rules, prying open a crack in that absolute stillness.

Then, the third impact exploded with a deafening roar—tearing the air apart and shattering the balance.

"So, is that your reason for kicking everyone else out and leaving him alone?"

Kiz's voice rang out from the other side of the space, filled with manic laughter. His tone sounded like a joke, but it sounded particularly jarring in this battlefield bound by "stagnation".

"While this thing could certainly kill me—there's a saying I don't know if you've heard before."