The Sword Genius of the Magic Empire - Chapter 35



Only Noblemtl

In the dark.

Silver-white mana rushed out in dozens of branches.

As Lien swings her arm widely, the wire shoots out.

Long, shining white wires cut through the space with a sharp, piercing sound.

Choaaaak!

As if exquisitely cutting space, the wires swept across the area in an instant, carving it out.

The surrounding walls and pillars were torn apart by the wires, sending up a gust of dust and debris with a loud noise.

‘Overwhelming.’

The Persona repeated this to herself as she watched the pillar she had just used as cover shatter and fall to the ground.

She somehow managed to move backwards through the pouring debris and dust.

Lien runs quickly and gives chase.

The long wire stretched out from the tip of the swinging hand and began to swirl around Lien, who was running at full speed.

Sensing danger in an instant, the persona desperately deployed a magic circle to buy time.

Kookookookook… …

The magic circle that was immediately constructed caused a large portion of the ceiling in the room to collapse, causing a huge ceiling surface to fall.

In the darkness, a huge stone structure fell diagonally in front of Lien with a heavy crash.

Kuuuuung!

But Lien doesn’t stop and runs, instead running over a huge piece of fallen ceiling.

He leaped straight up into the air.

Taat.

Even as she flew at high speed, Lien flipped her body over and spun sideways, swinging her hands.

The pure white wire trajectories surrounding her swooped down in midair, targeting the persona.

Persona desperately stretched her hand forward to counter the attack. A dome-shaped mana barrier unfolded around her.

Jiiyiik-

However, the silver wire that was ejected quickly circled around the barrier and fixed it. Lien immediately pulled the wire that was wrapped around her in midair and rapidly changed direction.

In the darkness, a sudden dive attack with a terrifying speed flew towards the persona.

Persona barely managed to fly instinctively.

Without even slowing down, Lien landed piercingly on the spot where her Persona had just been.

-Kwaaaaang!

The ground immediately shattered, and with a strong impact, stone fragments and dust exploded in all directions.

‘What the heck, this monster… .’

In a fleeting moment where time seemed to flow slowly, the persona looked at the maid who had just landed in front of her with dumbfounded eyes.

In the middle of the dust rising into the dark air.

Her black and white skirt and apron billowed as she moved.

Beyond the shadow of her cold silver hair, the maid who had just landed slowly raised her head and looked this way.

Beautiful blue-green eyes that seem to shine clearly even in the darkness of the room.

He was glaring at me through the debris flying through the air, his eyes filled with transparent anger.

“…!”

When the persona unconsciously took a half step back at the sight of those cold eyes.

Something suddenly caught her heel, causing her to lose her balance and stumble backwards.

Peeing.

A short metallic sound.

Only then did I look back and see that the wires I had previously avoided were entangled in a complex path around the ceiling and pillars.

Like a spider web installed densely and elaborately, the wires covering the space block all escape routes.

From the very beginning of the engagement, the wires that the maid had been shooting at us.

It means that each and every one of their trajectories was blocking our escape routes.

Persona felt a chill down her spine.

If I had been in perfect condition, I would never have been able to win against someone of that level of skill.

Rather, it could be said to be a miracle that I was able to hold out even though I was close to running out of mana.

‘but….’

The persona smiled with conversion.

‘Now, it’s our turn to somehow hold on!’

The olive-colored magic circle, which had already been constructed, was now in Persona’s hand.

In this short but intense battle, the goal of buying time until the end was to construct a magic circle that could completely access the maid’s mana.

The Persona was already certain, with a sense of unique magic that was reacting to the maid’s mana.

‘As expected, this year’s mana can be interfered with without a problem.’

Unlike Enoch, who had sensed something strange just a moment ago, the silver-haired maid’s mana could be interfered with without any hindrance, just like a normal magician.

In that case, the outcome is almost certain.

Peeing!

The next moment, the wire Lien had shot flew straight towards her.

But just before it reaches the persona.

The magic circle expanded greatly, covering the space between her and Lien.

Hwaak.

In an instant, the inner world of the persona spread out and filled all directions.

“…?”

At the sudden change in environment, Lien turned her head and looked around calmly as if trying to figure out the situation for a moment.

‘Okay. I’ve already drawn you into my unique magic.’

The persona smiled briefly at the thought that she was finally in his grasp.

But behind the maid.

For some reason, Enoch was also dragged into her inner world, lying on the floor.

‘… How did the direct lineage follow me into this inner world?’

Did you receive some kind of influence during the gap you made while escaping Enoch’s inner world?

But I didn’t have time to think about it for long.

I escaped Enoch’s inner world earlier and fought against Lien, so I almost used up my mana.

The longer we delay, the more likely it is that we will lose.

‘I’ll quickly manipulate that maid’s inner world and make her go crazy, and then I can escape while she’s doing that.’

That direct lineage is in a situation where they have suffered damage to their inner world and cannot even escape.

In the end, Enoch will be helplessly caught up in the tyranny of his own escort maid.

“Given the circumstances, I don’t have time to carefully examine your memories.”

Persona spoke as he deployed his magic circle.

The inner self of a person is quite delicate.

Their colorful mental world, made up of their individual experiences and emotions from their lives so far. All of these elements make up that person’s ego.

‘That’s why, in that sophisticated world, many things become distorted with just a ‘little interference.’

It’s like slightly removing a cog from an elaborate machine.

Of course, it is possible to break a complex machine by damaging just one minor component.

Even more so, it goes without saying that the inner side of a person is even more delicate.

Any further delay would result in a complete defeat for this side. Before casting the spell, increase the clarity as quickly as possible…

“It’s a unique magic that interferes with the consciousness of mana.”

At that moment, Lien’s calm voice was heard.

Persona was speechless for a moment at those words.

You already know this magic even before you use the explicit amplification?

“… Well, maybe you know.”

Lien tilted her head slightly to the side and asked, as if she hadn’t heard Persona’s smiling words.

“It looks like mana depletion is near.”

Persona’s expression, which had been trying to speak in a relaxed tone until now, hardened slightly.

Even though wizards simply draw on the mana that exists around them, each person has their own innate limitations when it comes to utilizing it.

And when it reaches a precarious state, it is called mana depletion.

Lien said quietly.

“If you continue to use your unique magic like this, your life will be in danger.”

As she said, mana depletion is fatal. If you don’t rest and recover, the pain is truly excruciating.

If you force yourself to use magic while your mana is depleted, there is a chance that you will become disabled or die.

But the persona spat out monotonously.

“I know, too.”

“Then running away would have been a more rational choice.”

The maid asked again in a still transparent tone.

Of course, as the maid said, if I had tried to run away from the beginning, I might have managed to do so somehow.

But the persona simply shook its head.

“That can’t be. Since your family is after Tantalus, we can’t let you live here.”

She glanced at Enoch, who had collapsed next to her.

If they return to their family alive, all this information will go to the Elseid family.

And above all… … .

‘Enoch Elseid, no matter what happens, must be killed now!’

Tantalus, the 13th-ranking member of the Vendetta faction and the man who saved him. Enoch had asked about him earlier.

I had a gut feeling then.

That one day he would go see Tantalus.

Persona bit her lips slightly.

‘You shouldn’t send this guy to him.’

Ever since she saw the boy’s inner world earlier, she had felt that way instinctively.

I wonder how far this person with such an absurd inner world will reach and how strong he will become in the future. If I don’t stop him, I don’t even know how far he will grow.

It’s obvious what will happen if we leave him alone.

Perhaps by the time Enoch reaches Tantalus, he will have grown much further than he is now.

If that was the case, then the root of the threat had to be eliminated here and there.

certainly.

The persona repeated softly.

“…He gave me, who had been abandoned by everything, a new meaning to live.”

Tantalus was her benefactor who gave her meaning.

Protecting him is the mission that gives meaning to this life. Persona raised her head.

Her olive eyes, filled with determination, met Lien’s teal eyes.

“Whether it’s the House of Zhou or the Empire, or the direct descendants of Elseid, no one will be tolerated in touching him!”

Persona had almost completed constructing a magic circle of brilliantly shining spheres in his hands.

Beyond the light of the magic circle, past events flashed through her mind like a revolving lantern.

An incident in which his family, once a small-scale magic family, was swept up in politics.

And the fact that he was branded a black magician because there were concerns that his unique magic would ‘interfere with the human mind’.

And the cruel choice of a family to maintain its lineage in the empire. An innocent 10th-grade wizard who had to be abandoned by everything he loved.

When you are so abandoned by society.

The only person who took me in like that.

“The Empire drove me away on the day I had done nothing wrong, saying that I had simply manifested the black magic of a warlock. Naturally, even my family abandoned me. Lord Tantalus is the one who gave me a new mission to live on.”

She added, staggering from the pain of mana exhaustion.

“No one else, but you, would understand.”

Persona looked straight at the silver-haired maid in front of him and said.

“You too, are a survivor of a family that was wiped out by being branded a warlock. Lien.”

***

Lien didn’t really respond to her words either.

He just stares blankly with a cold expression.

The persona said, looking at the wires around him.

“Actually, I didn’t recognize you at first… but I recognized you because of your striking appearance and horsemanship.”

She said, facing Lien.

“There were quite a few rumors going around when you disappeared, but I didn’t think I’d meet you here like this.”

“I don’t know you.”

Persona laughed at Lien’s emotionless answer.

“Like you, I wasn’t really a celebrity when I was young.”

Persona simply said so and stretched out her arm. A spherical magic circle formed in her hand and radiated light towards Lien.

“This was a long chat. I’ll finish it up shortly.”

Lien, who seemed to already know about this magic, naturally had no need for explicit amplification.

According to the persona’s will, the magic circle rotated and activated. She bit her bleeding lip to hold on to her consciousness that was fading due to mana depletion.

What had to be done now was simple.

‘The inner world of most people is made up of a colorful world similar to reality.’

Countless kinds of emotions and memories become colorful grasses and trees, beautiful flowers, and birds that chirp and flap their wings.

Such a colorful and delicate world is the normal inner world that ordinary people have.

Even the smallest and most trivial damage, such as plucking a flower in full bloom or killing a bird or butterfly, immediately damages the human ego and causes it to be greatly shaken.

The unique magic here takes advantage of that very point.

In particular, inducing a runaway is even simpler.

Even if you just ‘make a mess of your inner world’, your ego will become greatly distorted and run wild.

‘The inner world of the direct lineage that I just saw was merely an exception for those who had manifested their own mana.’

In contrast, Lien, who is obviously in front of you, is strong, but is in the category of an ordinary magician.

So it was certain that she too had an ordinary inner world that we could interfere with.

‘Then, driving it wild is not a big deal.’

Woohoo.

The persona focused his mind towards the activated magic circle as he always did.

Wheein.

Finally, the magic circle rotates and the passage connecting to Lien’s inner world is completed.

Persona immediately closed his eyes and activated his magic circle.

The moment the spirit is realized, the surrounding atmosphere is reversed.

A familiar sensation is felt beyond the lowered eyelids, and for a moment, I intuitively realize that I have successfully entered Lien’s inner world.

Swish.

The colorful scenery of Lienman’s inner world that he would now see for himself. Persona slowly opened his closed eyes as he sketched out the outline of it.

‘Now there is only one thing left.’

If I just slightly twist her inner world like this and make Lien go berserk like I planned…

“… … ?”

But the next moment,

All of Persona’s thoughts stopped.

Lien’s inner world unfolds before her as she opens her eyes.

That was something that far surpassed Persona’s imagination.

-It’s pure white.

A huge, empty, pure white space with nothing in it.

But there was only one thing that existed above the clean and pure white space.

The persona’s pupils dilated for a moment as he confirmed that he was a ‘one-of-a-kind being’ in that white world.

‘That’s-‘

Standing with your back turned towards me.

A boy with black hair.

-Enoch Elseid.

In Lien’s inner world, there is only one person.

There was only Enoch.

Other than that, there was nothing else in her inner world.

“… That’s ridiculous.”

As soon as you realize what it means.

Persona took a step back without realizing it and muttered.

An eerily pure inner world where only one person exists.

The persona who had been blankly staring at the place suddenly came to a realization.

Far from inducing a riot.

This inner self is ‘impossible to interfere with’.

Because it is so blindly pure, nothing can be manipulated according to one’s will.

‘Ha, but… the fact that such an inner world exists… .’

Swish.

As if to prove that it was a world that could not be influenced by even the unique magic of a persona.

Lien’s pure white inner world was slowly disappearing before Persona’s eyes.

Again.

At that moment, the persona raised its head at the sound of footsteps.

Stepping on the remnants of the disappearing white world, Lien approached Persona.

The maid’s blue eyes, which had reached right in front of me, were coldly staring at me through the shadows cast by her silver-white hair.

Persona unconsciously took a step back at those gazes.

“…You’re not normal.”

The persona muttered in a low voice.

Of course, the only thing that came out was that it was not normal.

The experiences and emotions she has experienced so far. The many different emotions she feels in everyday life, including her relationships with others.

There had to be a colorful inner world composed of all of them.

Because that’s a person.

Because that’s how we all live.

Of course, the inner self of countless people that Persona has seen so far has also been like that.

But this maid─

“This inner world… … Then, the only meaning of your life is… …!”

The persona, who realized in an instant what this inner world meant, took a step back without realizing it.

But Lien still approached without even giving an answer.

“Oh, don’t come!”

Persona felt a flash of fear and hurriedly deployed her mana.

But even faster than that, Lien’s wire instantly wrapped around the persona’s arm and tangled around its neck.

Lien pulled the wire wrapped around Persona’s neck with her thin, white fingertips.

Peing─

A small metallic note rang out from the silver thread, low and ringing like a tightly tuned string instrument.

Like a dog’s leash, the thread Lien pulled pulled Persona’s neck forward.

“You said you would protect the person who gave you the meaning to live.”

Lien whispered softly in an extremely cold voice into the ear of Persona, who was tied up with wires and had her head forcibly pulled down.

“so do i.”

The next moment, Lien’s silver-white mana flowed through the wire, shattering the magic circle that was forming Persona’s inner world.

With a sharp sound like glass breaking,

The inner world of the persona was shattered into pieces and scattered in all directions.