He called it Composite Bloodline Magic — his new technique.
True to its name, it combined multiple Bloodline Magics into a single spell.
In truth, the groundwork was already there.
He, through the
Primal Inscription
's
Magic Inscription Liberation,
had created for the first time a spell called
the Ashen World Tree
— which had originally been achieved by extracting elements from several spells and synthesizing them together.
Of course, even now, replicating something that complex would be impossible — but something comparatively simpler, say, combining around two spells, might not be out of reach.
"[Six are holy bows; one is a magic bullet. Its
trigger
is a false god's
arm
]"
Besides, since enrolling at the academy, he had acquired a vast number of spells. With this many samples, one could begin to discern patterns — commonalities and distinctions between each spell's characteristics. A deeper understanding of their structure would naturally lead to broader applications, namely greater precision in extraction and reproducibility in synthesis.
With that knowledge as his foundation, he had several times outside the academy
performed Magic Inscription Liberation
He activated Magic Inscription Liberation and continued diving into the Flood of Wisdom, searching for useful combinations of magic.
...That said, even so, tinkering with Bloodline Magic — its complex and profound magical structure — even to the slightest degree, proved a task far more difficult than he had imagined...
Still, he had found several. Composite magics that fell outside the framework of existing Bloodline Magic — works he could now call masterpieces.
"Radiant Judgment Heaven, Final Star Judgment — my Ring of Flame marks the boundary of righteous and wicked,
the border between them —
with seven lights, the celestial sphere
shall be
judged!"
This was one of them.
The magic power consumption far exceeded twice the normal amount, and there were many weaknesses — the need to perform two separate Chants chief among them.
But — the power and performance of the magic far surpassed the original spells it was based on.
"Formula Replay —
'Magic Bullet Archer.'
Technique Synthesis —
'Fire Heaven
Judgment!'
"
And so, the searing magic bullets once again hurtled toward the vast army of Monsters.
They deftly bypassed the B-class students and slammed into the Monsters those students had been holding back, blasting them away once more with devastating force — but,
"...I see."
There was no trace of complacency in Ermes's expression, even though the shots should have landed.
Because...
None
of them
had been taken down
.
He saw it. The instant the scorching magic bullets were about to strike, the Monsters huddled together — every single one of them activated barrier magic.
Layer upon layer of defensive spells had perfectly blocked the magic bullets.
While they couldn't avoid being blown back by the impact, none of the Monsters took any actual damage from the magic bullets this time. The unscathed Monsters resumed their charge once more.
...To think they could respond this perfectly after only the second time.
"Enhancement of Intellect. Lady Katia's hypothesis appears to have been correct."
He deepened his conviction regarding the Monster trait he had learned about from his Boss earlier.
Indeed, it was a terrifying trait. If already powerful Monsters had gained intelligence as well, their threat level would be beyond anything they had faced before.
Having grasped all of this precisely and thoroughly, he calmly declared:
"No problem."
That's right — no problem at all.
Because when it came to a battle of wits, this was actually his forte.
With that conviction, he drew in his breath once more and began his Chant.
More magic bullets are coming. Having judged as much, the Monsters grouped together once more and deployed their barrier magic —
— naturally, this time it was his turn to read them.
Formula Replay — "
Four winds of the heavenly demon
"
Technique Fusion — "
Radiant Guardian Saint
"
He deployed a new composite Bloodline Magic.
And there it appeared — the very incarnation of absurdity: a great storm clad in flames of real substance.
The cerulean storm swallowed the cluster of Monsters, barrier and all.
"———!?"
Within the storm, the Monsters fell into disarray.
What was this? The barrier they had raised was devoured whole, and now that monstrous storm was tearing through them from within.
The barrier—
Carved apart,
Crushed flat,
Burned to cinders.
If it had been only one of these, they might have found a way to cope. But all three assaulted them at once.
There was no escape within the storm.
While they floundered, helpless, the great storm broke through the barrier.
The Monsters inside were swiftly devoured by the threefold devastation.
A sense of panic spread among the remaining Monsters, but in an instant they made their judgment.
That magic was probably the type that was extremely difficult to defend against. In exchange, the speed of the magic itself was slower compared to the scorching bullet from before.
If that was the case, they would focus on evasion rather than blocking. The best approach was to spread into a dispersed formation, prioritizing distance between the Monsters to allow for greater mobility—
"—is what they'd be thinking, right?"
Ermes mused.
Indeed, Monsters with enhanced intelligence. Depending on how you looked at it, they were certainly a threat.
But for him, that actually made them easier to handle.
Because he could read them. If they possessed intelligence and devised countermeasures, he could incorporate even their countermeasure-planning into his action predictions.
Once that happened, they were no longer a threat to him at all. ...In fact, if they had simply rampaged in disorder, it would have been far more troublesome.
Having perfectly read the Monsters' next move, Ermes had already completed the chant for his next spell.
"Formula Replay—'
Messenger of the Faceless
'
Technique Composite—'
Magic Bullet Archer
'"
Moreover, a new composite Bloodline Magic.
His signature method of wielding magic bullets—infusing them into his physical body. On top of that, he combined it with magic specialized in physical enhancement.
And so, what would happen?
—The Monsters' upper bodies were obliterated.
Ermes appeared — and his charge was so godlike in speed that sound arrived a full beat later. No longer a figure of speech, he had truly become a Magic Bullet, and now even Monsters of this caliber fell to a single body blow.
And still, he did not stop.
He streaked across the battlefield with reckless abandon, each pass dealing devastating damage to another Monster.
If there was a weakness, it was that his control was not yet perfect — the expected trade-off for such a massive boost in speed.
But it did not matter.
He was no longer alone. All he had to do was torment the Monsters and whittle them down — the B-class students would handle the rest. They now possessed both the strength and the nerve to make good on that.
And true to his expectations, the B-class students swarmed the Monsters Ermes had already weakened, finishing them off with ruthless efficiency. He caught Albert's eye — the latter was at the head of the charge.
"I'll leave the stragglers to you. Also, those bat-like Monsters flying around the area — they're probably the 'eyes.' Take them out first. If their messengers go down, they won't be able to coordinate so easily."
"Roger. Leave the large ones still in one piece to me — go wild."
After a brief exchange of information, they returned to their respective battlefields.
Just as they had declared, the two steadily cut down the Monster army with coordination even more flawless than the enemy's own.
The Monsters thought. ...What were they supposed to do?
If they engaged in a normal firefight, scorching magic bullets rained down. If they bunched up to defend, a storm of azure flames swept over them. And if they scattered to dodge, a god-speed charge cut them down.
No matter how they responded, magic certain to kill them came flying in. And more than that — that man placed his spells with pinpoint accuracy, as though he were reading their every move.
He alone was already a nightmare to deal with, but the humans securing his flanks were not a threat that could be ignored, either.
If they tried to whittle down his human support instead, purple-clad soldiers materialized seemingly from nowhere and blocked them with precision. The woman commanding those soldiers from the very rear — she was the most troublesome after that man himself. But naturally, positioned so far in the back, she was beyond their reach.
...There was nothing they could do.
Dominated by despair, the Monsters' movements visibly began to slow.
Before long, every last Monster in the area had been wiped out.
"We should pull back the front line while we still can. The remaining Monsters are even more dangerous — we'd do better to rendezvous with Lady Sara and engage them with our full strength. We can accept some collateral damage outside the school buildings."
"You're right. Your magic power isn't infinite, after all."
The crisis had been averted. But on the other side, near the black wall, yet another cluster of large Monsters was lying in wait.
...Just how deep does Clyde's preparation go?
Their own magic power had been considerably drained in the recent fighting, and fatigue and injuries were far from negligible.
The prudent course would be to regroup with the others on the school building side, receive Sara's healing, and then face the final battle.
Katia agreed with this assessment, and they had just begun to fall back alongside the B-class students when—
"Wh... a...ah..."
A strange voice, coming from beyond the barrier shrouding the school building. Ermes turned toward it.
"Wh-what are you— what is that..."
A middle-aged man with a distinctive beard, pointing at them, his face deathly pale, muttering as though delirious.
Lejandur — the grade instructor who had been at the center of that earlier interrogation when Ermes had been summoned.
Gone was his earlier air of superiority. He stared at Ermes with a trembling voice, as though gazing upon a monster.
"Is there something you need, sir?"
"W-what is that power of yours— something like that—"
"Are you going to say it's impossible? Even after seeing that, you still—"
Katia spoke to Lejandur, who was staring in disbelief, a touch of anger in her voice.
"O-of course it's impossible! You're nothing but a B-class dead end who was hiding some incomprehensible power all along—"
"'The truly gifted do not readily flaunt their abilities' — isn't that what you said during that interrogation, sir?"
Lejandur froze.
Back then, those words had been his answer to the question of why Clyde was so highly regarded — and ironically, they had now been proven true in the very way Lejandur least wanted.
"Well, that's all rather beside the point, but—"
The reason Ermes went out of her way to speak up here was because there was something she wanted to know. And that was:
"Can you still fight?"
"!"
Simply put, whether he could still be counted as combat strength.
But upon hearing that question—Lejandur, who had already witnessed the threat of those coordinated Monsters that attacked the faculty first—shook his head, still deathly pale.
"Th-that's impossible! Facing those incomprehensible monsters is not our responsibility!"
...And there it was.
The fact that he had pushed it as far as outright abandoning his responsibility—perhaps that was the proof that Lejandur was beyond saving.
"That's right! Creatures like you—fellow monsters—should be the ones facing things like that! Venturing into such nonsensical battles is obviously insane—!"
Mid-rant, Lejandur finally noticed.
"I'm glad you were able to see that."
Yes—not just Ermes.
The Class B students. The ones he had looked down on more than anyone else in this academy. The people he had seen as inferior to himself.
Now he had seen with his own eyes how they were confronting this threat more boldly than anyone.
"If you continue to insult them any further—I have no doubt I can break through that barrier."
The intimidation that accompanied those words—the kind that made it clear even Saira's formidable barrier meant nothing to her, and that she could absolutely back it up if she got serious.
But it didn't end there. The moment he had called Ermes a "Monster," a massive surge of fury came pouring from Katia and the other Class B students as well.
The clear, unmistakable rebellion of the students he had been teaching all along—the students he had considered his own.
Faced with all that defiance—something he would have argued against in the past—Lejandur simply collapsed where he stood, unable to say a word. Not because he had admitted his mistakes, but simply because he had been overwhelmed, forced to understand that they were above him now, left in a state of dumbstruck bewilderment.
Having witnessed everything, Ermes turned on his heel, having already lost all interest. Katia and the other Class B students followed in his wake.
Their strides were unhesitating — they did not hesitate for a moment as they headed toward the final battlefield.
It was a sight that had not been seen in a very long time.
Something that the state of this nation, and the traditions of this academy, had utterly destroyed.
Immense magic and the spiritual fortitude to wield it. Those who carried noble will and resolute purpose, and were prepared to put themselves on the line to stand against the threats endangering their country.
—The proud figures of nobility.
"............"
Clearly beyond the teachers'...
...grasp—
...the figures of students who had departed from them.
The man, left behind by the times, could do nothing but watch in a daze.
Until the very end, he was never able to understand what he had done wrong.
Next time, the story moves forward. Look forward to it!