"——'
Magic Bullet Archer
'"
He had no intention of showing any more magic than this. With that resolve, he would first test the waters with the magic he knew best.
However, Karma, using the '
Spirit Veil
' that he had just recreated moments ago, easily blocked it all — and then counterattacked by unleashing a staggering volume of magic.
Ermes, too, blocked it with the '
Spirit Veil
' — and then his eyes went wide.
(...No way.)
He had managed to block it. The power was — greater than he'd expected, but not so far beyond his estimates as to be truly surprising.
So what had genuinely surprised him was...
(This magic, this magic power...
truly,
,
was, just as before,
the same
being.
Is it...
(...!?)
The quality of the magic power.
It had changed far too much. Both the output and the nature of it were completely different from just moments ago when they'd faced off.
For an instant, he suspected it might be someone else entirely — but that probably wasn't it. Faint traces of the same essence could still be seen.
So the only possible explanation was inevitably one thing.
Simply
that from moments ago
to this very instant
within
an extraordinary
speed
it had changed
— that was the only possibility.
The rate of transformation was so absurd it defied all reason, but he wouldn't go so far as to declare it impossible. Since the phenomenon was manifesting right before his eyes, he had to first accept it as fact, formulate a hypothesis, and continue observing from that premise.
And then, it became clear. What had changed wasn't just the nature of the magic power.
The internal composition, the magic power structure, the body's tissues — all of them were undergoing countless changes in real time. And on top of that...
"Ahahaha! Ahh, I see — I understand now, I understand even better! To kill you, I just need to do more of this, don't I? Come on, hurry up, or I'll end up killing you too soon! Before that, I think you should show me even more of your magic!"
And furthermore, this...
(
Their personality too...
is... changing...?)
In the previous standoff, they had still seemed to retain at least some semblance of a calm temperament.
But now, not a trace of that remains. Pure as a child, innocent as a child, and—cruel as a child.
Yes, that's exactly what it looks like—as if they'd learned their personality from the nobles of this country.
What's terrifying is that even as this happens, the magical pressure keeps growing stronger. Truly, they are learning everything about their surroundings with pure, ravenous hunger at an astonishing speed.
Seeing this, Ermes grasps it once more. The true nature of this aberrant monster boy.
This kid is—an avatar of "evolution."
They learn everything from their surroundings and reshape themselves optimally each time to match. At a speed below even their own conscious awareness, they add new aspects to their existence, growing stronger with every lesson learned.
Adapting to even the most extreme environments.
No matter what enemy appears, they undergo the appropriate evolution—
and absolutely—
become stronger than—
the enemy—
.
To put it mildly, they're from another dimension entirely.
And at the same time, Ermes realizes—that what Rose said was absolutely correct. In other words,
(…I can't beat him.)
In the world of magical combat, compatibility matters too.
If that's the case, then Ermes is a highly specialized counter-type. They observe the opponent's moves and cast magic accordingly, and at times analyze and learn the opponent's spells before taking their time to completely shut them down—that is the fighting style they excel at most.
And──yes. Karma was the same. No, even more extreme: the very pinnacle of counter-types.
In other words, a complete upgrade in every aspect of combat style. Their compatibility, needless to say, was the worst imaginable.
Ermes alone could never win.
To defeat this opponent, you'd need to keep slamming overwhelming force at speeds they couldn't keep up with. But in Ermes's memory, there was no mage who could exceed that speed. Laplace probably couldn't do it either──the only possibility would be Rose's third Bloodline Magic, but as mentioned, the risk of it being replicated by Karma was far too great.
If that was the case, then……
(...Any further than this is pure speculation.)
Cutting off that line of thought, Ermes refocused entirely on handling Karma.
Even as they exchanged blows, the opponent's magic grew steadily more powerful. Every spell Karma wielded now was on par with the Bloodline Magic of royalty──no mage, regardless of who they were, could endure these indefinitely.
But──
"…………Why won't you die?"
Karma muttered, clearly irritated.
True to those words, Ermes was enduring. By properly analyzing each spell, deflecting it, and slipping precisely into the weak points where the pressure faltered, Ermes threaded the rope of survival──finding the optimal solution in each instant and never once straying from it.
The moment the opponent's magic evolved, Ermes would begin analyzing the new form and adapt accordingly. An extraordinary capacity for response, made possible by a lifetime of accumulated experience, was enabling an abnormally prolonged defense.
Still, there were limits.
Even for Ermes, a breaking point existed. If this stalemate simply continued, it was only a matter of time before Karma surpassed them and claimed their life.
But.
"There is, after all, no need for me to defeat you alone right now."
"!"
The instant Ermes spoke, Karma flinched. Then their gaze drifted to something far away, and they murmured, "……Ah, right. That makes sense."
It seemed Karma had grasped the situation with their own extraordinary Magic power perception──that reinforcements led by Katya were already hurtling toward them at maximum speed. Given that fact, Ermes's objective in this fight had, from the very beginning, been nothing more than buying time.
……If only they'd keep pressing the attack in blind fury, trying to kill me, and stay right here──that would make things so much easier.
Unfortunately, despite his childish appearance and mannerisms, his intellect was exceptionally sharp.
"Hmm──yeah, I definitely don't quite have enough time to kill all of you at once."
Being young meant he carried no excess pride or stubbornness. The fact that he could retreat without hesitation the moment he judged the battle to be unfavorable──that was precisely what made this boy so troublesome.
True to that, Karma now made the decision to withdraw without hesitation, ceasing his magical offensive and shifting into a retreat stance while activating the relevant spell──though his displeasure hadn't subsided, and he directed a question toward Ermes.
"And here I thought I'd get to see something new. ...Actually, then why did you bother fighting? If you weren't serious from the start, you could've just run away."
Sharp insight. His objective in battle had already been achieved, but──Ermes instantly judged that saying too much here would be unwise.
"I simply didn't have the confidence to outrun you. Besides... this kind of thing ends with this battle."
So he tossed out a piece of bait. With that intent behind his words, he declared:
"──The next time will be the last."
"!"
"When we meet again, I promise you I'll fight with genuine 'seriousness.' ...To be perfectly honest, I'm not particularly fond of just losing over and over either."
Roughly eighty percent of that was sincere. It must have done the trick──confirming there was no deception, Karma let out a small laugh.
"I'm looking forward to that. ...Yeah, alright. I learned something new this time too."
Finally, as if in return──or perhaps as a parting shot──
"Your weakness as humans──
You don't
throw away your allies,
even when it would clearly be better to abandon the dregs, you still try to save them."
──He stared straight at Helck. And with that, he declared.
"!"
"Yeah, I learned something good. Looks like I can kill more efficiently now. See ya."
And with that, Karma departed the scene. To Helck, he left behind wholehearted contempt; to Ermes, wholehearted curiosity. A parting gift—a face that, with an almost hopelessly innocent purity, directed entirely different emotions toward each of them.
"…………"
Karma's final words had been ominous enough to warrant examination, but—
For now, it could wait. The purpose of confronting Karma this time had been sufficiently fulfilled, so as for the rest—
"Well then—shall we hear it all, Lord Helck?
I apologize, but we're no longer in a position to take your feelings or will into consideration."
With a deliberately merciless expression—one stripped of all leniency.
They posed the question quietly, with no intention of letting him escape—directed at Helck, who knelt before them wearing a face twisted by anguish, despair, resentment, and a cocktail of other emotions.
Next time: a deep dive into Lord Helck. Look forward to it!
The manga adaptation of "The Reconstructor of Creation Magic" begins serialization on Friday, September 16th!
It will be serialized on Comic Gard!
The art is by Usatoru-sensei.
Currently, Chapter 1 is free to read on the site, and Chapter 2 is available for purchase!
The prologue of the original work has been drawn with the unique charm that only manga can offer,
so I'd be truly happy if you gave it a read...!
Thank you for your continued support of "The Reconstructor of Creation Magic"!