"Creation Magic — 'Primal Inscription'!"
Met with everyone's astonishment, his magic was finally revealed.
Answering the call of the inscription, what manifested was a translucent green tablet harboring a fantastical jade light. On its surface, strings of mysterious characters were arrayed, and around it danced green cubes that shared the same radiance.
Mystery and wisdom, miracle and principle — a fantastical tablet of script that simultaneously evoked two contradictory images had settled in his left hand.
"El, is that...?"
Though her eyes were captivated by the beauty of the magic, Katia asked.
"'Primal Inscription.' It's a magic my master taught me — what you might call the 'seed' of my magic—"
"—It's a bluff!!!"
However, his reply was once again cut short by a shrill voice.
"I don't know what kind of trick it is, but it can't possibly be any good! There's no way someone like you could possess outstanding magic — it must not be allowed, you who were chosen in everything except magic!!"
Chris screamed in a voice that conveyed not disbelief, but rather a desperate refusal to accept what he was seeing.
As if responding to his emotions, the magic bullet behind him blazed with ever-increasing radiance.
"That's right — I was only ordered to take Lady Katia alive. So if some commoner just happened to get caught up in the crossfire by bad luck — well, nobody would fault me for that, would they!!"
There was no one present who did not understand what Chris's words meant.
Bloodshot eyes filled with unmistakable killing intent, Chris stared fixedly at Ermes.
The light behind him had already reached critical mass — it was clear that at any moment, all of it would be unleashed upon Ermes, brimming with killing intent and magic power.
But Ermes did not flinch.
With his magic still manifested, he calmly and carefully observed the magic before him.
As if searching for something — or rather, as though trying to read something from it.
At the same time, he recalled the moment his master had taught him this tablet-shaped magic.
◆
Five years earlier.
"This is Creation Magic — 'Primal Inscription.' My greatest masterpiece, and the strongest magic there is."
"Creation... magic...!"
Ermes, who had only recently become Rose's disciple, was first given a broad overview of what he would be learning from his master.
His eyes sparkled at the magic she described with such pride and delight.
"Boys love this kind of thing, right? Thanks for the honest reaction — you're such a cutie, my disciple."
Pleased by Ermes's reaction, Rose patted his head with a look of deep satisfaction.
"The basic effect of this magic is, in a word, 'analysis and reproduction of magic.'"
"Analysis and... reproduction?"
"That's right. I'll say it again — magic is not a gift from the heavens, but a product of human endeavor. All magic has its logic, its laws, its firm causality and reproducibility."
In other words, as long as one followed that logic and those laws, anyone should be able to wield magic. So Rose explained.
"'Primal Inscription' first assists with the analysis required for that. How the magic before you operates through its flow of magic power, what techniques are inscribed where, and in what order they are activated."
The tablet she had spread out displayed intricate patterns tracing complex trajectories across its surface.
At the end of Rose's gaze was a lamp placed between them, containing a flame conjured by magic.
"And based on the analysis, it combines what you might call the 'components of magic' embedded within this magic — and reproduces it."
As her words ended, a flame of the exact same color as the lamp's burst into light on her palm.
"By applying this magic, I further modify General-purpose Magic to wield multiple spells at a level close to Bloodline Magic."
"Wow!"
Learning of the vast variety of magic Rose had shown him when they first met, Ermes let out a voice of genuine admiration.
"Master! Can I — can I do the same thing!?"
"Ha ha ha. What are you saying, my disciple."
Receiving the expected question, Rose showed an amused smile before continuing.
"You will be able to do 'even more' than this, you know?"
"!"
"Unlike me, who could only reproduce magic at a level 'close to' Bloodline Magic due to the Bloodline Magic dwelling within me. You — only you can master the true use of this magic. That is exactly why I decided to entrust this to you—"
◆
"...[Six are the holy bows, one is the magic bullet; its trigger is the arm of the false god]"
Once again, everyone present was struck with shock.
Because those were the chant for Chris's Bloodline Magic, which was about to be unleashed.
And they had come from Ermes's mouth.
"No way—!"
Sensing what was about to happen and utterly unwilling to accept it, he fired his magic.
But Ermes did not flinch, and as an immense surge of magic power rose within him, he spoke its name.
"Formula Replay — 'Magic Bullet Archer'!"
The true use of the Primal Inscription.
A realm unreachable by Rose, who was cursed by Bloodline Magic — one that only he, with his Incompatibility, could reach.
Namely, the reproduction of Bloodline Magic.
It was like a perfect mirror image.
A massive sphere of light manifested behind Ermes as well, and met Chris's sphere head-on.
The two magics collided. A torrent of magic power between them raged with more than twice the fury of before.
Eventually it too subsided, and the result was the inevitable equilibrium of two identical magics clashing from opposite directions.
Without dealing a shred of damage to either side, both magic bullets had vanished completely.
(...Phew. Somehow it worked out.)
Seeing the result, Ermes let out a breath of relief.
As was clear from his manner, this result had not come easily even for him.
The Primal Inscription was, in theory, capable of reproducing any magic.
But that was merely theory. In practice, it required the observational ability and knowledge to accurately understand the target magic, the constructive ability to properly assemble the reproduced magic, and further still, the improvisational skill to substitute unknown elements with impromptu solutions.
Ultimately, reproducing magic as complex as Bloodline Magic on a first encounter was next to impossible.
The only reason the on-the-fly reproduction succeeded was because Ermes had spent five years having these fundamentals drilled into him by his master, and because the Magic Bullet Archer was something he had seen many times since childhood and even experienced firsthand — making him a rare exception.
But Chris, on the other side, had no way of knowing any of this.
"Impossible...!"
Trembling, he began to scream.
"Impossible, impossible, impossible! Me — I, who unlike him am the chosen one! To think that against him, of all people, this could — it can't possibly be, it must be some kind of mistake!!"
Chris gave in to his rage and fired off a barrage of magic bullets in rapid succession.
But this time, Ermes did not flinch either, countering with the very same magic he had just reproduced.
"Stop resisting, you defective waste! You — you should just go die somewhere I don't know about, or spend your whole life crawling beneath my feet!!"
"..."
Since both were wielding the same magic, this exchange should have been evenly matched as before — but it was not.
Gradually, bit by bit, the force of Ermes's magic began to overpower Chris's.
"No way—!"
If the magic being used was the same, then the difference lay in everything else.
Namely, the magic power output that affected a spell's potency. The magic power manipulation that eliminated waste during conversion. The magic power perception that precisely tracked a spell's movement.
Ermes, who had trained relentlessly since childhood, surpassed Chris in all of these areas.
Ermes, who had never given up or neglected his training even after being diagnosed with Incompatibility, and Chris, who had grown complacent with the magic bestowed upon him and neglected his own development.
The current state of their exchange was a direct reflection of the difference in their efforts.
"How can this be... Me, of all people, losing to him—!"
And at last, the magic bullet fired by Ermes landed directly before Chris, and the impact sent him flying.
"Wha—, Captain Chris!?"
"Impossible, for Captain Chris to be defeated...!"
The soldiers who had been watching with bated breath panicked at the unbelievable sight before them.
Now, Ermes judged.
"Lady Katia, now's our chance. Let's break out of the encirclement."
"Ah — r-right. But what about Chris..."
"Don't worry — it wasn't a direct hit, so he's not down. In fact—"
"—! What are you all doing?! Kill them! Kill that worthless defective freak right now!"
"...As you can see, he's still full of fight. It'd be troublesome to be pursued, so I think now is the right time."
"...F-fine, I understand."
With a strained expression, Katia nodded, and the two of them dashed from the scene.
After that, they were beset by the pursuit of the furious Chris and the soldiers who had received his orders.
However, thanks to Katia's knowledge of the Royal Capital's geography and Ermes's interference and misdirection using Enhanced universal magic passed down directly from Rose, they managed to shake off their pursuers and make it to safety.