Book Eater

Chapter 350: Prometheus’ Plot (4)

Fortunately, this Time Stop wasn’t complete. Theo might be facing the wall of the 9th Circle, but if this were a complete ultimate spell, his mind would’ve already stopped working. Theo put his strength into moving his finger but soon changed his mind. Unlike his mind, the nervous system of his body had been frozen in time. It was impossible and had nothing to do with his effort.

I need to break through with my magic.

In order to overcome this situation, he had to break the transcendent’s Time Stop with his magic. A non-transcendent trying to break an ultimate spell would send any magician into paroxysms of laughter. Regardless of the state of the transcendent, Time Stop was still an ultimate spell. Randolph was already neutralized, while Titania and Aquilo were outside the sphere of influence and couldn’t intervene.

Time magic was defined as an ultimate spell for a reason.

“□□□□...! □□□...!”

The voice of the transcendent, who had been crying out like a madman, grew thinner. His shaking body was gradually calming down.

Damn, there is no time.’

The transcendent would kill Theo the moment this spell ran its course. Theo almost felt like his hair was standing on end as he thought as quickly as he could. He couldn’t even waste a second as he discarded one hypothesis after another in search of a way to break the ultimate spell.

He abandoned elemental magic and summoning magic. He couldn’t summon anything in a space that had its time stopped, and any chant longer than a few words would get instantly interrupted. His priority was to get out of the area of Time Stop.

Pajijik.

At this moment, a very small light appeared inside Theo’s skull. It was a faint and weak electric current that he wouldn’t have been able to feel if it wasn’t for this situation. One second later, his super sensitivity screamed.

… It‘s coming!

Theo didn’t know what it was, but he pulled out all three defense spells he had kept in reserve.

Block of Space. Force Decline. Shield - Impenetrable Wall.

An 8th Circle spell, Seimei’s shamanism, and a single wall of defense sank into existence around Theo. Altogether, they could even stop a dragon’s breath cold in its tracks. Suddenly, a terrifying shockwave ripped through Theo’s barrier.

―――――――――――!!

The world was cut off.

Time, acceleration, space compression...? They’ve all been inflated at once!

It was concentrated on the area within one meter around Theo, and the shockwave sent him flying kilometers into the swamp. The word destruction didn’t even come close to describing the devastation. The earth was torn up, trees felled, and the air simply annihilated from existence.

Theo only took a few beats to return, and couldn’t help but wince at the destructive power of this blow. He wouldn’t be able to block it twice. If he hadn’t realized that Time Stop was being released, he wouldn’t be alive right now. Moreover, if he hadn’t prepared spells in advance or lacked his super sensitivity... He would have died. Theo analyzed the situation with cold eyes.

Fortunately, he had survived. Then what about Randolph?

“Theo! I’m fine!”

Theo discovered Randolph dozens of meters away and sighed in relief.

Phew, the emergency escape magic circle seems to have worked properly.

He had inscribed an escape magic circle on Randolph’s sword just in case of an unknown situation. It would teleport its user to a random space when there was enough power to instantly kill the person. Unlike Theo, Randolph didn’t have a means to stop the shockwave.

The problem was what came next. It was fortunate that Time Stop was released just before the attack―

“Hmm?”

No, that was wrong. Theo looked back and his guess changed. It was a guess based on what the transcendent showed so far.

“Time Stop can’t be used in conjunction with attack magic?”

The spark in his head just before the shockwave arrived had obviously been him sensing his lightning. Accelerating his thoughts with magic and Memorize had saved him. He hadn’t noticed it when he had been desperately using the spell, but he could see it now in hindsight.

“□□□! □□, □□!”

The transcendent pointed the staff at him and screamed out a strange cadence. It wasn’t magical or meaningful. The wisdom that remained in the old body and traces of the soul had become tangled up and unclear.

Theo watched the transcendent grimly as he came up with an idea. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it might help him deal with Time Stop.

“Randolph! Back away as far as possible with the other two!”

“What? But...”

There was no time to explain. The transcendent was in an unstable state and could use Time Stop at any moment. Time Stop would instantly render all of his colleagues helpless.

When Theo glanced at him silently, Randolph gritted his teeth, “Tch, understood! Be careful!”

Randolph could tell something had attacked him a moment ago, and that he had been teleported dozens of meters away. He would’ve died if it hadn’t been for Theo’s magic circle. His help would just be a burden to Theo. Once he sprang away, Theo was finally left in a one on one situation.

It looks like the transcendent has set me as the priority. That’s fortunate.

Things would have gotten unpredictable if the transcendent had chased Randolph. Theo couldn’t protect everyone, especially if the transcendent could use Time Stop at any moment. Nevertheless, Theo’s chances in a duel weren’t high. An imperfect transcendent and a mortal standing at the boundary... The difference wasn’t something that could be bridged with luck.

“If you can win, fight. If you can’t win, don’t fight.”

It was a foolish way of living life. Clearly, he hadn’t committed to a modest way of life after passing through Seimei’s test. Theo’s eyes glowed as he prepared to win.

“Come, I will end your pain!”

The transcendent pointed his staff at him as if in response to Theo’s provocation.

Kiiiiing!

Once again, the world turned black and white. Time Stop targeted both the transcendent and Theo. Theo wasn’t a transcendent and was fine mentally, while the transcendent’s reaction speed was slowed. However, Theo had already experienced this deadlock.

Memorize.

Then he triggered a spell one beat late.

Forced Harmonization. Astral Plane Walker.

It was his first attempt to harmonize with shadow magic!

Sususuk.

The shadow rising from his foot spread throughout his whole body. He was wrapped entirely in black, not allowing a single ray of light to reach him. It was a shadow in a human shape that didn’t feel three dimensional. This was the moment that a senior magician overcame physical limits by harmonizing with shadow magic.

“... Success?”

Theo realized that his mouth could move and knew that his hypothesis was correct. The negative dimension connected to the imaginary world wasn’t influenced by time stopping. Of course, if it were just a shadow, then it would be stopped since the light didn’t move. However, now that Theo was mixed with the shadow, he could move at will.

He wasn’t helpless like before.

“□□□□....?”

The transcendent muttered in confusion as he struggled with the phenomenon he couldn’t understand. However, Theo was different. The shadow body moved according to his will.

Peeok!?

He smashed a fist into the transcendent’s face, who had yet to grasp what happened.

I can’t use magic in this state, but it doesn’t matter!

It was different from when he used shadow magic. Theo had assimilated with the negative dimension and lost the right to use the mana of the material world for a short time. Since he belonged to a separate time and space, it was no longer possible to use magic normally.

Theo put these thoughts aside and kept throwing punches.

“□□! □□!? □□? □□□···!”

The transcendent’s face started to bleed as multiple blows landed. In the few seconds that the transcendent took to grasp the situation, Theo managed to land several blows. However, the transcendent finally managed to wield his staff with a groan of pain.

“Eh?”

Time Stop was released. Theo looked at the transcendent, who had flown into the sky, and took in deep breaths. He couldn’t use magic in his shadow state, which meant he couldn’t attack the enemy who was floating in the air.

Tch, I couldn’t break his windpipe. Still, I have a way to cope with Time Stop...

The trancendent’s one-sided advantage was gone. Theo tried to predict the next development.

“Fool,” A voice rang out around him, despite the distance. “You are busy shoveling dirt with that miracle force.”

It was Simon Magus, a magician at the peak of the Age of Mythology and a transcendent who challenged the trial of the 10th Circle. He looked down at Theo with a contemptuous attitude as he completed the magic circle for Dimensional Banish. Theo felt uncomfortable despite his feelings of awe toward Simon and was about to refute him.

“Kuaaaak!”

But at that moment, his assimilation with the shadow ended, and Theo’s five senses raged. He struggled as thousands of colors and lights pierced his eyes, and scents pierced his nostrils. His eardrums burst from all types of noises and blood that flowed, while his stomach felt like he had eaten rotten meat.

It was a critical side effect that was completely unexpected.

“No living being can assimilate with the negative dimension. What happens if the coin is turned around again? It is more pathetic than you using garden scissors to cut the dimension,” Simon Magus’ mockery was interwoven with decent advice as Theo struggled with the crazy sensations. “Listen carefully, fool. You already have the means to overcome your limitations. You just haven’t realized it. How can you be stupid enough not to realize?”

[Simon Magus’ advice has consumed 5,000 achievement points.]

“You don’t even know what Gnosticism is and used Abraxas. You almost completed it and don’t even know its value. If you were my disciple, I would’ve killed you a hundred times. Don’t worry about the shadows. If you have the strength for that trick, hatch your own egg.”

[Simon Magus’ advice has consumed 11,500 achievement points.]

“Time Stop is a useful trick for mortals like you, but a bastard who relies on such a paltry trick is nothing. If you lose despite my teachings, I will tear your soul into a thousand pieces.”

A system message followed every time the cold voice sounded in Theo’s ears. 5,000 points, 11,500 points... This abuse consumed achievement points? Theo gritted his teeth as he struggled against the pain. He wanted to answer Simon.

Dammit, move! Don’t talk anymore!

His body trembled. Theo looked in Simon Magus’ direction and barely opened his mouth, only to close it. It was because he remembered what he heard a few seconds ago.

What the hell did that crazy person say?

Theo desperately shook his head.

Abraxas, egg, hatch? Am I a chicken?

That’s right.

... Eh?

He was a chicken.

Great spell Abraxas (ΑΒΡΑΞΑΣ)

The selflessness that came with enlightenment led to its own mana. Yes, mana of all attributes gathered and struck each other as if they were attracted. It was also pulled into the eight Circles engraved on Theo’s heart.

A magician’s body is its own world. If I want to go beyond the limit, I have to destroy that world.

He could see it. The teachings in Simon Magus’ biting criticism sparked an epiphany, and Theo’s injured spirit grew to a new level. In Gnosticism, Abraxas was an angel of God with the head of a rooster, the body of a human, and snakes for legs. Unlike humans, chickens and snakes were born from eggs.

If Theo wanted to go beyond a human, he had to break his egg.

Forced Harmonization.

His Sorcery wove through his body, and Theo turned the great spell Abraxas on himself.

He spoke in a trance, “ABRACADABRA (It will be done as you say).”

It was the beginning and the end. The moment that Theo’s eight Circles shattered, the last transcendent of the material world was born.