Kanis, avoiding the frenzy of the Photon Cannon's glare, was more confused than ever. Why wasn't Shirone getting tired? It seemed like the limits of his mental strength had been unleashed.
[Havist! This won't hold up!]
Havist still hadn't expressed an opinion. This was unusual because he had never been in this situation before. Furthermore, the reason for his silence was unknown. Kanis knew very well that he wasn't so senseless as to remain silent during the battle due to a difference of opinion.
[Havist! Respond!]
The glare from the Photon Cannon grazed Kanis's side as he struggled to maintain his mental channel. He tried to quickly twist his waist, but his movement was clearly too slow. He didn't evade the attack; he took it.
"What's going on?"
Shirone conjured and fired more than ten glares, but this time the aiming was imprecise. Kanis finally realized that all these glares were destroying the darkness in which Dark Fort could move.
'This is madness...!'
If he couldn't avoid the attacks, he had to contain them. But wasn't that a bit reckless? The Photon Cannon, which already consumed a considerable amount of mental strength, had fired over 200 times. Nevertheless, Shirone didn't seem to be getting tired, and the number of glares kept increasing.
'How much mental strength can he have?'
When he had that thought, a chill ran down his spine. Dozens of Photon Cannons filled his field of vision, blocking all possible escape routes for Dark Fort.
"This is inevitable. It's the end."
He was angry and frustrated. What he feared the most wasn't dying but being defeated by the light mage in front of his master.
[I'm fed up with this. Arcane.]
[Havist?]
The aerial battle began, and for the first time, a mental channel was opened. Havist blocked the Photon Cannon with his body, trembling from the continuous blows, while emitting a strange cry.
Havist, who thought he couldn't absorb the power of the glares with just his surface, opened up completely and devoured the entire Photon Cannon. His body swelled like a balloon, and he began to digest the photons by activating his internal absorption ability. Gradually, his body contracted and returned to its original form.
"Crack!"
Kanis bent his torso with an expression of surprise and pain. The reason Havist was able to absorb the Photon Cannon was that he used his mental strength. However, using power without permission was impossible according to the master and slave contract.
[Havist?]
[Don't get distracted and get ready.]
Havist, having absorbed all of his mental strength, soared towards Shirone and attacked with his claws. Shirone, who wasn't accustomed to close combat, found himself in a rather challenging situation. Havist's speed was sufficient to keep pace with his teleportation movements.
How was this possible? It even seemed stronger than Kanis.
Ethella looked at Arcane with the same thought. The reason for pairing the best magical creature with Kanis wasn't out of love for his apprentice. Havist was nothing more than a tool to fulfill his purposes. A fuel tank that could maximize Arcane's power. That was Kanis's purpose.
'Vilthor Arcane. What a cruel man you are...'
The faster Shirone's teleportation speed became, the faster Havist's movements became. Kanis, who finally realized who the true master was, watched his life fade before his eyes as all past experiences flashed before him.
[Havist. Why?]
What returned was silence. In Kanis's eyes, the master realized, life was fading. All past experiences passed like a light, and tears welled up.
Shirone rushed to the ground. Blood flowed from his cuts as if they were done with a knife.
'The Photon Cannon doesn't work. The time of the Immortal Function is running out.'
Kanis, who descended with Havist, touched the ground with his hand. His pupils were unfocused. Havist advanced toward Shirone without concern. They had to finish the battle before Kanis's mental resistance was completely exhausted.
Dodging Havist's sharp nail attacks, Shirone thought. The situation he had under control a moment ago had suddenly reversed.
A twist of fate.
Havist, who had simply been support for Kanis, was now taking on a more active role. A magical creature immune to the fear of death. Was there a tougher enemy on the battlefield than that? Kanis was like a war machine that fed on life extracted from a cauldron of souls.
"A war machine...?"
Shirone suddenly realized the mistake. What the twist of fate meant was simple. The enemy changed from a living creature to a non-living one. So naturally, the magic also had to adapt to that.
Shirone completely changed his strategy, canceling the Photon Cannon and starting to charge Photon production. The reason the Photon Cannon was dangerous was its destructive power against living organisms. However, for Havist, who lacked life, physical strength wasn't important. If he was specialized in absorbing energy, all he had to do was eliminate him with energy that exceeded his limit.
Photon production exceeded the Photon Cannon in that it was pure magic and had no mass. Furthermore, the Immortal Function was still active. When Shirone's energy was concentrated 100% into the 300 holographic devices installed on the campus, a beam the size of a person was fired.
"Kuuu!"
Havist was pushed back as if buried by the light. Although he had no mass, his body was made of dark matter, and smoke was coming out of him. However, due to his immunity to light, the properties of photons didn't help him. Only the energy contained in the photons could erode him.
"I need even stronger energy."
Shirone recalled the main formula of the photomass theory, which stated that energy equaled mass multiplied by the speed of light squared. Divine particles were the source of mass. So, inversely, he could convert mass into energy by reversing the photomass theory formula.
He reconstructed the energy of the photon beam in terms of mass. When combined with the power of the Immortal Function, mass began to convert into energy in real time. The excitement of feeling theory and reality aligning in an astonishing way was incomparable, and Shirone felt a thrill taking his first step into an unknown world.
"What... what is that?"
The eyes of everyone present watching the battle widened. The Photon output began to emit a blood-red light, becoming thinner. Although they didn't know what kind of magic it was, its appearance alone was threatening.
Eruki remembered a story about a light phenomenon he had heard from his father, the leader of the Dragons.
"Could that... be a laser?"
"A laser? What is that?"
"The energy of light has been significantly amplified. Could this be the ultimate evolution of the Flash series? But how is that even possible?"
A laser wasn't a matter of talent or effort; it was a matter of absolute power. It took at least 10 years of mental understanding for photons to be amplified into a laser.
However, if approached from a mathematical perspective, the story was different. Shirone, who had reconstructed the theory of photons based on divine particles, amplified the energy through mass conversion rather than absolute power. He had developed a new route with his own method.
"Kraaa!"
Havist writhed in pain. Although the laser was extremely thin compared to the Photon output, the concentrated energy was unimaginable. The color wasn't the issue from the beginning. What was truly dangerous was the line of invisible heat beyond the red wavelength. The single-wavelength laser was making molecules vibrate and generating a tremendous amount of heat.
"Havist!"
Kanis held his throbbing head and cursed. The fact that an immense impact struck him in just 2 seconds meant that Shirone's newly developed pulse laser had exceeded the energy limit that Havist could absorb.
Havist did his best to digest the energy, but the speed of molecule vibration was too fast. The absorption amount reached its saturation, and his size suddenly began to inflate like a balloon.
Ethella observed Arcane's reaction. Although his expression didn't change even in such a critical situation, the lack of change on his face concerned her.
"Kanis, stop it now!"
What would be Havist's next state, who had swollen so much? It could be his extinction, but a much more terrifying ending could be possible.
"Shut up! I'll fight!"
"You're being deceived by Arcane. Havist isn't your servant. In reality, you were his servant. Arcane only used you."
Kanis didn't respond. If he felt nothing at all, it would be a lie. From the moment he heard that the Archmage's ultimate creation became his possession, he partly thought it might be true. He simply didn't have the courage to face reality. If he acknowledged the truth, there would be nothing left for him.
"I will win! I'm not afraid of death. I will never surrender to people like you!"
When he regained consciousness, he found himself in a place called Radum, known as the hell of the world. To Arcane, he was just a disposable tool.
To Havist, whom he considered a friend, he was just a fuel depot. Now, he didn't care at all. He only had hatred for the world.
"Kanis..."
Arin closed her mouth and shed tears. Kanis had always been like this, a poor child who could only hurt himself for the people he loved.
"Master! Please, save Kanis!"
She didn't even seem to think about her role as a master. However, she pleaded for Kanis in her pride, but Arcane only gave Havist orders with a cold look.
"This is where it ends, Havist."
Havist, in a state of energy saturation, couldn't respond. He was about to explode due to the vibration. And that's what Arcane wanted.
[Kanis, listen carefully.]
[Havist...]
[Arcane plans to make me explode. Probably everyone here will be swept away by the explosion. Then, it will be the end for both you and me.]
Arin released her mental control over the students and, tears and snot running down her nose, ran toward Arcane.
"Save Kanis, please! If you don't, I won't forgive you."
"Arin."
Kanis got up and spoke.
"What are you doing, Arin? Stop immediately."
"Kanis! This human..."
"Fine. The master saved us from hell. He allowed us to escape Radum. That's enough. I will fight to the end."
Were Kanis's words sincere? But it didn't matter anymore. His anger burned so intensely that he would even find solace in his own death.
"Right! We'll all die together."
Kanis shouted to the sky. Burning tears ran down his cheeks. His life was truly disgusting. But if that was his fate, he would accept it to the end.
"Kraaa!"
Molecules heated up, and a large bubble formed in Havist's body. Now anyone could tell. Arcane planned to blow up the entire academy.
"Shirone, stop him! Havist is about to explode!"
Shirone, who was releasing energy in a trance, hastily stopped upon hearing Ethella. But a chain reaction was already happening in Havist's body. His strange twisting presaged there would be a second and third explosion.
"Hahaha, goodbye! I should feel disgusting dying alongside scum like you. But this marks the end."
[Kanis, I'm sorry.]
Kanis's face stiffened.
[I'll cancel the domination contract.]
[Havist absorbed all your remaining mental strength and broke the contract. As if feeling his soul slipping away, Kanis fell to the ground with a shocked expression.]
[Why... Havist...]
Havist flew into the sky. How much time was left until the explosion? 3 seconds? 2 seconds? In the process of running toward his last life, the memories that had seeped in the form of vibrations came to life. Havist. Havist. Havist. He had been hoping he could hear the voice calling him over and over, but now he couldn't.
'Haha. Kanis, that's your problem. You pretend to be strong needlessly.'
Since he had never had a life, he didn't fear death. However, he was concerned about Kanis. The betrayal he had felt through the mental link was still vivid in his mind. But now, he couldn't transmit anything, so Havist only wished for one thing.
He hoped Kanis wouldn't get hurt.
At 2 kilometers high, in the airspace where voices can't reach the Earth, the corner of the shadow's lips broke into a sinister smile.
"Still, it was quite fun, Kanis."
Buuuuuuuuuuuum!
A massive explosion occurred that obliterated the darkness of the world.
(End of Volume 4)