"If she comes into contact with the person whose magic has been taken, will the extortion rise?"
The fact that there was no response from Marsha was enough to convince Shirone that this was the correct answer.
However, the feeling of discomfort persisted. If the limitation of the extortion was contact, expanding the distance was understandable.
But the problem was that Marsha was in an overly advantageous position. She had stolen numerous magics using God Particles, while he had to rely solely on Wind Cutter.
Wasn't this a situation worth fighting for? Yet, she fled terrified, tens of meters away.
'What is Rule Eater…?'
Shirone opened his eyes. Everything is clear in his mind now.
'I found it! The mental loophole. Marsha isn't flawless either.'
Thinking about it, it was a simple matter. Upon contact, extortion is canceled. If one could simply take the opponent's magic with just that restriction, who in the world could defeat her? Eventually, there must be an additional cost involved.
He didn't know what the price would be, but it would have been closely related to the trauma that led to Rule Eater.
"Rule Eater is a being with mental biases. To possess such enormous ability, you have no choice but to endure the trauma that created the ability in the first place."
Therefore, he couldn't approach her. The possibility of having to pay the terrible price became incredibly high once Shirone found a way to cancel Extortion.
What he truly feared wasn't the return of the stolen magic. It was the horrendous cost that would occur simultaneously with the cancellation of Extortion.
But countless amounts of magic had already been stolen. How did she overcome it then?
The answer to that came quickly. As soon as Shirone found the answer, he immediately charged at Marsha.
There was no time to think. Marsha had been wasting time until her reinforcements arrived.
Depriving oneself of their own ability by risking the most terrible pain.
As long as there was the possibility that Shirone would trigger that cost, Marsha would never enter combat.
On the other hand, if it weren't for that level of fear, the magic of extortion would never have been possible in the first place.
Shirone was no longer afraid. There was still time. Somehow, he had to capture Marsha before the reinforcements arrived.
"Ugh!"
Marsha let out a grunt and backed away. Her face paled even with the slight reduction in distance between her and Shirone. The playful tone and charming expression were no longer visible.
'I can do this! I can retrieve my magic!'
Shirone, who found a glimmer of hope, continued to pursue Marsha. Of course, it was nearly impossible to chase after a mage who was casting Teleportation, but he couldn't stop with the thief who had stolen his entire life right in front of him.
"Shirone! It's dangerous!"
Shirone looked up at the sky upon hearing Tess's voice. With a thunderous noise, around ten beams of light pierced the sky and descended.
Finally, color returned to Marsha's face. Conversely, Shirone felt too exhausted even to run.
He had thought there was enough time. But it was a misjudgment. The surviving subordinates had used a magic circle to arrive in an instant.
"Ahahaha! Finally, they've arrived. Everything is over now!"
Around 20 Schema users swirled around Marsha. It was impossible to break through that crowd and capture Marsha.
"Shi-Shirone…"
Amy bit her lip, holding back tears.
Is it really going to end like this? Is it possible that Shirone might have to give up on his dream of becoming a mage?
"It's pointless. He loved magic so much. He worked so hard for it."
Shirone looked at Marsha as if he had given up on everything. It was the emptiest expression a human could have.
"Oh my, Shirone? Why are you looking at me like that? Ah, because of the magic? It's alright. You're young, you can start over from scratch. Of course, the magic I've stolen from you, you'll never be able to use it even if you try for your whole life."
"Even Sound Magic was stolen from someone else, right?"
"Hehe, sure, well. You know, I have a bit of kleptomania. You said you understood me before, but now suddenly you're being so stingy? You voluntarily gave 50 silver coins for the pottery, but you can't let go of your magic? Why? After pretending to be so kind, is it too precious to give magic to others?"
Amy shouted in anger.
"Shut up! How can you say that? What has Shirone done to deserve this?"
How can a person be like this? It seemed that Marsha not only stole Shirone's magic but also intended to trample on his life.
"¡Hohoho! That's what pretension is. There are no kind people in the world. It's so repulsive to me that you pretend to care in front of me when you're thinking all sorts of dirty things inside!"
Marsha was cursing the world, but to Shirone, it sounded like she was cursing a specific person.
It was her stepfather.
The man who took Marsha in as an orphan and raised her until she was seventeen. But when he realized that those long years were woven from his vile desires, how deep was the despair he tasted?
That's why Rule Eater's magic is terrifying. The very emergence of the ability has its roots in human trauma.
For the average mage, omnipotence is a power that reinforces omniscience. But for a Rule Eater mage, omnipotence distorts omniscience itself.
"It's so painful that even your thoughts become distorted. That's Rule Eater for you."
That twisted human nature manifests itself in the world through the power of magic. Now Shirone seemed to understand why the Magic Association didn't recognize Rule Eater's magic as real magic.
"My noona is a pitiful person."
Marsha's eyes tensed. Who called whom worthy of pity?
It was Shirone, who had pretended to embrace the whole world and then had all his magic stolen, who was truly pitiful.
"Ha! Now you're resorting to pacifying? After you came at me trying to kill me. Do you think I'll forgive you for that?"
"In truth, I don't even know anymore. How much must you have suffered, noona!"
"Hoho! You finally admit it! Do you understand now? No one really understands others' pain! That's human nature! The world is full of nothing but bad people."
"Then… Now I'll come to my midday."
Marsha's heart raced. She couldn't reach him. She was surrounded by twenty of her subordinates.
"Maybe what Noona said is correct. Maybe it was all pretense. But I still believe there's a way to share the pain. So, I want Noona to show me. Not the lies, but your true pain."
"Stop talking nonsense. Who would want sympathy from people like you?"
"I'll break the shell that imprisons Noona. And I'll verify it myself. I wonder how much Noona's wounds have festered."
"Don't come! Don't come!" Marsha screamed with a horrified expression.
The wound was so painful that she screamed if even feathers touched it. But is he going to open that wound? As if that wasn't enough, is he going to open it with his bare hands?
"In return, I promise I'll never give up on Noona. I'll accept any pain Noona has suffered."
When Shirone finished speaking, Marsha's subordinates unsheathed their swords and blocked his path.
"Don't let him near! Cut off his head."
Shirone, staring at the enemies standing like a wall, turned his head and called Rian.
"Rian, stay by my side."
Rian, who was the most injured of the four, could barely move. But he stood up without complaining and shouldered his sword.
Tess ran behind Rian.
"Wait! I'll do it. I'm less injured than Rian."
"It's okay, Tess. This is a task my lord has entrusted to me."
"But with a body like that…"
Shirone looked back at Tess and shook his head.
"Tess, it has to be Rian who stays by my side. I can't ask anyone else to shed their blood for me."
"Shed, shed blood?"
Shirone advanced slowly and told Rian.
"Rian, anyone who comes at me, cut them down."
Rian didn't understand Shirone's words. He had his magic stolen and had difficulties even walking. If they entered the enemy ranks, death was all that awaited them.
"I see. Leave it to me."
However, Rian followed Shirone without hesitation. The sword does not judge. If the lord commands, one must act with their life at stake.
Marsha couldn't control her anger.
Check her wounds? Share her pain? Nonsense, absolute nonsense.
Shirone was only moving his tongue, sparing no effort to regain his magic.
That's what we humans are. As much as they pretend to be kind, in the end, they only seek to satisfy their own greed.
"Kill him! Kill that boy now!"
When Marsha's cry echoed, twenty of her subordinates simultaneously sprang into action. Strengthened by the physical enhancement of their schema, they quickly closed the distance, brandishing their threatening swords.
Rian tightly gripped the handle of his straight sword. He didn't know how long he could hold on, but even if they were to cut his neck, he intended to keep moving forward.
A swordsman leading the charge leapt up, aiming his long sword at Shirone's head. At the same time, Rian also gritted his teeth and prepared to swing his sword.
However, at that moment, the swordsman's body suddenly turned into light and shot up into the sky.
The sharp sound of Spatial Shift split the sky.
Marsha watched the scene, not comprehending. Amy and Tess on the other side, who were watching anxiously, were equally stunned.
"What are you doing, Amy? What's Shirone doing right now?"
"That's magic. Slow magic that slows down time."
It's impossible to directly combine theories that have remained only in omniscience with omnipotence, except for Shirone. Frankly, not even Amy had anticipated that it could reach this point.
That's why Marsha wouldn't have expected it either. Wrapped in all kinds of lies and conspiracies, Shirone's insight, which seemed to have been lost, was now swallowing up Marsha's calculations as it surfaced.
"Slow? Is that slow magic?"
Tess looked forward again. From the outside, there was no noticeable change. The only thing that happened was that the enemies who approached Shirone, without exception, were sent flying with a roar.
However, the scene seen by Rian, who was inside Shirone's Spiritual Zone, was different.
Every time someone entered Shirone's Spiritual Zone, their body glowed with light and then began moving in unbearably slow motion.
Those who have reached the realm of speed close to light can distort time within the zone. Of course, it wasn't to the extreme of slowing down time like Alpeas, but Shirone's level was enough to more than double the relativity of time.
'What? Do I just have to cut them down?'
Rian prepared to wield his sword against the slowly approaching enemy. The enemy's eyes were filled with fear. In this state, they couldn't escape death. Eventually, they used spatial movement magic in their bracelet to escape the place.
As the enemy fled before facing them, Rian snorted as if it were too easy and followed Shirone again.
Kkiiiing! Kkiiiing! Kkiiiing!
The distinctive sound of spatial movement continued without pause. Now only three subordinates remained in front of Marsha, but even they evacuated their position as Shirone approached.
Once again alone, Marsha trembled with a pale face. Terrifying thoughts repeated over and over in her mind.
"Don't come! If you do, I'll die! If I die, you'll never get your magic back!"