Genius 51

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Chapter 51. Primordial Inscriptions

He rises.

He walks.

Despite dispelling curses, the lingering effects of the previous lightning strike remain profound.

The turmoil of mana raging within leaves wounds beyond what Sara's magic can heal, engulfing his body in profound fatigue and numbness. Sensations are dulled.

But it matters not.

He has decided to do it. Believed he could. So, there's no reason to halt his steps.

"─Herm!"

"Hermes, san."

Noticing Hermes approaching, the two girls raise their voices.

Simultaneously, upon seeing the revived Hermes, Cerberus pauses its attack in caution, allowing Katia and Sara to catch their breath.

─It would have been tough with just the two of them; without the other side's actions, they would have been overwhelmed by the fierce assault by now.

With Hermes joining the fray, they are temporarily on equal footing. However, there's no decisive move, and if the earlier magic were unleashed again, defeat would be certain. With only the magic used so far, victory is elusive.

That's why he speaks up.

"To both of you. I'm sorry, but please give me three more minutes."

"Huh─"

Before the precarious balance collapses, Hermes' request, seemingly heartless, is made.

Sara widens her eyes─ but Katia, in contrast, remains composed.

"...Is there a magic to defeat him?"

"I'll create it, starting now."

Even Katia, faintly surprised by this reply, quickly recovers. She knows his ultimate goal. What he spoke of in the Duke's household, where his aspirations lie.

So, straightforwardly. Seriously, and with absolute trust in his eyes, Hermes replies.

"Understood, I'll bet on you... Sara, sorry, but hang in there a little longer."

To the words spoken next, expressing concern, Sara briefly shows confusion.

Glancing between Hermes and Katia. There, she must have sensed it. What lies between the two? What they have cultivated between them.

"...Yes. I trust both of you."

And she nods. With trust and an undeniable sense of admiration.

The two turn back, facing Cerberus with even more determination than before.

Believing that Hermes, with the two can endure, he takes a few steps back, closes his eyes, and breathes in.

Now, let's begin.

This magic's true value. Unleashing the "Creation" magic.

With his emotions carried, he chants.

"'─Await and listen, for I shall speak of the twelve arcane'"

This magic is not hereditary. Therefore, there shouldn't be any need to seal functions upon inheriting it, like Bloodline Magic.

However, Rose still sealed this function, this magic's true value, in the same manner as Bloodline Magic during ordinary times.

Why?

─Because it's too powerful.

Incredibly potent, astonishingly free, and terrifyingly vast.

She realized that if left unsealed, the one who acquired this magic would break when they obtained it.

"'Verily, it is true and not false, certain and truly named under the Tabula Smaragdina'"

That's quite an achievement.

In ancient times, perhaps even in an era known as the age of gods.

Surely, magicians far superior to themselves wagered their lives to create this crystallization of life, the proof of living as a wizard.

Understandably, people of the kingdom living today mistake it as a gift from the gods. It's such a miracle.

Attempting the same feat, she might have been ridiculed as reckless, condemned as insolent, and eventually driven out of the capital, branded as a witch.

"'The sun is the father, the moon is the mother, the wind is the stork, the earth is the nurse'"

But she didn't give up.

Struggling, doubting what she saw, but still pushing forward without wavering on what was important.

Finally, she grasped it. A glimpse of the true essence of magic.

That magic is immensely profound, and grand, yet undoubtedly exists at the end of human endeavors.

She became convinced. If so, she should be able to do the same.

"'This side shall receive the glory of all things. The other shall dispel all ignorance. Let us celebrate the transmigration and the cycle'"

Thus, this magic was completed. And she soon fell into despair.

She understood. Bloodline Magic was not a blessing but a curse. Moreover, being triple-cursed, she realized she couldn't fully control this magic she had created with so much effort.

So, she searched for someone to inherit this magic, to become her disciple.

Someone not cursed by Bloodline Magic. But with magical talent.

Curious, unbound by fixed ideas, and above all, someone who loves magic.

"'Born is the power to surpass all, superior to all subtleties, piercing through all things'"

And she found him.

He's a boy with so much magic power that he got called a prodigy but is considered a failure due to lacking Bloodline Magic. Still, he kept advancing, training relentlessly.

He was like her ideal. He's straightforward, strong, and lovely.

She fell in love at first sight. She grew to love him even more as they spent time together. She adored him so much that she didn't realize she had a talent for being a doting parent.

She thought it would be okay to pass everything on to him.

"'Observation, separation, integration, adaptation, recognizing completion at the end of illusion'"

The only flaw was his weak mental strength, crucial in handling magic.

It was probably a combination of his inherent weakness and the harsh treatment from his family that exacerbated it.

With this, she was sure he couldn't unleash the true value of magic.

Therefore, after teaching him everything for five years, she sends him back to the capital.

It was frustrating that she couldn't heal him herself, and she really, really hated the idea of being separated from him. She was she'd cry herself to sleep every night for at least a month.

But even so, more than anything, she wanted to see where his magic would take him. She believed his journey to places she couldn't reach would be the greatest joy.

She bid him farewell, her greatest masterpiece, as the ultimate gift.

"'And so the world was created, recording the infallible truth here, for the sake of the one and only miracle in the heavens and the earth'"

It was a technology that should have existed in an era without magic.

Analyzing the workings of the world, elucidating the principles of the world. A presumptuous challenge to reproduce the work of God with human wisdom.

It was called alchemy.

Rose deliberately turned it into magic.

With the wish to analyze, elucidate, and reproduce the magic believed to be a gift from heaven. Hermes is creating magical alchemy.

It's the inscription of the twelve arcane left by the legendary alchemist. The name of the stone monument said that still exists somewhere in the world, transformed into words.

Therefore, the name of this magic─

"[Emerald Tablet] - Liberation"

That magic is a creation magic.

Its usual ability is to analyze and reproduce magic. And its ability upon release is, as the name suggests, to create magic.

The release of the magic inscription is performed through several tiers of chanting.

Ordinarily, it's at the third tier. Exceptional ones are at the fourth tier, and those of legendary strength are at the fifth tier, but...

The [Emerald Tablet] goes beyond even that, reaching an extraordinary seventh tier.

Before Hermes, completed the chant, the jade disc──burst.

It shattered into countless tiny fragments, swirling around Hermes.

All of these are fragments of magic.

Crystallization of wisdom that constitutes the magic of this world. From now on, he will combine these to create the magic to defeat that monster.

Finally, the time has come.

His true purpose in coming to the capital. The moment to shape his childhood wish into reality.

Everything he has cultivated so far. Everything that he has gained here.

Using every magic he has absorbed as seeds, pouring in the vast experience and knowledge he has accumulated.

─Let's make his own magic bloom.

With determination, Hermes reaches out his hand.