The Magic in this Other World is Too Far Behind! Volume 1

by Gamei Hitsuji

  “Too fa—”

  Was she trying to complain? She likely mistook his acceleration as he closed in on her as instantaneous movement. By the time she realized it, he was only three meters away from her, after all.

  But before she could even finish voicing her complaint, he snapped his fingers at her. In an instant, his cold eyes met her shocked gaze.

  Strike magicka. As a modern magician, Suimei could invoke magicka that could compress air and then release it in a burst without a chant just by snapping his fingers. While it was simple magicka, its power was easy to guess. Precisely because it was simple, its speed was excellent. And since its effect was purely physical, it was easy to understand.

  Snap!

  As if a transparent bomb had triggered a transparent explosion, a shockwave burst forth right at Felmenia’s feet. It was so close that she only managed to evade it by a hair when she rolled away.

  “Ugh, ah...!”

  As if blocking off her path of retreat, Suimei snapped his fingers once more. Felmenia seemed to sense the impending danger and changed her course. She ran for dear life from the shockwaves, evading left and right almost like a dance. Unhappy with this turn of events, she screamed at Suimei.

  “Th-This is absurd! How can you just continuously fire off magic so easily?!”

  “Hahh. You’re a third-rate magician precisely because you can’t do it. Did you think that I was going to shoot once and let you have another go at me? We’re not playing an RPG here, you know?”

  That’s right. This was no game. It was a competition with their lives at risk. Suimei came from a world where a single second’s hesitation could bring a merciless end to things. It was incomparable to the mysteries Felmenia knew.

  While Felmenia was scurrying about trying to dodge his attacks, Suimei pulled a reagent vial from his pocket and opened it quickly. Inside was mercury, the only metal in the world which was naturally a liquid at room temperature. Alchemists nicknamed it quicksilver, but when magicka was cast on it, that name took on its true meaning.

  With great force, Suimei swept his arm from left to right as if to scatter the contents of the vial, then focused on the mercury that was waiting for him in a line in midair.

  “Permutato, coagulato, vis existito.”

  [Transform, coagulate, become power.]

  Grabbing the mercury while it was still in a liquid state, he swung it back as if flicking blood off of a katana. By the time he followed through on the swing, the mercury had taken shape. Since he’d been using it like a sword, it naturally imitated that shape. That was what he’d intended. What he held was a weapon, a mercury katana. Using magicka, he could give it any shape. It was a weapon with no form—a Mercurial Arm.

  “Oh Earth! Turn thy body into obstinate stone and smash my enemy! Stone Raid!”

  The moment before Suimei’s mercury solidified, Felmenia completed her magicka. She called out to the earth, and small stones took shape and flew at Suimei along planned trajectories. Just before they reached him, they finished tapering to sharp points and became vicious projectiles.

  “Eat th—”

  “Too naive!”

  Suimei cleared the incoming stones out of the air with his newly-formed sword. Not even a bullet could get past a trained magician’s eye. Flying rocks posed no threat. Suimei’s blade smashed through one stone fired off with mana after another. The flow of his swordsmanship was elegant. He was unfazed, his face never revealing even a single hint of panic.

  “You can use a sword even as a mage?!”

  “Is there something wrong with that? Close combat techniques are essential to magicians where I come from, I’ll have you know. But whether up close and personal or at a distance, it isn’t a hindrance to using magicka though—”

  Slash!

  “Shit! Shitshitshitshithsitshiiiiiiiiiiit!”

  Felmenia began to fire off stones blindly in an act of desperation. But they would never hit Suimei. Not even a speck of sand would reach his coat. As he cut down the last rock, it shattered into crumbling lumps of earth. They could no longer maintain their form.

  “Oh Fire! Become my will to pierce through and—”

  “Permutato, fluctuato, acutum flagellum exisistito.”

  [Transform, flow, become a sharp whip.]

  Suimei and Felmenia started their chants at the same time, but his was shorter and he finished sooner. The thought that longer chants were better was old fashioned. Chants were meant to be short, and they were far more functional that way. It was smart to only pull power from words with meaning.

  By trimming away the excess, word for word, and thoroughly considering the vocabulary used for every single verse, the chant would eventually become faster. The answer was obvious and clear.

  And with Suimei’s expedient chant, a magicka circle formed centered on his mercury katana like the sword was piercing through it. Suimei then deftly flicked his wrist. The mercury, which was in the shape of a sharp and stiff blade, then transformed into a whip like a leather cord. Just like his chant implied, he now had a mercury whip that flowed freely through the air. He used it to lash at the ground by Felmenia’s feet and interrupt her chant.

  “Huh?!”

  The mercury whip surpassed the speed of sound, and a violent boom rang out like a gun firing a blank. The ground where it struck was deeply gouged. The metal whip possessed destructive power that far surpassed one made of leather. Its weight, its hardness, its sharpness, and even its length were free for Suimei to control. It could penetrate iron plating like it was paper, so the effect it would have on flesh and bone need not be said. Its destructive power could be glimpsed just by looking at what it had done to the ground.

  “Ugh... This can’t be...”

  With a single swing of his arm, Suimei could reap her life. Staring down that cold realization, Felmenia was frozen. She couldn’t take a single step from where she stood, and her lips simply refused to chant anymore. She could hardly articulate herself, but the mortified look on her face said it all.

  Suimei could see her grow pale. He knew this was the endgame, but he couldn’t stop yet. The curtain wouldn’t fall until his opponent was on their knees. If she was merely mortified, then she had not yet given up. She was still wondering how to recover, still looking for an opening. And until all such thoughts were purged from her mind, Suimei wouldn’t relent. He would carve utter defeat in the depths of her heart.

  With that intent, Suimei fed his passion to his mana furnace like kindling, and his mana suddenly exploded. With a roar that sounded like an earthquake, the whole castle shook. The erupting torrent of Suimei’s excited mana unleashed a surge of ultramarine light with a thunderous cry like a dragon.

  And right before Suimei’s eyes, Felmenia lost the ability to even tremble in the face of his true identity. Seeing the truly overwhelming difference between them, she fell to her knees in a daze and simply stared up at him in awe.

  Suimei then sang out another chant.

  “Intra velum. Noctis lacrimarum potestas.”

  [Beneath the curtain. The majesty of the tears shed by the night.]

  At his feet, an enormous magicka circle expanded to cover the entire garden. It shone with an ultramarine light made of mana that was deeper than even the hue of the starry sky. Its remarkable brilliance was dazzlingly bright, and the illusionary world they were in grew even more fantastical.

  “Insigne Olympus et terrae pingito.”

  [Colored by the symbol of heaven and earth.]

  With every verse of his chant, something new happened. This spell was not built up all at once, unlike the magicka of this world that required an entire recitation to manifest. Each line of this chant was an embodiment of power. With each line, the world was changing, already transitioning toward the mystery that would occur.

  Like fireflies dotting the air, golden particles of power rose from the earth and soared heavenward as they were sucked in by the vast emptiness of the starry sky.

  “Infestato ad i
rrationabilis veritas.”

  [Infest towards the irrational truth.]

  Next, a massive magicka circle appeared directly overhead and covered everything below. As if projecting the stars that lit up the sky, countless smaller magicka circles took shape within it.

  “Caecato, pluvia incessabilis.”

  [Dazzle, incessant rain.]

  The magicka circle which covered the heavens was categorized as a wide area expansion type. Its attribute was the void, modelled after ether. Its system was a combination of Kabbalah numerology and astrology. It was a fusion of styles, which could be said to be the representative style of modern magicka.

  All that was left was the final verse. A bold grin crept across Suimei’s lips as he pronounced her execution.

  “Court Mage-dono. Get ready to defend with everything you’ve got.”

  Felmenia didn’t even protest. She deployed her best defensive magic as she clung to dear life.

  And then...

  “Enth, Astrarle—”

  [Oh starry sky, fall—]

  With those keywords as a signal, pillars of light shot down from every single magicka circle covering the starry sky. Those countless pillars of mana and starlight held directionality, and came down like a rain of meteoric tears.

  All sound above ground was blown away by the thunderous roar of the grim reaper’s approach. Death bared its fangs at all the earth within its range in a magnificent spectacle. Those rays, which looked like they could consign even enormous beasts to oblivion with a single strike, hailed incessantly from the countless magicka circles overhead.

  Everything directly below naturally had no way to defend against such destruction, and the ground rumbled like it was letting out a death knell as it crumbled under the merciless light. This was the star magicka Starfall.

  Using the power of the stars themselves and the dormant seed of power sleeping within humans, it manifested in concert with the words left behind by Pericles, “Enth Astrarle.” It was one of Yakagi Suimei’s grand magickas.

  Eventually, the rain of stars calmed down. And all that was left, as if that destructive scene was nothing but a dream, was the original Garden of the White Wall in complete tranquility, Yakagi Suimei wearing his black suit, and Felmenia in her pure white robe, reduced to such tatters it could be mistaken for rags.

  “No way...”

  The first one to speak was Felmenia. She was still on her knees, completely devoid of her usual dignity and unable to move as Suimei held his mercury katana to the nape of her neck.

  “I’m calling this my win. Any objections?”

  As he inquired about his victory, a trembling voice came back to him.

  “A-Are you a damn monster...? Just whose mouth was spouting bullshit about how they couldn’t fight...? Why did you refuse to take part in the Demon Lord’s subjugation? If you went, even that damn Demon Lord...”

  “Could be defeated? That’s bullshit and you know it. I said it back in the audience chamber, but fights are about numbers. History has proven that much. No matter how strong the individual, they cannot win against overwhelming numbers. There is no precedent for a single person attaining victory. Even if someone’s remarkable, talented, and tough, they’ll still drown in a sea of violence big enough. An individual is no match against the united will of many.”

  Suimei felt like he had made his point, but he didn’t stop there.

  “You’re not just asking us to defeat the Demon Lord you call Nakshatra or something, right? There are the legions of demons under this guy. That barcode baldy said that the army that toppled the country called Noshias or whatever numbered in the millions, but just think about it. Surely that wasn’t their whole force. If they gathered their reserve soldiers, who knows how much bigger it could be? Is it double? Triple? How were you going to suggest I take on one million demons, much less three? Even with a solid plan to take out a few elite demons to turn the tables and shake up morale, there’s no guarantee you’d even make it through the rabble. No matter what you do, you can’t fucking beat that.”

  “What the hell are you talking about? It is said that battle is where one’s individual valor means everything. With that much power, our victory would be certain and defeat would be impossible.”

  “Are you an idiot? I’m saying that quantity and quality are in different categories when it comes to war. There’s no way that quality equals quantity, right?”

  “You bastard of a... How could a man of your strength say such a cowardly thing?”

  “What? Me? Stop it. I’m no first-rate magician. Well, I’ve been told I’ve got a bit of talent, but back home, I’m only a magician in about the lower-middle class at best... I guess you’re right in that if we actually had the best of the best here, they might be able to do it with one hand tied behind their back. Sure. But that kinda talk doesn’t have a single iota of relevance to what we’re talking about.”

  “...”

  Felmenia was unable to say anything. Whether it was because she was terrified of the people of Suimei’s world, or of him as he laughed and bragged about them wasn’t entirely clear. But nevertheless, her speechlessness only reasserted the difference in power between them.

  “Well, I knew it before we started, but the magicka here is pretty outdated, huh? Frankly speaking, this wasn’t even all that fun. Granted, that may be a bit harsh to you.”

  Suimei spoke honestly. The joy of witnessing mysteries not known to him and working out techniques to deal with them, giving birth to new magicka... That was what Suimei desired from battle as a magician. He’d gotten none of that out of the fight just now.

  There was nothing surprising, unexpected, or praiseworthy in what had just transpired. Suimei’s victory was inevitable, negating all pleasure he should have taken in winning. All he’d gotten out of it was throwing it in Felmenia’s face.

  “Alright then, it’s about time we bring the curtain down on this stage, mage.”

  Suimei took a tone so cruel that it would send shivers down the spine of anyone who heard it. He froze his heart. His gaze was subzero. He was ready to end this. Felmenia was on her knees and wasn’t trying to stand back up. This was it for her. As if she was facing the end of the world all on her own, her face was pale as a sheet.

  “A-Are you going to kill me...?”

  “I wonder. How do you think I’ll bring this score to an end?”

  “I-I’m a court mage...”

  “Oh, so if you’re a court mage, then it’s no biggie?”

  Whenever Felmenia asserted her title, it was an attempt to stoke her bravery and steel herself, but her nerves failed her here. With Suimei’s mercury katana to her throat, she could no longer pretend to be bold.

  “Ah, ngh...”

  Hearing the fear overcome Felmenia, Suimei showered her with rebuke.

  “Don’t fucking seize up with fear this late into it, you damn good for nothing. All I did was answer your request in kind.”

  “S-Silence! You’re the bastard who... to His Majesty...”

  “What about the king?”

  When he sharply questioned her, Felmenia’s tone wavered. Why did that come up all of a sudden? Did King Almadious have anything to do with their quarrel?

  “You were planning to harm... His Majesty the King...”

  “What? Are we just making up excuses now? Just when, exactly, was I going to hurt your good-natured king? I don’t have a single reason to do that kinda crap, do I?”

  “Huh...? But you...”

  “Hmph. I’ve had enough of your shit.”

  “—!”

  When Suimei viciously cut her off, a shiver ran down Felmenia’s spine. And then, scoffing with a cold stare, he asked her a grim question.

  “A magician is always prepared to pay for their actions with their body, isn’t that right, court mage?”

  A magician must head into all things prepared for the consequences. In the world Suimei came from, that was common knowledge. But the young Felmenia had no such resol
ve.

  “P-Please! Anything but that!”

  Felmenia cast her pride to the wind and fell prostrate before Suimei. She silently pleaded for him to spare her and show mercy without a care for her appearance. She would have even sworn never to defy him again. But Suimei was unamused. He scoffed and began to mean-spiritedly interrogate her.

  “Hey now. You couldn’t wait to knock me off, but now you’re begging for me to go easy on you?”

  “Y-You’re wrong! I never had any intention of killing you! I just... wanted to chastise you a little...”

  Felmenia shook her head vigorously to the sides, and Suimei threw a suspicious gaze over her like a wet blanket. Even though she had nothing to stake her life on, her lack of resolve was pitiful. She had the backbone to try and take out her opponent, but clearly hadn’t considered what the worst-case scenario might be like for her. Suimei considered this her punishment.

  He recalled hearing that she was some important noble, and for better or worse, that seemed to have had an effect on her personality. But putting that aside, Suimei went back to interrogating her.

  “Is it true that you had no intent to kill me?”

  “It is! I swear to the Goddess Alshuna, I’m not lying!”

  “I don’t know what her name means to you people, but as a Japanese person from another world, it means nothing to me.”

  Suimei adjusted the katana, and it chinked as though it had a guard on it. Since Felmenia wasn’t Japanese, she likely didn’t know what that sound signified, but she instinctively seemed to sense she was that much closer to losing her life. She then resorted to sorrowful supplication.

  “P-Please! I don’t want to die yet! I don’t want to die... Please...”

  Anyone would have been able to see he’d bullied her too much. But now that she was this much of a mess, Suimei thought it was about time to move on to the main subject. Maintaining the malicious act, he began speaking in a decidedly bored tone.

  “Then let’s see... In exchange for sparing you, shall I have you accept my conditions?”

  “...C-Conditions?”