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

by Gamei Hitsuji

  “Uh, ah...”

  It was something like an eerie and gigantic four-legged beast colored by dusky shadows and a bloody red. The place where the ritual chamber was as well as its surroundings were now swallowed by its shadow. It stood easily half as tall as the castle spire, and its form resembled a starving dog or wolf. All around its body were belts of shadows whipping about.

  “Wow, to think it’d be a B-class... Looks like we caught a big one, huh?”

  “Wh-What? That monster...?”

  Without even the composure to ask him about it properly, Felmenia simply stared at the monster wide-eyed. Suimei’s only response was muttering a select word as if he were speaking a sneer.

  “A beast.”

  “...Suimei-dono, do you know what that thing is?”

  “Yeah. That’s something from my world, after all.”

  Something from Suimei’s world. Hearing that frightening fact, Felmenia recalled something that made her doubt it.

  “From your world? But Hero-dono and Mizuki-dono said there were no monsters there...”

  “That just shows how narrow their view of it is. They had no way of knowing because they were blinded by the developments of science. When it comes to things like monsters, our world has more than enough of them.”

  “...”

  While Felmenia looked at Suimei and the beast in bewilderment, he continued elaborating.

  “And that is one of them. Just like you have demons plaguing humanity here, in our world, there are systems which serve as humanity’s enemy.”

  “Sis-stems?”

  “That’s right. The beasts of the apocalypse. In our world, they’re nicknamed apparitions. To prove to the beings of our world that there is no such thing as eternity, they are the laws that accelerate the world towards its end.”

  “L-Laws? Are you saying that’s not a living being?”

  “Let’s see... No, not really. That isn’t a living being; it’s a phenomenon. Just like lightning or a tornado. As long as the requirements are met for it to exist, it will come into being. That’s one of the rules of the world. The reason it takes the shape of a living entity is because it’s easier to plant fear in humans using a material form... That’s what the leader said, but, well, just look for yourself. Doesn’t that just inspire dread in you?”

  Following Suimei’s gaze, Felmenia took a hard look at the monster—no, the thing called an apparition. The information being passed to her brain from her eyes did have that effect. Its very appearance was triggering an indescribable fear up her spine. It was instinctual, and alarm bells were ringing out all over her body.

  “Twilight syndrome. In our world, it doesn’t assault people indiscriminately, but just like that, it ushers the world towards a determined endpoint. The moment the entire world is filled with them, humanity will begin its journey down the twilight path to being nothing more than myth.”

  Suimei’s tone was flat, but his gaze conveyed a sense of discomfort that made Felmenia shudder. The world that they summoned the hero of salvation from was infested with things like that? It was a being that, just by looking at it, inspired pure terror that outclassed the fear felt at the sight of any monster. If that thing was the vanguard of the end of the world, then Suimei’s world very well may be in more danger than hers.

  Felmenia gulped.

  Hearing Suimei’s explanation, she could only stare at the beast with an odd fixation. And then...

  “FUHAHAHAHAHA! Did you see that?! If you know how to use it, summoning is mere child’s play! A brat like you isn’t the only one capable of doing it, Stingray!”

  Coarse, unpleasant laughter echoed through the air. Enraptured by the fact that his summoning had succeeded, Sebastian seemed far too caught up in his own excitement to make any sound judgment regarding the apparition. Even if he’d managed the summoning, he was worthless in this state. Hearing that man let out his pompous and intoxicated laughter, Suimei rolled his eyes despite the presence of the apparition.

  “Wow, what an incredibly stereotypical line.”

  “Scoff while you can, brat! Next you’ll be killed at the hands of the monster I summoned!”

  Sebastian roared, but Suimei could only coldly deny that proud little speech of his.

  “Yeah, that’s not happening.”

  “What a sore loser! Go, monster from another world! Tear my enemy apart!”

  Sebastian issued his command, but the apparition remained as it was and showed no signs of reacting to him at all.

  “Wha...”

  “See?”

  “Wh-Why?! Why won’t you listen to me?! Why won’t you obey me?!”

  With Sebastian fervently complaining at its side, the apparition pointed the crimson lights it had for eyes down at him as if scowling at something detestable.

  “Eek, eh...”

  And perhaps Sebastian finally realized the madness he himself had authored. Staring up at the apparition, he sank to the floor. And then...

  “U-UWAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

  Sebastian’s death cry was crushed into silence by the apparition.

  “How foolish...”

  From the skies, Felmenia curtly muttered her thoughts regarding Sebastian. Even if he was the worst kind of scum, she pitied him for meeting his end in such a way. But even so, she wouldn’t forgive him for what he’d done. She then turned to Suimei again for answers.

  “Suimei-dono, why would it not obey him?”

  “Hmm? Ah, that’s the summoning circle’s—well, the foundation is entirely different, but portions of it closely resemble the ones in our world. In short, summoning spells and circles are fundamentally techniques that have the power to use a contract as a premise to put the being called over into servitude. Whether it’s a phenomenon or a living being or whatever else, it normally does whatever it’s asked without question—it’s like that in this world too, right?”

  “Yes. I do not know about the case of phenomena, but that does generally describe the way summoning spells work in this world.”

  Even though Felmenia couldn’t say so with 100 percent certainty, it was just as Suimei said. The principles were largely the same. The summoning spells of this world, other than the hero summoning, primarily summoned beings bound by servitude.

  “Summoning, evocation, petitioning, possession. Of the four categories of summoning spells, that one would fall under evocation. But there’s a catch. That summoning circle’s main purpose was summoning heroes. That’s why it doesn’t include the necessary part to bind the summoned creature into service.”

  “It doesn’t?”

  “A slave hero isn’t really the kind of image most people are going for, right? Besides, try remembering it. The triangle within the circle was arranged upside down, wasn’t it?”

  “Now that you mention it, it certainly was.”

  “This applies to magicka just as it does with most anything else, but when a component is inverted, the aspect that component determines will also be inverted. Since the triangle in a summoning circle is what governs binding, its default orientation represents servitude, and the inverse of that would be liberation. In other words...”

  “That thing was liberated into this world?”

  “Yup. Well, I can’t really imagine that thing obeying anything a human would have to say anyway.”

  “Th-Then a spell to bring it under control...”

  “There isn’t one.”

  Felmenia had no rebuttal to Suimei’s declaration. Since he had walked much further down the path of magic than she had, she was willing to take his word on this. But if they couldn’t bring it under control, then...

  “Oh Fire. Thou art imbued with the essence of all flame, but burn unbound by the laws of nature. Now, turn everything in existence to ashes, the white calamity of truth! Truth Flare!”

  Still being held by Suimei, Felmenia thrust out her arm, wove her spell, and let loose her magical white flame. She poured the maximum amount of mana she could into it. It was a strike in no wa
y inferior to the one she’d once used to defeat that monster in the desert. The enormous and dazzling pillar of flame struck the apparition with a hearty roar, but...

  “I-It didn’t work...”

  “Nope, ’fraid not.”

  The moment Felmenia thought that her magic was about to scorch the apparition, the white flame turned into particles and vanished. The apparition was perfectly unharmed. It was as if nothing had happened at all. Her full power was completely denied. She couldn’t defeat it. Faced with that reality, Felmenia’s heart was gripped by panic and fear.

  “Wh-What can we do against that thing...?”

  “Ain’t it obvious? We beat the crap out of it.”

  All Felmenia could hear was manly bravado.

  “M-Magic didn’t work at all, you know?! Just how—”

  “The magic from here didn’t. But the magicka I know is something fucking else!”

  And with that, just like last time, Suimei began reciting a chant in a language she had never heard before.

  “The heavenly sky which dyes all in its perfectly clear blue light.”

  It began the instant Suimei started chanting. At his feet, despite there being nothing to draw on, an enormous blue magicka circle spread out in midair. Following that, the world began to tremble, and a shriek like that of metal being forcefully twisted consumed the area.

  Brittle objects that were unable to withstand the power swelling up in the air crumbled, turned to dust, and were pulled skyward, swallowed by the countless bright blue lightning bolts created by the clamoring torrent of mana and reduced to nothing.

  The world kept shaking indefinitely, and so did the shrieks of the earth and the crackling ovations of lightning that extolled it. The chant continued on from there.

  “The invisible horizon where sea and sky are one. For only this moment in time, that boundary lies within my hand.”

  Before long, as if being drawn in by multiple magicka circles, the spectrum of blue which filled the sky converged in Suimei’s hand, and he held it out like a blade. As if the blue gathering in his hand had been sucked right out of the sky, a portion of the sky fell into darkness as though it were night. And then...

  “Sever the blue sky. Its name is the dazzling blue azure!”

  Suimei swung down his right hand forcefully as he threw down the last of his chant.

  “Azure Engraved Beheading!”

  Those last words came out like a declaration of the slash created by the azure sword, Azure Engraved Beheading. Just like Starfall, its attribute was the void. It used all which existed in the void as power. If Starfall was star magicka, the Azure Engraved Beheading was sky magicka. The magicka circle was categorized as wide area deployment as well as multiplex convergence, a combination of Kabbalah numerology and weather magicka, another fusion of two systems.

  And with his spell complete, Suimei wielded the azure in his right hand. The blue light was identical to that of a perfectly clear blue sky, but formed a massive blade that left a blue aurora trailing behind it. Just as the name of the spell implied, the enormous apparition was instantly decapitated.

  The azure aurora which denied twilight.

  When rent asunder, the apparition flailed in directionless pain. And before long, in the throes of death, it let out a chilling roar and began to convulse repeatedly.

  “And that’s that.”

  Finishing up with his magicka, Suimei slowly and safely descended from the sky, landing in front of the apparition and letting down Felmenia from his arms.

  “There, it’s alright now.”

  “Ah...”

  Once he set her on her feet, Suimei began to put her clothes in order as if it were perfectly natural. Seeing this kind, caring side to Suimei again moved Felmenia. He’d done something similar for her once before, and it was an act of graciousness. He was largely selfish and brash otherwise, especially around her, but this was his true nature deep down. That seemed to be the inherent contradiction in his personality. He’d abandoned the hero and Mizuki, but was working hard to find a way to help them get back home. And just like now, he’d acted to save himself, but he’d also saved Felmenia.

  She looked up. The apparition that Suimei had struck with magicka was now crumbling to pieces. The most impressive of her magic hadn’t even scathed the beast, but it was cut down instantly by Suimei’s magicka—an unthinkable feat with the knowledge of this world.

  Their battle in the Garden of the White Wall, flying through the air, the phenomenon known as an apparition, techniques to combine various magicka into one. Everything that she had witnessed was like an experience right out of a dream.

  “This is... This is what a mage can do...?”

  Watching Suimei from behind as he drew closer to the apparition, she unwittingly muttered to herself again.

  “So this is magic?”

  Not by means of just chanting, not by means of the power of the Elements, but by using one’s own power and the power of their surroundings to discover the laws of all creation and turn that into magic. That was the magic of Yakagi Suimei’s world—no, it’s magicka.

  If these were also the mysteries that humans could hold... The place that she was in, the people she competed against, the ones she gained victory over—this world was very small after all, wasn’t it? Had everything up until this moment been a mere triviality?

  Suddenly, Suimei turned around. There was neither exasperation nor fearlessness in his face. If one were to speak figuratively, it was the face of a man that did not need challenging.

  “Didn’t I tell you already? I’m a scholar of the mysteries. The objective of the mages of this world may just be to cast strong magic by simply chanting a spell, but we are different. The objective of the magicians of my world is to unravel all the laws of the universe and make ourselves omnipotent. Yes, so that we can surpass any and everything. The fundamental way we think is different from you mages.”

  “And this... all applies to you too, Suimei-dono?”

  “That’s right. I will definitely arrive at the truth of magicka, and accomplish the wish that my father was unable to. That’s why—”

  The apparition crumbled into nothing. It was so enormous and gave off such an overwhelming sense of despair, yet it was defeated so easily.

  “I will definitely prove that I can return to my world. And then I’ll prove that I can take hold of the Akashic Records.”

  And so the resolute voice of the victorious magician made a declaration as if swearing to something that could not be seen, and brought down the curtains on this battle.

  ★

  After destroying the apparition summoned by Sebastian with a single magicka spell, Suimei began looking around what was left of the room.

  “Hahh... As I thought, it’s totally gone.”

  Due to the impact from the apparition being summoned and its stamping around, there wasn’t any trace left of the ritual chamber as it had been. That meant that the thing Suimei was looking for wasn’t there either.

  What he was hoping to find was the summoning circle that had brought him to this world. It was nowhere to be seen. The only reason he wasn’t all that disappointed about it was because he’d already finished transcribing it. He had it copied down to all the finest details, so there wasn’t any need to be aggrieved over the loss of his reference. Of course, what he had wasn’t a match for the original, which was connected to the other side. Even without it, however, he was sure he’d work it out somehow.

  But as he searched the area for signs of it, Suimei found a certain something else. Specifically, the man he had previously thought was crushed by the apparition.

  “...He fucking survived. He’s got the devil’s luck. Seriously.”

  Indeed, it was Court Mage Sebastian Kran. Though the apparition should have stepped on him, he seemed to have managed to slip into the cracks in the rubble to save himself. He didn’t appear to be seriously wounded, either. He was just unconscious.

  Suimei left the court mage w
ho had made all this racket lying face up on the floor unconscious, and simply shrugged his shoulders. Even if he was left alone, he wouldn’t cause any more trouble. By the time he woke up, he’d likely be inside a prison cell already.

  And then deciding that there was nothing left for him in the rubble, Suimei turned towards Felmenia. When he did...

  “S-Suimei-dono...”

  Felmenia was slightly blushing.

  “...?”

  She then suddenly stepped up to him, pulled his hand to her chest, and grasped it tightly with both hands. Just what was going on with her?

  “U-Um, Miss Court Mage...?”

  “There is no need to be so humble. Please call me Menia, Suimei-dono.”

  “Huh? Huh...?”

  Shaking her head from side to side, Felmenia asked Suimei to call her by a nickname with a flushed face. Suimei was unable to hide his bewilderment at her sudden change in attitude. However, as if she was carried away by passion, Felmenia continued speaking.

  “That magnificent spell you used to defeat the apparition just now... I am left in awe.”

  “Sure... Thanks.”

  “I cannot even express my gratitude to you for having gone out of your way to take care of the failures of my incompetence like this.”

  “Yeah, sure, but there’s no need to be so courteous. Rather, um... is something the matter?”

  Finding himself in the sudden and incomprehensible position of having praise lavished on him, Suimei’s voice cracked as he spoke. What was with her? Seeing her suddenly take on such a formal attitude was somewhat unsettling. On the other hand, he couldn’t tell whether or not Felmenia realized he was completely befuddled at her behavior.

  “No, um... To speak of it aloud would make me somewhat self-conscious...”

  “?”

  Felmenia’s cheeks turned even redder. She was clearly imagining something, and squirming on the spot as she did. In the middle of all this...

  “Is somebody there?!”

  From a distance, a loud voice called out towards them. Suimei didn’t recognize it. As he turned to look to see who it was, he spied the figures of several of the castle’s soldiers running over. Having seen the calamity... Or rather, having seen the calamity die down, they were likely coming over to investigate. Looking at them, Suimei called out to Felmenia in a troubled tone.