Infinite Mage

Chapter 99: To Infinity (2)

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"Foolish... really foolish...!"

She had come to him first, offered him a coffee, but then harshly shook off his hand and left. Trying to ignore the scenes filled with regret, Amy tightly closed her eyes. And then she screamed with all her might.

"Shirone!"

Shirone smiled. It was a relief that Amy had regained her memory. At least, in his final moments, he could leave as a Shirone remembered by someone.

"Thank you, Amy."

Shirone's tears fell on Amy's cheeks.

'Why are you crying, Shirone?'

Amy felt anxious. Something was wrong. Then, the moment she saw the will to live fading from Shirone's eyes, she realized.

"Shirone! No!"

"I'm sorry. I couldn't keep the promise."

Embracing Amy, Shirone fully opened the Immortal Function. His consciousness expanded infinitely, and his self began to dissolve like a substance in water.

'Goodbye to all...'

Father, mother, the members of the Ogent family, friends at the academy. Having received the love of many, Shirone could smile. A massive light filled the area beneath the cliff. The falling students, along with Yiruki, Nade, and Thadd, were engulfed in the radiance.

The next moment, a huge flash of light soared upwards.

It was a Mass Teleport, moving as many as 400 people at once.

'Ah, I see.'

Lying on the ground, Viltor Arcane watched the flash of light rising above the cliff split into dozens of streams. Only in his final moment did he become certain. Where he had been and what a magnificent life he had lived.

'It was a playground worth playing in all my life, wasn't it, Alpheas?'

Thus, the legendary archmage Viltor Arcane left the world.

"Master?"

In front of Arcane's corpse, Canis was stunned. Wasn't he a disciple after all? But Arcane left without leaving any last words, having done only what he wanted until the end.

"Was it really nothing? Were we just tools?"

Canis rushed to Arcane and shook him.

"Wake up! How can this happen! It would be better if I died! Why do you leave me alone!"

Arin approached Canis with sad eyes. Reflected in the twilight, his figure was made of murky liquid. The shape kept spreading like a liquid and rising again in human form.

"No, Canis. It's not your fault. He used us. Hes a villain."

"Hahaha, how is he not? You're only realizing it now."

Harvest spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Yes, Canis. It's all because of you. Arcane, me, and eventually Arin will die too."

Arin, glaring at Harvest, hurriedly turned to Canis. Shocked, his figure collapsed and melted into a sticky liquid on the ground.

"Why? What did I do? Because I survived in Radum? Because I'm a jinx?"

"Because you're weak."

Harvest's conclusion was simple.

"How long will you live just hoping for others' recognition? There is no such thing as 'should live like this' or 'should die like this.' Arcane lived his life his way."

Arcane lost his life upholding his belief in evil. Harvest chose self-destruction to fulfill his contract as a magical biobeing.

'What was I trying to die for?'

He found nothing. He was nothing but a blind colt, prancing around. His life was nothing but an empty shell.

"Like the master..."

"Yes, and like that boy."

In the midst of the sprawled 400 students, Shirone lay fallen. He had said he wouldn't hurt anyone. And he kept his belief to the end.

Canis approached Harvest to check his condition.

"How are you feeling?"

"What does it matter? I'll die anyway. I can't live without parasitizing a life."

Arin spoke.

"You can make a master-servant contract with me. Canis won't last with his depleted mental strength."

Harvest shook his head.

"Sorry, but I can't."

"What? Why? You'll just disappear like this!"

"My master is Canis."

Harvest's words pierced Canis's heart. It was time for him to raise the banner of his own belief. Could he really endure it? If he made a mistake, they both might lose their lives.

"Harvest. I accept you as a subordinate. But I will not forgive a second betrayal."

"Hahaha. Understood, my master."

"Canis! It's too dangerous! If something goes wrong!"

Arin stopped speaking. The shape of Canis, made of liquid, was hardening as mud seeped into it. Would he one day acquire an unwavering heart, like the one she had seen in Shirone during her first awakening?

Canis reached out his hand to Harvest. As the Contract of Subjugation proceeded, the little life force he had left began to be drained by Harvest. His consciousness fading into darkness, Canis's eyes slowly closed.

Standing apart from Canis's group, Alpheas stood solemnly. Though he had managed to save the students by the skin of his teeth, the loss was too great.

"Headmaster."

Ethella shared the same sentiment. From today onwards, there would be significant changes in the magic academy. The students, having regained their memories, would fall into chaos, and the mistake Alpheas made 40 years ago would resurface.

"Ethella, I am a sinner."

"Don't be too hard on yourself. If a life where even mistakes aren't allowed exists, then the very existence of humanity is a sin."

Alpheas shook his head. Everyone makes mistakes, but with every action comes responsibility. Like Arcane, he had no intention of running away.

"The person who elevated dark magic to the ranks of great magic. Harvest could be said to be an innovation in the field of memory transference. Abyss Nova will be registered as a standard magic in the Magic Association."

In front of Arcane's corpse, Alpheas clasped his hands and mourned the death.

"Archmage Arcane, always a boy at heart. The path of magic you walked will be passed down to future generations."

Alpheas, having opened his eyes, seemed unburdened. Ethella, on the other hand, still looked worried. This was an incident where the entire academy's lives were threatened, not something that could be settled within the academy.

"Headmaster, what do you plan to do now?"

"What else can I say? I am also waiting for my fate. The issue of punishment should be left to the experts, but perhaps we should celebrate today's heroes instead?"

Alpheas looked around for Shirone. The more he saw him, the more he realized the boy had a knack for surprising people. Even he couldn't confidently say if he could teleport 400 people simultaneously.

"Somebody please help!"

Amy was sobbing near where Shirone had collapsed.

Alpheas and Ethella hurried over, sensing the seriousness of the situation. From afar, Yiruki and Nade were running towards them.

But before they arrived, Amy shouted first.

"Shirone isn't breathing!"

Shirone expanded massively and also became fainter. He was permeating everything, having even forgotten his worldly attachments. Then, a powerful force pulled him to a single point. If there is something beyond life for humans, this event could be aptly named the hijacking of the soul.

"Ugh! Ugh!"

Shirone's consciousness reassembled, recalling memories from before he tried the Immortal Function. Trembling briefly with the fear of death, he took ragged breaths and checked his condition. Except for being unclothed, there seemed to be no abnormalities.

"Where is this?"

It was a space filled with white. In this monochromatic landscape that stretched infinitely, it was impossible to sense distance. He tried moving slowly, but couldn't feel any progress.

'It's very strange. It's as if all my senses are paralyzed.'

Shirone had a sudden unique thought. As an experiment, he slowly bent his knees and then stepped forward as if climbing stairs. Surprisingly, his body rose.

"Huh?"

Shirone kept climbing the endless stairs. Pausing to look around, he was at a loss for words.

"......"

He didn't feel like he had ascended high. No matter where he moved, the landscape remained the same white scene.

"There is no distance."

If it cannot be measured, then space does not exist. To test his hypothesis, Shirone then tried descending. His assumption was correct. No matter where he moved, it was as if he hadn't moved at all.

When he was about to give up on moving further, a woman's voice was heard.

"Impressive. To grasp the meaning of space. You indeed deserve to be here."

Shirone did not turn around. In this place, the concept of direction did not exist.

"Who are you? Am I dead?"

A beautiful woman emerged from the white landscape. As the feeling of distance emerged, the scenery rapidly changed. An enormous temple, like nothing he had seen before, loomed over him.

"Wow..."

The scale was unimaginable. Even ancient temples were not this big. Hundreds of pillars supported the ceiling, each about 2 kilometers high.

"Where is this exactly..."

"Welcome, Shirone. I've been waiting for you."

The woman, with aquamarine hair flowing down to her ankles, was the most beautiful woman Shirone had ever seen. It wasn't about her looks. It was about the value of her existence. Like a man in love thinks his lover is the most beautiful in the world, her value here was absolute.

"Oops!"

Shirone quickly covered himself, realizing he was completely naked.

"Hehe. There's no need to be shy. This is not your world. Your body still remains in the original world."

With a wave of her hand, clothes were instantly on Shirone. He gazed at himself dumbfounded, then gave up trying to make sense of it. One question came to mind.

"Is this the afterlife?"

"No. It's not the afterlife. Its just a different spot from where you lived."

Shirone was puzzled. A spot is a 1-dimensional space without space. A spot moves to become a line, a line moves to become a plane, and a plane moves to finally create a 3-dimensional space.

"Could it be...?"

He recalled the white space he had been in before.

"Correct. That's the spot. It's not that there's no space, but that it's infinitely compressed."

If what she said was true, it made sense that he couldn't feel distance. But even trapped in 1-dimension, his body was 3-dimensional. If he could measure the distance between his right and left arms, doesn't space exist?

"Aha. So, a 3-dimensional space is within 1-dimension."

"Exactly. Your insight is remarkable. That's the essence of space-time. No matter how vast a world, from afar it's just a dot. Conversely, even the smallest dot can unfold into an infinite world when you enter it."

Shirone finally felt at ease. If logical conversation was possible, even if it was the afterlife, there was no need to fear.

"Then who are you?"

The woman laughed innocently. It felt eerie, but to Shirone, even that was beautiful. She was the most valuable existence here.

"I am a god."

The magic academy was in a state of chaos.

It took a full 8 hours just to gather Arcane's body and send the students back to their dormitories.

The students were still blocked from their memories, lying in their rooms. The teaching staff regaining their memories would speed up the process, but the turmoil that would arise when all the students awoke was a headache.

To make matters worse, Canis and Arin, the suspects in the incident, had disappeared, leaving only Nade, Yiruki, and Amy to care for Shirone, who had been moved to the infirmary.

In truth, "caring" was not the right word. Shirone was not breathing, and his heart had stopped. But no one dared to utter the word "death."

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