Black Magic, White Magic, and Grey Art – 4

In the era when magic was just being born. When the word ‘magician’ wasn’t yet in the dictionaries.

Those who manipulated the mysteries of nature were simultaneously respected and feared.

They were wise, wealthy, eccentric, but useful. Mystical sorcery was a ray of hope blooming in this harsh, cold land. The realm twisted by logic protected people from the unforgiving environment.

They became the center of humanity in the clearings of the northern continent.

But the world also has the emotion of inferiority. It’s human nature to harbor near hatred for the simple reason that someone is doing well.

Magicians were generally intellectuals and had devoted considerable time to learning, so their martial arts were crude. Those consumed by inferiority freely attacked the magicians without fear of retaliation.

If toes had to be amputated due to frostbite, it was the curse of the Ice Witch.

If a fire spreading from a bonfire burned a house to the ground, it was arson by the Flame Witch.

If a boat left on the river drifted away in the wind, it was the prank of the Wind Witch.

If a secret, shameful and embarrassing, was rumored throughout the village, it was the work of the Sound Witch.

All misfortunes were disguised as acts of magic and used as grounds to hunt magicians. Trials were held one after another in the villages, and witches were dragged to the square and suffered all kinds of hardships. Witch hunters traveled through all sorts of cities and continued their hunt.

Until Saint Rene weaved the land and drew a map.

“The will of the rabble means the will of the foolish majority. You call them rabble simply because they don’t know magic, but from my perspective, there’s no difference between you and them. Even if a bee buzzes and insists it’s different from an ant, it’s still an insect, isn’t it?”

Witch hunts are an act of barbarity that should never happen again. The reason why the ‘duel’ of magicians is a way to compete in knowledge, and why the existence of magic must be proven for a crime to be acknowledged, all originates from there.

‘White magic with black mana? Without gems as a medium, without using alchemization… Where did he draw the mana from? How did he weave it so invisibly?’

Temperus strained to decipher my magic. A futile endeavor, yet as an executor of the Celsius family, he couldn’t allow himself to concede defeat.

As if a lesser, more foolish mind could ever judge a superior one.

‘He’s clearly etched magic circles onto those cards! But the problem… it’s the mana! How could he convert dark mana into white mana?’

“A Unique Mana Conduit! He drew mana from a Unique Mana Conduit! You… you were a conduit?”

“You think so? Hmm. A reasonable guess, when one is stumped for the answer.”

Reasonable, indeed. In a sense, it *was* a Unique Mana Conduit.

“I don’t know why you’d dabble in black magic, even with an awakened Unique Mana Conduit, but don’t think you’re the only one with such a gift! The Celsius family, steeped in history, boasts four conduits, all trained in our family’s exclusive magical combat arts! Don’t think you’re so special!”

“Oh. That’s what I was going to say.”

So simply put. He spared me the effort.

“It’s repulsive, the way you act so superior, so special, after simply feeding on scraps of magic! Mages are a dime a dozen, and you’re nothing particularly special among them. You merely climbed a tower built by others.”

“You…!”

“Just because you exist within order doesn’t make you order itself. Everyone’s delusions run too deep. Though, perhaps being foolish and ignorant is what makes us human.”

I sighed and shuffled the cards before him.

“Don’t just stand there! Seize him! Kill him, if you must!”

The guards, jolted back to awareness, moved to obey. But Hilde was faster. Before they could even adjust their spear shafts, she was already within their reach.

“Haaah. Honestly, I always get the short end of the stick~.”

Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack.

Hilde’s footprint blossomed on the chest of one guard. As his body crumpled, she used him as a springboard, leaping onto another. In the blink of an eye, the four guards were broken.

The Magic Federation was a country where magic *was* power. No authority was given to those Qi cultivators foolish enough to only temper their bodies. Naturally, the quantity and quality of Qi cultivators was lower compared to other nations.

Even so, Hilde’s skill in felling four men in a single breath was remarkable.

Temperus was aghast.

“A *housemaid* brought down my guards?”

Hilde, shaking loose the kerchief binding her hair, replied.

“Professional housemaids are expected to possess the combat prowess of four warriors, you know~. It’s common knowledge, after all?”

“What sort of common knowledge is that! A guard disguised as a housemaid, then. Tch, useless fools! This is what happens when you rely on physical brutes!”

The fallen guards were, after all, just a vanguard. Hired to buy time for him to cast his spell. Having completed the incantation during this time, Temperus drew a magic circle from the gem at the end of his staff.

The magic circle glowed in the air. Hilde, about to strike before Temperus could complete the spell, halted, noting my calm demeanor.

“Lord of the Permafrost. Arbiter of Agreement. Celsius Archive, Set! Magic Circle Reduction, Incantation Omission. Mana Control Backup!”

In that fleeting moment, Temperus completed the magic circle.

The rule of the Celsius domain. Utilizing the backup, he partially omits the incantation and simplifies the magic circle. Evading the condensation transfer within the magic circle, all mana is used to strengthen power.

In that fleeting moment, Temperus, having flooded the magic circle with mana, slammed his staff down, chanting.

“Freeze. Al Asuth!”

An omnidirectional freezing magic. The air emanating from the staff froze, turning white, as a violent chill surged towards me. I braced myself against the cold.

Frost encased my skin. My shoes were already encased in ice, immobile. It was as if my body had become a single icicle.

“This is the magic of the Celsius!”

An attack that disregarded the well-being of his guards. Hilde had managed to shield herself by stacking two of them together, but I had been caught dead on. I could see ice sprouting jaggedly from the back of my body.

Nevertheless, I could still speak.

“The magic of the Celsius *appears* to be ice magic, but it actually controls the phase transition between solids and liquids. Crystals may appear cold, but they are surprisingly separate from cold. The essence is the storage and release of heat and mana using forced phase transitions. Even if it *appears* to be freezing, there’s nothing seriously wrong with the body.”

“Enough with the arrogant posturing! That ice is a crystalline mana so strong, you won’t be able to move a finger! If you try to break it by force, that power will tear your body to shreds!”

Would it, truly? I shrugged, answering.

“You need to think a bit more. I understand your magic. You didn’t think I’d come unprepared, did you?”

*Crack*, *crack*. Shattered ice rained down. My body was still draped in it, but I moved forward as if it were nothing.

Temperus watched me approach, draped in ice, and his face twisted in alarm.

“…What? How can you move?”

“That’s for you to figure out. How *did* I do it?”

“Wh-what kind of Unique Magic *is* that! You didn’t even use another spell…!”

“Hm? You didn’t see what I was doing? I had expected more from a mage who carries himself with such pride…”

Temperus stumbled backward. The ice he had created had undoubtedly covered me, and I had frozen as he expected. But contrary to his calculations, I could still move.

“Don’t you get it? Should I take that as a declaration of defeat? I don’t have the longest fuse, so I can’t wait forever.”

“Gh, ghaaa! Not yet, not yet…!”

‘What magic should I use? Crystallization didn’t work. Then, Crystal Burst? No, the crystal magic is already figured out! Should I use another system? But without backup, it won’t work against a mage…!’

“Too late.”

You took too long to consider. But that couldn’t be helped, since a mage’s thoughts are his strength.

I trudged towards Temperus’s staff and reached for it. Panicked, Temperus hastily used magic. A path of ice formed behind his heels, and he generated a wind to push himself backward. It was a retreat spell that mages weak in close combat always prepared.

But just before the spell ended, Temperus tripped on something and fell in an ungraceful heap. A single card was embedded at his feet.

“Haa, haaa! When did that…!”

“Knowledge isn’t *that* important. After all, this world is full of things you don’t know. You act so confident, but you don’t know a single true thing, do you?”

Temperus knew nothing. What magic I used, how I walked even while draped in ice. When that card had sprung up.

Why he became an Executor, was given special treatment, and had to deal with Black Magic.

It was obvious.

Because I tricked him without him seeing.

“The Federation’s mages aren’t just a group of power-holders. If power were so precious, they would hide it and monopolize it, not share opportunities with the dullards in the outer academies. So, is the purpose to enlighten all by spreading magic far and wide? Perhaps. Then there would be no reason to ruthlessly abandon the outer academies and those beyond the pale, would there?”

“Ghk…!”

“Black Magic isn’t good magic, but there’s no need to have such a violent, almost hysterical, reaction to it. Mages don’t believe in religion or like the Holy See, right? But they all have the same views on Black Magic. Even with the experience of being persecuted in the witch hunts of the past.”

“What are you trying to say…!”

I reached out, still covered in ice, and grabbed his neck. I didn’t even use much force, but the ice around his neck was strangling him, and he gasped.

“You’re just a mindless fool following orders like a scarecrow. That’s what I mean.”

The feeling of defeat from not understanding magic, the pressure from my presence, and the primal fear.

It was too harsh for a fragile mage to bear. Unable to endure, Temperus’s eyes rolled back, and he passed out.