40 Chapter 39: Grade One Advancement Test (3)

[Third Person's Point of View]

The stone walls, cold and unyielding, echoed the silence of the high tower. A figure lay upon a narrow cot, his form shrouded in the gloom, as age had bent his frame into a mere echo of its former might. His breaths were slow and measured, the only sign of life in the otherwise lifeless cell.

Without warning, his eyelids flickered open, revealing eyes shrouded in a thick layer of swirling clouds. Yet, beneath the surface of the hazy storm clouds, there was still an ember of fire burning within him—a remnant of a once all-consuming inferno.

Slowly, a thin knowing smile curled the corners of his mouth, as if only he were privy to a jest that fate itself had whispered in his ear. For the first time in what felt like a century, faint traces of anticipation seeped through his demeanour as he unhurriedly stood up, and surveyed his austere confines with a new light in his gaze.

"The time has come, for the quiet to be broken, for the stillness to give way to a storm long in the making. For a new era to come forth. For The Greater Good."

____

"Not again" With a swift slash, August cut off his right arm, slicing precisely at his shoulder where the black lines have yet to reach. "This is the second time I have lost an arm within a year!"

Agonizing pain surged through the right side of his body, but he gritted his teeth and chanted spells for healing.

A bright green aura surrounded his right shoulder, but it did not function as intended. His new arm, which should have fully developed by now, was nowhere to be found. 

'Regeneration didn't work...?'

-Boom

Out of nowhere, the ominous black and red smoke that was concentrated near its caster spread mysteriously, targeting all three of them.

'Okay, had enough!'

[Time Stop]

A massive clock face materialized in the sky, causing the world to turn monochrome. Within the protective barrier encircling the school, everything came to a halt. Time stood still.

Except for the caster of the spell, and the clock hovering in mid-air, which had a lone second hand ticking down the 60 seconds until time returned to its usual pace.

An expression of concern clouded August's face as he cast a spell to examine his body, but the results were not to his liking.

"A conceptual death. My 'arm' has died permanently, meaning it can't be restored normally. What a fucking mess..."

A conceptual curse was a rare occurrence, something August had only encountered in textbooks. They were so uncommon that they were classified as lost and dangerous forms of magic.

'Hah! Not so lost now, is it?! But, yeah. I'll agree with the 'dangerous' part.'

Any normal magician would have perished or at least become disabled for the rest of their life. But he wasn't exactly normal.

[Regrowth: Self-Restoration]

Left with no other options, he used his last resort.

"ArghhhHhhHHH" August let out a piercing scream of pain and agony as he writhed on the ground, resembling a frantic insect.

The screams echoed for what felt like an eternity before slowly fading away. He struggled to steady himself as he stood up, his legs trembling beneath him. After a few moments of wavering, he finally regained his balance.

His right arm rested on his shoulder as good as new, or it would be better to say 'as good as the old one' since it was, essentially the old arm.

Regrowth was August's life-saving trump card, which worked at an informational level.

It allowed August to rewind changes in the 'Eidos'—the information body of an object or person—up to 24 hours into the past. With it, he could copy and rewrite the Eidos from before any damage or harm occurred, using Magic to overwrite the current, damaged Eidos. Thus resulting in the target restored to its state before any harm was inflicted.

This was indeed a godly ability, making him almost invincible except for attacks that could instantly disintegrate him into molecules.

However, as with any powerful skill, this one also had a major downside: in order to fully replicate the Eidos, August had to process all of the changes that occurred, including the target's suffering which was compressed into a single moment during transmission.

And that compressed pain increased by a factor of 2.7778 every second that passed from the initial injury to the magic used to heal it.

Only four seconds had passed since August was injured, but the pain he felt after using Regrowth to heal himself was eleven times worse than before. 

Incidentally, to heal a wound sustained an hour ago, the spell caster must endure pain 10,000 times more intense than the original injury. Such an immense level of agony was enough to turn the caster into a vegetable.

August's body was drenched in a cold sweat as he made his way through the black-and-white environment, honing in on the wizard with laser focus.

His body was covered in glowing, crimson lines that stood out against the monochromatic world. Tiny particles that emanated from him were frozen in time, creating a captivating sight to behold.

[Search Memory]

Owing to the ticking clock in the sky, he quickly cast his spell to extract crucial information from his target.

However, it didn't work. As soon as the delicate, silvery thread connected to his index finger touched the wizard's forehead, it snapped in two.

"A restriction? Oath or a binding vow perhaps?" The failure of his spell didn't catch August off guard; he had been anticipating this result for a while now.

After all, in a world full of magic where Occlumency and Legilimency were common practices, protecting oneself from hypnosis and memory probes should not come as a shock.

'Welp, it's time to test her out then'

'Tatiana?'

['Yes Boss.']

'Give me a solution.'

['Acknowledged.....analysing...']

Exhausted from constantly calculating every aspect of spellcraft, August yearned for a way to delegate these tedious parts. And what better solution than an AI assistant? Thus, for the past three months, August devoted his time and energy to crafting the world's first magical artificial intelligence painstakingly. 

Tatiana, while still in the early stages of development with only 13% of the primary framework completed, was not yet efficient enough for combat usage. However, it excelled in analysis and decision-making tasks.

['Analysis done. Results show the spell: Control Amnesia, has the highest chance of success at 2.67%']

'Only two percent?'

['Warning: Extracting memories from the target will irreversibly damage the target and result in his demise. Do you wish to proceed?']

'He is dead anyways. Proceed.'

This time a trail of shimmering gold emerged from August's stretched-out finger and connected to the wizard's forehead, as fragmented memories flooded into his mind.

A burst of black and red light revealed the inside of an ancient Roman temple, with an engraved symbol of a sword piercing a skull from above, surrounded by four stars on the altar. The images flashed once more, this time showing an ethereal form of black smoke with streaks of blue swirling throughout. It zoomed out quickly, coming to a stop on a massive medieval castle that felt eerily familiar.

"Ordo Mortis Antiquae, ancient magic and Hogwarts?!" The golden thread snapped, abruptly ending the memory as August closed his eyes and attempted to decipher the chaotic images that flashed before him.

Ordo Mortis Antiquae was etched above the altar on the temple, while the image of the black and blue magic was strongly associated with the words of 'Ancient Magic' in the wizard's mind. And finally, the last recollection was of the famous Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

'What the fuck is going on?" These references were lost on him and did not align with any established canon. While he was well-versed in JJK and HP, he had never read the DXD light novel.

'I'll figure it out later. Now, what to do with you....' 

['Confirmed. Target is dead.']

Oh, that much he could figure out by himself. However, that name unsettled him. 'Mortis' meant Death in ancient Latin, and the wizard's words about accepting death only added to his unease. It seemed too fitting to be a mere coincidence.

Especially when the organization he belonged to claimed themselves as the 'Order of Ancient Death'.

[True Death]

A dark shadow escaped from his hand and struck the wizard's chest, but there was no apparent impact on the target's physical form.

But, the true power of this spell was its ability to render low-level resurrection useless. This gave him precious time. Time to scope out, and gather information before eliminating his enemies, since he had no clue what those memories stood for at the moment.

-Ding

The clock in the sky counted down, giving August only 5 seconds before time reverted back to its usual flow. He quickly blinked and found himself back in his original position as the world burst back into vibrant colours.

The spreading black and red fog dispersed on its own as the three individuals closed in on the motionless body of the wizard.

"Do you think that strange fog killed him?" Naobito asked while gesturing towards their immediate surroundings that looked like someone has sucked the life out of them.

The ground was ashy grey, sinking under their feet, and the air reeked of decay. The wizard's body was covered in black and red lines, his limbs shrivelled and rotting with a putrid odour emanating from them.

"Yes," August confirmed, nodding in agreement with Naobito's conjecture. "Whatever it is, it shouldn't have been used. This wizard paid the ultimate price for using it."

That weird magic ignored the defence of his [Elemental Protection] spell, designed to shield him from Ultimate Class attacks. 

But the black and red smoke cast by a barely high-class wizard managed to take out his right arm - an embarrassing mistake on his part.

'Am I talking this too lightly?'

"Call the HQ. We need an ID on both of these wizards and their victim," The elderly man said to Kusakabe, who quickly contacted headquarters while August examined the dead body of their victim.

In a crimson puddle, lay the corpse of a middle-aged man dressed in a tattered grey suit and coat, evidence of the fierce battle he endured before his tragic demise. What caught his eye was a shining silver lapel pin on his suit, reflecting the moon's light eerily.

"ICM?"

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Author-san here!!!

Let's not talk about the Powerstone situation. It was our worst collection to date. Nevertheless, an early chapter for you guys.

The next chapter is in two days.

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