Forced march (3)

Just as they were about to officially begin the operation, Tess, who had been lost in her thoughts for a moment, suddenly spoke.

"Wait a second. There's one thing I need to check before we start."

"Eh? Check what?"

"If this operation succeeds, it will increase the likelihood of a direct battle with the enemies. So, there's something I want to consult with Rian."

"What? Is there something wrong with me?"

Rian looked puzzled. Tess then asked him, looking at him with a serious expression unlike before.

"Rian, have you ever killed someone?"

The atmosphere became as quiet as a dead mouse. Rian blinked, his sword by his side.

Honestly, he had never thought about it. Or rather, was it something that needed consideration?

All knights vaguely committed to the idea. A sword is a tool for cutting people. They thought that if they were prepared to use that tool for the rest of their lives, there was no need to worry about other secondary issues.

"No, I haven't. And you?"

"A few times. When I went with my father to suppress bandits."

"Really? But what's the problem with that?"

"Rian, the resolve to die and the resolve to kill are completely different. The same goes for mages, but especially, we have to cut people with our own hands."

The enemies faced by Shirone and the group were not local thugs. The Parrot Mercenary Band made a name for itself in other countries. They were all professionals who had experienced countless battles.

"Of course, I trust your bravery. It's silly to think that a swordsman goes through life without staining the sword with blood. But if it's your first time, you might falter during battle."

Rian sighed and thought.

Faltering during battle. Of course, cutting people wasn't exactly something pleasant to do. But, on the other hand, he felt that it didn't matter at all.

"Tess, murder is a dangerous and complicated issue. So, I understand why you're concerned. But I won't falter."

"Silly, I'm saying it's not that easy. To kill someone...!"

"I've always been killing, Tess."

His eyes glinted. Rian looked at his reflection in the straight sword and continued.

"And... I've died countless times too."

At that moment, Rian looked at Tess with fierce eyes.

"Even when I was told to give up the sword because I had no talent, even when I really wanted to give up, I wielded my sword. In the process, I killed countless enemies and was killed by countless enemies."

Rian's straight sword extended to the north. If Rian were a statue, he would have fallen forward under the weight of his sword, but he didn't move as if his legs were pinned in place.

"Tess, okay? Never in all my life have I wielded a sword with clumsy determination. Regardless of whether there was an enemy in front of me or not, I always wielded my sword desperately."

Everyone could read the determination in Rian's words. Rian sheathed his straight sword with a smile as if nothing had happened.

"I won't falter. I am Shirone's sword. I simply reduce what Shirone wants. So don't worry."

That was why Tess chose Rian over many other talented swordsmen.

Rian was unfeeling. That's why he couldn't even use Schema. However, the human determination that arises from the weight of life itself was not something that could be achieved with talent or skill.

Tess, who had been looking at Rian for a while, smiled contentedly and looked at everyone.

"Great! I'm not worried anymore. Let's start."

'Tess' words also ignited Shirone and Amy. Rian's words had awakened their fighting spirit.

"So, Amy, we'll go first."

Shirone grabbed Rian and cast Photon Magic. A flash of light flickered, and the two disappeared into the forest, immediately followed by Amy and Tess.

The sight of two flashes passing through the dense forest was a dazzling sight. Like reflections in a mirror, they zigzagged through the forest with acute and obtuse angles, with erratic movements, sweeping through the woods.

The location of the magic circle was unknown, but by calculating the enemy's movements, they got an approximate distance.

After wandering through the forest for about 10 minutes, they found the location of the first magic circle.

The magic circle is also a magical body, so if it enters the radius of the Spirit Zone, they can clearly sense its presence.

"If Stealth Magic is applied, the detection difficulty reaches its peak. However, no matter how much money the mercenaries had, reaching this far was an impossible task.

Even if all the mobilized mages were combined for the intermediate magic circle, it was less than 1/10th the cost of hiring a mage for stealth magic, so in the end, it wasn't feasible. Carrying out such a large operation was not possible.

While Rian was cutting through the dense bushes, he saw a magic circle drawn in the grass-covered clearing.

Seeing the magic circle for the first time in real life, Shirone was surprised by how much larger it was than he had imagined.

Amy looked around and nodded.

"As expected, it's an intermediate-level magic circle. It must have been very difficult to create."

A magic circle with a radius of more than 5 meters emitted red light as if reacting to the Spirit Zone.

Inside it, there were circles of various sizes engraved with beautiful schemes that could be considered works of art.

"Wait, let me take a look."

After acquiring some knowledge in her final year, Amy carefully examined the Magic Circle.

The assessment criteria for the Magic Circle could be divided into three main parts.

The first was the color representing the strength of mana. The second was the density of functions, and the third was the connectivity of the magic circles drawn inside it.

From Amy's point of view, the color and density of the magic circles here were a bit low, but the connectivity itself was excellent. This meant that it was most likely created with the help of an official organization.

"Ugh, this is giving me a headache. It seems like it was inscribed by a formally registered magic company. As it was illegally earned money, I thought they might have recruited a shadow mage."

"Is that an important issue?"

"The feature of an official company is that it is designed according to standards, so the connectivity is good. In other words, the durability of the magic circle is high. Can you really do it in 10 minutes?

"I guess I should at least try. The truth is, I'm not sure if I can succeed."

"What? How can you say that now? It was your idea."

"I'm sorry. But I have some confidence. And if we succeed then..."

"If you succeed?"

Shirone looked up for a moment and mentally calculated before revealing an approximate figure.

"Maybe we can destroy it in one minute instead of ten."

"What? 1 minute?"

Amy's eyes widened. This was none other than an intermediate-level magic circle. It was almost impossible for them to neutralize this Magic Circle in a minute unless they had a professional dismantling team.

The strength of the mobilized magic circle and engraved by an official company was durability. Therefore, there was a chance that the concept would not disappear even if the ground was pulverized by the release of powerful physical magic.

Amy thought that at least the ground would have to be ground down to the size of a bean, and she knew Shirone didn't have magic capable of such power.

"What are you planning to do? Are you sure? Breaking it gently won't work. No, if that happens, the magic circle will disintegrate, and it could be even more difficult."

"I see. I'll give it a try."

Amy became more and more anxious. When she heard the response, it was clear he hadn't even thought that far ahead.

Can he really do it? If they failed here, they would have wasted unnecessary time.

Shirone took his place in the center of the magic circle. Amy, expecting a vertical attack from the sky considering the power, tilted her head at the unexpected sight.

"What are you going to do from there? Can you create an impact from that spot?"

"Yes. However, it might be dangerous because it's the first time. Stay outside the radius."

Following Shirone's words, the three stepped back.

Though they were anxious, their expectations were equally high. If successful, they could change the course of their unfavorable situation in an instant.

As the Magic Circles were destroyed, the enemies' range of activity would gradually decrease.

"In that case, it was possible to end the battle quickly because their side with two mages was far ahead in terms of firepower.

Shirone closed his eyes and took a deep breath. With legs apart, he slowly bent his back and pressed his fist against the ground.

There were no immediately perceptible changes. It was so peaceful that one might wonder if such leisure was allowed in a fierce battlefield.

But Amy was different.

At first, she looked at Shirone skeptically, but her eyes filled with surprise and her shoulders trembled before she realized.

"Shirone, you..."

Tess looked at Amy as if something was strange. Although Tess's eyes didn't see anything, Amy's face turned pale as if she had seen a monster.

"Amy, what's wrong? What is Shirone doing right now?"

"I didn't expect him to use that... No, now that I think about it, it was possible."

"What exactly is it? Explain, I'm curious."

"It's better that we move away first. That could be really dangerous."

When Amy stepped back, Rian and Tess followed her to a new location.

Even amid that, the swordsmen felt confused. It was because Amy's retreat distance had exceeded more than twice the distance from where she had retreated before.

"Explain now. What exactly do you see?"

"It's not what I see, but what I feel. It's the change happening to Shirone."

"You feel it? What do you feel?"

"Spirit Zone. Right now, Shirone's Spirit Zone is moving at a dizzying speed."

Amy couldn't believe what she was saying. How strong is the durability required for the Spirit Zone to repeat expansion and contraction so quickly?

'It must be Mental Pulse. But it's too fast. At this level, it's at Miss Ethella's level.'

The mental pulse Amy was currently feeling from Shirone exceeded 10 times per second.

But Shirone couldn't be satisfied even with this.

In the Class Five Mental Pulse test, he scored 410 points, pulsing 13.6 times per second for 30 seconds.

Then he thought it should be at least twice as fast. Because the radius is different.

At that moment, if the maximum expansion radius was 20 meters in diameter, now the diameter of the Magic Circle was 5 meters. As the round trip distance shortened, the pulsation speed had to increase.

The question was if his mental strength could bear it.

'I have no choice but to do it. Let's make more precise adjustments.'

While Shirone slightly furrowed his brow, Amy, who immediately felt the change, spoke with a trembling voice.

"My goodness. It's getting faster every time."

As the radius narrowed, the mental pulsation began to exceed 15 times per second.

If you realize that counting from 1 to 15 in a second is impossible, you'll guess how fast it is.

If it were an ordinary mage, their mind would collapse even before reaching that far.

However, Shirone's durability using Diamond Indestructible was currently incomparable.

Finally, the maximum expansion radius of the Spirit Zone coincided with the limit of the Magic Circle. The remaining process was to maintain the current pace while casting the magic.

To withstand the double burden of Mental Pulse and magic casting, intense concentration was required. Shirone gritted his teeth and attempted the decisive magic that he had only conceived in his mind.

'Explosion!' (광폭)

When the pulsating Spirit Zone filled with mass-carrying photons, an amazing phenomenon occurred.

¡Kwa, kwa, kwa, kwa, kwa, kwa!

As the sphere of light expanded and contracted, cracks gradually appeared in the ground. Finally, it split into a huge rock and then broke again into thousands of pieces.