Eps 255 Another Sky (5)
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If they had Ataraxia, the reputation of Alpheas Magic Academy would rise in an instant. Furthermore, if they borrowed Olivia's power, it would be possible to destroy the stronghold of the Royal Magic Academy.
Alpheas, who had thought that far, spoke softly.
“Thad.”
Thad approached and bowed his head.
“Yes, Master.”
“Collect Heaven’s Trial black boxes right now. It must not be given to anyone. And make sure it's destroyed in front of Shirone. Ensure that Shirone personally sees it being destroyed."
"Understood."
Thad responded without hesitation and bowed deeply.
His bracelet also had its crystal orb broken.
Sensing that this incident, which had never occurred while managing Heaven’s Trial, could be more serious than expected, Thad realized the gravity of the situation.
Of course, as the incident grew bigger, the academy's name would become known, but if it was Alpheas's instructions, there was no need for personal opinions.
Olivia's fierce gaze turned to one of puzzlement.
She had known for a long time that he was uncompromising, but she hadn't expected him to make such an inflexible decision.
"Are you sure? The black box contains all the information from this match. Not only Dante’s Pascal, but also Shirone’s magic circle. Even a copy would be immensely valuable. The kingdom would pay a fortune to secure it, even with security restrictions in place."
Olivia subtly probed, but Alpheas didn't even hesitate.
"It belongs to Shirone. No one should access the information without his permission."
"Shirone might give his consent. Think carefully. He might decide in favor of the academy's prosperity, and above all, it’s contribution to the magic society. Shirone himself has benefited from the achievements of countless brilliant mages."
Olivia's words were also valid. Without the noble sacrifices, challenges, effort, and talent passed down from previous generations, humanity's magic wouldn’t have advanced this far. That is why Alpheas also submitted a paper on quantum theory that revolutionized photon magic as a tribute to the nation. (그렇기에 알페아스 또한 광자 마법의 혁신을 일으킨 양자론의 논문을 국가에 헌납하듯 제출했던 것이다.)
But Alpheas' thoughts remained unchanged.
"As long as Shirone is alive, he can choose at any time. But not now. When he truly feels the need, he can make his own decision. Offering choices like this is no different from coercion."
Olivia clicked her tongue. He was top-notch in old-fashionedness, then and now.
‘Well… that’s one of the reasons I liked him.’
The match had ended, but no students had left.
The highlight of this match was to see Dante kneel before Shirone.
But Dante, despite his defeat, had yet to regain consciousness, even after the teachers’ healing magic.
Savina shook her head and sobbed.
“Dante lost. No, this can’t be happening. He’s defeated many strong fighters so far, his undefeated record can’t be broken at a rural academy like this.”
“Savina, calm down. For now, let’s just hope Dante is safe.”
Closer grabbed Savina's shoulder and tried to calm her down. But Savina, already overwhelmed with emotion, couldn't accept the reality.
There are days in life, aren’t there? When unexpected variables pile up, and everything falls apart.
For Dante, today was one of those days.
"Dante is invincible! His synchronization rate was 50%! At the Royal Magic Academy, he even fought with 100% synchronization! There's no way he could lose to someone like that country bumpkin!"
"Hmph, it’s just a simulation anyway."
Savina turned her head abruptly at Canis' words.
"What?"
"Dante's never fought a giant. Or an archangel, for that matter."
"What are you talking about? I won’t tolerate you mocking Dante!"
“Have you ever fought an enemy you absolutely could not defeat, even while risking your life? It doesn’t matter if it’s Heaven’s Trial or 100% synchronization. Real combat isn’t like that."
Savina gritted her teeth.
Amy added to the conversation.
"Dante doesn’t know real combat. Of course, he has enough skills to be useful in real battle. However, Shirone has fought with his life on the line to get where he is now."
Canis nodded.
“Heaven’s Trial. It’s similar to real combat. But it’s not real combat. That kind of thing isn’t fun. Do you know what it means to stake your life? When you're standing on the line between life and death, your thoughts freeze, and all you can think about is survival. Keeping your wits and fighting in that kind of situation—that's real combat."
Savina whined like a child. Having been beaten by Nade, she understood exactly what Canis was describing.
But they didn’t know what kind of determination Dante had fought with.
Even if they belittled it as a simulation or mocked him for only fighting opponents he could beat, one unchanging fact remained:
For Dante, Heaven’s Trial’s match was his whole life.
Tears welled up in Savina's eyes.
“No. No, that’s not it. Dante... Dante really fought with his life on the line.”
A silence hung in the air for a while. Shirone's friends also didn't want to mock Dante and his friends at this point.
No, to be honest, the anger they had endured for a semester couldn't be quenched by this.
However, Dante was strong. To the extent that it was fun having him a competitor in the same line. Though he had lost to Shirone, in the end, he had maintained his dignity while going down.
After an awkward pause, Dante finally regained consciousness.
The students who had been excitedly chattering suddenly fell silent and turned toward Heaven’s Trial.
Savina and Closer felt a pang of pity. They had hoped he would stay unconscious for the rest of the day, but the student with the strongest defense also had quick recovery abilities, which was the problem.
As Shirone approached, the students held their breath. Dante, struggling, glanced up at Shirone but couldn’t hold his gaze and lowered his head again. He began muttering something under his breath.
Shirone waited silently.
Finally, Dante stopped mumbling and lifted his head once more.
There was no longer any exchange of information. The victor and the defeated had been decided, and all that remained was for the spoils to be claimed.
“Kill me.”
Dante made a shocking declaration.
Shirone kept his mouth shut and glared at Dante.
There were murmurs of surprise throughout the room. No one expected Dante to choose death over kneeling.
Comments about his immaturity and stubbornness, calling him childish and unmanly, spread among the crowd.
But Savina knew. Dante's words were neither stubbornness or childish remarks.
- I will become the greatest mage. To do that, I have to train in Heaven’s Trial as if it's real combat.
- But Dante, no matter how serious you get, Heaven’s Trial is just a simulation. It has its own rules and judgments, and it can't be the same as real combat.
Savina could not forget what Dante had said at that time.
- That's right. But I can't become archmage by training like other students. That’s why I made up my mind. If I lose in Heaven’s Trial, it’ll mean my death.”
He had been young, of course.
Savina also thought that it was just a determination to steel himself before a match.
But as time passed, she came to know Dante's true feelings.
In his 150th, his 200th match, there were plenty of times he could have lost.
But in the end, Dante was victorious.
By the time he surpassed 400 matches, Dante must have felt that his words from back then had become a blade pushing him forward.
As a result, Dante grew rapidly and achieved the amazing record of 472 wins in 472 matches.
Alpheas sensed that the situation was more serious than he had initially thought.
"I never imagined he'd think that way."
He glanced at Olivia, but she shook her head as if she had never heard of it before. No one expected Dante to have literally staked his life on these matches. While the desire to become the greatest mage was admirable, it was too extreme a resolve for an 18-year-old boy.
And then Alpheas realized.
Being 18, the pressure to maintain his position as the best must have been even greater.
Appearing in magazines, being revered by all the students, defeating rivals—it couldn’t have always been enjoyable.
Dante's extreme choice clearly stemmed, at least in part, from the responsibility he felt.
Once more, Dante spoke, as if to prove he wasn’t lying.
“Kill me. I’ve never once thought about losing to anyone. This is my defeat. If you don’t want to dirty your hands, I’ll do it myself. But I will never kneel to you.”
Shirone lowered his head and sighed.
Dante was making a grave mistake. How he chose to handle his own life was his choice, but speaking such words aloud would only cause pain to some and anger to others.
"You lost… so you want to die?"
"Yes. That was the resolve I had for this match."
"Why? Who do you think you are?"
The students' eyes widened in surprise. Dante shuddered with shame. But the one feeling the strongest emotions at that moment was Shirone.
"You tell others to kneel so easily, but you can’t even manage that yourself?"
"You’re spouting nonsense. I fought with my life on the line. I’m saying that I’ll disappear on my own, even though I might be your lifelong rival.”
"You think you're that great?"
Dante's expression crumpled again. Even though he had lost, he believed it had been a good fight. He thought Shirone would understand his feelings.
"I think I've lived up to the name of the kingdom's greatest talent. I’m not making excuses, but you didn’t beat me easily, either."
"The kingdom's greatest? So what can you do? Stop a war, maybe?"
"What?"
"If you're so great, why don’t you change something, even a small thing? You can't do anything. So what right do you have to stake your life on a single defeat?"
Dante's expression became distorted, but Shirone continued to fire regardless.
"War, famine, civil strife—you can't stop any of it. And yet, what? The kingdom’s greatest? You think you’re so amazing?"
Dante's breathing became labored. Each of Shirone's words struck him like a dagger to his mind, his heart, his very soul. He was falling—something that made him up was plunging into the abyss.
"Even if you die, the world won't change. No one will seriously care that you died."
Dante couldn’t take it anymore. He felt as though if he stayed still, he would hit rock bottom.
"Shut up! Just because you won once, you think you're so great! Want to fight for real this time?"
“Dante.”
Shirone looked at him with sympathetic eyes.
“You’re just human.”
Dante's face turned pale. It felt as though something that had shielded him was shattering into pieces.
Suddenly, Canis' words came to mind.
- Because you'll feel like you've been stepped on to the lowest point you can imagine.
It hadn't been a threat from the start. What Canis said was true, without an exaggeration.
“Not even archmage, no person, can change the world alone. Because you're human. And because of that, you don't even have the right to die."
The students stood in solemn silence. Even those who had mocked Shirone for refusing to fight Dante were now quiet.
The title of "the kingdom's greatest talent."
It was certainly a dreamlike name for an aspiring mage. But from a distance, it was just another human concept, built by human hands, a shallow label.
"That child...?"
Olivia asked Alpheas. The details of who Shirone was would be written in the student records, but that wasn't what she wanted to know.
Alpheas finally revealed the truth.
“Shirone… met Miro. And then she met Archangel Ikael in Heaven.”
Olivia turned her head in shock.
Alpheas nodded with a bitter smile.
"Yes. He's one of the few humans who knows the truth."
Olivia was deep in thought.
Even now, this world is being upheld by one mage.
Knowing that fact, all the events of human history would have seemed even less important to Shirone.
"He's a strong child. Most would have been terrified or given up."
“He wasn’t like that from the beginning. He used to be a shy and reserved child.”
Alpheas recalled the day he first met Shirone. The twelve-year-old boy who had eavesdropped on his lessons from beyond the wall had now grown into a promising talent, one who would stand out anywhere in the kingdom.
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