Chapter 20
Inside the interspace barrier.
Rozarin was fighting a monster — a massive beetle-like creature.
Its shell shone with a mithril-like light.
“…Haa… haa…”
Her condition was terrible. Her clothes were shredded like rags, as if the beetle’s horn had cut her all over, and blood dripped from the wounds underneath.
Flap flap flap!
The mithril beetle buzzed menacingly and charged at her.
Rozarin began forming a magic circle but canceled it at the last second and leapt to the side.
“This is insane. Where did that girl Leah even find a monster like you?”
Leah — Yodala’s current alias.
“Seriously…!”
She steadied herself with magic before hitting the ground and landed without falling.
“I’ve never heard of a naturally occurring monster that’s completely immune to magic.”
Magic didn’t work — so she wrapped herself in mana. The only option left was hand-to-hand combat.
Close combat and body-enhancing magic aren’t exactly my specialties…
She took a fighting stance. The beetle dove toward her again. Rozarin focused mana into her eyes, pushing her dynamic vision to the limit.
With bugs like this, the weak spot is usually the belly.
Her vision sharpened, and the beetle seemed to move at half speed.
She lowered her center of gravity and twisted her body.
Concentrate all mana into my right hand…
She recalled her first-year self-defense class — the move her instructor insisted she learn “just in case.”
“Die!”
Her mana-charged fist slammed into the beetle’s belly.
BOOOM!
It sounded like a missile explosion, and the beetle was sent flying—
“…You’ve got to be kidding me. Not even a scratch?”
It had only launched itself backward to absorb the shock. Not from actual damage.
“You’re… a chimera.”
Natural monsters never had both extreme physical and magical defense like this. This was clearly an artificial hybrid.
Bzzzzzzzz!
The beetle attacked again without giving her time to think. She tried to dodge—
My body…!?
But her previous attack had overstrained her. She couldn’t move properly.
At least… block that horn…!
She poured all her remaining mana into a defensive barrier.
BOOM!
The beetle’s horn clashed with her barrier.
“Gghhh…!”
It wasn’t enough — the barrier shattered, and the horn sent her flying.
“Ah… my legs…”
Her body wouldn’t respond. The shock must have affected her spine, causing temporary paralysis.
Am I going to die here? Just like this…?
“…What a crappy way to go…”
The buzzing grew louder. She closed her eyes, ready for the end—
CLANG!
The sound of metal striking metal rang out instead of flesh being pierced.
…Huh?
Why did it sound like that?
“Senior! Are you alright?”
“…Jian?”
Jian stood in front of her, shielding her. In front of his outstretched right hand was a small, incredibly sturdy-looking barrier.
“You… how…?”
This was an interspace barrier. No one could enter after it was activated. How had Jian gotten inside?
“I’ll explain later—”
His eyes stayed fixed on the beetle.
“—After I take care of this thing.”
Rozarin stared at his back. It was just an ordinary back, yet somehow… reassuring.
It reminded her of her father, back before her parents became obsessed with money — when he’d give her a piggyback ride after she scraped her knee.
I miss those days…
Her lips trembled as she fought back tears.
Flap flap flap!
The beetle’s buzzing snapped her back to reality.
Focus! This isn’t the time for nostalgia!
“Jian! Magic doesn’t work on it! Its physical defense is insane! You have to find its weak point first!”
“You don’t need to worry about that,” he said calmly.
“…What?”
He already knew its weak point?
That was impossible — he had just arrived.
Bzzzzzzzz!
The beetle, now at blinding speed, charged at him.
“Jian! Dodge! You can’t block that with a barrier!”
His barrier looked similar to hers, so she knew it wouldn’t hold…
“No.”
An octagonal barrier formed before his right hand.
“I can block it.”
KAAAANG!
It looked like her barrier, but the mana density was on a whole different level.
…Did he cross-layer the mana conduits 16 times?
While she was still stunned, Jian’s left hand began moving.
“No! I told you, magic won’t—”
“It will. If you know how.”
A magic circle appeared — the same one he’d shown her that morning while lecturing her.
The weak point…
The beetle’s mithril plating process had left one inevitable gap.
The right flank — the gap in the plating.
Fwoooosh!
A near-instant intermediate spell — Rozarin’s own original magic, Eraser — shot from Jian’s hand and pierced the gap precisely.
“You… how…?”
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
Jian exhaled deeply and looked at her.
“Are you alright?”
“Uh? Yeah… nothing serious…”
“That’s a relief… ugh!”
Suddenly, he collapsed to one knee.
“Hey! What’s wrong? Did you get hit?”
“No… I just overexerted myself getting through the barrier.”
He clenched his teeth.
Damn it, Yodala. What were you thinking not leaving a gap? If I didn’t have a dragon’s power, I wouldn’t have made it in!
He swore to tear into her later — fully channeling Jeiraon’s venomous tongue.
Outside the barrier, in Rozarin’s lab.
Reaper (Ripper) uncloaked, his eyes trembling in shock.
“This… can’t be…”
Behind him, Yodala appeared. She erased the maid ID tag “Leah” with her Aura of Seduction, letting it crumble into dust.
“Master is the real one,” she said with a smile.
Reaper turned to the barrier stone. There should have been an artificial gap, but this one was untouched — yet Jian had forced it open.
“Who else but the true Master could force an interspace barrier open?”
Only the greatest wizard, Jeiraon, or a “dragon” — the source of all mana — could do this.
“I thought the one who tore the pages from the top-secret document was Jian pretending to be Master… I guess I was wrong.”
He had suspected Jian because the important pages were missing, thinking Jian had allied with the principal. That would explain everything…
“…But I was wrong.”
If Jian broke into this barrier, it could only mean he was the real Jeiraon.
“I let my confusion cloud my judgment,” Reaper admitted.
Yodala snorted. “Of course you’ll tell Master it was your mistake.”
Jeiraon wouldn’t forgive someone for both doubting him and ruining a plan. If Reaper confessed, he’d be executed on the spot.
Reaper grimaced. “Exactly.”
But Yodala smiled dreamily. “You don’t have to worry. The current Master is kind. He even spared Clover, right in front of us.”
Reaper frowned. “I don’t like this change.”
“To you, change means decline, right?”
“Yes. Perfection altered only becomes imperfection.”
“Not to me,” Yodala countered. “To me, it’s evolution.”
“Why?”
“Because Master would never accept change unless it was evolution.”
“…!”
Reaper’s eyes widened. Jeiraon accepting any change meant it had to be the right kind.
Then he laughed. “…You’re right. Everything in this world is under Master’s control — even his own changes.”
Yodala’s words had given him a breakthrough.
A flash of light burst from Reaper’s body.
“The Light of Realization…? You—” Yodala looked genuinely shocked.
It meant he had just broken through a limit.
[Reaper]
[Harbinger of Death]
[LV. 91 → LV. 92]
“My limits weren’t physical… they were mental.”
Normally, this happened when leveling up.
[Reaper’s level cap has increased from 91 to 99.]
He had just surpassed his game-version limits — and—
[Causality Adjustment]
[Reaper has obtained the seed of becoming the Final Boss.]
