Episode 06
Paradox
“Hmm? A summoning? Heh… I’ve heard of it, but I never thought I’d see it done for real.”
“What’s this? This generation has such a young girl? What a pity… she looks far too young.”
“This disciple, Iason, greets the honored ancestors!”
“Enough. Descendant, you already know the rules.”
The unreadable spell Minastrias had cast—rather than calling down meteors or unleashing a mana cannon that could twist space itself—formed twenty small dimensional gates, each no larger than a human.
And from those gates stepped—
Twenty elderly figures, each holding a staff identical to hers.
[Who… are they?]
[They are your grandmasters. My master’s master… and those before him. The greatest magicians of each era in my world—and the very creators of most of the magical theory you have learned.]
Only then did Seongjun understand why he couldn’t decipher the spell.
To make such magic possible, it required something beyond logic and law—
It required the breaking of the very rules of existence.
A paradox itself.
[So that’s why… a spell that ignores laws cannot be interpreted through logic.]
[As expected of my beloved disciple. You understand quickly.]
[If I’m your beloved disciple… why didn’t you teach me this spell?]
[Hmm. Why do you think? Figure it out yourself. I’m sure you can.]
Her tone was gentle, like a teacher giving a child homework.
But Seongjun could not answer.
He already knew.
The price.
Magic, by nature, bends the laws of the world—and every spell demands a cost.
Mana suffices for ordinary spells.
But for something that distorts reality itself—
The price could only be one thing.
[No… you can’t.]
[Seongjun?]
“Don’t do it! I know what you’re trying to do! I know it—but you can’t! Please don’t!”
Without realizing it, Seongjun was shouting aloud like a madman atop a rooftop.
If he didn’t scream, he felt like he would break.
Yet even as she received his desperate thoughts, Minastrias replied calmly.
[It cannot be helped.]
“Master!”
[From the moment I came to this world, it was already a violation of the laws.]
[We were never meant to be here.]
[And now… the time has come.]
This was the truth she had never told him.
That their presence on Earth was temporary.
That once the invasion—‘erosion’—began, they would be forcibly summoned back to their original world.
[The only reason I remain here… is because I am burning the circles within my body to resist that summoning.]
[But even that time is nearly over.]
To burn one’s magical circles—
Was to sacrifice everything one had built over centuries.
“Then go back! Just go back! I’ll handle things here! Please—return to your world!”
[Because… you are not there.]
The monster lunged.
But before it could touch her, one of the old magicians intercepted it.
A massive metallic arm—utterly mismatched with the frail body of its owner—blocked the attack.
“Originally I meant to deflect it… but it seems I made a mistake. It’s been a while since I used that spell.”
Before the words finished, the serpent-like creature coiled to crush him—
But a wall of flames erupted, burning its flesh black.
“To hear such words from the founder of body enhancement magic… is rather surprising.”
“And you are? A successor? Introduce yourself.”
“I am Halion, the 16th inheritor. In my era, I was called the Flame Emperor.”
“The Emperor of Flames… yet it looks like mere fire magic.”
“It may appear so.”
The old man pointed.
The monster had bitten off its burning flesh to regenerate—
But the flames did not disappear.
They clung not to the body—
But to the soul.
“Oh… flames that burn the soul itself. Now I understand.”
The creature roared in agony.
No matter how many times it regenerated—
It continued to burn.
Endlessly.
And thus began the clash—
Between twenty legendary archmages and a colossal invader beyond reason.
Meanwhile, Minastrias stepped back.
Still youthful—
But visibly more aged than before.
[At first… I despaired when I saw this world without magic.]
[As my mana dwindled, I told myself it was temporary.]
[But I became nothing more than a powerless old woman.]
[And then… I met you.]
Her voice softened.
[You listened to me as if my words were truth itself.]
[You practiced those ridiculous casting gestures as if they truly mattered.]
[In a world without magic… you believed.]
Her thoughts poured into him like a final will.
And within that flood—
Seongjun reached the truth behind the “erosion.”
[So Earth… was nothing but a sacrifice?]
[Yes.]
[That is why monsters began appearing only after the pioneers arrived.]
[And why the stronger your “awakened” became—
the stronger the invaders grew.]
It was a grand deception.
A trap.
“Go to another world. Raise warriors like yourselves.”
“As they grow stronger, the connection between the worlds will deepen.”
“When the worlds fully merge—we will send you back.”
“And your people will be saved.”
Hope.
A lie wrapped in salvation.
To Seongjun, the most painful truth wasn’t the deception.
It was this—
That the person he trusted most was part of it.
[So that’s how it was…]
[I’m sorry… for hiding it until the end.]
He should have been angry.
But he couldn’t.
Because along with the truth—
He felt her regret.
Her resistance.
Her pain.
“Kalostro! This cannot continue! Help me find another way!”
“Nehillie! You, a saint—surely you understand!”
“Drenox! My friend—stand with me!”
But the other pioneers had rejected her.
Coldly.
“Without magic, you’ve grown weak.”
“You betray your own kind.”
“Humans? Filthy creatures chasing only their own gain.”
Bound by a restriction that prevented them from revealing the truth—
She could do nothing.
[I’m sorry… If only I could still use magic, I would have told you everything…]
[No… it’s enough.]
Seongjun answered with his true feelings.
[At least now I know.]
[That you carried this pain alone.]
And then—
[I’m sorry… for not realizing sooner.]
At that moment—
An overwhelming wave of emotion flooded his consciousness.
[Don’t cry.]
[You… are truly a good disciple…]
Then—
Everything went silent.
Only resolve remained.
[A true master… cannot show an unsightly end to such a disciple.]
Her robe fluttered in the wind.
And suddenly—
A powerful binding spell seized Seongjun’s entire body.
“MASTER!!!”
[Do not move.]
[And watch.]
[Watch how the boasts of your foolish master—
were never lies.]
Minastrias.
The greatest magician of another world.
The strongest in history.
Stared at the monster—
Now growing stronger with every attack.
Destroying everything in its path.
Including the place she and her disciple had called home.
Light erupted from her body—
Blazing like the sun.
“Hear me, Sillamentis—devourer of rivers.”
“I, the 21st Master of the Ivory Tower—
the greatest archmage of Palantia—”
Her voice shook the world.
“From this moment… I nullify our contract!”
“To protect this world—
the world where my beloved disciple lives—”
The sky trembled.
Reality bent.
“I will now eliminate you—
with everything I have!”
And finally—
With a smile that carried no regret—
“As for the penalty… I shall pay it with my life.”
