WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator/Editor: Ryuu

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INFINITE MAGE

Chapter 161: Clay Marsha (4)

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"Touching someone who's had their magic stolen will break the Pillage spell?"

Shirone was sure of the answer, despite the silence from Marsha.

However, something still felt off. If the condition for lifting the magic-stealing spell was merely contact, maintaining distance made sense.

But the problem was that Marsha was in a far too advantageous position. She had stolen numerous spells involving the Particle of God, while Shirone himself could only rely on Windcutter.

Wasn't this a fight worth engaging in? Yet she had moved dozens of meters away, as if terrified.

"A mindless Unregulated Eater..."

Shirone's eyes widened. Everything now became clear in his mind.

"I've got it! A mental gap. Marsha isn't perfect."

It was a simple matter when he thought about it. If magic could be stolen just through contact, who would be able to defeat her? There had to be a price involved.

Shirone didn't know what it was, but it had to relate to the trauma behind the Unregulated Eater.

"An Unregulated Eater is a being with mental distortion. To harness such overwhelming power, their trauma must have been there from the start."

Thus, he couldn't come closer. Shirone had figured out how to break the Pillage spell, greatly increasing the chances of triggering that price.

Marsha feared not losing the stolen magic, but the terrifying consequence that would follow immediately after breaking the spell.

"But she's stolen countless spells up to now. How did she survive back then?"

The answer came quickly. As soon as Shirone found it, he charged at Marsha.

There was no time to waste. Marsha was only stalling for time until reinforcements arrived.

Magic deprivation achieved at the cost of her greatest suffering.

If Shirone risked triggering that price, Marsha wouldn't dare fight.

Conversely, if he wasn't that afraid, the magic-stealing spell wouldn't exist in the first place.

Shirone was no longer afraid. There was still enough time. He had to capture Marsha before the reinforcements arrived.

"Hik!"

Marsha let out a groan and moved further away. Her face grew pale even if Shirone just closed in a little. Her playful speech and charming expressions had vanished.

"I can do this! I can get my magic back!"

Having found hope, Shirone relentlessly pursued Marsha. Though tracking down a mage with Teleportation was nearly impossible on foot, he couldn't stop with the life-stealing thief right in front of him.

"Shirone! Watch out!"

At Tess's shout, Shirone looked up. Ten streaks of light thundered down from the sky.

Marsha's face brightened for the first time, while Shirone was so disheartened he could hardly keep running.

He had thought there was enough time, but he was wrong. The surviving subordinates had quickly arrived using a magic circle.

"Hohoho! They're finally here. Now it's all over!"

Twenty Schema users crowded around Marsha, forming a protective barrier. Getting through that to capture her was impossible.

"S-Shirone..."

Amy bit her lip, swallowing her tears.

Was it really going to end like this? Shirone might have to abandon his dream of being a mage.

"This can't be happening. I loved magic so much. I worked so hard..."

Shirone gazed at Marsha as if giving up on everything. His expression was one of utter emptiness.

"Oh my, Shirone? Why are you looking at me like that? Ah, because of your magic? Don't worry. You're still young, so you can learn it all over again. Of course, you'll never be able to use the magic I stole, even if it takes you your entire life."

"The Sound magic was also stolen from someone else, right?"

"Fufu, right. You know I have a thing for stealing. Why are you suddenly so petty when you claimed to understand me before? You easily paid 50 silver for that vase, but now you can't give up your magic? What, too precious to share?"

Amy screamed in anger.

"Shut up! How can you say that? What did Shirone ever do to you?"

How could someone be like that? Not content with just stealing Shirone's magic, Marsha seemed intent on crushing his entire life.

"Hohoho! That's hypocrisy. There's no one good in this world. They pretend to care, but they're always hiding selfish thoughts behind their kindness."

Though Marsha was cursing the world, all Shirone heard was her cursing one person.

Her father.

He had taken in the orphaned Marsha and raised her until she was seventeen, but realizing that those years were shaped by a twisted desire must have left her devastated.

That's what made Unregulated Eaters so terrifying: their power was rooted in human trauma.

For ordinary mages, omnipotence complemented their omniscience. For Unregulated Eaters, however, omnipotence twisted omniscience.

"It's so painful that even their thoughts get distorted. That's the Unregulated Eater."

That twisted humanity manifested through magic, and now Shirone understood why the Magic Association didn't recognize it as magic.

"You have my sympathy."

Marsha's eyes sharpened. Who was he to pity her?

Shirone, who had lost all his magic, was the one deserving pity, falling victim to his own hypocrisy.

"Hmph! Now you're trying to win me over? After trying to kill me? Do you think I'll let you off?"

"Actually, I'm not sure myself. I don't know how much you've suffered."

"Hoho! Finally admitting it, huh? No one cares about the pain of others! That's human nature! Everyone's just awful."

"So... I'm coming to you now."

Marsha's heart skipped a beat. There's no way he could get here with 20 subordinates standing guard.

"You might be right. Maybe it's hypocrisy. But I still believe we can share our pain. If you truly show your wounds, I can see the real pain within you. So show me. I need to see the real suffering."

"Don't spout nonsense. Why would I accept pity from you?"

"I'm going to break the shell trapping you and see for myself how deep your wounds go."

"Don't come any closer! I'll die if you do! If I die, you'll never get your magic back!"

With a terrified look, Marsha screamed. The wound was so deep that even a feather landing on it would be excruciating. And Shirone wanted to open it up? And dig through it?

"I promise never to abandon you. Whatever the pain, I'll bear it."

When Shirone finished speaking, Marsha's subordinates drew their swords and blocked his path.

"Don't let him through! Cut his head off!"

Shirone looked at them quietly before turning to Rian.

"Rian, protect my side."

Rian was the most injured among them, barely able to move, but he stood up without a word and slung his sword over his shoulder.

Tess spoke up, following behind.

"Wait, I'll do it. I'm not as hurt as Rian."

"It's okay, Tess. This is what my lord asked of me."

"But in your condition..."

Shirone shook his head.

"Tess, Rian has to guard me. I can't let anyone else shed blood."

"Blood? What blood?"

As Shirone slowly advanced, he spoke to Rian.

"Rian, cut down anyone who tries to attack me."

Rian couldn't understand his request. He had no magic, and even walking was a challenge. Charging into enemy territory meant certain death.

"Alright, I'll handle it."

But Rian obediently followed Shirone. A sword doesn't judge; it just follows its master's orders, even at the cost of its life.

Marsha trembled with rage.

"Check my wounds? Share my pain? Nonsense, bullshit."

Shirone was just trying to get his magic back by lying through his teeth.

That's humanity. Even when they pretend to be kind, they only seek to satisfy their own greed.

"Kill him! Kill that brat now!"

At Marsha's cry, her 20 subordinates lunged forward. Enhanced by Schema training, they closed the gap swiftly, raising their blades high.

Rian grasped the hilt of his sword tightly. How long he could hold out was uncertain, but even if he was decapitated, he planned to press forward.

A swordsman in the lead jumped up, slashing down toward Shirone's head. Gritting his teeth, Rian prepared to strike back.

But at that moment, the swordsman's body turned to light and soared into the sky.

A sharp noise from a Teleportation spell tore through the air.

Marsha watched in a daze, and Amy and Tess stared from the other side, also perplexed.

"What are you all doing? Attack! We'll win this no matter what!"

At the command, three swordsmen launched their assault. But they, too, were whisked away into the air before they could strike Shirone.

Marsha's lips quivered.

Shirone was approaching, and with each step, subordinates disappeared with a loud noise.

"What is this? What's going on?"

Amy was the only one who understood the situation, but even her voice trembled.

"Amazing. I knew he had an exceptional magic sense, but I never imagined this."

When had Shirone anticipated this moment?

When Marsha's subordinates arrived? Or when he figured out the limits of the Pillage spell? No, it was probably when Rian told him about Windcutter.

"What is it, Amy? What is Shirone doing now?"

"It's magic. Slow Time, a spell that reduces the speed of time."

Connecting theoretical omniscience directly with omnipotence was only possible for Shirone. Even Amy hadn't expected he could do this.

Marsha must have been equally unprepared. Shirone, once entangled in lies and conspiracies that drained his power, now brought his insight to the surface, disrupting Marsha's calculations.

"Slow Time? Is that really Slow Time?"

Tess scanned the battlefield again. From the outside, everything appeared normal. The only observable change was that any enemy who approached Shirone flew away.

But Rian, inside Shirone's Spirit Zone, saw something completely different.

Once someone stepped into Shirone's Spirit Zone, their body would flash with light and then move agonizingly slowly.

Those who reached the level of sublight speeds could warp the zone's time. Shirone couldn't stretch time as dramatically as Alpheas, but he could easily double its relative distortion.

"So I just need to cut them down?"

Rian prepared to slash at the approaching enemies. Their eyes were filled with terror, knowing they were doomed. They quickly activated their teleportation bracelets and vanished.

With the enemies retreating even before the fight, Rian snorted dismissively and continued following Shirone.

Screeching noises from teleportation filled the air. Now, only three subordinates stood between Marsha and Shirone, but even they fled as Shirone advanced.

Once again alone, Marsha trembled with a ghostly pale face. She was trapped in a cycle of terrifying thoughts.

"Don't come near! If you do, I'll die! If I die, you'll never get your magic back!"

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