-1483- [ Collapse Force ]

"————!"

In that instant, the aura emanating from the unknown assailant changed.

It became both dark and eerie.

A gust of wind arose from the assailant, sweeping through the surroundings.

As the wind enveloped the assailant, the mana and jutsuryoku that surged within their body began to change.

They were merging.

The human's mana and the non-human's jutsuryoku were gradually fusing, accumulating, intertwining, and finally condensing into a singular force, like a black wave.

The power radiating from that force was astonishing, terrifying, causing the very atmosphere to tremble.

"What... What is that...!?"

Yuri trembled at the sight.

In contrast, Rozen, who had been closely watching the assailant, spoke.

"That is the product of merging mana and jutsuryoku."

Rozen explained this to Yuri.

"The product of merging mana and jutsuryoku?"

Yuri was momentarily at a loss.

"You should know about it, right? The hypothesis proposed by the Alchemist Division."

Rozen mentioned this point.

"Could it be..."

Yuri's memory was suddenly awakened.

Indeed, it was a hypothesis once proposed by the Alchemist Division.

It was said that if both mana and jutsuryoku existed simultaneously within a single entity, it might be possible to elevate that power to the next level.

This possibility involved merging mana and jutsuryoku to create a new form of power.

Through the research of the Alchemist Division, it was discovered that the power known as jutsuryoku, possessed by the Armored Beetles, was a phase-interfering force that was fundamentally repulsive to mana.

Thus, if mana and jutsuryoku could be synthesized, it would result in mutual annihilation, releasing energy and extracting the ultimate phase-interfering force, leading to a power capable of unraveling the very principles of the universe.

This power existed only in theory.

Because, if there was any mistake in the synthesis of the two forces, it would result in an immediate explosion.

Moreover, humans only possessed mana, and Armored Beetles only possessed jutsuryoku. So far, no entity possessing both forces had been discovered.

Therefore, the Alchemist Division had not yet truly proven the existence of this power, and the general public regarded it as a fictional product, considering it merely a legend.

However, at this very moment, an entity possessing both mana and jutsuryoku had appeared and had fused them to generate a new form of power.

This power was the phase-interfering force capable of unraveling the principles of the universe.

Its name was ———— Collapse Force.

"Why is a power that only exists in theory and hypothesis appearing here?"

Yuri was thrown into confusion.

Rozen, however, remained calm.

"This isn't all that surprising. There was once an Alchemist who injected human mana into a captured Armored Beetle for research on Collapse Force, causing the Armored Beetle to acquire mana. Unfortunately, the Armored Beetle eventually exploded due to the violent reaction between the two repelling forces, leaving no trace behind."

If that was the case, by the same logic, if the bodily fluids or even parts of the body of an Armored Beetle were injected into a human, the human might also acquire jutsuryoku, thereby possessing both forces simultaneously.

"That guy probably devoured the bodily fluids or even a part of the Armored Beetle, thereby acquiring jutsuryoku, didn't he?"

Rozen analyzed.

"His abnormal mental state is probably due to the influence of the Armored Beetle's savagery or soul."

Rozen had observed the flow of jutsuryoku within the assailant's body using Spirit Vision and Mind's Eye when he first encountered him. He also noticed that the human's aura was gradually being polluted and transforming into the miasma of the Armored Beetle, which raised his suspicions.

He didn't deal with the assailant right away for two reasons.

One was his curiosity about why someone possessing both forces hadn't exploded.

The other was that Rozen had seen jutsuryoku in others before, leading him to adopt a wait-and-see approach.

Now, in response to Rozen's provocation, the assailant finally used both forces simultaneously and successfully generated Collapse Force without exploding.

This confirmed that the hypothesis proposed by the Alchemist Division was correct.

"Collapse Force truly exists in this world; it just hasn't been discovered yet."

Rozen finally confirmed some of his thoughts.

For this reason, Rozen allowed the assailant to live until now.

No matter what else was at stake, Rozen was, after all, an Alchemist in this world.

As an Alchemist, there was no way Rozen wouldn't want to know if the hypothesis proposed by his peers was true.

However...

"Sure enough, this isn't a power I should pursue."

Rozen stared at the dark power continuously emanating from the assailant and was convinced of this.

Jutsuryoku was originally a cursed power. Even though Collapse Force, formed by merging with mana, had a power comparable to High-Grade Mana, it was just as dark and eerie.

Rozen didn't want to possess this cursed power.

"Not to mention, I've already paved my own path and don't need such power."

If Collapse Force was a power formed by the fusion of two different forces, like a chemical reaction producing a stronger force, then High-Grade Mana was a power that, by refining a single force to its utmost limit, continuously broke through its limits and reached its peak.

Both were of the same level, but in terms of potential, Rozen's path undoubtedly held more possibilities.

The existence of Foreign Mana was proof of that.

Therefore...

"You've turned into something neither human nor monster for this power; it's not worth it."

The indifferent words completely enraged the assailant.

"Rorelai Arneet————!"

The assailant once again roared Rozen's name and his body began to change.

"Splurt!"

With a tearing sound, the assailant's cloak was torn apart.

This was because his body was expanding.

His skin turned into a horrifying blue hard shell.

His body grew larger and more corpulent.

In the blink of an eye, a monster, standing over two meters tall and completely covered in horrifying blue skin, appeared.

Yuri might not recognize the exposed face, but Rozen remembered it clearly.

"Real Nua..."

He was a researcher from the Fifth Laboratory of the Medical Science Division — Real Nua.

At the same time, he was the stalker who had been obsessively following Yuri, harboring an unusual obsession with her.

Although Yuri acted like a small adult in front of Rozen, in Mistgun, even as a first-year student, she was part of the S128 Special Forces Team. Thanks to her looks and strength, Yuri was extremely popular, even more so than Kanata, second only to Rozen and Chloe.

Naturally, Yuri had been the subject of fanatical behavior from some admirers since long ago.

Real Nua was merely one of them, but also the most insane of them all.

Because of this, Real grew jealous of Rozen, who was close to Yuri, which led him to harbor resentment and malice, ultimately driving him down a path of no return.

The sad part was that Yuri didn't even know who Real was.

"Rorelai... Arneet...!"

The monstrous Real howled at the sky and finally, carrying the force capable of unraveling the principles of the universe, charged toward Rozen like a cannonball.

Rozen watched him intently.

The High-Grade Mana on his body ignited like flames.