Breaking Through the Event Horizon

It was genuine. If not for her, he wouldn't have even had the chance to return to reality.

"Don't thank me too soon. If you ever feel like giving up, just walk back this way."

Would that situation ever come?

Shirone didn't think he would ever turn back. He would rather die than return. However, since he had never experienced such a thing before, he refrained from making assumptions.

"Then… I'll be going."

The woman spoke in an indifferent tone.

"Have a good journey."

As Shirone took his first step into the black sphere, he felt the same sensation as when he first entered the Spot.

There was no visible exit, and no matter how far he walked, nothing changed.

When he turned back, he was startled. The woman was still watching him with sleepy eyes.

He was trapped in the event horizon where time did not flow.

'There's no way out.'

Having already experienced Stop Magic, he knew that no effort could free him from the prison of space-time.

He felt wretched, and at last, he understood the woman's words.

'I have no choice but to go back.'

Rather than being trapped in the Spot forever, wasn't it better to live in a place where people existed?

'Wait.'

Shirone suddenly halted his steps.

In the event horizon, time would be forever frozen, but now he understood the correlation between time and light.

'Acceleration and gravity.'

If he could move faster than light, wouldn't he be able to escape the event horizon?

'In other words, superluminal speed.'

Of course, it was impossible.

Shirone's limit was barely subluminal speed, and even Armin, the greatest master of time magic in reality, had only reached the domain of light speed.

Yet, he held onto hope because, in his current state, he existed purely as a mental entity.

'I exist as a consciousness right now. In other words, I am in a massless state. If thoughts are simply electrical signals in the brain, then at this moment, I am moving at the speed of light. Therefore…'

What could be faster than thought?

"Immortal Function."

Even at the speed of light, traveling across the universe was difficult. However, Immortal Function spread throughout the universe in an instant. In the realm of thought, the mind was faster than light.

"Hoo, I can do this."

It meant completely opening the Immortal Function while simultaneously entering it again.

He didn't even fully understand what that meant, but it was the only solution left to him now.

"Ugh…"

His jaw trembled involuntarily. It was a fear distinct from death—a fear of an entirely different kind of annihilation.

'I will return.'

Only his desperate longing to return to reality could overcome this terror.

'Immortal Function!'

Shirone's mental form suddenly exploded into tiny particles.

Then, something faster than light began to surge beyond the event horizon.

'It worked!'

Though his consciousness had scattered, the particles that composed him could not disperse outside the black tunnel.

Within that collective existence, Shirone saw a distant light—a gateway where his physical body awaited.

'I'm going! Finally, I'm going back!'

Just as his pure soul was about to merge with his body, foreign, unidentified particles clung to him.

The particles interwove and formed new meanings, filling Shirone's mind like an overwhelming chorus.

—Consume. Consume. Consume. Consume. Consume. Consume. Consume. Consume.

—Reproduce. Reproduce. Reproduce. Reproduce. Reproduce. Reproduce. Reproduce. Reproduce.

A suffocating weight pressed upon him as the distant exit drifted farther away.

The particles intertwined in complex patterns, and their simple meanings evolved into something more profound.

—Ah, to be born. Such a lowly existence.

—I don't want to die. The life of a mortal…

Shirone instinctively understood that this was the process of becoming human, just as the woman had described.

To be cast into the world, carrying both desire and fear.

Perhaps all living beings had heard this voice while inside their mother's womb.

"No! I won't lose! I will return to my world!"

—Where to? There is no place that welcomes you.

"To where I belong. To where my friends are waiting!"

—They will kill you. They will obstruct your consumption and reproduction. What awaits you is the impulse of desire, a painful struggle, and ultimately, the inevitable journey to death.

"Shut up! No matter what you say, I will return!"

Shirone screamed with all his might.

Yet, as the merging process continued, the voices only grew louder.

Was humanity nothing more than an accumulation of countless voices?

Like a soloist's voice drowned in a choir, Shirone lost his own voice.

—Consume. Consume. Consume. Consume. Consume. Consume. Consume. Consume.

—Reproduce. Reproduce. Reproduce. Reproduce. Reproduce. Reproduce. Reproduce. Reproduce.

The Seventh Day of Shirone's Death

Outside the building, radicals supporting Amira were staging a protest.

In response, the conservatives blocked the entrance and controlled access. As the moderates split into two factions, the total number of protesters doubled.

With nearly all students gathered in front of the building, demonstrations continued day and night, driving Shirone's friends to the brink of exhaustion.

"Hold a proper funeral for Shirone!"

"Alpheas must stand trial before the Magic Association!"

Seriel covered her ears.

Even though the window was shut, the noise was unbearable.

"This is ridiculous! Why are they so obsessed with tearing Shirone apart?"

Amy, who had been resting her face on the bed, lifted her head and muttered.

"They have their reasons, I guess. Even students who disliked Shirone are probably joining in."

"So it's Shirone's fault for being good at what he does? They should blame their own narrow-mindedness!"

"That's just human nature. Some recognize Shirone's worth, while others reject him."

From the table, Iruki looked up.

"Have you reached enlightenment or something? Weren't you threatening to beat them up just yesterday?"

Amy didn't even have the energy to be angry. Iruki was likely in the same state.

After a week of stress, they barely had the strength to move a finger.

Amy propped her chin on her hand and sighed.

"At least now I understand. There are still people on Shirone's side."

Outside the window, protests raged on, and tensions within the academy grew worse by the day. The battle for Shirone's fate was far from over.