Shirone's Battle Against the Rulebreaker

Shirone desperately racked his brain to figure out Marsha's intentions.

But he couldn't understand.

She felt completely different from anyone he had ever met in his life.

"You're saying it's okay to kill you?"

"Yes. You hate me, don't you? So go ahead and kill me as much as you want."

Shirone abandoned his thoughts.

If he couldn't analyze her, he would simply stick to his original goal.

"If Yuna is safe, then there's no reason for me to fight."

"Hehe."

Marsha's lips curled into a chilling smile as she aimed an offensive Spirit Zone at Shirone.

"Tsk!"

Shirone hastily teleported to evade her attack.

However, before he could even cover half the intended distance, his Spirit Zone suddenly dissipated, and his magic was forcibly unraveled.

"What the...?"

As he barely managed to steady himself and lift his head, a sonic cannon blasted past him.

It felt like his eardrums were burning, the pain so intense that he couldn't withstand the impact and rolled across the ground.

"Aaaaagh!"

Tess shouted in shock.

"What the hell? Why is he suddenly like that?"

Since the sonic cannon compressed sound waves into a direct shot, the noise didn't spread, making it sound like nothing more than a high-pitched shriek to Tess.

Amy spoke up.

"That's a sonic cannon. A form of sound-based magic. But that's not the real problem."

"Yeah, the real problem is that Shirone got hit," Tess agreed, but Amy meant something else entirely.

'Just a moment ago...'

If Shirone had teleported normally, he would have covered at least 10 meters.

But according to Amy's Red Eyes analysis, his teleportation had failed before he could even reach five meters.

"He wasn't just hit. It was stolen."

"Stolen? What was?"

Only a magician like Amy could perceive what had happened in that brief moment.

Marsha's Spirit Zone had absorbed Shirone's, like morning dew being sucked away.

"Perhaps... his mental energy?"

Tess tilted his head in confusion.

"Mental energy? Can someone steal another person's mental energy? I've never heard of such magic before."

"It exists."

Even Amy, the model student, had only just recalled it—an anomaly even within the magic society.

'Idiot! How did I not realize it sooner?'

A-Class criminal, Clay Marsha.

If her guess was correct, this woman was an extremely dangerous figure.

"Shirone! Be careful! That woman is a rulebreaker!"

Shirone's eyes snapped open in shock.

His ears felt wet, likely bleeding from the sonic cannon's impact, but his indomitable mental fortitude remained intact.

"This is what they call rulebreaking?"

Marsha approached with an innocent smile.

"Oh my, you even know about rulebreaking? Magic academies really are impressive. I suppose education is important after all."

Magicians across the world tirelessly develop new magic daily, registering them as official spells.

However, some forms of magic can never be registered—those are called rulebreaking spells.

While Unlocked Magic is also impossible to replicate, at least it can be explained theoretically.

But rulebreakers wield magic built on distorted truth—a phenomenon fueled by sheer obsession.

Magic born from an individual's twisted perception, forced onto others as absolute law.

'Rulebreaker.'

Shirone recalled Shiina's explanation.

"Omnipotence is a magician's unique mental function that manifests their all-knowing perception into reality. In the pursuit of enlightenment, some call it spiritual awakening, while religious sects refer to it as divine faith. The reason light is classified into four speeds in magic, why flame magic can alter temperatures regardless of fuel, and why plasma can be formed even at moderate temperatures, is all because a magician's omnipotence supports their all-knowing perception. They fully comprehend the theory and supplement any impossibilities with omnipotence."

Shiina had written the word "Rulebreaking" on the chalkboard.

The unfamiliar term caused a stir among the students, but she continued her lecture unfazed.

"However, some magicians misuse omnipotence for personal gain. Instead of supporting their knowledge, they distort reality itself. The magic used by such individuals is what we call rulebreaking."

A student raised a hand.

"Professor, I don't quite understand."

"Let me explain in a different way. What is my occupation?"

"You're a teacher, of course."

"Correct. I am a teacher. Now, let's begin. Is there anyone here who does not think of me as a teacher? If so, raise your hand."

Nobody raised their hand.

Denying an established fact while being aware of it was a contradiction.

"This is how the mind works. Unlike the body, the mind does not reject new concepts—it absorbs them and reshapes its understanding."

Shiina raised her index finger.

"Therefore, thoughts can be shared. My ideas can influence others, and in reality, our individual thoughts are an amalgamation of countless other people's ideas. Now, I will demonstrate rulebreaking magic."

Descending from the podium, she met each student's eyes one by one before speaking.

"Anyone who thinks of me as a teacher will die."

The class erupted into murmurs.

Some students, seeing her serious expression, tried to deny her identity as a teacher—but ultimately, it was impossible.

One cannot reject their own understanding of reality—only alter it.

"Professor, is this for real?"

"No, I'm simply demonstrating the mechanism. While rulebreaking magic twists natural phenomena, a rulebreaker distorts concepts themselves. I am not a rulebreaker."

A sigh of relief spread through the classroom.

"Whew, you scared us."

Shiina adjusted her glasses.

"Of course, even if I were a real rulebreaker, I wouldn't be able to kill all of you. Even the most deranged rulebreakers find it difficult to manifest phenomena that result in direct death. Though their magic is based on false truths, it still adheres to the principle of equivalent exchange."

Shirone, reflecting on that lesson, bit his lip in frustration.

'Professor, this isn't just difficult—it's terrifying.'

He had thought he understood back then, but facing it in reality left him utterly confused.

'If Marsha absorbs Spirit Zones, then sure, that makes sense as a rulebreaker ability. But when? When did she apply her restriction and price on me without me even realizing it?'

Then it struck him.

"Ah..."

You can kill me if you want.

That phrase.

The meaning within those words had infiltrated Shirone's mind.

'It was that.'

The realization made his heart pound.

He was trapped in the logical snare of a rulebreaker.

This was nothing like facing Arcane, the Grand Mage—this was an entirely different kind of threat.

'Calm down. There has to be a way to break this.'

Shiina had said that rulebreaking was like weighing one's own and the opponent's mind against each other.

If Marsha's ability was overwhelming, then the cost she bore had to be just as severe.

'Perhaps...'

If she had used "You can kill me if you want" as a trigger, she must have had to endure a prolonged period of vulnerability.

And at that moment—if Shirone had attacked—Marsha would have died.

'Why didn't I attack?'

The pieces finally fit.

'Because I couldn't comprehend what was happening. From the very start, from the moment I met Marsha—I was already caught in her trap.'

A shiver ran down Shirone's spine.

Everything—her past story, deceiving him into thinking Yuna was dead, only to reveal she wasn't—

"Was all of it for this moment?"

Marsha laughed gleefully, reveling in Shirone's realization.