Infinite Mage

Chapter 178: The Forest of Profane (2)

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Translator/Editor: Ryuu

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INFINITE MAGE

Arin cast the Might of Darkness. Now that the giant was wounded, it was the perfect opportunity to see if her ability would work.

The Might of Darkness that Arin used took the form of shadowy tendrils extending like branches of a plant. The tendrils climbed up the giant's shadow, wrapping around its ankles like vines.

Arin then cast Mental Shock, a spell designed to deliver a psychic jolt.

If telepathy was akin to theft, Mental Shock was like a full-on robbery. While it couldn’t induce trauma, it could certainly instill a phobia-level shock.

The true strength of Mental Shock lay in its ability to link into Mind Control.

Mind Control, one of Arcane’s specialties, was a spell that allowed the caster to manipulate the target’s body, though it was difficult to succeed. To achieve near 100% success, it required concentration twenty times greater than the target’s mental strength.

Ultimately, this meant one couldn’t dominate a stronger opponent.

However, with the right strategy and tactics, it was occasionally possible—especially if Mental Shock succeeded.

If they could control the giant with Mind Control, they would have nothing to fear in the forest. Knowing this, Canis watched the outcome without intervening.

Mental Shock failed.

The giant, with its face aflame, lunged at the group with even more ferocity.

Arin bit her lip. Telepathy, Mental Shock, and Mind Control, the so-called three great psychic skills, were ineffective against the giant.

For Arin, it was her first time experiencing such powerlessness. Her gentle temperament burned with frustration.

‘Why? Why isn’t it working? It’s just a giant human, isn’t it?’

“Arin! Move!”

Canis stepped in front of Arin and cast Shadow Wall.

As the shadow rose, the giant’s fist crashed into it. The Shadow Wall disintegrated like dust. The impact exceeded the spell’s absorption capacity.

But the giant also seemed to lose some of its strength and couldn’t push further.

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Harvest climbed up the giant’s arm, using its claws to slice at a likely blood vessel.

If the giant had mastered Schema, it would have a physiology similar to a human’s.

Blood spurted from a severed vessel in the crook of the giant’s elbow, but the wound quickly healed. Instead of slowing, the giant rampaged even more violently, spurred by the pain.

‘It’s incredibly strong. That such a creature exists in the world…’

Shirone used teleportation to bait the giant while Rian slashed at its Achilles tendon from behind.

Canis cast the Might of Darkness. Though the toothed shadows were specialized for attack, they couldn’t cut through the giant’s muscles even while wrapping around its ankles.

All Canis could do was shout, “It’s incredibly strong! Do something, quick!”

Amy’s Flame Strike bombarded the giant’s face. Yet, adding more fire to an already burning giant made little difference. While the added wind enhanced the effect, it was physically weaker than the Photon Canon.

Shirone compressed photons. Contrary to everyone’s belief that he was preparing another Photon Canon, it took longer to activate than expected.

Noticing the light mass wobbling, Canis yelled in frustration.

“Damn it! What are you doing? Focus!”

“No, it’s not that,” Arin said.

“He’s altering the form of the photons.”

Unable to bring it down with brute force, he was converting the photons into a cutting force. If neither heat nor impact worked, then sharpness might.

It was the right decision in the current situation.

But Canis doubted its feasibility. Altering the shape of light was beyond common sense.

Shirone felt it too. Suppressing the light he intended to release was tough. He believed it possible by varying the direction of the compression force on the photons, but the mental effort required was enormous.

A groan escaped through his teeth. Tightening his fluctuating mind with an iron will, he increased his concentration until the photons flattened.

The Photon Canon, now in the form of a disc, surged towards the giant.

The giant, breaking free from the Might of Darkness, twisted its body. As the light blade sliced through its side, the wound opened a handspan wide, blood gushing like a waterfall.

It was a critical hit.

Realizing this, the group—both swordsmen and mages—charged with newfound intensity.

They stabbed with sabers and pummeled with greatswords. They burned with flames and sawed with shadowy blades until the giant toppled over.

The assault continued, but it felt like trying to carve up a dragon with a pocket knife. Each muscle fiber was as tough as steel.

Panting, Amy said, “Ha… ha. It’s dead, right? It must be dead, right? Isn’t it?”

“I don’t know. Should we hit it one more time just to be sure?”

Tess shuddered.

“No, I can’t do it anymore. There’s a limit to how cruel we can be.”

“I tried to cut its neck with the Might of Darkness, but it wouldn’t cut. How about peeling off its skin?”

Canis’s suggestion made everyone turn pale. Since the giant wasn’t moving, and Shirone’s wound hadn’t healed, it was best to leave it alone.

Tess gave Shirone a thumbs-up.

“Nice job, Shirone. Another new spell, huh?”

“I was lucky. If the giant had dodged, there wouldn’t have been a second chance. Just thinking about it is terrifying.”

Canis wasn’t pleased. The Photon Canon was meant for impact. Altering its form for cutting? The idea was impressive, but as a dark mage, he couldn’t help but feel his territory was being encroached upon.

“Hmph, it worked out, but it was a gamble. Since we operate as a team, individual mental strength converges with the party’s. Failure would have left us combat-ineffective. If a mage withdraws from the front line, even their body becomes a shield. It’s dangerous.”

“I know. The efficiency surprised me too.”

Canis snorted and turned away. Though he snapped at Shirone, he acknowledged that the insight to change strategies in that situation was a talent.

Arin seemed to share the sentiment. Watching Shirone rest through her Insight, she spoke.

“As I’ve felt before, that kid really thinks freely.”

It was a gamble, but one with high odds.

Insight to choose what to give up and what to keep to reach victory. If even one or two out of ten choices had been wrong, they wouldn’t have achieved this result.

“Tch, he’s always had good instincts,” Canis added. They were a team now, and denying Shirone’s talent was just a sign of Canis’s own inferiority.

“Grrrr…”

The giant’s groan made everyone’s heart skip a beat. Although it showed no signs of rising, its fingers were twitching.

Without needing to discuss, they sprinted into the forest.

They still didn’t know what kind of world heaven was, but they weren’t planning to fight another giant.

With Amy’s keen eyes, Tess’s senses, and Arin’s ability to distinguish natural from unnatural, they navigated without much trouble.

They arrived at a rocky area.

The abundance of shadows pleased Canis and Arin. While Shirone’s magic was unaffected by the environment, dark magic was maximized in darkness.

“This place feels safe. In a pinch, we can use Dark Port to move.”

“But Dark Port can’t transport multiple people, can it?”

Dark magic lacks the theoretical foundation for effect transference like Photonization magic. Thus, only dark mages can travel through shadows.

Canis shrugged as if it didn’t matter.

“At least it’ll be tactically useful. Here, I can lure enemies alone if necessary.”

Tess, taking the water bottle being passed around, said, “A giant using Schema. Isn’t this place too dangerous? And the fact that Arin’s mental magic doesn’t work is worrying.”

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t any help.”

As Arin lowered her head, Tess waved her hands.

“No, it’s fine. Even I couldn’t handle the giant. The important thing is that we won. We all worked together to win. Heaven isn’t so bad after all, haha!”

Though Tess tried to lighten the mood, the mages’ faces darkened.

Unlike warriors who were used to improvisation, mages disliked unexpected situations. They needed to control all variables to feel secure.

The magic of altering the shape of photons wasn’t part of their strategic plan for the party.

Knowing that adding variables to variables led to disaster, they weren’t happy about a victory gained through improvisation.

“In the last battle, we didn’t have complete control over the situation. It’s early to say this, but we might need to reconsider our return. What do others think?”

As Shirone opened the discussion, Amy responded.

“For a first attempt, I think it was okay. We shouldn’t overlook the fact that we won. I mean, Shirone found a solution, and we can apply that solution in various situations going forward. We can avoid a repeat of the same situation.”

Amy had a point.

Canis, though not inclined to return, wasn’t foolish enough to lie out of greed.

“It’s not that simple. Shirone probably won’t use the same strategy again, right?”

“Right. It’s too risky. The time it takes to compress photons is long, and the efficiency is low. I wouldn’t try it unless it was absolutely necessary.”

“The idea was clever. If photons can have mass, they become more like matter, making shape alteration possible. That’s what you thought, right?”

Canis could read Shirone’s thoughts because the method he tried was typical of dark magic.

“But it’s a miscalculation. Shaping mental energy isn’t your strength. It’s a trait of dark magic. Dark magic has less impact but achieves mechanical force through shape alteration. For me, it’s gears; for Arin, it’s vines.”

Arin demonstrated with the Might of Darkness. The shadows rising from the ground formed an intricate apple tree, adjusting the size to create a three-dimensional effect.

As Shirone marveled, Arin smiled and explained.

“Mages use the Four-Way Formation, but dark magic, specialized in mental shaping, doesn’t need it. We call it modeling. While stable elements like ice or darkness are easy to shape, fire or light is too active to model easily.”

Amy agreed.

“Now that I think about it, I can’t control the shape of flames either. That’s why I incorporate air attributes into my magic.”

“Exactly. But light is even harder than fire. In theory, modeling light is impossible. You can add light attributes to other elements, but not the other way around. Shirone did it with the Particle of God, but it was a special case. Though he succeeded to some extent, it’s impractical for combat.”

Shirone sighed.

“Then how should we fight giants in the future? Laser might work, but considering the giant’s movements, it wouldn’t be easy.”

A laser could destroy matter regardless of durability, but its energy buildup time made it less effective against fast-moving targets.

It was a new type of magic, and if Harvest had known about the laser’s properties beforehand, they wouldn’t have been caught off guard.

“The problem is we only encountered one giant. How strong are giants in this world? If we knew that, it would help in our exploration.”

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