"So that… is the legendary 'Ripper'?"
"It's actually… a child?"
Looking at the tiny figure moving through the thick fog like a ghost, Shane couldn't help feeling stunned.
He had imagined all kinds of possibilities for the true identity of the murderer who had terrified all of London.
Maybe a deranged surgeon. Maybe a noble who worshiped demons. Maybe even some monster wearing human skin.
But the one thing he had never imagined… was a filthy little girl who looked only a few years old.
"She's fast—faster than the reaction limit of most ordinary mages."
Shane quickly narrowed his eyes and began analyzing the fight calmly.
"But her physical strength is terrible, and her attacks are way too one-dimensional."
By all rights… with Ur's strength, she shouldn't have been getting pushed this hard.
And yet the battle in front of him showed Ur covered in countless fine cuts, breathing heavily.
"Because of the opponent's age?" Shane frowned.
"That shouldn't be it. She's an experienced, seasoned mage—how could she still make such a rookie mistake?"
"And I specifically emphasized that this city is only a projection of the past, a false illusion."
"Tch."
Having arrived at only one explanation, Shane couldn't help sighing.
"She's a mother, for god's sake. How is she still this naïve…"
Still, considering Ur was technically in the middle of the exam, he held back from calling out.
Instead, Shane turned his attention back to the group that had led them here.
At the moment, they were gathered together in quiet conversation, their eyes also focused on the distant fight.
"That magic… is remarkably pure."
One of them pushed up his monocle and spoke in a cold tone.
"Magic of this quality should belong to some established magical lineage. Strange—why is there no record of it in the Clock Tower archives?"
"It doesn't matter."
The gentleman at the front cut him off coldly, his voice brimming with casual arrogance.
"No matter who they are, no one may violate the First Principle—Mystery must remain concealed."
"There are still two rats in this city using magecraft. Once they've all arrived, dispose of them together."
"…"
They weren't even trying to lower their voices. If anything, they were making no effort at all to hide what they were saying.
That tone—like they were discussing how to deal with a few stray dogs—might as well have had we look down on everyone written across their foreheads.
Shane's brows drew together.
He genuinely had no idea where all their confidence was coming from.
Because from what he could sense, the magical energy in these people was pitifully small.
By raw magical output alone, most of them were probably weaker than the current Natsu and Gray.
Do they have some hidden method? Shane kept the bare minimum of caution.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Just then, several streaks of light cut through the air.
"Laxus… Natsu? Gray?"
Erza dismissed her Black Wing Armor and looked at the group in surprise.
"And Shane… why are all of you here too?"
Mira, arriving right behind her, also looked puzzled. Had they already found the murderer?
Clearly, they too had been lured here by some kind of method.
"Looks like everyone's here."
The gentleman at the front looked at the newly arrived "prey" without expression and nodded.
He tapped his cane once more, producing a crisp sound.
"In that case… let us begin."
"Yeah, I'd say it's about time. We've wasted enough already."
Shane nodded as well, genuinely worried that the illusion might end at any moment.
"Let's test what they can do first."
Before the words had even settled—
Thump! Thump! Thump!!
The violent pounding of the dragon heart in his chest surged like thunder, instantly drowning out all the surrounding noise.
His black hair flashed silver-white, and azure magic exploded outward from Shane's body without the slightest restraint!
Boom—!!
A terrifying wave of magical pressure, so dense it seemed almost physical, spread out like a tidal wave and engulfed the seventeen black-clad figures at once.
"What?!"
The air seemed to freeze into lead. The smug expressions on the gentlemen's faces changed instantly.
In a single exchange—
nine of the seventeen had already been crushed down to one knee, unable to move.
"They're this weak?"
Shane, who had just been about to attack, froze in surprise, and even the force of his pressure faltered for a moment.
And in that brief instant of hesitation—
"Gandr!!"
The few who had barely managed to endure the pressure used some unknown method to temporarily resist it. They immediately raised their hands and pointed their fingers at Shane.
Shhhhk—!
Dozens of pitch-black cursed bullets poured out like machine-gun fire, spraying toward him in a storm of malignant energy.
"Gandr?"
Shane narrowed his eyes slightly.
That word… if he remembered right, it was a curse from Norse mythology.
So why were they firing it like physical bullets? What kind of usage was this…?
"But at this level…"
Facing the rain of black bullets, Shane casually swept one hand through the air.
Against the Magic Resistance B of the Lancer class, enough to nullify most low- to mid-tier magecraft—
those loud, dramatic curse rounds melted the moment they touched the surface of his body, like snowflakes falling into magma, without creating even the slightest ripple.
The excitement he had felt at discovering supernatural forces hidden in what had first seemed like an ordinary world faded by half.
"Kind of disappointing."
Shane shook his head. He was just about to step forward and end the farce when the situation suddenly changed.
"Stay still."
The lead gentleman removed his monocle, and his once-clouded right eye suddenly shone with a mysterious light.
Mystic Eye of Stagnation.
"Hm?"
Shane instantly felt the space around him harden, and the smooth motion of his body locked up for a split second.
Then a sharp shout rang out:
"Die!"
A shadowy figure appeared behind him out of nowhere, clutching a translucent scythe and swinging it hard for his unguarded neck!
"A familiar? Or a summoned construct?"
Feeling the chill at the back of his neck, Shane didn't panic in the slightest. If anything, interest lit up in his eyes.
Shhk—
The expected scene of his head flying off never came.
The scythe—sharp enough to cut steel—was now firmly caught in one hand wrapped in blue magic.
But the attack wasn't over. In the next moment, a sinister chill bloomed directly inside his lungs.
"So this time it's a genuine curse? Looks like there are some capable ones after all…"
Shane flung the shadow aside by dragging the scythe with it. He looked relaxed on the surface, but inwardly he had already stopped underestimating them.
To produce attacks like that with such a tiny amount of magical energy struck him as absurd.
If he hadn't been in Lancer form right now—if it had been someone else eating that combo straight on—they probably would have suffered badly.
"So this is magecraft?" he asked.
"Shouldn't that be called magic?"
Natsu, who had clearly been getting restless, suddenly opened his mouth and blasted a pillar of fire straight into the sky.
The magi clearly had no intention of answering, but seeing Natsu's crude, barbaric fire-breathing style, their faces all shifted into the kind of expression one might wear upon seeing a caveman rubbing sticks together.
"So it really is some backwater lineage with no proper inheritance… What magic? Don't tell me you think that kind of crude magical discharge you just used counts as magic?"
"Doesn't it?" Natsu asked blankly.
"Heh."
The magi sneered, as if explaining anything further would be an insult to themselves.
"Their 'magic' is different. It's conceptual. In some ways, it's even more dangerous than our high-tier magic."
Shane gave a brief explanation. He didn't understand all of it himself, but this wasn't the time to argue about definitions.
Given that the others didn't have anything like his ridiculous Magic Resistance, there was a real chance they'd get blindsided if these people started using tricky methods.
"You all keep doing the exam. Don't worry about this side."
Shane waved them off.
The others were still confused, but out of trust, they nodded. Only Natsu looked dissatisfied.
"Huh? But… I wanna fight too!"
"Idiot! Move!"
Gray grabbed Natsu by the back of the collar and started dragging him toward Ur.
"Seriously… they don't even look that impressive, so why are they all so damn cocky?"
…
Once everyone else had left—
"Alright."
With his magic resistance fully deployed, Shane looked like a walking humanoid fortress. Ignoring the streams of magecraft still raining down uselessly on him, he began walking step by step toward the gentleman at the front.
"There are a few things I'd like to ask you."
"Strange. Why would he have resistance at this level…?"
Looking at the silver-haired boy walking through the barrage of magecraft without a scratch—
the leader's face, rigid as a mask until now, finally changed.
It wasn't fear.
It was shock and anger.
He stared hard at the azure magic surging around Shane like a tide, as if he had recognized something impossible. His voice rose sharply, its tone cracking.
"Wait—this magical nature…"
"T-this is… Albion's magic?!"
"You… don't tell me you infiltrated the Spirit Tomb beneath the Clock Tower and obtained Albion's remains?!"
~~~
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