Rebirth From Ordinary Person To The Strongest

"I'll take care of everything."

Standing in front of the monster, shielding Nina, I prepared myself.

I hadn't seen the entirety of her memories. Only the brief, unbearable moments—her father's murder, and how she was forced to laugh afterward. Just those were enough to make my blood boil.

My mind was in a feverish haze, my pulse pounding with rage.

"Take care of everything? That's boring!" sneered the monster.

It was wrapped up, like a hanging cocoon, by the Silveit threads I had created to bind its body. I couldn't let it go unpunished.

"Isn't it better when the toy box is scattered, Kisaragi Itsuki?"

Its words cut deep, each syllable taunting and filled with malice.

This was no simple sense of justice; this was personal. This thing had taken Nina's family and twisted it in the worst way.

The only option was to destroy it completely.

I chanted, gathering my magic.

"Consume, Oborozuki."

Using a "Composite Attribute Transformation: Night" spell, I focused on ending this quickly. The five Silveit threads shot toward the monster, binding it, ready to transform—

And then, suddenly, the monster's body burst apart.

"Oops!" it cried, its disembodied voices laughing. "Oborozuki, the big finisher, huh?"

Fragments of the monster scattered as if it had popped like a balloon, dodging my attack, leaving my Silveit threads entangled uselessly in mid-air.

"All your tricks, I've seen them all, Itsuki!"

From the shattered pieces, a black, viscous substance oozed out, taking shape as stuffed animals.

"Aren't you a clever one!" they jeered. "But facing a real King of the Seventh Rank without preparation is plain rude, don't you think?"

Stuffed animals that escaped my grasp melded together, twisting and morphing until they transformed back into the giant, writhing monster—a puppet master, hanging mid-air like an enormous caterpillar, encased in Silveit.

"...So you're the one who created Theater Troupe Actor?"

"Hmmm," the monster sneered, "you could say that's half-right… and half-wrong."

"Every single one of those actors was a piece of me, part of this 'Wonderland,'" it laughed. "Took a lot of hands to pull it off, but the Master here? That's me!"

The masks on its body shifted, the voices overlapping, some of which sounded disturbingly familiar.

"I am the Master, and splitting and assimilating personalities is second nature to me!" it boasted.

Splitting and assimilating personalities… did it mean that those "actors" were pieces of itself, summoned, then reabsorbed?

It didn't matter. All I had to do was destroy it.

"Then I'll just exorcise you all at once."

"Exorcise?" the monster mocked. "Can you even do it? Why not relax, Itsuki?"

Its masks tilted to the side, spinning in eerie unison, before bursting into laughter.

"Come on, let's just do the fun stuff, the good stuff, the exciting stuff!"

"Turning people into dolls, killing adults… that's exciting to you?" I asked.

"Oh, you've got it all backward!" it sneered. "This is so the kids can smile. We don't need adults here! Kids always worry about them!"

The masks laughed, spinning as the monster spoke, its twisted idea of "joy" making my skin crawl.

"So we'll make a world for kids only—a dream world, that's my Wonderland!"

I readied my magic, crafting the Silveit threads again.

Nina was behind me. The raw Oborozuki spell would be too dangerous with her nearby.

Oborozuki was powerful, but it needed restrictions. I'd previously contained its effect with a wall spell, "Raku-you," to enclose it within a safe boundary, but that only worked if the target stayed in one place. This creature had already slipped from my grasp.

In that case, it was time for the next tactic.

"Plotting against us, are you?" The monster laughed, as if reading my mind. "Itsuki, I think it's time for a little surprise!"

Five of the monster's own Silveit threads shot toward me.

"Nina!" I shouted, instinctively wrapping my arms around her and leaping back. I enhanced my physical strength with magic, escaping the threads just in time.

The intuition to dodge surged within me, a hot, cold sensation prickling along my spine.

"Surprises are best when they come out of nowhere!" the monster laughed, its threads tangling in mid-air. "A gift for you, Itsuki!"

The five threads weaved together, forming a black orb.

"Oborozuki!"

It hit me in an instant.

I lunged forward as my mind blanked, my body yanked toward the black sphere.

"This is simply basic magical composition," the monster said, sounding almost bored. "No innovation here, just simple execution. Just need enough mana, that's all!"

I shot my Silveit threads backward, attempting to anchor myself, but my mana dissipated on contact, slipping from my control.

"But for me, that's no problem!" the monster sneered. "One personality, one life—a simple trade for power. Equal exchange, after all. The oldest form of magic!"

That was it.

Oborozuki prevented magic within its field.

Trapped within the spell's radius, my body was being dragged toward the black sphere. Even the ground was crumbling and vanishing, devoured by its dark pull.

If I got sucked in, I wouldn't survive.

Nothing would, not even dust.

"Itsuki! That thing—!" Nina shouted, her voice laced with fear.

Nina knew exactly what was about to happen, having seen me use Oborozuki before. She knew how it worked—and how deadly it was.

"Don't worry."

I cut her off, forcing a calm smile.

"Don't worry, Nina."

Of course. If anyone knew this magic best, it was me.

"Trust me."

Then I launched myself straight into Oborozuki's darkness.

The black sphere of Oborozuki loomed closer, an ominous force approaching at an agonizingly slow pace.

In any ordinary circumstance, fear should have seized me at the thought of imminent death. But there was none. Instead, my anger toward the monster standing before me burned stronger.

"Trust me, okay, Nina? Do you remember?"

At this moment, I couldn't use my magic. Even my attempt to weave Silveit had dissipated under the influence of Oborozuki, a field that nullified magical energy in its vicinity.

"Remember that time when my magic stopped working?"

One year ago. Not long after I'd met Nina.

It was then, in a battle against monsters, that we'd suddenly found ourselves locked in the school at night. My magic had suddenly become unusable, leaving us vulnerable in a nightmare we couldn't escape.

I hadn't understood why until Irina had explained it to me.

A countercurrent of energy ran through my Silveit, a type of magic that clashed with my own. It was a "darkened Silveit"—a nullifying force that completely canceled out my magic.

That same principle explained why Oborozuki, with its fused attributes, left us powerless in its grasp. Its chaotic energy distorts magic waves so completely that it erases other magic upon contact.

It had always made me nervous.

What if a monster with nullifying abilities like Oborozuki emerged, one that could neutralize spells? Would I end up defenseless, unable to fight back, helpless to prevent my own demise?

I'd realized then that I needed a countermeasure.

If Oborozuki could nullify magic, what I needed was magic potent enough to overwhelm its effect—a force of power beyond the typical bounds. Oborozuki, with its nature, would need an energy of roughly 8.1 million times the normal level to break through.

But… that was exactly what I had prepared for.

The time had come to unleash that countermeasure.

"Come forth."

With one arm holding Nina close, I reached down to the ground, extending my hand as if to grip something unseen.

My shadow softened, like ink spreading over the floor. I poured massive amounts of magic into it, creating a barrier of energy so dense it would shield against Oborozuki's energy field and leave more than enough to form a spirit—one that was born from shadows.

Shadow.

The shadow I conjured slithered along the ground, extending its arm toward the Oborozuki sphere.

"Aw, trying to resist? Is that the last trick up your sleeve, kid?" sneered the monster, its many voices mocking me from all directions. "This here's Oborozuki. It grinds down anything near it and swallows it whole, you know?"

Its taunting voices rang through the air, each one adding fuel to my simmering rage.

I didn't need the monster's confirmation. I knew Oborozuki's properties too well. The spell pulverizes anything within its reach and engulfs it. That's why it appeared like a dark moon—its body swallowed by the shadows.

Sure enough, the Shadow's hand began to break apart, splintering to dust as it came into contact with Oborozuki.

"See? That's the way it is! Your little tricks don't stand a chance!"

"Wish that were true," I muttered back, watching as Shadow's hand gripped Oborozuki tightly. As soon as it did, I cast Kage Okuri, sending the spell itself into the shadows.

"…What?" The monster's voices faltered.

"Here's something for you to know," I said, propelling myself forward with my magic.

"First, even if something disappears, momentum remains."

My body, already in motion, continued toward the space where the monster was standing just past Oborozuki.

"Even if Shadow is shattered, a shadow is still a shadow."

Shadow, the shadow spirit, is drawn from the realm of shadows and manifests in our world, appearing to take a form. But that's only an illusion; Shadow's true body remains in the shadows. Even when fragmented, its essence spreads, creating an area for me to anchor my Kage Okuri and send the spell away.

A simple concept, really.

"And second—"

I reached out my hand, casting my shadow directly over the monster's.

"In the shadow world, magic's properties reverse."

A wet, tearing sound echoed through the air. In the center of the monster's body, as if carved by a compass, was a perfect, gaping hole.

I had created it.

"See?" I taunted.

"W-What… but Oborozuki was… invincible!"

"If it were, I wouldn't be training, would I?"

The counterattack had been twofold.

First, I'd used spirit magic to send the monster's Oborozuki into the shadow realm. Then, I'd reflected the reversed properties of Oborozuki back onto the monster itself, using Oborozuki's shadow as a conduit.

With magic reversed in the shadow realm, Oborozuki's pull transformed into a powerful repulsion field, tearing a hole right through the monster's body.

This reverse version of Oborozuki I called Byakuyou, the White Sun.

The monster's masks twisted into expressions of horror, visibly trembling.

"Oh, and one more thing."

I took a step forward, raising my voice.

"So that Nina can feel at ease. To show her that monsters like you are nothing to fear."

I declared, "I still have Oborozuki."

As I raised my arm to cast Oborozuki, the monster recoiled and pivoted away.

"I'll teach you something important, in return!" it hissed.

At that moment, I was flung backward, disoriented by the powerful force that had suddenly propelled me away.

The monster's voice echoed as it fled.

"When in danger, the best strategy is… to run!"

It was gone before I could cast my spell.

"...I won't let it get away," Nina whispered beside me.

She raised her voice, casting her magic.

"Bring it back. To me."

A ringing sound, like the hum of a tuning fork, resonated in the air.

At that instant, a single Pixie spirit materialized, but then another, and another. Within seconds, their numbers multiplied exponentially, a countless sea of Pixies filling the air, flowing with every breath Nina took.

"What…?" I gaped. I'd never seen her summon so many spirits before.

"No matter how many Pixies you summon," the monster stammered, "they're no match for us!"

A Pixie grabbed onto the caterpillar-like monster. Following that first, all of Nina's Pixies swarmed the monster's body, locking it in place, restoring the amusement park to its former, peaceful appearance.

Restrained by the sheer number of Pixies, the monster was dragged back, forced before us, writhing in place.

"P-Please, can we stop this?" it cried. "There's no fun in this. Wonderland would be ruined…"

The monster squirmed desperately, screaming frantically.

"If I die here, this world—the whole amusement park—will disappear with me! Isn't that such a waste?"

Its shrill, panicked voice rang painfully in my ears.

"Itsuki, do you still have magic left?" Nina asked quietly.

"Yeah, I do," I replied.

"Then, please… exorcise it all."

"Leave it to me."

Now that it couldn't run, Oborozuki was all I needed. As I began weaving Silveit threads, I noticed the monster's masks quivering, their expressions reflecting raw terror.

In the face of such shameless cowardice, my anger softened into something else.

"Isn't death supposed to be funny?" I taunted.

"So go ahead—laugh."