A Genius Boy Who Was Exiled From His Family Home for “Not Being Able To Use Magic” Becomes a Witch’s Apprentice and Masters All Magic in the Right Way. This Is How You Use Your Magic, You Know?

Chapter 182. A Last Resort

From the very start, I go all out. Considering the Archbishop’s advantage, there’s no other way.

Therefore, Hermes, in one breath, to reach Johan in the deepest part of the enemy’s territory as quickly as possible──

“Spell Reenactment──[Hraesvelgr]”

A magic spell to fly. He unleashes one of his trump cards. His body rises instantaneously. To trample over everything that blocks his path to the Archbishop, he transports himself to a realm only he can reach in this place──

──Forward.

“!!”

A momentary flash seared Hermes’s eyes. Twisting his body in midair, he barely dodges the heat ray that passes right next to him.

He was sniped.

(I thought so…)

But even for Hermes, this much is within his expectations. No matter how incomplete his current ability to predict the future is, it’s undeniable that Hermes is the easiest to read. The Archbishop would naturally know what kind of actions Hermes would take.

In addition, this is a weakness of [Hraesvelgr]──or rather, of Hermes.

He cannot simultaneously handle multiple bloodline magics. In other words, while he’s flying in the air, he can’t use other bloodline magics. Furthermore, for a Reenactment as complex as this spell, even the use of reinforcement universal magic is restricted.

Conclusion──For an opponent who has some kind of magical device for aerial sniping, like the Archbishop right now, he becomes an easy target. If he could ascend to an altitude where it couldn’t reach, that wouldn’t be the case, but there’s no way the opponent would allow that. If he continues like this, he’ll be shot down without a chance.

(There’s nothing I can do)

He immediately switches his thinking. Originally, this was a lost cause, so there’s nothing left but to switch to a frontal breakthrough. With that intention, he cancels the magic and sets foot on the ground to traverse the path to the Archbishop, hidden from the soldiers──at that moment.

The ground where he landed glowed, and multiple purple thorn-like whips grew from it. They moved with incredible speed, trying to entangle Hermes.

(A trap──!)

It’s the same mechanism as the infamous ‘Divine Punishment’. By predicting Hermes’ actions down to the minute, they accurately set up a type of magical device that would have a pinpoint effect. As a result, once again, at the moment he landed after canceling his magic, the most defenseless timing, they presented him with the biggest trap──

──But Hermes isn’t so naive as to fall for that trick again.

He is not just any ordinary magician. With incredible agility, he dodges the thorns that attack. He continues to evade them relentlessly, and with the time he gains, he chants a spell. And then,

“Spell Reenactment──[Ahura Mazda]”

In one fell swoop, he burns it all. Without sparing his most powerful attack, he blows away all of the set traps… and even drives away the enemy soldiers around him with the shockwave, forcibly creating an opening for his next move. Without missing this opportunity, Hermes begins his next chant, pointing his finger at the Archbishop who has gotten slightly closer.

“[Mistle Teinn]──Enchant: Eleka”

As if to return the sniping, he fires off the fastest magic bullet. The first effective counterattack, as expected, instantly reaches the Archbishop and…

“…Huh”

The Archbishop raised another magical device. It was blocked by an orange wall that emerged from it.

(…So you’re not that naive either)

It’s probably the same kind of magical device that Rose used when she fought Hermes before. If so, long-range attacks are meaningless. As long as he’s on guard, he should expect to be blocked even by [Hlidskjalf].

But there’s no time to gnash his teeth at the results. While repeating warning shots, Hermes closes the distance to a point where he can smash it all together──just going back to his original goal. Restarting his assault while activating the versatile [Mistle Teinn]… at the same time, Hermes thinks.

──He’s a formidable opponent, indeed.

Although he has rendered the ‘Divine Punishment’, which was initially the greatest threat, ineffective by figuring out its mechanism… even so, the incredibly abundant attack methods he just displayed. It’s only natural, he’s the church’s number two. There’s no doubt that he possesses many useful magical devices gathered from all over the kingdom, and it’s likely that they even include several ancient magical artifacts.

Furthermore, the Archbishop is adept at using all of those magical devices. With his extraordinary judgment and clear mind. He’s not overwhelmed by too many options, and I could see from this very moment that he makes the right moves at the right time.

Moreover, there’s the foresight. Seeing the newly set trap, I’m convinced. For the Archbishop, this situation is still within his foresight. There must be some cracks appearing. Nevertheless, he’s still grasping Hermes’ actions with an incredibly high degree of accuracy.

(…No, that’s not it)

It’s not just that, Hermes thinks as he continues his assault, glancing sideways. There, under Liliana’s command, soldiers who have gained the ability to handle bloodline magic thanks to her magic are fighting valiantly, and──

──the knights of the Northern Alliance are beginning to respond properly to it.

They’re recovering from the shock much too quickly. It means only one thing.

(…The Archbishop was expecting it. Even if he couldn’t predict Liliana’s actions, he could probably guess what kind of tactics or magic she would come up with)

Even if Liliana herself can’t foresee the future, she can create a silhouette, as it were, from other information. And in addition, through the Archbishop’s own experience-based inferences. Even if his foresight is disrupted, he doesn’t panic. And he doesn’t rely solely on his foresight.

In that way, Archbishop Johan. Thoroughly, persistently, and almost maniacally── ──he tries to move everything according to his own will.

…It reminds me of a board game, Hermes thought. Using his intellect, abilities, magic──everything. That man is forcing us to be his ‘pieces’.

And in fact, he has everything necessary to perfectly accomplish that. Unlike Aster, he is a born ruler who has achieved it through ability and talent rather than bloodlines. In front of him, Hermes is still just a puppet on the battlefield, in the palm of his hand.

(──Fine)

But even so. Hermes declares in his heart. That will be the end of it. He has already set the stage to break it. Cracks are already beginning to show. Even if he’s being read now, that might not be the case in the future. If there’s even a slight element of uncertainty, that’s enough.

As he declared at the beginning… try to stop me if you can. With renewed determination, he once again glared at the Archbishop and resumed his assault.

──From that point on, the front line became extremely fierce. Diverse and layered. Anticipating and preempting, traps that would instantly kill you if you let your guard down for even a moment. Murderous attacks relentlessly assaulted Hermes. Perfectly read and perfectly prepared traps. In fact, they were handling the magical devices so precisely that they could have killed Hermes ten times over and still had change.

…However, Hermes.

“──Next”

He dealt with all of it.

“I’ve seen that”

He burned away all the half-hearted sniping. He dodged the overwhelming amount of attacks with his agility. He noticed traps involving poison or illusions the moment they were activated, or even before they were activated, and blew them away with the wind or confined them with a barrier. In addition, as he avoided the traps, he grasped their tendencies and took countermeasures even faster.

“I know that too”

As if to say that if he were to let his guard down for even a moment, he just had to not let his guard down for even a moment. He responded, he adapted──and to top it all off, he even used the reckless tactic of stepping on a trap on purpose and then destroying it before it activated.

Magical devices, in principle, cannot do more than bloodline magic. Therefore, if they want to produce a large amount of firepower with them, basically the only way is a quantity-over-quality strategy, as Hermes had just experienced.

──For Hermes, that was a bad move. His weapon is his ability to adapt. To do such a straightforward brute force approach against him like this… it’s like asking him to counter it.

In the latter half, there was not a shred of danger in his movements. Even the number of traps, which should have been increasing in intensity, were nothing more than a time-wasting tactic for him.

And so, as he had declared. Hermes, who had fully traversed all the traps and the deadly storm,

“Next──is there anything else?”

Finally, only a few dozen steps remain. He’s now within visual range of the Archbishop. Of course, he isn’t unscathed either. Countless small wounds mar his entire body, and the amount of bleeding can’t be trivial.

However, there is no cloudiness in his emerald eyes. They brightly capture the figure of his enemy to be defeated. Judging from the magical aura floating around, he determines that there are no remaining traps. Hermes assumes a stance.

Naturally, he can’t let his guard down yet. This is the Archbishop, so there’s no doubt he has one or two more hidden balls up his sleeve even from here. What he should be especially wary of is the Archbishop’s bloodline magic, the magic of brainwashing, whose full extent is still unknown. Now that he’s approaching the Archbishop, he needs to be extremely cautious.

…But, of course, that’s not a reason to hesitate to attack. It’s an undeniable fact that he needs to settle things quickly, for the sake of Liliana and the others who are buying him time.

Therefore, without hesitation. Hermes forcefully stepped forward and was about to fully traverse the final path to the Archbishop── And then.

The Archbishop laughed.

Instantly. Hermes’ movement stopped.

“──Eh”

Hermes’ actions were suddenly forced to a standstill. The Archbishop didn’t do anything to him. Currently, all of Hermes’ vigilance is directed at Archbishop Johan, and he wouldn’t miss it if he was done something to him.

So, therefore. At the same time, he is made to understand. Looking back──no, forced to look back. A presence that fills his field of vision without resistance, it was the one who stopped his movement…

“──No!.”

Nina von Frodaite.

It was none other than her magic of charm, which had an overwhelming power over Hermes. As always, with a lovely smile, she had sealed Hermes’ movements.

──Too soon. That would be the first question to come to mind.

Nina was supposed to be held back by Sarah. Even though she wasn’t suited for direct combat, she had a high magical ability as a dual aptitude, and with her good compatibility with magic, she should have been able to buy enough time, especially in the current situation where Nina couldn’t go all out.

That assessment was probably correct. It was also certain that Sarah wasn’t the type to let her guard down, and there was no help from any other direction. Then. The reason why Nina was able to break through Sarah in such a short time and catch up with Hermes, who was charging almost without stopping, and stop him was only one.

──Nina was serious. It was nothing more than the fact that she, who had been facing Sarah, had not added a bit of restraint.

Then, the next question. Why did she do that? Why did she take such action when she was supposed to want this side to win.

The answer──was revealed immediately. Hermes, who was already forbidden from looking at anyone but Nina, observed her──and noticed that the chain-like pattern on the back of her neck, which he had seen before, was gone. And above all, her slight, and most decisive, magical alteration told everything.

From that information… and at the same time as he deduced the answer in his mind, which was already slowly and sweetly numb. Nina, lightly. With a lovely, seductive smile that completely stole his mind and captivated him.

“Hermes, I love you”

With a sweet voice, with a melting confession. Continuing with words to steal his consciousness. She said this.

“──So, I’m going to kill you?”

Nina is brainwashed.

That’s the conclusion. The reason why Nina acted like this, the reason why she ended up in this situation. There’s no other possibility.

The Archbishop’s brainwashing magic, whose full extent is still unknown. It bared its fangs──not at Hermes.

Hermes had once said this about the Archbishop’s magic:

[In the first place, magic that modifies thoughts isn’t that useful in general. It should be impossible to significantly change a person’s recognition or consciousness.]

That’s right, the third characteristic of mind-control magic: ‘It cannot significantly change the target’s nature or personality’. Hermes had said that the Archbishop’s brainwashing magic somehow penetrated that.

Then, similarly. The first characteristic of mind-control magic: ‘It basically doesn’t work on those with the same type of magic’.

──Why can he say with certainty that it doesn’t penetrate?

The Archbishop laughed as if to say that overlooking that was a fatal mistake for Hermes and the others. Before his eyes was a scene where the future he could see but Nina couldn’t was realized without the slightest error.

“──Go on.”

“Yes”

Without any doubt, Nina nodded at the Archbishop’s instructions. A completely merciless, fatal blow attacked Hermes, who was almost unable to move.