Infinite Mage [Remake]-Chapter 230: Different Skies (Part 2)

Dante's mind went as blank as the blast. A near-second computational gap was fatal at this level.

He covered his face, bracing for an unpredictable strike—but Shirone didn't move.

Instead, concentrated light formed a massive circle before him: a Halo, the angelic magic circle mastered through Levitation training.

Neid (shouting): "Ataraxia!"

Shirone's ultimate technique. Yet Neid frowned.

Even with the Halo complete, data consolidation took one minute—far from battle-ready.

Iruki (grimacing): "A desperate move."

As Neid nodded silently, Iruki added:

Iruki: "But the only one left. He's done all he can. This is his last chance."

Dante clawed back his fading consciousness. He'd never expected light to cripple his system.

But Shirone, too, was out of options. As Pascal rebooted, the mansions pivoted toward him.

Shirone focused solely on the Halo, ignoring the encroaching spells. Pale light traced Pi's infinite digits, completing the circle. The angelic shield materialized.

Boyle (clutching his head): "Gah! What is that?!"

As a summoner, his spatial perception exceeded ordinary mages. To him, the "perfect circle" was sensory violence.

Iruki understood instantly.

Iruki (internal): "A microscopic-scale assault."

Most couldn't perceive the difference between a normal circle and a "perfect" one. But Dante, who inherently read information entropy?

Dante (choking): "Guh—!"

Veins bulged in his neck. The mental shock degraded Pascal's functions.

Dante (internal): "What the hell Is this?!"

Iruki clung to hope. Shirone had planned this.

But would it be enough?

Boyle had already recovered—ironically, due to his lower skill level.

Amy recalled the Heavenly Realm.

Amy (internal): "So that's why Baalv..."

Ataraxia's shockwave intensified with the target's mastery. Now she understood why the 2nd-Circle Mara had retreated before Shirone's technique.

Then who here would suffer most?

Amy's gaze snapped to Olivia.

As predicted, the professor's shoulders trembled.

Olivia (internal): "This is... impossible."

At the pinnacle of human perception, the Halo nearly obliterated her consciousness. Though her archmage resilience held, even a nanosecond's lapse would've been fatal.

This was beyond Shirone's current capability.

Olivia (internal): "A circle no human can create. What does he intend to place inside a space vast enough to hold the world?"

The Halo began assembling Ataraxia's concept.

Multicolored rays showered the magic circle, etching rippling patterns into its surface like rain on a pond.

Olivia thought that phenomenon was absurd as well.

As far as she knew, it was impossible for information to enter from outside the magic circle. The speed of information accumulation was so close to the speed of light that it created an optical illusion to the human eye.

'This makes no sense...'

Olivia's eyes widened in shock as she realized the truth. If the accumulation speed was truly near light speed, any magic circle should be completed in less than a second. Yet, even after ten seconds, not only was it incomplete—it was accelerating.

This is dangerous.

Dante's judgment was the same. The assembly of such a massive concept—if left unchecked, the hard-earned advantage would slip away completely.

Dante: "I can't just let this happen."

Dante activated Electric Mansion. With a sound like splitting wood, white and blue electricity crackled outward.

Shirone hastily dodged. Ataraxia wasn't even half complete yet. Worse, the automaton, now fully restored, had resumed its barrage.

Amy grimaced in frustration. As expected, using it in real combat was too much. The last opportunity gained from Shining Impact was about to be wasted.

Amy: "Huh?"

At that moment, Amy's eyes sparkled. Iruki and Neid also stared at the halo in disbelief.

Information continued accumulating within the luminous ring—but this was impossible. Shirone was still darting around, evading the barrage.

Iruki: "What's going on? How is this happening?"

His mind raced. Was it possible to simultaneously teleport and operate a magic circle? Shirone wasn't a servant, nor could he manipulate Pascal like Dante.

'Parallel circuits? No—something that only looks parallel?'

Then, a flash of insight struck him.

Iruki: "That's it!"

Amy: "Iruki, what's happening?"

Unable to contain his excitement, Iruki shouted:

Iruki: "Time-slicing! He's time-slicing!"

Neid finally understood and slapped his knee.

Neid: "Ah! Of course! That makes sense!"

Amy: "What's time-slicing? Is Shirone using two spells at once?"

Iruki: "He's splitting the computation into time segments. He's switching between two magical processes at an incredibly fast rate—A, B, A, B, A, B—creating the illusion of simultaneous casting."

Mark gaped in awe. Even in the Uncrossable Bridge, time was split into ten-thousandth segments, but alternating between two computations was on another level entirely. Only Shirone, with his precise insight beyond mere knowledge, could pull this off.

For the first time since the duel began, Olivia felt excitement.

Time-slicing? Even among elite frontline mages, only a handful could perform this technique.

'So Shirone is evolving too?'

Her sharp gaze flicked toward Alpheas, and she jolted in surprise.

A wild, almost savage energy swirled across Alpheas's face. His lips were stretched ear to ear, refusing to close.

'Kukuku. Shirone, now you're finally acting like yourself.'

Even Alpheas hadn't anticipated Shirone attempting time-slicing. He felt like giving a standing ovation.

When he first heard about Ataraxia, he estimated a minimum of four years of training before practical use. Even the fastest prodigy would need that long.

Yet Shirone had done it in just four months.

Time-slicing slowed the accumulation speed by half, but compared to the vulnerability of constructing a magic circle for a full minute, it was a negligible drawback.

Above all, Alpheas wanted to see its power. Just imagining the destructive force of information accumulated at light speed for over two minutes sent electricity coursing through his body.

'Just a little more... just a little more!'

Shirone poured everything into switching computations. Time-slicing felt like juggling with his mind—if he lost focus for even a split second, everything would collapse.

Avoiding Dante's attacks in this state was no easy task. But he refused to lose. The title of "Kingdom's Greatest" meant little to him. If he didn't defeat Dante here, he felt he'd never move forward again.

Dante's heart pounded with impatience. The automaton seemed on the verge of catching Shirone—yet never quite did.

'Damn it! What the hell is happening?!'

When would that magic circle activate?

If only he knew, he could strategize. But even as an information magic specialist, he couldn't decipher this bizarre concept. The combination itself shouldn't be possible—let alone the sheer scale of information.

As Ataraxia's accumulation surpassed 50%, students groaned, unable to bear the heat from their bracelets.

Mark spun his bracelet nervously.

Mark: "Senior Amy! This is safe, right?"

Amy was sweating too.

Honestly, she wasn't sure. Even the most dazzling spells cast by graduating students never made the bracelets this hot. Clearly, Icheon Beon couldn't fully process Ataraxia's data load.

Amy: "I don't know. Be careful—it might explode."

Mark: "Wh-what?!"

Yet Amy's gaze remained fixed on Icheon Arena. Even if the bracelets exploded, she was determined to see the outcome.

Inspired, Mark steeled himself. A few burns were nothing compared to witnessing a clash of geniuses.

Then, shockingly, Dante dismissed his automaton. If this continued, Shirone's magic circle would complete, shattering the balance.

Iruki was impressed.

Iruki: "A brilliant decision. He's reading the flow of battle."

Abandoning a surefire strategy was hard. Spectators could say anything, but for the combatant risking everything, inertia wasn't easily broken.

Yet Dante shattered it.

Knowing how fatal it was to be swept up in the opponent's rhythm, he plunged back into the unknown. This judgment alone proved his genius.

'Damn it! I didn't come this far to lose!'

Dante switched Spirit Zone to sniper mode. A hundred amplification magic circles stretched before him in a line.

Ultra-Precision Serial Magic Circle: White Blade.

The circles rotated, tightening around an imaginary axis.

This smooth, serial structure—designed solely for power amplification—could not tolerate even a millimeter of error.

With the automaton gone, Shirone could focus on Ataraxia. Yet his heart sank.

Had things continued as before, victory would've been his. But Dante had introduced another variable.

'Incredible, Dante. Then again... I'd have done the same.'

Now, it was a race to complete their magic circles first.

Dante's White Blade had a much shorter activation time than Ataraxia, but Shirone had already accumulated over 70% of the information through time-slicing.

A smirk crept onto Dante's lips. Though hundreds of magic circles had vanished, Pascal remained intact.

Dante: "This is the difference between you and me."

Shirone realized what he'd overlooked and looked down. Beneath his feet, a spatial teleportation circle had been carved.

His body sank into the ground—only to reappear in the sky, falling headfirst onto the exact same spot.

Neid slammed his fist in frustration.

Neid: "Damn it! He had that up his sleeve?!"

Dante could attack freely even while constructing White Blade.

Of course, this was just armchair criticism, but to win, Shirone should've accounted for it.

Iruki sighed in resignation. Shirone had displayed incredible skill. Dante simply had one tiny extra trick.

Iruki: "It was a good fight. We have to admit that."

Neid's fist trembled in frustration. He didn't hate Dante—he hated Dante's perfection.

Neid: "That bastard. He deliberately chose spatial teleportation."

Iruki: "Because Icheon Beon blocks active magic. Offensive spells would've given Shirone room to resist. So he went for physical impact—fitting for the 'Kingdom's Greatest Defense.'"

Meanwhile, Dante's White Blade completed. A Fire Strike loaded at the amplification tunnel's starting point.

Regaining his composure, Dante smiled.

Dante: "This is the en—"

His voice cut off.

Students followed his gaze—and their eyes widened in shock.

Despite Shirone losing consciousness, Ataraxia remained in place.

Ping.

A single drop of information fell into the halo.

Ping. Ping-ping.

Another drop. Then two more.

Pingpingpingpingpingpingping!

Suddenly, light poured in at an overwhelming speed.

The luminous ring spun faster, filling with iridescent light beyond what the eye could perceive.

Olivia shot to her feet in disbelief.

Olivia: "This is impossible! The information is imagining itself?!"

Alpheas was equally stunned—but if he considered whose power Shirone's Ataraxia truly was, this phenomenon made sense.

Alpheas: "This transcends human logic. A self-thinking information system past the critical point. No wonder it's called Heavenly Magic."

Olivia stared at him blankly.

Olivia: "Heavenly Magic? What are you talking about?"

Alpheas held back. She'd learn eventually—but now wasn't the time.

Alpheas: "We've finally arrived at the destination. This is where the match will be decided."

As if telling her not to miss the spectacle, Alpheas gestured toward Icheon Beon. Olivia turned.

Shirone, regaining consciousness, slowly rose. A single Photon Cannon formed before him—crafted from sheer willpower.

Dante: "Damn it!"

Suppressing a scream, Dante unleashed Fire Strike. A blazing lance of air pierced through the magic circles, growing in size.

At that moment, Shirone's magic circle completed.

Ultra-Magic Amplification Circle: Ataraxia.

Shirone watched as the White Blade-amplified Fire Strike surged toward him—and fired the Photon Cannon straight into its heart.

To everyone, the photon piercing through Ataraxia seemed to move in slow motion.

Then, the moment it crossed the line—

Flash!

The world filled with light.

Everything beyond Ataraxia was swept away in a storm of colossal mass.

The momentary brilliance registered slowly in their minds, as if the very skin of space had been peeled back, revealing the wrinkles of air before pushing everything outward.

Clink! Clink! Clink! Clink!

Simultaneously, a series of shattering sounds erupted among the students. Overloaded, the bracelets' crystal spheres exploded one after another. Icheon Beon shut down, and the simulated scenery vanished.

Like a midsummer night's dream, the spectacle disappeared, leaving only the dry physical blocks behind.

No one spoke.

They were too busy processing what they'd just witnessed. Even the teachers had never seen magic of this magnitude.

All eyes turned to Shirone and Dante.

The two stood in the same positions as before, unharmed. Murmurs spread.

The fact that Dante hadn't collapsed was unexpected.

Shirone's spell had been unstoppable—the sheer data volume exceeded Icheon Beon's memory. In a real battle, Dante would've been erased without a trace.

But this was Icheon Beon—and Dante was still standing.

Even at 50% sync rate, anti-magic should've knocked him unconscious.

Perhaps the system had crashed before the impact registered. If so, declaring a winner would be forced.

Given this was a student duel, the faculty might call it a draw.

But that wasn't what Shirone's friends—or any of the spectators—wanted.

Shirone and Dante had fought a historic battle. Selfishly, the students wanted a definitive conclusion to this memory.

Shirone, panting heavily, glared at Dante. With Icheon Beon gone, he could only watch—too exhausted to do anything but breathe.

Dante: "Hah..."

Dante let out a hollow laugh, but he was equally drained, struggling to speak. He tried stepping forward—but stopped after barely three steps.

Dante: "You..."

Then—splat! Blood gushed from Dante's nose. His pupils dulled, and like a falling tree, he collapsed face-first onto the ground.

Iruki whispered shakily:

Iruki: "It hit. Anti-magic struck before the system shut down."

His quiet voice spread like telepathy among the students.

Student 1: "He lost? Dante actually lost?"

Student 2: "Looks like it. Dante... the Dante was defeated."

As if under a collective spell, the students erupted into cheers. The soundwaves mixed, vibrating the air violently.

Students: "Shirone won! Shirone defeated the Kingdom's greatest, Dante!"

Mark snapped out of his daze. Hearing the cheers, his tension melted—only for another emotion to surge.

This was the moment Shirone ascended as the Kingdom's top star.

Mark: "WOOOO! Senior Shirone won! Who's the best now, huh? Come on! Anyone else wanna challenge him?!"

He acted as if he'd won, too exhilarated to notice Dante's friends glaring coldly beside him.

Kilaine muttered in disbelief:

Kilaine: "Unbelievable... Dante... lost."

The result was incomprehensible. Yet Dante's face, pressed against the cold physical blocks, was undeniable proof.

473 battles. 472 wins.

And 1 loss.