Even though Ireena-san asked me, “It’s simple, right?” all I could manage was a complicated expression.

It was true that my magic capacity was ranked at Seventh Order. I had more magic than most, but having a large reserve didn’t necessarily mean I had high output. It wasn’t as straightforward as that.

In simple terms, my magic tank was enormous. But the size of the faucet attached to it—that’s a different story.

That said, I had been training to increase my output.

As I stood there, in a world where the monster’s Closed Space made it impossible for me to use magic, supporting Nina-chan with my own strength, I thought back.

Elementary school lessons were boring. So boring, in fact, that I spent my time secretly training. I would increase the amount of magic I channeled into Silveit during class without anyone noticing, practicing my output control.

After becoming friends with Nina-chan, I focused more on practicing Alchemical Arts. Thanks to that, my output had only increased by about 1.2 times since I first started, but still—an increase is an increase.

So, when I began to weave Silveit again, the monster simply shrugged.

“Let’s stop this already. There’s no point in continuing, is there? I don’t want to die. You don’t want to die either. So, let’s call a truce,” the monster said, releasing threads of Silveit from its hand.

“Let’s cease hostilities, shall we?”

The threads immediately underwent an Elemental Transformation.

“Ireena-san!” I shouted.

The target wasn’t me—it was Ireena-san.

Hearing my warning, Ireena-san kicked off the ground just in time. The spot where she had stood was shattered by ice bullets formed from the monster’s Silveit.

She attempted to summon fairies, but it was no use. The moment they appeared, they vanished.

Without missing a beat, Ireena-san asked calmly, “Didn’t you say you wanted a truce?”

“Ah, yes, I certainly do. The thought of fighting an exorcist terrifies me…”

The monster shrugged, even as Ireena-san dodged the attack.

“It’s enough to make me tremble with fear,” it said, grinning wickedly.

Then, ice pillars shot forth like bullets.

Both Ireena-san and I rolled to avoid them, but because Ireena-san was larger than me, she couldn’t completely dodge. An ice pillar lodged itself into her leg.

“Ireena-san!” I called out.

“I’m fine. Focus on the monster in front of us, Itsuki,” she replied, pulling the ice pillar from her leg.

…There’s no way she’s okay.

Without magic, Ireena-san wouldn’t be able to dodge any more attacks with her leg injured. She would just become a sitting target for the monster’s next assault.

There was no way I could let that slide. It was far from fine.

“My apologies. I’m not very good with magic. I was only trying to intimidate you, but it seems I hit my mark by accident,” the monster said, grinning.

By now, I knew enough to realize it wasn’t telling the truth.

The monster had fully intended to kill us with that attack. But since we dodged it, it was acting as if it hadn’t aimed at us in the first place.

It was such a thinly veiled lie.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” I said.

“What is it, Kisaragi Itsuki?”

“I’m curious about something.”

I carefully laid Nina-chan on the ground, all the while keeping my eyes locked on the monster. I stood between Ireena-san and the monster, facing it head-on as I prepared my Silveit.

“If you’re so afraid of fighting exorcists, why didn’t you run away?”

“I tried. You’re the ones who stopped me.”

“No, you had plenty of other chances to escape. But you created a Closed Space and stayed. So, I think you’re not as scared as you say.”

There are two ways to increase the amount of magic flowing from a tank.

One is to attach a larger faucet. It’s the most straightforward and obvious method.

The other is to attach numerous smaller faucets. Even with smaller outlets, you can still release a lot of magic.

“So, I’ve been thinking. You’ve been going on about being scared, but aren’t you really just trying to consume Ireena-san, Nina-chan, and my magic?”

“…”

“How many more do you need to devour to reach the Sixth Order? I don’t remember the exact number, but… if you consume me, you’ll skip straight to the Seventh Order.”

At that moment, the monster’s grin widened unnaturally, stretching further and further until it reached the corners of its face, almost splitting it in two.

With its mouth gaping wide, the monster laughed.

“How rude. How terribly rude, Kisaragi Itsuki. Are you suggesting that I believe I can actually beat you?”

“You do, don’t you? That’s why you created the Closed Space, sealed our magic, and yet you still haven’t run away.”

The monster fell silent.

Instead of replying, it began weaving Silveit again.

This time, the target wasn’t me, nor was it the injured Ireena-san. It was the unconscious Nina-chan.

That’s why I used my magic.

Since coming to this world and learning about magic, I realized something important.

Magic power operates on a multiplier system.

For example, the difference between the First Order and the Second Order isn’t linear—the Second Order has 30 times the magic power of the First Order. The Third Order? 900 times the First Order. It scales exponentially.

And it’s not just magic rankings. The same principle applies to Composite Magic and Elemental Transformation. The amount of magic consumed grows exponentially with complexity.

But the increase in magic consumption isn’t just a drain—it boosts the power of the spell accordingly.

If a spell consumes 30 times more magic, its power also increases by about 30 times.

So then, what would happen if I stacked 60 threads of Silveit, each with 1.2 times the power output?

“Hey, monster that possessed Sensei.”

I called out to the monster as it prepared to launch its magic at Nina-chan.

“Are you sure you don’t regret not attacking me first?”

The monster looked at me, trying to gauge the meaning of my words.

It hesitated, its thoughts momentarily slowing the movement of its magic.

But that hesitation was fatal. My magic had already been unleashed.

“Pierce through. Radiant Beam.”

In an instant, the 60 strands of Silveit I had combined into one shone brightly and shot toward the monster’s heart.

The concentrated, overwhelming magical energy glowed like a beam of light, searing through the air.

And that’s why I call it Radiant Beam.

In the next moment, the light made contact with the monster’s body, vaporizing it instantly. Its body, turned to steam, exploded into nothingness.

But the massive beam I had fired didn’t stop there. It blasted through the Closed Space’s school building, melting and disintegrating everything in its path.

Naturally, nothing remained. Nothing could.

Combining 60 strands of Silveit at 1.2 times power results in a force that’s equivalent to… well, I don’t even know. But it’s a huge number.

“I did it. I actually exorcised it.”

As I returned to the real world, I exhaled in relief, thankful from the bottom of my heart that no one had died.

“So… that means I win.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep