The war is over.
<1856 Days After the Green Alphaurian's First Deployment>
An even-numbered year had arrived. And around this time, there was no event more momentous than the end of the war.
Wait, the end of the war?
It might sound sudden, but there was a reason the protagonist of this story would eventually earn the nickname God of War.
We really won, you say? All those pale freaks... you're saying every last one of them is dead?
Yeees- That's what I'm telling you, Grandpa.
Oh my.
Let's go back to the upper layer, to our homeland... You don't have to keep your body submerged in these cold waters anymore.
Blue-blooded. An early graduate of the training center.
That young Alphaurian, eager to bring the tiresome war to an end as quickly as possible, soon developed a new spell.
Much like the psychokinesis he frequently used, it was magic designed to draw what lay inside a body out into the open. To reiterate, the Betas originated from the harsh, barren upper region. As a result, their bodies had evolved for maximum efficiency, allowing them to survive even in environments almost devoid of mana.
The hero from the heart of that deep star. He finally defeated the evil forces of the upper layer. We won.
Amazing. Amazing!
The Beta species possessed extraordinarily delicate internal mana channels, woven throughout their bodies like a spider's web, allowing even the smallest amount of mana to circulate with remarkable efficiency. But what would happen if all that fuel were suddenly stripped away? Unlike the Alphauri, the Beta species were structurally incapable of withstanding the shock of having their mana completely drained to zero. Their slender channels required mana to flow through them at all times. Once emptied and subjected to pressure, those dried-out pathways would tear and twist apart.
By the way, how on earth did that wizard manage to kill all those germs?!
I heard about it from someone in the village. Apparently...
Y, yeah!
He developed an incredible spell that burns away the mana inside the Beta beings' bodies. That's why the enemies couldn't even make a sound before they all collapsed!
The invention devised by the deep-sea beings of the Middle Era.
It was none other than the foundation of the 「Mana Burn」. Though still only an adolescent, he had already laid the groundwork for a spell that would continue to be used for millennia to come. ℟ᴀΝốBƐŠ
OOOOO! (AHHHHH!)
At the time, he had designed the spell with a wide area of effect in mind, focusing solely on draining mana from multiple creatures at once.
In any case, the young green mage personally tested the spell he had devised on the battlefield. And, just as expected, it proved devastatingly effective against the Beta species...
Charge, charge!
He publicly revealed the Mana Burn to the world. From the language of its incantation to the smallest details of its casting formula, it was magic designed specifically for this purpose. Better still, through dozens of revisions, he simplified the structure of this upper-killing magic until even inexperienced beginner sorcerers could understand it with ease. The course of the battlefield no longer had to depend on a single genius.
With this magic created by the war hero, we can wipe out those tough bugs in no time!
Effort never betrays you, no matter where you are in the universe.
Enemy population decreasing through the efforts of the entire army.
Before long, the insolent invaders of the vast ocean planet were swept away in an instant. In other words, they met a gruesome end, their souls torn from their bodies.
Of course, a small number of Beta beings still seemed to remain in the enemy homeland—that is, on the mainland of the upper beings.
Those who couldn't handle mana properly, or who were too weak to contribute in battle, had been left behind on the upper layer because they could not endure interstellar travel.
The powerless and the elderly, huh. Hm.
From our perspective, aren't they basically the same as the ones we've already eliminated?
Because they're not soldiers.
No-- Damn it, you've gotta be able to see something before you can shoot it. My eyes are blurry as hell, I can barely even tell where the damn upper layer is—how the hell are we supposed to carry out a mainland purge like this?
Mhm?
That's exactly what I mean. The way you talk is always so...
~...
It's nothing. I misspoke. So please, withdraw your mana.
The Alphaurian decided not to go out of their way to hunt down and kill even the weak. More precisely, they still had no means of interfering with the remaining Beta beings. As someone had pointed out, for marine creatures that relied primarily on sound waves as their medium, the silence of outer space was itself lethal.
Moreover, the upper layer was already a land ravaged by severe resource depletion. It had become virtually uninhabitable. Alphaurin intellectuals estimated the probability of the remaining Beta beings on the mainland eventually annihilating themselves at roughly 95%. And so, the government made an official declaration.
End of war, end of war!
It was, in every sense, an almost perfectly complete victory.
<Day 1 of the Victory Ceremony>
The mid-depth seas, their primary habitat. The brightly gleaming upper layer. And the ice sheets covering the continents, among other places. Now that the Alphaurin had reclaimed their territory, there was no longer any need to devote themselves exclusively to military research.
Freedom!
Ah, that was hard.
... That compatriot really is a genius. They've managed to create the technology that finally brought the Great War to an end.
At the time, the members of the Mana Burn research project, riding atop a whale on their way to the victory ceremony, voiced a few concerns. Most of them centered on the young leader who had guided them.
Why would such a powerful mage emerge from the lowly deep-sea layers? Now that the war is over, will those in power really leave him alone?
Hmm.
There are no battlefields left where that mage is needed now.
Indeed.
Well, even though we participated in developing Mana Burn, we ultimately released all the information along with the blueprints, so there's no real danger to us...
But the scholar himself seemed utterly unconcerned.
Stop talking nonsense and hold on tightly to the whale saddle.
Even a wolf pack has a leader. There was no way a civilization this advanced would be without a ruler. In the nation of the eastern seas to which he belonged, there existed a supreme leader whose status was comparable to that of a king. And so, answering the leader's summons, the war hero arrived at the grand victory ceremony.
There, in the middle of the victory ceremony, he boldly made a demand. After all, he had contributed more than enough to resolving the crisis.
In addition, I should receive at least three of the leader's treasures.
Gasp!
Oh my.
If he was going to be rewarded, he wanted treasures magnificent enough to set his heart racing. Although information about magic had been released because of the extraordinary circumstances of the Great War, certain noble families still wielded considerable power, and ordinary citizens continued to fear the ruling class.
The green deep-sea man, however, cared nothing for such things. By this point, he was far too powerful to waste his time bowing his head to anyone.
No, honestly, someone like me deserves at least that much of a reward, right? When I was young, I often heard stories about the incredible magical tomes hidden away in the leader's treasure vault.
~...
So just let me read them for a while. I don't need gold or weapons. I only want the books.
He hadn't shown so much as a trace of fear before the white monsters that had crossed dimensions— and ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) now he was openly demanding that the royal family hand over access to their treasure vault?
Is this guy really crazy?
Just as everyone began thinking the same thing, the ruler of the planet, who governed the Eastern Sea, spoke gently into the tense atmosphere heavy with silent apprehension.
Let it be so.
To the pure-blooded nobles who had lived as the ruling class for thousands of years, the deep-sea people were little better than untouchables. From their perspective, handing the king's personal magic books over to someone of such lowly birth was akin to suddenly granting a common butcher a position in the government.
What did you say!
That cannot happen!
You would open the treasure vault containing the magic books to someone like that!
You know full well how many dangerous spells lie dormant within!
The members of the ruling class who had survived the Great War erupted into thunderous protest. But the king remained silent, and the green youth issued them a warning.
Hey, all of you. If you keep babbling like that, I might just read every magic book in there and burn them afterward.
What!
B, burn them? How dare you even utter such a thing...!
Don't ruin my mood. Besides, who said anything about taking the entire treasure vault? I just want to study quietly on my own. Once I've satisfied my curiosity, I'll put the books back where they belong and leave, okay?
Shut up! How dare a lowly person like you...!
Oh? Still not listening, huh? Then should I sweep all of you away just like the Beta beings?
Swish.
The Elders fell silent. The arrogant mage was brazenly issuing threats even in the presence of the nation's ruler, without the slightest hesitation. And the king himself remained seated silently upon his throne, almost as though he approved of every action the mage took.
If you think such a small reward is too much for a soldier who worked himself to the bone protecting this planet, then keep still right now. You low-intellectuals, I feel the same way about the gas being held inside your bladders.
A bloodcurdling pressure spread through the surrounding space. In other words, it was the sheer weight of the man's enormous magical power.
Besides, I have patriotism too. Do you seriously think I'd read the books, run off to a neighboring country, and help them neutralize us? I know what loyalty is. I'll continue living in this country. So in return, hand over the knowledge!
Soon afterward, the citizens who witnessed the scene found themselves thinking the same thing. Perhaps this was only natural after all.
For countless years, the rulers of this planet had maintained their authority by monopolizing mysterious phenomena. But magic was no longer the exclusive possession of the wealthy. Before their very eyes stood a wizard of overwhelming talent, as though such power had been bestowed upon him by a god. In this complete reversal of circumstances, what could mere rulers who had kept the masses suppressed through force possibly do?
I thought even the supreme ruler might try to interfere. But I suppose someone who rose to that position must have at least some sense after all.
The war hero smiled proudly.
Most of the ruling class attending the victory ceremony were themselves highly skilled individuals who had survived battles against the Beta beings. Yet even among those mages, not one dared to stand against the monster before them.
A suffocating tension filled the space. After a brief silence, answers finally began to emerge.
... I agree.
To the warrior who turned the tide of the war... the key to the treasure vault.
That's not such a bad bargain.
It's humiliating, but.
For the sake of peace...
We all agree with the hero's wishes.
And so, the green youth ultimately obtained the reward he desired.
He spent six months acquiring knowledge from the treasure vaults he had been granted access to, followed by another six months fully absorbing and internalizing everything he had learned.
After spending roughly a full year in such seclusion, living little differently from a prisoner in confinement, he finally encountered an unfamiliar compatriot outside the entrance to the third treasure vault...
***
<Alphauri, Academic Hall>
The Academy Hall. Originally, it had served as a mechanism for preserving the power structures of the old era. The heads of the ruling class would gather there, carefully managing and strictly controlling knowledge to prevent it from leaking into the outside world.
But during the establishment of the academy, most of the foundational knowledge of magic had already been exposed. In the early stages of the planet's defense, the rulers—the nobles—who had originally been the only people technically capable of wielding magic had perished one after another in battle. In the end, only a handful of pure-blooded members of the ruling class remained.
With their numbers reduced so drastically, it was impossible for the institution to function as it once had. And so, with the arrival of an age of peace, the Academy threw open its long-rusted doors under the banner of pure academic pursuit. Regardless of one's origins, any capable mage in the country could now become a member of its ranks.
Oh, hero of the Great War!
And whenever the word "capable" was spoken in this era, there was one person who could never be left out.
I am truly honored to have the opportunity to meet such a distinguished guest.
Huh?
I have been awaiting your arrival. I am an envoy from the Academy Hall of the middle layers. May I have a moment of your time?
Naturally, the list of guests invited by the Academy Hall included the hero who had led the Great War to victory. However, since he had remained buried in the king's treasure vaults until now, his meeting with the messenger dispatched by the scholars came somewhat late.
The Academy Hall?
But then, an awkward silence suddenly descended.
Yes, yes. To be more precise, I come from the newly restored Academy Hall that reopened last year...
Swish.
The tall Alphaurin suddenly extended its neck like a snail and began inspecting something. Held in one of its tentacles was a stone tablet used to decipher magical texts. Yet no matter how many times it checked, the information written there remained unchanged.
[0?]
The stone tablet brought from the Academy Hall clearly stated that the genius of the century possessed elastic skin, long arms, and a single red eye.
The man in front of me has three eyes...
But, forgive me for asking... are you truly the war hero himself?
To be precise, two of the Alphaurin's unique sensory organs, which served the function of eyes, had begun moving about within the gelatinous layer surrounding his body. But that wasn't what mattered right now.
Tiyong.
The messenger from the Academic Hall tilted its long neck to one side. The green mage who had emerged from the treasure vault, however, continued speaking as though he had expected this reaction all along.
Calm down. I'm eleven this year. I'm still in the prime of my growth, so of course my appearance would change over the course of a year.
Gasp!
Of course, you didn't know how old I was.
Eleven?!
Besides, I'm a deep-sea species. I'll probably keep growing steadily from here on out.
After a while, a calm voice echoed from beneath the sea.
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