Prologue
—Three Years Ago
Ichinose Shion was surrounded by several upperclassmen.
The location was behind the school building of Terrence Magic Academy, where Shion was enrolled at the time. In that deserted spot with no passersby, the upperclassmen glared sharply at him.
“The hell’s your problem? You protecting this guy?”
“Listen up, this ain’t violence. It’s justice. His bastard of a father, the vice mayor, embezzled our taxes—”
“So it’s only fair his son pays the price too, right?”
As the upperclassmen spat their words at Shion with open hostility, a student crouching at his feet on the ground weakly called out to him.
“Ugh… Ichinose… You should run… No point… in you getting dragged into this…!”
“Shut up. Like hell I’d leave you!”
The one struggling to speak was a male classmate of Shion’s.
His father was the vice mayor of the city where the magic academy was located, but just yesterday, it had been exposed that the vice mayor had embezzled a massive sum of money—and by now, the news had spread throughout the entire school.
Amid this, as Shion was about to head home after class, he overheard that this classmate—the vice mayor’s son—had been dragged away by a group of upperclassmen.
Sensing the danger, Shion questioned witnesses and, following their accounts, searched behind the school building until he found his classmate.
By the time Shion arrived, the boy had already suffered severe beatings, his body covered in wounds.
The classmate wore an expression as if he had resigned himself to the violence, but Shion showed not a moment’s hesitation before stepping in.
Assessing the aggressive stance of the upperclassmen, Shion concluded that a fight was unavoidable if he wanted to save his classmate. With that, he turned his gaze toward the upperclassmen surrounding them.
(…Seven, eight, nine. …Too many. At best, I can take down one or two…)
Shion’s offensive magic was practically useless in real combat. He had been practicing body-enhancement spells, but they weren’t strong enough to turn the tide.
If he had to rely on hand-to-hand combat, he figured that with the element of surprise—and a bit of luck—he might be able to take down two opponents using sheer physical ability.
However, if the others ganged up on him in the middle of it, Shion had no means of defending himself. That would be checkmate.
(If I take down two and end up getting wrecked myself, fine… But if I can’t protect this guy, it’s all pointless…)
His eyes flicked briefly toward his fallen classmate. The boy’s clothes were dirtied from the assault, bruises already forming on his face and hands, blood seeping from scraped skin.
To Shion, this classmate was just another face he’d barely interacted with since elementary school. And yet—
(I can’t back down now… I won’t abandon him!)
Not even a speck of thought about running away alone crossed his mind.
Still, the harsh reality remained: Shion’s combat abilities were hopelessly outmatched.
(…Looks like the time has come… The time for my ‘awakening’.)
……Back then, the line between his delusions and reality was at its blurriest.
He genuinely believed he possessed a special power—a dormant superhuman ability.
And now, in this desperate situation, he earnestly sought to awaken that delusional strength.
“…Hey? What’s with that hand?”
(Awaken…!! My power…!)
“You’re signaling you wanna fight, huh? That how it is?”
As Shion raised his right hand toward the boy in front of him, the surrounding upperclassmen simultaneously aimed their hands at him, magic circles flaring to life.
Shion channeled his mana into his right hand, willing something to happen—but of course, nothing did.
(On three…! C’mon, damn it…! On three! Shit! If I don’t awaken now, when will I?! HERE WE GO—OOOOHHHHHHHH!!—Wha—!?)
“…!!”
Shion’s internal battle cry was cut short as both he and his wounded classmate suddenly widened their eyes.
What they saw was a spherical lightning spell hurtling straight toward Shion.
Apparently, while Shion had been standing there with his arm outstretched, one of the upperclassmen had struck first.
(Oh crap, it’s gonna hi—)
He was done for—or so he thought.
“…!?”
“W-What the—!?”
FWOOM! As if repelled by an invisible wall, the lightning bolt abruptly veered off-course and vanished into the sky.
(Huh…? Wh-What just…!?)
While Shion stood frozen in confusion—
“Guh…!? Ugh… Aah—!”
CRACK! A sound like something violently bursting echoed out, and the upperclassman who had attacked Shion crumpled to the ground.
“…!?”
“What the hell? What did he do?!”
The nearby upperclassmen instinctively took a step back.
(No way…!? Did my dormant power finally awaken…!?)
As Shion stared intensely at his own right hand—
“GYAAAAHHH…!!”
“GWAH—!?”
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! A rapid series of the same bursting sounds rang out, and the upperclassmen behind Shion collapsed one after another.
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(…!?)
“Y-You bastard…!!”
“The hell did you just do…!?”
“You’re dead…!!”
(Was that… my power just now…!?)
Roaring in fury, the remaining five upperclassmen unleashed merciless offensive magic at Shion.
……And yet.
“…!?”
“W-What the hell is this…!?”
Just like before, their spells scattered in all directions the moment they neared Shion, as if deflected by an unseen barrier.
(…!! I get it now!! It’s finally awakened!! Then I’ll show them… my true power…!!)
“…!”
THUD! Shion thrust his right hand toward the upperclassman directly in front of him, pouring all his mana into it.
Then—BOOM! A sound akin to an explosion erupted as the boy was violently sent flying.
“GUWAAHH…!!”
The student, as if struck by an invisible force, slammed into the school building’s wall several meters away before collapsing to the ground.
“A… Ah…”
“W-What the hell is this guy…?”
The remaining upperclassmen trembled as they spoke.
(What the hell’s wrong with Ichinose…!?)
Even the injured classmate lying nearby stared at Shion in utter shock.
Then, as Shion slowly turned his right hand toward one of the remaining upperclassmen—
“A-AAAAHHH!!”
“S-Spare us, please—!!”
The last of the attackers let out terrified screams and bolted in a panic.
The other upperclassmen already on the ground showed no signs of getting up, meaning Shion had successfully eliminated every threat in the area.
Once he confirmed this, Shion let out a relieved sigh.
“…Hah. …You okay?”
“Y-Yeah… Thanks, Ichinose…”
As he spoke, Shion helped his fallen classmate to his feet.
“Urgh…! Oww…”
“Hey, don’t push yourself. Here.”
“S-Sorry…”
His classmate seemed to have injured his legs from the beating, so Shion supported him as they walked.
After a while, the boy finally spoke up.
“…By the way.”
“Hm?”
“That just now… What was that? You shouldn’t be able to do something like that…”
His voice laced with confusion, the classmate turned his gaze toward Shion.
“Ichinose… Just what the hell are you?”
“…!”
Shion paused for just a second before a faint smirk crossed his lips.
“…Like you know, I’m just a failing magic student.”
—And the moment those words left his mouth…
(—Hah… Hah… HAAAAAAHHHHH!? W-Was that…!?)
It was like a bolt of lightning had shot through him from head to toe.
A primal instinct buried deep within him roared to life—his blood boiling with exhilaration.
An overwhelming sense of liberation, unlike anything he had ever felt before.
Those words had slipped out without thought—just a spur-of-the-moment, cool-sounding line to match the situation.
And yet…
—This is it!! This is what I’ve been searching for!!
Shion trembled from the depths of his soul. Hiding overwhelming power while pretending to be weak… That was the ultimate thrill, the ideal scenario he had unknowingly longed for.
This incident became the catalyst for Ichinose Shion’s eccentric behavior in the present—and the birth of an abnormal individual who found ecstasy in masquerading as someone weaker than he truly was.
……And soon after this, he would learn the truth behind the mysterious power that had defeated those upperclassmen…
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