“Creation Magic: The Inscription of Genesis, The Emerald Tablet!”

Bathed in the astonishment of everyone watching, his magic was finally revealed for all to see.

Beckoning to his call, a translucent green tablet alit with an otherworldly jade light materialized from thin air.

On its surface laid a vast array of mysterious characters. Green cubes illuminated with the same light fluttered through the air close to the tablet.

That fantastical jade terminal floated above his left hand. Mystery and wisdom, miracle and principle; it was just as harmonious as it was paradoxical, akin to yin and yang.

“Herm, is that…?”

Although captivated by the beauty of his magic, Katia asked a question nonetheless.

“The Inscription of Genesis, The Emerald Tablet. This is the magic my master taught me, something worthy of being called the ‘seed’ of my magic—”

“—YOU’RE BLUFFING!!!”

However, Hermes was interrupted mid-reply yet again by a shrill voice.

“I don’t know what the hell that magic is, but I doubt it’s anything worthwhile anyway! You can’t possibly have any excellent magic! You shouldn’t be ALLOWED to have any, NOT AFTER YOU WERE BLESSED WITH EVERYTHING BESIDES MAGIC!!”

Chris cried out in disbelief—or rather, he cried out in rejection to the reality in front of him.

As if in response to his outburst, the magic bullets at his back grew even brighter.

“That’s right, I was only ordered to capture Lady Katia alive. That means NO ONE would blame me if some mere PEASANT just happened to oh-so UNFORTUNATELY GET MIXED UP IN ALL OF THIS!!”

There wasn’t a single person who didn’t know what Chris meant by that. 

His intent to kill was clearly reflected in his bloodshot eyes as he stared down Hermes. 

The spheres of light at his back had already reached critical mass, and it was clear at a glance that he was on the verge of unleashing the entirety of his bloodlust and mana at Hermes.

However, Hermes remained unfazed.

Standing in the same place he deployed his magic, he quietly and attentively observed the magic in front of him.

It was almost like he was searching for something—or maybe, he was trying to scan something.

At the same time, he recalled something. He thought back to the time when his master taught him this terminal-esque magic.

---

Let’s go back 5 years.

“This is Creation Magic: The Inscription of Genesis, The Emerald Tablet. This is the masterpiece that I developed—as well as the strongest magic in existence.”

“The strongest… magic…!”

Hermes, who had just become Rose’s apprentice, was given a rough idea of what he was going to learn from this moment forward for starters.

His eyes sparkling, Hermes stared at the magic that his master so triumphantly and cheerfully announced.

“Boys like these kinds of things, right? Thanks for the honest reaction~ My dear apprentice is as cute as ever today~”

In response to Hermes’ reaction, she stroked his head with a look of pure delight.

“The fundamental effect of this magic is, so to speak, the analysis and recreation of magic.”

“Analysis… and recreation?”

“Yup. I’ll say it over and over again, but magic isn’t a blessing gifted from the heavens—it’s the work of man. All magic has theory, laws, a cause and effect grounded in reality, as well as reproducibility.”

In other words, if you abided by those laws and theories, anyone should be able to use magic. Rose said so herself.

“The Inscription of Genesis, The Emerald Tablet will first assist in the analysis necessary to reproduce magic. It breaks down how the mana in the magic in front of you is flowing, what kind of equations are etched where, and in what order they all activate in.”

The various charts and graphs on the terminal she deployed delineated intricate trajectories.

Rose fixed her gaze on a lamp placed between the two of them, which had a magical flame trapped inside of it.

“Then, using the results of the analysis as the foundation, this magic utilizes its built-in ‘magic components’ in tandem with each other, thereby attaining recreation.”

Once she finished speaking, a flame the exact same color as the one in the lamp suddenly ignited on the palm of her hand.

“By applying this magic to generic magic and ‘remodeling’ it even further, I can use multiple spells that are nearly at the same level of Bloodline Magic.”

“Woow!”

Hermes voiced his honest admiration after he learned where the magic Rose displayed when they first met

After Hermes learned where all the magic Rose used when they first met came from, he voiced his honest admiration.

“Master! Can I do the same thing as you!?”

“Hahaha! What are you saying, my dear apprentice?”

Expecting that exact question, Rose cheerfully smiled.

“You’ll be able to do things far greater than this, you know?”

“!”

“Because of the Bloodline Magic that dwells within my body, at best, I can only recreate magic close to Bloodline Magic—but you’re different from me. You—and only you—can master the true way of using this magic. That’s why I’m thinking of entrusting this magic to you—”

---

“…Six are holy bows; One is a magic bullet; Let this be the trigger to the arm of a false god.”

Everyone there widened their eyes in surprise once more.

That’s because that was the chant of the Bloodline Magic that Chris was on the verge of firing.

And Hermes was giving mouth to it.

“IT COULDN’T BE—!”

Chris, having foreseen what was about to happen next, let his magic loose in abject denial.

However, Hermes, completely unfazed, said its name with an enormous surge in mana.

“Technique Reenactment: The Archer of Magic Bullets, Mistle Tina!”

This was the true way of using The Inscription of Genesis, The Emerald Tablet.

This was the territory that only he, who was inept, could step foot into, which his Master, cursed by Bloodline Magic, couldn’t.

That is to say, the recreation of Bloodline Magic.

Seemingly picture-perfect copies of the enormous spheres of light behind Chris manifested behind Hermes as well, and they flew at each other head-on.

The spheres collided. Violent streams of mana ran amok between the two at a force several times above the previous collision.

Before long, the raging mana subsided. The result? What else could happen when two of the exact same spells crashed together from opposite directions? It was equilibrium.

Neither of them sustained a single scratch, and their magic bullets vanished once and for all.

…Phew. Looks like I somehow managed.

Hermes breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the result.

As you could tell from his behavior, he didn’t manage to achieve this result effortlessly.

The Inscription of Genesis, The Emerald Tablet was theoretically able to recreate all magic.

However, that was just on paper. To actually use it, you needed the perception and knowledge to precisely understand the target magic. Then, you needed the ability to accurately construct the magic you’d be recreating. Finally, you needed the adaptability to improvise the parts you didn’t understand on the fly and substitute them in.

In short, it was virtually impossible to recreate something as complex as Bloodline Magic just after seeing it.

Hermes had the fundamentals of Creation Magic drilled into him by his Master for the past 5 years, and not only had he seen The Archer of Magic Bullets, Mistle Tina countless times since childhood, he had also experienced it first-hand. This made Chris’ Bloodline Magic an exception to the rule, and it was the only reason he managed to succeed in recreating Bloodline Magic on the fly.

However, Chris had no way of knowing Hermes’ circumstances.

“Impossible…!”

His body shaking, he began screaming.

“Impossible, impossible, IMPOSSIBLE! I’m a being on a different level from him, a CHOSEN ONE! Of all the people in the world, he was my opponent! This can’t be happening, THIS HAS TO BE SOME SORT OF MISTAKE!!”

Flying into a blind rage, he fired a massive amount of magic bullets one after another.

However—

Hermes, ever unfazed, counterattacked using the exact same magic immediately after.

“DON’T RESIST, YOU DEFECTIVE PIECE OF SHIT! YOU CAN EITHER DROP DEAD IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, OR GROVEL ON YOUR KNEES UNDER MY FEET FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE! CHOOSE!!”

“…”

As long as they both used the same magic, their gunfight would end the same as last time—except, it didn’t.

Ever so slowly, yet just as surely—Hermes’ barrage of magic slowly began overwhelming Chris’.

“No way—!”

If both of them were using the same magic, the difference had to lay elsewhere.

In other words, the difference lay in mana output, which had an effect on a spell’s power; in mana manipulation, which eliminated any loss in mana when converted to magic; in mana perception, which caught the minute movements in magic.

Hermes, who had continuously trained himself ever since childhood, outclassed Chris in all of those abilities.

Take Hermes, who had never abandoned hope and never put off training even after being deemed inept, and Chris, who was complacent with his gifted Bloodline Magic and slacked off in his studies.

The current gunfight was a direct reflection of the difference in their efforts.

“This is nonsense… I, the prince’s right-hand man, was bested by him of all people—!”

Then, at last—the magic bullet that Hermes fired landed right in front of Chris, and he was blown away by the impact.

“Wh-, Captain Chris!?”

“Impossible… To think Captain Chris would be defeated…!”

The surrounding soldiers, who had been watching with bated breath, were dismayed by the unbelievable spectacle before them. 

This is my chance!

“Miss Katia, let’s escape from this encirclement while we still can.”

“Ah… Y-You’re right. But Chris is…”

“It’s alright. I didn’t hit him directly, so he isn’t dead. Rather, I think it’s quite the opposite.”

“Tch! WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING!? KILL HIM! HURRY UP AND KILL THAT DEFECTIVE JOKE OF A HUMAN!!”

“…As you can see, he’s still bursting with fighting spirit. Getting chased would be bothersome, so I believe this to be a good chance.”

“…I-I got it.”

Her face stiffened from tension, she nodded, and the two of them ran off.

Afterward, they were pursued by the enraged Chris and the entourage of soldiers under his command.

However—

With the help of Katia, who was well versed in the capital’s geography, Hermes used the body strengthening magic that was handed down to him from Rose and employed various tactics to hinder and obstruct their chase. As a result, they somehow managed to break free from Chris and took shelter somewhere safe.

---

Today’s chap. Spent around 7 and a half hours on this one, tried to make it perfect for Hermes’ big moment. Honestly had a lot of fun translating it, hope you guys enjoy it. That’ll be all for today, and I’ll post 2 chaps of magic arrow tmrw. See you guys then.