The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

“Nwoh–!?”

Once again, Asley’s attack struck Devil King Lucifer.

His fist pierced through Lucifer’s cheek, disrupting Lucifer’s posture.

“Ngh…! What kind of spell is this? Truly a perfect transparent form — it erases even traces of arcane energy! However, your attack is shallow! Weak! If that’s the best you can do, it can be said that dealing damage to me is impossible!”

Indeed, while Asley’s attack was undeniably accurate — while Lucifer could not evade it — the damage it dealt was minimal.

“Ahh, I see! It’s just a mere trick! Once I understand it, it is nothing!”

Lucifer lowered his stance, preparing to take damage — and by them, he had already seen through it.

Asley’s fist struck Lucifer’s abdomen. However, knowing this in advance, Lucifer’s movement remained unfazed.

Faced with the unyielding Lucifer, Asley disappeared once again.

“Rise, A-rise, A-rise! Perfect Invisibility!”

“Hmph. I knew it.”

Lucifer’s realization turned into certainty.

“This spell… it is perfect, yet at the same time imperfect. It is not suitable for combat.”

[God damn it…! He’s already figured it out!]

The invisible Asley marveled at Lucifer’s insight.

“The arcane energy does not disappear — for it cannot disappear without being erased. Therefore, when you appear, there is no arcane energy infused into your attacks. Infusing it would dispel your invisibility. Even if you try to attack after dispelling it, I would notice in time — Truly just a trick. That my arcane energy aura does not unravel your invisibility is commendable. But that’s all.”

“Tch…!”

Asley attempted another attack, but that proved to be a miscalculation.

Right after Lucifer received the hit, Asley needed to move away from him.

However, if Lucifer, undeterred by the attack, were to pursue the vulnerable Asley, there would be no means for Asley to defend himself.

The reason being, at this moment, Asley had to disengage his Ultimate Limit to invoke the Perfect Invisibility.

“Hmph.”

“Ngh–!”

Asley’s expression twisted as Lucifer seized his leg.

Asley kicked Lucifer’s hand, but the attack only pleased Lucifer.

“Still weak!”

As if swung like a hoe, Asley was slammed into the earth.

“Gah…!?”

Breaking the ground, Asley received a powerful impact throughout his body.

As Asley was repeatedly pounded into the earth, his face contorted with a strong sense of doubt.

[Now wait a second…! Why’s Lucifer Break not invoked!?]

This same anomaly was occurring on all parts of the battlefield.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

“Tch…! Why the hell isn’t it working!?”

This anomaly was happening in the center of the formation — or rather, to all mages across the battlefield.

The first to notice was Tūs.

The invocation sequence of Lucifer Break, the direct strike Asley had dealt to Lucifer — the sign of invocation — lay in the spell circles that had appeared before the Duodecad’s eyes.

However, when Tūs drew in his part of the magic formula, it ended up vanishing into thin air.

“Tūs!”

Lylia, a former Holy Warrior, arrived on the scene.

Tūs focused on the Spell Circle that appeared in front of Lylia rather than the one placed on the ground beside Leon.

“Did you try it!?”

“I did — but even when I got the formula down, the spell itself won’t go anywhere!”

This was happening on every part of the battlefield.

“Lina! Is it working for you!?”

“N-no…! But why!?”

“At this rate, Master Asley’s gonna…!”

Hornel, Lina, Baladd…

“This can’t be happening…! Why now!?”

“D-did I mess something up!?”

“No, I don’t think you did!”

“What in the world…!?”

Tifa, Lala, Natsu, Fuyu — all started panicking.

“Hey, hey, hey! This can’t be good!!”

Barun shouted while looking toward the Regalia Castle.

Shortly after, Warren and Irene returned to Tūs and Lylia.

“Tūs! Situation report!”

To investigate the reason, Irene directed a concise instruction to the gigantic Elf.

“That magic won’t fly to the source! Even when I successfully draw the whole thing, it disappears into thin air!”

“Could it be an unintended side effect of our Magic Shield?”

Warren speculated, but Tūs shook his head.

“That can’t be it! It disappears regardless of whether it’s inside or outside the shield!”

“Then how the hell is this happening!?”

Lylia’s voice became agitated.

It was no wonder because Asley was still in combat with Devil King Lucifer.

Drenched in sweat, he had entrusted the completed magic spell to everyone, drew the invocation sequence onto Lucifer with a determined resolve, and was still waiting for everyone’s invocation formulas.

“Ngh…!?”

“Hahaha! Weak! Too weak, Asley!”

“…! Instant Transmission!”

“Hmph, that again? Your arcane energy won’t last long… Hehehe!”

At this point, there was no time to even think about conserving arcane energy.

Asley had no choice but to trust everyone and do his best to evade Lucifer’s attacks.

In the central rear formation, Lala shouted loudly.

“Again! We gotta try again!”

Tifa, Natsu, and Fuyu nodded, and everyone drew their formulas again in unison.

“”All right!””

The invocation formula rose into the air, reaching toward the sky.

However, a few moments after going through Tūs’ Magic Shield, they still vanished.

“It’s still not working! What now!?”

Lala exclaimed, holding her head, and everyone else lowered their heads in despair.

However, Fuyu had a different reaction. She narrowed her eyes, watching the spot where the invocation formula had disappeared.

[Just now… it went farther than before…! Could it be…!?]

“Whoa–!? What’s wrong, Fuyu!?”

Konoha on at her shoulder exclaimed.

Fuyu had suddenly jumped on Platina, her Familiar Star Horse.

“I’m going to Master Tūs!”

“Huh!?”

Though Konoha was surprised, it was only for a moment.

Everyone present knew that Fuyu was not someone to make careless mistakes.

There was a certain conviction in Fuyu’s eyes — and that was why Tifa, Fuyu, and Natsu nodded, sending Fuyu off.

“Hurry, Platina!”

“Neigh!”

A Star Horse boasted speed beyond the sound barrier — if Platina ran, few could catch it on this battlefield.

Fortunately, there were few monsters coming to the center formation, and it took no time at all for Fuyu to arrive where Tūs was.

“Master Tūs!”

“”!?””

Due to the panic, no one noticed Fuyu approaching.

Naturally, with the strength in Fuyu’s eyes, no one criticized her actions.

“Did you figure something out!?”

“Yes!”

Fuyu nodded in response to Tūs’ question.

“All right, explain!”

Upon Irene’s command, Fuyu explained the events while still mounted.

“When you synchronized the formula timings, they flew farther away!? Are you sure!?”

In addition to Tūs’ dumbfounded voice, Warren lowered his face, contemplating for a brief moment.

“That’s it!”

In the next moment, Warren, serving as the strategist for the Resistance, demonstrated his reasoning.

“What now!?”

“It’s Lucifer’s arcane energy itself! Lucifer’s immense arcane energy is blocking the intrusion of external magic!”

“”…!!””

With those words alone, Irene and Tūs understood.

“Okay, I get it!”

When attacking someone with high arcane energy using attack magic, the damage was determined by the amount of arcane energy. As long as energy was being emitted, the magical defense of that individual was inevitably elevated.

In the previous battle between Gaston and Billy, Hornel had cast large-scale magic against Billy, but the spells never reached their target.

Since the target this time was Devil King Lucifer, that effect was even more pronounced.

“Oh come on! That’s the basics of basics! How could I have forgotten that!?”

In the face of Irene’s lament, no one could say anything.

That alone spoke to the trust everyone had in Asley’s magic.

“There’s nothing wrong with it — normally it’d reach, but it’s not that simple when we’re up against Lucifer! Hmph! Fine!”

The next moment, Tūs, who had been providing support to the surroundings, drew up a spell with his eyes.

“Here we go! My new Magic Stalker, better than ever before!”

“What in the…! Did you just make it up on the spot!?”

“Hah, this is nothing! If we don’t push the limits a bit, that fool’s gonna get angry at us!”

The target of Tūs’ Magic Stalker was Asley’s magic.

There was only one of that present on this battlefield — the Spell Circle of Teleportation that had brought everyone here.

With this, the Magic Stalker could identify the creator of the Teleportation magic. 

The red line directed at Asley extended straight toward Regalia Castle.

Irene, realizing Tūs’ intention, laid down a fixed-position Spell Circle at her feet.

“No time to use Telepathy in this chaos — I’ll just go full blast on this!”

The invocation of the fixed-position Spell Circle was announced.

[“Everyone! Synchronize your Circle drawings!”]

“”…!!””

Lina, Hornel, Baladd, Barun, Tifa, Natsu, and Lala — who were not present in this location — heard Irene’s voice via the amplifying magic. Asley also heard it.

And so Asley became aware of his own mistake.

[…! That’s it! I didn’t consider the wall that is Lucifer’s arcane energy aura!]

“Hmph, could it be that… this voice is related to the Spell Circle you inscribed on me?”

“…!? Damn it, you knew!?”

“Of course I did, you fool. But no matter how much I refine my Arcane Energy, I can’t remove it. Truly impressive. It’s completely adhered to my body… no, to my arcane energy. I was cautious, but I still did not expect you to have other people handle the invocation formula. So it’s a joint effort with the Duodecad, eh… Hehehe…”

“Yeah, right, shut up! Enjoy this sense of superiority while you still can, ’cause it won’t last long!”

“Oh? Are you saying that the invocation formula will reach me? From that chaotic battlefield? Aligning the drawings of twelve people? That is a bit too much of a dream, don’t you think?”

Despite Lucifer’s words, there was no trace of resignation on Asley’s face.

He was confident — that was why a smile emerged on Asley’s face.

“Nah, we’re winning this.”

“What?”

“Just listen to that…”

“…What are you even on about?”

A momentary flicker of unease crossed Lucifer’s face.

What reached his ears was the voice of Irene, the commander of the Resistance and a trusted confidant of Asley.

[“Four beats!”]

“–!?!?”

The significance of that number eluded Lucifer.

However, every member of the Resistance, every adventurer, understood its meaning — the significance of that count.

“Sorry, Lucifer… You see, I’m the head professor of my very own magic school!”

Everyone synchronized their Circle drawings, echoing Irene’s command.

Understanding the brief instruction instantly, they moved into action.

It was the moment when Asley’s unusual timing chant, diligently practiced throughout his adventures, blossomed into a decisive factor in the battle for the world’s fate.

[“Rise, A-rise, A-rise, A-rise!!!!”]

A seemingly foolish rallying cry — that was what anyone might call it.

However, the voices were harmonized. Friends who walked alongside Asley aligned their spell completion without the slightest deviation.

Tūs’ Magic Stalker gathered the twelve parts of the spell, and directed them toward Asley — toward the fierce battlefield.

When twelve invocation formulas aligned in front of Asley, the spell cast on Lucifer took effect.

“Ngh…!?”

In an instant, Lucifer dropped to his knees.

The comrades who believed in Asley, and Asley who believed in his comrades, exchanged triumphant grins.

Then, they declared to the world’s mightiest Devil King,

“”And this is the Lucifer Break!!””