It Seems the Demon King Has Returned to a World Where Gender Roles Are Reversed - Chapter 35

 Chapter 35 :

In a dimly lit room.

Ragna sat cross-legged in a corner of his chamber.

With his eyes closed, regulating his breathing, his appearance resembled the training methods of ancient ascetics or the meditation techniques of a mage from the Magic Tower.

However, there was something slightly different about this scene compared to typical meditation. It was the presence of various objects scattered around Ragna.

A cup filled with water, fruit peels on a plate, an old, rusted brooch, and so forth.

These were items that seemed out of place in a room, each claiming its own spot on the carpet. And in their midst sat Ragna.

From up close, the scene could only be described as bizarre. But from a distance, someone with keen perception might notice something.

The arrangement of the miscellaneous items around Ragna formed a certain pattern.

And someone with a bit more knowledge might realize.

This pattern resembled the constellations in the night sky.

The cup of water was positioned at the center of the Black Lion constellation, located in the southern sky. The old brooch represented Polaris, the central star of the Great Triangle in the northern sky.

Not only that, but every item around him was arranged to symbolize a constellation. And at the center of it all was Ragna.

It is often said that magic is about deceiving the world.

The natural order flowing through the world.

Magic involves stealing a fragment of that power to trick the world.

For example, to create a flame in the air, one must convince the world that there is a reason for fire to burn in that space. By deceiving the world that there is fuel and a cause for ignition, a flame can be conjured in the void.

Thus, understanding the world’s natural order is crucial in magic. Without knowing how mana flows or why fire burns, no amount of mana can deceive the world in a haphazard state.

Moreover, to deceive the world, imitation is essential.

Magic is about tricking the natural order.

To do so, one must create a counterfeit so convincing it seems real. It’s akin to deceiving a person. No matter how eloquent the words, people won’t believe without the right circumstances, props, or fabricated items.

Thus, imitation is considered a vital skill in magic. And in this moment, Ragna was imitating the flow of the celestial heavens.

Ragna sat at the center of this imitation.

The reason for mimicking the celestial flow was to replicate the flow of the heavens’ energy.

The greatest flows in this world are the celestial energy and the earth’s veins.

Among them, Ragna was recreating the flow of celestial energy by imitating the constellations in the sky. This replicated flow, as befitting an imitation of the world’s most powerful energy, drew in surrounding mana, creating a torrent-like stream of mana centered around Ragna.

This was the gambit Ragna had planned.

What Ragna needed was black mana, something that didn’t naturally exist on this earth.

Producing it required an immense amount of mana.

Until now, he had been scraping by, channeling small amounts of mana through the magic circle embedded in his body.

But that was far from enough.

So Ragna's choice was to pour a massive amount of mana into that magic circle.

If 100 units of material yielded only 3 or 4 units of results, then pouring in 10,000 units or more would suffice.

With that thought, Ragna channeled vast amounts of mana into his magic circle. A groan of pain escaped his lips. But soon, with a sigh, he was forced to stop the flow of mana into the circle.

"…It’s not working, is it…?"

The idea wasn’t bad, he thought. But unfortunately, things didn’t go according to plan.

The miscalculation lay in the capacity of the magic circle within his body.

The amount of black mana the circle could produce by drawing in surrounding mana was proportional to the mana reserves within his body.

No matter how much mana he poured in, the amount converted into black mana remained constant.

To use an analogy, it’s like a raging river versus a trickling stream.

If the mana normally flowing around Ragna was like a stream, the mana flow he artificially created by mimicking the celestial energy was like a roaring torrent.

Naturally, the torrent carried far more mana.

But if all he held was a single cup, the amount he could scoop up was limited to that cup’s capacity. Whether from a stream or a torrent, the amount that could be contained in the bucket was the same.

A similar thing was happening to Ragna now.

Compared to before, the yield had increased slightly, but it was still woefully insufficient to reach the mana levels he had as the Demon King.

In the end, Ragna sighed, stood up, and began picking up the scattered items around the room.

That’s when it happened.

With a *creak*, someone entered the room.

Ragna frowned at the sound.

He had clearly instructed the servants not to let anyone into his room. Since the ritual was paused, it wasn’t a big issue, but if someone had entered during the ritual, it could have caused serious problems. So, ready to give a piece of his mind, Ragna opened his mouth sharply and glared at the intruder. But—

"…!"

He realized the person who entered wasn’t a servant but an assailant, cloaked in black and hiding their face. Startled, Ragna stepped back. The intruder rushed toward him.

"Damn it!"

Ragna surged mana through his body, enhancing his physical abilities, and moved to dodge the shadowy figure. But the figure was faster. And in the confined space of the room, Ragna was ultimately caught.

"Ugh!"

With a light groan, Ragna fell onto the carpet. His face paled.

A mistake.

He’d been too careless.

This was Karen’s estate practically enemy territory.

The only reason Ragna had been able to stay so relaxed was because he believed Karen couldn’t harm him or devise a way to do so.

But someone else? That was another matter.

What if she had found a way to weaken the power of his Geass magic?

Ancient magic like that wouldn’t be easily undone, but weakening it temporarily? In 500 years, it wasn’t impossible that such a method had been discovered.

If so, Karen could have gained temporary freedom.

And during that time, she might have warned someone about his existence and the danger posed by his relationship with Seria.

Then entrusted his assassination to someone else.

He should have prepared for that possibility.

Had he been too complacent?

Thinking this, Ragna berated himself for his mistake and shut his eyes tightly.

But—

"……"

"……"

The anticipated strike didn’t come.

Puzzled, Ragna cautiously opened his eyes and looked at the assailant who had tackled him.

The intruder wasn’t doing anything. They were simply clinging to Ragna's sweat-soaked shirt from the ritual, breathing heavily.

"Haa… haa…"

The rough breathing echoed.

From the tone, it seemed the intruder was a woman. And through the gap in the black cloak and mask, red hair peeked out. Red hair?

"…Seria?"

"……"

The figure didn’t respond to Ragna's call. But they cautiously raised their head to look at him.

Between the black mask, gleaming eyes stared at Ragna. Emerald eyes, like shining gems.

Seeing them, Ragna was certain it was Seria.

"…You scared me…"

Realizing who had tackled him, Ragna let out a sigh of relief.

Thankfully, the intruder wasn’t an assassin.

"Seriously, wearing a mask like that and startling people… How did you even get in here?"

"……"

"What’s wrong? Why aren’t you saying anything? And why are you wearing that mask? Take it off already…"

"N-No!"

"…!?"

Seria flinched, startled, and pushed away Ragna’s hand as he tried to remove her mask. Surprised, Ragna withdrew his hand.

"S-Sorry… It’s just, my face isn’t in the best condition right now. Even so, showing it is… a bit…"

"What happened? And why are you here?"

Ragna’s expression turned serious at Seria’s sudden behavior.

It was clear her demeanor wasn’t normal.

Sneaking out of the academy in the dead of night.

From what Karen had said, the academy’s discipline was strict.

It wasn’t a place where one could casually slip out at night.

That alone was enough to cause a commotion. But to go further and infiltrate the Steiner estate?

By now, a major uproar was likely brewing.

So Ragna looked into Seria’s eyes and asked firmly.

Why had she done this?

And why wouldn’t she take off the mask?

At Ragna’s gaze, Seria shrank back, unsure of what to do.

Her demeanor reminded Ragna of a wounded animal, and he softened his tone slightly.

Then, as if making up her mind, Seria moved her lips and said:

"Ragna, let’s run away together!"

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Translated by Reversalnovel.web.id