Chapter 53: Bow of the Imaginary Number

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Magician,

This vocation differs from other vocations that can simply wield a knife and leap up to cut people.

A legitimate magician is a cold‑blooded being who pursues the "origin."

In the pursuit of the origin, they can almost be said to be unscrupulous.

And in this world, in this era, Lu Ke'ang's magician Pergeosi is also such a being.

But at the same time,

A magician is more akin to a researcher in role.

Magic is mostly used for "research," not specifically for combat.

Those who treat magic as a tool to gain personal benefit belong to the lowest rung of contempt within the magician community and are called magic users.

Pergeosi is not a magic user; however, to continue his research on Aristotle's Metaphysics, he had to join the shady headhunter group to seek funding for his study.

The subject of his research is the syllogism in the "Pre‑Analysis" chapter, a line of reasoning that starts solely from premises, requires no additional terms, and yields a new conclusion.

When applied to the field of magic, its concrete manifestation is—

Disproving the Imaginary Number.

An Imaginary Number is "something that could exist but does not in the material world,"

and Aether, this abstract element, is the necessary medium that gives magic form,

By chance, Pergeosi discovered that an unskilled magician, when using magic to summon an element, may cause the elementalization to fail due to poor magic, and in that process produce another failed product,

namely, magical energy loses its shaping direction and materializes into an Aether block.

Pergeosi uncovered this logic and then applied the syllogism to it, swapping premise terms to discuss necessary and accidental cases, ultimately reaching a new conclusion:

The reverse process of Aether formation can yield an Imaginary Number.

Simply put,

it is similar to turning stone into gold.

A stone cannot become gold, but within the realm of the Imaginary Number, a stone may become gold, though such a result does not exist in the material world. What exists in the material world is a logic akin to this process—for example, burning sand into glass, thereby multiplying its value. By studying this process, one confirms the possible existence of such an Imaginary Number, then uses that logic to skip the process and obtain the result directly. Finally, by reverse‑engineering from the result, one finds the flaws in the Imaginary Number logic and completely disproves that Imaginary Number.

Each time an Imaginary Number is disproved, Lu Ke'ang's ultimate logical model becomes a fraction more precise, until the world contains only "necessity," and the researcher can gain power, status, wealth, increased magical energy, enhanced Magic Circuits, and even the respect of kings in the process.

Pergeosi began studying this topic at thirteen and, now at thirty‑six, has finally advanced the research to the point of obtaining the Imaginary Number.

He spent a full twenty‑three years to reach this step, earning him a valuable internal title at Lu Ke'ang Academy, becoming a master‑level magician, and even granting him the chance to hear the teachings of the pioneering philosopher Aristotle, who founded the entire Metaphysics‑based magic foundation.

However—

Su Ya can achieve this step in just five seconds.

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He is not Greek, not a Greek magician, does not understand Greek magic, and knows even less about Lu Ke'ang's magic foundation,

and is completely ignorant of how magic is constituted—the names, origins, formula composition, activation conditions, effects, limitations, and inheritance of magic.

So, could Su Ya possibly employ this "bow"‑shaped Imaginary Number magic?

Su Ya considered that it might be possible.

After all, regardless of how complex the theory inside this magic is, it appears to involve just three steps,

1. Use magical energy to create a bow.

2. Use wind element to forge arrows.

3. Draw the bow, let go, and fire!

Thus—

The magical energy born in the Sea of Imaginary Numbers automatically matches a similar magic for Su Ya in the world of "Negative Numbers."

Then,

Su Ya's mind inexplicably fills with a bunch of strange knowledge!

"I see! I see!"

He lifted his head in delight, his eyes shining, unable to contain his excitement as he grinned:

"Magic, what a convenient thing!"

"Then—"

Su Ya cold‑stares at the gray‑haired magician before him, encased by a wall of wind blades, forming an absolutely unbreakable defense.

"First step, extract the concept!"

As the words fall,

Su Ya's entire body lights up with 1,440 crimson Magic Circuits of varying sizes; his meager magical energy within them is like a single droplet racing through a megacity's sewer.

Then, Su Ya's consciousness suddenly blurs; he clearly feels he is still standing in place, yet it seems he is dragged into another world of "infinite size, infinite breadth, infinite quantity" that contains nothing, where nothing can be seen, and even the concept of "nothingness" does not exist.

The two worlds overlap before his eyes, and a vague object linked by his own magical energy appears.

Instinctively, Su Ya reaches out to touch,

Then,

Extract, duplicate, manifest!

"Bow Form·Aether Archer!"

A dark‑red light blooms from Su Ya's hand, turning in his palm into a one‑meter‑fifty‑centimeter long dark‑red illusory great bow!

"Second step, embed the divine word!"

Su Ya grips the bow grip, using E‑grade strength, pulls the taut bowstring with all his might, and shouts clearly:

"With the will of Heracles as the bone, with Triton's tide‑tone as the string—"

"Thus,"

"The falling fire that struck Venus, or the echo that pierces the Underworld!"

"Imaginary Bow·Divine Age Residual Echo!"

Hoo!

A storm more terrifying than the endless wind blades converging before my eyes rises!

A massive amount of wind merges with imaginary magic, forming on the great bow a dark‑red, translucent, spiral arrow!

In an instant, a labyrinthine rune magic array unfolds beneath his feet!

At that moment, Su Ya only feels a blur before his eyes, and the magic that has just arisen within his body is instantly drained to nothing,

He immediately flings his palm,

The tip of the arrow erupts in blazing flame in an instant!

—Swoosh!

The gale whipped up by the arrow lifts the hair on Su Ya's forehead high!

Bone Forest suddenly flashes!

The dark‑red light arrow instantly rends the ground, piercing straight through the wall of wind blades!

Then,

It shoots toward the magician Lu Ke'ang hiding within!

Po Er Ge Si widens his eyes, staring at the scene in disbelief, yet he has no way to evade the arrow!

In this age where one can freely link to the Great Source, a magician's rank is judged by research results and magical potential, not by physical attributes in the secular sense.

Thus, although Po Er Ge Si is a master‑level magician and senior archer, his physical attribute is a water‑type E‑, only at the peak of professional level, and his magical power only reaches a D‑ water standard.

He cannot dodge the arrow with physical ability; the only thing he can rely on is magic.

However,

He is not a magic user who lives or fights by this.

In desperation, the only thought he can muster is to turn the ground beneath his feet into water, causing himself to fall and thus evade the arrow.

Yet,

When he thought of this, it was already too late.

Pfft!

The dark‑red arrow instantly pierces Po Er Ge Si's brow!

In his final moment, he gazes at Su Ya, thirty meters away, holding the great bow that trembles as if about to fall,

a look of incredulous shock appears in his eyes,

Immediately after,

Knowing death is imminent, Po Er Ge Si surprisingly does not mind it at all; he merely lets his gaze drift slightly, landing on Su Ya and the great bow in his hand,

"Indeed, this chaotic magical property has resurfaced."

"Then, the next time we meet, the Academy will surely—"

"Seal. Designate!"

Bang!

Po Er Ge Si's corpse collapses, transforming into the shape of a monstrous bird.

The wind gradually subsides,

With the magical supply cut off, the earth, trembling with a rumble, returns to its original state, leaving only a massive 'return'-shaped pit where he fell.

Over thirty meters away, Su Ya cannot make out the magician's dying whisper,

At this moment,

He only hears a storm‑like clatter, as if dice were striking his skull.

(End of Chapter)