A C-Rank Magic Student Who Deludes Himself into Thinking He Is SSS-Rank

“Hey there, guys, looks like you’re having a lot of fun.”

The three men and the hooded woman all turned their eyes toward the figure standing atop the roof of a building in the alley, silhouetted by the moonlight.

The focus of their gaze was that Shion Kurosaki stood with one hand in his jumper’s pocket, dramatically posed against the moonlight, a daring smile on his face.

His normally black eyes now glowed a deep crimson, slightly luminescent in the dark. The gleaming eyes exuded an eerie sense of intimidation.

However, this effect did not result from some magical spell-causing side effects. Shion was simply using a magic spell that changed the color of his eyes to red and made them shine. This spell had no deeper purpose other than for him to look cool.

In the deserted night streets, Shion had always fantasized about taking down villains single-handedly and heroically saving someone in danger. He had imagined himself in this situation countless times: standing above evildoers bathed in moonlight, their agitated gazes directed at him.

This was the perfect recreation of his wildest dreams, and he was at the peak of excitement.

Then, Shion leaped effortlessly from the roof to seek a further thrill. However, the jump was from a height of about five meters. He felt a strong impact in his legs, the pain nearly making him roll on the ground, but he didn’t show it. He had an ideal version of himself to maintain.

Still with crimson eyes and a daring smile, Shion addressed the three dumbfounded men.

“Mind if I join in?”

(—Nailed it)

But reality differed from his fantasies. Shion was always the strongest in his daydreams, effortlessly defeating the trio with a cool catchphrase.

But this was not a fantasy. He could have been better; he was just a student with C-class-level magic skills.

“Wh-What the hell are you doing!?”

“Are you trying to get in our way!?”

Among the men, the man who seemed to be the leader stood in the center, and the man to his right raised his voice.

Up to this point, this was the same development as Sion’s daily delusions.

…But it’s different from here.

He’s always the strongest in his fantasies. In his fantasies, he kills three men in an instant and unleashes a cool, decisive line.

But this was reality, not a delusion. He didn’t have the strongest power; on the contrary, he was just a student who could only use C-rank magic.

“What are you going to do if I say yes?”

“Wh-Who the hell are you…?”

Still, Shion didn’t lose his composure. He wanted to prolong this moment, to continue living out his fantasy.

“Don’t get too cocky, or you’ll regret sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong!”

Shion secretly hoped the men would be intimidated and leave, but reality wasn’t so kind.

“On it,” the leader said, and the man to his left began forming a magic circle, a pomegranate-colored flame spell – “Flame Shower.” A B-rank spell by general magician standards, it was far above Shion’s C-class capabilities.

Yet Shion remained unflinching, his smirk unwavering.

Did Shion Kurosaki truly have no fear of the man’s magic?

The answer was “no.”

Inside, he was panicking: “Ah, this is bad. Heh heh…” His mind was in partial denial of the dangerous reality unfolding before him.

Shion had initially thought the men chasing the woman were mere thugs.

If they were just street-level thugs, he believed his moderately trained physique and some magic would suffice to defeat them, even if there were three opponents. Indeed, if they were just thugs, it might have been possible. Even if he couldn’t defeat all three, helping the woman escape and getting away himself wouldn’t be too difficult.

However, to his surprise, one of the pursuers turned out to be a magician, and his magic was more powerful than Shion’s.

The magic circle formed by the man before him was about seventy centimeters, significantly larger than the forty-centimeter diameter of Shion’s largest magic circle. While the power of a spell isn’t always proportional to the size of its magic circle, larger circles typically require more magical power. The “Flame Shower” spell the man was preparing was a high-level spell, much more potent than anything Shion could handle.

This information showed that the man possessed more magical power and was a stronger magician than Shion.

In this critical situation, Shion’s face remained frozen in a daring smile.

With almost no time left before the spell was unleashed, Shion quickly considered his options. He could escape alone using all the magic at his disposal, but behind him was a terrified woman needing help. If he didn’t intervene, she would be mercilessly killed.

(Running away is not an option.)

For Shion, leaving the woman behind was never a choice. However, he needed a means to defeat the men before him. He couldn’t even defend against the “Flame Shower” spell about to be cast. The alley was narrow, but there was just enough room for Shion to dodge it.

However, doing so would leave the woman behind him in the direct path of the spell.

(What do I do? Think, Shion, think…!)

He rapidly cycled through strategies, but they seemed like they needed to be more feasible. He couldn’t find a way to protect the woman and defeat the stronger magician.

Then, the situation unexpectedly changed.

“Idiot! What are you doing?!” the leader shouted at the man preparing the spell. “If you burn the girl to a crisp, we can’t have fun with her!”

“Oh, right, right, my bad,” the man said, stopping the magic. His magic circle faded away.

(That was close…) Shion thought, relieved yet maintaining a facade of nonchalance.

“Alright, you do it then,” the leader ordered another man, who pulled out a dagger and approached Shion.

“Let’s show you what happens to heroes.”

Now armed with a dagger and confident in their numbers, the man attacked Shion.

It was then that Shion let out a heavy sigh.

“…Really?”

His calm manner made the attacker pause.

“Just how clueless can you be not to see the difference in our strength…” Shion commented, scratching his neck in a seemingly bored gesture.

“I wasn’t really in the mood for violence today, but I guess I have no choice…”

With a resigned air, Shion clasped his hands together in front of his chest. The man holding the dagger watched as a lightning spell, black at its densest part and tinged with purple at the edges, sparked between Shion’s palms, making a loud plasma sound in the quiet alley.

“Back off!” the leader yelled, sensing immense danger.

Reflecting on it, they realized Shion had been extraordinary from the start. Standing in their way in the lonely alley, he never flinched despite being outnumbered and faced with magic and weapons. Most notably, his glowing crimson eyes shone eerily in the night.

(This guy… might be trouble…)

The leader of the men couldn’t help but think that the man before them was no ordinary passerby.

As Shion spread his palms horizontally, a thin, silver-like plate started to form between them amidst the bizarre lightning.

(This is bad… I don’t know what it is, but… I need to stop it!)

Despite his alarm, the leader hesitated to approach Shion because of the intense lightning crackling from his hands.

Ignoring their caution, Shion continued to widen his hands, and the silver object began to take shape.

After a few seconds, with a small plasma sound, the lightning vanished. In Shion’s right hand, a single-edged sword with a beautifully patterned blade appeared. Holding the sword casually with one hand, its tip pointed downwards, Shion quietly turned his glowing red eyes toward the men.

“――!”

The leader gasped at the sight. He had felt a bad premonition at the sight of those crimson eyes but had dismissed the possibility as impossible.

His instincts didn’t want to consider such a possibility.

But seeing Shion holding the sword, the leader had to admit his suspicion was correct.

The boy’s identity before them dawned on the leader, who uttered the known alias.

“‘Red-Eyed Blade’…!”

“Do you know about him?” asked the man with the dagger, puzzled by the leader’s visibly shaken voice.

“Haven’t you heard? Though I’ve never seen him, he’s said to be the strongest swordsman in the underworld, the red-eyed swordsman…!”

“The strongest swordsman in the underworld… That’s… from ‘The Revenants’, right?”

“‘The Revenants’? You mean that dark guild where each member is said to be as strong as a whole battalion of the kingdom’s knights…?”

All the men were now terrified of the red-eyed figure before them.

“What have we gotten ourselves into?”

The boy standing before them, clad in black, was no ordinary individual.

In reality, Shion Kurosaki, the boy standing before the men, was simply a C-class magic student at a national magic academy, far from being the formidable figure the men imagined him to be. He had only created a sword using a basic “Weapon Creation” spell because he thought he might stand a chance in a sword fight against the man with the dagger. This spell Shion used was relatively low-level within its category and could only create a fragile sword. Moreover, the black lightning accompanying its creation was just for show, an additional thunder attribute spell he used to look cool.

As the leader of the men reluctantly suggested fleeing, the others hesitated, remembering they had already received their payment for the job. The leader, however, was adamant, recognizing that no amount of money was worth risking their lives against this perceived monster.

But Shion, caught up in his act, was not about to let them go. “What are you saying? You think I’d let scum like you escape?” he challenged them.

Shion was completely lost in his performance, unwittingly holding back the threat he had wanted to escape. He had no brakes on his abnormal behavior.

In a desperate attempt to appease Shion, the leader of the men started to cringe, mistaking him for a member of the feared “The Revenants.”

“You’re wrong! Sure, there might be some in ‘The Revenants’ who don’t hesitate to kill if the job calls for it,” Shion retorted, fully immersed in his role as the “Red-Eyed Blade.”

“But not one of us would stoop as low as you, attacking a woman like that,” he declared, his eyes seemingly growing deeper in their crimson hue, either due to his manipulation of magic to enhance his anger or in response to his rising fury.

At this point, Shion, who had never even heard of “The Revenants” until moments ago, was now convincingly portraying himself as a member, even speaking authoritatively about the character of its fictitious members.

The men were completely taken aback, fearfully acknowledging the intensity of the situation they had stumbled into with Shion.

Even though all his statements were complete fabrications, the leader of the men found himself at a loss for words. His legs trembled with fear as Shion directed his anger toward them.

If you split up and ran with all your might, one of you might escape. But ‘The Revenants’ will find you no matter where you hide, even in the dragon’s mouth. They’ll make you suffer manifold what you’ve inflicted on others. They won’t kill you easily, but they will, in the end. That’s ‘The Revenants’,” Shion declared.

The men were now completely engulfed in despair and terror, accepting their inescapable fate.

Shion was on a roll, relishing in the moments of exhilaration he had brought upon himself. The men, on the other hand, were deeply entrenched in despair.

Then, breaking the tension, Shion said, “Just kidding.”

Confused by the sudden change in tone, the men slowly turned their gaze to him. Shion casually leaned the sword against his shoulder and began to speak. “I’m not going to kill you guys. After all, you only chased and threatened the lady back there in front of me.”

The men started to grasp Shion’s words, slowly realizing the hope that was being offered to them.

“If that’s all you did, then there’s no need to kill you. You’ve just tasted the fear she felt,” Shion continued.

Finally comprehending, the men nodded vigorously, sweat pouring down their faces.

Shion concluded, “It’s not for ‘The Revenants’ to judge you for your other wrongdoings; that’s for the kingdom’s security forces. Right?”

With a mix of confusion and relief, the men stood up and hesitated, still seeking confirmation from Shion.

“Get lost before I change my mind,” Shion said sharply, and the men ran off, expressing their gratitude and relief.

After they left, Shion dissipated the sword with his magic and reverted his eyes to their original black color. He felt a strange sense of satisfaction reflecting on his lines and actions.

In a twisted turn of events, Shion’s delusional behavior and fantasies had inadvertently saved someone.