In a Female-Dominant World with a 5:1 Gender Ratio, I Saved a Girl as a Kid, and She Said She Wanted to Be My Bride—Who Would’ve Thought She Was a Princess… - 29

Chapter 29: The One Who Gazes into the Abyss

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

(Alto’s POV)

By the time I returned to the academy dormitory, night had already drawn its curtain. The physical exhaustion from the brutal training during the day, combined with the mental erosion caused by the cruel truth thrust upon me in the library, weighed down on my entire body like lead.

I entered my room, immediately shut the door, and locked it. That alone was not enough. I ran my fingertips through the air and deployed simple barrier formulas at the four corners of the room.

“…Soundproofing, isolation, perception interference. …Alright.”

The air tightened, snapping taut, and all sounds from the outside world were completely cut off. What I was about to do could not be seen by anyone. I roughly stripped off my mud- and sweat-soaked uniform jacket and sat cross-legged on the bed. The moon should have been out beyond the window, but whether because it was covered by thick clouds or not, the room was as dark and silent as the deep sea.

I let out one deep breath. What I had learned in the library could only be described as despair.

『Magical Erosion』

A disease in which excessively powerful magic, exceeding the vessel’s capacity, burned and destroyed the body from the inside. The declaration that Lilianna’s remaining time was short. And yet, in a corner of my thoughts that were on the verge of being swallowed by despair, the part of me that had once been a researcher in my previous life coldly posed a question.

But, there was a contradiction. If “excessively powerful magic” were truly the absolute cause that destroyed the body… Then why was I alive?

I stared at my own palm. The amount of magic I wielded was incomparable to Lilianna’s. My magic twisted physical laws and interfered with the very principles of the world and it was, quite literally, “infinite.” If Lilianna’s magic was a “lake,” then mine was a “vast ocean.”

If that were the case, my body should have exploded into pieces long before hers. But what was the reality? There was nothing wrong with my body. No fever. No pain.

“What’s different between me and Lilianna… What’s different in our structural systems?”

If I could understand that answer, it should become a clue to saving Lilianna. The decisive difference between her and me. If I could replicate it and apply it to her body…

I closed my eyes and let my consciousness sink inward, into my own body. I deliberately observed the source of magic that I usually used unconsciously. It was a hack into my own mind.

『Scan initiated… Self-debug.』

My vision went dark, and the sensation of my physical body vanished. My consciousness traced upstream through the torrent of magic circulating inside me, diving toward its source—the “magic furnace,” or perhaps what one might call a ‘dantian.’

There should be a core there that generated my magic. What kind of structure did it have? An ultra-high-efficiency energy conversion reactor? Or a massive magic storage tank?

…Deeper still. I descended through the darkness.

“…Hey. What is this?”

The moment I passed a certain depth, a vile chill ran down the spine of my spiritual body, something that should not have been possible. There was nothing there.

No furnace. No tank. Not even circuitry. Only an overwhelming “darkness” spread out before me. It wasn’t that I couldn’t see the bottom. The very concept of a “bottom” did not exist. An absolute void that swallowed light, sound, heat— even my consciousness itself—chewing it up as it did so.

『Warning alert: Analysis impossible. Analysis is impossible. Access to unknown target region is not recommended.”』

Warning alarms from my skill echoed inside my mind. But I couldn’t look away. Because something was “overflowing” from the depths of that darkness. It was far too alien to be called magic. A pitch-black, viscous, mud-like energy. It continuously welled up, using my physical form as a vessel to seep into this world.

No. That’s wrong. I’m not “producing magic.” I’m being “eroded” by this darkness. 

My existence was nothing more than a paper-thin lid, barely sealing whatever this unknown “something” was to keep it from overflowing into the world.

“U—ah…!?”

The moment I stared at it, the darkness seemed to waver. It felt as though countless gazes pierced me from the abyss below. As if something shaped like a human was looking up at me from within…

『Connection forcibly terminated. Log out!!』

Driven by instinctive fear, I violently ejected my consciousness from my inner world.

“Hah—hah—hah…!!”

Back in reality, I was trembling violently on the bed, my shoulders heaving. Cold, unpleasant sweat poured from my body, and my heart pounded so hard it hurt. Nausea. Dizziness. Even though I had only looked inside myself, the exhaustion felt like I had just faced down a gigantic monster.

“What… What was that…?”

I covered my face with trembling hands. There was only one thing I understood. My magic structure could not be used as a reference for Lilianna. No, it must not be used as a reference. There was no way something like that could ever be transplanted into Lilianna.

That wasn’t something as simple as “infinite magic.” It was something else entirely… A kind of “curse” capable of destroying the world. If I tried to make her imitate me, her soul would be swallowed by that darkness in an instant and vanish.

“Damn it…!!”

I slammed my fist into the bed. Instead of finding a solution, I had learned that my very existence was an unfathomably dangerous bomb.

Just what am I? A reincarnator? Am I really nothing more than a human who was reborn? Could even the memories of Kazuya Ichinose be a fake created by that darkness?

My thoughts spiraled downward. The desk where I had prepared parchment and pen came into view at the edge of my sight, mocking me with its emptiness. There was no way I could draw up any kind of blueprint. My own structural system was a black box.

“…Even so.”

I hugged my knees, biting down on my lip in the darkness-filled room. Fear threatened to make my legs give out. The anxiety of not knowing my true nature tightened around my chest. But the one certainty—the “death” awaiting Lilianna—was something I absolutely had to overturn.

If imitating my bodily structure was impossible, then I had no choice but to search for another method. External discharge? Conversion of magical quality? Or perhaps a way to safely extract only a portion of that darkness?

I heard the sound of rain outside the window. I placed a hand on my chest. Behind the steady thump of my heartbeat, I could feel that bottomless darkness sleeping within me.

For now, I still don’t know.

But I did understand one thing.

Unless I uncover the true nature of this “darkness,” I won’t be able to save Lilianna… Or myself.

I wasn’t back to square one. The wall I had to overcome was simply far higher, thicker, and darker than I had ever imagined.

“…I’ll do it.”

I clenched my trembling fist once more. Standing at the edge of the abyss, I still searched for even the faintest glimmer of light.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー