The reason "river" (河) exists in "glacier" (氷河) is not merely from observing its shape. A glacier flows just like a river. Ice frozen in the upper reaches flows persistently, if excruciatingly slowly, embarking on a journey that would take eons to reach that cold sea.
The Celsius family marks measurements on glaciers and tracks their movement annually. That such cold, hard ice flows gently was a wonder profound enough to be engraved in a young magician's heart.
That was how Elisha's Innate Magic Art was born.
Innate Magic Art, River of Ice.
Ice flows. Solid ice becomes fluid, creating a current more destructive and shocking than any rapids.
Ice scraped the ground as it surged in. The rapid current of ice crystals looked like a grinder spinning with countless small metal pieces. The ice that surged up leaving trails of destruction coiled like a dragon.
An ice giant and an ice dragon. Like existences that would only be described in mythology.
Elisia stood tall upon the ice and spoke.
"This is my final warning. Return the rule to its original state immediately."
"Huh? The perceived temperature is harsher when it goes from warm to cold. Why not just leave it like this? Warm is better than cold, isn't it? Instead of keeping the warmth only for yourselves, let's share it with everyone."
It was a remark made without much thought. It didn't seem to resonate with Elisia either.
"There's no reason to extend such consideration to the commoners. When the body is warm and life is comfortable, people naturally grow lazy. Rather, they'll become idle and neglect their own development."
"You all lived with warm bodies and comfortable lives but didn't become lazy, did you? Or wait, did you become so lazy that you had your rule stolen by someone like me?"
"It hasn't been stolen yet."
A growling sound came from the ice dragon. The flow of a solid is destructive in itself. If that swallows me, my body would become like one thrown into a grinder. My blood would freeze instantly, making regeneration impossible.
"I'll give you a chance to make up for your mistake."
"Oh, moving ice? What an interesting technique! Best of all, it's easy for the audience to understand!"
Saying it's easy to understand was meant as praise, but to a magician, it's no different from an insult. Because it means your power is simple enough to grasp just by looking at it.
"If you insist on choosing the hostile path."
Ice surged in. Due to the Innate Magic Art, all the connected ice began to sway like a fluid and started pouring toward me. The basic principle of the Innate Magic Art is "granting ice the property of flow," but Elisia is subtly adjusting its range, controlling it in a single direction.
It's the orthodox operation method for a simple yet powerful Innate Magic Art.
"But, as much as it's easy to understand, it's also easy to counter. Especially right now."
I gripped Kelvin's thermometer again. Let's see, it targets 'ice' after all.
"Freezing point control."
If I change the conditions for ice to form, it all becomes meaningless....
Huh?
It's not melting?
I hesitantly looked up at the pouring ice. Elisia answered with cold eyes.
"You're wrong."
If it had been Elisia's Innate Magic Art, it would have succeeded. But Elisia possesses a Relic. Olaf. It has the ability to condense ice—more precisely, moisture crystals.
Under the conditions I changed, that ice should melt, but with Olaf's ability, it's still forming crystals! Even in the Celsius territory where freezing and boiling points leap wildly, the Relic's power is maintaining the ice's state!
"Another Relic?! Using an Innate Magic Art and a Relic simultaneously...!"
"You should have just stayed confined. It's too late now. Be swept away and disappear into the glacier."
"Aaaaaaaagh!"
Without even a moment to resist, I was swept away by the glacier's torrent. My shadow was covered in white, transparent ice....
Or so, the dramatic staging went.
Innate Magic Art, River of Ice.
Taking advantage of the moment Elisia's gaze was obscured, I steal the Innate Magic Art. Elisia's Innate Magic Art is River of Ice. The target is ice. Even if I steal it, I'd only be able to control the ice near me....
So what? Even that terrifying torrent of pouring ice, as long as it stops the moment it touches within a 1mm radius of me, is no different from ordinary ice. It's a bit cold and stifling, though.
With safety secured, shall I try a different staging? Counting numbers inwardly, I stretched my hand above my head and muttered.
"Simultaneous control of freezing and boiling points. Triple point."
The Innate Magic Art of Kelvin Celsius, its extreme.
Above my head, in a very small range, a miracle occurred. The boundaries between water, ice, and water vapor blurred. The three states coexisted, causing massive chaos.
And usually, the end of chaos is an explosion.
BOOOOM! A large explosion occurred above my head. Half-formed crystals, white water vapor spewing out, and sparkling water droplets. The three forms of water scattered and painted a rainbow.
Elisia, who was riding on the flowing ice, was caught in that explosion.
"Kyaa...!"
Olaf quickly blocked the explosion with his hand. For a moment, hazy mist covered the stage, and I quickly crawled out, adjusted my clothes, and bowed in greeting.
"H-how...?!"
"You all need to figure it out. Magicians live by tricks—do you think I'd just tell you right away, or not?"
Magic is fundamentally no different from magic tricks. It merely adds mystery through skills and devices the audience doesn't know, and a little deception.
A technique that would make you laugh emptily if you knew. But to those who don't know, it's a mystery.
"No one, does no one know? What method he used?!"
Not a single person answered Elisia's words. To Celsius, this silence was more painful than any defeat.
"In the very heart of Celsius, even while using our power! Are you saying you have no idea what he accomplished?! Then...!"
The words asking if this was a perfect defeat rose to Elisia's throat.
They might not know. If not figuring out a trick means defeat, wouldn't I have won every day? Well, I did win every day, though.
"Now. Anyone else?"
No one answered my question. In street rules, it's legal for me to take the money I won and leave. However, these Celsius young masters, perhaps because they grew up too sheltered, couldn't let go of their lingering attachment.
"Stop...!"
Her fighting spirit was already broken. However, Elisia still had words she needed to say. Elisia raised her finger and pointed to one place.
"You might not know, but Celsius also considered that method. Condensing cold energy is much more intuitive and easier to use. But after calculating various aspects, we couldn't choose the method of gathering cold energy."
There, something—a deep blue crystal—was shimmering in midair.
It's a crystal whose shape is not clearly visible. Mysterious and cool mist flowed out around it, making it impossible to even grasp the outline of what the crystal looked like. Judging by estimation, its size was smaller than a grain of sand... but the power contained within was beyond imagination, and it was growing in real time.
"Gathering all the cold energy spread throughout this city? Yes, if you use Kelvin Celsius's power, you could do it. But the nucleus where the cold energy gathers would be the Celsius family, and the cold energy gathered there would be reborn as an ice crystal."
"Ice crystal?"
"The cold energy gathered by the rule gradually condenses and transforms into a crystal of pure cold energy. That's a curse of cold energy that will eventually explode. Just approaching it is enough to freeze."
After absorbing a massive amount of cold energy through the rule, the atmosphere eventually clumped and solidified into a crystal. That is the ice crystal. Approaching it is not even permitted. The atmosphere nearby sinks coldly, freezing everything that comes near.
It's the solidified atmosphere I saw in the Blue Tower Master's Innate Magic Art. It's on par with the power that made the Green Tower Master and Black Tower Master tense up, and that the Demon King personally stepped in to barely resolve.
No, unlike an Innate Magic Art that reproduces a resulting phenomenon, that is the pure result of gathered cold energy, so it would be even more powerful.
"If left alone, the ice crystal will gradually grow and swallow the family. It will reach a point where it cannot be controlled. When that happens, the commoners will pay a lump sum for the warmth they enjoyed. Will you neglect such a bomb that will eventually explode? Without any responsibility?"
"Responsibility? Me?"
Just because I changed it, do I have to bear all the consequences? Then, has Celsius fulfilled its responsibility?
"You're the ones who neglected it. Even while holding such a rule in your hands, you left the cold outside and the foolishness of the commoners as they were. Who bore that responsibility?"
It's the same. You're only forcing it on each other. Responsibility? I've never seen a single person who says that word actually take responsibility.
"Figure it out somehow. You all should."
"How irresponsible..."
"And honestly, you can handle the ice crystal too, can't you?"
Why the fuss. You just dismissed it because the cost-benefit didn't work out, not because you couldn't do it, right? The Celsius family's depth can't be that shallow.
"...Are you talking about Elisha?"
"Hmm?"
Elisha means, the Blue Tower Master? Why does that name come up?
Elisia had maintained at least a minimum of dignity until now, but
"Yes. Elisha. If it's my deficient younger sister's power, the ice crystal can be controlled. Her Innate Magic Art is difficult to use, but... she can control one thing, and that's the ice crystal."
The Blue Tower Master's Innate Magic Art, the ability of Determinism is forced solidification. Air is also included. It's different from condensation of cold energy, but with that ability, she can intervene in that ice crystal.
"I see. If it's the Blue Tower Master, she could easily control it."
"...Do you even know what that means?"
Elisia ground her teeth and glared at me with killing intent.
"You're telling my sister to die and become a Relic."
She doesn't necessarily have to die. If only the Blue Tower Master processes the ice crystal whenever she thinks of it, this territory would become much warmer and more livable.
However, many kinds of accidents happen in the world. What if the Blue Tower Master is absent for a long time due to some circumstances, or suddenly loses control, or even dies suddenly? The means to control the ice crystal would disappear.
But a Relic doesn't have such worries.
"Every day, she'll be pressured to become a Relic quickly before she dies of old age. That deficient child will eventually try to meet those expectations. Because she's a weak-hearted and delicate child. With a very small trigger, she'll easily make up her mind."
Well, maybe she would. The Blue Tower Master isn't stupid, but for a magician, she's the type who cares a lot about others.
"Sharing warmth with everyone, like you did, is the same as asking Celsius to sacrifice itself. Because the rule of this land is made of Celsius's knowledge and sacrifice. Because those commoners have contributed nothing to this rule! Yet you're asking us to make even greater sacrifices to care for them? There's no reason for that, and no right to force it! If that's the case, it's better for those commoners to live cold and hungry!"
Listening to it, it makes sense. After all, Celsius created it and Celsius developed it. Asking them to make even greater sacrifices is unfair.
Still, if you have complaints, you can't just stay silent, can you?
"Why are you so fixated on killing someone and turning them into a Relic? Then you should find another method..."
You want to protect your vested rights. You don't want to make more sacrifices. If there are complaints, you bring them and freeze them. The self-rescue measure of black magic is taboo, so you try to eliminate it.
What. Are you going to keep this rule forever?
As much as humans compromise, shouldn't the rule compromise too?
"Another method... do you think it can be found so easily?! Words are easy, but you have no plan at all!"
No. There is a method. Or at least a path leading to a method exists.
It's just that they didn't choose it.
"No. There is!"
As if substituting for my answer, someone's voice interrupted.
The first impression was flames. Just from approaching, a scorching heat could be felt. The ice that wouldn't easily melt under the rule trembled and then melted.
No, it burned.
The north is cold. People's behavior and clothing inevitably become closed off. However, the woman who suddenly intruded was alone, as open as if she came from the south.
Her upper body was almost entirely exposed with only a short tank top, and her lower garment was torn at the beginning of her thighs, making one wonder if it could even be called pants. A fashion that even people suffering from heat would not easily attempt.
But such clothing suited her.
Red eyes. Hair as red as them. Flames that seemed to wrap around her surroundings. Skin that looked scorched by her own temperature was alien to the point of being mysterious.
"The sky we thought was the ceiling of the world is a mirage. The stars are much farther away. Limits are just excuses made by those who defined them as limits. Magic has no limits! There is always a way!"
The red-haired sorceress shouted powerfully and snapped her fingers.
And a massive pillar of flame engulfing the ice crystal was created.
It was a flame that made the world shine. Even if the sun disappeared temporarily, no one would notice its absence. The magical flame that burned away the supposedly so dangerous ice crystal soared into the sky in an instant, without even having time to spread to the surroundings.
The atmosphere was sucked in. A violent updraft surged along with ice and snow. Snow, hail, fog, clouds. The fragments of snow that gained different names within seconds sparkled in the distant sky and disappeared.
It was tremendous magical power, but that's not all. Even if not much had gathered, the power of the ice crystal was at a level difficult to handle with magic.
It was possible because it was sorcery enhanced by the power of an Innate Magic Art.
"You are... as expected..."
Elisia, having recognized the opponent's identity, broke into a cold sweat.
The last successor of the annihilated Fahrenheit family.
The Red Tower Master.
And, the subject of the Demon God War.
The Red Tower Master.
Hwaran Fahrenheit.
The most radical and flame-like magician had appeared in the Celsius territory.