Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 377 Shortcut
"What are you barking about, you dog!"

Perhaps it's because Ritas provides such a strong sense of security.

Almost speechless when encountering strangers, and genuinely afraid of the various big bosses in the "Star Pattern" game, the Bathing Goddess roared loudly at the wanderers in the sky.

Ritas silently tried to distance himself from his companion, who was utterly devoid of any intelligence, but the goddess of the bath, who was already prepared, held his arm firmly.

"Why don't you understand? Only I, only I, truly want to save you!"

Upon hearing the word "salvation" in the words of the "wanderer," Wayne, whose inner shadows had been stirred, couldn't help but tremble.

Besides Sofia, who was holding her the whole time, Charlotte, who had previously seemed to be arguing with the "mother and daughter," also turned around and stood in front of Wayne to face the "god" high in the sky.

"Salvation? In that way?"

Charlotte glared at the wanderer.
"The world is the way it was before and is the way it is now because three people participated in its creation!"

Having personally witnessed Ritas's memories, Charlotte, who had once been twisted into a regional leader, now fully understands the structure of this world.
"Some people construct the world in a naive and innocent way, a way to make up for their inner regrets. Others bind the world to a rational and logical way of operating. Only you! For your own selfish desires, you have been trying to stab the weakest part of other people's hearts with a knife, exposing the shadows in their hearts in a bloody way, and igniting the darkness that they desperately suppress!"

At this moment, the anger burning in Xia Luoluo's heart probably exceeded the total amount of all her previous anger combined.

Originally belonging to Wayne's world, it should have truly been like a fairy tale world.

However, because the "protagonist" of that world is Ritas, the fantastical elements of that world disappear. It lacks childlike innocence and romance, but gains realism, rationality, and a more sustainable operation.

The two men's ideas were clearly contradictory, but it was also clear that there was no malice between them.

Only the distorted and painful parts of the world are brought by the wanderer. They are constructed by her malice.

Only by confronting the darkness within oneself can one achieve true redemption!

The voice of compassion echoed in the sky once more.

"Even now, to still utter such hypocritical words... I might even begin to admire you."

Sofia also looked up at the face in the sky that looked like it might burst into tears at any moment.

"To be this despicable, perhaps you have some underlying principles or 'rightness' that you've always followed. But do you really believe that just because of that tiny bit of 'rightness,' any evil or atrocity you commit can be forgiven?"

"and"

Ritas's voice rang out, continuing Sophia's words.

"Why do you think that part of my memory is a shadow or darkness that I can't touch in my heart? Since I can share it with others, doesn't that mean I can look at those things objectively?"

Unlike direct insults, forceful rebukes, or righteous arguments that get to the heart of the matter, Ritas simply continued to mock the wanderer.
"To actually treat words heard from others as your last trump card, and to do so without even reaching into the chessboard, giving something on the chessboard that could never have touched you the opportunity to contact and erode you—a person like you will never succeed in anything, you 'dullard'."

“!!!!!!”

It is unknown whose words delivered the fatal blow to the wanderer.

The wanderers, no longer able to significantly influence the fairytale world, merely erupted in impotent rage outside of it.

In the sky, there are endless roaring wanderers.

On the ground, seeing the culprit who had breached their defenses, the Bathing Goddess, Millie, and Charlotte initially felt a sense of relief. But gradually, their expressions began to become subtle.

Contact erosion
What Ritas was doing before was actually this.

So breaking that blood sphere... could it be a bad thing for them?

"This is an interesting and common phenomenon. The more certain those in power are that their actions will go smoothly and succeed, the narrower their vision becomes. Therefore, they are prone to making very basic mistakes at crucial moments and falling into traps that are actually quite obvious when viewed objectively. And it often takes a long time to build up the feeling that one has found the 'correct answer'."

Ritas's voice echoed softly.

Although his gaze did not fall on the three girls, their hearts skipped a beat, and they all knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Uh," "Ah," "This"

Just as the three girls were hesitating, wondering if it was too late to apologize...

Sophia—no, the Butterfly Masked Lady—walked up to Ritas.

"That's good enough, our great professor. Your ability to erode and usurp that space is only the ideal outcome, isn't it? In reality, it's already quite good that you can use the power of the Golden Apple and your prior arrangements in this area to hold your own against an opponent who has some world authority. After all, it involves bringing your inner world out into the open. While the other party is taking a risk by contacting you, you are also bearing considerable risks."

Ritas remained silent for a moment after hearing what the Butterfly Masked Lady said.

As expected, no matter how bad things are now, she was once a disciple of the witch.

They are not as easily fooled as those goddesses, students, and adopted sisters who have not yet been deeply corrupted by wisdom.

“Your thoughts are written all over your face. 'That wretched little brat is looking down on us.'”

Unlike Ritas, the others, seeing Sophia taking notes while talking as if she had a split personality, were all puzzled, unable to tell which of the two people in the conversation was more peculiar.

"The chances of success are still quite high. Moreover, compared to going from having no risk to taking risks, which is like going from nothing to something, I haven't changed much as long as I've been taking risks in this world. Also, if I'm scheming against others but unwilling to take any risks at all, I'm not much different from a 'dullard'."

After a moment of silence, Ritas, who seemed calm even after Sophia had exposed him, said this.

"So, let's assume that everything you planned will succeed. And what will happen after that?"

Sofia asked again,
"Don't even mention the direct harm to the 'dull ones' outside the world. Even if she is connected to that space through thread-like things, she wouldn't be so dull as to not sever those red threads that can be discarded at any time after realizing that the blood-ball-like thing belongs to you."

"."

"So, what is your real purpose? What do you plan to do after obtaining that space?"

After a brief silence, Ritas, whose thoughts had been completely read, sighed softly.

"That's the most efficient and safest approach. Given how this fairytale world has become, we don't have many other options."

Ritas, who had clearly intended to do something morally questionable, remained calm and composed when facing Sofia.

Sophia raised her hand and gently flicked Ritas's forehead. "You know it yourself, it's just 'not much.' So don't choose the easiest and safest path. After all, as a mother, I can't just watch my son do that to my daughter. After all, I promised her. What she can find here is someone who can save her, not just another birdcage."

Sofia stared intently at the "child" before her, unsure whether she truly felt no "darkness" within her and was indifferent to the past, or whether her heart was already terminally ill and had become one with darkness.

If she had more time, if she were not merely a stagnant "record," she might be able to find the answer to this problem and then address it.

But now, what she can do
"Whether it's magic or anything else, this is the best shortcut."

Sophia gently patted Ritas's chest again, offering a word of advice.

Before Ritas could reply.

Before the goddess of bathing, Millie, and Charlotte were even more confused, unable to understand the family relationships of Sophia's family.

Located in the sky, like a discordant note that lingers like a shadow, it emitted a jarring sound once more.

"It's not over yet! There's still more to come—finally, finally my luck has turned!"

Raising an eyebrow, the goddess of the bath, about to hurl another insult at the wanderer, saw a figure slowly approaching from the other side of the horizon before she could even look up.

"In this already desolate world, no one! No one can defeat her! So, if you don't want to leave not even a trace in the real world, come and beg me! Beg for my grace, for salvation!"

It seems that, as Sofia said, there is indeed a wanderer with a "core" that is still trying to cooperate with the few remaining people in the world to complete the "script" of the fairy tale world.

But no one paid her any attention; they were all just watching Cortrienne walking towards them in the distance.

There was no longer any trace of the "Tin Man"; it was entirely Cortrinie's figure, with her eyes still glowing red.

"I'm counting on you now. We'll try to buy you enough time!"

As the final battle was about to take place, Sophia pushed the still bewildered goddess of the bath and the somewhat lost Vain toward Ritas.

Then, he called out to Charlotte and Millie to go and deal with Cortelene, who was slowly approaching along with destruction.

"Why are you in charge?! And what's going on? How can you be the mother of both Wayne and that guy Ritas? And you even have my mother's face!"

Because she had something more important to do, Xia Luoluo, who had been well-behaved and quiet until now, seized the opportunity to yell at Sophia again.

"Tsk, it's really noisy. Can't you grow up to be a little more ladylike?"

"How can I be ladylike? I don't have that kind of generosity!"

"I think so!"

Sofia deeply realized that any laziness in parenting would eventually bounce back to her parents.

But what could she do?

Compared to her two adopted sons, Sofia, who couldn't stand her biological daughter no matter what, took a deep breath and forced a smile as she faced Millie, who would likely become Ritas's "disciple" in the future.

"Now it's up to you, Millie!"

".Eh?"

Millie, who had been watching Sophia and Charlotte argue, wasn't exactly gloating but just habitually chuckled dryly. She never imagined the "fire" would spread to her side.

At the other end, where Ritas, the goddess of bathing, and Vain reside.

Ritas frowned slightly as he stared at the person in front of him, who had taken it upon herself to become his sister's sister.

Since the "Vayne" in the real world was actually just a doll created by the real Vayne using her own power, this was the first time they had actually faced each other like this.

For some reason, Ritas's mind is now filled with the term "Elson phenomenon".

It's a word whose origin is unknown, but it was definitely John who popularized and spread it.

Simply put, it's because they don't believe that Ritas, an "ordinary person" in every way, could possess talents that almost no one in the academic world can match. Therefore, people in the academic world are always happy to fabricate all sorts of earth-shattering backstories for Ritas.

Is this a branch of that inexplicable phenomenon?
An adoptive mother who had long abandoned Ritas will later firmly believe that he is her biological son and that all his achievements are due to their bloodline. Furthermore, she will instill the bizarre message that "you are his sister" in another child she has taken in.

If I'm not mistaken, Wayne should actually be older than him.
Ritas couldn't help but sigh.

The already uneasy Viin, seeing her "brother" who was completely different from what she had imagined and had nothing to do with gentleness, had the words "want to escape" written all over her face.

"If it weren't for you..."

Ritas was unusually rambling on about the faults of the goddess of bathing and others.

Just as Sophia had noticed, many of Ritas's actions were deliberate after he discovered that Wayne had also been drawn into the blood sphere.

Showcase your past.

Use up all the remaining golden apples.

It erodes and usurps the space containing fragments of its own memories.

Everything was orchestrated by Ritas to create a closed, controlled environment. Wayne was forced to surrender all her power over the fairy tale world to his environment.

After the blood cell was accidentally shattered, Ritas had no interest in dwelling on things that were already "in the past."

Therefore, his previous apparent blaming of the Bath Goddess and others was also a way of hoping that they would feel guilty and take the initiative to help him pressure Wayne or play the emotional card. In short, he wanted to help him obtain full access to the fairy tale world from Wayne.

But nowadays...
Ritas was somewhat at a loss when faced with a girl whose mental age was very young.

the other side.

Before Sophia and Charlotte could finish arguing.

The most ferocious adversary in the fairy tale world has arrived.

(End of this chapter)