I stood on top of the southern wall and examined what defenses remained since the beginning of all the chaos. Damn, it frustrates me so much to witness how bad things currently are; large sections of the walls were completely destroyed and have been 'fixed' using wood and debris. Those monsters will pay for wrecking my expensive fortress.

 

"Here are your supplies, sir."

 

A little boy, who I recognize as one of the youngest recruits from the orphanage, put down a small rusty metal box next to me before quickly leaving to seek shelter. What has this place come to? This child should be 12, yet here he is transporting critical military supplies to the frontline.

 

I carefully opened the box as it creaked loudly from its rust. Come on, a single month shouldn't leave it in such a horrible condition. Oh well, what matters is that it isn't completely rusted shut.

 

After finally exposing the null dust, I couldn't help but frown. I used my left hand to scoop some of it to confirm what I feared. Yup, most of it has gone bad judging from the dark brown color. I bet some idiot left magic crystals stored next to the box thus exposing the null dust to mana, slowly eroding it.

 

I let out a heavy sigh before picking up the box and walking to the nearest cannon, which was crewed by a small squad working hard on maintenance. A month of constant battle must've turned them into hardened veterans. Most of them seem to be sentinels since their normal job is completely useless when defending a wall.

 

I walked up to them and greeted them briefly before setting the box on a stool next to the cannon. I instinctively put my right hand into the powder to cover my fingers, only to feel an eerie vibration on my thumb and index finger; the ones which were jet-black. I quickly pulled away in reflex then checked what' happening.

 

"Woah…"

 

A bewitching sight of grey null dust shifting orderly towards the tips of my fingers and getting absorbed in a mini vortex was satisfying to look at. Oh, one particle seems to have trouble joining in the line, lets help it out-

 

WHAT AM I DOING!?

 

The null dust is being absorbed into my body! This is no time to be messing around. I have to do something about this before… hold on a moment, absorbed? Didn't the cursed book say something about void metal being able to store null dust?

 

I touched the thumb with my other hand to confirm it. The consistency of skin still remained normal, but what differed was that the finger was surprisingly smooth and cold, almost like metal.

 

"The monsters are here! ready the cannons and prepare to fire on my signal!"

 

While I was busy investigating my newly acquired metal fingers, Martin gave out orders which all soldiers on the wall quickly reacted to. He really took my place as the real commander for the Soul Stabilizers while I was unavailable. This should give me an easier time to concentrate on what I do best, destroying magic.

 

I don't know what void metal does different from null dust, but I'll use it the same as I always have. I kept an eye out for monsters to pass through the tree line while my right hand was pressed against the cannon next to me.

 

"Umm, sir, excuse me but I think you should take shelter since things will get dangerous here."

 

One of the cannon crew said in an annoyed tone as he glanced at my hand touching the cannon he was operating. Seriously? Did he already forget his own boss?

 

"Quit it with the snarky comments and concentrate on your job, soldier."

 

The cannoneer didn't like my response, though he wisely kept quiet as he returned back to aiming the cannon. This was well-timed since a group of abnormally large grey wolves charged through the tree line.

 

There were six of them, meaning I have to use anti-magic six times before the monsters reach the wall. This task will prove incredibly difficult due to how fast they are running, plus there will be more coming soon.

 

I focused on the magic shield of the largest grey wolf and attempted to crack it. Yeah, I attempted to only crack it, yet even before I moved my fingers, an imaginable scene unfolded in front of me.

 

*yelp*

 

The wolf tripped and was quickly trampled on by its own pack, killing it. That's right, a demonic monster was crushed under the weight of its own allies.

 

So, what happened?

 

I only intended to crack the magic shield, but the entire barrier crumpled so easily that the now dissipating monster had nothing to protect it from injury. The shock was so strong it caused the wolf to trip over itself, I believe.

 

*BOOM*

 

Cannon fire followed and explosive shells soon landed around the charging wolf pack.

 

"Huh? Why are they so weak now?"

 

The cannon crew were confused by how easy it was to dispatch the monsters. I was also confused, cannons are strong, but magic shields, especially that of demonic monsters, should be strong enough to survive even a direct hit, so how did they die so quickly?

 

I then glanced at my right hand. Could it be… Was the nullification so strong that it affected the entire monster group?

 

Another large group of monsters appeared, mostly orcs and lizardmen, which gave me an opportunity to test it out. Instead of focusing on one creature, I'll try to break all magic shields at once.

 

It is pretty hard to concentrate on many enemies, but I'll still try it out. I didn't even bother covering my fingers in null dust before swiping my right hand on the cannon's hot barrel.

 

*ZAP*

 

I felt static shock as an electric arc passed through the cannon into the ground. This was followed by chaos within the ranks of the raging monsters as shards of light broke off of them, signifying that all their magical defenses have shattered.

 

"Fire!"

 

Martin woke up the dumbfounded soldiers from their stupor and they quickly shot down the weakened demonic monsters. I heard a faint gasp coming from the other side of the wall, but other than that, the battle ended in a matter of minutes without even a single creature managing to enter the range of snipers. Void metal is too overpowered.

 

"S-Sir, was it you who caused the monsters to be… this weak?"

 

The cannon crew all stared at me in shock and admiration. I mean, I would also be pretty impressed after witnessing someone turn all magic null. Unfortunately, now that the immediate threat is gone, I have many things to do to get Fort Erosion back to its former glory.

 

"You just witnessed the futility of magic. I do not have the time to explain it now, though, since I am busy. However, I can tell you that yes, I nullified the monsters' defenses, making them nothing more than moving targets."

 

I didn't stay around to see their reaction as I needed to find Sarah for an important discussion about the current labor shortage. After asking around, I learned that she's gone mad trying to find the 'great mage' who defeated the monsters. It was easy to spot her since she was making a ruckus near the gate where refugees were trying to get back to their tents. She's even harassing an old lady right now.

 

"Excuse me! Have you seen a mage casting a spell during the monster attack? No, not me. Actually, nevermind… Hey, you!"

 

Is she going to ask every single person here for a nonexistent clown? I have to stop this madness before it gets too out of hand.

 

"Mom, please let them go for now, I have something to talk with you about."

 

"Eh!? Max! I told you to rest for the day. Come on, Sisley should be searching for you right now."

 

"H-hey, Mom, stop pushing me! I was the one who defeated the monsters, so stop doing unnecessary things."

 

"Ahaha, you can't fool me with such a silly lie. This was clearly the act of a high mage using a large scale dispel. It was so strong that even my spells were disrupted!"

 

Huh? I wasn't even aiming towards her direction. More importantly, Sarah tried to use magic in my presence?

 

"I am totally serious, though! You should leave the defense to me and not use magic. Also, I want to discuss something with you back in the main office."

 

Sarah had a troubled expression and seemed skeptical.

 

"Really? If that's the case, then how about you come to my office after dinner to talk about it?"

 

?

 

"Your office? I don't remember there being a room like that, though."

 

Don't tell me...

 

"Ah! I'm really sorry, Max. All the paperwork was stacked in your office, so I used it to manage the fortress."

 

… Whatever! I can get it back later. Let's just go eat for now, I feel really hungry for some reason.

 

I went back to my room where a bowl full of brown rice sat on the table with a small piece of paper stuck under it reading 'dinner'. I was starting to suspect something, but I pushed down my thoughts as I brought a spoonful of the rice into my mouth.

 

"Yuck!"

 

It's even more bland than before! Is the chef pulling a prank on me? I wish that that's the case because the only other reason would be that all the food which exists in here is brown rice. The state of Fort Erosion is worse than I expected.

 

Despite the poor quality of food, I managed to down almost half of the bowl before calling it quits. I was just that hungry. Later, I made my way towards 'Sarah's office' where she and Sisley stood next to a pyramidal crystal.

 

"You finally made it here, Max! Come here, put your hand on the crystal."

 

"Hey, hold your horses. What's going on?"

 

"Young master, this is just a small test to verify if you really are able to use magic on such a scale as the massive dispel."

 

"No, wait! You are totally misunderstanding what happened, this is-"

 

"Now now, my child, would it be too much to listen to your mother's one request?"

 

Ugh, using the mother card is cheating! I can clearly tell that this is a Soul Depth measurement crystal, which does absolutely nothing other than expose me to magic.

 

"Young master, we know that you had a bad experience with Soul Depth measurement. We will never judge you for your score, and we are also curious if maybe your previous measurement was caused by a malfunction. So please, do this one more time, that's all."

 

"No, you don't understand! Ah, ok, I'll do it only once. However, this is on the condition that Mom should never use magic again."

 

"Hmm, sure! As long as it isn't necessary, I'd be glad not to have to use magic again if you want."

 

After hearing Sarah's acceptance, I slowly approached the crystal with disgust. Never have I thought I'd willingly approach a magical device, but this is all for saving Sarah from joining the circus of magic.

 

I put my right hand on one side of the pyramid while Sarah put hers on the opposite side. Just as the time back when I was four, the crystal shone for a moment, it took a while to process, then the result came out, though the number was a bit dim.

 

See? It's negative…27? That's not right, wasn't it -7 before? I thought Soul Depth score never changes no matter what. Could it be due to some sort of interference from the void metal?

 

Sarah and Sisley were frozen in place. Uh, Sarah just dropped on the floor unconscious…

 

"Y-Y-Young master… I… I think… No… I am sure this is some sort of mistake… I-It has to be. How about we start again?"

 

"... Ok."

 

I don't want to expose myself to too much magic, but I'm also curious about his subject. We waited for Sarah to wake up and after getting her up to speed, we restarted the test, only this time, I used my left hand instead.

 

A whole ritual later, the result came brighter than before, and it was…

 

Still -27…

 

"Why… Why did the spirits curse my son? Such a low score has never been recorded ever before."

 

Sarah was being supported up by Sisley while Sarah wept at the score I got. This is really good though; it means less magic for me!

 

"Alright Mom, now that I did what you wanted, I would like for you to hear me out now. You see, I want to have the refugees work under my rule to help around the fortress, and anyone who refuses, we kick them out."

 

"Ah? Eh? Huh?"

 

… Maybe I should wait until she recovers before announcing my master plan.