Chapter 29: The Absurdity of the Infinite

Lia felt her mind on the verge of shattering.

It wasn’t that her opponent was correct; rather, it was the sheer audacity of such blatant sophistry that ignited her fury.

Calm.

Lia, you must regain your composure.

She forced herself to draw a deep breath, quelling the tempest of emotions within. Engaging in anger with a professional sophist was tantamount to conceding half the battle.

Anger would not solve the problem; it would only muddle her thoughts.

She rapidly dissected every one of their statements, searching for a chink in their armor.

The voice’s logic was riddled with equivocation and sweeping generalizations.

It assailed the infinitesimal in calculus, yet remained conveniently silent about the essence of limits being a “process” rather than a “result.”

It attacked the singularity problem in universal gravitation, while conveniently neglecting to mention that every physical theory possesses inherent boundaries to its applicability.

A classic example of rogue argumentation.

When debating such an individual, one could not allow themselves to be led astray, nor could they attempt to prove the absolute completeness of their own theories.

That would merely lead to an endless, futile cycle of explanation.

The sole recourse was to seize upon the most fragile link in their logical chain and, using their own tactics, relentlessly press the attack.

“You just stated,” Lia began, her voice still carrying a faint tremor of anger, though her thoughts had become perfectly lucid, “that the concept of the infinitesimal is inherently self-contradictory, correct?”

The voice fell silent for a moment, as if taken aback by her choice to target that particular point.

“Naturally,” it responded, a thread of arrogance woven into its tone.

“Then how do you account for gravity becoming infinitely large when the distance approaches zero?” Lia countered.

“That is precisely the fallacy within your theory.”

“No, that is where your logic falters,” Lia interjected.

“You employ the phrase ‘infinitely approaching’ to undermine my theory, yet simultaneously claim that the very concept of ‘infinity’ is contradictory. If it is indeed contradictory, then why do you resort to using it?”

“I am merely adopting your erroneous concept to highlight the flaws in your reasoning,” the voice retorted.

“Is that so?” Lia’s lips curled into a smile.

“Very well, then let us dispense with that term. I challenge you to articulate, using a word you deem both correct and non-contradictory, the process of a variable continuously diminishing, yet never quite reaching zero.”

A prolonged silence descended upon the study.

The voice offered no reply.

“Have you nothing to say?” Lia pressed, relentlessly.

“You assail my theory, yet you cannot even justify a most fundamental concept. You deny the infinite, only to find yourself compelled to employ it. Is that not, in itself, the profoundest contradiction?”

“You are merely engaging in sophistry,” the voice finally resounded, now unmistakably tinged with annoyance.

“Who, precisely, is engaging in sophistry here?” Lia retorted, refusing to yield an inch.

“From start to finish, you have employed nothing but specious arguments to mislead. You assert that my theory clashes with the laws of the world, thereby causing mages’ heads to explode.

By your logic, then, when an infant learning to walk inevitably stumbles, does that not signify that the act of walking itself violates the world’s inherent laws?”

As Lia spoke, her fingers subtly brushed against the Guardian’s Heart nestled at her chest.

It felt cool and placid beneath her touch.

There was no reaction whatsoever.

Her heart settled, a measure of calm returning.

It appeared this entity merely dared to spew rhetoric from the shadows, lacking the courage to truly act. After all, Klein’s mage tower was not a place just any stray could breach with impunity.

As long as they refrained from physical action, she was prepared to see this through to the very end.

When it came to verbal sparring, she had never once feared an opponent.

“You—” The voice was now utterly enraged. “You are deliberately twisting reason!”

“The feeling is mutual,” Lia replied, leaning back into her chair with an air of defiant readiness. “Do continue, I am listening intently. Let us see what further absurdities you can conjure.”

“Do you truly believe I am powerless against you?”

The voice’s tone abruptly shifted.

Gone was the facade of a detached, rational observer, replaced by an overt malignancy and chilling intent to kill.

“If words prove insufficient to awaken you, then a more direct approach shall reveal the utter fragility of your mental landscape when confronted with true power.”

Alarm bells blared within Lia’s mind.

In the very next instant, an indescribable, terrifying pressure descended, plunging deep into the recesses of her consciousness.

It was a malevolent psychic force, akin to an invisible, colossal hammer, savagely striking at the very core of her perception.

Its objective was chillingly clear: to violently shatter Lia’s mental world, plunging her into an abyss of eternal cognitive chaos.

This was Silent Shadow’s true, devastating gambit.

They had once employed this very attack to transform an unsuspecting eight-ring mage into an imbecile in their sleep.

How resilient could the mental world of a mere teenage apprentice possibly be?

They envisioned Lia’s spirit crumbling, her hands clutching her head as she emitted meaningless screams.

However.

The colossal hammer descended.

Yet, the anticipated collapse never materialized.

The psychic assault, potent enough to shatter any will, simply vanished without a trace the moment it made contact with Lia’s consciousness, much like a clay ox dissolving into the sea.

“How is this possible?!”

Silent Shadow, concealed in the oppressive gloom, was struck by sheer horror.

They felt as though they had not assailed a person’s mental world, but rather an absolute domain—one forged from pure logic and immutable rules.

Their psychic energy could not even stir it in the slightest.

It was a world constructed upon an entirely different set of foundational rules.

Refusing to accept this anomaly, they mustered even greater psychic power, unleashing a second, more potent wave of assault.

This time, they held nothing back.

Yet, just as this more ferocious power was on the verge of reaching Lia—

A resonant hum pulsed!

From Lia’s chest, the hitherto dormant crystal pendant suddenly erupted with a blinding burst of silver light.

An impregnable spherical barrier instantly materialized, completely enveloping her form.

Silent Shadow’s second attack slammed violently against this ethereal shield, yet failed to even stir a ripple before being utterly annihilated.

“You possess such a defense?!”

The voice shrieked in a furious blend of shock and indignation within Lia’s mind, only to be abruptly severed thereafter, falling into complete silence.

Silence once more reclaimed the room.

The silvery barrier slowly dissipated, revealing Lia’s pale, drawn face.

She gasped for breath, her heart hammering wildly in her chest.

In that fleeting moment, she had genuinely sensed the encroaching shadow of death.

***

Simultaneously.

Within Horace’s study, nestled in the heart of the Royal Magic Association headquarters.

The elderly man, engrossed in reading a manuscript, abruptly stilled his movements.

He lifted his gaze, the leisurely expression that had graced his features vanishing without a trace, replaced instead by a gaze of bone-chilling intensity.

The Guardian’s Heart he had crafted had been activated.

Moreover, it had been triggered by a pure psychic assault.

Someone had dared to target that girl within Klein’s tower.

“They seek death,”

Horace ground out the words through clenched teeth.

His form vanished from where he stood, leaving behind only a slowly dissipating circle of silver teleportation runes.

Almost instantaneously, within Klein’s mage tower, the teleportation array pulsed to life with a blinding luminescence, activating of its own accord, unbidden by any hand.