Magic (Hamefura)

**Magic** is present in the light novel series *Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimatta...* (Eng. *My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!*) by Satoru Yamaguchi.

## Description

The series magic uses a standard four element system (water, earth, fire, wind) with the addition of the element of Light. Some people are born with aptitude with a single one of these five forms of magic. The inborn aptitude can range from very weak (capable of a single, weak spell) to very high (wide range of uses, great magnitude of power). It is mentioned that the occurence of people being born with one of the five forms of magic varies for each form of magic, with earth magic users being the most common and light magic users being the rarest.

The magic of the four classic elements are not depicted in great detail in the volumes. Light magic has been depicted to be capable of healing injuries, though it is implied that this is not the extent of its capabilities. Light magic also has another depicted use, mentioned below.

Aside from the above five magics, there exists a hidden form of magic, Dark Magic. In-world, knowledge about it is suppressed by the government, but it has been the most depicted form of magic in the novels. Unlike the other five magics, one cannot be born with Dark Magic. It is acquired through a ritual that involves the sacrifice of a living human being. The life of the sacrifice is exchanged for a store of Dark Magic energy which gives the recipient the ability to use Dark Magic. The recipient must have at least some aptitude in one of the normal five magics to be able to acquire Dark Magic. This seems to be the only way for a person to have two types of magic.

Dark Magic is mainly used to manipulate human minds. A Dark Magic user can distort or change a persons memories or emotions, at least temporarily. It can amplify negative emotions such as envy or hatred and make people act upon them, manipulating their actions. However, Dark Magic cannot create emotions the victim doesn't have, or make them do things they would never do, such as hating or harming a loved one. Aside from manipulating minds, Dark Magic has also been shown to be able to instill coma-like sleep, probably another form of mind manipulation, and to be able to transfer the memories and knowledge from one person to another. There was a theory that Dark Magic could transfer full consciousness as well, but no successful attempt has appeared in the novels. Aside from mind manipulation, there is mentions of Dark Magic applications such as creating independent magic creatures of dark energy and shadows to serve the Dark Magic user, and at least one other application (mentioned below) exists.

The aptitude the Dark Magic user have in their in-born magic also plays a role; a Dark Magic user experiences difficulty in trying to influence a person with higher degree of magic aptitude than themselves. Light Magic users are immune to Dark Magic, and can percieve Dark Magic if used, both visually and as a feeling. Dark Magic users can detect the presence of Dark Magic not their own as a feeling, but not visually.

Unlike the normal five magics, Dark Magic ability is not persistent in the user. While other magic users replenish their store of energy over time, the Dark Magic user recieves a finite amount of Dark Magic energy at the completion of the ritual, which is used up by the Dark Magic user as they use Dark Magic, and gone when depleted (which still can take a long time depending of how frequently they use their abilities). A certain Dark Magic user in the novels was depicted to be able to circumvent this aspect of Dark Magic by using their abilities to drain the energy of individual human beings over time, replenishing their Dark Magic by doing so and collecting a larger amount of dark energy than what would have been possible with the sacrifice ritual alone. Such energy draining, if prolonged, will make the victims body deteriorate and give out.

## External Links

* *Magic* on the *Destruction Flag Otome* Wiki.