Finally, on the day of the duel, I found myself standing atop a grand dueling arena.
I don’t think the arena was this large when I dueled Lucia, so Sera must have quite the influence.
Perhaps, a smaller venue wouldn’t have sufficed to contain her power. She was stronger than she appeared on the surface.
You can roughly gauge an opponent’s strength by just looking. Up close, I understood why Rena was making such a fuss.
Sera’s strength had already surpassed that of normal academy students. In that regard, she was comparable to Ariel.
What’s going on with this year’s second years? They appeared ridiculously strong compared to the first years.
It’s natural for second years to be stronger than first years, but this was excessive. They were hardly inferior when compared to third and fourth years.
As I got closer, Sera flashed a smile that didn’t fit the face of someone about to engage in combat.
“Did you come? At least you didn’t run away.”
“………”
“Oh, don’t misunderstand; I’m not trying to ignore you. It’s just that last time, all my opponents ran away. I went after them and knocked some sense into them.”
She spoke words that were contrary to her soft smile. For some reason, I thought that look suited her very well.
She looked like someone I had seen before—had I met her somewhere? It was a strange sense of déjà vu.
“I’m just glad you showed up in one piece. You seem sharper than before; it shows you’ve prepared. Waiting a week for this was worth it, huh?”
With that said, Sera stood in front of me. She felt entirely different from the human masses I had encountered until now.
Usually, I felt like people looked down on me, but there was none of that in Sera’s eyes.
She acknowledged me as a human. There was no hint of condescension or disregard.
It was literally an ideal duel. A duel to simply prove our abilities through practical combat.
There was no pride on the line, nor was there a major humiliation in losing.
At that point, I realized what kind of person Sera was. She was just like Ariel, albeit in a different way.
However, her love for combat was excessive, and the duel was merely a means to prove her path.
She wasn’t a bad person, just a bit crazy.
I decided to treat her as just another human.
I lifted my wooden sword, pointing it at Sera. It meant I was ready for the duel.
Sera raised one hand as a sign of her readiness. It was then that the academy professor serving as the referee signaled the start of the duel.
However, Sera’s movements were not visible immediately.
Even with the duel set to begin, we stood there in a standoff.
She was likely assessing what kind of tactics she would show against me. I chose to just observe for a moment.
Then a little time passed.
“I’ll give you a piece of advice: you’d better not point your sword at me.”
Sera lightly snapped her fingers.
Whoosh!
Flames erupted from the wooden sword in my hand. It happened in an instant.
The wooden sword turned to ashes in a heartbeat. The weapon I had was gone.
“Well, it was just a wooden sword. So, what are you gonna do now?”
“………”
I drew out my internal mana.
And then transformed it into the Blue-Green Wind almost immediately. It didn’t take long at all.
It was the result of my training. Before being a swordsman, I’d trained as a mage in the Combat Magic Department.
A green light swirled around me as the thick wind element arose.
At the same time, a smirk crept onto Sera’s lips.
“Yeah, that’s more like it.”
On the dueling arena, Sera ignited flames.
The fire was far stronger than when she burned my wooden sword.
It resembled the firepower Rena showcased during her practical exam. The difference was that Rena’s firepower was produced through underhanded means.
Rena had overexerted herself to produce a firepower she could hardly handle, while Sera unleashed it purely through her own ability.
That was her true strength. Another legend of the second-year student who built an undefeated myth, aside from Ariel, through dozens of duels.
Sera stood before me, wielding flames.
*
Fire magic is the most aggressive type of magic, but it can only shine when the flames are hot.
Therefore, fire mages have their own intermediary processes to raise the temperature of their flames.
Rena had a method of storing fire and slowly preheating it through layered spells, while Eve maximized the power of her magic by causing explosions at that intermediary phase.
So what about Sera?
On the dueling arena, her flames spread like they were alive. The initial flames flared up, spreading around.
From fire to fire.
From small flames to gigantic infernos.
Sera did not go through the intermediary process that fire mages usually must pass.
She spread the flames around, allowing them to merge and raise their temperature naturally.
“Burn!”
The flames grew so massive that they nearly covered most of the arena.
The phrase “the flames scream” fit perfectly.
However.
“………”
Now she was just overflowing with flames—I could do that with my eyes closed.
I recalled the sensations from training.
I shifted the trajectory of the flames with the Blue-Green Wind. The wind carried the flames, creating a heatwave. A gigantic gust of fiery winds swept through the dueling arena.
In the blink of an eye, only the places where Sera and Iria stood remained intact in the sea of flames.
The scorching heat from the flames made the air unbearable.
“This is new. You’re good at magic too, huh? Well, being the top student in the Combat Magic Department makes sense.”
Sera approached me with a relaxed smile.
She strode through the flame-ravaged arena. The flames, alive and blazing, parted to make way for their master.
Sera was commanding all the flames in the vicinity.
“Then I’ll fight you in a way you prefer. You like close combat, right?”
Sera began to gather the flames that had covered the arena once more.
All the flames were sucked back to her. The immense fire was drawn into one place.
The heat from the flames brushed against my skin, and it was scalding.
The claim that she was the best at handling fire magic among the academy students was no exaggeration.
She concentrated the gathered flames into a single point, raising the temperature to extremes.
Then she engulfed herself in that flame.
Assuming a stance, she etched flames into her fists.
If she were a regular student, they would have probably forfeited just from approaching her. The temperature of those gathered flames would overwhelm anyone.
Sera’s crimson eyes glimmered within the flames.
She was undoubtedly the academy’s most powerful student. With a slight smile, she prepared to charge at me.
However.
“You’ll regret this.”
Naturally, she was not someone Iria would take lightly.
Given that she was closing in on me without the magical advantages, that was actually preferable.
Iria wrapped wind around her fists in the same stance Sera had shown. Compared to Sera, it was a meager output.
While she had to face off against massive flames with just a slight wind, it didn’t matter much.
In fact, this level was more than enough.
Sera was strong.
If there was this much difference in our magical firepower, there was no need to hassle over controlling my strength.
“You’ll figure out who’ll be regretting this soon enough.”
Iria half-listened to Sera’s words, focusing on controlling her mana.
The Blue-Green Wind enveloped her body, enhancing her speed through wind manipulation.
And then.
BANG!
Iria and Sera leaped into action at the same time, charging at each other.
Sera threw a punch engulfed in flames, while Iria extended a wind-wrapped fist.
The blazing flames obscured the view around us. The only thing visible in the limited sight was Sera, closing in.
Then their fists collided. A massive explosion enveloped the dueling arena.
In fact, it almost affected the audience seating, but it was prevented by the professor’s barrier.
Sera’s punch exerted an astonishing power. She had reinforced her body with a colossal amount of mana.
The power in her fist was also formidable, followed by the fierce flames. I must’ve underestimated her. Iria further amplified her wind-encased punch.
“……Ugh?!”
In the center of the explosion, Sera’s brows furrowed.
After the first big explosion passed, it was Sera who retreated first. She held onto the arm she had swung, grimacing.
“………”
The results of this clash were as follows.
Iria had slightly singed hair and clothes, while Sera had a broken arm.
It was the result of forcing her way through with magic power. It was a somewhat brutish tactic, but it was all Iria had available.
Using magic in front of so many spectators was out of the question.
“I told you, you’ll regret this.”
Sera appeared flustered. At that moment, her eyes blinked back and forth between Iria and her own arm.
Engaging in close combat with Iria was a mistake. Iria took a small breath.
The duel was not over yet.
“Do you want to continue?”
Iria asked her.
And then.
“……Sure.”
Sera smiled.
“Isn’t that obvious?”
A golden ring adorned Sera’s left index finger.
It was such that pressing a button would release a tiny needle.
Of course, that little needle was grossly inadequate for injuring someone else. It was extremely tiny and thin.
But it was more than sufficient to injure herself. It had been specially crafted for that purpose from the beginning.
With her hidden little needle, Sera scratched her own arm. It was a rather bold display for self-harm. After deeply piercing it, she dragged it across.
After all, once the duel ended, she could receive treatment at the academy’s medical center. So there was no hesitation.
Crimson blood dripped onto the dueling arena. It was a deep wound, resulting in quite the amount of blood loss.
With a maddened expression, Sera poured her blood, mixed with mana.
“Burn!”
In that instant, the dueling arena was turned upside down.
