“How can you keep up with my steps when you can’t even follow me earlier? Can those short legs catch up to me?”
“Does that mean I should take it as a compliment for being cute?”
A hexagonal wizard using localized barriers in magic and materials of pleasure in aura.
Love was intentionally throwing out low-level provocation to immerse herself in her imaginary world.
“Don’t you know you’ll lose twice if you lose once? I’ll step on you until you get used to losing. Don’t cry later since we have a fan meeting to attend.”
“Hmph.”
Countdown: 10 seconds, prepping the aura.
My Aura Heart was burning hot, feeling like my soul could just bail out any moment.
I focused my mind and fixed my eyes on Love’s aura.
Her crimson aura was boiling like blood.
[Event Match]
[No Name] [100% | 100%]
[Kim Isabel Love] [100% | 100%]
Although it was an event match, for Love, it was also a rematch after that unofficial duel.
Of course, neither of us had even the slightest intention to take it easy.
I raised my modified Sharpauzen wand made from Skiabona.
[3]
[2]
[1]
Screeching!
[Unique Magic: Ignis Respicio]
[Unique Magic: Roseus Panthera]
With the start of the duel, a dreadful magic circle completed at an alarming speed.
My magic was slightly faster.
A blue flash close to white met a red beam in a straight line.
Boom!
A shockwave swept across the sandy ground near Love.
[Casting: Black Aur-]
[Casting: Ventus Revol-]
I executed the double casting at maximum speed.
Whoosh!
“…!”
Suddenly, a red chain rushed down from the sky, piercing through the sandstorm.
Crash!
The ground where the chain crashed exploded, sending sand flying in all directions once more.
As I rolled sideways, I adjusted the magic I was casting.
The chain yanked, and Love flew next to me in an instant.
Charging her explosive aura, she extended her fist.
“I got you-”
Gah!
Clang!
I gently struck her wrist with my sword and hit her solar plexus with the other hand.
[Cancelled: Nellymelo]
[El – Mabeon – Gernum – Freshian – Ruplobain]
[Casting: Ventus Aspelro]
Five runes completed the strong line.
Boom!
A swirling mana tornado swept Love to the edge of the stadium.
[Casting: Black Aurora]
[Casting: Demon King’s Horn]
Finally, I managed to complete both the Black Aurora and the Demon King’s Horn safely.
“Phew.”
I slowly closed the distance between me and Love, sword out front.
“Are you modifying your magic again? I went in on purpose, and you’re really impressive.”
Love knelt, stood tall, and spat out sand that had entered her mouth.
“Don’t mistake this for the end of the opening. I haven’t shown you everything yet.”
“Come on, No Name.”
[Imperial Palace Swordsmanship 346 – Mud Slash]
I sliced through the ground between Love and me horizontally.
Aura seeped into the ground, causing the muddy ground to splatter in half-moon shapes.
Love quickly dodged backward.
I boldly stepped forward.
Wrapping the earth imbued with aura around my sword, I thrust forward.
[Imperial Palace Swordsmanship 347 – Mud Thrust]
Slash!
Chains shot out from behind Love, overlapping in an ‘X’ pattern to block.
Up close, it looked more like red orbs strung together rather than chains.
“Is this also a Roseus Panthera?”
Each orb exploded the moment my mana condensed while touching.
As if aware of my gaze, Love snorted and said,
“Roseus Open Chain. This side is much easier to work with.”
I nodded slightly.
It was probably a magic that compensated for the control issues I noticed during the Katsuhata Emika match.
Snip!
Love broke the chains in two.
The battle began again.
With a fierce momentum, Love approached, swinging the two chains alternately in an odd pattern.
It looked slow enough to see clearly.
Yet my instincts warned me against such naive thinking.
If it was Love, she wouldn’t do unnecessary things in a duel.
‘She’s about to cast a defensive spell…!’
[Quick Casting: Re Kaizen Familia – Mikasuela’s Velask]
Whirr!
“!”
The ends of the Roseus chains accelerated to a speed that my eyes could barely follow.
Boom!
Sonik Boom.
101 serpents shot out from the defensive barrier, sliced in an instant.
‘Too late!’
The end of the chain struck my collarbone, and the barrier activated, absorbing all the impact.
“Uwaah!”
Instead, my body spun around as if defying the laws of physics.
I stabbed the Skiabona into the ground to finally touch it again.
How dare you make me show such disgrace?
I’ve grasped all the movements of the chains now.
I charged through all the fiercely swinging chains and leaped closer.
Jump.
[Imperial Palace Swordsmanship 18 – Crescent Slash]
Love anticipated it and called upon the chains to block her head.
‘How dare you predict me!’
Flap!
With a huge flap, I retrieved my sword from the strike.
I dove down and hooked her leg, toppling her.
Take down.
Love and I tangled on the dirt floor.
We both poured every ounce of aura we could muster to gain the upper hand.
“You can’t beat me in a battle of strength.”
“I can, though.”
“Huh?”
The golden aura that was wrapping around me began losing its color from the bottom.
Gradually turning to a dull, grayish aura.
Heavy.
I operated the multi-aura, squeezing Love’s solar plexus with my leg, twisting her shoulder.
“Uuugh!”
“…?!”
Suddenly, Love grabbed a Roseus orb in her hand.
The crimson localized barrier rippled and emitted a bright light.
[Casting: Roseus Explosive]
Boom!
Love wasn’t shying away from a self-destruct attack.
I had no choice but to release her as it exploded close by.
A scratch resembling a cut appeared on my cheek, but the bleeding quickly stopped.
It seemed the effect of the Stipling was nearly gone now.
Drip!
“That’s right. I used multi-aura against Ruohan too. Why does it feel like my head is spinning when I fight you?”
“Hmph. If you stop thinking, your body will only grow more tired, you know?”
Our conversation was short.
Clang!
The chains and Skiabona clashed in the air.
The chain whip, breaking the sound barrier, was blocked by the Skiabona.
Clang!
As I deflected both chains, I countered.
Clang!
Love intercepted with her sword while the intense combat continued.
Blocking chains, thrusting, dodging, and swinging, burning through my aura like crazy.
As I focused harder, the world turned golden around me.
“Uwaaa!”
I wouldn’t back down.
In over 30, 50, or even 100 exchanges, it would hurt the pride of the one who retreated first.
My arms ached, and my legs felt like they would cramp.
Yet when the deadly localized barrier chains swept close to my eyes.
Woosh!
[Delayed Casting: Ignis Raptor]
[Dispel: Ignis Raptor]
Love burst the localized barrier, setting a trap.
“Love Unni. If you’re going to use chain whips, let’s do it fairly, how about it?”
“What’s fair about a magic battle?”
“That’s true. Just like this.”
“?”
Immediately, I infused the Skiabona with aura.
I spewed aura onto the ground, and the expired Roseus orbs started to drift upward.
Twenty golden orbs began to orbit around the blade of Skiabona.
“How the hell…!”
“Throwing things around carelessly will earn you a punishment.”
Clever nature, isn’t it?
[Imperial Palace Swordsmanship 100 – Falcon Thrust]
[Transmutation: Neodymium]
[Casting: Manifest – Roseus Panthera]
I firmly stepped forward and thrust from a distance.
Vroom!
In the blink of an eye.
The orbs shot straight and struck Love’s abdomen.
Gah…!
[Casting: Momentum Adjustment]
The first half was almost over.
I dashed across the arena, diving through the drag of the acceleration magic circle.
[Imperial Palace Swordsmanship 5 – Dragon Heart Thrust]
I unleashed a maximized physical strike onto a single point.
Crackle!
A follow-up attack unleashed dark lightning, relentlessly shattering Love’s barrier.
‘Why didn’t she stop that?’
Just as that question appeared.
Zhiing!
“Ugh!”
The localized barriers I had just taken had hit me squarely in the face.
I flew several meters, rolling and crashing into a mound of dirt.
“Oww, my head… If I had even a tiny bit of aura left, I could’ve regained control.”
I must have dismissed the odds too early.
A memorable scene won’t appear without taking risks.
Beep!
The whistle signaling the end of the first half echoed.
Love approached and extended her hand.
“You got stronger.”
“Really? It should feel about the same as last year, right? By the way, what was that last attack?”
“Hehe. I just felt it might be the last chance to smack Na-me.”
“Next time, don’t hit, just pet me gently. I’ll understand that much.”
“No way… You’re already setting up for the second half, No Name? If you keep being cute, I’ll soften up and won’t be able to fight!”
“What am I doing?”
I dusted off the dirt from my behind and looked at the scoreboard.
[Event Match]
[Time 15:00]
[No Name] [61% | 59%]
[Kim Isabel Love] [38% | 56%]
*
Second half.
[4th Circle Unique Magic: Stellaris Atra-ho]
Casting the spell that defeated Suphian Hakim, the audience’s cheers echoed loudly.
I surrounded Love with nine swords and began to attack carefully from the outside.
However, Love’s method of breaking the 36 sword paths was somewhat violent.
[General Objective: Levitation]
She lifted the sand entirely, diving beneath and gliding out effortlessly.
Swoosh!
Annoyingly resilient chains coiled around my body.
[4th Circle Casting: Ventus Grando Vortex]
[Casting: Aqua Monolith]
[Casting: Ignition]
Boom!
A massive explosion spanning several meters.
A display of firepower that threw everything, every bit of mana into the air, began.
The second half proceeded more intensely as we no longer held back even intermediate circle spells.
I reduced the 10% death rule down to 3% for much more excitement!
If only I could summarize it luckier…
Eight minutes into the second half, problems emerged.
We began showing signs of mana depletion from pushing our aura hearts too hard.
“Hah… Hah…”
“Heh… Aren’t you tired?”
“At all? Not even a little tired?”
“That can’t be! I’m dying over here!”
Mana depletion isn’t something you can lie about.
Seeing visually that the magic circle was warped and the runes dimmed was a dead giveaway.
‘What do I do? There are still 7 minutes left…’
[Event Match]
[Time 23:04]
[No Name] [48% | 34%]
[Kim Isabel Love] [15% | 38%]
One fact I had overlooked was.
It had been a while since we officially held a magic duel.
We mismanaged our mana distribution, making it impossible to continue till the end.
In any case, Love couldn’t win me over the remaining time nor could I hope for a KO victory.
With a vibe suggesting victory was assured, I didn’t want to embarrass ourselves fighting like kids, pulling each other by the hair.
This being an event match, it wasn’t the time for such competitive gameplay.
Swoosh!
Love struggled to swing her chain whip.
Regardless, was she really planning to push till the very end?
But the chains failed to hit me and dropped at my feet.
Swish- Thwack!
“What are you doing?”
Why was she deliberately avoiding the attack? She should have enough stamina still.
Love gestured for me to look down.
“What is it… Ugh?”
Fool
Laughter erupted from the audience behind me.
My pride took a tremendous hit, letting that word come to completion.
[Casting: Adela]
I immediately swung the Skiabona for payback.
Zzzzzt!
You little mongrel!
This time, Love scrunched her face.
“Hehe.”
Wait.
Isn’t now the time? The sand would work perfectly.
[General Objective: Engraving]
I desperately squeezed out my mana to craft the final magic circle.
“…!”
Love panicked and quickly set a defense.
‘Not planning to attack her.’
I drew a colossal crop circle in the sand for everyone to see.
[Settlement]
“A!”
Quick to respond, Love cast the same spell.
Do it for me!
We took turns engraving letters to complete a sentence.
Ma
Do
Sa
Association
[!]
We stepped back to see the completed picture.
[Settle it for me, Wizard Association! You fool, mongrel!]
“Na-me, shouldn’t we erase what’s on the side…?”
Somehow, a sentence that could easily be misunderstood formed.
