Editor: Tseirp
It was as if ti ca to a standstill.
No one moved.
No one spoke.
The front line forces of the Southern Army stood still, so of them hunched over, after facing a volley of artillery fire from the opponent.
Well, that was natural.
Just when they thought they were a goner after facing a thousand magic bombardnts, an invisible wall of ice appeared in front of them and repelled everything.
The magicians of the Emperor’s Magic Division were also surprised inwardly, although none of them uttered a sound.
Their bombardnts had been repelled by a single wall of ice.
Although, there were about four who were not surprised.
What broke the situation, where no one could move, was the sound of multiple footsteps coming from behind Ryo.
And a couple of voices.
“Is that Baron Hagen Benda’s ?”
“Most likely. However, even in our family’s information network, we have never received a report that a group of people can be teleported. As expected of the Empire. They must have kept the information thoroughly hidden.”
It’s the conversation between Abel and Phelps.
The two stood beside Ryo while having that exchange.
Baron Hagen Venda.
He is a ‘Baron assigned to the Imperial Army’, which was a very strange position.
He is the only man in the Central Nations who can use what is called ‘Space-ti magic’.
Known magic are and .
Both are extrely useful magic for the military, so he ‘constantly’ moves with the Imperial Army.
What makes his ‘Space-ti magic’ special is also how he ca to be able to use it.
His father, the previous Baron Venda, was also able to use ‘Space-ti magic’.
While his predecessor was able to use Space-ti magic, the current Baron Hagen Venda was unable to use Space-ti magic.
And the mont his predecessor died, Baron Hagen Venda was able to use Space-ti magic… as if he had inherited the family curse.
While Abel and the others were talking about this, two figures from the Emperor’s Magic Division ca forward.
Sure enough, it was Princess Fiona, the leader of the group, and Oscar, the second-in-command and known as the ‘Explosive Blaze Magician’.
“Are they…trying to have a representative match?”
“I guess so.”
Ryo asked and Abel answered.
“But you’re going to have a tough ti dealing with those two…”
Abel said this with a frown, and Phelps added.
“The intel on the Explosive Blaze Magician is that he is unequaled in close-quarters combat. In a previous Imperial martial arts tournant, he left so pretty impressive records. Also, Princess Fiona is reputed to be more skilled than any other magician in history in using the treasured sword Raven, which she wears on her waist.”
“Are there that many magicians roaming about who are also good in lee combat…?”
Abel let out such words with a small sigh.
“I’m not surprised. I an, if they can close in on their opponent, it’s all over, isn’t that kinda badass.”
“Yeah, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Abel denied Ryo’s words completely.
“Well, jokes aside. Before calling yourself a magician or anything like that, I believe that as a single individual, you should be able to fight in close quarters as part of your self-defense…that’s all I’m saying.”
“…I wish the other magicians could hear this.”
“Rin has Warren, and Rihya has you, Abel, right? To protect them.”
“And you have…Sera, huh?”
“Nah, I will be the one protecting her.”
“I-I see…so you’re going to be better than Sera…in close quarters…”
It’s a degree of magnitude that even Abel could not fathom at all….
Ryo took a step forward and chanted.
“”
With Oscar’s muttering, the entire ground within a five-ter radius lted like lava.
Except for where Oscar was standing.
“Ugh.”
Ryo backed away, creating distance.
And close combat was no longer an option.
He could use or sothing similar to nullify the lava, but he thought that it would not work that smoothly.
Then Ryo ca up with a good idea.
“Then, how about this? ”
At that mont, a shower solidified the lava under his feet, and at the sa ti, a wall of ice enveloped Oscar…in all directions.
A spell in which the thickness of the ice wall increases from the walls towards Oscar in the center.
A skill once used against Akuma Leonor, and Bruno, an A-ranker.
“Child’s play! ”
As Oscar shouted, dozens of fla lances were generated around him, spinning and orbiting around Oscar, continuously cleaving the ice walls approaching from all directions one after another, eventually breaking through them.
Breaking them down was, of course, within Ryo’s expectations.
Ryo chanted sothing shortly in his mind, readied Murasa, and plunged at Oscar again with .
Naturally, Oscar did not let his guard down, even right after breaking through the looming ice walls.
Needless to say, he expected Ryo to attack him as a follow-up.
And sure enough, he dove in.
It was an attack at the speed of sound with , but Oscar was no pushover.
He readjusted his drawn sword, widened his stance, and planted his feet on the ground to be ready for anything…or at least tried to….
“…”
An inarticulate expression escaped Oscar’s mouth.
His feet, as he tried to plant himself, was frozen.
And so, Oscar lost balance as he could not hold his ground.
Then, Ryo charged in at a speed exceeding that of sound.
A single flash of Murasa.
Oscar’s left arm was cut off.
Ryo was aiming for the neck, but missed.
Moreover….
Dogonn.
“Ughoo.”
Ryo was hit by an explosion. The left arm that he slashed off exploded!
Without even the slightest flow of magic power, the left arm suddenly exploded.
Oscar had cast delay magic on his own body…an extraordinary one that explodes when a limb is cut off.
Even Ryo didn’t keep track of the left arm he severed in his mind.
So, the explosion from it was completely unexpected.
Both of them stepped back to keep their distance.
The din of battle around them was completely gone.
At this point, the sword fight between Fiona and Abel had already stopped.
Neither of them was winning…so they naturally stopped as they realized that the showdown between the strongest magicians, not theirs, was the one to determine the outco of the battle….
Ryo suffered burns around his right eye and lost half his eyesight as a result of the explosion.
Oscar lost his left arm after being cut with Murasa.
Even so, the two n’s will to fight had not waned in the slightest.
Ryo was trying to heal his burns with a slight coating of ice over his right eye.
Oscar cauterized the section of his arm that was cut off to stop the bleeding.
Ryo held Murasa in a middle stance. (TLN: Another Kendo stance, sword held in front at waist height pointed at the opponent’s eye)
Then he chanted.
“”
Murasa’s sheath glowed just slightly, and his clones erged.
With that setup, the following skills were pretty obvious.
“ ”
Nurous ice lances were shot out toward Oscar, and at the sa ti, fine sprays of water shot out from the backs of the three Ryo, driving them at the sa speed as the ice lances.
The impact of the ice lances and the slashes from the three Ryo, which occurred in an instant, converged at once.
However….
At the point of convergence, Oscar was nowhere to be found.
In imitation of what he had seen, he ‘flew’ by emitting his flas.
Imitating Ryo’s ….
Inherently, it was not sothing one can imitate just because they have seen it.
But Oscar flew.
Naturally, as it was his first ti, he failed in his landing.
And tumbled to the ground.
But he nimbly softened his fall and rolled up on one knee, ready to fight back at any mont.
The mont he took the stance…Oscar realized that he had failed.
Where the clones should have converged, they were not there.
No one was there.
Not the main body….
Be it a coincidence that Oscar held up his right hand, or was it due to his unusual childhood experience.
Ryo descended directly from above.
Oscar’s right arm was held up, causing the sword to shift slightly.
Slashing Oscar’s right arm and right shoulder, not his head.
The mont Oscar realized he had failed, he abandoned the right half of his body.
Amidst the plu of blood that erupted….
Without thinking, he unleashed his magic on Ryo, who descended in front of him.
“”
A surprisingly thick piercing fire was generated and pierced Ryo.
Ryo was stabbed in the stomach with a pillar of white fla.
Oscar’s left arm was cut off, and he also lost his right shoulder and beyond.
The two of them were within a hair’s breadth of each other.
If they reached out their hands, they could reach each other imdiately.
But neither of them could move.
It was all they could do to hold on to their consciousness….
Even though just the smallest of movents would have decided the outco!
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