Ch.334334. A Single Victory (9)

“Humans adopted this approach because they were weak. It’s a method only humans could choose. But you’re not human. You can’t possibly understand the power of the weak.”

‘That can’t be right. Nonsense!’

“Checkmate, Ashpern.”

‘I, I can’t lose. I am the supreme being who will eliminate the impurities called humans from this world…!’

Throughout his life, he had never been pushed back by any opponent. He was treated as a king among magical beasts and designated as the Named Beast, Ashpern of Oblivion, by humans.

‘To a mere human. And against someone so pathetically weak that it’s laughable to even consider them an opponent—I cannot be pushed back!’

That’s why Ashpern had to prove himself by defeating Junon.

He needed to painfully engrave into Junon that his bravado was empty, his words were sophistry, and his dreams could never come true.

Having lost control of his magic for inexplicable reasons, he tried to overwhelm with speed and quantity instead of quality, but was being destroyed.

Therefore, it was impossible to face Junon with magic alone. But would switching to physical combat guarantee victory? No.

With nimble movements, Junon avoided and sidestepped the magic attacks, always standing unharmed even when dust clouds settled. It was obvious that close-quarters combat would lead to defeat.

So—

*BOOM! CLANG!*

Magic as magic. Close combat as close combat.

He had to give it his all. Ironically, against the weakest opponent, he needed to pour out all his strength.

***

*HISSSS*

The stone floor splashed with acidic liquid. Acrid fumes rose from it.

The concentration was so high that even as gas, it obscured vision.

And from there—

*SWOOSH!*

*CLANG!*

Cutting through the creeping smoke, Ashpern’s spear appeared.

The acidic liquid wasn’t meant for direct attack. The purpose was simple: visual obstruction. The intention was to cover visibility and thrust in the spear.

Then, as fog magic obscured the front, flames suddenly erupted from the right flank. The terrain was damaged enough that the flow of magical power could be slightly sensed—otherwise, he would have been swept aside immediately.

Wherever Junon stepped, Ashpern quickly created a mud area using fusion and transformation magic to restrict movement, then poured water currents followed by lightning magic to amplify the damage.

His intention was clear: block visibility and deny any chance for counterattack.

With magic potentially coming from anywhere at any time, and Ashpern’s spear thrusting directly, there was no room for a lapse in concentration.

Inevitably, Junon had to create an opening in his opponent’s defense.

*SWISH!*

“Got you!”

“!!!”

Obstructed vision affected both sides. Anticipating Ashpern’s obvious approach timing, Junon pretended to take a hit while actually unleashing the chain bound to his gauntlet.

The rattling chain advanced. It attempted to bind Junon and Ashpern together firmly.

“A mere chain like this, I’ll just break it!”

*CRASH!*

Ashpern telekinetically lifted a rock and struck the chain.

The chain didn’t break. Already infused with Junon’s mana, it withstood even the rock smashed down by telekinesis.

“…Huff.”

Unfortunately, he failed to bind Ashpern’s body. If it had reached him, this could have ended quickly, but Junon had already anticipated that his opponent wouldn’t be so easy.

Numerous magic circles targeted him again. Though not powerful enough to be fatal, they were sufficient to restrict movement.

Moreover, the spell-breaking method from earlier wouldn’t work this time.

*CLANG! CLANG!*

Being an intelligent entity, Ashpern realized the magical interference and chose to actively block with his spear to prevent Junon from having time to break the magic circles.

In a way, this was the most troublesome approach. Left alone, magical bombardment would occur, but focusing solely on blocking magic circles would leave him vulnerable to the Spear of Oblivion. He needed to be ready to counter both.

He could handle both attacks, but Ashpern wouldn’t give him a suitable environment to do so. Any sign of leeway would be immediately suppressed.

The intention was clear: drag this into a war of attrition until Junon’s mana was depleted, then finish him off.

But having always been the weaker one, Junon understood.

‘Left shoulder!’

*CLANG!*

‘Next, a magic sphere from the front!’

*KABOOM!*

He responded calmly.

The openings targeted after visual obstruction.

The strategy of restricting movement to land effective hits.

As usual, these were all tactics deeply ingrained in his mind.

Ashpern’s all-out attacks were originally human tactics. As strategies the weak used against the strong, the weak understood better when and what type of magic was most efficient to use.

Though annoying attacks prevented him from using Spell Break, he gradually gained some leeway.

*SWOOSH!*

“What…!”

*CLANG!*

Eventually, Ashpern’s intentions began to be deciphered one by one, and his advantageous position crumbled.

“You, you can see through it…!”

***

He had always been the weak one.

Magic that others could use easily, he couldn’t master even with much more mana consumption and time investment.

The dunce of Class E. The weakest vanguard.

These labels followed him like a tail, constantly proving his weakness.

This label didn’t disappear even when he joined Tembris.

It always followed with contempt. Always with accusations that he was unqualified.

Yes. Because he was weak.

Because he lived at the bottom, he could find the weaknesses of stronger beings.

Having nothing else, he only had his inadequate mana and body. So he had to target the weaknesses of those stronger than him. Always pouring everything in, always creating the best moves with his mind.

*SCREECH!!*

*CLANG!*

Thanks to this, Ashpern’s only weakness was finally exposed. Through reverse calculation, Junon gained the initiative and could attack the Alphade lines of magic circles within his mana domain, reversing and destroying the flow of magic.

Since Ashpern relied solely on overwhelming with magical power, no magic could reach Junon, who was trained to the extreme in controlling magic.

*SWOOSH!*

“What…!”

*CLANG!*

“You, you can see through it…!”

“Kugh!”

Ashpern gritted his teeth as Junon closed the distance instantly.

He tried to select a magic to repel Junon but couldn’t think of one quickly.

“You know what? If it were Michelle’s Blue Flame, my mana would have been completely burned away by now.”

At this close range, using short-range burst magic or restraining magic would certainly push Junon back. Michelle’s Blue Flame would be particularly effective as it burns the opponent’s mana.

“Aris’s Sixth Lotus, Tilmasia, would be perfect for reducing me to ashes. Even Charlotte’s Freeze Tempest would leave me immobile. And… with Senia’s Magic Eye, you could have observed all my movements. But you can’t use them, can you?”

Aris’s Lotus. Charlotte’s Rapid Freezing. Even Senia’s Magic Eye.

All these would have been threats to Junon, and merely informing him of this could have turned the tables.

Yet the fact that he mentioned these aloud showed his confidence.

“Because someone like you would have dismissed them as mere techniques and wouldn’t have bothered to learn them! You wouldn’t have raised your proficiency! You only copied and used magic circles from strong humans using the power of oblivion!”

Ashpern’s face contorted visibly.

“Defense wizards, offense wizards, buffers, and vanguard techniques—you only learned magic circles with stronger power. Isn’t that right?”

As he said, the options were vast. He could simply make the ground slippery to cause a slip down, or use binding magic to hinder movement.

Self-strengthening buff magic. Debuff magic to weaken the opponent. If he could use them, he could have countered Junon in many ways.

But Ashpern couldn’t use them.

Because he hadn’t learned them.

If carpet-bombing with magic was enough to make humans fall, there was no need to learn close-combat techniques.

As Junon said, he hadn’t learned them. Defense wizards, offense wizards, buffers—he hadn’t absorbed their mana or learned their magic. The magical knowledge he gained from them consistently emphasized that power was most important.

Was that all?

“You only focused on high-firepower magic that could deal damage, relying on magical quantity rather than skill. That’s why you can’t defeat me.”

“!!!”

*CRASH!*

Though he tried to switch to wielding his spear, he had never properly trained with weapons.

Before he could grab his spear that flew away with a clang, Junon’s fist struck Ashpern’s abdomen, sending him crashing into the wall, with the spear deeply embedded right in front of him.

“Cough! Kugh.”

Spitting a handful of blood from internal injuries, Ashpern grabbed his spear in rage and began swinging wildly.

*CLANG! CLANG!*

Though the metallic sounds echoed loudly throughout the cave,

“Die, I said die!!!”

They wouldn’t connect.

With combat methods honed through countless experiences, a body trained through rigorous practice, and martial arts built up steadily, Junon was already a close-combat specialist.

*THUD! THWACK, THUD! CLANG! THUD!*

Instead, Junon easily deflected each spear swing and counterattacked. The spear, which only accumulated power without technique, was no match.

“Kuh, huff.”

Skill forged through effort. The result of not accumulating proficiency through blood and sweat became starkly apparent. Ashpern couldn’t understand the strongest power of humans.

And so the dragon-man finally knelt.

A mouthful of fresh blood now flowed from Ashpern’s mouth, not Junon’s.

“Kugh, AAAAARGH!!”

Having lost his reason, Ashpern tried once more to pour everything against Junon.

He grabbed his magic spear again and swung. He drew magic circles without thinking about the future where mana burst symptoms would lead to exhaustion and immobility.

But all of Ashpern’s desperate attacks—

*CRACK!*

Shattered and disappeared in Junon’s hands.

His vast magical power was depleted, and his overheated magic circuits refused to produce more magic.

His many subordinates were no longer by his side. All that remained were dried-up corpses stripped of magical energy.

“This… is the end…!”

“Kugh, let go. I said let go!!”

Junon grabbed Ashpern’s nape and slammed his head into the ground.

After a long, bitter enmity, the time for conclusion had come.

*HISSSS*

“You! What are you doing to my magic circuits…!”

Junon’s mana flowed through Ashpern’s organs.

In organs emptied after complete depletion, there was no magic power left to control the backflowing mana.

It was Anti-Cast.

“AAAAARGH! AAAAAAAARGH!!”

He had everything. He could use any magic and stood at the pinnacle where no one could block his path.

Yet ironically, against the one who couldn’t use any magic and chose only effort, everything became a weakness.

As a result.

The single victory fell into the hands of the weakest.

***

“…”

“Finally stopped, huh.”

The struggling, trembling body of the dragon-man fell silent.

Having burst all magic circuits with the last bit of magic power, Ashpern, being a magical beast rather than human, would never wake again.

*THUD*

“I can’t even move a finger.”

But I too had poured everything out.

I had to deplete all my mana to counter the barrage of magic, and my body had to move constantly, leaving me without strength to even wiggle a finger.

“Damn, the situation outside…”

Even though this battle was finished, the situation outside the sinkhole wasn’t resolved. I needed to force myself to stay awake to check the outside situation… but my eyelids kept trying to close.

“I can’t… fall asleep… now…”

Ashpern would have given a simple order to destroy all humans, but if some beasts went beyond the reach of his command, variables might occur.

Even with Tembris, they didn’t teach me all methods to respond to so many magical beasts.

I couldn’t feel at ease until Ashpern’s last legion was dealt with.

But my eyes closed. My ears shut, and my body stiffened like stone.

In that moment when irresistible sleep was about to overtake me—

‘Silver-white…?’

I thought I saw her silver-white hair, which couldn’t possibly be here.