Ch.66The Decisive Battle (1)

“Nice to meet you.”

Eterna was in a good mood.

Whether the tournament went well or not wasn’t particularly of interest to her.

It was merely something she had permitted because Midir had asked her to hold the tournament, not something she was directly involved in overseeing.

There was only one thing she was interested in.

The battle tournament.

Specifically, the battle tournament where Midir would participate.

‘You’ll definitely win.’

Eterna’s heart was filled with anticipation.

She had wanted to fight Midir for a while now.

To be precise, it was closer to wanting to see how effective her magic would be against another Transcendent.

Since it wasn’t certain whether they would hold it again next year, this battle tournament was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her.

“I won’t say much. Seize it.”

The purpose of this battle tournament was competition.

To seize first place.

To do that, one had to crush their opponents.

Only the strong could survive.

That was a rule that even the Magic Tower Masters couldn’t escape as long as the absolute being known as Eterna existed.

“If you take first place in this tournament…”

The corners of Eterna’s mouth, which had always maintained an expressionless face, twisted slightly.

“I will permit a magic duel with me.”

“!!”

The ruler of the Magical Kingdom.

The master of magic.

A duel with Eterna was in itself an honor for anyone.

This was especially unprecedented since Eterna had never engaged in any public activities since becoming the leader of the Magical Kingdom.

However…

‘A d-duel…’

‘Ahem…’

Among the Magic Tower Masters, it wasn’t exactly a reward they were thrilled about.

Knowing about a certain Magic Tower Master who had been thoroughly defeated after openly challenging Eterna, they couldn’t take this news entirely positively.

The Magic Tower Masters’ gazes turned in one direction.

“…Hmph.”

Ignius, the Red Tower Master.

He turned his head away from their stares, but he couldn’t hide his reddened ears.

Even Ignius, who would normally charge headfirst into any situation, found it impossible to go against Eterna, the founder of the Magical Kingdom and a Transcendent.

But…

‘A chance to fight again?’

He had been overwhelmingly defeated not just by Eterna but by Midir as well, but that didn’t matter to him.

It was his mistake for challenging someone without knowing their capabilities, and his defeat was simply the consequence of his error.

Fighting against such powerful opponents only made him stronger, so it wasn’t a bad deal.

Above all, he wasn’t interested in fighting Eterna again.

Eterna was strong.

Overwhelmingly so.

Everyone knew that Eterna had reached a level of her own in magic that was completely different from ordinary mages, and that no one could match her in magic.

To be frank, Ignius knew that no matter how skilled he became, it would be impossible to even establish a fight against Eterna.

He had already experienced it once.

On that day, he felt what it was like to hit a wall for the first time.

‘So this is your magic. Impressive.’

‘Let me tell you your weakness. Whether you use this knowledge or not is up to you.’

Eterna not only perfectly replicated his magic after seeing it just once but also immediately identified its weakness and engraved it directly into Ignius’s body as a way of teaching him.

The new flame magic he created following Eterna’s advice was Hellfire, a new system of flame magic that could literally “burn” even water.

After reaching the level of Hellfire, perhaps he had become arrogant.

It was understandable.

For someone who had overcome his only weakness, there was nothing left to fear.

It wasn’t strange that someone who had always been the troublemaker of the Magic Tower, charging in without fear, would develop such a personality after obtaining a powerful weapon without weaknesses.

Thus, he became a Magic Tower Master, and he thought life would continue smoothly.

Until the Blood Tower Master appeared.

‘I was overwhelmingly defeated.’

He had been “overwhelmingly” defeated by Midir.

There were no excuses.

No matter what magic he used, nothing worked.

Whether he tried to burn with Hellfire or heat the air to burn.

Eventually, he dropped a meteor.

A massive meteor infused with his Hellfire, a powerful magic that would kill anyone who couldn’t counter it, except for Eterna.

However, Midir simply used Blood Magic to literally split the meteor in half.

No other excuses were needed.

He had been overwhelmingly defeated.

That was the most important reason for him.

‘I want to fight again.’

He admitted that he had been blinded by rage at that time.

Not only that, but he had also been arrogant because he had never seen anyone stronger than himself except for Eterna.

Even then, Eterna was universally acknowledged as the strongest in the Magical Kingdom, a legendary figure who was the Magical Kingdom itself, so he didn’t find it strange to be defeated by her.

So it was fine.

Being defeated by Eterna was natural even for Ignius, who was best described as peerless under heaven.

Because Eterna was the one who represented the “heaven” in that phrase.

But Midir was different.

At least at that time, when he knew nothing about Midir, being overwhelmingly defeated without being able to do anything was…

How could he win when he fought without proper judgment?

But now it was different.

At least he believed he could use the magic he wanted at more precise moments than before, making for a more proper duel.

‘If I lose this time, I’ll have to acknowledge it.’

While he didn’t like placing Midir above himself alongside Eterna, his previous defeat had been unexpected, his first such experience.

If he lost decisively this time, he would acknowledge it.

What difference would it make if he didn’t acknowledge it?

The fact would remain that he had lost twice.

Ignius burned with hostility as he looked at Midir.

With a determination to win no matter what.

* * *

I’ve been feeling a strange gaze on me for a while now, but it must be my imagination.

It must be my imagination.

‘Is it Ignius?’

I want to believe it’s my imagination…

Why has he been glaring at me like this…

“Razak.”

Trying hard to ignore Ignius’s persistent stare, I called out to Razak.

“How will the order for this tournament be decided?”

“Well, I think it will probably be random.”

At Razak’s answer, I made a dubious expression.

There are 8 Tower Masters in total.

Assuming one-on-one matches, there would be 4 matches followed by the semifinals and finally the finals.

Since this tournament is a knockout format… fortunately, there aren’t any shortages in numbers, so no one will advance with a bye.

‘It’s a shame I can’t face more Tower Masters.’

It would improve my reputation if I could defeat more Magic Tower Masters, which is unfortunate.

I chuckled and asked Razak:

“Who do you think will be my first opponent?”

“Well… since it’s random, isn’t it strange to try to predict that?”

Razak replied with a troubled expression.

This guy is no fun.

I clicked my tongue in disappointment, and Razak turned his head away with an awkward smile.

‘Actually, it doesn’t matter who my opponent is.’

I thought this while waiting for the results.

After some time had passed,

“Huh?”

[Blood Tower Master Midir Tepes’s opponent will be Purple Tower Master Alice.]

“Purple Tower Master?”

That little kid I saw before?

‘She’s my opponent…?’

I wore a troubled expression.

No matter how I thought about it, the idea of having to fight that harmless-looking girl made me feel uncomfortable.

She must be strong enough to have reached the position of Tower Master, but that was beside the point.

The very thought of having to use Blood Magic to attack a seemingly harmless shut-in girl didn’t sit well with me.

‘Can’t we change this?’

Or it would be nice if she forfeited.

As I was struggling with what to do, Razak, who had been watching me, cautiously asked:

“What kind of opponent is it?”

“Look it up yourself.”

Though Razak showed interest by asking, I was slightly annoyed from being rejected earlier and told him to find out for himself.

Razak made a sad face, but I ignored it.

It wasn’t my concern.