Ch.77Decisive Battle: Second Half (4)

The match was over.

The result was my complete victory.

Although Seria was the one who faced me at first, the fact that she was overwhelmingly defeated remained unchanged, so most people had shocked expressions.

That kind of surprise is better for me anyway…

After returning to the waiting room, I approached Seria and asked.

“Are you okay? You’re not hurt anywhere, right?”

I only hit her just enough to break the magic barrier, but still, you never know.

Even if Eterna would step in to prevent someone from getting seriously injured or dying, I can’t help but worry.

At my question, Seria briefly looked in my direction before lowering her head again.

“Yeah…”

Fortunately, she didn’t seem to be injured anywhere, but she looked quite shocked about being completely defeated by me.

I nodded.

‘That’s understandable.’

Even I would feel bad if I had the strength to participate in the Hero’s party and defeat the Demon King, only to lose to a colleague’s disciple.

No, beyond feeling bad, I would start questioning the path I’ve walked until now.

A whole thousand years.

Although it’s been a peaceful era for a thousand years since the Demon King was defeated, Seria wouldn’t have been idle during that time.

Unfortunately, a thousand years wasn’t enough for a great mage to become a Transcendent.

Seria had definitely reached the peak as a great mage.

‘That magic she used on me back then…’

A magic that even wounded the Demon King.

It’s a simple but powerful magic that compresses magic-infused air to the extreme and shoots it in the form of an arrow.

The arrow itself is powerful, but the magic that spreads as the arrow is fired tears everything apart like a blade.

The place where we fought was an empty space with nothing but the arena floor, so the impact wasn’t that noticeable, but if she fired it in a forest, her magic could easily blow away a mountain.

And that’s just a single-target magic aimed at one person.

Moreover, its speed easily exceeds the speed of sound.

At close range, or even medium range, it’s impossible to dodge.

Even if you dodge, you’ll be hit by the aftermath.

‘Come to think of it, it’s surprising that she used such magic on me…’

It’s a magic that wounded even the Demon King… No matter how well I can regenerate wounds, using such magic openly is basically the same as telling me to die…

I laughed inwardly.

“How did you dodge it…?”

Seria seemed curious about that.

“I didn’t dodge.”

I didn’t dodge it.

“You didn’t… dodge?”

“I got hit.”

I was definitely hit directly by that magic.

It was powerful enough that an ordinary mage would have died instantly upon being hit.

In fact, I tried to dodge when I realized the magic had been activated, but I couldn’t.

The reason was simple.

It was incomparably faster than the Arrow of Nature I knew, not just in power but in speed as well.

Back then, she would have been preparing to shoot, but now she had already aimed and fired the arrow long ago.

The memories of defeating the Demon King are still vivid to me, which made it all the more confusing.

How should I put it…

‘I guess I’m really feeling the passage of a thousand years…’

It’s a bit obvious, but a thousand years is truly a long time.

I never expected that nerdy Seria would become this strong.

If those guys were still alive, they would have been surprised too.

That the little kid had grown so much.

“How could you take that hit and…”

“Because I’m a vampire.”

“Th-that doesn’t explain it! Even the Demon King was critically wounded by this magic…!”

It was a serious wound, but not critical.

This kid… she’s just making things up because she thinks I don’t know.

“I’m different from ordinary vampires.”

I don’t die.

Since becoming a Transcendent, I’ve become immortal, unable to die from ordinary causes.

In the past, when Count Vladimir was a member of the Hero’s party that defeated the Demon King, he was just an ordinary vampire.

If his health ran out, he would simply die.

But now it’s different.

“I just took one hit and then got in close to take control of the fight.”

There were better ways to fight if I wanted to.

But it’s troublesome.

Paradoxically, the most efficient method was to take one hit, draw out her complacency, get in close, and end it as quickly as possible rather than wasting energy here.

Even I consume magic power when using various Blood Claw Arts.

Of course, if I had taken a direct hit without doing anything, I would have shown everyone myself exploding on the spot, so I used minimal Blood Claw Art to deflect it.

I did take a direct hit, but there’s a big difference between just taking a hit and emptying the part where the arrow would hit to let it pass through.

I simply took a direct hit with minimal damage.

“This is insane…”

Seria looked at me with an expression like she was seeing a monster, realizing that someone could survive her magic without dying.

It hurts a little when you look at me like that.

“A win is a win.”

I said with a chuckle.

Seria had a dumbfounded expression.

She seemed to be saying that this was too much, even so.

She seems quite despondent after this match…

‘She’ll get back up soon.’

Seria has always been like that.

Even when things like this happened, she would quickly dust herself off and stand up again.

Though the situation is a bit different now compared to back then…

I helped Seria up.

‘It’s probably better not to say anything right now.’

It would be better to talk later.

Seria needs time to think too.

I patted Seria and headed out of the arena.

Leaving behind Seria who was sad after being overwhelmingly defeated by me, though it feels a bit wrong to say this…

‘I’m curious…’

I’ll probably end up just looking at my MagicPad all day today.

* * *

“…She’s strong.”

The girl watching the match muttered.

The master of magic, the leader of the Magical Kingdom.

The magic Transcendent, Eterna.

She was smiling as she watched Seria’s magic.

“Amazing.”

Seria was truly amazing.

She too had accomplished feats that would go down in history.

What mage has ever gone to defeat the Demon King and succeeded?

Eterna respected Seria just as much as Count Vladimir, so when she said she would become the Green Tower Master, Eterna granted permission without hesitation.

Although their relationship has been reversed now, that’s only because Eterna possessed magical talent that could hardly be considered human.

This was the first time she felt the desire to teach Seria.

‘This feeling…’

Perhaps it was because she had seen Midir’s case.

‘Teaching everyone…’

The method Midir first demonstrated.

Of course, from the perspective of master and disciple, teaching is natural.

Humanity has been able to develop so much because parents or masters pass down the knowledge they’ve gained through experience to later generations, providing a foundation for further development and driving progress forward.

If a human who knows nothing is suddenly thrown into nature, could they survive alone?

Could they build a village alone, secure resources to live on, as well as research and create the necessary supplies, tools, and magic to survive?

The answer is no.

Magic in particular has long been developed as a discipline and is revered by the Magical Kingdom.

A master teaching a disciple is considered sacred.

Even a Magic Tower Master only teaches their own disciples; they don’t go out of their way to teach everyone. That’s how things were.

That was considered the natural order of things.

But…

‘She was the first to break that paradigm.’

Of course, there was some resistance.

Many mages were furious about whether it made sense to teach magical knowledge to the general public like that, and how a Magic Tower Master could use knowledge so wastefully.

But at least… Eterna thought it would be better to impart her magical knowledge rather than maintain pride as a knowledge gatekeeper.

That was the case with the Red Tower Master, and now it seemed Seria, the Green Tower Master, would be the next target.

She would absorb everything taught to her like a sponge.

Even though there wasn’t much of a generation gap, Seria had lived longer than her.

But she knew.

Seria wouldn’t refuse her teachings for such a trivial reason.

She was looking forward to it.

That’s what Eterna thought.

And…

‘I’m looking forward to it, Midir.’

It wasn’t far off.

The day they would fight.

Eterna smiled.

How long had it been since she had smiled like this without Midir around?

It was truly a natural smile.