vs Agnes Elizabeth Blaze (2)

The starting distance for sparring matches at the academy is determined by the type of combat discipline, as each discipline naturally has its own advantageous range.

For the Martial Arts Department, it’s 5 meters; for the Swordsmanship Department, 7 meters; and for the Spearmanship Department, 8 meters.

Meanwhile, the Archery and Magic Departments start at distances exceeding double digits-20 meters and 30 meters respectively-as the standard sparring format.

This distance allocation felt particularly unfair to me personally. While my magic skills weren’t bad, my combat style wasn’t solely reliant on magic from the beginning.

Of course, protesting wouldn’t make the academy change the rules just for me, so despite feeling wronged, I had no choice but to find my own way to adapt my fighting style.

In a mage-versus-mage battle, closing the distance to the point where the opponent can no longer counter with magic-that was the strategy I adopted for this evaluation spar against Agnes.

-Taaah!

Dodging Agnes’s flames with another mid-air roll, I somehow managed to close the distance between us by a few more meters.

To an outsider, it probably looked like I was desperately evading Agnes’s magic while launching ineffective attacks. Not that I cared about any misunderstandings.

From the start, I wasn’t trying to engage Agnes in a pure magic duel-this entire fight was a process to drag the battle into close combat.

The official name of our midterm evaluation spar was the “Magic Department Evaluation Spar,” not a “Pure Magic Duel.” There was no reason I had to fight her using only magic.

If fighting with something other than magic was an issue, I would’ve been called out back when I used a dagger in last year’s spar against Luke.

>

My goal was singular: somehow close the distance, force Agnes into close combat, break through her Arcane Shield with my magic, and finish her off with my dagger.

…It did feel a little unsettling to think about stabbing that tiny body with a dagger, but the academy’s evaluation spars were designed with death prevention magic to ensure no fatal injuries.

More importantly, if I didn’t show this level of desperate resolve, I wouldn’t be able to convincingly portray to the public that our relationship was strained. Of course, in reality, Agnes and I got along fine-this was all just an act.

“Burn! Explode! May all flames endlessly scorch that damn country bumpkin!!”

…She’s just acting, right?

Dodging Agnes’s barrage of fireballs while changing her incantations, I inched forward step by step.

Even if Lilith’s physical abilities were above average, that was only relative to other magic users-there was no way I could evade every single fireball head-on with just my reflexes.

-Clang!

While moving, I also continuously chanted Arcane Shield to block the fireballs I couldn’t dodge.

‘Be careful, Lilith.’

Meanwhile, Sei used wind magic to subtly alter the trajectory of the fireballs I couldn’t block-not by pushing the fireballs themselves, but by nudging my body with wind to avoid them.

Normally, wind magic interacting with fire magic would only amplify the flames, but Sei ensured the wind only affected me without touching the fireballs. Despite usually appearing lazy and lethargic, moments like these proved Sei was undoubtedly a mid-tier spirit.

-Taaah!

After somehow enduring Agnes’s fireball barrage and closing the distance, the gap between us was now less than 10 meters.

At this range, I could technically reach Agnes with a dagger throw if I wanted to finish the fight without magic, but I wasn’t going to gamble.

If I carelessly tried that, my dagger would just be blocked by her Arcane Shield, wasting a precious opportunity.

I needed to break her Arcane Shield and land the finishing dagger strike in one go-preferably on the first attempt.

“Blazing flames! Screams of agony!”

-Whoooosh!!

With Agnes’s next incantation, scorching flames surged across the ground, encircling me-the 4th-circle spell known as “Flame Fortress.”

‘She’s already using 4th-circle magic? The jealousy is real.’

For reference, excluding Mana Blast, my strongest offensive spell, Energy Bolt, was only 2nd-circle. Meanwhile, the rapid-fire fireballs Agnes had been using since the start were 3rd-circle.

I’d save my envy for Agnes-who was casually throwing around 3rd and 4th-circle magic before even finishing her second year-for later. Right now, I had to escape the encroaching walls of fire before they roasted me alive.

“I’ll burn you to a crisp, Lilith! Your plump, jiggly chest and everything from head to toe!!”

…She’s definitely not actually angry, right?

Agnes’s curses, which sounded suspiciously genuine, accompanied the tightening ring of fire around me.

The flames weren’t closing in too quickly, but escaping the meticulously constricting Flame Fortress was impossible. The height and thickness of the flames rising from the ground fully justified the “fortress” moniker.

To avoid becoming well-done Lilith, I had to find a way out before the flames reached me. …Or, alternatively, just end things right here.

“Hazy mist, dim light!”

As the Flame Fortress began encircling me, I quickly cast Blurred Light on Agnes. Even if her Arcane Shield blocked most magic, it couldn’t stop a simple vision-obscuring spell.

Of course, this alone wouldn’t stop the Flame Fortress. The fiery walls were still steadily closing in.

But blocking her vision was enough. Right now, all I needed was to obscure Agnes’s sight.

With Agnes blinded, I loudly chanted the incantation for the spell that would end this fight-Lilith the mage’s ultimate technique, the guaranteed hit: Mana Blast.

“O mana!! Answer my call!!”

If I completed Mana Blast inside this Flame Fortress and fired it at Agnes, the power would be more than enough to finish her.

It would shatter her Arcane Shield and knock her out in one shot.

Even with her vision obscured by Blurred Light, as long as Agnes stayed in place, my Mana Blast wouldn’t miss.

“O arcane! Condensed bomb of mana!!”

Though the Flame Fortress was slowly closing in, my Mana Blast would likely finish first. Agnes had probably given me some leeway, accounting for my physical abilities.

Normally, I avoided using Mana Blast because it left me defenseless, but right now, it seemed like the most efficient option.

After all, Agnes’s Flame Fortress was also a channeling spell. Even she couldn’t focus on a 4th-circle spell while countering me with another spell.

In other words, if my Mana Blast completed, the match would be mine. And the Agnes I knew would never accept such a humiliating defeat.

-Fsssh…

“B-Burn!”

Realizing she was cornered, Agnes cut off the Flame Fortress and frantically launched a fireball at me-abandoning her flashy finish for a pragmatic victory.

Since I was mid-Mana Blast and couldn’t dodge, she probably thought even a 1st-circle spell would suffice.

…And that last decision was her fatal mistake.

Because I never had any intention of finishing her with Mana Blast in the first place.

-Taaak!

“……”

I leaped over the fireball aimed at my previous position and dashed into the Blurred Light mist surrounding Agnes.

In my right hand, a dagger for the finishing strike. In my left, a spell to break her Arcane Shield.

Mana Blast? I never even started chanting it. I just pretended to recite the incantation without expending a single drop of mana. Using Mana Blast in a one-on-one duel was practically suicide.

Against Luke, I had used Mana Chains to immobilize her before firing Mana Blast because she was limited to close combat. But against another mage like Agnes, carelessly using Mana Blast would’ve invited a counterattack-just like what almost happened.

I cast Blurred Light before “using” Mana Blast solely to make Agnes believe I was charging it. The real finishing move was always going to be the dagger.

“Sei!!”

‘I know.’

At my call, Sei used wind magic to disperse the Blurred Light mist surrounding Agnes and me.

From within the vanishing mist, the figure of the red twin-tailed mage finally came into view-and I lunged at her defenseless body with all my might.

-Clang!

“…Ah!!”

Startled by the sound of her Arcane Shield shattering, Agnes turned toward me-but my dagger was already plunging straight for her heart.

With no obstacles in the way, my short blade pierced cleanly through her chest, striking her heart with precision.

-Thud!

“…Hhk!!”

“…I don’t actually dislike you, Agnes-yang.”

…Perhaps out of guilt from her pained gasp, I blurted out something that was neither an excuse nor an apology.

“Wha…?”

“Considering your circumstances, I’d like to let you win… but a match is a match.”

“…I disliked you, though.”

“…Huh?”

-Tap.

While I was still confused by her words, the staff still clutched in Agnes’s hand jabbed into my chest. Even with a dagger in her heart, she quietly uttered one last incantation.

“Flame… Explosion…”

“……Ah.”

The moment Agnes finished her incantation, the fire magic conjured from her staff engulfed both of us.

…That day, the death prevention magic activated twice during the first Magic Department evaluation spar.