The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 73

73.

“Is it okay to clash like this? Won’t anyone get hurt?”

Madelline nodded lightly at Kasena Page’s nervous question.

“No one will get hurt. So, there’s nothing to worry about.”

There’s no need to hold back in the sparring test.

This is thanks to the barrier deployed by Marchena, who specializes in illusion magic. The students think they are ‘actually using magic,’ but in reality, they are only exchanging harmless blows within an illusion.

‘But the pain is still applied. Many students are defeated by painful magic and give up.’

And the opponent is Nora Redon, a rising star of the Melev School, which focuses on combat magic. I told Kasena not to worry, but I’m a little concerned.

“Okay, here I go!”

Nora unfolded the magic tome she was carrying around her waist. Blue light permeated the magic circle drawn on the middle page, and her power manifested.

The shape of the magic circle was a double circle.

The runes engraved were Ru (漏) [leaking/seeping] and Sun (循) [following/circulating].

In other words, it was a 2-star water attribute magic that granted the qualities of Ru (leaking; seeping) and Sun (following).

“As expected, she immediately used Salsoo (殺水; Killing Water).”

Gertrude Panton, leaning her arms on the railing of the spectator seats, whistled.

The Melev School is a school that focuses on water attribute magic among the four elements, just like the Panton family.

‘But the way they use it is so different.’

The Panton family has incorporated the flow of water into martial arts.

By using the ‘flowing’ nature of water attribute magic, they have developed diverse magic operations in close and mid-range combat, such as switching between offense and defense.

But the key is to never forget the essence of water attribute magic.

‘But Melev is……’

The dazzlingly unfolded magic circle shattered with a clear resonance, and countless streams of water rushed towards Lane.

“Dodge, Lane! Even one hit could be fatal!”

As Krista urgently shouted, Melev completely twisted the essence of water attribute magic and used it.

That’s why it’s nicknamed Salsoo (殺水; Killing Water).

Seri, feeling puzzled by the murmuring in the arena, looked at Elin and asked for an explanation.

“If it were a standard water attribute magic, that kind of magic could only be used for checking by pushing it away or blowing it away.”

“……?”

“If you hit them directly and smash them into a wall, you can inflict quite a bit of damage twice over. But that’s the limit.”

“That’s right! In the first place, water attribute is not a main combat magic.”

“But those Melev guys are different.”

Ru (漏; seeping) is a representative rune among the secret runes of ideological jurisprudence that Melev boasts.

“It makes the power of magic act as internal force rather than external force, and when it reaches a certain level, it destroys the internal meridians without a trace.”

In other words, the moment you are damaged by that water attribute magic, water seeps deep into the point of impact, inflicting fatal damage to the body.

‘Oh, Brother……’

As Seri swallowed dry saliva in worry, strands of light were blooming and weaving on Lane’s palm.

“Yorhen type?!”

“High-speed calculation of 2-star magic?”

“Huh, he’s really an amazing guy.”

The voices of admiration pouring from the audience were drowned out by the sound of the earth soaring like a mountain due to Lane’s magic, and the orderly marble slabs collapsing.

“It’s useless.”

The moment water and earth collided, the eyes of the audience widened. Unlike what they expected, a huge spray of water burst, and the water scattered.

“Wa, water……!”

“It’s seeping in……?!”

“Into the earthen wall……!”

That was right.

More than a dozen streams of water seeped directly into the earthen barrier, quickly penetrating the holes in the earthen wall and rushing towards the enemy on the other side.

To Lane Ludwig, who had no way of knowing what was happening on the other side.

“Nora Redon, that girl seems to have built up a considerable understanding of Ru (漏).”

Chief Professor Marchena muttered as if genuinely impressed. Deputy Professor Kyle nodded.

“Surely, based on that understanding, she added and reinforced new mathematical formulas to that magic circle. A new idea to break through the wall…….”

Is it over like this?

In just a moment…….

As if mocking the whispering crowd, Elin Ludwig smirked.

“You remember who Nora is, but you’ve forgotten who we are.”

Blocked by the wall and can’t see?

Far from it.

We are Ludwigs. A family of magicians called stealing magicians. Our eyes see through all abilities. And my genius nephew already has that eye at that age.

“Bell Cideus.”

Lane’s eyes burned red, and the pupils in the center bloomed into silvery-white death stars. In this red-tinged vision, all things are interpreted as numbers and transmitted directly to the brain.

“Th, those eyes are……?!”

“It’s the bloodline limit of the Ludwig family……!”

“No way, isn’t he only sixteen years old……?!”

Skalji Ludwig, a magician representing the old generation along with Marchena, awakened Bell Cideus at the age of seventeen.

His son Keibon was eighteen, and his daughter Elin was twenty-one.

Elin may seem behind among them, but she was also among those who awakened the bloodline limit quite early in the family’s history.

The successive geniuses shown by the family overturned the magic world and raised the status of the Ludwig family to the extreme.

‘As expected, he was up to something.’

Lane withdrew the magic power that maintained the magic. The next moment, the towering earthen wall collapsed along with the water veins that penetrated its interior.

And he just ran.

At full speed through the cloud of dust that rose thickly from the reverberation of the earth sinking. Meanwhile, a sneer hung on Nora Redon’s lips.

‘Hehe, I knew you’d try to close the distance.’

It’s a miscalculation if you think you broke my wall and nullified my attack. I pulled you out of that wall.

“The shape of the magic circle is a double circle, and the runes engraved are Ru (漏) [leaking/seeping] and San (散) [scattering/dispersing].”

Thousands of water droplets unfolded as if surrounding Nora. Logan, who was watching the game, licked his upper lip.

“Th, that dirty trick……!”

There is a saying that criticism of the opponent is praise in duels.

It wasn’t wrong.

As a rising star of Chaihark, who specializes in close combat, he knew how elaborate and perfect the trick Nora had played, so he gave such praise.

“Those aren’t just scattered water droplets.”

“Yes, it’s no different from scattering caltrops!”

“Caltrops can only be scattered on the ground, but that…… blocks everything up to the air!”

Nora Redon, her future is frightening. When that girl’s skills reach their peak, will there be any magician who can dare to face her?

“So, what is Ludwig doing now?!”

Everyone’s attention was focused on Lane Ludwig, who had disappeared into the dust. And…… the next moment, the protagonist popped out.

“Just a mindless charge?”

“Doesn’t he know that?”

“No, can’t he see with Bell Cideus?”

But such doubtful murmurs were immediately buried by the exclamations stemming from the bewilderment that made them doubt their eyes.

“Wh, what is it……?!”

“That’s surely……!”

“Osarius-style (式) staff technique……?!”

It seemed like a reckless charge at first glance. But on closer inspection, it wasn’t.

The water droplets were being shattered by the staff that twisted like a snake in Lane’s grasp.

Only the necessary ones.

Only the water droplets on the shortest path needed to reach Nora Redon, with a staff whose growth rings were burning blue with magic.

“Huh, a frontal breakthrough……!”

The vice-principal of Chaihark’s eyes lit up. If he does that, what Nora Redon did will become a self-inflicted wound.

The widely scattered water droplets can certainly block a wide area, but it is the law of nature that it becomes thinner as it widens.

Nora Redon thought she had countered Ludwig’s move, but Lane Ludwig had completely subdued Nora’s move!

“S, teacher, that’s……!”

A girl wearing a unique hat of the school, who was watching the game from the audience, pulled her staff into her arms and looked up at the middle-aged man next to her.

“Yes, it seems right. It’s hard to believe, but…….”

They are the Osarius School, representing the North.

Even after being promoted to a great school by the achievements of the great magician Lynn, they have left outstanding achievements in the magic world, the so-called descendants of Lynn.

The hats and staffs they wear were to show respect for Lynn. That’s why.

“But it’s different. Teacher told me not to be so aggressive, right?!”

That’s right. The disciples of Osarius, who can be called the original, cannot do such absurdly offensive things. Because.

“If you try to induce close combat unnecessarily, you can easily be counterattacked by the opponent who reads your thoughts, just like Nora Redon just made a move that can only be called perfect.”

In a battlefield where the time to think is only a split second and the field of vision is extremely narrow, trying to break through recklessly will lead you straight to the afterlife.

That’s why the staff technique of the Osarius School has been regarded as a passive defense method, not as an active means of attack like that.

‘But that guy is different.’

Only that guy is different.

He has our staff technique, and he also has the ‘strongest eyes’ to complement it.

If that’s the case, there will be no flaws.

‘That’s why I can’t believe it even more…….’

You can tell just by looking at this one moment. There is no unnecessary movement in Lane Ludwig’s staff technique. That is proof that he has reached the extreme.

‘Where, from whom, and how did he learn Lynn’s staff technique to that level?’

The Osarius School is not a school that takes in many students and teaches magic like other eight great schools.

‘Our school has a one-on-one master-disciple system, where one master takes in and teaches only one disciple?’

While the student of Osarius was harboring such doubts, the outcome of the game in the arena was reaching its climax.

Lane Ludwig, who pierced through the wall of water droplets head-on and narrowed the distance of death (殺), powerfully kicked the ground.

This is the crossroads of the match, the moment Nora Redon calmly opened the magic tome to the last page and injected magic power into that page.

“……!”

“……!”

“……!”

The final match between those aiming for the summit started and ended in an instant.

The scene that people thought they saw was like this.

The magic that Nora unfolded at the end was a 3-star water attribute magic. A water barrier wrapped around Nora, blocking all approaching enemy attacks and destroying all the internal muscles inside.

Before the staff Lane thrust out reached Nora’s breath, Lane’s body seemed to be caught in the barrier and defeated.

But it wasn’t.

The moment they thought so, the wall of water that was sweeping Lane’s body shattered into countless particles of light and disappeared without a trace.

“What is it?”

“Huh?”

“What happened?”

Elin Ludwig, one of the few people in this stadium who knew the answer, nodded to Brim with a satisfied smile.

“Did you see him use it, Sister?”

Brim Ludwig, nodding back, applauded her son’s back. Seri, not knowing what was going on, jumped up and down.

“What is it, Aunt? What happened?”

“Oh, you pathetic nephew! Lane just crushed the Melev guys’ noses with our bloodline limit! With Bell Querious!”

“With Bell Querious?!”

Elin shrugged her shoulders proudly.

It’s really amazing.

I heard from my father that it’s not enough to just use the eyes; you have to be able to reverse-calculate and correct the opponent’s magic in an instant to be able to erase it.

‘As a result of watching with Bell Cideus just now, it disappeared the moment the Melev guy’s magic was activated.’

A smile of pride formed on Elin’s face.

Oh, really.

He’s such a pathetic nephew, really.

‘That’s why I can’t take my eyes off him.’

When everything was over, Lane’s staff was stopped in front of Nora’s eyes. Deputy Professor Kyle, who was in charge of the game and judging, raised his hand.

[Match 1, end of the match! Winner, Lane Ludwig!]

A moment of silence flowed through the audience, who were blinking blankly, followed by explosive cheers and applause.

“Wowwww!”

“Crazy, what was that just now?”

“Is this a match for sixteen-year-olds?”

Logan also clenched his fists in both hands and jumped up, but.

“Young master, nice!”

Feeling the gazes of his friend Illin and other senior and junior brothers looking at him in disbelief, he coughed and sat back down.

“Th, this is just following the orders of the senior brother! I have to act like this so that the genius (天災) [prodigy/natural disaster] young master doesn’t suspect me!”

Then, the students of Chaihark stared blankly at Logan, then wiped away tears of emotion and patted him on the back.

“Sob, I believed in you!”

“Yeah, our rising star is different!”

“Yes, not only muscles but also acting is so excellent!”

Meanwhile, the vice-principal of Chaihark turned to Professor Owen and nodded. It meant that he understood the letter about Lane that Owen had sent to the school.

“It’s no wonder Logan lost. But it’s a question. What did he break Nora’s barrier with?”

Nora, who knew the answer, lost strength in her legs and collapsed.

The silver-white seven-pointed star rotating in those eyes, the sense of oppression she felt when she met those eyes…… that feeling that an incomprehensible insight was stirring her brain…….

Of course, she didn’t collapse like that because Lane reached out and supported her.

“You’re really promising. You’re definitely good enough to brag about.”

“……?”

“But the opponent was bad. The second magic you used, next time, try scattering it only 180 degrees in front instead of 360 degrees. It will be more threatening.”

For some reason, Lane’s words felt more like advice from a great senior than the humiliation typical of winners.

‘Why……?’

I was taught that I should never lose, at least in magic combat. That’s the meaning of existence; the Melev School cannot exist if it loses.

But I lost.

In the past, the moment I lost, my body and mind would have collapsed in despair, but why here now……?

“…….”

Meanwhile, Valensidice, leaning against the south gate passage and watching this match from beginning to end, had a complex worry in his eyes.

‘Bell Querious at sixteen. He’s definitely a dangerous person whose potential is unknown.’

He is likely to be an obstacle to Toureina’s plan, so should I leave it to Rivadin to deal with, or…….