Magic similar to mine?
Yuuki's left hand gripped the Demon-Dweller sword, its embedded groove already glowing brightly and pointing straight ahead. His right hand held the Guardian Golden Sword, braced horizontally before him. Hearing Mereoleona's words, a flicker of doubt crossed his mind.
A mage possessing magic similar to his own—within Yuuki's thoughts, the only person who fit that description was Rhya of the Eye of the Midnight Sun. After all, mages capable of wielding multiple attributes were exceedingly rare.
Yet given the current point in time, Mereoleona shouldn't have encountered Rhya yet. That meant she was talking about someone else.
There was no one in the Magic Knights who wielded magic akin to his. That alone stirred Yuuki's curiosity.
"Oh?" Yuuki asked. "Who would that be?"
His mana surged violently. Suspended before him, the elemental sphere churned as streams of differently colored mana flowed ceaselessly within.
Boom!
"Want to know?"
The corner of Mereoleona's mouth lifted. In the blink of an eye, she vanished from where she stood, reappearing before Yuuki as if she had teleported. Flames roared to life around her fist as she hurled it toward Yuuki's face at blinding speed.
"Slash!"
Yuuki had remained on guard the entire time. The instant Mereoleona appeared, the Anti-Magic Sword in his hand had already swung.
Shhhk!
A blade of mana shot forth from the sword's tip, cleaving straight toward Mereoleona.
Her eyes gleamed with excitement. She paid the attack no heed at all, her flame-wreathed fist driving forward without hesitation. Wherever it passed, the air itself seemed to explode.
For once, Yuuki's face revealed an unmistakable thrill of battle. His Guardian Golden Sword trembled, and a translucent golden shield instantly formed before him.
Boom—!
The flaming fist slammed into the semi-transparent golden shield, producing a metallic hum as if steel had collided with steel. The shield held for barely a breath before shattering outright, dispersing into motes of mana.
Yuuki showed no surprise at the sight. Facing the fist now inches away, he showed neither panic nor fear—instead, a smile crept onto his lips.
With Mereoleona's keen perception, she caught that subtle expression immediately. Her crimson eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
And in that fleeting instant—
The slash released earlier by the Demon-Dweller Sword reached her.
Against magic attacks of this sort, Mereoleona had never cared in the slightest. None of Yuuki's previous spells had affected her at all. Even if it struck her directly, her perfectly honed Mana Skin should have rendered it harmless.
But the next moment—
Her pupils shrank.
She saw the incoming mana slash cut cleanly through her Mana Skin, meeting no resistance whatsoever.
The flames burning around her body were torn apart like paper, offering no obstruction at all.
Bang—!
Mereoleona stamped her foot into the ground, forcibly halting the follow-through of her punch. Her body twisted with astonishing agility and flexibility, narrowly evading the slash at the last possible moment.
Yuuki seized that opening to retreat rapidly, reopening the distance between them.
Mereoleona remained where she was, lowering her gaze to her shoulder—where blood was now flowing freely.
The slash had come too close. She had avoided the vital point, but there was no way to dodge it completely.
"…It cut through my Mana Skin. Anti-magic, is it?"
She paid no mind to the injury itself, instead replaying the moment of impact in her head. The cause quickly became clear.
"I forgot to remind you," Yuuki said calmly, raising the Demon-Dweller Sword once more as its groove began to glow again. "If you keep tanking attacks like before… you might actually die."
"Now," he continued, "can you tell me who you were talking about?"
Mereoleona's lips curved upward as well, revealing white, sharp-looking teeth.
"I'm certain of one thing now," she said. "You're not a noble. Otherwise, you wouldn't ask such a foolish question."
"Want to know?"
She lifted her burning hand and pressed it against the bleeding wound on her shoulder. The flesh hissed as it was cauterized and sealed shut. Then she raised her fist, hooked her thumb toward herself, and grinned brilliantly.
"Then defeat me and see!"
As she spoke, a new seriousness entered Mereoleona's gaze—though even more prominent was the surging exhilaration of battle.
Two swords: one focused on offense, wielding anti-magic; one focused on defense. And that transparent sphere hovering nearby—it clearly amplified mana.
As a member of royalty, Mereoleona had seen countless magic tools, yet there were pitifully few that could compare to the three in this mysterious man's possession.
Judging by their functions alone, they were already national-treasure–class magic items.
Not a noble, yet possessing captain-level strength—and armed with several artifacts of such power. The mysterious man before her only grew more intriguing by the second.
Yuuki knew at once that extracting any more useful information from Mereoleona was impossible.
That she could identify him as a non-noble so quickly meant that the mage with similar magic must have an extraordinary background.
I'll need to investigate.
The thought flashed through Yuuki's mind, and with it came the intent to withdraw.
He understood all too well that Mereoleona still hadn't gone all out. Her truly terrifying power lay in her Mana Zone.
At present, she was the only person in the entire Clover Kingdom who had mastered it.
Yuuki wanted that power as well—but he hadn't even fully grasped Mana Skin yet. Mana Zone was still far beyond him.
Boom! Boom!
Two dull explosions echoed from the ground.
Yuuki and Mereoleona vanished simultaneously. In an instant, the mana within the strong magic region surged into renewed chaos.
Rumble! Rumble!
Deafening booms rang out without end.
From above, one could see a crimson figure and a silver figure repeatedly colliding and crossing paths. Each clash reshaped the terrain, as if enormous craters were being carved out of thin air.
Smaller mountain peaks near their battlefield collapsed without warning. (T/N: Does this mean they could directly destroy a mountain by actually focusing on it.)
In mere moments, the two had exchanged dozens of blows. Their overwhelming mana collided head-on, forming massive storms that swept across the land.
Relying on the anti-magic power of the Demon-Dweller Sword (T/N: It's more of a magic breaking property than anti-magic), Yuuki was finally able to pose a real threat to Mereoleona. She no longer allowed attacks to land on her body with the same reckless disregard as before.
One sword for offense, one for defense—working in tandem, enhanced further by the elemental sphere—Yuuki forcibly withstood Mereoleona's relentless assault.
(End of Chapter)
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