『The second half of the main tournament is finally here and there are only a few matches left in the fifth round. The next match is another one to watch out for! ……Well, I know that there aren’t many matches in the fifth round that don’t draw attention, but this definitely one to watch!』

The audience, which had been discussing their thoughts on the previous match, grew excited as their expectations for the next match increased with the commentator’s

Seeming to know that, the commentator continued to rile up the audience.

『That’s because the next match is a little different from usual. As we all know, one of the competitors is Rei, a B rank adventurer known as Crimson, who wields a scythe with violent force, quickly becoming famous in the Bestir Empire from the Spring War and this tournament!』

Rei appeared on one side of the arena as soon as he was introduced.

He was holding the Death Scythe in his hands and was wearing the hood on his Dragon Robe as usual.

Although he looked no different from usual, his appearance still caused a buzz as they associated his appearance with that of a reaper.

『And next! Making it this far into the tournament as a pure mage is a feat in of itself! The magic they release with short incantations is low on power but worth the results. And, when given the chance, she will use large scale magic! If you give her time to activate her magic, she will be a tough opponent even for Rei! A menacing mage who has mastered magic from three attributes, earth, water, and wind, Yuitl, the Magic Wind!』

As if guided by the commentator, the mage introduced as Yuitl appeared.

His appearance was exactly what a normal person would imagine when they heard the word ‘mage’.

He was in his 30’s, dressed in a long robe, and held a 1.5m cane in his hands.

Considering that Rei, who couldn’t sense magic power, still felt a sense of danger from his cane, it seemed that it was a considerably powerful magic weapon.

He had a circlet on his head and wore several rings on his fingers, which were probably also magic items.

Although he wasn’t muscular like a warrior, he still looked quite agile.

(Magic Wind……considering his title, he probably excels at wind magic among his three attributes. As for his magic items, I don’t know what else he has under his robe. I have to be careful.)

Rei had those thoughts since he himself kept his Mithril Knife under his robes in addition to magic items like the Shoes of Sleipnir.

Yuitl seemed to sense the strong sense of caution in Rei’s gaze.

「You……I knew you were strong, but now, facing you head on like this, I can sense your strength even I don’t like it.」

「You too. After all, you’re deserving of praise to make it this far into the tournament as a pure mage, even if you have a title.」

Although Rei was praising him, Yuitl gave an amused smile at the words that seemed to indicate he was not as good as Rei.

「Hehehe. Now that I’ve come this far, I want to keep going as far as I can. I have no intention of losing here!」

With those words, Yuitl swung the cane in his hands.

His gesture seemed to indicate he would do his best.

Watching the two of them, the referee judged that was enough for the pre-match exchange.

「Match, start!」

With those words, Yuitl made the first move.

Pointing the tip of his cane towards Rei, he quickly spoke an incantation.

『Spears of ice, follow my will!』

As the commentator introduced, Yuitl had short incantations. At his words, two ice spears appeared behind him.

『Icicle Lance!』

As the magic was activated, the two ice spears flew towards Rei.

Rei was surprised that Yuitl had decided to use ice magic instead of wind magic, but he was able to avoid the spears at the very last moment by twisting his body just before they hit him.

However, as the ice spears missed, they curved sharply in the empty space behind him before charging at Rei again.

(Do they have a homing function? It’s good for a short incantation magic.)

Rei thought to himself with some admiration as he readied the Death Scythe and started his own incantation.

The restrictions he had placed on himself for this match was that he had to defeate his opponent using magic only, no physical attacks.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the only time Rei had used magic after entering the tournament had been in the qualifying round.

In order to defeat Noiz, a superior opponent, he had to make full use of the skills he held the advantage in.

And, in Rei’s case, his personality might indicate he was better at hand to hand combat, but in terms of pure talent, it was his immense magic power.

『Flame, burn the enemy according to my will.』

A short incantation comparable to that of Yuitl.

After speaking the incantation, a fireball about 30cm in diameter formed at the tip of the Death Scythe, which was also a magic casting tool.

Seeing that, Rei activated his magic.

『Fireball.』

The fireball flew out, as if guided by the Death Scythe.

However……the audience felt that Rei was doing something pointless.

That was because there were two ice spears flying towards Rei in contrast to the lone fireball.

In other words, even if one of the ice spears were destroyed by the fireball, there would still be one ice spear left.

In that case, was he going to use his physical abilities to avoid it? The surrounding audience felt that way, not to mention Yuitl. Although he wasn’t convinced that this would give him victory, he still felt the outcome would be in his favour.

But……

Roar-!

The explosion that occured when the fireball hit one of the ice spears swallowed not just that ice spear it collided with, but also the other ice spear that was some distance away.

And, even more unbelievably for Yuitl, the ice spear that was engulfed by the explosive blast instantly melted away and lost its shape.

As far as Yuitl knew, it was impossible for the ice spears he had created to melt so easily.

There was only one way, not because of the magic iteself, but of an overwhelming difference in power. ……In other words, it was due to the difference in magic power contained in the magic that was used.

In fact, if Yuitl were to push his magic power to the limit, it wouldn’t be difficult to cause a result similar to what had just happened, although different magic attributes would be used.

Even so, he was shocked because if he had done something like that, he would be wasting a lot of his magic power.

Normally, using 10 units of magic power to activate magic that needed 10 units of magic power would result in magic with a power of 10. But, even if you put 50 units of magic power into it, the magic would only increase to a power of 15 or 20. If you were going to do that, you might as well have used magic that needed 50 units of magic power to begin with.

(Or does he have enough magic power to not care?)

Yuitl, who didn’t have the ability to sense magic power either, finally realised how much magic power Rei likely had.

Having come this far, he understood that he himself had more magic power and talent than many other mages around him. However, Rei had an amount of magic power that could easily surpass him.

For a moment, he scolded himself in his mind for making himself seem weak.

(Calm down, it’s true that magic power is important for a mage, but that’s not the only thing that matters. An excellent mage also knows how to construct their magic and when to use what. He certainly has a lot of magic power, but in the end, he’s still a magic warrior. As a pure mage, I shouldn’t be at a disadvantage!)

His confidence, which was on the verge of falling apart, was instantly reinforced as he started another incantation, thinking that it was lucky that the smoke from the aftermath of the explosion had hidden him.

『Wind, cut everything apart.』

As he spoke the incantation, a blades of wind formed at his cane. A total of three, more than the ice spears he had previously made.

Because he was using wind blades, Yuitl, the Magic Wind, felt that it would be harder for Rei to see among the smoke compared to earth and water type magic.

In fact, his idea wasn’t that unreasonable.

If he were dealing with an ordinary mage, they would have been unable to avoid the attack and eaten all the wind blades.

However……

『Fire, appear before me.』

A short incantation was heard from within the smoke……and a magic was activated.

『Flame Wall.』

With those words, a wall of fire appeared that seemed to burn up the smoke around it.

Because a short incantation had been used, the wall of fire wasn’t that big. Howevver, it was still large enough to fulfill its role of protecting Rei.

The wind blades that were flying towards Rei were immediately consumed as they hit the wall of fire, disappearing without a trace.

「Ngh-!」

Yuitl couldn’t help but growl.

It was a growl that came from the fact that his own wind magic, from which he had earned her title, was easily wiped out.

If Yuitl had found out that this was the first time Rei had used this short incantation, it was hard to know if he would even have managed a response.

In other words, Rei had improvised a magic formula and activated it on the spot.

However, since it had been improvised, the wall of fire wouldn’t last for long.

After burning up the wind blades, the wall of fire disappared soon after, lasting only 30 seconds or so.

(If I use magic with a short incantation, the effect will be shortened accordingly. Shorter incantations mean more precise effects……)

After activating his magic, Rei stuck the Death Scythe into the arena as he started another incantation.

『Flame, appear according to my will.』

Along with the incantation, the blade of the Death Scythe turned red.

He activated the magic while swinging the blade.

『Flowing fire.』

At the same time, flames flew out, tracing the trajectory of Rei’s Death Scythe as they extended towards Yuitl.

「Nuoh-!」

The moment he saw the flames approaching him, he decided that he wouldn’t make it in time if he tried to activate his own magic. Yuitl lowered his cane to the arena as he started channeling his own magic power.

At the same time, green vines grew from the cane, creating a wall of vines that hid him from the flames.

The flames collided with the vine wall as a burning smell wafted into the surroundings.

However, the collision between the flames and vines ended within a few seconds.

The flames that had been burning the vines suddenly disappeared.

(Tch, is there an issue with the duration of the flames?)

Even so, the flames that had only lasted a few seconds had burned a path through the barrier of vines.

But……

「What-!?」

Rei leaked a voice of surprise in the next moment.

The vine wall that had previous been burned disappeared as a new wall appeared.

Furthermore, that wasn’t the only thing.

『Stone Lance!』

The moment the vine wall was repaired, such words were heard.

Hearing that, Rei immediately jumped away from his previous location.

The next moment, the arena’s stone floor was transformed into a spear as it pierced the location Rei had just been at.

If Rei hadn’t moved, it would have pierced him from beneath.

Moreover, the spears didn’t stop there. A number of stone spike were created as they trailed after Rei.

「Tch, it’s going to be troublesome if things continue like this. ……Then!」

Taking a large leap backwards, he temporarily distanced himself form the stone spears.

Of course, the spears continued to chase after Rei, but since he had openened up a large distance, it would take some time for them to catch up.

Seeing that, Rei started his own incantation.

『Fire, become the arrows that will fall like rain and burn everything.』

As the incantation was spoken, fiery arrows formed behind Rei.

A total of 50 or so.

『Fire Arrow Rain!』

As soon as the magic was activated, the 50 or so fire arrows flew out at once.

It was clear what just a few fire arrows would do, not to mention all of them.

All of them flew towards the vine wall, enveloping it in flames.

Yuitl seemed to realise that he would eventually be defeated if he continued to split his resources. Interupting the magic that was creating the stone spears, he used the magic power to hold up the vine wall against the fire arrows.

However……this decision was a complete mistkae. No matter how much magic power Yuitl poured into his cane, which was both a magic weapon and magic casting tool, there was a huge difference in both sides’ magic power……and the magic power that their weapons could hold.

The vine wall was already engulfed in flames after a few fire arrows had hit it. Even if e increased the amount of magic power pouring into his cane, it would be nothing more than water evaporating off a hot stone.

Although he was able to maintain the ivy wall a little longer, it was only for 10 seconds or so. Unable to resist the fire arrows that landed one after the other, the whole vine wall was eventually burned to the ground.

Yuitl didn’t give up as he tried countering fire with spears of water. But, due to the difference in magic power contained in their magic, the fire was not extinguished by the water, instead it was the other way around as all the water evaporated. Seeing that……Yuitl judged that he stood no chance of winning even if he continued to resist and surrendered, ending the fifth round.

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