Explosions kept erupting across the airborne fortress as Charles unleashed his firepower without restraint.
Lucius twisted around, pinpointing Charles's position amid the chain of blooming flames.
Sure enough, Charles charged straight at him from that angle, fist encased in gauntlet slamming forward.
A burst of fire detonated, flattening everything behind Lucius.
Lucius caught Charles's palm; smoke sizzled up from his hand, and as the burns rapidly healed, his five fingers closed tight around Charles's fist.
Locking Charles in place, Lucius mimicked Charles's fighting style and drove a punch into him.
Charles spun away through the air, then steadied himself and looked back at Lucius with a hint of surprise in his eyes.
The way Lucius generated power with that punch—and the pattern of mana flow—was exactly the same as his.
So that's it—this is Lucius after integrating the magics of soul, muscle, bone, and blood.
Through this new magic, his control over his body had reached a new realm; his capacity to adapt and learn had been pushed to the limit.
Charles's moves weren't complicated, so it wasn't strange for them to be copied. He wouldn't be shaken by that. A move is just a move; in the end, it depends on who's using it!
Charles snapped a kick upward, colliding shin-to-shin with Lucius's incoming leg, triggering another gale.
A smug smile crept over Lucius's face as he began to overpower Charles in the struggle.
Charles's muscles tensed; feeling the massive force through his leg, he smiled.
Nibelungen Ring—activate!
His body swelled slightly, draconic traits surfacing as his power surged.
The Lucius who had just been edging him out was blasted away by the sudden spike in strength—and Charles's pursuit followed right on top of him.
"Fire Dragon's… Shattering Fang!"
Charles's hands, now like dragon claws, carved countless crimson "claw marks" through the air as he launched a flurry at Lucius.
The mana barrier Lucius had erected tore like paper beneath those raking strikes, forcing him to fall back.
"Stella, I'll be borrowing your move!"
Charles didn't press the chase; instead, he thrust his palm toward Lucius.
"Consort Dragon's Great Jaws!"
Nine fire dragons spiraled out from Charles's palm and swelled rapidly, in an instant growing to a size that blanketed the entire airborne fortress.
Coiling, the nine dragons sealed off every direction Lucius could dodge, then opened maws full of blazing fangs and bit down all at once.
The nine dragons crashed together and detonated in a tremendous blast, forming a massive fireball in midair.
Wind roared past Charles's ears as that fireball was torn open by a powerful mana force right before him.
Lucius strode out of it—not entirely unscathed; motes of light gathered to his body, repairing the damage the flames had done.
"Tch. What a hassle."
Charles muttered under his breath, not knowing Lucius felt the same.
Their gazes met again, and both moved at once. Their simultaneous bursts erased their silhouettes; only the thunder of impacts and the sporadic explosions blooming across the airborne fortress proved how fiercely they were trading blows.
Charles reappeared, skidding backward with both feet, carving two deep grooves that were quickly buried by collapsing masonry.
He tilted his head up at Lucius, who'd been knocked into the air, then detonated the strength in his legs, shattering the ground as he launched after him.
Lucius's hands swept in arcs, unfurling magic circles of different colors one after another.
"That's the end of the warm-up! Now, Charles, let me show you the power humanity should truly rely on!"
Layers upon layers of magic circles overlaid each other, and even the heavens seemed to shift with the force of that one spell.
"In this world there are spirits blessed by mana, there are magical beasts with mighty bodies, and there are demons whose gifts surpass humans in both.
"But mankind has always been great, because we excel at knowledge and wisdom—and the magic crystallized from them."
As Lucius's words fell, heaven's judgment descended: multicolored pillars of light lanced straight at Charles.
The airborne fortress was pierced through. Staring at the gaping hole blasted open there, Charles—who'd dodged at the last split second—couldn't help feeling a chill of lingering fear.
Glaring at Lucius, Charles said coldly, "I actually agree with you about humanity—but it looks like you and I don't quite see eye to eye on what magic is."
With that, flames flared around his hands, propelling his body as he shot forward.
"Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!"
Charles became a blazing arrow, skimming the sky and punching straight through that incredibly complex magic array.
Reflected in Lucius's eyes was a roaring giant dragon of flame—and within that mirage, Charles's clenched fist.
"Flame Dragon King's Collapsing Fist!"
Compared to the defense Lucius had formed by gathering mana of every attribute, Charles's flame looked almost simplistic.
Yet at the instant of impact, that defense buckled beneath the fire like a hot knife through butter. Even the two spells he most trusted—those that severed time and space—were burned through.
That fire magic could do this was something Lucius couldn't comprehend. The intensity of mana Charles used did not match the destructive power of those flames at all.
For someone who aimed to master every magic in the world, the part he couldn't understand made him especially irritable.
Perhaps sensing that, Charles twisted the knife: "You're going to lose today—because magic isn't something that simple."
He poured more strength into his fist, shattered the last barrier before Lucius, and punched him flying.
From the moment Charles began learning magic, Igneel had taught him that magic springs from a mage's heart—the miracle evoked when the world responds to the mage's will.
Knowledge and wisdom do form the foundation of magic, but above that, the mage's own will is even more important.
Magic can't be measured in numbers, nor is it merely a technique for spending mana.
Master all the world's magic? Just by brushing a sliver of the world's fundamental laws?
Charles even thought how Asta really clashes with this guy Lucius in every way.
Not just all-magic versus no-magic, but in will as well.
Despite having no magic, Asta possesses the firmest will—exactly the opposite of Lucius.
A world of equality, dominion over the world, mastery of all magic… none of these are goals Lucius would sacrifice everything to achieve.
With that gap in resolve, Charles could already guess how Asta would defeat him without his help.
Lucius's brow furrowed. He was not Julius; he couldn't comprehend what Charles was saying.
With soul magic at his command, he could twist a person's will with ease. Precisely because of that, he couldn't understand what use that fragile thing could be.
Charles had no interest in explaining. Better to prove it to him with reality.