Highly condensed mana coiled tightly around Conrad, a power that had undergone a fundamental qualitative transformation. This was no longer a matter of having "more mana"—it was something entirely different.
Blue mana representing water, red mana representing fire, green mana representing wind, and brown mana representing earth—
Behind Conrad, these four elemental attributes formed a sharply defined sun-and-moon wheel. Each half-moon of elemental mana bore three protruding, spike-like ridges, together forming a perfect circle.
Emerald, lightning-like streams of mana crackled and leapt across the unique halo.
Even without moving an inch as he hovered in midair, Conrad radiated a terrifying pressure that bore down on Yuuki.
Mana Zone?
No—
Yuuki's expression grew grave. This power exceeded even Mereoleona's Mana Zone.
"No one in this world can stop me!" Conrad declared.
He clasped his hands together before his chest, then abruptly pulled them apart. A sharp, silver blade condensed between his palms.
Whoosh!
Gripping the hilt, Conrad vanished in a blur—almost like teleportation—and appeared directly in front of Yuuki, slashing down with terrifying speed.
Too fast!
He had completely merged with natural mana. Mana sensing alone could no longer track his movements.
Clang!
A clear metallic ring exploded through the air as Yuuki raised the Demon-Dweller Sword, blocking the strike head-on.
Even if mana perception failed, ki did not.
"Too slow," Conrad said coldly.
The blade in his hand became a blur, murderous intent flooding the air.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A storm of collisions erupted like torrential rain.
As Conrad unleashed relentless sword strikes, attacks formed from all four elemental attributes detonated simultaneously.
Explosive mana roared through the sky. In just moments, Yuuki was completely suppressed.
BOOM!
A lightning-fast slash sent Yuuki crashing into the ground, carving out a massive crater.
"That's not how you reacted earlier," Conrad said with a slight frown.
"Have you already given up, now that you've seen my true power?"
He could clearly feel it—Yuuki's response was half a bit slower. He hadn't even used that strange magic that made him vanish entirely.
From within the dust-filled crater, laughter suddenly rang out.
Whoosh!
Silver mana erupted outward, blasting away the smoke in an instant.
Yuuki rose unharmed, floating back into the air and facing Conrad once more.
"Hahaha!"
"This is fascinating. I didn't expect my theory to be proven through you!"
Yuuki's eyes gleamed as he looked at Conrad, as though he had discovered something profoundly intriguing.
As he observed Conrad's current state, flashes of realization crossed Yuuki's gaze—so that's how it works… I see now…
Long before this battle, Yuuki had been considering how to achieve a qualitative leap in power without relying on devils.
There were only two paths.
One was evolving his three-leaf grimoire into a four-leaf—or even a five-leaf.
The other was mastering Mana Zone.
But both ideas had been rejected by the Witch Queen.
Grimoire evolution required an irreplaceable factor—luck.
As for Mana Zone, Yuuki's body contained far too many mana origins. To grasp a single unified mana source would be exponentially more difficult than for ordinary mages.
If not for the ancient records of the God-Ascension Ritual, he would likely have had no choice but to gamble everything on Mana Zone.
Whether he could succeed—or what the result would even look like—he had no way of knowing.
And yet now—
Conrad stood before him, clearly demonstrating a path where multiple elemental attributes fused together, producing a Mana Zone that had undergone a complete qualitative transformation.
That path lay vividly before Yuuki's eyes.
"As thanks, it's about time this battle came to an end," Yuuki said, his expression sharpening.
Permeation Magic + Chain Magic!
His figure vanished instantly.
At the same moment, Conrad lost all perception of Yuuki.
"That strange magic again," Conrad muttered.
This time, however, he didn't attack recklessly. There was no panic on his face.
"In this state, your magic is already useless against me."
The moment he finished speaking, Conrad shifted sideways, abandoning his original position.
"The magic you're using truly makes you impossible to perceive—even impossible to target with spells," Conrad continued calmly.
"But this world has never had such a thing as perfect magic."
He spread his arms, overwhelming mana surging around him. His figure flickered again, reappearing elsewhere, as if dodging something invisible.
"I've already told you—it's useless!"
"I can't attack you, true. But the instant your attack touches me I can sense it."
"For ordinary mages, that instant is too short to matter."
"But under Mana Zone, my perception is magnified."
"So, all I need to do… is dodge at the exact moment your attack makes contact."
His indifferent voice echoed through the air.
Back when he had been bound by Chain Magic, Conrad couldn't see the chains or Yuuki himself—but his body had clearly felt being restrained.
That fleeting sensation—
That was what allowed him to decipher a counter to Yuuki's seemingly invincible technique.
Even if Yuuki's spellcasting process was completely undetectable, the moment it hit was still perceivable.
And that perception—
Was all Conrad needed.
In a normal state, even sensing it wouldn't be enough to evade.
But empowered by Mana Zone, his reaction speed, perception, and physical movement had all been massively enhanced, allowing him to seize that infinitesimal gap.
Within the "Intangible" state, Yuuki quickly realized this wasn't bravado.
Every single one of his attacks had been avoided.
Simply put—
Who could pull something like this off?
As the attacker, Yuuki understood better than anyone: the moment Conrad dodged wasn't a flaw at all.
Conrad had forcibly turned it into one.
The combination of Permeation Magic and Chain Magic meant the target wouldn't even realize they'd been attacked until after being hit.
Slow-reacting opponents wouldn't even know they'd lost.
Permeation Magic alone leaned toward defense—but when paired with any offensive magic, its effect was exponentially amplified.
And yet, this supposedly invincible combination had been forcibly halted by Conrad.
Humm—
Ripples appeared in the empty air, and Yuuki's figure re-emerged.
"Wizard King Conrad Leto," Yuuki said solemnly,
"you are the strongest opponent I've ever faced."
Conrad's explanation sounded straightforward, but Yuuki had already noticed what he hadn't said.
To seize that "fleeting gap," Conrad's reaction speed would need to be at least twice Yuuki's.
After all, Conrad was dodging after being hit.
Achieving that would normally require either vastly superior neural speed—or Julius's Time Magic, allowing one to foresee attacks in advance.
But Yuuki knew from their exchange that even with Mana Zone, Conrad's reaction speed wasn't twice his own.
If it were, Yuuki would have been crushed outright earlier.
Which meant—
Conrad wasn't relying on reaction speed alone.
Yuuki sensed a unique mana field clinging to Conrad's body—a special phenomenon created by the fusion of four elemental attributes.
It functioned like a second skin, detecting incoming attacks in advance and combining that information with Conrad's reactions to evade them.
Even knowing this, however, didn't change the reality:
Yuuki still couldn't hit him.
"It seems we've reached a stalemate," Conrad said calmly.
"I can't hit you, and you can't hit me."
"For now, that's true," Yuuki replied evenly.
Neither of their mana auras weakened. Instead, they compressed further, growing denser and heavier.
Both were searching for an opening.
"With strength like yours, yet not a member of the Magic Knights… which noble house are you from?" Conrad asked.
"A noble?" Yuuki chuckled softly.
"I'm just a commoner."
A commoner?
Shock flashed across Conrad's face. His first instinct was disbelief—until he realized there was no reason for Yuuki to lie.
Someone with multi-attribute magic and such vast mana…
If not for the absence of any black-haired royal family, Conrad might have thought Yuuki was royalty.
In the instant of Conrad's distraction—
Yuuki vanished again.
Conrad moved as well, flickering rapidly through the air.
"A commoner? Hahaha!" Conrad laughed loudly, eyes blazing.
"If neither of us can defeat the other, then continuing is meaningless!"
"You want my Key Magic, don't you? I can give it to you!"
"I'll even hand over the title of the first Wizard King of the new world!"
His voice grew increasingly excited.
In Conrad's eyes, a commoner possessing such power yet refusing to join the Magic Knights was itself a condemnation of the kingdom.
"You've seen this country's true face!"
"Arrogance, prejudice, discrimination—they crush dreams and hopes over and over again!"
"Only by completely destroying this kingdom can everything truly change!"
Whoosh! Whoosh!
His movements accelerated, his voice booming across the sky.
"The Imperial Sword Elsdocia can absorb and release mana. Across the kingdom lie special nodes overflowing with natural mana!"
"If I absorb them all, I can unleash power enough to annihilate the entire Clover Kingdom!"
"And when it's rebuilt—"
"As for those who die in the process, Elsdocia—modified through my Key Magic—now has the ability to store souls!"
"With Key Magic, they can all be revived!"
"Join me!"
Conrad's fervent voice echoed throughout the arena.
Whoosh!
Yuuki reappeared at a distance, exiting the Through state.
"That's a dangerous line of thinking," Yuuki said quietly.
"No wonder you were sealed."
According to what he knew, Conrad's goal had never been this extreme.
He'd thought it was merely resentment toward nobles and royalty.
And yet—
Conrad's plan felt disturbingly similar to Julius's.
The difference was scale.
Conrad wanted to destroy the Clover Kingdom.
Julius had intended to judge—and remake—the entire world.
And worse still—
Elsdocia now storing souls?
Key Magic enabling resurrection?
Yuuki's eyes glinted sharply.
At least now, everything was clear.
Why Conrad had been betrayed.
Why the Magic Knights had sealed him away.
Yuuki glanced at Conrad, who was still trying to recruit him, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
The more he thought about it—
The more Conrad felt like a reckless, half-baked imitation of Julius.
Julius had only acted after obtaining power capable of overwhelming the entire world.
Conrad, on the other hand, revealed his plans before he was ready.
No wonder he was sealed.
"If the two of us work together," Conrad said earnestly,
"no one can stop us. Let's create a world filled with laughter."
(End of Chapter)
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