Priest (4)
Raig felt a strange sense of discomfort as he looked at Diela standing on the platform.
What kind of person was the girl called Diela?
Self-centered, immature, and thoughtless, a foolish child.
She was such a ruffian that it wouldn't even be a pity to throw her out of the Duplein Ducal House immediately. The sight of her repeatedly spewing abuse, and the sight of her harming the servants Raig cherished, still flickered before his eyes.
However, from the Diela who was now standing straight on the platform and staring at Raig, such frivolousness could not be seen.
Under the robe she was wearing, as she calmly glared at Raig, there was caution and a bit of tension in her posture.
'…... Did she really come out thinking she could win?'
Raig pressed down on his forearm and looked up toward the terrace of the mansion where Duke Beltus was watching.
His gaze, sitting at a tea table with a noble lady and looking down at the garden, did not waver in the slightest.
'Anyway, I should finish this quickly.'
The servant acting as the mediator stood straight on the platform.
Raig also climbed onto the platform and, quietly looking at Diela, spoke.
"I thought you'd be making plans to run away while taking your anger out on the servants with a scared face, but this is unexpected."
Raig's noble-style attire was more active compared to Valerian's. He rolled up his sleeves and shook his hands lightly, and the veins running up his forearms were visible at a glance. He was a sturdy young man even before being a mage.
It was hard to imagine Diela, who lacked both magic skill and physical strength, defeating Raig. Raig's head was filled with thoughts of ending the match swiftly.
"Please prepare for the duel. Applying the Upper-level Mage duel rules of the Ebelstein Kelbrem Salon, the one whose protection magic circle activates first will lose."
Head butler Delron recited the basic matters on the platform. The Kelbrem Salon's duel rules were already the most common rules in magical duels among nobles. Even without explaining them in detail, both of them knew them well.
Then head butler Delron closed his eyes briefly, opened them, and said,
"Begin."
At the declaration of the start, Raig raised his arm sharply. With the feeling as if a tightly drawn string of tension had snapped, fighting spirit surged into Raig's eyes for a moment.
Each duelist begins holding one accessory into which an Upper-level Mage has engraved a protection magic circle.
The 'protection engraving', which is at least a 3-star magic circle, automatically activates just before the wearer takes serious damage, nullifies the opponent's magic, and then disappears. In other words, once this protection magic circle activates, it is no different from having taken decisive damage, so defeat is confirmed.
The protection magic circle lasts about 10 minutes from the moment it is worn. If a victor is not decided within 10 minutes, it is a draw.
Naturally, Raig had no intention of allowing even a draw, so he focused his mind.
Against a sluggish opponent like Diela, just landing one proper 1-star magic would make the protection magic circle activate.
Raig gathered mana into his hand and began his incantation.
"Wind that sweeps the plains and cleaves the earth..."
Raig began chanting with his arm raised, but Diela still just stood there, glaring at him.
One of the cores of a magic duel lies in incantation speed.
When the battle begins at a distance, the one who finishes their incantation first gains the advantage.
To draw out a spell to respond even belatedly, it was important to start chanting quickly, but Diela was still only fluttering the hem of her robe and glaring at Raig.
'Is she so scared that her body froze?'
Raig chuckled and finished preparing to release the 1-star magic 'Wind Blade' from his fingertips.
Thinking that the match would end too easily, he felt a slight sense of regret. But Raig was not the kind of person soft enough to hold back against Diela.
A blade formed of wind flew toward Diela.
His mind was already full of the thought of immediately triggering her protection magic circle and throwing her back into the annex.
–Hwaak!
At that moment, Diela lowered her posture and sprang to the side.
The hem of her robe fluttered, and between the folds of the cloth, her blonde hair could be seen whipping about.
It was a nimble movement rarely seen from Diela until now.
However, no matter what, she was still a girl who had been cooped up in the annex. Even if her movements were nimble, there was a limit.
"Where do you think you're going!"
Raig bared his teeth and manifested mana, twisting the direction of the wind blade.
The wind blade that changed its trajectory flew toward Diela, but it did not hit her directly.
–Hwaak!
–Pahak! Kwajijik!
An ice pillar that shot up from the ground blocked the trajectory of the wind blade.
Normally, such a basic ice wall, which merely imbued mana with an element, could not block the power of a 1-star magic.
However, by forcing the attack trajectory to change this way and that, it made the opponent twist their attack path. The flow of mana, twisted and bent during use, could not help but be weakened compared to when it had just been incanted.
Raig frowned.
Diela knew that the more complex and varied the trajectory of magic, the harder it became to control the mana and the weaker its power would be.
That was a kind of instinctive knowledge that could only be gained by directly handling and guiding mana oneself.
Diela, who had repeated mana manifestation training with Derrick until she was sick of it, had now reached a state where her sense of mana flow was not inferior to Raig's.
'So it's not like she gained nothing from her training.'
Raig stood in place and began chanting again. This time, he planned to fire his specialty, the wind blade, in a three-shot volley.
If she intended to interfere with his mana control by darting around, then he would simply block off her escape routes.
Seeing signs that the next spell was about to fly, Diela ran to the side, gritting her teeth.
–'Listen carefully, Young Lady Diela. A mercenary's combat techniques are different from those of nobles. They don't consider fairness a virtue, and they focus purely on winning itself.'
–'It might be far from the kind of honorable victory people imagine in ordinary magic duels. You might not even be acknowledged even if you win.'
The words Derrick had said to Diela before she stepped onto the platform, looking down at her with those blood-red eyes.
–'Even so, you can still create a result where you win. Your opponent is a 1-star mage, but he lacks actual combat experience to an extreme degree.'
The dueling techniques of mercenaries, where even a slight mistake brings death right to one's doorstep, were far removed from the life Diela had lived.
No matter how Derrick tried to pass them on, there was no way that Diela, who had lived as a noble young lady, could absorb them in an instant.
Therefore, Derrick only conveyed the most basic principles to Diela.
They were nothing more than knowledge passed on through words.
There was no way that merely hearing a few words about the practical knowledge of someone who had stood on the boundary between life and death on the battlefield for a lifetime could have any meaningful learning effect.
Even so, Derrick's advice always struck at weak points.
They were elements of real combat that were never even considered in the authority- and dignity-filled magic duels of nobles.
Controlling the battlefield and using the environment. Starting from basic cover tactics using terrain and objects, drawing out the opponent's carelessness, making the opponent waste mana while conserving one's own, and cleverly deflecting powerful magic.
With knowledge that had only been heard, there were limits to its application, but if the opponent came at her with the fair and square etiquette of nobles, Diela had many options to choose from.
–Bang!
–Hwaak!
Diela drew out her mana and created several more ice pillars.
Diela was still only at a beginner's level. Even this made her feel as if her head were throbbing, but she soon ran back and forth between the pillars she could use as cover.
Derrick had told Diela.
Battlefield control is the most basic element in winning a duel. Fighting in an open plain, in a dark forest, or in a complex cityscape can never be the same.
Diela planned to make the battlefield as complicated as possible and draw out all kinds of variables.
Given the nature of the duel where she could win by triggering the opponent's protection magic circle just once, she could achieve victory with a single well-aimed opening.
Diela was a Wild School mage from birth.
Even when she couldn't use magic at all, even when facing Derrick chasing her in that dark forest, she tried to use the environment to get behind him.
Using the darkness of the forest and the cover of the bushes, trembling hands clutching a rock, trying somehow to defeat Derrick — that time was still engraved in her memory.
–Kwagang! Bang!
After circling the edge of the platform and evading Raig's magic once more, part of the outer edge of the platform collapsed and smoke rose up.
Diela jumped down toward the collapsed side of the platform and burrowed into the empty space beneath it.
'According to the Kelbrem Salon rules, going outside the platform wall should be a loss...!'
Raig thought, gritting his teeth as he dispersed the smoke.
'No...! The empty space under the platform isn't outside the wall...!'
Raig almost got angry at such a slapdash interpretation of the rules, but he couldn't deny it.
The Upper-level Mage duel rules of the Kelbrem Salon did not consider the possibility that an opponent would disgracefully run away and even use the space under the platform for cover.
In the authority-soaked magic duels of nobles, there was no frivolous person who would infiltrate the dusty space under the platform just to avoid the opponent's magic.
–Pababababak!
At that moment, three or four ice pillars shot up beside Raig.
Diela, who had jumped under the platform, had manifested mana from below toward where Raig was likely to be.
–Kaak! Kagagak!
The ice pillars that shot up from under the wooden platform were clearly aimed at Raig.
If victory could be achieved with just a single hit, then attacking one-sidedly from outside the opponent's field of vision was the most reliable method Derrick had come up with.
Nobles are people who seek honorable victories.
In the salon magic duels, where one fairly draws out mana, shows off one's skills, and displays the results of one's training to the public, the sharp brutality of real combat is not considered at all.
In real combat, where the goal is to kill the opponent, fairness can never be a virtue.
An environment tilted so that one could beat the opponent one-sidedly — that was the most ideal battlefield in the eyes of mercenaries.
–Pasasak
'This crazy...!'
Raig quickly dashed toward the center of the platform.
He couldn't accurately grasp Diela's position as she ran around under the platform. There was no way he could land magic on someone whose location he didn't even know.
The battlefield was tilted. Until Diela collapsed from exhaustion, he was in the position of having to keep avoiding attacks.
In fact, the way to break this situation was simple.
He could jump down into that dust-filled space under the platform and start again in an equal combat environment.
If there was an enemy inducing a messy brawl in the mud, then one must also be prepared to jump into that mud.
If Diela had thrown away the noble ceremony of magic duels and turned toward an obsession with victory, then Raig had no choice but to respond in kind.
Raig steeled his resolve to jump down into the dust-filled space under the platform. If the opponent fought like that, then he too had no choice but to become dirty.
Just as he was heading toward the part of the platform he had broken with the wind blade a moment ago—
–Jjeojeok
'... !'
The broken part of the platform was blocked off with ice manifested by mana.
She had seized the advantageous point of the battlefield for herself and blocked the opponent's approach.
"This...brat...!"
Raig once again manifested mana in his hand.
He could just make another entrance to go under the platform. Breaking a wooden platform was nothing for Raig.
–Chaak!
However, whenever Raig tried to manifest mana, Diela's attack flew in from below the platform.
Unlike Raig's attacks, Diela's attacks had a narrow range and didn't make big holes in the platform.
But if the incoming magic hit directly, it would stimulate the protection magic circle. In the world of magic duels, that was enough to decide the match.
–Chaak! Kwaak! Kwaak!
Whenever Raig tried to break the platform to catch Diela, endless interference came.
Diela under the platform also couldn't pinpoint the opponent's exact location, but she could roughly infer it using the flow of mana, the sound of footsteps, and so on.
This difference was huge.
She was constantly aiming for the moment Raig manifested mana to break the platform. At least at the moment Raig's position was revealed, she could attack completely one-sidedly.
She had no intention of ever handing over the advantage of this tilted battlefield to her opponent. In mercenary combat techniques, fairness was a luxury.
Through the dust, a glimpse could be seen of Diela under the platform, covered in dirt, with ice pillars piercing upward.
Raig's eyes met Diela's under the platform. In those eyes, not the slightest emotional fluctuation could be felt.
That gaze, which remained calm even in a combat situation, felt like something he had seen somewhere before.
It was the gaze of that mercenary-born master who showed not a single change in expression even when Valerian grabbed him by the collar.
Those endlessly cold eyes that always tried to make rational judgments in any situation.
Only then did Raig realize it.
There was no way that such a tiny girl could come up with this idea of controlling the battlefield on her own.
There was no need to look further — it was the influence of that white-haired master.
"This brat...!"
–Kwagak! Kwagagak!
Raig once again drew up mana and manifested Mana Arrow, smashing all the ice pillars that were rising toward him.
Raig clenched his teeth. If the opponent had thrown away all duel etiquette and started moving solely for victory, then he had no choice but to take a stance befitting that.
*
"W-what is that...! She's covered in dust...Diela...!"
Miriela, who had been watching the duel from the terrace, cried out in shock. This was far too removed from the magic duels of nobles.
Miriela hurriedly grabbed her skirt and tried to run down from the terrace. She made a gesture that she couldn't just stand by and watch, but Duke Beltus stopped Miriela in a stern voice.
"For now, watch the duel to the end."
"You...!"
He walked up to the terrace railing, leaned on it with his arm, and quietly looked down at the platform.
Even the servants looked clearly flustered beneath the dust-filled scene.
The retainers of the noble house all seemed unaccustomed to this situation, but Duke Beltus, who in his youth had gone to the battlefield many times, did not look particularly surprised.
He simply rested his chin on his hand and quietly watched the duel.
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