Chapter 159
By the fourth day of the Master’s Battle, several losers had emerged for failing to demonstrate abilities befitting a Master.
Some of them were eliminated at the same time as their opponents, while some decided to give up their journey to the championship, evidently not confident in their chances of winning.
Only two people had been awarded the rank of Master so far. One of them was Marquis Australo from the Swallow Empire, who was also known as Mihwang for his double-length limbs. And then, Joshua, one of Reinhardt’s most well-known characters.
Today there was a fight that attracted even more attention than usual.
In the designated seating for national officials, two people sat in identical brown robes. The substantially smaller person on the left spoke, “Group A’s morning match is between the Force Mage and one of the Seven Mages of the Magic Tower. In the afternoon, it will be your turn.”
“Mmhm.” Joshua sighed. He was seated on the right side of the large coliseum, and his gaze was on the podium in the middle of the huge coliseum. This was Joshua’s first time watching a match involving other contestants.
‘Theta… He looks familiar.’
The middle-aged man, who seemed to be about thirty years old, had green hair, cool features, and a handsome demeanor. Joshua saw him and started muttering to himself, ‘Have I seen him before? But, where…?’
“Aaaah!”
The screams of the audience interrupted Joshua’s train of thought.
“Isn’t this the first time we’re seeing mages fight in the Masters’ Battle?”
“Yes! And fights between knights usually end in the blink of an eye. Their techniques are also too fast for us to see, but mages are different!”
“Isn’t magic beautiful? In addition, we’re about to witness a duel between two people we would only normally see in the Continental Magic Battle. We’re about to see them fight here at Reinhardt, no less! My goodness!”
The Continental Magic Battle was a festival of wizards analogous to the Reinhardt Masters’ Battle, and it took place in Terra every four years. The rules were slightly different from the Reinhardt Masters’ Battle, and only wizards were allowed to participate.
In addition, interest in the Continental Magic Battle was high and had long surpassed the popularity of the Reinhardt Masters’ Battle, and it was all thanks to Terra’s astute management, which ensured its continued popularity.
The Reinhardt Masters’ Battle and the Continental Magic Battle had something in common, and it was the opening ceremonies.
“It’s starting,” said Iceline.
“...” Joshua didn’t reply to Iceline. He stared intently at the stage and focused on the match.
The polite-looking and relaxed Theta was the holder of the Magic Tower’s Storm seat while his opponent, a man in his forties clad in gray robes and a demeanor that was clearly screaming about his status as a mage, was none other than…
‘Force Mage Astello…’
Joshua directed a strange gaze at Astello.
His gaze was laced with strange emotions, possibly even remorse. Joshua shared a unique bond with the man, though the man in question had no idea about it. Honestly, it was more of a connection than a partnership.
The Magic Kingdom, Terra.
It was a nation that had always claimed superiority over other nations when it came to its culture and civilization. However, Joshua knew that the Fall of Terra would happen three decades later.
Upon ascending to the throne immediately after the civil war, Kaiser felt the need to pacify the internal affairs of the empire, so he decided to turn his attention outside. It was unfortunate, but Kaiser’s first victim was Terra, the Magic Kingdom.
Terra was reduced to a mere tributary state of Avalon after losing the subsequent war.
All Joshua used to know was that Kaiser aspired to unite the entire continent. He gathered the members of Avalon’s golden generation—including Joshua—and issued an order to wipe all traces of Terra from the continent.
Following Kaiser’s orders, he conducted a massacre. He wiped out not just Terra’s people but also razed Terra to the ground and crushed every single brick of its castle.
The Force Mage Astello was the Head Mage of Terra’s royal family, and he had been protecting the kingdom for two decades by then. However, when Terra’s castle was razed to the ground, Astello vanished forever.
Joshua personally ensured that Astello would disappear from history.
“In the end, the exploding magic circle you invented killed me. Fate sure knows how to jest…” Joshua smiled sourly before abandoning his thoughts. While Joshua was in the middle of contemplation, the match on the stage had already started.
“The brilliant mage Astello knows how to cast four spells at once, which is beyond double and triple casting. Apparently, you’re the best when it comes to spells,” said Theta.
“Let's see how long you can pretend to be calm,” said Astello with bright eyes.
He waved his hand slightly and manifested both Fire Lance and Ice Spea without a single word.?After quickly casting each spell, he sent them flying toward Theta.
“Go!”
“Storm Wall,” Theta muttered.
Boom!
A wall of solid stones rose to protect Theta. Astello’s spells collided with the wall of stone, eliciting a loud explosion.
Unfazed, Astello casually spat. “Ice Fog.”
A curtain of dreamy blue fog quickly filled the stage.
“Hm?” Theta tilted his head as the bluish fog quickly obscured his vision.
“Burn and erupt. Burn Flare!”
“This…”
Shwaaa!
Burn Flare was an explosive flame attribute 5th Circle Spell, and it instantly covered the stage with roaring flames. The crimson flame seemed like it was hot enough to melt everything.
“Wheeew,?that was dangerous!” said Theta. He reappeared in the corner of the vast stage after using Blink to escape the perilous fog and the conflagration.
Splash.
“What?”
Theta was momentarily astonished upon sensing the wetness on his feet.
Theta looked up and furiously waved his hand while smiling at Astello. “What the hell, old man?! Cut it out! Are you planning on killing me? This seems excessive just to deal with a young man like me!
Astello smiled at that. “All I can see is a careless young man who is about to lose.”
“No, no, no! Wait!”
“I have to win, so I can’t wait.” Astello swept his gaze across the stage. The dreamy bluish fog evaporated in the proverbial blink of an eye upon making contact with Burn Flare’s flames. Astello then condensed the water vapor, covering the stage in water.
Now, Astello just had to cast a particular spell that would engulf the entire stage using the water on the floor as the medium. As such, there was no way Theta could avoid being injured by the spell unless he surrendered and ran out of the stage.
“You crazy…!” Theta cursed, seemingly terrified at the sight of sparks emerging from Astello’s hands.
“You’re the only one who’s going to get hurt, cheeky brat.”
“Ah, seriously…!”
“Double Chain Lightning.”
Astello cast Chain Lightning twice at the same time, and the layered spell crackled in between Astello’s hands covered in black gloves. Closing his eyes, he hurled the spell at the ground, sending sparks flying all over the place.
The lightning rumbled upon colliding with the form, and a web of electricity scattered throughout the stage, using the water that covered the stage as a conductor. With that, Astello finally opened his eyes, expecting to see his vanquished foe amidst the sparks.
“...!”
However, Astello's eyes widened in shock at the sight in front of him.
“H-how…?”
“That hurts, mister…”
He could still see lightning on Theta’s flesh.
There was no way Theta could have blocked Astello’s Chain Lightning, and Astello didn’t make a mistake as well.
In that case, what was going on? Why was he standing?
“How?” Astello asked, seemingly confused.
“You didn’t see this, did you? I altered it myself. How does it look?” Theta turned toward Astello. He showed a gray, transparent barrier to the latter.
“Wind?”
“Wall-type protection spells are getting a bit of attention these days, no? However, as you may have noticed, this wall’s wind attribute is very weak. Fire Wall, Ice Wall, rock Wall… Each of these spells is good, depending on the situation, but Wind Wall is just a waste of mana. Where are you supposed to use a wind wall? Maybe to deflect arrows, but a Rock Wall would do a better job when it comes to that, no? It’s something that has always been bothering me because wind magic is my specialty, so I decided to tweak the conventional Wind Wall a bit. What do you think?”
“What a monster…” Astello muttered, dumbfounded.
Modifying magic was an easy thing to say, but it was practically impossible. After all, one had to rewrite the magic formula from beginning to end, with not a single mistake throughout.
Even the slightest mistake in the formula would cause the spell to fail. This was the reason why creating spells from scratch was incredibly difficult.
“I call it the Wind Shield Curtain! What do you think? It’s awesome, right?” Theta grinned as he basked in the wind surrounding him.
“Damn it…” Astello cursed under his breath.
Joshua had been silently watching the fight all this while, but he suddenly froze in place with a dumbfounded look. He shuddered and sat up as if he had gotten struck by lightning.
“I finally remember!” exclaimed Joshua upon recalling the memory.
The wind around Theta was the trademark of an individual who knew how to transform into the wind itself. His strength and expertise caused stories of him to spread all throughout the continent.
Joshua gasped in astonishment. “The first Class 8 Mage of the Magic Tower, Thetapirion Whitesox—the traitor.”
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