Circe Odyssey—the Reincarnated Sage Aerial in her previous life.
She had been a Seventh-Tier mage before her reincarnation, though she was currently only at the Fourth Tier.
She possessed the Book of Eibon, a relic-grade artifact.
She was the commander and voice of reason in the Reincarnated Hero’s party, the ultimate support mage, and the owner of an absurdly overpowered unique magic.
Granted, she probably couldn’t use that overpowered unique magic right now.
Under normal circumstances, there was no way Ex could beat her, no matter what he tried.
‘But against her as she is now, I can win.’
Ex checked the objects tucked inside his pockets.
He hadn’t expected to use them this soon.
As he and Circe continued their tense standoff, Amanda stepped between them.
“Ex, I’m warning you. Stop this. It’s obvious to everyone here that you’re acting out of emotion.”
Like any responsible professor, she tried to mediate the conflict.
Unfortunately, both Circe’s and Ex’s tempers had already caught fire.
It wasn’t the kind of blaze a professor could extinguish with a few words.
“I don’t care how we do it. I just need to see what you’re capable of.”
Circe dismissed Amanda’s intervention without a second thought.
The farther Circe stepped forward, the more firmly Ex refused to back down.
In the end, Amanda had no choice but to draw a hard line.
“Is this attitude meant as an insult to me and my class? Ex, do you understand that if your conduct in this class is marked as unsatisfactory, you’ll be brought before a disciplinary committee?”
Real emotion entered Amanda’s voice.
With her coming down this hard, even Ex hesitated.
This was something he could settle later.
He understood that perfectly well.
Just as he was about to let the matter go for the moment—
“It would be a shame to end things here after the situation has already become this interesting.”
Someone strode out from the crowd of students.
Every step carried innate dignity and authority.
Golden hair flowed around her like waves, framing a pair of proud, gleaming golden eyes.
Everyone knew who she was.
They said status meant nothing inside the academy.
That rule did not apply before this person.
Everyone naturally dropped to one knee.
Because it was only proper. Because she was someone who commanded that degree of reverence.
“Imperial Princess Beatrice.”
Beatrice de Dritania.
The empire’s one and only Imperial Princess, and the only First-Year student who had reached the Fifth Tier.
‘Of course this villain had to show up too.’
Ex’s eyes went straight to the index finger of her right hand.
Sure enough, the gold ring was there.
That settled it. She was one of the villains.
Beatrice addressed everyone in a proud, authoritative voice.
“Rise. I have no desire to command respect through gestures like this.”
At her order, everyone stood.
Even Circe quietly complied—for now.
Beatrice looked between Circe and Ex before giving them an enigmatic smile.
“A simple spar doesn’t seem sufficient to cool the emotions between you two, does it? The atmosphere has already come this far as well. In that case, why don’t you settle this with a duel?”
Ex knew exactly why Beatrice had specifically proposed a duel.
She wanted entertainment.
‘I really caught the worst possible person’s attention.’
Looking around, he saw that the students had already formed a circle around them.
Amanda might have tried to stop the confrontation, but the students wanted to see the fight unfolding right before their eyes.
Circe appeared completely unmoved by the situation. She merely glared at Ex and spoke.
“Duel or spar, I don’t care. It doesn’t even have to happen now. Run away if you want. I’m not fighting because I care about winning. I simply refuse to waste any more time on this.”
In other words, anything was fine with her.
But the moment Beatrice framed the situation this way, avoiding the fight ceased to be an option.
If Ex tried to back out of the duel now, that alone might place him in even greater danger.
Besides, he had no intention of avoiding it.
“…I am grateful for Your Highness’s grace.”
Beatrice’s smile took on a strange quality when she heard his answer.
She turned toward Amanda and made a clear declaration.
“By my authority, I sanction their duel. I will serve as the witness. Do you intend to refuse?”
“…No, Your Highness. As you command.”
Amanda had no intention of challenging the Imperial Princess’s authority.
She was simply furious with herself for failing to stop the situation before it reached this point.
“Good. You there, commoner? Will you appoint a proxy?”
“No. I’ll fight for myself.”
“Then your injuries will need to be healed. A duel should be fought with both sides in proper condition.”
Something flew toward Ex.
He caught it and discovered that it was a potion.
It appeared to be high-grade.
A single high-grade potion was worth roughly six months of an ordinary commoner’s wages.
‘She just tossed me something this valuable…?’
“Drink it here, where I can see you.”
“…Yes, Your Highness.”
He couldn’t afford to hesitate. Ex quickly pulled the stopper and drank.
A refreshing coolness ran down his throat, and the wound across his back began to itch.
He felt it closing within seconds.
“You should be fit to duel now. The format will be an unrestricted duel. You may use any means at your disposal. Victory goes to whoever breaks the opponent’s will to continue fighting. Taking a life, however, is forbidden.”
This was an informal duel rather than a formally arranged one, so the witness’s word was effectively the law.
The conditions were reasonable enough.
“From this moment forward, I declare that this duel shall be fair and sacred beneath the radiance of Goddess Deuslute. I pledge this upon my honor.”
It was neither fair nor sacred in the slightest.
Even so, the duel had been established.
There was no longer any path of retreat.
Beatrice smiled as she gave the order.
“Begin the duel.”
At that very instant, a blue Magic Arrow came streaking toward Ex.
He had expected it.
It was nothing more than a casual greeting.
Ex immediately swung his sword and knocked the arrow aside.
Circe watched him with visible disappointment.
“I don’t even understand why a mage would carry a sword.”
“What do you care what I carry?”
“Because it proves you don’t take magic seriously.”
The next attack came in the form of three Ice Arrows.
Ex knocked aside the frigid crystals slicing through the air.
He deflected two with his sword and cast Shield to stop the third.
They were still only testing the waters.
“So why are you taking that out on me?”
“Because you strut around showing off shallow scraps of knowledge as if you actually understand them. I simply want to see how much skill you really have.”
This time, five Ice Arrows came hurtling toward him.
They were faster than before, as though Circe’s anger had been poured directly into them.
Blocking all of them was impossible.
He had no choice but to evade.
Ex sprang sideways, knocking aside and blocking the arrows that followed his movement.
He managed to turn the attack away by the narrowest possible margin.
It seemed Circe was preparing to fight seriously now.
Ex was no different.
“You think that gives you the right to make other kids bleed?”
“…”
“Must make you feel real proud. Whenever someone gets on your nerves, you can blast a hole through their face and show everyone how amazing you are.”
“…Shut up!”
Unable to think of a response, Circe shouted and prepared another spell.
Once again, she intended to create Ice Arrows.
Ex knew exactly what kind of sequence she was planning.
More importantly, his own spell was faster.
Flame—a Tier 1 spell that did little more than spew fire.
As Ex swept his hand through the air, a blue line raced across the ground toward Circe before immediately turning red.
‘What a cheap trick…’
Circe lightly stepped backward.
She had seen through his intention at once.
Flames erupted from the line drawn across the ground.
The fire, formed entirely from magic power, did nothing more than heat the empty air.
At that moment, something burst through the flames.
A volley of blue Magic Arrows shot toward Circe.
“Too obvious.”
The arrows crashed into Circe’s Shield.
Using fire to obstruct an opponent’s vision before launching another spell was an exceedingly common trick.
Circe had already raised her Shield from the moment Ex cast Flame.
Once the mana sustaining Flame ran out, the fire disappeared.
“If you’re going to parade around acting like you know everything, why bother coming to the academy? Why not teach the classes yourself? Is this all just so you can show off?”
On the opposite side, Ex stood motionless and glared at Circe.
Circe continued preparing her spell as she answered with open emotion in her voice.
“The location doesn’t matter when you’re seeking knowledge. Half-baked amateurs like you could never understand…!”
Ten Ice Arrows appeared, the same number she had used when attacking Lola.
Ex raised his sword and prepared himself for the incoming attack.
Before the Ice Arrows could be launched, Ex’s hand drew another line.
This time, he swept it horizontally in front of his body, as if drawing a barrier across himself.
An instant before the ice reached him, flames surged upward like a wall.
The fierce heat washed over the ice, but that was all.
A mere Tier 1 flame could never melt ice created by a Tier 2 spell.
Fwish-fwish-fwish—!!
All ten Ice Arrows retained their shape as they tore through the wall of fire.
Circe had aimed across a wide area in anticipation of an evasive maneuver, so dodging would have made no difference.
‘It doesn’t matter whether he dodges or blocks.’
Circe had accurately assessed Ex’s level.
His magic was barely at the First Tier.
His swordsmanship was nothing exceptional, and his physical abilities were ordinary.
She was beginning to find the entire situation tiresome.
And she was now certain.
He possessed no genuine devotion to magic.
He wasn’t worth her time.
On top of that, the things he kept saying were getting under her skin more than she wanted to admit.
‘Let’s finish this. There’s no point dragging it out.’
Circe cast the spell she had prepared to bring the fight to an end.
As she spoke the chant, the Ice Arrows scattered across the ground responded.
Ssssh—
More than a dozen Ice Arrows shifted on their own and spread out over a wide area.
Together, they formed the outline of one enormous circle.
The other students cried out in astonishment.
“Isn’t that a grand magic circle?”
“She can already cast grand magic at her age…?”
“That guy might actually die…”
Even Beatrice was somewhat taken aback by the unexpected sight.
She was the highest-tier mage among those present at the Fifth Tier, yet even she had never seen someone construct a grand magic circle in this manner.
‘Did she plan to use grand magic from the very beginning?’
Upon closer inspection, the Ice Arrows were hollow inside, and those empty spaces had been filled with mana.
After firing them, Circe could use the mana stored inside to cast additional magic.
That much was a technique employed fairly often by experienced mages.
Using those arrows as the foundation of a grand magic circle capable of producing even greater power, however, belonged to an entirely different realm.
A single mistake in the calculations would make the entire process impossible.
Meanwhile, the grand magic circle had already been completed.
The fire from Ex’s Flame spell hadn’t even gone out yet.
That was how quick and precise Circe’s calculations were.
“Hey, is he eating something…?”
“Is that allowed?”
“It’s unrestricted…”
Just as Circe was about to activate her grand magic, she heard the students who had a clear view of Ex talking among themselves.
‘Come to think of it, he’s been much too quiet…’
She had assumed he’d foolishly raised a wall of fire in an attempt to stop the Ice Arrows, only to take the entire volley head-on.
Even then, the fact that there had been no reaction from him whatsoever was somewhat suspicious.
‘…Whatever. It doesn’t matter.’
Hadn’t she prepared grand magic precisely to end this beyond any doubt?
He was nothing more than a newly awakened Tier 1 mage.
No matter what preparations he had made, they would be useless.
Circe activated her grand magic.
Blue lines extended geometrically in every direction from the dozen-odd Ice Arrows.
In less than a single breath, those blue lines transformed the inside of the massive circle into a complete magic formation.
Circe applied the final trigger to activate the grand magic.
“…Huh?”
The grand magic did not activate.
And the moment she realized it—
Fwoosh—!!
The wall of fire fell away, and something flew toward her at tremendous speed.
‘The same trick again…’
Sensing the threat, Circe immediately raised her Shield.
She had kept a Shield spell ready at all times, allowing the blue barrier to surround her before the incoming magic could make contact.
In that brief interval, Circe identified the true nature of the threat.
‘…Fireballs?’
There were three of them.
Fireball was a Tier 3 spell and one of the most representative offensive spells in elemental magic.
The instant she saw them, Circe reached a single conclusion.
‘Impossible.’
First of all, Ex lacked the necessary quantity of mana.
She had heard that he had only awakened his magic today.
If that was true, then firing ten Magic Arrows should have been the absolute limit of his reserves.
He didn’t even possess a magic device capable of assisting his spellcasting.
There was only one way for a lower-tier mage to use a spell from a higher tier.
‘He’s willing to suffer Rebound?’
The instant her thoughts reached that conclusion, all three Fireballs slammed into Circe’s Shield.
BOOOOM—!!!
“Ghk…”
Because the Shield had been cast in haste, the third Fireball shattered it.
The barrier blocked the force of the explosion, but fierce heat and red flames still churned wildly before Circe’s eyes.
An ordinary mage would have panicked in that moment, stumbling backward before the threat of fire and heat.
Circe was no ordinary mage.
‘Where are you?’
Circe’s mind remained in a state of perfect concentration.
She peered through the fire and heat obscuring her vision.
Her mana senses spread in every direction, searching for the slightest anomaly.
A counterattack was already prepared.
Blue lightning crackled violently around both of Circe’s hands.
In the meantime, Circe revised her evaluation of Ex’s combat ability upward.
‘He accepted the risk of Rebound. Three times, no less. He isn’t ordinary.’
She had encountered this type of fighting style several times in her previous life.
A method of combat that disregarded one’s own life in order to guarantee a single decisive strike.
People who fought that way had been among the most dangerous enemies even on the chaotic battlefields of the Demon Realm.
There was only one proper way to deal with them.
‘I should have crushed him with overwhelming force from the very beginning.’
She had underestimated him in a way that was unlike her.
A brief trace of regret passed through Circe’s mind.
At the same time, a sense of indignation welled up inside her.
‘He was angry enough to throw his life away over something this petty? Fine, maybe I went a little too far, but…!’
First, she stared into the area beyond the wall of fire.
It was the only place she had been unable to observe while her vision was obstructed.
There, she discovered the reason her grand magic had failed.
‘The Ice Arrows are broken?’
The Ice Arrows that had contained the stored mana lay shattered.
And they had been broken with enough precision to prevent her from completing the grand magic.
‘But there was definitely a magical response…!’
When Circe moved the Ice Arrows into position to prepare the grand magic, she would have noticed immediately if any of them had already been broken.
She would have sensed the failure of the spell’s activation without question.
There was only one way the damage could have escaped her notice.
‘He broke them after the spell had already been activated…?’
It was an absurd assumption.
It would have been impossible unless he knew the grand magic’s entire preparation and activation sequence in advance.
And her opponent was supposedly an ordinary person who had awakened to magic only today.
‘Wait. Where is he…?’
The shock had delayed her realization.
The mana senses she had spread around herself had detected nothing.
Even after the flames obscuring her vision disappeared, there was nothing in front of her.
Nothing except the shattered fragments of the Ice Arrows.
‘If he’s not in front of me, then he’s behind…!’
Circe spun around, preparing to unleash the lightning in that direction.
“Making me take a loss this bad is a little excessive, don’t you think?”
A sharp silver flash cut toward her face.
It moved faster than Circe could release her lightning spell.
At this rate, her defeat was inevitable.
Circe wasn’t concerned.
‘I still have my final safeguard.’
There was a spell she had cast the instant the duel began.
Circe’s final safeguard was Physical Reflection Magic.
It was a spell she always used when facing a warrior.
‘I never expected him to actually get a strike through.’
Since her opponent had been holding a sword, casting it had been the natural decision.
It was a Tier 5 spell, so she had needed to use the Book of Eibon to cast it. She had initially thought it was a waste, but now it seemed she had made the right choice.
Only one thing remained.
The instant his sword was repelled by Physical Reflection Magic, she would unleash her lightning and fry him.
That would bring this irritating fight to an end.
The moment she thought that—
Crack—!
‘Huh?’
The instant the sword touched Physical Reflection Magic, the spell shattered.
Circe couldn’t understand the reason.
It simply broke without explanation.
‘Why…?’
She had no answer.
There was only one thing she knew.
Shing—
The edge of Ex’s sword came to rest against Circe’s cheek.
The outcome of the duel had been decided.
“This is costing me a damn fortune. Making me burn through every precious item I had in a single day… don’t you think that’s a little much?”
All Circe could see before her was Ex’s twisted grin.
“…”
“…”
“…”
A stunned silence fell over the area, so absolute that no one dared even breathe.
“…The winner of the duel is Ex.”
Beatrice declared the unbelievable result of the duel.
–TL Notes–
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