Chapter 252
Chapter 252
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 252
Chapter Title: How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magical Noble Family
-----------------------------------------------------------------
BOOM—!
Luca slammed his staff into the ground.
[Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, a path for the thunderbolt of lightning, to bring rain on a land where no one lives, on a desert without inhabitant, to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass?]
Rumble— BOOM—
“…!”
Elias jerked his head up.
Thunder roared, and when he looked to the sky, glowing red mana was plummeting down at ferocious speed.
KABOOM, crash—!
Thud—!
Gabrielle deflected the spear-like mana raining down from above with his sword, then rolled his foot wide to kick away the red flames surging across the ground toward him.
Gabrielle let out a short breath.
“Hah.”
Drip— plop— shhhhh—
Luca’s mana fell in droplets like rain. Gabrielle smacked away the sharp mana grazing his cheek with a cold expression.
“To think an atheist dares utter such words….”
BOOM—!!
Gabrielle stomped, and misty divine power spread out, scattering Luca’s mana into the air. Red steam seemed to rise from it. His eerie voice echoed across the arena.
“How am I supposed to take this?”
[…Woooaaahhh—!!]
Take it however you want.
It was just a spell. You’re the one reading meaning into it.
Elias clenched his fist.
Humans would scream in primal thrill at any comeback. It didn’t matter who was on top anymore.
Gabrielle and Luca stood still on opposite sides, staring each other down.
Luca spoke first. Propping himself up with his staff, his breathing still unsteady, he spoke in a resolute voice.
[Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew?]
“…….”
[Whose womb gives birth to the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens when the waters become hard as stone and the surface of the deep congeals?]
Crack—
Luca extended his hand. In an instant, the air flow hardened rigidly, and a mass of divine power like a beast’s maw appeared right before his nose. White traces of divine power, like frost on glass, pushed all the way to the opponent’s wand tip.
No, it wasn’t pushing—it was that the opponent’s attack had frozen solid, revealing the trajectory of the stealth-cloaked assault now visible to them. Luca had halted the opponent’s launched attack dead in the air.
‘This is….’
Yulia raised her eyebrows, her eyes wide with shock. Elias was equally stunned.
He’d only evaluated Luca’s abilities strategically until now, never deeply considering his raw magical prowess. He’d forgotten Luca’s memory and diligence. He’d never tallied how many spells Luca had memorized and practiced relentlessly.
The spell he was chanting now interfered with natural elements—an advanced spell not taught even in high school. The kind only veteran mages summoned nationwide to stop mana lamp terrorism would use.
‘Not fully deployed yet, judging by the scale.’
Before mastery, the same spell could consume twice as much—or up to ten times—the mana. It was clearly too much for him to cast fully.
But completing the basic framework to make his mana move with his chant was achievement enough.
Elias licked the inside of his lips and gripped his sweaty hand tight.
Shatter—!
Gabrielle swung his sword, smashing the mana closing in on his throat.
But the moment Luca thrust his wand upward, the frost-like divine power frozen in midair surged toward the sky. People cried out in alarm at the explosive whoosh. As Gabrielle blocked with both arms, Elias’s gaze turned skyward. White divine power gleamed in the heavens.
[Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loosen the belt of Orion? Can you bring forth the twelve zodiac signs in their season, or guide the Bear with its cubs?]
—Enter through the narrow gate!
BOOM—!
Luca blocked the mind manipulation spell and thrust his hand out. Red mana like tree branches lashed in from all sides.
‘Huh?!’
It might be a common spell, but wasn’t this Leo’s technique?
Elias opened his mouth to laugh, then suddenly recalled Luca and Leo’s public relationship and hurriedly glanced at Yulia. But she seemed lost in other thoughts, unperturbed.
Gabrielle got snagged by one mana tendril, shook it off violently, and unleashed a barrage. Occasionally, one or two pink mana strands would grab his limbs again, but he ignored them. He scattered them into the air and struck back at Luca.
His sharp eyes flashed as he chanted.
—Enter through the narrow gate.
[Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you impose the dominion of the earth on them? Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water?]
KABOOOM!!
[Argh!]
[Aaah!]
Screams pierced from the stands, hands shielding faces.
The divine power that had soared high gained acceleration and plummeted toward the stage. Its fragments crashed into the barrier set up by the committee in front of the stands, flashing red.
But….
‘Divine power should be white?’
Elias’s eyes snapped to Gabrielle. As he cast mind manipulation at Luca and defended the sky, Gabrielle’s eyes widened. The output of mana he poured into the skyward barrier intensified.
“Hmm.”
Yulia exhaled softly in satisfaction beside him. Both she and Elias knew Gabrielle’s decision was a blunder.
At the same time, something cracked, then shattered.
Shatter—!!
[Can you send forth lightnings that they go and say to you, ‘Here we are’?]
BOOM!
Luca twitched his hand, and Gabrielle—instinctively shielding his face with his arm to block the shattering barrier—collapsed under Luca’s mana.
Luca didn’t miss the opening, pressing his assault relentlessly.
The divine power Luca had launched skyward was Gabrielle’s own. Even converting it to an attack spell, using Gabrielle’s divine power as material meant it wouldn’t deal 100% damage to him. So Luca had mixed in his own mana to make it hurt. Instead of reinforcing the barrier, Gabrielle should’ve used barrier dissolution, absorption, or dispersal magic.
Gabrielle lay sprawled on the ground, pinned down. To avoid being crushed outright by the pressing mana, he gritted his teeth and tensed his limbs. Sparks of divine power crackled from his hands. Luca didn’t relent. He switched his staff to a wand, flicked it lightly from above to below, then swept it left to right.
“Ugh!”
As Gabrielle toppled fully to the ground under the red mana bearing down on his face, Luca exhaled deeply. He kept firing mana at him while slowly approaching, then aimed his wand at Gabrielle’s head.
In that instant, startled cries erupted from the stands.
—Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it!
“…!”
A blinding white light accompanied Gabrielle’s shout.
Elias grimaced and leaned over the railing. His grip tightened on it. Luca had been defending while firing mana at Gabrielle, yet his eyes went slack. Losing balance drew all eyes to him, clear even from afar.
‘Damn. An advanced mind manipulation spell.’
He didn’t know the exact one, but something similar. The texture matched the chants.
Never heard of it before, so it had to be no ordinary spell.
‘He hadn’t used it till now, so it must carry big risks for that bastard Gabrielle too.’
BOOM—!
Pushed that far, huh.
Elias thought, clenching his fist.
Gabrielle slammed his fist into the ground to shake off Luca’s mana, rose, grabbed Luca’s collar, and slammed him down. Luca’s mind was starting to clear, but Gabrielle kept chanting, pinning him to the floor.
—What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?
“…What.”
Luca mumbled in a sleepwalker’s slur. Fortunately, he wasn’t gasping like before.
But his eyes stared at something else.
“What year is it? How are you here….”
Luca slurred as if in a dream, frowning at Gabrielle.
For some reason, the tension in Gabrielle’s shoulders slackened.
Gabrielle switched his wand to staff and brought it down.
In that moment, their voices cut out.
* * *
“What year is it? How are you here….”
Gabrielle gazed down at Lucas and exhaled. To the audience, he looked deeply shocked. He was.
He covered his face with both hands and muttered softly.
“…What year? I’m going insane here.”
“I must be dreaming.”
[10.]
Yeah. Dreaming. The problem was the dream’s content.
Gabrielle thought so as he stared at the ceiling and sky, muttering.
“In Buddhism, they call this karma, don’t they? Deeds become karma, cycling… and cycling again….”
[9.]
“What do they say happens to other beings caught in someone else’s karma?”
[8.]
Gabrielle dropped the random soliloquy and sat beside Lucas. Everything he said would sound like something else to Lucas anyway, so it was as good as muttering to himself.
“More importantly, I finally get it.”
“…….”
“Impressive that an atheist can wield divine power. You’ve only used mana the whole time so your brother doesn’t kill you for revealing it.”
“…….”
“Don’t think it rude that I know things about you uninvited. I’m not using my ability to full extent. I still don’t fully grasp what kind of person you are.”
[4.]
Of course, he planned to now.
So, let’s end this. It’s dragged on.
Instead of speaking, Gabrielle raised his staff high, then slammed it down.
But no explosion followed.
Lucas’s arm was enveloped in red mana. He’d reached out and grabbed the staff. The staff’s divine power overlapped his mana, igniting sparks. Lucas muttered through bloodshot eyes.
“If you’re imitating someone, do it right.”
KABOOOM—!!
Lucas kicked off the ground, leaping far from Gabrielle. The soundproofing spell toward the audience shattered.
His posture wasn’t straight—stamina flagging, state poor—but escaping mind manipulation alone was astonishing.
‘High resistance to mind manipulation.’
Gabrielle glared and clicked his tongue.
He’d known that already. Still, breaking this spell should’ve been impossible. What woke him?
A stealth-enchanted artifact whispered in that Ascanien’s ear. The imperial government had just urgently broadcast something through it.
Or the act of slamming a weapon into the ground didn’t fit the figure in his illusion. Which woke him?
‘The latter.’
Imperial alerts wouldn’t faze him. He could sense that without insight.
Lucas said lowly to Gabrielle.
“You came to learn about me, but that’s all you know?”
BOOM—!
Lucas thrust his wand.
[Who endowed the heart with wisdom or gave understanding to the mind?]
Gabrielle slammed his staff down. His destructive divine power battered the audience barrier, flashing and booming endlessly; nothing was visible from the stands now.
Even as Gabrielle blasted divine power widely, Lucas didn’t stop. He counterattacked in kind instead of taking damage.
[Who is wise enough to count the clouds?]
Hail-like attacks rained from the sky.
[Who shuts up the sea behind doors when it bursts forth from the womb, who makes lightning for the rain, who brings the clouds from the vaulted skies, who scatters his drops of water as he turns the dust to mud and clods stick together?]
The ground rippled like jelly, pursuing Gabrielle’s steps and snagging his feet.
Blood trickled steadily from Lucas’s nose. His vision flickered like sleep overtaking him. He’d pushed his stamina beyond limits to catch this tough foe. Reckless spellcasting ignorant of one’s vessel—fatal deduction in a practical exam, near disqualification. But not here.
Lucas bit his cheek to stay alert and thought.
‘Looks like he poured plenty into mind manipulation too.’
Otherwise, that last spell would’ve ended him. No doubt.
Odd he’d never heard this form from Narke either. Overreach any spell, and it won’t last. Same for Lucas. Fundamentally outclassed, he had to end it fast or lose decisively.
Gabrielle unleashed an attack chant.
—How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day and night have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death!
[Do not let those gloat over me who are my enemies without cause; do not let those who hate me without reason maliciously wink the eye.]
Lucas chanted the next line of Gabrielle’s attack chant. He needed to steal it.
Lucas poured mana into his legs and charged the distant Gabrielle. He seized his collar in an instant and said.
[For they do not speak peace but devise deceitful schemes against those who live quietly in the land. They open their lips against me and say, ‘Aha! Aha! With our own eyes we have seen it.’]
—Rise up, Lord, confront him, punish him, defend me from the wicked. Rescue me from evildoers. You are my God, Lord, the Holy One. Rise and save me from the wicked. Act, Lord, judge the cause of the innocent. Lord my God, vindicate me by your righteousness….
[Do not let them rejoice over me. Do not let them say in their hearts, ‘Aha! We have what we wanted!’ Do not say, ‘We have swallowed him up!’]
They alternated lines, shattering each other’s chants into fragments. Attacks repeated without penetrating body barriers or inflicting wounds. Gabrielle wrenched free of Lucas’s grip. As he swung a fist, Lucas jerked his upper body back.
This wasn’t working. Before Gabrielle could speak again, Lucas struck first.
“You said you hadn’t read me.”
The info in Gabrielle’s head till now was like Narke’s—naturally absorbed without intent. Deciding that, Lucas aimed his wand and shouted.
[Reveal these things to him!]
“…!”
“Forget reading me leisurely after subduing me—read me now. Check properly before you go.”
Not an attack chant. A useless everyday spell to force attention on words. But useful here. Even now, Gabrielle unconsciously parsed Lucas’s words. Lucas yanked his collar, forehead to forehead.
Read what I’ll do. You dragged Farnese’s name into this—whatever you want to verify, why invoke karma, if you’re testing me, do it now. Better to settle cleanly if trouble brews.
Of course….
BOOM—!
Even if ending it, I won’t let you end me.
Thanks to insight, attention spell, or his own antics, Lucas tripped Gabrielle in that split-second opening.
Nosebleed dripped from overcasting as he pinned him. With trembling hands, Lucas pressed Gabrielle’s wrist, blocking his divine power. Had to end it fast now. The divine flow through his hands was weakened from before but still strong; no time to wipe blood, he poured strength into both.
[Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?]
BOOM—
“You…!”
Matching Gabrielle’s resistance, Lucas released his wrist and punched his core fast. He felt the core’s divine power repel the mana.
But it was absorbing Lucas’s mana too. Gabrielle’s eyes widened. So did Lucas’s.
Both divine power users? Normally it repels. He’d intended core strain to self-eject, not absorption. Neither knew the exact mechanism.
No, Gabrielle might. His eyes held something beyond shock.
No time to panic. He’d touched the core; with it weakening from absorption, this was the last chance. Gabrielle thrashed, yanking Lucas’s arm like it’d snap bone, but he had to finish.
Smelling iron, Lucas poured strength into the chant.
[Pour out your overflowing fury; discover every arrogant man and humiliate him one by one….]
“N-No…!”
[Soon find all the arrogant and humble them, tread down the wicked where they stand, bury them in the dust together, shroud their faces in darkness!]
“Aaah, gah…!”
Gabrielle released Lucas, hand flying to his core as he twisted. His face contorted. Something seemed to break.
[…Then I myself will admit to you that your own right hand can save you.]
Gabrielle’s resisting hands and legs faded their divine power. Tension left his neck; his head lolled to the floor. His eyes began to close.
[10.]
“…….”
[9.]
Core damage? Even if, nothing I can do. Lucas thought, watching blood drip onto his face.
[8.]
Lucas kept pressing the core, checking flow. Heart beat, but core halted mana circulation, recalling scattered divine power. Fatal wound meant recovery time. Even pulling Lucas’s divine power.
[7.]
Lucas exhaled deeply, gazing at the frozen crowd.
[6.]
[…Get up!]
[Woooaaahhh!]
[No!]
Noise finally poured from the stands.
[5.]
Gabrielle’s eyelids twitched; he gasped.
Not just him powerless—Lucas had no more to hold him either. Bad sign.
[4.]
Gabrielle opened his eyes. He looked once at Lucas atop him, then slowly closed them again.
[3.]
Mind back, yet no divine power. Couldn’t.
Lucas released his hand. Seeing the signal, Gabrielle just slowly opened his eyes again, staring at the sky.
[2.]
“…….”
[1.]
Beeeep—!
Gabrielle Caetani exhaled, slowly raising both hands to press his eyes.
[…Woooaaahhhh—!]
As Lucas wiped blood with his hand’s back, Gabriele’s faint voice came.
“I lost.”
[The match ends.]
[Final winner of the finals, the champion of the inaugural Pentaron Opening Ceremony Tournament is….]
“…….”
Lucas silently looked down at him, then at the mana-powered camera flying toward him. His face enlarged on the distant screen. The announcer’s booming voice rang out.
[Lucas Ascanien of the German Empire!]