Courtesy Demands Receiving a Man's Final Strike

A man's final strike is something you receive out of courtesy.

"..."

"..."

The two of them froze at my words.

"Hahat."

I gave a light smile as I looked at them, satisfied at finally delivering a line I'd wanted to say since ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my past life.

Back during my first meeting with Mist.

When I revealed my ability to use her as a constraint, I'd said this:

[My ability is manipulating the smoke I exhale. Its shape, size, and hardness change based on my power, and the smoke is invisible to anyone who hasn't awakened mana.]

There was no lie in those words.

To receive the enhancement from the constraint, I naturally had to speak only the truth.

But nowhere in that statement did it mention controlling cigar smoke.

Cigars were just my preference.

It was a kind of trap.

Show the power to manipulate smoke, then repeatedly imprint that the medium is a cigar.

That's why I'd pulled out a cigar right before the fight with those two began.

They'd be skeptical at first, but once they saw me attacking and defending with cigar smoke, the enemy would naturally think:

[Ah, the cigar. That's the core of his ability, huh?]

So, what would an enemy do once they knew that fact?

Every foe from the underworld, the head of the Nebula Ducal family, and now these two in front of me—they all took the same action.

[Block that cigar so he can't avoid it.]

The Duke had even used an illusion to sever my wrist before I could light up.

"My ability's name is Smoke Manipulation."

But if it were simply controlling cigar smoke, they wouldn't have named it Smoke Manipulation.

"The condition is just one: the ability to manipulate the smoke I hold in my mouth and exhale."

As I said that, I pointed to my mouth, where breath fog was rising in the cooling air.

The breath fog responded to my words, swirling as if alive. Even this counted as smoke.

Whether it was lethal poison gas.

Volcanic ash smoke.

Or even breath from a simple temperature-lowering spell.

My ability controlled it all.

"The destructive power and manifestation strength depend on how much mana I infuse into that smoke."

The two of them couldn't move in this situation where I was calmly explaining.

They'd been so thrilled at corrupting my cigar, trying to deplete my smoke—they'd narrowed their vision too much.

Yeah.

"Ugh!" "Kuh..."

They hadn't even noticed the surrounding smoke binding them.

"In other words, my ability lets me control all smoke that I recognize as smoke. That's my real power."

Even if that smoke came from an illusion.

As long as it originated from mana and I could sense and inhale it, I could use it freely.

Cigar as the medium?

"Just a personal habit."

As I declared that, a message window appeared in the corner of my vision.

'As expected...'

My power surged explosively.

Mana flooded in like a waterfall.

It was an immense boost that instantly erased the fatigue from the blood soaking my body.

'Correcting false information gives even greater enhancement.'

Honestly, I hadn't properly utilized this constraint method in fights.

Of course not.

Against underworld foes, I was too strong—they fell before I could even use constraints.

There was no chance to delve deep into them.

The ability doesn't activate solo anyway.

Even exploring with Mist was tough since she wasn't hostile.

"This is..."

As I pondered the constraint's power, I heard Bella, bound in smoke, muttering as she scanned ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠around.

"[Seritbal] magic?"

Bella had started examining her surroundings the moment Abel's smoke bound her.

Chilly air. Mana scattered around.

'Magic.'

A simple basic weather spell that lowered temperature: [Seritbal].

'Did Abel use magic?'

No, it wasn't just using it.

'He modified it.'

[Seritbal] was merely a spell to cool the surrounding temperature.

It was never strong enough to produce visible breath fog.

Realizing that, Bella looked at Abel in shock.

Awakening mana and wielding magic were entirely different things.

Using Abel's past life as an example, even elementary kids knew what electricity was.

But knowing about electricity didn't mean everyone could get an electrician or electrical technician license.

'Impossible...'

Magic was the same.

Countless studies on mana, unraveling complex academia—that's what it took to cast spells.

In simple terms, Abel had read high school-level electrical books and aced an electrician exam.

'Even if magic knowledge is public, is that possible?'

Mages once monopolized magic, controlling knowledge.

But under that control, magic stagnated.

No, it regressed under the name of tradition.

Learning from that humiliation, mages stopped hoarding knowledge.

They sealed truly dangerous info but publicized basics on mana and magic.

[Let many access knowledge freely, collaborate to refine and advance it.]

That philosophy spread magic books and mana lore everywhere.

Thanks to it, even commoners could use mana-powered magitech machines.

But widespread knowledge didn't mean easy magic use.

'...We're done.'

She lacked the power to break the binding smoke.

Even escaping, Abel's bizarrely amplified strength meant no chance of victory.

So Bella accepted defeat.

"Ughhh!!!"

But Kaizen didn't care if Bella gave up.

He poured everything into breaking free from Abel's smoke.

He knew Abel was strong.

But if he knelt to the strong, he'd have quit after meeting Karon.

"Don't make me laugh!"

Kaizen's ability: [Matan].

The power to encode phenomena he understood into magic bullets.

Chzzik!

A bullet appeared before Kaizen in an instant. He detonated the [Matan] he'd created.

Kaboom!

The mana bullet exploded like a grenade, its contained power slamming the smoke binding Kaizen.

Abel's tightly wound smoke weakened instantly.

"Uwaaaah!!!"

The loosened binding. Kaizen poured all his mana and barely escaped.

"Hah... Hah..."

Of course, taking a mana grenade point-blank left him a mess.

His body covered in explosion wounds—like a rag.

"Not yet..."

But Kaizen didn't fall.

"Not yet."

Click.

Breathing raggedly, he drew the massive rifle from his back.

The decisive reason Karon passed Kaizen.

His ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠never-give-up attitude was nice, but not the core.

Kaizen created [Matan] encoding phenomena he understood.

He could make mana-disrupting bullets thanks to that.

By directly experiencing the enemy in battle, he understood everything about them and created [Matan] solely to counter that foe.

Enemy mana flow, breathing rhythm, ability traits—all of it.

Abel's self-revelation boosted his understanding further.

That's why he could barely create it.

A [Matan] solely for Abel, against Abel alone.

Its power could pierce even Karon's absolute defense in one shot—stronger than Kaizen himself.

"Kuhuk!"

Of course, fully understanding someone instantly is arrogant.

All of one person? Even a god couldn't in such short time.

So Kaizen forcibly rebuilt the [Matan].

First to escape binding. Now to attack Abel directly.

"Puhuk!"

He'd take the rebound from overusing.

If he bent to power, he wouldn't have rushed the Duke 15 times after the first hallucinatory death.

Click.

"Hah... Hah..."

Hearing the rifle chamber the [Matan], Kaizen clutched his trembling legs, vomiting blood, glaring at Abel.

Body in ruins. Mana unusable for a while from ability overload.

"Kuh..."

Standing was a miracle, but he forced his shaking hands to aim the rifle at Abel.

"Jeez... Won't give up?" "..." "Looks like Bella over there gave up ages ago."

"...Like I care..."

Kaizen rasped a reply in his cracked voice.

His eyes shone—not like a dying man.

"I see..."

Seeing that, I realized words wouldn't stop him.

The rifle aimed at me. Dodge, and he'd collapse—fight over.

"Ha."

But I ruled out dodging.

Half because I couldn't show the petty sight of evading a life-burning strike before the Duke's people.

Half because a man's final blow, forged with life, deserved receiving.

"I'll humor you."

Power enhanced by revealing my ability.

Mana boosted by revealing my body's state—the incident's trigger.

I poured it all into one point.

Shoooooo...

Smoke gathered instantly, compressing into a small sphere.

"Haha... Hahaha——!!!"

Kaizen grinned ferociously at the sight.

He felt it. The immense power in that tiny sphere.

Overwhelming—like forbidden war magic.

Creak.

Kaizen smiled, pulling the trigger on the rifle loaded with Abel-only [Matan].

Bang!

A hazy bullet, smoke-colored like my hair, sliced the air toward me.

"..."

Fwoooo.

I didn't react to Kaizen's attack.

Just breathed final smoke into the technique.

Days ago.

To catch Heros in the capital, I'd used mana-repelling tech.

This was the opposite.

Not repelling mana—repelling everything.

The one technique I'd named myself.

From past life knowledge, inspired by the solar system's mightiest gas giant.

————!!!!

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