The Star Mage
The Star Mage. Magic that reads residual images. The spell's range was extremely narrow, the visible afterimages faint and blurry, and the speed utterly erratic. Thus, Eris Betelgeuse knew only that the thug before her could wield a sword. She couldn't confirm who the shaman had been that restored the site of destruction, how many people had been present beyond the afterimages, or even what the weather had been like. The only thing she was certain of was that Ichimaru Shiki, standing right in front of her, was a punk bullying a classmate. And that she would definitely win.
This wasn't mere arrogance. At the tender age of seventeen, she had already ascended to the prestigious rank of high mage—a realm few adults could rival. Let alone peers who had barely taken their first stumbling steps along the path of magic. The same went for swordsmen. Victory was a given. She would even have to hold back, lest she injure him too severely. Yes, control her power. He might be a nasty little punk, but she couldn't kill him over it.
No matter one's lofty attainment, remotely fired spells were hard to weaken mid-flight. And so, despite erecting a barrier for a surprise attack, Eris Betelgeuse closed the distance.
"Expansion."
Thunder magic. Electric Shock.
Crackle—!
A bud of blue lightning bloomed in her palm. For an ordinary mage, closing in on the foe would be folly incarnate—but exceptions existed everywhere. The asymmetric force that rampaged as a one-man army on the battlefield. A combat mage. And the title of high mage lent her unshakable confidence in close quarters.
Paralyze him, then interrogate.
Having ignited her spell, Eris exploited his blind spot with high-speed movement. She drew right up to him, yet he showed no sign of turning his head. Crack—! Weaponless, he merely rotated his wrist with casual ease.
Got you.
The instant certainty bloomed in her mind, a dagger materialized in his grasp. A short blade no bigger than her palm—one that invited doubt as to its use in battle. Yet the moment the thug before her, Ichimaru Shiki, turned his head, it unveiled its purpose.
—It swings.
Foolish to pit metal against lightning. But exceptions lurked everywhere. The blade moved at double her anticipated speed, tracing a semicircle in the blink of an eye. Eris Betelgeuse's eyes flew wide as she beheld the scene. Zzzt... The lightning that should have bound organically was cleaved clean in two. Through the sundered arcs, half-lidded eyes and a curled smirk gleamed, as if in mockery.
"Oopsie, that was close."
Mockery dripped from his tone, clear as day—yet Eris couldn't muster anger. Her mana affinity let her see the flow of ambient power.
......Just now, without a doubt—
Mana surged along the dagger. Blue power vividly sheathed its edge. Sword Aura. A feat reserved for the elite among swordsmen, akin to high mages among their kind. The man before her was no trifling foe—a monster.
A combat mage, capable of neutralizing her opponent. The crucial premise shattered in their first exchange.
......Need distance. Now.
The thought had scarcely flickered when the dagger hurtled toward her brow.
Huh?
Snapping to, she found it inches away. Horror-struck, Eris jerked her head back, dodging by purest fluke—she couldn't even say how. Realizing she'd brushed death, she frantically invoked her next spell.
"Expansion."
The mage thrust her hand forward, hurling a bomb at the cocking swordsman.
Wind magic. Air Bomb.
"—Fire!"
Boom—!
The blast between them unleashed a gale torrent. It hurled the swordsman back—and Eris herself, widening the gap. Balancing mid-air, she launched another incantation.
......Him?
She scanned her foe. Ichimaru Shiki, tumbling wildly opposite from the spell's force, abruptly thudded a foot onto a construction steel pillar. Defying gravity to perch midway up the vertical beam was astonishing—but no time for gawking.
Boom!
He kicked off. The man streaking through the air was a vision of terror incarnate, brute force like a living shell impossible to ignore. Yet more shocking still: azure flames danced along the tiny dagger. Azure Flame. Every flicker was the pinnacle of swordsmanship—Aura.
"......Expansion!"
Flight spell Fly first, lifting her aloft. Mercy abandoned, she hastily wove a new incantation. Crackle—! Fresh blue lightning kindled, tiers beyond the last.
"Chain Lightning!"
Zzzzt! Currents howled to life between her palms, lashing outward. Ting, ting, ting. Lightning leaped from her to steel beams strewn across the site. Motion halted—an instant—then erupted everywhere.
Boom!
Blue arcs erupted from every beam framing the site.
"Hoo, intriguing."
Yet the airborne narrow-eyed man floated with utter leisure. Lightning chains assailed from all angles. Eris herself would shield or counterspell it. But a swordsman? She couldn't fathom blades—daggers—shattering her craft. Unthinkable outside her domain, the irrational hard to conjure.
And in this instant, Eris Betelgeuse learned the truth.
"Still, quite green."
Boom!
The narrow-eyed man kicked empty air.
"......!"
Eris's eyes bulged. An unimaginable gambit. Her reaction lagged. His speed doubled; chains lagged behind. Distance vanished.
Screech! Her barrier flared. The shield she'd deemed impregnable pierced like tofu—the knife halted at her forehead. Ichimaru Shiki loomed before her, smiling as ever.
"That's one death, yeah?"
"......What?"
Eris stared dumbly at the blade before her eyes. What surreal nonsense was this? Truth-seeker though she was, some enigmas begged ignorance.
I lost?
Star Mage. Youngest high mage. Heir to archmages. Glories paraded through her mind.
Me, dying here?
Absurd. She hadn't truly begun. Teeth grinding, the golden-haired mage kindled stellar radiance. Orion's vast star power gilded her blue mana. Fast and clever was he? Then unleash her full might.
The Star Mage, Eris Betelgeuse, detonated her spell.
Crackle—!
Thunder magic. Chain Lightning—triple cast. Chantless. Incantation skipped.
"Whoa there!"
Eye-searing blue arcs erupted across her body; Ichimaru Shiki yelped comically, as if startled, and retreated.
The swordsman yielded ground. A mage's triumph—yet Eris's brow twitched.
"......You take me for a fool?"
She unleashed star mana. Bolstered chains didn't merely hop beams—they seized and wielded them. Screech—dozens flipped mid-air, converging on one target.
"Fire!"
Fist clenched, the mage unleashed.
Boom—!
Lightning and steel detonated as one.
"Haha, I went easy—why the grudge?"
Atop the teetering site, feet finally planted, Ichimaru Shiki shrugged.
"Ah well, no helping it."
Dagger aimed dead ahead. Dozens of reborn ballistas from a modern mage.
Laid-back murmur, expression serene.
"Repetitive drills are like that."
Lightning met steel; Ichimaru Shiki swept his dagger through it all.
Bang! Bang! Baaang! Bang!
Sparks flew like gunfire with each clash. And all cleaved asunder.
Through parting beams and magic, his grinning face leered.
"How about we up the ante?"
Ichimaru Shiki slashed the air with his dagger.
And then—time itself slowed.