Ancient Beings (3): The Ancient Being's Authority
The first night of the school trip.
While the students were either heading to a southern seafood restaurant or enjoying the night sea, I chose to spend the time differently. Loosening my shoulders, I made my way toward a secluded stretch of beach where no one else would be.
“I’ve been waiting, Kael Lotus.”
“You actually showed up?”
“It’s a chance to fight a strong opponent. Of course, from your perspective, someone like me should still be worth the effort.”
Avon Ragnarok. The direct descendant of the Hero gave a light smile.
Truthfully, I wasn’t particularly fond of hot-blooded types like him. And honestly, this fight itself was nothing but a hassle.
Still, one extra reason to go through with it had presented itself.
“Real swords for the duel. Any objections?”
“It’s a little dangerous, but… sure, why not.”
“If it feels too risky, surrender immediately. Don’t push yourself and get hurt for nothing. The match ends when one side is incapacitated or surrenders. Same rules for deciding the winner. Fair enough?”
“Clean and straightforward.”
The real reason I had agreed was the chance to test the soul dwelling in my Grey Sword—Sepiria’s capabilities.
Of course, I wasn’t placing any real expectations on her. Winning without her help wouldn’t be an issue.
After all, I wasn’t the Kael Lotus from the original story. I had trained steadily, cultivating my unprecedented talent to its full potential.
“I’ll throw this rock into the air. The moment it touches the ground, we begin.”
“Sounds good, Kael. I look forward to learning a thing or two.”
I picked up a pebble from the shoreline and hurled it high into the sky.
Thud—
The stone hit the sand, and in that instant Avon rushed forward.
I know.
Kiiing—!
Avon was skilled with both the sword and magic. If Haidel focused on the sword and Lucas on magic, Avon’s setting was that he excelled at both. The original Kael had used the same dual style, which made them perfect rivals in the story.
But to my current eyes, Avon was…
“Slow.”
I reached out and poured my own mana into the spell he was casting.
This was a technique that could only be attempted if one fully understood the principles of a magic circle and instantly identified its structural weaknesses.
Yet it worked. My mana flooded into his circle, causing it to run wild.
“What the—!”
Boom—!
The rampaging mana condensed in an instant and exploded like a bomb.
Fortunately, Avon had rolled away in the opposite direction and avoided injury.
Deciding the distance was now close enough, he switched to close-quarters combat.
So when exactly are you planning to use that amazing Authority of yours?
Are you still tired? It’s been half a day since you woke up.
Instead of attacking, I deliberately focused on dodging and defending.
Swish—
Whoosh—!
Avon’s sword kept slicing through empty air.
When I continued to only evade, he grew impatient and cast another spell.
Kiiing—!
A magic circle emerged from his blade. Rather than a standard spell, he had enchanted the sword strike itself.
Whoosh—!
Even that was visible to me, so dodging was easy.
I leaped into the air, escaping his attack range.
At that moment…
Huh?
Damn it…
Avon really was something else. He had hidden a magic circle near where I would land.
He had deliberately closed in for a melee brawl to draw me into chaos, then lured me into leaping backward.
But I easily twisted mid-air, adjusting my landing trajectory.
By a single step, I avoided the hidden circle and retreated.
“Ha. You really are a monster.”
“Calling someone a monster? Did your commoner upbringing skip over manners?”
“Maybe it did.”
Avon let out a small chuckle.
At that moment, Sepiria’s voice flowed into my mind.
Oh? So what are you planning to show me?
Avon charged at me again. True to his Hero lineage, his stamina was impressive. In terms of endurance, he had the edge over me.
But then—
Whoooosh—!
Black mist spread around my sword.
No, it wasn’t mist. Looking closer, the very fabric of space was tearing apart.
What the hell is this?
New space was being stitched onto the torn areas. The southern night sky ripped open, and a black domain took its place.
It was similar to my Subspace Magic. No, it was exactly the same.
I instinctively understood. This was the ‘defiance of heaven’ Professor Lapel had mentioned—the power to shake the rules of the world created by the stars.
A vast subspace. Yet it was far larger than my own, which could only store and retrieve objects, and the rules of this space were being completely redefined.
“What… is this?”
I had no idea.
But there was no way I could say that to my opponent.
“Come on in, Avon. Welcome to my world.”
I spread my arms wide and smiled brightly within the darkness.
Just like the shadowy masterminds from the anime I’d watched back in modern-day South Korea before possessing this body.
I wore a thoroughly relaxed smile.
“My magic… isn’t working…”
Exactly… why isn’t your magic working?
So only people you acknowledge can use magic inside this subspace? That’s the ability?
She’s ridiculously overpowered…
I had been half-skeptical, but this was on another level entirely.
Sword and magic—the two pillars of combat in this world. Sepiria could strip one of them away at will.
Of course, she needed time to gather power to create this space, but once it was active…
“Kael… I knew you were strong, but I didn’t expect this. I can’t even tell what this magic is. Is it a dispel?”
“You could call it a domain deployment. So, shall we continue?”
It was an ability that practically guaranteed victory in one-on-one combat.
I deliberately unfolded a magic circle in front of Avon, whose own spells were fizzling out. While I could cast without circles if I wanted, this was theatrical flair meant to crush his will.
And at the same time—
“I surrender.”
Avon planted his sword in the ground and yielded.
At that perfect moment, Sepiria withdrew the domain.
The torn space stitched itself back together, and the world returned.
The beautiful southern night sky once again formed the ceiling, and the sandy beach with its soft crunching sounds replaced the dark void.
Everything went back to normal. And then…
Good work, Sepiria.
Hey. Sepiria?
With that, her voice vanished.
Anyway, the friendly duel ended in my victory.
Avon Ragnarok let out a hollow sigh as he watched the world return to its original state.
Honestly, he had known he would lose.
The overwhelming force Kael Lotus had displayed during the monster rampage incident was monstrous enough to overpower even him, a descendant of the Hero.
I couldn’t even think of a way to win…
Every sword strike had been dodged. Every spell he used had been read by Kael.
And that final technique that had dyed the world black—Avon couldn’t even begin to guess what it was.
The friendly match had been short. In truth, he had been toyed with from start to finish. He had thought himself fairly strong, but…
Even so, Avon felt strangely fulfilled.
Fighting strong opponents had always helped him grow. This time was no different. He had managed to fluster Kael at least once.
He had planted a magic circle in the ground and used close combat to steal Kael’s field of vision. The plan had come within a hair’s breadth of succeeding.
I learned a sneaky little trick. And… I realized exactly where I’m lacking.
His spellcasting speed had been insufficient. Had it not been for this fight against Kael, he wouldn’t have even noticed that flaw.
If he had been just a little faster, Kael wouldn’t have been able to interfere.
And finally—
“Alright, time to fulfill the terms.”
“It was becoming your knight order’s subordinate, right…?”
“Correct. Therefore, from now on, you’re my subordinate. Got it?”
“Ha… fine. That was the condition. By the way, you’re different from the others.”
“How so?”
“You didn’t look down on me for being a commoner. Any other noble would have ignored me the moment I requested a friendly duel…”
For the first time since enrolling as a special student at the academy, Avon felt like he had made a friend.
Kael Lotus—a noble who was constantly called a good-for-nothing. Avon Ragnarok—not a noble, forced to live in isolation because of his background.
In a way, the two of them might have been in similar situations.
But the next moment…
“Enough of that. Hey, Avon. First order. During free time tomorrow, confess to Maria Frendis.”
Kael Lotus’s eyes were sparkling with mischief.