The City of Mages (5): The Prophecy Fulfilled

The entire battle must have been observed. Sepia instantly grasped the mechanics behind my magic.

She aimed her array of elemental weapons in a clear threat and continued speaking.

“But in the end, it’s still just a commoner’s magic. Do you really believe you can block every single one of my spells?”

The elemental weapons lined up behind Sepia were incredibly varied. And there were so many of them. The sight of dozens upon dozens of elemental armaments all trained on a single opponent was undeniably spectacular. It would have been nicer if that opponent hadn’t been me, though.

By the way.

I slowly opened my mouth to ask the question that had been bothering me since earlier.

“Lady Sepia.”

“What?”

“You got up so suddenly that I assumed you had left the Mage’s Club, but you were watching the whole time. May I ask where you went?”

“……”

“You went to take care of personal business. I had thought you were simply tired of watching commoners show off.”

“Shut up.”

Sepia flicked her finger. In the next instant, a downpour of weapons rained down.

Boom.

A wooden giant surged upward to block the deluge. Spears, swords, blades, hammers, maces, and arrows all slammed into its body, each unleashing its own unique effect. A flaming spear spun at high velocity as it drilled through the giant. A water sword sliced with compressed edges. Wind blades fractured into countless smaller edges, the rock hammer swelled in size, the fire mace detonated, and the fire arrows split into branching volleys, all hammering the wooden giant at once.

That was when I realized the truth. These elemental weapons weren’t simply elements shaped into weapon forms. Every single one was a fully completed, individual spell.

Which meant Sepia possessed at least several dozen distinct magics. I stole a quick glance at her face. She looked roughly the same age as my current body. Twenty at most. Creating dozens of spells at that age? Even a genius would struggle.

It is often said that completing a spell depends on “image.” But the image mages speak of isn’t mere imagination. It refers to a powerful flash of inspiration strong enough to manifest the magic. That was why producing dozens of spells by the age of twenty would be impossible even for the living incarnation of a muse. The conclusion was obvious.

These spells had not been created by Sepia herself.

She had mentioned belonging to the Golden Magic Tower. It seemed she was the next-generation archmage they had pampered and cultivated with obsessive care.

I kindled flames upon the floating lanterns drifting around me. As the elemental weapons cascaded down, the flames of predation devoured them almost simultaneously. I reconstructed the magical structures I sensed within myself, and several of the elemental weapons rose to hover around me. I hurled a flaming spear, a stone hammer, and a wind blade toward Sepia.

She ignored them completely and activated identical spells to cancel mine out.

“Do you honestly think copying a few spells will let you catch up to me?”

Sepia wore a mocking smile. I prepared my next magic while thinking. The flames of predation were excellent, but they were poorly matched against an opponent who could simply overwhelm with sheer volume. A single large spell would have been easy to swallow no matter its scale, but this many fast attacks made it difficult. I needed a different approach.

I summoned a large number of wooden soldiers and sent them charging at Sepia. The wooden troops wielding sharp wooden swords rushed forward. Sepia flicked her finger again, and a massive barrage of elemental weapons poured down. Each weapon was so powerful that as many as three soldiers fell to a single strike. The exchange rate was terrible.

That meant I would be at a disadvantage in a prolonged war of attrition. Nevertheless, I ignored the losses and kept summoning more wooden soldiers.

So what if I took a little damage? If this turned into a battle of pure mana reserves, I would win regardless.

“You want to fight me with mana?”

Sepia seemed equally confident in her own reserves. She responded by producing even more elemental weapons. The armaments slammed into the ground, turning wooden soldiers to ash only for them to be resummoned instantly. An endless war of attrition unfolded.

Yet the one who gained even the slightest advantage during that exchange was me. With every repeated summoning, the wooden soldiers’ movement range increased by the tiniest margin—one millimeter at a time.

Sepia clicked her tongue softly and prepared a different spell than before. She must have realized a battle of attrition would be unfavorable. While the rain of weapons continued to fall, a colossal flaming spear formed above her head.

Sepia murmured.

“Extinction Horn.”

Thorns erupted along the flaming spear. A sphere of wind condensed at the tip of each thorn. Then the rear of the spear exploded, launching it forward at terrifying speed.

And that was precisely the moment I had been waiting for.

I devoured the flaming spear with the flames of predation I had prepared in advance. Sepia tried to restrain the flames as though she had anticipated this, but there was one thing she did not know. The flames of predation consumed everything, digested it, and made it their own. The more they clashed with Sepia’s magic, the larger they grew.

The flames devoured Extinction Horn, digested it, and dismantled its structure. I reconstructed the floating framework of the spell inside myself and raised it above my head. A flaming spear burned quietly yet intensely as a wind sphere gathered upon it.

Sepia shouted.

“How dare you!”

She activated Extinction Horn in exactly the same way.

Boom!

The rear of my Extinction Horn exploded, hurling it toward Sepia. At the same time, boom! her version detonated and shot toward me.

The sound vanished from the world.

Clatter!

I narrowed my eyes at the elemental weapons flying in to exploit the opening. This was going nowhere. Just from the sheer number of spells, I could tell how obsessively the Golden Magic Tower had nurtured Sepia. It was time to offer her treatment befitting that level of care.

I gathered mana to prepare my trump card. Power surged out in thick clumps, taking shape.

And then—

The entire arena ring flushed crimson.

I canceled the spell and blinked. It wouldn’t work? Wasn’t the protection magic a little too weak?

As I frowned in disappointment, Sepia spoke with a clearly flustered expression.

“…Just what kind of magic were you trying to cast?”

It wasn’t anything special—just something I had casually come up with. Apparently the scale was too large for the duel arena’s protection system to handle. Well, that was that.

I shook my head and turned away. The excitement had completely cooled.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

Sepia grabbed me. Why was she being so clingy?

I returned my body to its original form and answered.

“I was planning to return to my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lodging now.”

“The match isn’t settled yet.”

“Match?”

Hmm. Couldn’t be helped.

I raised my right hand and muttered.

“I surrender.”

Pop! Fireworks burst overhead.

“Eh?”

To the dazed Sepia who was blankly reading the announcement, I gave a thumbs-up.

“As expected of Lady Sepia, the decisive weapon of the Golden Magic Tower. You’re so overwhelmingly strong that it’s difficult to win.”

“Huh?”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

I quickly left the Mage’s Club. Jerry stuck close to my side and explained.

“That was Sepia of the Golden Magic Tower. She is the Tower Master’s chief disciple and is famous for having been meticulously raised since childhood by multiple high-ranking mages. She possesses outstanding aptitude for all four major elements and you must be especially wary of her specialty spells that combine those four elements.”

“Sir Jerry, you really do explain things quickly.”

“She is a genius indeed. To possess such capability at that age…”

“She also had an enormous amount of mana.”

“She is a mage who has inherited the very essence of the Golden Magic Tower. Of course her mana reserves would be substantial.”

Once we reached the crowded street, I caught my breath. She probably wouldn’t chase me this far. I strolled leisurely and began to speak.

“So, Adel—”

“That was incredible, Lady Ruina! Overwhelming even that Sepia! The Witch of Robbery who insults even genius mages! Every one of the hundreds of spells she possesses is simply prey waiting to be plundered!”

Ferant chattered excitedly. It was nice to hear, but—Ferant. Why exactly are you here? Are you seriously never going home?

“Lady Ruina! I too wish to become as outstanding as—”

“Sir Jerry. Do you have any idea where Lady Adelian might be? You were her disciple, after all.”

“……I have no clue whatsoever.”

“Any hobbies, perhaps?”

“If I had to name one, magic itself was her hobby.”

“This is troublesome.”

I folded my arms. It felt a little awkward to say this after enjoying myself at the Mage’s Club, but now that I had actually arrived in Arginel, the thought would not leave me.

Had I come to the wrong place?

Adelian was an archmage. She also enjoyed teaching magic to others. At first glance, Arginel—the City of Mages—had seemed like the perfect place for her to settle. But that was the sort of assumption you made when you didn’t truly know Adelian.

Adelian raised disciples. She raised anyone. She wandered the world and took in every child who caught her eye, teaching them magic. The key point was that most of those children had come from the very bottom of society.

Perhaps Adelian held a conviction that she should teach magic to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠those who would otherwise live lives completely unrelated to it. In other words, the archmage might not be in Arginel at all—the very city nicknamed the City of Mages.

I had been thinking incorrectly from the start. It would have been better if I had considered things more carefully.

I emerged from my thoughts and spoke calmly.

“For now, let us return to the lodging. I have something to tell everyone.”

“Understood.”

Elera had told me to head east. Should I go even farther east—perhaps all the way to the border? Yes, that seemed best.

I began walking slowly. I wanted to return to the others quickly and share my thoughts.

“Jerry, is that you? My, it has been a long time. That’s right—Jerry, you aren’t still going around spouting that nonsense about worshiping me as the heavens, are you? I told you to stop. It’s bad for you.”

I stopped in my tracks.

It was a voice I had never heard before, yet I recognized its owner instantly. I turned my head.

There, at the source of the voice, stood a beautiful woman with black hair and clear blue eyes. She whispered in a voice ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like a song.

“Hello there, disciple of my disciple. Were you looking for me?”

“Hello.”

Elera truly was an outstanding prophecy mage. Just as Elera had foretold, if you went east, you would meet Adelian Croft.