Archmage vs Tower Master (Airi's Perspective)
Power clashed against power, mana against mana, killing intent against killing intent. It wasn't even. My master was being pushed back, little by little.
As a mage, her rank towered far above his. She wielded every attribute with flawless mastery. In contrast, the man called Tristan could only command earth magic. In terms of pure rank, there was no question—my master held the advantage. But battle was another matter entirely.
If my master was a warrior who skillfully swung ten swords—fire, water, ice, lightning, earth, wood, wind, steel, light, and darkness—then Tristan was a master who had forged a single blade, earth magic, to its absolute limit.
"What's wrong, Archmage? Your hands have stopped. Your chanting has stopped. Weren't you going to kill me? Is that all the spirit you have as a man?"
"Shut the hell up..."
My master seemed unable to fight at full strength because of her injured left arm. If only she had a contract with a Spirit King... That damned brat of a goddess was still refusing my contract offers with every excuse under the sun.
"That movement... Eastern martial arts? But techniques like that are meaningless with an arm like yours. Hardly what I'd call manly. And for a mage to rely on such petty tricks... how very un-mage-like."
"Tch... Horn of the Thunder Dragon..."
"Your chant is long."
Before my master could finish, he swung his rocky arm. She was forced to block or dodge, unable to launch any real counterattack. Even when she abandoned magic and struck with her bare hands, he either evaded or let the stone armor absorb the blow.
This sight... I had never seen it before my regression. Gaius, Tower Master of the Earth Magic Tower—I had met him even before returning, but I never knew he was this strong. All I knew was that he used to be a bandit in his youth. Even back then he always carried himself with the weight of a Tower Master. Never once did he show any hint of the man he was now. What the hell happened to change him like this?
The Black Round Table members I killed were only those connected to my master's death. I thought they were just an assassination group tied to heretics... What the hell is this monster?
Ever since I began my research, I've been holed up in my lab behind an impenetrable barrier. I have no idea what happened outside.
Suddenly, the conversation I had with that brat goddess came back to me.
"No matter how many times you turn back time, regret remains. Even if you rewind time obsessively for a single purpose, there will always be something you couldn't save, something you couldn't obtain. And fate... is not so easily defied. Avoid one disaster, and it returns with two or more."
"You talk like you've experienced it yourself."
"I met someone like that once. No one else has ever overcome the fate of regression and achieved their goal. Though even that person was left with regrets."
"Simple. I'll just become stronger than that person. I'll overcome the fate of regression without leaving behind any regrets."
"Don't make me laugh, kid. That human could shatter your entire world like a biscuit with a single swing."
"What..."
"Don't underestimate fate. This regression isn't a gift. It's a punishment I'm giving you."
So that's what she meant. No matter how you try to escape fate... that damned bitch twists everything to reach the predetermined ending. The punishment is being forced to watch it happen without being able to change it...
Same old bullshit from that shitty brat goddess. Like hell I'm just going to sit and watch.
I don't need a Spirit King contract. I'm strong enough.
"O bullets of flame━━━"
Just like the attack that had struck my master, a barrage of stone bullets came flying. Tristan ricocheted them off nearby rocks, aiming for my thighs. My vision blurred from the pain. I nearly lost my chant.
"How dare you interfere in a man's duel. Even gods are forbidden from meddling in such matters. And to challenge me while knowing my strength... how very un-mage-like of you."
It hurt. My mind was fading; the chant was about to break. Should I give up now...? Like hell. This pain was nothing. Compared to my master's cold corpse, the cold stares of others, my father's indifference, the ruined relationship between my parents after her death... this was nothing.
"Carve through the wind and advance."
The fire bullets shattered the rocky armor wrapped around him.
"Well done, Airi!"
My master didn't miss the opening. She drove a kick into his ribs. The rocky arm he had been swinging crumbled into dust and vanished.
With that nuisance gone, she shouted, "Twin Horns of the Thunder Dragon, pierce the enemy!"
Lightning in the shape of twin dragons severed Tristan's right arm and punched through his chest.
No one could survive magic like that.
"Thanks to your disciple, you survived, Archmage. Can you still call yourself a man after that?"
He was still alive. He regenerated the rocky arm and used it to stop the bleeding from the stump. Blood poured from the hole in his chest, but he acted as if it were nothing.
My master muttered through gritted teeth, "To stand up after taking that... Don't tell me you have some weird constitution like that bastard Felinoir?"
"No." Tristan adjusted his slightly crooked sunglasses. "This is a man's willpower. Did you really think losing an arm and a hole in my chest would stop me? Did you think something so trivial could halt my proof?"
"You've been spouting nothing but 'man' and 'proof' this whole time..."
"Think what you like. I don't need your understanding. Wanting understanding from the one whose life I'm about to take would be greedy, even for a man."
"What a shame. I have no intention of dying."
"When our interests don't align, we settle it with a fight to the death. That's what a man does."
"Ah, so you've forgotten how to talk like a normal person?"
"I have nothing left to say to this rotten world. And since that little trick of yours can be interfered with... I suppose I'll speed things up."
He stood and fired another volley of stone bullets. This time he ricocheted them immediately. Dodging bullets coming from every direction at high speed was nearly impossible. My master barely avoided them by listening to the sound of them bouncing, but the ricochets kept coming, constantly targeting her.
And that wasn't the only thing aiming for her.
"You forgot about my arm, Archmage."
Irregular bullets from all sides and that deadly rocky arm—dodging everything was impossible. If only those rocks weren't scattered everywhere... But Tristan wasn't an idiot. The moment I destroyed one, he'd respond. Earth magic boasted the highest durability among all attributes. Destroying all these rocks at once was beyond my current ability.
"...But who said anything about impossible?"
If I was going to give up just because something was impossible, I never would have regressed in the first place.
"O bullets of flame..."
"Again with that vulgar—"
"Carve through the wind and advance."
I didn't need to destroy every rock. I had already identified the key ones that enabled the ricochets. So destroying just those was enough. The ricochets stopped. One of Tristan's tricks had been sealed.
But a problem arose. Focused entirely on offense, I failed to notice the rocky arm he swung.
With a sharp whoosh, a heavy impact slammed into my entire body.
"Airi!"
"Master, don't come closer! If you approach carelessly, you'll just get hit the same way."
Tristan was furious. This was exactly what I had been aiming for. What made him truly terrifying was his cold composure. Even while his own bullets ricocheted wildly in every direction, he had calculated their angles in advance and used them to pressure my master.
"How pathetic, Archmage. Unable to even protect one weak disciple..."
"Shut up, you fucking bastard!"
"The weak cannot protect those they love. The weak can only cling to corpses and make promises to themselves. The weak have no right to be called a master. The weak have no right to even have disciples. Young and powerless Archmage... someone like you doesn't even deserve to be called a man."
My master looked shaken. That son of a bitch...
I spoke in a voice only he could hear. "Then you're not a man either."
"What...?"
"I just remembered. My master is someone who would give her life to save me. But you... you're the heartless master who let your disciple die. The one who isn't a real man is you. Why don't you just cut off your lower half and die already?"
I succeeded in provoking him further.
"Archmage, today you will lose everyone precious to you. Your disciple will die by my hand, and your fiancée will die by my comrade Kay's hand. Watch helplessly and curse your own weakness."
"Hah, bullshit. You think Glacia is the type to die easily? That woman would rip open a dragon's stomach and crawl out even if she got swallowed. And my master has the greatest talent in history—"
"Who decided the standard for that 'talent'?"
"What?"
"I will deny everything and prove it. Even if it means denying magic, the world, and even God!!!"