Chapter 52
Chapter 52
The room went cold and still.
Even the people who had come with me looked at me as if I’d lost my mind.
Of course they did.
The duchess is as strong as Puppet.
Level Seven was in a league entirely apart from the ranks below it.
They were the true superpowerhouses of this world.
There’s no way any cheap trick will work. I have to bring her to her knees with my magic alone.
This was a challenge that went beyond reckless. It was insane.
“Ha.”
The duchess gave a derisive laugh.
She looked so dumbfounded that she didn’t even know how she ought to be angry.
Linden and Hans hurriedly tried to stop me.
“Uwaaaah! Senior Ban, have you gone mad? You don’t know who the duchess really is? The crazy Witch of Cruelty… Gah! No, I misspoke, Duchess! You’re truly beautiful!”
“Ahem! Linden, do you still not trust Master Ban? He’s just saying it, right? If you duel her this time, are you going to bet on the Witch of Cruelty?!”
Everyone else also tried to dissuade me, as if there was absolutely no way I could go through with it.
The surprise was Joanna.
She had been peeking out from behind us, just watching, but now she stepped forward.
“Mother, please calm yourself. You needn’t let the foolish words of trash like him bother you. Ban Trash, you should get down on your knees this instant and apologize to Mother for your rudeness.”
I looked at her, slightly surprised.
Her words are obnoxious, but she’s stepping in for my sake. What’s gotten into that Toxic Young Lady Joanna?
Since things had come this far, I decided to be a little more ‘ambitious.’
“Last time I saw her, Lady Joanna’s skills were pathetic, too. I was practically left wondering what kind of instruction you’d given her all this time. If you lose to me, admit your own shortcomings and stop teaching Lady Joanna, as well.”
Snap.
I heard something inside the duchess break.
“Ha ha ha ha ha!!!”
Crash!!
A force far greater than before swept through the room.
The windows, decorations, sculptures—everything in the room was swept away and shattered.
“Fine. I accept your wager. But there will be a condition. I won’t simply block your magic unilaterally. We’ll each exchange one spell at the same time. That’s only fair.”
She was proposing a real magic duel.
The duchess—or rather, the Witch of Cruelty—twisted her lips into a chilling smile.
“And neither of us will hold the other responsible for anything that happens during the wager. Even if one of us ends up crippled.”
It was a declaration that she would make absolutely sure to cripple me.
This isn’t an empty threat.
With her wicked nature, the power she wielded, and her position, she was more than capable of doing something like that without a second thought.
Even so—
“Very well. I accept.”
“Master Ban!”
“Professor Ban!! You can’t!!”
Everyone gasped and shook their heads, but I didn’t back down.
It’s all right. I can do this.
Was I not afraid?
Of course I was.
But I wasn’t doing this because I’d gone mad.
I had a reason.
“I’ll tell you which spell I’ll use. Fifth Star Rank Ice Sickle. I’ll take one of your arms with my sickle of ice.”
Just as expected of the Witch of Cruelty.
She showed no generosity by using a lower-ranked spell just because my Star Rank was low.
She’s not using anything above Fifth Star Rank because she’s worried I might actually die.
Even so, I couldn’t take it lightly.
The Fifth Star Rank magic wielded by the Witch of Cruelty would be on an entirely different level from the shoddy Fifth Star Rank spells the professors had used during the training session the other day.
“I’ll face you with an ice spell of my own. First Star Rank Ice Needle.”
A needle of ice.
The most basic of basic spells, the very first one anyone learned when studying ice magic.
“Ha. Are you joking? With a spell like that…”
“I think it’ll be enough.”
“…What?”
“Didn’t I tell you? That I’d teach you what truly great magic is. Today, you’ll feel the difference between our levels.”
The Witch of Cruelty looked utterly incredulous.
“I’ve changed my mind. I won’t take your arm. I’ll take your tongue.”
Shhhhhh.
Cold gathered in the air, and a sickle of ice appeared.
-Kikikikikik.
The ice sickle let out a chilling laugh.
From Fifth Star Rank onward, a spell was imbued with the magical path its caster had come to understand.
But the level of the magical path embedded in the spell was so lofty that it even possessed feelings of its own.
Killing intent.
“Damn it, you crazy professor!! Run away!”
“I-I’ll stop it!”
Unable to hold back any longer, Katrinne and Libel tried to step in front of me.
And they weren’t the only ones.
Clang!
“…I, Gordon, will no longer allow this. Stop.”
“Come on, Senior Ban! Hurry up and get down on your knees and beg for forgiveness!”
“Witch of Cruelty, I, Hans, will apologize in his place! Please calm yourself!”
Not only Sir Gordon, who had been acting on Lady Mariam’s orders, but even Linden and Hans tried to protect me.
…Linden and Hans are a surprise.
But I simply shook my head.
“It’s all right. Everyone, step back.”
“How is this all right?!”
“Trust in this Ban Ecclesia.”
“!!”
Everyone stopped short, startled, and I stepped forward, cloaked in the imposing presence of the Black Flame Dragon.
“I will be the victor of this duel.”
Flick.
An ice needle appeared in the air.
It was a little large, but even so, it was only about as thick as an awl.
It wasn’t infused with the power of my trump cards, the Shadow Sword or the Heartstone of the Frozen Sea.
It truly was pure First Star Rank magic.
Compared to the ice sickle exuding a horrifying killing intent, it was so outmatched that making the comparison was almost embarrassing. The Witch of Cruelty let out a derisive laugh, as if she’d suddenly come to her senses.
“I don’t even know what I’m doing, facing the likes of you. If you get down on your knees and bark like a dog right now, I’ll let you off specially.”
“Are you anxious?”
“…What?”
“If you have eyes, you should be. Can you tell what kind of spell I’ve cast?”
“!!”
Only then did the Witch of Cruelty seem to sense that something was off. She flinched.
“…What is that spell?”
“What do you think? It’s a spell that’s going to be printed in textbooks from now on. They’ll add an explanation beside it saying I made the Witch of Cruelty kneel.”
“You little—!”
The ice scythe came flying at me.
Just like her threat to cut out my tongue, it was aimed straight for my mouth.
-Kikikikikikikik!!
A spine-chilling murderous intent burrowed into my mind.
Primitive fear surged over me, but I gritted my teeth.
Magic Gunner Battle.
It was called that because exchanging magic like this was similar to a pistol duel.
It was a duel in which no tricks could interfere, the purest test of a mage’s skill, but—
‘I can win. No, I’m going to win. No matter what.’
It was a thought no one else could possibly understand if they heard it.
But it was true.
A message appeared before my eyes.
<Win rate in a Magic Gunner Battle against the Witch of Cruelty>
An absolute win rate, no less.
That was why I’d been acting so brazenly with such confidence.
‘I’m not the same person I was before.’
I still suffered from Mana Insensitivity.
But now, I had a new weapon.
And a devastating one—one powerful enough to land a blow even on the Witch of Cruelty.
Flash!
The Ice Needle spell’s formation began to writhe.
It was a star that was far too intricate and sturdy to be the formation of a mere First Star Rank spell.
It was meant to hold a single force.
The Chaos energy lying dormant within your body is being manifested!
Chaos is being infused into the spell!
The Witch of Cruelty’s eyes widened like saucers. At last, she had realized what my spell was.
“H-How? Chaos is a force no one can wield?!”
“I’m the exception.”
That was right.
It was a force no one could control—not even the Demon King, who had only managed to seal it away by turning it into a curse. But I had done it.
“This is an opportunity that won’t come along often, so watch closely. This is my magic—Ban Ecclesia’s.”
The Ice Needle surged toward the ice scythe.
It was tiny, no more than a pathetic little awl, but the result was unbelievable.
-Aaaaaaaagh!!!
Krrrcrack!
A horrific sound rang out, as though flesh were being torn apart by a blade, and the magic within the spell let out a pained scream.
The Witch of Cruelty turned deathly pale and hurriedly altered her spell formation.
Altering the formation of a spell that had already been manifested was something only a mage of an unfathomably high level could do.
But it was meaningless.
Bang!
As if fired from a gun, the needle of ice pierced the scythe’s heart, then shattered and vanished.
“Gah!!!”
As her spell formation was broken and mana surged back through her, the Witch of Cruelty spat out a mouthful of blood.
She looked to have sustained severe internal injuries.
It was a perfect victory for me.
“T-This… this can’t be… Cough!!”
“Mother!”
The Witch of Cruelty reached toward me as if she couldn’t accept what had happened, but then she spat out blood again.
Joanna hurriedly went to support her.
“D-Don’t. Let go.”
“But… you’re bleeding!”
“I said let go! I don’t need you!”
Joanna’s face fell, wounded.
“I-I’m sorry.”
It was a sight that made me frown.
I let out a small sigh.
“I am the winner of this duel. The Duchess is a woman who understands honor, so I trust you’ll abide by all the conditions we agreed upon in our wager.”
The Witch of Cruelty clenched her teeth.
Truthfully, I hadn’t expected her to comply without complaint.
Even so, she wouldn’t be able to resort to such blatant schemes as before.
If I could get her to rein in her grasping hands against Katrinne even a little, I would have achieved my goal.
‘Joanna… I feel sorry for her, but she’ll never willingly let her go. Katrinne is the “tool” she needs most to achieve her goal. This is something I can’t interfere with.’
I recalled Joanna’s Character Scenario and quietly shook my head.
Even if Joanna was a toxic young lady with no redeeming qualities, I couldn’t help feeling sorry for her when I thought of the frustrations and hardships she would go through in the future.
“T-This… this…”
But then, at that very moment—
Something no one had expected happened.
“What is going on here?”
“!!”
It was a low, gentle voice.
But fear came crashing down, making my heart jolt as if thunder had struck it.
It was a dreadful pressure unlike anything I had ever encountered in anyone else.
He hadn’t even cast a spell, yet not a single person present could bring themselves to so much as move a finger.
It was as if a giant were crushing us beneath its weight.
“It’s been a long time, Young Master Ban.”
I slowly turned my gaze. A neat, middle-aged man in a suit stood there.
At a glance, he looked like a nobleman from a social club.
But madness, impossible to conceal, flickered in his eyes.
A madness that seemed capable of devouring everything in the world.
I slowly bowed my head in greeting.
“I pay my respects to the head of the Klein Ducal House.”
A great mage who had reached the End of the Eighth Level, the realm of the Seeker who gazed toward the heavens.
The king of the mages upon this earth.
The head of a Prestigious Magic Family, Duke Alfonso.
‘Why is Duke Alfonso here? Isn’t he always on Sky Island?’
I swallowed hard.
This was dangerous.
‘He’s not a villain like the Witch of Cruelty, but he’s impossible to predict.’
A madman, but rational.
That was Duke Alfonso.
He knew society’s boundaries and observed them, but whenever he felt like it, he could do any number of insane things while skirting right along those boundaries.
What was even more troublesome was that his lunacy was utterly unpredictable.
“It’s good to see you. It feels like it’s been more than ten years since I last saw you, and you’ve grown up splendidly.”
“…Thank you.”
“I’m not just saying that. I’m almost jealous of your father, Huam. Every time we met, he’d go on and on to me about his troubles with you, but it turns out he was exaggerating.”
Duke Alfonso’s gaze flicked toward the two daughters he had fathered, Joanna and Katrinne, then he spoke indifferently.
“Even if there were a hundred worthless children like those, they still wouldn’t be worth as much as you alone.”