Echoes of Fire and Shadows
Chapter 65: Are You the Hunter or the Prey?
-----Julius's POV-----
The moment I opened my eyes was the moment when I suddenly found myself standing in the middle of a field of rock formations. Those rock formations more often than not seemed to resemble the shapes of both people and animals, but others appeared to imitate the silhouettes of monsters.
But that was not the only important detail about this place… On top of the strangely shaped rock formations, the area was covered by a fog that was so thick that it seemed almost impossible to see what might lay ahead just a few meters in front of me.
“So this is the famed Field of Illusions… I have only read about this place and I have to say, it does live up to its name.” I said to myself while looking around.
Even though an icy cold gale was blowing in the area, my body felt so hot that sweat was already trickling down my forehead. The level of humidity in this place was clearly abnormal…
There was also the fact that I couldn't feel any living beings nearby at all, yet I could hear sounds of animals and insects coming from everywhere around me…
“As expected of one of the most mysterious places in the Empire. A place whose only purpose is to deceive one's mind…” I nodded in satisfaction after examining the area around me.
<I assume that you guys have arrived safely at your desired battlefield. Let us not waste any time... You may begin fighting now. May the boldest of the two of you win this duel.> I suddenly heard Dante’s depressed voice echoing in the whole area, announcing the beginning of the match in the most anticlimactic manner.
“Well, I suppose it is time for the hunt to begin.” I smiled with excitement before starting to make my preparations. "That being said…" I said as I focused my senses to be on alert for any potential attack.
Trying to go searching for my opponent with this fog while he has the home advantage is probably the most stupid thing I could do in this situation…
So, that would leave me with only one choice… I'll have to wait for him to come for me and set up a few traps for him.
"Though he may be already expecting something like that, so I obviously won't be placing all of my hopes on this strategy to work." I said to myself while examining one of the nearby rock formations. "Heh, I think I already have a few ideas in mind to surprise him! Remillia, can you please watch my back while I set everything? We don't want to be the ones caught by surprise after all." I smiled with a little bit of malice.
<Leave it to me, Master. No one will be able to sneak on you with me by your side.> Dying Scarlet seemed eager to protect me.
"Thanks, Remi!" I said to my weapon before focusing on my work. "Now then… Where would be a good place for an ambush?" I started to look around for the most optimal place for a surprise attack.
It took a little while to find that optimal place. It was all thanks to the deceptive nature of this environment and the extremely foggy weather that made the search increasingly difficult. Still, those were the things that would make my strategy a success, even if this was my first time around in such an environment.
I quickly started carving runes on all the rock formations I could find nearby. I placed several small runes on some rocks, and a few large ones on others. After that, I even rearranged some of the rock formations with Earth Magic and hid a large magic circle on the ground encompassing the whole area.
Most of my runes were infused with mana from all the elements and various spells. Some with ice, some with fire, some with boiling water, and some others with tendrils made of shadows to scare my opponent. None of those spells were supposed to be lethal, they were meant to be nuisances as my intentions were to try to see how I would fare against Rodrigue as an archer. Of course, I wouldn’t complain if I somehow managed to win because of a few lucky traps, but as I stated, that is not my objective this time.
While I was working on my little stratagem, my opponent never showed even the slightest hint of his presence. It almost made me think that I was all alone in this mysterious environment.
“It would be really awkward and ironic if our opponent also decided to use the same strategy as us, don’t you think so Remillia?” I joked a bit with my weapon while continued making more traps to catch my enemy by surprise.
<I doubt it, Master. He chose this place for a reason. Judging by his appearance, the way he moved, and the way he held his bow, he is clearly a seasoned hunter.> Dying Scarlet gave its opinion with a serious tone.
“I agree with that assessment.” I nodded. “If I had to guess, he must be keeping his distance and bidding his time. Maybe he was hoping that I would get confused navigating through this place or that I would suddenly succumb to the rumored hallucinations that people seem to suffer in this place.” I explained a possible conjecture to the former scarlet scythe.
<Hallucinations? This place had that kind of effect? It seems like a normal foggy field filled with weird rocks to me.> Remillia was naturally skeptical.
“Because it actually is just a normal foggy field with strangely-shaped rocks. The rumored hallucinations are just that, baseless rumors that people made up. In actuality, this place was used a lot in the distant past by a certain group of bandits who happened to have mages in their ranks to rob travelers while they were caught up in the illusions made by said mages. After enough people were robbed, it didn’t take long for word to spread about the hallucinations and how the place was apparently dangerous and whatnot. This place soon became the Field of Illusions because of that and people made sure to avoid it at all costs. No one suspected the cause of hallucinations were bandits all along.” I agreed with Remillia and told her something I had learned from Lia some time ago.
<I see… That certainly makes more sense, Master. But I must ask… Were the bandits ever brought to justice? Such scum does not deserve to live.> Remillia was not particularly pleased with the history of this place.
“Yes, but not in the way you would think.” I shook my head. “They all met their end in the most ironic of manners a few months after they began their little business, believe it or not. It turns out that one of the caravans they robbed was transporting some wine that a noble with bad intentions had sent to the Emperor at the time as tribute. The wine was poisoned and in less than a few hours, the bandits ended their celebration for a successful heist in the evening by meeting the Goddess of Death. They also unknowingly saved the life of the Emperor who would become one of the most loved rulers in the history of Marcel.” I couldn’t help but smile a bit due to the ironic ending of my story.
<Serves them right.> My weapon was more than pleased to hear about the tale of such bandits.
“Still, rumors or not… This is not the real Field of Illusions. This is just a faithful recreation of the place based on Dante’s memories of it using Spatial Magic. Even if it does seem to have some eerie vibes, I don’t think he would try to include the fabled hallucinations while we are in such an important tournament.” I said while rubbing my chin.
Spatial Magic sure is pretty amazing… Just imagine it, the ability to create a separate dimension based on a place you have once visited… Learning how to use [Teleport] is already complicated enough, I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to learn a spell like the one that made this possible… Although, I need to point out that this spell is very similar to the Divine Realms of the Gods, so it would make a lot of sense for it to be difficult. You're literally manipulating the very fabric of reality, after all.
I'm not going to give up on learning it though. There are a lot of cool things I could do if I manage to master it!
<Master, it seems like your opponent might have grown tired of waiting. There’s something coming straight to us.> Remillia’s said with a serious tone.
“That was sooner than I expected.” My scythe’s voice soon brought me back to reality as I no longer had the time to focus on my thoughts. "I thought he would spend more time pondering why I agreed to his choice of battlefield." I said in a joking manner as I tightened my grip on my weapon.
<Master! Three arrows behind! Move now!> Dying Scarlet immediately warned me about the incoming danger.
Without missing a beat, I quickly dashed away from the place I had been previously. As soon as I did, three arrows sunk deeply into one of the strangely-shaped rocks. On top of the arrows sinking far too deeply into the rock, they also exploded, shattering the stone into a million pieces moments after landing.
"Explosive arrows? That's a little unexpected… I thought that the guy would take a more stealthy approach." I was a little miffed since one of my traps had been destroyed.
<Master! Four more arrows incoming! Three o’clock!> Remillia warned me again of an incoming attack. It was just as we had been practicing in the last few days.
Of course, it was obvious that my opponent was not going to allow me to get away and catch my breath. I quickly turned to my right and raised my hand to stop the attack.
"[Water Aegis]." Several tendrils of water suddenly came out from my palm and formed a protective shield in front of me.
Soon, all the arrows crashed against my shield, but only one of them remained within the water barrier, the rest had managed to pass through as if my barrier wasn't even there.
"I see… He really is trying to use this place to make me feel as confused as possible." I said as I noticed why the arrows had passed through the barrier and even me for that matter. "Only one of the arrows was real. The other three were illusions. He really must feel confident fighting in this environment." I smiled as I sent my barrier flying away along with the real arrow.
A decision that would prove to be wise as it would have exploded in my face had I not done so.
Still, even when I had stopped two of his attacks, my opponent was yet to show himself.
<Master, use me. If you use me, we can get rid of the fog and bring him out of his hiding place.> Dying Scarlet insisted on going on the offensive.
"Easy there. We don't want to lose the surprise factor just yet." I reassured my weapon. "We have to let him grow impatient. I'm sure that it won't take long before he gets annoyed and shows his face. That annoyance will certainly make him fall into our traps and then we will snipe him to secure the kill. How does that plan sound?" I asked Remillia.
<If you're certain that is going to work then I trust your decision, Master.> Dying Scarlet agreed with me.
Before our conversation could develop any further, my senses went into full alert as I suddenly received an attack from an entirely different direction.
"Sneaky." I said as I managed to catch the arrow in midair. I quickly erased the explosion magic from the arrow with my mana before it could be set off. "The guy definitely knows his way around this place, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to attack from the opposite side of the battlefield so quickly." I said as I broke the arrow in half and threw it to the ground.
If I had to guess, he ran as fast as he could as soon as he shot the four arrows from before to try and pull a sneak attack on my blind spot… If I knew the place just as he does, I'm certain that I could pull it off easily as well.
Soon after that, more arrows came flying toward me from pretty much all directions.
"They are all illusions." I said after judging the amount of mana covering the arrows. "And the real one is actually over here!" I shouted as I turned around and blasted with fire magic an arrow falling toward me from a high altitude.
The arrow instantly produced an explosion bigger than the two from before as soon as it made contact with my fire spell. The fake arrows ceased to exist as soon as they made contact with my body.
"Gotta admit, that was a clever one." I said while wary of my surroundings.
"Yet, it still didn't manage to fool you." A serious voice suddenly spoke from behind me.
I rapidly turned around and found a hooded elf standing several meters away from me. He didn't really look that angry or annoyed about his arrows missing the mark, or at least if he actually was angry, he was hiding it well.
He was the real deal instead of an illusion. I could tell because there was nothing strange about the flow of his mana or the aura around him.
(See? What did I tell you?) I said to my sentient magical scythe.
<I assume that the time to strike back is soon to come?> Remillia asked, almost as if looking forward to being used again.
(You assume well, Remi.) I smiled.
Though, this is a bit of a bummer since I went out of my way to prepare all those traps… I was hoping that he would trigger at least one or two of them before coming to me, but it is what it is, I guess.
"I suppose that since surprise attacks have no effect on you, I think I should just take a more direct approach and be done with this quickly." My opponent, Rodrigue, said as he aimed his bow at me.
At a first glance, his bow didn't look that different from a normal wooden bow. Some could say that it looked a little too simplistic for a personal weapon for a noble. However, I could see all the enchantments running rampant across his bow, making it clear that it was not your average wooden bow.
It was crystal clear to me that getting hit by an arrow shot by that bow would hurt way more than any other normal arrow. Maybe just as much as one of Dad’s punches when he’s being a little serious? Half-serious even?
"Very well. I suppose we can stop with the warm-up then." I said to Rodrigue as I aimed my stringless bow at him.
"Just as I thought… It was actually a bow all along." Rodrigue looked unimpressed. "I don't know what you're trying to accomplish without any arrow or string, but you won't be here long enough to achieve it." He said while foolishly taking a step to the side, getting closer to one of my traps.
"I wonder about that." I just shrugged in response. "Although with this bow, a string and arrows are completely unnecessary." I smiled confidently as I started pouring my mana into Dying Scarlet.
(Let us begin, Remi.) I whispered in my mind to my companion.
<Agreed, Master.> Despite its usual somber voice, Remillia replied with a lot of eagerness to fight.
Immediately after I had that exchange with my companion, a tempestuous gale started blowing all around me. Most of the fog in the area was forcefully cleared and gathered in one spot in an instant thanks to the strength of the gale… That one spot was my bow.
Soon, a thin yet immensely durable light green-colored ethereal string was then formed, thus finally making my weapon complete. A large arrow of the same color and nature as the string appeared on my left hand.
I quickly placed the ethereal arrow along with the string, pulling them back as much as I could and taking aim at my opponent, smiling while the tempest behind me raged on.
"You… Just what did you do…?" My opponent looked at me with a baffled expression as he became painfully aware of the sudden lack of fog and the powerful wind blowing around him.
"Not much. I just awakened my weapon." I smirked while holding my arrow, prepared to let it loose given the chance.
This situation could only be thanks to the weapon known as [Verdant Destruction]. An [Abyssal Weapon] that is said to cause huge unyielding storms in the seas only by holding it. Calamity only awaits whoever and whatever is struck by its all-powerful arrows that will never miss their mark.
Although Dying Scarlet does not have the ability to never miss and can only imitate a fraction of the original’s power, Dying Scarlet's copy of such power is still really astonishing.
According to Lia and Thiasis, [Verdant Destruction] was only used a handful of times during the Thousand-Year War and only twice after that in Gliosis. You can practically count all those occasions with your own two hands. [Verdant Destruction] use was mostly forbidden due to its overwhelming power and the potential devastation that it would be left if it was unleashed, but there’s also another reason…
[Verdant Destruction] is also pretty whimsical, playful, and lazy, so it rarely chooses a wielder. The weapon’s nature does make sense since its existence is heavily linked to Sylph, the spirit that personifies the Wind Element, a spirit that is known because of its whimsical, playful, and lazy nature.
“Awakened…? I see… So you were hiding a tremendously powerful enchanted weapon during the preliminaries.” Rodrigue frowned only for a moment before his expression turned serious. “Don’t think that your weapon will bring you victory. Victory will be decided only by our skills.” He said before letting loose his arrow.
“I wholeheartedly agree with that.” I said while moving my head to the side at the last second, his arrow grazing my cheek just a little. “But trust me, this bow is not just any bow. Why don’t I give you a demonstration?” I asked before changing the focus of my aim.
After that, I simply let loose of my arrow, which flew with tremendous speed while making such a sound that almost seemed as if the ethereal arrow was accompanied by a storm.
“...!” Rodrigue’s eyes grew wide as he noticed the arrow quickly flying in his direction. He quickly jumped to the side while pulling another one of his arrows from the quiver on his back.
While Rodrigue’s fast decision-making was without a doubt impressive, he was unfortunately not completely out of danger as the focus of my arrow was something else. In particular, a rock formation near my opponent which contained a spell I had engraved into it a few minutes ago. The ethereal arrow soon landed at the feet of the strangely-shaped rock and then disappeared just a few moments after, of course, not without activating the little trap I had prepared before this using my mana.
“I can see that you were not kidding… That bow is no joke.” Rodrigue looked more severe than before, though he was completely unaware of what was coming.
Soon, the rock that held my spell, was completely frozen. Several tiny and sharp icy icicles were aimed and then shot at the oblivious Rodrigue, whose back was facing the now frozen rock.
Before Rodrigue could even try to pull the string of his bow, all of the small icy shards managed to hit him in his left shoulder and sank deep into his skin. As a response, Rodrigue cried out in pain as he was caught off guard, despite the fact the small icicles only caused enough damage to produce minimal cracks in his bracelet.
"Tsk…" Rodrigue clicked his tongue before using his hand to destroy the icicles. "It appears that I misjudged the situation…" He seemed like he was about to try to temporarily retreat.
Of course, I was having none of that.
"I don't recommend running away. You no longer have a thick fog to hide your presence with." As I said that, the tempestuous gale grew fiercer. "And trust me, if you show me your back, you will certainly regret it." I warned my opponent with a smile on my face.
"That seems to be the case." Rodrigue was unamused by my words. Still, he seemed to have given up on the idea of retreating to safety. "You might have me cornered now, but you should remember that a cornered rat will always fight back." Rodrigue smiled as he drew one of his arrows and decided to pull it along with the string.
However, instead of aiming and shooting that arrow at me, he suddenly let loose his arrow while aiming at the ground.
Said arrow was filled to the brim with mana, and as soon as it crashed against the ground, it caused a huge explosion that left a black cloud of smoke behind right after. Said cloud of smoke gave him the small chance he needed to escape before the cloud was cleared by the fierce winds that my bow was producing.
Though, instead of running to the place he had come from away from my traps, he had chosen to go into the rocky field where all of my traps were hidden, right toward the center of the magic circle resting beneath the rocky field.
I could tell all that just by feeling the faint traces of his mana despite him trying his hardest to hide it.
"It looks like the tables have turned and now the role of the hunter falls on me." I was relieved that Rodrigue had not given up yet despite having shown him the power of my weapon. "What do you say, Remi? Should we go hunting?" I said to my weapon, which had been doing its best since I began using it.
<Of course, Master. I will gladly follow.> Again, despite Remillia's somber voice, she appeared to be excited about this duel.
"Very well, let us follow our prey then." I readied my bow and prepared to follow after Rodrigue.
-----Rodrigue's POV-----
I suddenly found myself in the worst situation imaginable as an immensely powerful arrow missed my head by a hair's breadth…
"He already found me… Tsk…" I clicked my tongue as I decided to move again to find a better cover.
Something which was almost an impossible task as the whole area was infested with traps. Because of the fog, I couldn't see it clearly before, but now, I can see that the whole place is covered by the mana of the Skull Crusher's son. There are dozens upon dozens of traps laying around, some much better hidden than others.
I couldn't help but wonder… When did he have the time to set so many traps?
It didn't take me that long to navigate the Field of Illusions and find the small boy, so how did he set up this many traps in so little time?
There was no way I could know and also, there was no time for me to ponder such questions.
The arrow that had previously missed me had landed on a trap and it was immediately activated by it. Soon, several small fireballs came flying at me.
"Dammit! This is so annoying…" I said as I quickly drew an arrow from my quiver and aimed at the incoming attack, shooting an arrow infused with the power of the water element.
As soon as my arrow and the fireballs clashed, a huge cloud of steam was released after my arrow became a Grade 3 water spell. My arrow was barely enough to stop the attack…
"Give me a break…" I let out a sigh before continuing to search for cover.
As I said, this is the worst situation imaginable for me.
I was being pursued by a relentless hunter in a place filled to the brim with his traps while being shot at with a ridiculous bow that controls the winds.
Gods… What even is that bow? There's no way for it to be a conventional enchanted weapon like mine…
Enchanted weapons have always been allowed to be brought to the tournaments, no matter how strong or weak they may be.
This is because the Blaise Academy believes in teaching students that even when the difference in levels, status, titles, skills, magic, and weapons can determine the outcome of a battle, it is on us to find how to turn the tides against our opponents.
The philosophy that the academy wants to impart is for its students to learn how to overcome adversity, just like our ancestors did in the battle against the might of the Demon King and his armies.
I guess I never truly understood what they meant by adversity… Until now that is.
Seriously… What a pain.
I thought that my bow, [Widow’s Scar], would be the most powerful enchanted weapon here considering it had been my family’s relic since even before the Thousand-Year War all those millennia ago. When my father entrusted this bow to me for the tournament, for a moment I even believed that I could win against the mighty Alberis, the strongest in the academy. I believed that I could win with ease as long as I had this bow in my hands.
But after seeing that strange ivory bow in that boy's hands, I am certain that there’s no weapon as powerful as that one in this tournament…
Oh, the irony… And here I was telling that boy to not think that his weapon will bring him victory. That victory will be decided only by our skills… How laughable and hypocritical of me to think that.
“It appears that I might have overestimated my abilities this time… I might not be ready to become [Widow’s Scar] wielder.” I said to myself as I barely managed to dodge another arrow. “But still… I think I can turn this situation around. I just need one clear shot. Just one clear shot at his bracelet and this will be all over.” I took another arrow from my quiver and stopped running. There was no point to look for cover any longer.
As I turned my back around, I was surprised to see that the boy was no longer following me… I was on my own in the middle of the Field of Illusions with nothing more than the strange rock formations that this place is known for to make me company.
“Even though this place is my usual training spot, I have never felt more terrified…” I tried to ease my stressed mind while I looked around for my opponent.
It is a basic skill for any hunter to hide their presence from their prey in order not to scare them away and secure the kill… No matter how or for how long I looked, it soon became clear that the boy was a master at hiding his presence.
If it had been any other opponent, I wouldn’t be so stressed and afraid, but that boy and his bow are really bad news…
This is bad… This is what he wants. He clearly wants to spook me so I will be unable to respond appropriately to his next attack… I need to calm down so I can be prepared for whatever he throws at me.
“C’mon, [Skull Kid]! Come out and play!” I shouted at the boy while trying to mock him by using his father’s title. “What’s the matter? Maybe you got scared? No longer have the will to fight?” I continued to mock him while watching out for any potential surprise attacks.
No matter how many comments I made in order to lure out my opponent, he never appeared. Instead, my words met with several small shards of rocks flying toward me.
"So this is how we are going to play… Tsk…" I clicked my tongue with annoyance before letting loose an arrow at the incoming projectiles.
As soon as my arrow made contact with the flying stones, a fiery explosion turned the rock shards to dust before leaving a small cloud of dust and smoke behind…
Despite having stopped my opponent's attack, it didn't take very long for more of his attacks to follow.
Small blades of wind, little sharp icicles, tiny yet numerous fireballs, smaller shadow tendrils, some gleams of light, and even more stone shards were all launched at me from all directions without mercy.
"Crap! The situation somehow became worse!" I yelled with frustration as I had to keep shooting arrows to defend myself while I attempted to dodge.
But no matter how many attacks I managed to block or how many times I managed to successfully dodge my opponent's attacks, I was slowly but surely accumulating damage. My mana and the number of arrows on my quiver were also rapidly dwindling due to overusing my bow's special abilities…
It was for me needless to say that I wouldn't last long if this situation continued…
However, much to my relief, the barrage of spells soon came to a complete halt. By this point, my uniform was torn in several places and my bracelet was almost in shambles, looking as if it would shatter due to even the gentlest of breezes…
Still… It was an even worse situation than before… I was basically with a foot already out of the tournament, barely clinging to the smallest chances of victory…
It was astonishing how quickly the situation could take a turn for the worse…
"Nice one. I can’t believe that I actually ran out of traps to use." A childish voice suddenly spoke to me from my right. "To think that you would be able to hit all of my attacks with your arrows and to perfectly block most of them. Your valor and skill are remarkable, my lord." The owner of that voice or rather, my opponent, spoke to me politely.
The moment I looked to my right, I was met with the sight of a young brown-haired kid sitting leisurely on top of one of the rocks. His powerful ivory bow was resting on his lap…
"Why are you speaking to me so politely now? We are in the middle of a duel, you know?” I said while grabbing one of the few arrows that remained on my quiver. “Such foolishness might cost you your life on a real battlefield.” I said with a bit of hostility, trying to get a reaction from my opponent.
“I am aware. I just thought that I should treat you with respect because of the difference in our social standings and also because of your marksmanship which has deeply impressed me. You don’t see an archer having to deal with such an onslaught of spells and making it out in one piece. You have truly gained my respect, Rodrigue Shenia.” The boy simply shrugged and then replied with a smile. “If the rest of my opponents are like you, then I am looking forward to the rest of the tournament.” The Skull Kid said to me with a big smile.
“You do know that all I’ve done is attack while hiding and running away from you, right? What are you trying to imply with that…” I looked at the boy with suspicion. I was also feeling a little offended by his words.
“I’m not trying to imply anything in particular though… I was just being honest.” The boy's smile suddenly became awkward. “I think that there’s no shame in temporarily retreating from a disadvantageous situation. Also, you’re an archer. You’re supposed to attack from afar and hide if possible, so there’s no shame in that either. After all, everything is fair in love and war.” The boy tried to explain himself.
“Hmm… I don’t know what to tell you about that…” I couldn’t help but feel skeptical of his words and motives. It wouldn’t be a far-fetched idea that he was trying to lure me into another trap.
What’s up with this kid… I thought that Smotia girl was weird, but this little guy seems a little bit weirder than her… It is quite eerie, to be honest.
But what should I do here? Is this a trap? Does he really just come here to show his appreciation and respect? Or this is just him displaying his hubris? This is just too weird… There’s no way something like this would benefit him in the slightest… This has to be a trap. I can’t let him fool me, especially if I want to continue in this tournament…
It is decided. As soon as he makes another move, I’m putting an arrow between his eyes.
Having made my decision, I immediately prepared myself to attack, hopefully for the last time in this battle. I tried to stealthily cast as many [Body Reinforcement] spells to enhance my speed as much as I humanly could… My body was screaming in pain and my mana started to rapidly decrease by the second.
I can do this… I only need one shot. One arrow and it is all over for him. You just have to focus, Rodrigue.
“What I find respectable of it all is that you didn’t give up despite the difficult situation you were in. Not everyone would try to deflect a storm of spells with just a bow and a few arrows. Because of that, you have my honest admiration, my lord.” The boy suddenly smiled before trying to get up from his seat.
True to my word, as soon as I saw him try to get up, I pulled my string and shot the arrow I had in my hand as fast as I could. The arrow was aimed directly at my opponent’s head, filled with whatever little mana I could muster for a big final explosion… It was my last resort. All of my hopes of going to the next round and potentially winning were placed into that arrow.
At first, it seemed like my attack was going to land without issue as my opponent seemed oblivious to what I was doing. It was perfect, almost as if the Goddess of Victory had decided to bless me.
Unfortunately, those hopes were about to crumble just as fast as I had loosened my string… The Skull Kid managed to catch the arrow effortlessly, only looking a little bothered thanks to my surprise attack.
“I know it is on me for saying that all is fair in love and war, but that was rude.” The boy looked at the arrow with annoyance. I could only watch in horror as he then stood up and dismantled the explosive spell on the arrow, rendering the last bits of my mana completely useless. “I was really trying to show you that I was impressed… Oh, well…” The boy said as he let out a sigh and crushed the arrow before throwing it away.
“You, monster… How could you even catch that?” I looked at him with dismay as all my strength left my body.
“That? I mean, it was quite easy considering that your plan to suddenly attack me was written all over your face. The fact that you were trying to cast some [Body Reinforcement] spells in a sneaky way pretty much sealed the deal.” The boy explained while looking unamused. “There were also things like the way your muscles were twitching, the sudden change in the way you were breathing, and even that determined look in your eyes. It was all pretty much a dead giveaway for what you were planning.” The boy said as all of a sudden crouched and started inspecting the ground.
He knew… He knew from the very beginning… He knew from the moment I decided to launch a surprise attack… Such an unbelievable thing… This guy is actually the son of the Skull Crusher… There’s no other explanation for him to be such a monster at such a young age…
Isn’t my luck just the worst? To be able to qualify in the preliminaries only to be defeated in such a miserable way in the first round… Fuck, I can’t fall like this.
Despite the fact that the situation was now truly hopeless as I only had one remaining arrow in my quiver and that I only had enough mana to remain conscious, I decided to continue the fight. Surrendering was simply not an option for me. Even if I already knew that any chance of victory was non-existent at this point, I still had my pride on the line.
I quickly grabbed the last arrow from my quiver and aimed at the boy once more.
“You want to fall fighting to the end, huh… You really have earned my respect, Rodrigue.” The boy smiled at me once more as soon as he noticed that I was aiming my bow at him again. “I didn’t want to do this because of that, but I also want to win, so…” As soon as he finished his sentence, he sent a wave of mana that traveled all over the ground beneath our feet.
Soon, the whole area started to shine with a bright green light and the earth started to shake violently.
“An earthquake!?” I shouted as I struggled to keep aiming at my opponent. I was even struggling to stand still…
“Not quite.” My opponent said as he raised himself from the ground. “You better brace yourself.” He then gave me a warning.
Better brace myself? For wha…-
Before I could even finish that thought, the ground shook so violently that I lost sight of everything around me… It didn’t take too long before I realized that I had also lost my footing…
“WHAT THE HELL!?” I yelled as loudly as I could the moment it dawned on me that I had been launched far into the air along with everything in the area.
Rocks, the ground, even some trees in the distance, everything had been launched into the air just like me… An entirely hopeless situation had suddenly become even worse than ever before.
“Are you trying to kill me!?” I yelled as I kept rapidly gaining more and more altitude.
“That would be the gist of it, yeah.” A childish voice replied from below.
Even as I kept going higher and higher and heard what the boy said, I still couldn’t surrender even if it was all hopeless…
After some strenuous effort, I was able to slow myself a bit and turn around my body using a minimal amount of wind magic. However, any idea of fighting back quickly faded from my mind as I saw everything below.
For starters, I realized that I had been launched at the very least 400 meters into the air, and I was still gaining more altitude.
A huge magic circle engulfed pretty much the entire battlefield and a little of its surroundings, something on a scale that I wouldn’t even consider for someone to be able to use normally, much less in this tournament… But there it was, a ridiculously overpowered magic circle made by someone younger than me right under my nose.
All of our duel… Did seriously he plan all of this? Did he really plan for me to fall into all of his traps and then activate this magic circle all along? The word monster just doesn’t do him much justice anymore… I guess he really deserves to be called Skull Kid.
As I looked below at the magic circle with awe and fear, an even more astonishing sight appeared in the corner of my eyes.
My opponent, Skull Kid, was using all the objects which had been catapulted into the sky like me as footholds to propel himself higher and higher in order to reach me. He was moving so fast that for a moment I thought that I was witnessing an elegant dance… There was no other way to describe his movements… I was truly astonished by the sight.
In the blink of an eye, right as I started to rapidly lose speed, the boy had already reached me. He was masterfully jumping to the many objects in the air around me and using them as footholds.
“You know, this is not exactly what I had in mind when I imagined measuring myself as an archer against you, but I’m satisfied.” The boy said while holding a gigantic ethereal arrow, his small muscles twitching constantly as he held the string. “It was a short duel, but I certainly enjoyed it. It was a pleasure to be your opponent, Rodrigue Shenia.” The boy said confidently while still holding his string, almost as if waiting for my answer.
Sigh… I suppose I should have expected this kind of development after being told I had to fight the child of the strongest person on the continent… It sucks, but there’s not much I can do about it now, right? I can only hope there isn’t someone like him next year…
“This isn’t what I had in mind either…” I said as I once again prepared my bow and took aim. “It was my pleasure, Skull Kid… I mean, Julius Navar. I hope that we can face each other once more in the future. I assure you that I will win.” I said right as I released my last arrow and before I began to fall.
With my back once more facing the ground above, all I could see was the bright sky and my opponent leaping toward me from one of the strange stones all the while moving his head to the side, making my arrow miss its mark.
“Well said.” The boy said, grinning at me before letting go of the ethereal arrow in his hands.
Well… At the very least no one can say that I didn’t go down fight… The only thing that sucks about this will be having to return [Widow’s Scar] to my father after this… It is clear to me that I am not ready to wield it. I hope he is not angry about me losing the battle…
With those thoughts in my mind, the ethereal arrow hit my stomach just a moment after the boy had released it… It didn’t hurt at all, but by the time I became aware of what had happened to me, I had already been transported to the infirmary.
Considering that I kinda rushed the end of the fight because the word count suddenly got too big, it is fair.
Nice
Thanks!
thanks for the chapter
Damn, that was fast...
Thanks for reading.