The match between the genius lady and my brother has ended.
As I expected, the result was the genius lady’s victory and my brother’s defeat.
However, it was certainly a better fight than any previous matches.
Generally speaking, my brother’s skills are extremely high.
Compared to the mages serving the country, he is hardly inferior.
But the genius lady was on a completely different level.
Her abilities in magic are unparalleled.
I have seen many skilled mages in my previous life, but I have never encountered anyone with as much talent as the genius lady.
She truly embodies genius.
Some might feel envious and give up when faced with such a person.
But for some reason, I am different.
Since my ideals are different, I don’t feel envy, nor do I give up.
On the contrary, I feel exhilarated and excited.
Can my own power hold up?
Today, I intended to test my abilities against the genius lady and draw out whatever it is she possesses.
“Now that the first semi-final match is over—next is the second match! The combatants are the Ice Noble, Hakurei Arcadion, and the Battle Maniac, Kraze Reinosutia! Both have achieved overwhelming victories in the first round of the main event!”
The announcer continues with the introductions.
“Now—enter!”
As the announcer’s words resonate, I step onto the battlefield and expose myself to the audience’s gaze.
From the opposite side, Hakurei Arcadion slowly approaches.
We come to a stop at a certain distance from each other.
“The Ice Noble, Hakurei Arcadion! At first glance, he appears to be a fragile boy, but his magical prowes is extremely high! The chill he exudes can freeze everything! The ice spears he creates can pierce through anything! What will this all-encompassing ice mage show us?”
“On the other side, we have the Battle Maniac, Kraze Reinosutia! Calm and detached! However, when it comes to combat, a feral smile emerges! He was once called the useless noble for being unable to use magic, but that’s a thing of the past! Now, no one speaks that name! His sword-wielding rampage is that of a battle maniac! Will he destroy everything in this match too?”
While the announcer continues, I observe Hakurei Arcadion standing in front of me.
His age is… the same as mine, ten years old.
He has snow-white hair and skin.
He looks frail and weak due to his lack of muscle.
But I cannot let my guard down.
His ice magic is genuinely dangerous.
“Whoever wins this match will advance to the finals! Which one of them will face the genius lady waiting in the finals—let’s begin the second semi-final match!”
The match starts.
The audience holds their breath, falling silent.
Now… how should I fight?
“—Whoa!”
Ice spears come flying at high speed, forcing me to twist my body to dodge.
The speed of the attack is faster than I imagined.
Next—
“Down!”
I jump high in place.
A moment later, ice stakes shoot up from the ground right beneath me.
“Hmm.”
Landing on the tip of an ice stake, I think.
Based on the previous matches, the main thing to watch out for is wide-area ice magic.
While ice spears and stakes like the ones just now are dangerous…
“It won’t hit me.”
Two approaching ice spears.
I draw my sword and deflect the ice spears with it.
“Now then… just a prelude. Let this serve as a warm-up!”
I relax my entire body—lean forward—and kick off the ground.
Enhanced by my battle aura, I close the distance to Hakurei Arcadion in an instant.
“Shh—!”
Clang!
As I swung my sword while passing by, it was blocked by an ice wall.
My reaction speed is sufficient; I need to engage my entire body more.
Kicking the ground hard, I move around at high speed.
Perhaps feeling threatened, Hakurei Arcadion surrounded himself with ice walls in every direction.
“Hey, hey… don’t shut yourself in!”
Coating my sword with battle aura—I built up energy throughout my body—and thrust forward in a single direction.
A dull, high-pitched sound echoes.
My thrust shattered the ice wall blocking me.
“Oh.”
“—Aesturga Ice Spear!”
An ice spear fired at point-blank range.
Surrounding himself with ice walls in all directions was precisely for this purpose.
He thought I wouldn’t be able to react and that it would definitely hit me.
“You fool.”
“—?!”
I dodged the ice spear that rushed at me by leaning my body and swung my sword from the lower right to the upper left.
I must have been lucky.
Hakurei Arcadion, startled, leaned back and narrowly avoided my sword with a thin margin.
But that just postponed the inevitable.
There’s no way I’m going to lose at this range.
“You bastard.”
I swung my sword down onto his dazed head.
Crack!
The barrier from his magic tool shattered completely.
“Th… the match is over—! Could it be—”
The announcer declares the end of the match.
But at this moment, I couldn’t care less.
“Hey.”
“—!”
I call out to him as he sits on the ground in shock.
He turned his face toward me, his shoulders twitching.
Dazed… fear… resignation…
“Why are you acting all scared and pathetic?”
He started well with the ice spears and stakes.
But once I made my move, it was all trash.
Surrounding himself with ice walls was still acceptable, but… that last attack was incomprehensible.
“That last ice spear… Aesturga, right? Why did you use the same attack you showed just before? That’s just unacceptable.”
So far, he had used four types of magic.
Defensive ice walls.
Offensive ice spears and stakes.
A wide-area ice spell.
Just four.
Predicting and countering them is, of course, easy.
“With talent like yours… think a little harder. Such great talent is going to waste.”
Yes, he has talent.
At least when it comes to ice magic, he has talent.
If it’s just ice magic, he might even be on par with my brother and the genius lady.
That’s why… it’s such a waste.
I wouldn’t say he hasn’t put in any effort.
I haven’t seen him in his everyday life.
But he is clearly wasting it.
“… I—”
“Huh?”
He seems about to say something.
I expect he has a counterargument.
That would be most welcome.
“I… I’m… scared…”
“What?”
Tears in his eyes, he lets out a whimper like a girl—then falls backward.
… He’s unconscious, with his eyes rolled back.
“Scared, you say…? And you fainted…?”
Fainting out of fear…? Wait, how am I scary at all?
I thought I was just being kind…
“Could it be… am I actually scary…?”
Wait, really?
