“I will prove it.”
The duel began.
The two duelists, facing each other in the garden, moved at the same time.
Amidst this, I waited for the enemy’s charge, vowing one thing in my heart.
If I win, I will prove that I am the ‘Chancellor’.
With only that vow in my heart, I—Chancellor Aid—shall shout.
“Bloom! Casavillanca—!!”
That cry was not magic, but the power of a demon.
In the garden, which had become a kind of demonic forest with over a thousand types of plants growing wild—the thick trunks of the plants called forth began to move like snakes.
No matter how much of an progenitor he was, it would likely be impossible to neutralize this with magic power alone.
The surface was covered in moss, with multiple trees mixing green and brown.
This cluster of trees grew, stretched, and raged.
There was no magical manipulation here. It was simply that I, a tree person, had called out, and trees of the Casavillanca race were responding.
With this, even I, who am not particularly quick-witted—could move over ten trees simultaneously.
The trees attacked progenitor Uzunami from all directions.
Progenitor Uzunami, who had started running, grasped all of them with a small-scale dimensional magic—likely *Dimension*—and swung his sword.
The trees were shredded in a single breath.
Seeing this, I retreated with all my might.
The strength of this tree person’s call was that it did not require concentration like magic. While using over ten trees for offense, I could focus on defense, which was a great advantage.
And if the battlefield was the garden I tended, there were still plenty of trees I could call upon.
This time, not ten—but a hundred trunks and branches to attack with.
“Everyone in the garden, please! Please, annihilate progenitor Uzunami!”
“Don’t underestimate my sword! Grow! —Magic *Dimension Severing Sword*!”
Against the onslaught of trees that were like ten snakes with a hundred tentacles added, progenitor Uzunami extended a blade of dimensional attribute. The blade, faintly glowing purple, shimmered, and in an instant—all the trees, which should have numbered a hundred and ten, were severed.
Direction and distance were irrelevant.
It was a slash as if the entire world was within its reach.
It was the same as Lord Rowen in the past.
While angry at that unreasonable talent, I cut through the countermeasures I had calmly prepared in the back of my mind.
“It’s your turn! Do Riffidhu! Protect everyone!!”
I brought forth the thick trunks of specially grown trees, which I had laid out in advance, to wait at the tip of [his/her] swinging sword.
Simultaneously, “ton,” the sound of cutting with a blade was heard.
It was the same sound as when a small woodcutter’s axe realizes that cutting a great tree of nature is impossible.
“What!?”
Along with progenitor Uzunami’s astonishment, the sword, which had extended so far as to seem capable of cutting through the entire castle, stopped.
Then, the blade, which had been emitting a faint purple light, dissipated.
“My blade… won’t cut through!? Not only can’t I cut it, it’s being absorbed!?”
Realizing that magic power was being drained from the tip of [his/her] sword, he apparently dispelled *Magic Power Solidification* on his own. As expected of a progenitor who had reached the pinnacle of dimensional magic—he perceives the situation with abnormal speed.
“Do Riffidhu is a plant called the ‘Magic-absorbing Sacred Tree’! It’s a cultivated, improved variety carefully nurtured by me, the ‘Thief of the Laws of Wood’! And it is densely inscribed with the spell formulas of the ‘Thief of the Principles of Light’! No matter how much of a progenitor you are, it is impossible to sever with just dimensional attribute magic power alone! Now, swallow the progenitor whole! ‘Magic-absorbing Sacred Tree’!!”
I shouted this to engrave the impossibility of cutting into progenitor Uzunami’s mind—and then unfolded the battle centered around the ‘Magic-absorbing Sacred Tree.’
The ‘Magic-absorbing Sacred Tree’ consumed the progenitor’s rich magic power, filling its body with unprecedented vitality, and attacked like a hungry beast, begging for more.
This mana-eating plant—not an insectivorous plant, nor a carnivorous plant—was my masterpiece developed to face a progenitor. However, the progenitor, as if mocking my masterpiece, dealt with it in mere seconds.
“Are you craving my magic power!? I can cut it, but it’s too troublesome!! Then—!!”
Even as countless ‘Magic-absorbing Sacred Trees’ loomed around him, the progenitor suppressed his magic power to the limit.
He even released his basic magic, *Dimension*, not just the magic blade.
Then, closing his eyes—he repelled all attacks with his physical sword alone.
“—Wh-what!? That’s absurd!”
I almost spat out an expletive.
This is precisely like Lord Rowen of the past. Not only that, but he also possesses magic, which was Rowen’s weakness. In other words, he is the ‘strongest swordsman in history’ who excels at magic.
If I continue to attack this ridiculous ‘Thief of Principles’ with only the ‘Magic-absorbing Sacred Tree,’ they will quickly be depleted.
I stopped the offensive, brought the trees back around myself, and focused on defense.
Both the progenitor and I entered a state of waiting for the enemy’s attack, and silence returned to the grand garden of Viaisia Castle.
A gap opened in the duel’s time, and the progenitor, who had been closing his eyes, opened them and spoke with an expression as if he had finished his warm-up.
“…So, as your name ‘Thief of the Laws of Wood’ suggests, you fight by manipulating various trees with your magic power, don’t you?”
He was filled with confidence.
From the progenitor’s perspective, this was merely the end of the first exchange, a feeler. Despite the ‘Magic-absorbing Sacred Tree’ being my treasure, nurtured for a thousand years, he easily broke through it.
Without letting him notice my surprise, I put on a confident expression. To avoid losing, I created as much of an unfathomable aura as possible.
“Fufufu. No, progenitor Uzunami. Manipulating trees with magic power… I am not capable of such a skillful feat. What I am doing is something much simpler.”
Not for people of this modern world, but for someone like me, an ordinary person from a thousand years ago, it would be impossible to perform such feats, like a fairy tale wizard.
Moreover, forcing plants to move, as other wood-attribute mages do, requires considerable talent.
Sadly, I have zero talent for that.
“My magic power is specialized in enhancing its surroundings. But, to be blunt, that’s all I have. I don’t have the magic control abilities like the ‘Ruling King’ who was called the Demon King, nor the magic development capabilities like you, who are called a progenitor. The quality of my magic power is as difficult to handle as Teeda-sama’s, and I only have as much magic power as Lord Rowen, who lived only for the sword. Everyone said I was a failure as a fighter, let alone a mage…”
I confessed my abilities without embellishment.
After all, progenitor Uzunami would see through it immediately. There was no need to hold back.
More importantly, I wanted progenitor Uzunami to know this one thing.
I wanted him to know at least one reason for this duel.
“All I can do is ‘Growth Promotion,’ ‘Recovery,’ ‘Other Enhancement,’ and ‘Self-Enhancement.’ I have no means of attack. I am a being born not to fight, but to support someone! What I can do is to help everyone make the most of their characteristics and to live! But, conversely, in that respect, I am second to none! In this place, I am the strongest! —’Growth Branchwood’!!”
I activated a general enhancement magic towards the garden.
Of course, matching my magic power, the ‘Magic-absorbing Sacred Tree’ tried to absorb my magic. I did not resist—rather, as a tree person, I extended my roots into the ground and passed my magic power to them.
Then, I implored them.
As friends, please cooperate in fighting my enemy, the progenitor.
That was the only combat method I could employ.
The response to my plea was a cheers of rustling trees and creaking sounds of rapid growth.
All the plants that received my magic power promised to face the progenitor as my friends.
Combining the power of a dryad and the ‘Thief of the Laws of Wood,’ trees from all directions of the garden began to move to capture progenitor Uzunami.
“—They’re increasing again!? Damn it, this time there are some that look like man-eating plants too!”
Progenitor Uzunami clicked his tongue as he saw plants in the shapes of pots and shells, which looked like they could devour living beings, mixed in.
“Fufufu, not just man-eating plants! The types of plants in this castle are as numerous as the stars! I still have more cards to play!!”
“You have time to explain, so you’re confident! Aid!”
“Yes, I am confident! This is my field! A world built to defeat you! I will not lose!!”
Although I boasted with my words, the reality was different.
His confidence was on the other side.
He had so much leeway that he could even converse before this full-power, all-out assault.
I suspect he was holding back his full strength, being wary of Lord Nosfy’s interference.
Even with that advantage, it was still like this.
Progenitor Uzunami intercepted the onslaught of all kinds of plants with a single sword, enduring them without damage, and now, getting accustomed to the charges of trunks and branches, he was gradually approaching me.
…Accustomed?
Ah, he’s joking.
He’s being too much of a joke.
And, with that overwhelming power, I felt a little disheartened.
Indeed, my hand had countless types of cards, but plants were just plants. Most of them lived quietly, drawing sustenance from the earth, water, and light, and were not cards that would work. There were few species that, like the ‘Magic-absorbing Sacred Tree,’ tried to devour other substances and races.
Currently, progenitor Uzunami was not rushing to a decisive victory, being wary of Lord Nosfy. However, if he were to charge in recklessly, I would undoubtedly be cut down.
My chances of winning in a head-on battle are—zero percent.
In this brief battle of a few dozen seconds, I deeply realized this. And it would not take long for him to reach the same conclusion.
“Gah, I can’t help it…!!”
Groaning, I detached my rooted feet from the ground and began to retreat.
“Wait, Aid! Are you trying to escape!?”
“I do not believe this duel is confined only to this garden! This Viaisia Castle was built solely to destroy the ‘Thief of the Principles of Dimensions,’ and it is my ‘armory’! As long as the plants that inhabit this Viaisia Country are my weapons, the entire country is the duel arena! That is how I interpret it!!”
Progenitor Uzunami called out to me as I tried to escape, and I retorted that it was an insult.
Then, with the plants of the entire garden acting as a delaying force, I managed to escape into a corridor as wide as a tunnel from the western exit.
What was waiting in this corridor was—
“—The prey is there! Everyone from the ‘Stone-eating Tendrils’!”
From the ceiling, countless green tendrils—’Stone-eating Tendrils’—descended like velvet curtains in the space.
These tendrils began to wrap around progenitor Uzunami, who followed me into the grand corridor.
Naturally, progenitor Uzunami attempted to intercept them, swinging his sword.
However, he soon noticed something strange.
The ‘Stone-eating Tendrils’ were targeting the minerals on his body, not progenitor Uzunami himself.
The treasure sword in his hand, the accessories and gauntlets hidden within his body—they allowed no hidden weapons to any who passed through this grand corridor.
“What. Not me, but my weapons—!?”
“‘Stone-eating Tendrils’! Proud clan that is descended from our originator! I pray in the name of the ‘Thief of the Laws of Wood’! Entangle that Sword Saint!!”
This grand corridor is the nest of the species called ‘Stone-eating Tendrils.’
While I, a pugilist, can pass through, it is not easy for progenitor Uzunami, a swordsman.
“Now! I don’t need a footing anymore!”
Furthermore, without giving progenitor Uzunami, who was bewildered by the focus on minerals, any time to think, I called out to the plants that served as the floor of the grand corridor and activated the trap.
It was a wide-ranging pitfall that could not be avoided.
Losing his footing, progenitor Uzunami fell. I, who was not far away, also fell. Of course, while falling, the attack of the tendrils—’Stone-eating Tendrils’—which fed on minerals from the walls on either side, did not stop.
Progenitor Uzunami tried to stop his fall by sticking his sword into the wall.
However, he must have thought that his defenseless sword would be taken away, so he quickly stopped and tried to swing his sword in mid-air.
But in this state of falling, his skillful ‘Swordsmanship’ was not effective—helplessly, progenitor Uzunami thrust his sword into empty space—and made his beautiful treasure sword disappear.
“If it’s going to be taken—I’ll use it—!”
He probably evacuated it to another dimension with dimensional magic.
A good judgment.
If that ‘The One Who Steals Earthly Principles’ magic stone were here, I could have used it as a magic source to activate a grander trap, but he evaded it skillfully.
Next, progenitor Uzunami shed all the metal he was wearing and threw it far away.
This was a perfect countermeasure against the ‘Stone-eating Tendrils,’ worthy of being included in a textbook.
The ‘Stone-eating Tendrils’ are plants that react to the smell of minerals. After devouring the discarded equipment, they could not sense progenitor Uzunami’s location, as he was not wearing any minerals, and were forced to stand still.
Only then did progenitor Uzunami and I land in the grand hall below.
‘Stone-eating Tendrils’ also inhabited the ceiling here, but they were as quiet as a shimmering aurora. Since there were no minerals to feed on, their role was likely over.
Moving to a new stage, progenitor Uzunami, now unarmed, spoke.
“So there are plants that react to minerals… And so, by stripping my equipment and leaving me without magic or weapons, do you want to engage in a fistfight? I don’t mind that either.”
“…I believe the only field where I can fight you is ‘boxing.’ However, I do not believe I can surpass you even in that. Therefore, I have made various preparations.”
Neither of us let our masks of composure slip.
We pretended to have more trump cards up our sleeves, trying to read each other’s hands.
Progenitor Uzunami looked at me with sharp eyes, not missing my words but also my expression.
I felt as if he could see not only the movements of my facial muscles but also my body temperature, blood flow, and even the amount of sweat.
“Aid, your preparations should be enough by now. What else—…!?”
Mid-sentence, progenitor Uzunami covered his mouth and bent over.
I smiled wickedly, like a villain.
“Fufufu. It’s finally starting to work.”
The enemy is scary. Smile anyway.
Do not retreat an inch.
For that, I have made preparations. Have confidence—!
“That symptom is ‘Golden Thorn Poison Flower.’ In that case, shall I increase it and reduce the other flowers?”
To the colorful flowers blooming quietly in the corner of the room, I spoke through the magic from the ground. The poisonous red and blue flowers returned to buds as if time had reversed, leaving only yellow flowers behind.
The diverse flowers that had been blooming throughout the castle were all dyed yellow.
Simultaneously, the pollen with various effects was being specialized into a single type.
The space was transforming into one solely for worsening the physical discomfort currently plaguing progenitor Uzunami.
“Aid… Don’t tell me you…”
“Yes, you saw scattered flowers earlier, didn’t you? Did you think they were just for the castle’s decoration? Didn’t I say the other day that I was preparing to intercept the progenitor?—They are all poisonous flowers. What’s more, they are specially cultivated poisonous plants boasting the highest class of danger on the continent.”
To progenitor Uzunami, who glared at me, I revealed the truth.
I’m sure if I had used poison arrows or highly concentrated special gas frankly, he would have dealt with them with ease. But these attacks from outside of his consciousness, caused by flowers that exist so naturally, cannot be prevented even by progenitor Uzunami—one of the weaknesses he himself lamented a thousand years ago.
“From here on, I’ll leave it to the ‘Golden Thorn Poison Flower’! Everyone else, please rest!!”
I narrowed the poison to a single type, supplied magic power from the ground again, and doubled the amount of pollen.
There is absolutely no such thing as overdoing it. Since the poison does not affect me, a tree person, I increase it without the slightest carelessness.
“With this much, even dragons would faint—but it’s still not enough! I am awed by the progenitor’s absurd physical condition, but let’s let the poison seep into his body over time!”
“—!!”
The more we converse, the more disadvantaged he becomes by inhaling pollen. Thoroughly understanding this, progenitor Uzunami, mid-conversation, ran towards me with his bare hands.
—He’s coming. Finally, this moment has arrived.
I calmly met that charge head-on.
Lowering my stance, I took a guard.
No matter how scary it is, I must not retreat from this point.
Now, progenitor Uzunami’s sword and magic are sealed, and he is suffering from poisoning. Furthermore, there was a prejudice that the ‘Thief of the Laws of Wood’ is weak in close combat, and he rushed the fight, foolishly charging.
If not now, when will I have this fight—!!
“Don’t underestimate me, Chancellor Aid!!”
To progenitor Uzunami, who approached me with bare fists, I swung my arms like a whip. An uppercut delivered like a whip from below slipped through his defenses and accurately struck his jaw.
“Guh—!”
Progenitor Uzunami, surprised that I landed a punch first in close combat, grunted and took a step back. However, he quickly regained his posture and charged at me again.
I, suppressing my inner excitement, met him.
—It hit.
My fist landed.
My fighting style worked against progenitor Uzunami.
Next, I used a technique taught by a general in the past.
Like the previous punch, it is a technique for those who are inferior in physique and strength. I called it ‘boxing’ earlier, but to be precise, it’s ‘self-defense art.’ It’s a special ‘sub-stream martial art’ focused on ensuring the success of an attack on the first encounter and reliably neutralizing the enemy’s abilities.
A subtle feint unique to the technique, followed by a strike aimed at a vital point—but progenitor Uzunami, as if anticipating it, blocked it.
It was only the second strike, yet it was easily dealt with.
“Guh—!!”
Although surprised, I quickly regained my composure.
I knew this would happen.
If it’s the first time, the technique should be unavoidable—that’s why progenitor Uzunami is progenitor Uzunami.
The information that the ‘Thief of the Laws of Wood’ is weak in close combat has been updated to ‘the ‘Thief of the Laws of Wood’ can fight reasonably well in close combat’—and this is the result.
Because I understood this, I could quickly move to my next action.
I opened the bag I had secretly kept in my pocket and, scattering its contents, grappled with progenitor Uzunami.
“A smokescreen! But visual obstruction won’t work on me—…!?”
Progenitor Uzunami dodged the grapple without relying on sight, but he felt something strange about the smoke screen and took a step back.
“Th-this isn’t a smokescreen—could it be seeds?”
“Yes, my weapon is not just poison. If those seeds get into your lungs, they will destroy you from within. Fufu.”
I also inhaled the seeds, smiling at the success of the trap.
As a tree-person demon, I can coexist with seeds. Therefore, I could scatter a large quantity of seeds in such a self-destructive manner.
Progenitor Uzunami’s expression turned grim, and he began to construct magic after increasing the distance. Unusually, it was not magic of the dimensional attribute.
“*Cure*! *Cure Cool*! *Heal*!!”
“Do you think mere rudimentary basic magic can heal something like this!? These are ‘poisons’ that I, the ‘Thief of the Laws of Wood,’ have improved, nurtured, and activated with my magic power!”
At the activation of that healing magic, the ‘Magic-absorbing Sacred Trees’ hidden in the grand hall reacted.
Progenitor Uzunami annoyedly dodged them and abandoned the recovery of status ailments, suppressing the expulsion of magic power from his body.
Then, minimizing his breaths—yet boldly, without aversion to the scattering pollen and seeds, he ran towards me with all his might, extending his glowing arm.
“Then I’ll just end this quickly! —Magic *Distance Mute*!!”
“That has also been accounted for!”
I only thought about buying time, and with the gauntlets on both my arms, I deflected progenitor Uzunami’s purple-glowing arm.
This gauntlet, carved from the sacred tree of the garden, forged by a disciple who mastered ‘Divine Iron Blacksmithing,’ and inscribed with dimensional attribute resistance spells by Lord Nosfy—it is precisely a ‘legendary weapon’ custom-made to defeat progenitor Uzunami!—It perfectly withstood the invasion of the magic *Distance Mute*.
Progenitor Uzunami, surprised, calmly dispelled *Distance Mute* on his right arm. He could have infiltrated the gauntlets if he had the will, but he likely judged it too difficult in a space where ‘Magic-absorbing Sacred Trees’ were lurking.
His priority seemed to be to incapacitate the enemy, and he began to throw punches, just like me.
To that, I responded.
Punch for punch.
—Now, let’s fight.
Finally, it was a battle in the field where I could uniquely fight.
In this fistfight, I have the advantage of experience.
A thousand years ago, I lacked the dexterity to handle blades like others.
As soon as a stick was involved, I couldn’t tell where the tip of the sword was going, and would repeatedly injure my own arms and thighs when trying ‘Swordsmanship.’ If it was just my own arm, I could grasp the movements, but as soon as something else was involved, I’d become completely useless. One could say I was a typical example of someone unathletic.
For the same reason, I couldn’t handle spears, bows, or anything else.
Seeing my situation, old General Volz of the Northern Army advised me to fight with my fists alone.
Starting with ‘self-defense art’ for women and children, progressing through basic ‘Martial Arts,’ and becoming a ‘Thief of Principles,’ I acquired my unique ‘sub-stream martial art’ powered by the strength I gained.
I will not lose this close-range fistfight.
I’ve only been told I can do this, so I’ve only trained in this.
Always, even before becoming a ‘Thief of the Laws of Wood’—
And ever since becoming a ‘Thief of the Laws of Wood’—
For this battle!
For this day, I—!!
“I will not loseeeeee—!!”
I cannot do clever things like changing my response after seeing the enemy’s movements.
I only respond to the enemy’s attack with techniques ingrained in my body.
And amidst the dizzyingly crisscrossing fists—my most favored technique lands.
I parried both of progenitor Uzunami’s fists from the inside, feigned a trip with my leg, stepped forward into his guard, and delivered a full-power palm strike.
Receiving an attack to his abdomen, progenitor Uzunami gritted his teeth and endured.
Although he did not retreat, his expression clearly changed.
His next movement visibly slowed.
—I can do it!
It was a blow that made me feel my life up to this point had not been in vain.
It was a moment that made me glad I repeated the same form every night, sacrificing sleep.
In the moments that made me glad to be myself, I felt myself drawing closer to victory.
Everything I prepared is working.
The Viaisia Castle, prepared a thousand years ago, succeeded in dividing him.
The plants I nurtured until today sealed his sword.
With Lord Nosfy’s cooperation, he cannot even use magic.
All the traps have functioned, and his abilities are being neutralized.
And on top of that, my ‘sub-stream martial art,’ on which I staked my life—!
It’s working—!
My power is reaching that progenitor Uzunami!!
Now, all I need to do is unleash my final trump card, and it’s over.
Weaken progenitor Uzunami, grab his arm, and activate Viaisia Castle’s ‘Ancestor Sealing Magic Circle’ with myself included—victory. This is Chancellor Aid’s victory.
“Uzuuunami—!!”
With victory within reach, I roared.
I parried punches and threw punches, my body moving instinctively with ingrained techniques.
However, amidst that full-power barrage, I no longer had the strength to look at the enemy’s face—
