“Defeat me? You, of all people?”
Gilra let out a derisive laugh.
“Even captains can’t lay a scratch on me. What can a weakling like you possibly do?”
“…Ashe, please wait just a moment.”
Ignoring Gilra’s words, I spoke to Ashe behind me.
“I’ll defeat him, and then I’ll take you to a doctor right away.”
With that, I faced Gilra again.
My whole body felt hot.
It was as if my blood was boiling.
Was it anger at seeing Ashe and the others hurt?
Or was it the exhilaration of battle?
Or perhaps both—I wasn’t sure myself.
When I first faced the Empire’s mages in my hometown of Eiha Village, fear had been my dominant emotion.
But with each battle I fought, the feeling of fear gradually faded.
Of course, my confidence in my own abilities was a major factor.
But it wasn’t just that; at an unbelievable speed, I had grown accustomed…
…to the battlefield.
“What’s with that look? Are you angry?”
Gilra sneered.
“I thought you’d be trembling and begging for your life.”
“As if! I’ll return the favor for hurting our captain.”
“Hmph, could it be… you’ve fallen for that captain of yours? She is quite beautiful, after all.”
“Yeah, it’s a shame she’s already married.”
…Wait, why am I engaging with the enemy on this topic?!
“If anything, doesn’t the fact that she’s married make her more appealing?”
“Fair point… no, a hundred points!”
“Ah, you understand. It’s a shame you’re just a knight of the Kingdom.”
Gilra laughed gleefully.
…Again, I’m not trying to prolong this conversation, me!
I mentally chided myself for the second time.
Still, being able to banter like this was probably a sign of my composure.
At least, I felt no fear of him now.
“In any case… I’ll defeat you.”
“Try it! Let’s see if you have any way to defeat me, who nullifies all magic!”
Gilra boasted.
*Phew*, finally, I felt like we were back in a battle-like atmosphere.
However—honestly, I had no plan.
No matter how extraordinarily strong his magic resistance was, I doubted he could withstand Photon Blast.
But if I unleashed that spell in the middle of the city, the Royal Capital would be in serious trouble.
At worst, I might destroy the Royal Capital myself before the Empire could even attack.
With a giant like a Steel Dragon, I could have used a tactic of blasting it diagonally upwards to prevent collateral damage, but that was impossible against a human-sized opponent like him.
Now, what should I do…?
“What’s wrong? If you’re not coming, I’ll come to you!”
Gilra raised both his arms.
Ah, I was still trying to figure things out!
But of course, the enemy wouldn’t wait.
“Fuuuuh!”
As Gilra brought his arms down with a breath…
*Goooh!*
A massive tornado was created and hurtled towards me.
A silent incantation wind spell, no doubt.
Surrounding buildings were reduced to powder and blown away as if they were vegetables in a blender.
The power was almost on the level of a natural disaster.
“Void Sphere!”
I immediately activated a Defensive Magic.
A defensive spell that absorbs and nullifies enemy attack magic.
This should minimize damage to the surroundings—
“—What!?”
But the dome-shaped barrier I deployed was effortlessly scattered by the approaching tornado.
The drawback of this defensive magic was its limited energy absorption.
Gilra’s attack magic had apparently exceeded that limit.
The destructive energy was far greater than I had anticipated.
“Kuh… Aegis Sphere!”
I activated a different type of defensive magic.
It was a close call—
As the wind’s destructive effect was about to reach me, a magic shield appeared at the very edge of its range, immediately repelling the tornado.
Fierce winds raged around me.
The Defensive Magic I cast protected Ashe and the Fourth Squad knights.
But everything else—paths, buildings, street trees—was shattered, twisted, and blown away as dust.
When the tornado finally dissipated, all that remained was a crater and the debris of buildings—a complete ruin.
…I’m sorry to the people who lived here.
Whispering an apology in my heart, I launched a counterattack.
“Flasher Bomb!”
From my outstretched right hand, I created and released a small orb of light.
A magic spell that causes a localized explosion around the point of impact.
It didn’t have the power to blow away an entire city like Photon Blast, but it was strong enough to obliterate a house.
With his defense, he should take significant damage, if not be killed.
For now, I just needed to incapacitate him and restrain him so he couldn’t escape this time.
The blue orb hit Gilra, causing an explosion—
For a moment,
“Fohhh!”
With Gilra’s roar, a red radiance filled the surroundings.
The red light emitted from the chest of his armor spread out radially, easily blowing away the flames and shockwave generated by the blue orb.
“It didn’t work!?”
I was genuinely surprised.
I had expected he would take at least some damage, but his resistance was far beyond my imagination.
“It’s useless. Did you think a little trick like this would hurt me?”
“Lightning Whip!”
This time, I created a shining whip of light and attempted to restrain Gilra’s entire body.
“I said it’s useless!”
But, just as before, the moment red light emanated from Gilra’s body, the light whip vanished.
“Fuuuuh!”
Now it was my turn, Gilra unleashed a barrage of wind magic spells with his unique exhalation.
While defending with Aegis Sphere, I took advantage of the openings to unleash counter-magic.
“Aura Bullet!”
An orb of golden light.
“Green Fist Ray!”
A pressure blast enveloped in green wind.
“Calamity Delta!”
Spears of blue light rained down from three directions—I struck without giving him a moment to breathe.
If a single strike wouldn’t work, then a barrage would leave no room for resistance.
However, this strategy was also…
“Useless, useless.”
The reddish-brown armor and the red light emanating from it deflected my attacks, leaving not a single scratch.
“Resist everything, huh…”
He was a troublesome opponent.
As expected, attack magic scaled to minimize collateral damage couldn’t overcome his Magic Resistance.
I couldn’t restrain him, nor could I incapacitate him by dealing sufficient damage.
It seemed only spells on the level of Photon Blast would work—
“Magic doesn’t affect me. I told you that from the start, didn’t I?”
Gilra sneered.
“As long as I have this Orb, I am invincible. I am the greatest genius mage in the world.”
From his chest, an exceptionally bright red light spilled out.
That must be the Orb embedded in his body—I’d forgotten its official, long name—the Orb.
An Orb that maximizes magic conversion efficiency, turning an ordinary person into a top-tier mage—
I recalled Gilra’s words from earlier.
In other words, the immense Magic Resistance he possessed was generated by the magic, amplified to its limits by the Orb.
“…Then, if I break that…”
I had a sudden realization.
If I could just break that one thing…!
