“Now that the obstacles are gone… let’s continue the fight.”
“Laurentz, I’m leaving the Duke to you.”
“Leave it to me.”
“Jared, be careful.”
Luzer slung his greatsword over his shoulder and grinned. The light returned to his eyes, which had previously observed impassively as if he were uninterested in the appearance of his companions or even the participation of the Court Mages.
However, it was only to fight Jared and kill him.
Jared slowly distanced himself from the Dukes. He knew Luzer was fixated on him, so he decided it would be better if he wasn’t around. More importantly, he now had a trusted friend to protect the Duke.
“Now I can fight with peace of mind.”
“If you take that word at face value, it sounds like you had some worries before, doesn’t it?”
“I did. I’m not good at multitasking. I can’t fight while thinking about various things.”
But, it was okay now. Thanks to his reliable companions, he could focus on Luzer.
He clenched his fists tightly, amplifying the magic power circulating within him. He still couldn’t fully utilize all the magic power he had unleashed. He had received training from Almeida, but controlling magic power was not something that could be mastered overnight.
Therefore, he had been holding back.
Not only because his opponent was his benefactor and his beloved older brother Luzer, but also because he believed he wouldn’t be able to fight other enemies if he didn’t conserve his strength. However, he no longer had to worry about that.
“From here on out, I’m going all out.”
“That’s great to hear.”
“Luzer, I will defeat you and take them back.”
“Jared, I will kill you—and then what shall I do?”
Perhaps he himself was questioning the sense of revenge that had been instilled in him. It was painful, but he couldn’t afford to focus on that right now. All Jared could do was defeat Luzer, defeat Dolf Ein, and break the brainwashing. That was all. It was wonderfully simple.
So, he would start by defeating Luzer.
Jared kicked off the ground and closed in on Luzer.
“Ooh, watch out!”
The greatsword swung, but no matter how much brute force was applied, there were inconsistencies in movement when trying to move an object beyond a certain mass. In contrast, Jared was unarmed. He had no knife or anything else.
This created a difference in their movements.
He ducked under the greatsword’s attack and slipped into Luzer’s guard without stopping his steps.
He thrust out both hands, hitting Luzer’s abdomen, but Luzer’s body was as hard as steel. However, that was no reason to give up on attacking. If something was hard, there was a way to attack it.
First, he could attack the same spot repeatedly.
As he struck with his palm, he released magic power into Luzer’s body.
Magic power not converted into magic could be used as a simple shock. It was a cheat of sorts, possible because he possessed an abundance of magic power like Jared.
The attack, which didn’t hurt his arm, was more powerful than a punch.
Repeating the process two or three times, the damage began to register even on Luzer’s steel-like body. What he was doing was unglamorous, but as long as he could defeat him by taking his time, it was fine.
“You can’t take too many hits like that!”
The greatsword was swung vertically in a single slash towards Jared, who had slipped into his guard.
He succeeded in dodging the attack that cut through the air, but the greatsword didn’t just gouge the ground; it sent a slash several meters long across the earth.
If it had hit him, he would have died from that blow.
Judging that his opponent’s weapon was a hindrance, Jared aimed for Luzer’s wrist. He condensed magic power and borrowed the power of the spirits to create a black obsidian knife and swung it.
In an instant, lightning crackled, and Luzer, who had been before him, vanished.
He heard a breath from behind him, and as he instantly turned around, he was punched before he could react.
Jared’s consciousness flickered for a moment as his face was slammed into the ground with such force, but he bit down on his molars and managed to avoid blacking out.
Through his distorted vision, Luzer swung his greatsword. At this point, he gave up on defeating him with minimal damage.
He mentally apologized to Mia, who worried about Luzer and him, and offered magic power to the spirits. The spirits rejoiced at the magic power given to them and became eager to lend their strength to Jared.
Sand dust infused with magic power swirled and clung to Jared’s body as if to protect him.
As Luzer’s greatsword approached, there was no need to panic or defend. He was ready. The blow that should have easily cut Jared in two was caught by the swirling sand dust, acting as a shield.
“…That’s cheating, isn’t it?”
With a voice that held both exasperation and admiration, Luzer quickly made his decision.
As Jared, who had entrusted the manipulation of the sand dust to the spirits, intensified his magic power for his next attack, Luzer scattered lightning to create distance and also intensified his magic power.
“Come on, Jared, let’s have a fun test of strength!”
“Ooooh!”
They unleashed their magic simultaneously.
A giant stone serpent crawling across the ground clashed with a streak of lightning.
The magic contained and the power released were perfectly matched. The stone serpent, scorched by the lightning and letting out a cry, swung its tail.
The tail attempted to ensnare Luzer’s body, but he easily caught the serpent’s blow with his arm and then shattered it.
“No way?”
As the stone serpent and lightning neutralized each other and disappeared, Jared and Luzer remained, wide-eyed.
Luzer’s arm was torn, and blood was flowing, but that was all. He was not only surprised that his arm had been able to catch the stone serpent’s tail, which had swung with the force to sweep his whole body, but he also couldn’t hide his further astonishment at Luzer’s body, which remained unharmed.
Even if it had been caught, if it couldn’t break his arm, he wouldn’t be able to fight. It was simply unreasonable.
“What do you feel fighting me? Is it your rare Lightning Element? Or this unreasonable Physical Prowess?”
“To be honest, it’s both.”
“I thought so. I feel the same way. That’s why you should just give up and die.”
Lightning flashed again, and Luzer disappeared. He appeared before Jared in less time than it took to breathe, his fist already raised, leaving Jared no choice but to block.
He brought up both hands to meet the approaching fist, trying to minimize the impact as much as possible. However, Jared’s attention was focused on the fist, and he failed to notice Luzer’s kick, which was launched a beat later, hitting his left abdomen directly through the sand dust he had used for defense.
Jared’s body shrieked as if his bones were grinding, and the oxygen was expelled from his lungs.
As a minimal resistance, he transformed the sand dust into a spear and thrust it into Luzer’s right leg, which had captured his body. As he confirmed blood spurting from Luzer’s leg, Jared’s body was sent flying and rolled across the ground.
Bouncing repeatedly on the ground, enduring the impacts throughout his body, he desperately held on, determined not to lose consciousness. As the momentum died down and his body regained some freedom, he stood up, but Luzer, already enveloped in purple lightning, was poised before him.
From there, it was a one-sided onslaught. Jared was brutalized to the point that it was a wonder he remained conscious, receiving blows from all directions—punches and kicks—and not even being allowed to fall.
The fact that he possessed the brute strength to kill with a single blow but didn’t, was likely due to the deep-seated resentment and hatred that had been instilled in him. However, thanks to that, Jared was alive even in a near-death state.
His internal organs seemed to be damaged, as he coughed up blood, but Luzer’s attacks did not cease. The moment he was kicked away, his magic power ran out, and the sand dust protecting him disappeared. If this continued, death awaited him.
The smiling face of Olivier flashed in his mind. If he died like this, her smile would surely cloud over. He hated that.
Next, Yeny’s smiling face appeared. She, who affectionately called him older brother, might seek revenge on Luzer if he were killed, even if she knew he was brainwashed. He worried about her, knowing she had such a dangerous side.
And Hannelore and Trane would surely grieve. The Duke, too. These kind people would surely blame themselves for involving Jared.
His grandparents, who always looked out for him, would also be saddened.
He thought that Conrad, who affectionately called him older brother despite having just met, and his mother, Therese, would also be sad if he died.
What about his father, concubines, and siblings? His stepmother and one younger brother would probably mourn, but he wasn’t sure about the others. They might even be relieved and happy.
That, in itself, was irritating. He felt a faint resolve that he wouldn’t die in a place like this.
He thought of Pfeil and Rosa, who were fighting the enemy. He had a strange relationship with Pfeil, with whom he had promised a rematch, but he considered him a friend. Would he grieve if he died, or would he laugh in pity?
He couldn’t express enough gratitude to Tres and Adelina, who had rushed to his aid, and Laurentz. He had to repay them someday, somewhere.
The faces of many people flashed through his mind and then disappeared. Finally, Luzer and his mother appeared. His kind older brother would surely regret it someday when the brainwashing was lifted if he killed him. He didn’t want his beloved older brother to be a fratricide.
Although not bound by blood, from the day they had promised to become brothers, Jared Murphy and Luzer Fischer were brothers, no matter what anyone else said.
“Ah, no, I can’t possibly die here.”
“But you will die, Jared!”
He received another blow and vomited bloody stomach fluid for the umpteenth time.
His vision narrowed, and his consciousness was hazy. He wanted to clench his fist to counterattack, but he could no longer even feel anything.
He needed power.
He still had magic power left in his body, but there wasn’t enough time to convert it into magic.
He was prevented from interfering with the spirits or having even a brief moment to gain strength, and any attempt to use even a little magic power was interrupted by the shock and pain.
Each of Luzer’s blows was that heavy.
But he couldn’t lose. If he couldn’t use magic, he would do something else.
“What should I do with the magic power?”
With simple attacks, he was no match for Luzer.
Converting it into magic was also difficult.
He couldn’t offer it to the spirits.
“Then I’ll use it myself. Not magic, but absorb the magic power itself. It originally belonged to me, so it should be possible to reincorporate it. If I return what I’ve released back into my body. But just returning it won’t do. That won’t change anything. Strength. I need strength. I need enough strength to defeat Luzer.”
This happened unconsciously.
The magic power that Jared couldn’t wield was overflowing from his body. It was difficult, but not impossible, to reabsorb his own magic power. However, simply reabsorbing it would only restore his magic power. Increasing useless magic power wouldn’t lead to victory. So, he thought of absorbing it as strength.
If magic power could become fire, water, wind, earth, light, and darkness—it should also be able to become simple strength.
He was convinced of this.
Jared extended his hand as if to grasp the void and clenched it.
To Luzer, he might have seemed crazed from the repeated blows. But that was not the case.
Jared had grasped it. He had definitely grasped it.
He released Jared Murphy’s magic power—and then, all the magic power he could muster, and absorbed it once more.
In an instant, an explosive power coursed through his body.
Jared had no way of knowing, but it was an elementary spell, Body Enhancement Magic, the most frequently used magic during the golden age of magic, long ago.
