Mightiest Melee Magician

Chapter 36

Mightiest Melee Magician

Chapter 36

The King of Magicians.

The Fire King Teron.

The owner of the Throne of Teron and also the ruler of the tallest Magic Tower in the world.

He looked down at everything that was happening in the Altein Stadium from his floating room.

At his side were 6 elected official judges,

And one of the 6 judges was the director of the Ignit Magic Academy, Tirion Ignit.

To Tirion Ignit, who was once called his rival, Teron asked in a joking tone,

“Tirion. How does it feel after your academy won?”

“Are you asking me to answer as the director, or as a judge?”

“Either.”

“Hasn’t the competition just begun? I can’t tell you yet.”

“…Your cranky personality is still the same.”

“I’m only being cautious.”

Both of them looked at the crystal ball.

The inside of the crystal ball showed the complete view of the Altein Stadium, and in the centre was Ruin and Seta Malkiri.

As he saw the face of Ruin, Teron spoke up.

“Ruin Ardell. He was a candidate for being one of the 11 children.”

“So you remember.”

“Of course. He was a pretty special case that was rare to find. He had an incredible talent for magic, enough to instinctually learn to manipulate mana. But he was lacking in the form of that Magic Evocation Disorder. But for him to appear here. Haven’t given up yet?”

“Ruin is a student who doesn’t know the meaning of giving up.”

“No, I’m talking about you. You held onto a student who had no potential?”

“I don’t limit my grade of a student’s worth with only ‘talent’.”

“…I understand your educational principles. Well, it’s a welcome sight anyhow. It was quite a pity to remove him from the list of 11 children since his talent was quite good.”

“A pity? Really? From what I remember, you treated him like he was a useless child.”

“…Sometimes, it feels like you still have some score left to settle with me.”

“Our relationship isn’t that special.”

“Well, that’s true.”

The 11 Children.

These were the children that the Fire King Teron personally picked out as the most talented children of this generation 5 years ago.

The benefits they received were endless.

They were periodically called to the Magic Tower for Teron to personally check their accomplishments and they were directly issued special ‘homework’ by the Tower Master.

Their starting point was at a different level from normal students from the start.

Ruin Ardell was also a promising candidate to be considered for being one of these 11 children.

But he was quickly excluded.

The reason was one known to everyone.

Magic Evocation Disorder.

His potential for growth as a magician became zero.

The 11-year-old Ruin Ardell he remembered was definitely a failed magician.

However,

“Ehm. For a magician who can’t evoke magic to come as the school representative… I don’t think he had some special tactic prepared like the previous match either.”

That magician shamelessly attended the academy until graduation.

And to the surprise of some, even became the school representative and attended a huge competition like the Grand Festival.

“How many years did he take to overcome his curse?”

Teron was curious.

Even though he himself could be called the greatest magician on the continent, the disorder was a fatal curse that even he didn’t know the origin or cure of.

This was the pure curiosity of a magician.

And Tirion Ignit, who knew a little more than him, lightly smiled and replied,

“Since this is the individual competition, you’ll know soon enough.”

“…I’ll know soon enough?”

The meaning behind the smile was definitely anticipation.

Anticipation for his student.

The student who had never given up.

A new appearance that could be shown to a magician who only chased after the size of one’s ‘talent’.

And,

“…Tirion. Are you really thinking of not telling me till the end?”

“Of course.”

“Hmph… You’re too much.”

Since they were in a cat-and-dog, love-hate, rival relationship for so long.

It was only natural to enjoy the fun of messing with the King of Magicians.

* * *

The first individual competition event.

The representatives would come forward for a one-on-one battle.

The event was simple, the only rule being snatching the flag attached to the other’s back, but since it was still a battle between magicians, there were a myriad of battle tactics.

From the honest method of using ice and binding magic to suppress the opponent’s movement to grab the flag.

To summon a guardian with 4th-class magic to target their back.

Sometimes, in high-level competitions, there were magicians who used invisibility magic too.

Of course, the methods above didn’t really apply to me.

Invisibility magic could barely be cast by a 5th-class master, so it was impossible.

And binding or ice magic was only effective if I got close to Seta.

“How about a guardian?”

“Guardians are too stupid, so no.”

There was only one method left.

“Then how are you going to compete?”

At Straang’s question, I lifted my fist.

“I’ll have to face him head-on.”

I would run up and punch him to make him fall unconscious and then grab his flag.

As Straang understood what I meant in lifting my fist, her lips curled upwards.

“…I’m looking forward to that.”

She who was the Incarnation of Strength…

No.

She always talked about how she ‘missed the taste of blood’ and that I could call upon her anytime to help, but I wasn’t planning on using her strength.

Only by my strength.

With overwhelming power.

I clenched my fist and looked at Seta, who was standing opposite me.

Seta acted like nothing was bothering him, but he was probably pretty nervous seeing as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

Everyone was paying attention to the fight between the two of us.

‘So the rumour spread out pretty well.’

If I trusted what Irene said, everyone should know about the bet I made with Seta.

…That’s just fine.

Oyota National Magic Institute.

Ranking 20th in power between the 32 schools.

Weren’t they just the perfect sacrifice to warn everyone?

I looked ahead with a joking and smiling expression.

[Match Start!]

And charged straight at Seta Malkiri on the signal to start.

* * *

* * *

Seta Malkiri.

He was easily suppressed by Ruin in a nonsensical manner before, but he considered it as just a fluke.

No, he was forced to believe it.

‘I must have my revenge.’

The humiliation he faced in front of his own peers.

To recover from this, he had to win.

Right.

He had put all his fame and pride on the line in this match.

That was why he had decided to use his best strategy.

[Match Start!]

As the match started, Seta Malkiri slammed both his hands onto the ground and shouted,

“Summon Battle Guardian!”

4th-class magic.

Summon Battle Guardian.

The magic to summon a relentless front-line warrior who would beat down on the ‘enemy’, even when its body was being broken to pieces. 

The magic power flowing out from Seta Malkiri’s fingertips filled the earth in the stadium in an instant, and soon, something materialized and formed in the air.

“Oh!”

“It’s a guardian!”

“Kuaaaah!”

The guardian born from Seta’s hands formed behind Ruin while it wielded a fearsome scimitar and charged directly at Ruin.

However,

“…W-what’s this?”

Ruin disappeared in the blink of an eye.

It wasn’t invisibility magic.

Skill .

Strength that exceeded 2000.

With 200% strength added on top of that, he was just moving too fast to be seen with the naked eye.

“Kuaaah…?”

The guardian that had lost its target was just standing still while looking around.

“D-damn it.”

The flustered Seta Malkiri started to cast another spell.

It was protection magic to defend against Ruin who could appear from anywhere.

But…

Shoock!

“……!”

A shadow of a human flickered in front of his eyes like a panorama.

Instinctively realising that Ruin was approaching him from behind, Seta stopped his casting, turned around, and threw a punch.

Woosh—!

It was an irregular attack that Seta could only showcase because he had the disposition of a fighter.

“I was anticipating that.”

“……”

But Ruin caught it and held it firm in his hand, as if expecting it.

Then, Seta saw it.

A smile like a devil.

“It’ll be good to watch your back.”

“…My back?”

A dangerous smile was on Ruin’s face.

As Ruin pointed at Seta’s back with his chin, Seta turned his head.

In that place…

“S-stop!”

“Kuaaaah!”

As the guardian had found the ‘enemy’ that he must attack, Ruin, the guardian was recklessly charging to Seta’s position.

“D-damn it…! Stop!”

This was the fatal weakness of the 4th-class summoning magic ‘Battle Guardian’.

Saying it in a good way, it was very honest.

Saying it in a bad way, it was stupid.

Since its only goal was to attack the ‘enemy’, it didn’t consider its own summoner’s safety, even if he were currently being held in place.

If the guardian was to charge Ruin head on, it was a situation where the steel armour of the guardian would hit Seta instead.

“Let go… Let go!”

Seta struggled to escape the clutches of Ruin as he held him in place, but as if Ruin’s fist was glued to him, it didn’t budge.

In that split second.

Seta Malkiri realised it.

The fact that when Ruin had grabbed onto his shoulder at the inn before.

He hadn’t been able to move at all.

That wasn’t mere coincidence.

“……Ah.”

Defeat.

A shocking defeat where he couldn’t even do anything.

As Seta finally came to this realisation, he screwed his eyes shut.

However, nothing happened to him.

Rather…

Crash! Boom!

A great explosion was heard.

“…Hm?”

The scene Seta Malkiri saw when he cracked opened his eyes was…

“……”

Ruin Ardell, with two fists holding Fireballs.

Indiscriminately pummelled his Battle Guardian.

He looked like a fiend.

“Kuaah? Kuaaaah?!”

The Battle Guardian was also surprised

It could only receive the punches while grovelling on the ground.

It had no chance to fight back.

Boom!

The guardian’s armour was crushed where Ruin’s punches landed.

Boom! Crash!

And as the fists hit another two or three times, it was destroyed.

“……”

With his fists.

How could you destroy steel armour with just your fists?

Seta Malkiri, who fought regularly, even in his childhood, was filled with an intense fear.

Seemingly too shocked, he had forgotten about capturing the flag and could only sit there and watch, eyes wide.

Then, having finished the battle guardian in an instant, Ruin walked close.

Seta’s lips quivered in fear as he stepped backwards.

No.

He wanted to fight, but his limbs froze up, not letting him move.

He was overpowered by the display of power.

He could only ask one thing.

“Did… Did you save me?”

At that, Ruin shook his head.

“Save you? You who terrorized my peers? Why would I?”

“T-then…?”

“I need to finish you off myself. I can’t leave it to that stupid guardian.”

Then he smiled wickedly once more.

In the eyes of Seta, this was the form of a demon.

The demon—

No.

Ruin Ardell spoke while lifting his fist.

“You didn’t forget about our bet, right?”

“…Yea?”

“Let’s flick your forehead, just once.”

“……What?”

Ruin’s middle finger fired before Seta could respond.

This finger instantly struck Seta’s forehead.

And before he lost consciousness, the last thing Seta Malkiri saw,

‘So… blue.’

Was the blue sky.

——