"Haaah—!"
"Ngh—!"
The kingdom's central district, outside.
Magic clashed against magic, fists against feet, in their umpteenth intersection.
Through the
«Baleful God's Veil of Flames»
—the
Magic Inscription Liberation
—Laplace sought to carve out a zone of absolute advantage for himself, but Ermes countered by drawing upon the
«Primal Inscription»
—the
Magic Inscription Liberation
—to generate an area magic that would nullify it entirely.
From there, it became a battle of attrition.
First came the contest over
Magic Inscription Liberation
—driven
Spatial Supremacy
between them. Ermes sought not merely to nullify Laplace's advantageous zone, but to seize it entirely—and Laplace, drawing on the advantages honed through generations of Bloodline Magic, resisted the encroachment with everything he had.
Simultaneously, a magical duel. Since both were using Bloodline Magic-class Liberation, all they could employ was General-purpose Magic. On top of that, even in close-quarters combat, each pulled out every trick in the book trying to unbalance the other.
Mind, body, and even magic—all pushed to their limits in a head-on clash. They wielded an astonishing number of tactics simultaneously, as though brawling and playing a board game at the same time, each trying to outlast the other.
To any onlooker, the staggeringly high-level battle between these two had, from the moment it began up to this very instant, never once tilted the scales—maintaining a miraculous state of equilibrium.
In other words, a perfect stalemate.
Indeed—
still deadlocked
it was.
*(Kgh, u...!)*
It was Ermes who found this development unexpected.
After all, he had declared that "the more his analysis of the Domain progressed, the weaker the suppression on himself would become—and therefore, the longer time passed, the greater his advantage."
The first half of that assessment had not been wrong.
In truth, the mutual cancellation of their Domains had already progressed considerably, and control over the Domain was perfectly split. The suppression weighing on himself had likewise faded to a negligible degree.
If that was the case, then the weight of a pure magical exchange on the outcome would only grow. Since neither could employ Bloodline Magic-class abilities, the contest would come down to General-purpose Magic—and he, who possessed Enhanced universal magic, would hold the advantage—
—that was where his miscalculation lay.
"Haa—ah!"
Ermes unleashed a wave of flame.
A wide-range attack designed to inflict guaranteed damage and halt his opponent's movements. But Laplace countered it by concentrating his wind-based General-purpose Magic—
countered it
completely.
And from beyond the shattered flames, he grinned—a combative, feral smile—
"
I see
,
so this is how you do it
"
He waved his hand.
A wave of flame
came hurtling toward him.
It was exactly as before — a mirror image.
Ermes had
the Primal Inscription
to modify and develop — the Enhanced Universal Magic, with the same power and the same range, was now baring its fangs at Ermes.
"—!"
Ermes deflected it with water-based General-purpose Magic and fixed him with a look — not again.
Laplace looked at Ermes' expression and spoke, clearly amused.
"What's wrong? I thought you were supposed to gain the upper hand the longer this dragged on?"
"Tch—"
"Well, I guess that was a nasty question. Even I didn't see this coming. I can't replicate your Creation Magic, or the Bloodline Magic you reproduced through it, but—"
To sum up the current phenomenon in a single line:
"—Enhanced Universal Magic is something even I can copy just by watching, huh.
No, but is that really to be expected? I mean, it says it right there in the spell description—it's "universal," anyone can use it.
That's not how it works, Ermes declares internally.
Certainly, it's not theoretically impossible. But without the
Primal Inscription
, without years of refinement, and without some extraordinary constitution that surpasses even someone like Karma—
Even granting that it's Enhanced Universal Magic, copying a spell the instant you see it—metaphorically speaking, it would be like memorizing a language you've never encountered at all and holding a conversation just by reading a sentence in it.
To put it modestly, it's beyond anything a human being should be capable of.
In any case, that is the reason they remain evenly matched.
As Ermes continued analyzing the domain and dispelling its weakening effects, Laplace observed Ermes's Enhanced Universal Magic and grew stronger in turn.
The result: a balance maintained by the simultaneous rise in both their relative capabilities. An even draw.
...This situation—what Laplace's unexpected strengthening means is one thing.
(This man, too—he's a genius. An unbelievable, absurd level of genius.)
Until now, there had been individuals who surpassed Ermes in a single field. Greater magic power, or finer control, or sharper perception.
But this man is different from all of those.
If you had to put it in words—
The talent for magic itself
rivals that of Ermes. In some respects, it may even surpass it.
This is Laplace. Like Ermes, he is one who takes refinement and evolution as his weapons.
Had he been born properly as a noble of the kingdom and devoted himself to its development, he would without doubt have left his name resplendent in the annals of history. A genuine, bona fide genius of magic.
And that man is, right now.
"Man, this is a godsend. As you can see, I wasn't exactly born with the best of circumstances. Opportunities to learn well-structured magic like that were pretty much nonexistent for me. —So that's why—
Ironically enough, it retraced the very thing he had tried to do at the very inception of this battle.
—I'm going to learn every last bit of your magic.
Come on, what's next! Teach me more,
Teach—
—er!!
Like a beast, he begged for knowledge. Like a prodigious student, he moved to reap his teacher's life.
—But Ermes was not the one to be shaken by that.
(...Bring it on.)
Rare for him, he answered—in his heart at least—with equal ferocity.
(The situation is perfectly even. If that's the case, then from here on, whoever learns faster wins. I'll be learning from you too...!)
As if answering Laplace's call, he deployed his magic and met him head-on.
From there, it went exactly as Ermes had predicted.
An arms race of mutual learning continued. Ermes studying Laplace's domains, Laplace studying Ermes's Enhanced Universal Magic.
As they kept matching each other move for move... Ermes, too, came to understand.
The source of Laplace's power. The reason he had pushed his refinement this far.
No matter how nonchalant he seemed, no matter how unreadable his inner thoughts, no matter how it looked like he felt nothing—
—even so, a person devoid of all feeling could never put on a fight this fierce.
(He has them too. This man also has—
—the wishes and convictions that drive someone to do what must be done, to stake everything on what they believe is right.)
As they fought, Laplace's fiery passion seemed to transmit itself to Ermes naturally.
Ermes felt that now, more than any of their previous encounters, he could truly sense what lay at the very core of the man.
Yes. He has feelings too. This man also has them.
Even if others scorn them as fearsome, as something twisted and wrong.
Even so—there are feelings he wants to convey, wishes he wants to fulfill.
...And precisely because of that.
Even when the battle reached its peak, a moment where their concentration clashed like sparks, and it all came down to who could gain even the slightest edge—
—Laplace never lost sight of what he had to do.
"Hmph!"
Laplace suddenly turned his head in a random direction.
No... the direction he turned was downward. In other words—
"...Sorry, Ermes."
At the exact moment Ermes realized this, Laplace—
Without a shred of hesitation, completely unconcerned with being in the middle of their ferocious battle—flipped his body around.
"The Boss is calling. This is a hell of a time, but let's call a temporary truce."
"!"
And just like that, he swiftly took off, flying toward the underground.
It wasn't exactly that Ermes was caught off guard.
But it was certainly somewhat unexpected.
Yet he immediately dismissed that thought. Laplace's top priority was fulfilling Crono's wish. If that meant interrupting his duel with Ermes to go to him, he would do it without a second thought.
It was resolute — an action driven by unwavering conviction.
And Ermes, too, shifted his attention once more.
Laplace had set aside Ermes, who should have posed a genuine threat to them, and headed straight for Chrono instead.
If that was the case — then an irregular development serious enough to warrant such a move must have occurred. The most likely scenario... was that Chrono had been backed into a corner.
If that were true, then Ermes had every reason to move as well.
"...Very well."
Surely, it must be close now. Very close indeed.
With that thought, Ermes too invoked his wind-based Enhanced universal magic and descended underground in pursuit of Laplace.
This grudge ran far too deep to be settled easily. One after another, the conclusions of battles were drawing ever closer to the deepest depths of the Royal Capital's underground.
Next time, Chrono's battlefield moves. Be sure to read it!