"Wha—!?"
Attribute Enchantment:
Water Ice.
Those were the words Ermes spoke, and Chris's eyes went wide.
Chris couldn't believe it was possible, but his skepticism was betrayed as the magic bullets behind Ermes turned a contrasting blue.
They fired simultaneously. The umpteenth head-on clash between magic bullets in this battle ensued.
—for the first time in this fight, Ermes came out on top.
"What!?"
Chris desperately rolled aside to dodge Ermes's magic bullet. After a moment of stunned silence, he shot Ermes a furious glare.
"You—don't screw with me!!"
He fired another fire-attribute magic bullet. But just like before, it was swamped by the water-ice magic bullet, and the more he fired, the worse things got.
"The Attribute Enchantment of the Magic Bullet Archer certainly boosts the power of the magic bullets significantly."
Ermes's calm voice reached Chris, who was already struggling to keep up.
"But in exchange for adding an attribute to magic bullets that had been a stable, colorless force, you become disadvantaged against magic of an unfavorable elemental affinity. Like this."
"Stop acting like you know everything!!"
His tone was almost condescending, like a teacher scolding a poor student. Enraged, Chris ramped up his magical output, but that alone wasn't enough to change the outcome.
As if driving the point home, Ermes declared:
"That's why the standard approach is to change your own attribute to match mine—but as expected—"
"You—!!"
"You can only enchant with the fire attribute, can't you?"
Chris glared at Ermes with undisguised hatred but found himself at a loss for words, falling silent.
It was a bullseye.
To elaborate, under normal circumstances Chris couldn't even properly use Attribute Enchantment on his own. The only reason he'd managed it at all was by borrowing the power of the Ancient Magical Tool: Caduceus, and even then, he could only add his one strong element—fire.
That was precisely why he absolutely refused to acknowledge Ermes, who had accomplished the same thing without any external help.
"You too! You can only use that one attribute—!"
But even that desperate, half-formed retort was cut short by Ermes's merciless words.
"—Attribute Enchantment: Thunder Lightning."
"Gu—!?"
This time, a golden magic bullet crackled with sparks.
"—Attribute Enchantment: Fire. …The output is lower against anything other than a weakness attribute, as expected of the Ancient Magical Tool."
He had even effortlessly added the fire attribute—the one thing Chris himself could do.
In an exchange outside of his weakness attribute, Chris still held the edge in raw power. But that was irrelevant—Ermes simply switched back to water ice and began overwhelming Chris with blue magic bullets once more.
"Da—damn you!!"
If he stayed on fire attribute, he'd lose. Recognizing this in an instant, Chris made the praiseworthy decision to drop his enchantment entirely.
An enchanted magic bullet was more powerful than a plain one, but Chris's magical output was still higher than Ermes's for now. Closing the gap that way, he managed to barely hold his own against Ermes with colorless magic bullets.
"Not yet—I just need to draw more power from Caduceus—!"
Even now, Chris sought victory not from within himself but from the Ancient Magical Tool.
As if answering his call—or perhaps due to another factor—Caduceus blazed with even greater light, and his magical power surged.
The price was a splitting headache, but Chris crushed it under sheer hatred for Ermes and pressed forward. This time, he would win.
"Oh, and one more thing."
But.
In the same composed tone, Ermes continued:
"'Enchantment' is the very essence of the Magic Bullet Archer. If you understand that, then why—do you only ever enchant with attributes?"
"…Huh?"
The question was completely unexpected.
Wearing a look that said he'd never even considered it, Chris stared. In response, Ermes demonstrated.
First, for some reason, he deployed a Wall of Light—a piece of Enhanced Universal Magic—in front of himself. Then, after a breath:
"Magic Bullet Archer—Enhancement Enchantment: Barrier."
In that instant, the wall before Ermes came hurtling toward Chris at tremendous speed.
"What—!?"
The terror of a massive wall bearing down at blistering speed. Even the blast waves of magic bullets that struck it were swept along in its wake. While it didn't land a direct hit, it completely shattered his footing.
'Enchantment' is the essence of this magic. It doesn't stop at 'enchanting magic bullets with attributes.'
Naturally, adding special effects other than elemental attributes was entirely possible, and above all—it was also possible to 'enchant a magic bullet onto something else entirely.'
That was exactly what Ermes had done. He had enchanted his magic bullet onto the barrier, launching a surprise attack with what amounted to a flying great wall.
This near-infinite versatility was the true calling of the Magic Bullet Archer. Attribute Enchantment was merely a fraction of that potential.
During his time in the Royal Capital, Ermes had analyzed this magic in meticulous detail using the Primal Inscription. He understood this better than anyone.
And because of his surprise attack, Chris's defenses had cracked. Ermes judged this was his chance.
"You think some—cheap trick like that'll work on me!?"
But Chris, even as his posture crumbled, unleashed his remaining magic bullets.
Ermes's barrage had thinned from the earlier exchange. Outgunning Chris in this particular moment would be difficult.
But he remained perfectly calm, steadied his breathing, and—
"—Enhancement Enchantment: Leg Technique."
Enchanting magic bullets—onto his own body.
The result: Ermes kicked off the ground with explosive force, evading Chris's attack trajectory in an instant.
Without pausing, he charged directly toward Chris at a speed that would put magic bullets to shame.
"That's im—possible—!?"
Chris twisted his body in shock, barely managing to dodge the charge. Ermes overshot and drifted in the opposite direction, widening the gap once more.
"…The control is still a bit rough, I see."
He re-applied the enchantment and resumed his charge with inhuman mobility.
As he'd said, the control wasn't quite refined enough—he couldn't pin Chris down decisively. Chris seized the opening to counterattack, but—
"It's not—hitting…!"
Of course it wasn't. To Ermes now, Chris's magic bullets were practically standing still.
Chris was forced to witness the spectacle firsthand.
Ermes—whom he had dismissed as a failure, his own younger brother—overwhelming him, wielding the same Magic Bullet Archer magic that Chris had believed was bestowed upon the chosen, and using it more skillfully than Chris himself.
The instant that thought struck him, Chris arrived at a conclusion.
"Don't screw with me, don't screw with me! If you can do it, then I can too—"
Yes—if they shared the same magic, he just needed to do the same thing.
Drunk on what he thought was an ingenious idea, Chris mimicked what he'd seen and enchanted one of his magic bullets onto his own leg.
That was the decisive mistake.
"Aaaaaaghhhh!!"
His right leg practically exploded.
In truth, the skin was shredded to ribbons, leaving a horrifying, blood-soaked mess.
"This can't be—why…?"
"I was going to tell you not to try that."
Ermes's voice rang out over Chris's writhing body.
"Enchanting onto the body requires… rather complex magic power manipulation."
Rather complex was an understatement—as Chris now understood better than anyone.
This magic was an offensive spell, specialized in dealing damage to others. Applying it to oneself was, under any normal interpretation, nothing short of self-harm. The state of Chris's right leg made that painfully obvious.
To twist that principle around, extracting propulsion without harming oneself, and then to control it with directional precision—how much mastery of magic power manipulation would that require?
Ermes, who had accomplished this godlike feat, raised his fist once more toward Chris, who still refused to give up.
"—Enhancement Enchantment: Arm Technique. Do you understand now, brother?"
"ERMEEEEEES!!"
Far faster, more accurately, and with greater force than Chris could fire, he enchanted a magic bullet onto his fist.
"Your magic, you see, is used like this."
Without a moment's hesitation, he drove the finishing blow straight into Chris's abdomen.