(As I thought — it can't be beaten with that...)
As he traded magical blows with Third Prince Rodele, Rest sighed inwardly.
Rodele and the rebel soldiers were charging straight toward the main camp... He had unleashed Amaterasu at them, but it wasn't enough to take them down.
Rodele had conjured a stone wall to shield himself, and while the spell did manage to inflict some damage on the soldiers following behind him, it wasn't enough to finish them off.
Amaterasu was certainly a powerful spell... but it had a fatal flaw — without sufficient "charge time," it couldn't unleash its full potential.
To activate it on the scale needed to scatter an entire army like before, he would have needed to gather sunlight for at least a full minute.
(There wasn't enough time, and I couldn't very well darken the entire battlefield under these circumstances. The sunlight gathered was far too scarce — at best, I could only produce the power of a high-level spell.)
That was Amaterasu's weakness.
Something to improve upon going forward.
"[Fire Cannon]!"
"[Water Wall]!"
Rodele launched a spell, and Rest blocked it.
A one-on-one battle. A duel.
Royal army soldiers stood all around them... but none of them intervened.
For nobles and royalty, a head-on confrontation — a duel — was something sacred.
Unless Rest called for their help, they would not interfere.
"[Fireball]! [Amplify]! [Compress]! [Accelerate]!"
"[Super Accelerate]!"
He unleashed a quadruple-cast spell... but Rodele drastically reinforced his physical abilities to dodge it.
Rest circled around behind him, aiming to take off his head — but Rest also cast [Super Accelerate] to dodge the attack.
"You're strong... Seriously, who are you...!"
"That's what I should be saying... Honestly, I underestimated you, thinking you were just another Cedric."
Rest created distance from Rodele and let out a sigh.
In truth, Rodele's abilities were quite formidable. Well worth admiration.
He had been arrogant and selfish, and Rest had written him off as just another Cedric — but fighting him head-on like this, the guy was genuinely strong.
He had been in D-class at the academy, but if he had simply studied properly for the written exams, he could have easily placed among the top of his year.
(His mana reserves are massive too, and when it comes to output, he's got me beat... He fires off high-level magic like it's nothing. If this guy weren't twisted in the head, couldn't he have become a hero just like anyone else?)
"I'm impressed. It wasn't just all talk — you're actually strong."
"...And you, for just a viscount, are surprisingly powerful. Just how much mana do you have?"
On the other hand, Rodele also seemed to have taken notice of Rest's abilities, growing more cautious by the moment.
"That light magic from earlier. You used enough power to mow down an entire army, yet you show no signs of running dry. As much as it pains me to say... when it comes to mana reserves, you're above me."
"Looks like you've improved enough to admit that honestly... Would've been nice if you'd become a decent person sooner."
"............"
Rest taunted him, but Rodele merely laughed with a hint of self-deprecation. He didn't take the bait.
"[Super Accelerate]!"
"[Super Accelerate]!"
Rest and Rodele simultaneously enhanced their physical abilities, kicked off the battlefield, and clashed into each other.
In terms of physical ability and fighting sense, Rest had the edge. In terms of magic output, Rodele was superior.
As a result, their speed ended up evenly matched.
"Hmph! Hah! Yah!"
(He really is genuinely strong, huh...)
Rest threw a kick, but Rodele ducked low to avoid it and launched a counter punch.
Rest caught Rodele's arm and tried to throw him, but... at the last moment, Rodele retracted his arm and backstepped to create distance.
Despite having repeatedly used high-level magic, Rodele's mana showed no signs of running out.
When it came to fighting sense, Rest should have been clearly superior... yet he couldn't press the attack.
Rodele's raw physical coordination was apparently excellent too. His reflexes were quite sharp, and had he received proper training, he would surely have excelled not only as a magician, but also as a swordsman or warrior.
(What an incredible waste of potential... truly a shame...)
Had he not gone down the wrong path, Rodele would have flourished alongside Rest as one of the next generation's key figures.
That such a person would fade away without ever reaching his potential, disappearing as a rebel—it was truly regrettable.
"Cedric, and now this Celery... why do they keep throwing away their futures with their own hands? They should have made better choices."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Rodele screamed and lunged at Rest.
Punches, kicks, body tackles—accelerated by magic—Rest dodged each one by a hair's breadth while activating his own spell.
"Thunderstorm!"
"Wha—!"
Rest unleashed a wide-area spell centered on himself.
Lightning rained down in a violent storm, tearing through both Rest's and Rodele's bodies.
"A mutual kill... you were aiming for that...? Impossible...!"
"You'd think it's impossible, wouldn't you? At least, you would."
Rest gritted his teeth as he endured the heat and impact of the lightning.
He was withstanding it by activating his body reinforcement magic, but... pain was still pain.
Yet... even so, he didn't think he had made a mistake.
(I'll give you this, Rodele Aiwood. You are strong.)
Strong. Very strong.
So strong that winning without a scratch felt difficult.
(But... your combat experience is overwhelmingly insufficient!)
If judging purely by overall talent, Rodele might even surpass Rest.
However... compared to Rest, who had fought monsters since childhood and, after being taken in by House Rosemary, had been honed by Diebl and the Marchioness, Rodele simply lacked real combat experience.
He probably couldn't even conceive of such a dirty fighting style as launching a magical attack that deliberately included oneself in the blast.
(If we had fought in five years, or ten, the result might have been different... but that future will never come.)
"Guh...!"
Even while being struck by lightning, Rodele quickly retreated backward, moving out of range.
A magical high-speed disengagement. Despite being in a pinch, it was a swift escape that was difficult to capture.
"[Amaterasu]"
But Rest wouldn't let him go.
He generated an ultra-small Dark Star, creating a momentary suction of light.
From it, a thin laser beam shot forth and pierced Rodele's abdomen.
No matter how much Rodele accelerated with magic, he could not exceed the speed of light.
While an [Amaterasu] that hadn't absorbed enough light lacked the power to incinerate Rodele, if its focus was pushed to the limit, it could at least punch a hole the size of a ballpoint pen.
"Kahh...!?"
Pierced clean through the liver, Rodele coughed up blood.
He frantically tried to cast healing magic, but... it was far too slow.
"Hah!"
This time Rest accelerated, closing the distance to Rodele in an instant.
Only then did he draw the sword at his hip, tearing a slash from Rodele's chest down to the base of his neck.
"Aa, gahh...!?"
"You don't seem very accustomed to healing wounds... compared to your other magic, it's embarrassingly crude."
Rodele's healing magic lacked the sharpness of his other spells.
If he had mastered healing magic to a greater degree, he might have been able to hold on a little longer.
"It's over. Rodele Aiwood."
"...!"
One more strike — a slash came crashing down.
Taking an X-shaped wound across his chest, Rodele collapsed, spraying fresh blood.
"And the enemy general is slain..."
When Rest casually threw out those words... cheers erupted from all around.
The allies who had surrounded them called out words of blessing to the victor.
Before anyone realized it, the fighting across most of the battlefield had come to an end. The rebel army appeared to have been suppressed.
There had been unexpected resistance, but... the battle between the royal army and the rebel army was over.
The royal army's dead numbered four hundred. The wounded, eight hundred and fifty.
The rebel army's dead numbered twelve thousand five hundred. The wounded exceeded thirty thousand. The soldiers who had scattered were too numerous to count.
The damage caused by Rodele's unexpected resistance had been considerable, but... looking at the final result, the royal army had achieved a crushing victory in half a day.