"—I am coming at you with the genuine intent to kill."
His gaze met mine with unwavering resolve. There was no deception behind his words, none of the hollow falsehoods I had seen in Castor.
"You’re really coming at me with lethal intent?" I asked.
"Yes. I shall test my mettle against yours," Edward replied with a smile.
He was serious. More than that, I could feel the sheer elation radiating from him. It was the same thrill I felt when I faced Onyx—the pure, racing pulse of excitement.
"I see."
If that was the case, I had to respond in kind. If he wanted a battle of lives rather than a mere match, then I had to fight him as the Head of House Brave. As a warrior, I would meet him with my life on the line.
Unlike the duel with Castor, my blood was actually stirring. Being in front of this man did that to me.
"Then you’d better use every bit of your strength to finish me off."
"Naturally."
Edward nodded, his expression making it clear he intended to use his magic to tear through everything I had.
"Ha. Doesn't look like this is going to be a simple opening act, then."
A smirk escaped my lips. In a student tournament, if two mages capable of chantless casting clashed with everything they had, it would likely overshadow every match that followed. I felt a bit bad for the second and third-year seniors whose performances might seem lackluster afterward, but holding back against Edward wasn't an option.
"In my mind, there is no 'before' or 'after,'" Edward said.
"Fair enough."
Having mastered chantless magic, Edward was nothing short of a genius. He was strong enough at this stage to make my blood boil with anticipation. He had seen my techniques and experienced them firsthand. If he was challenging me despite that, he clearly believed he had a path to victory.
"In the name of Edward, I challenge you to a duel!"
"I accept. But just 'Edward' is fine. You don't need the mask anymore, right?"
We both took our stances, swords in hand. When I teased him for omitting his royal house name, he finally pulled the mask away. His eyes remained fixed on me, burning with determination, but his lips curled into a truly joyful smile.
Titles and status are boorish in a duel, after all.
"Then—begin!" the announcer's voice thundered.
The moment the signal echoed, Edward leaped backward to create distance. Choosing to pull away suggested he wasn't looking for a close-quarters brawl; he was likely preparing the same wide-range annihilation magic he had used to sweep away the grunts of the Dark Section.
The sudden expansion of his mana, which surged outward to blanket the Colosseum, confirmed it.
"I've seen that one before!"
I deployed a barrier beneath my feet and launched myself forward, closing the gap in a single burst of speed. I swung, aiming for his neck.
"Ngh!"
With a sharp clack of steel, Edward barely managed to parry the strike with his own blade. Without missing a beat, I pivoted and sent a kick aimed straight at his jaw.
"Guf...!"
The impact felt strange. It was as if he were wrapped in a thick layer of air. He was using a technique almost identical to mine.
"If you think you can win by just playing copycat, you’re underestimating me," I said to him as he rolled away.
"A rational mage should greedily adopt any effective technique, shouldn't he?" Edward didn't stand up normally; instead, he let his body drift upward, levitating smoothly. "And this isn't copycatting—it's respect!"
There wasn't much of a difference between the two, but his answer didn't irritate me. I was currently working myself to the bone trying to replicate Onyx’s mana shroud, so I was in no position to talk.
"I didn't expect you to counter my previous spell by simply holding your breath," Edward continued. "It was a remarkably simple solution to a complex problem."
"Pretty much."
If the air is the problem, just stop breathing. It was a crude countermeasure, but as long as the fight ended quickly, it wouldn't be an issue.
"The fact that you’re standing there chatting with me... isn't that proof that you’re the one underestimating me?" I countered.
"Hardly."
I had attacked with enough speed to overwhelm the demon-possessed Jelasis, yet Edward had successfully parried it. If this became a war of attrition, the advantage would lie with him.
However...
"Using that magic here was a mistake. I can still breathe."
Because there was an audience present, Edward had been forced to limit the range of his atmospheric manipulation. The air outside his zone was still fresh. Elongating a thin barrier to act as an air vent to the outside was simple enough.
"A Brave is trained to fight anywhere—even underwater."
"Impressive as always."
I could have prepared a barrier filled with oxygen beforehand, or simply expanded a barrier to neutralize his mana and restore the atmosphere.
"But I already knew that showing you the same trick twice wouldn't work."
Edward rose higher into the air as he spoke.
"I've concluded that your barriers can read and react to any magic. However, that range is limited to magic itself. Furthermore, I already know your weakness."
"Oh?"
"You showed it to me over the summer. If you’re pushed to the point of exhaustion where you can no longer deploy your barriers, any attack will pierce through. Chipping away at your defenses with minimal power is the only logical path to victory."
Edward reached into his pocket and flicked something toward me.
"—By the way, what made you think I was lowering the oxygen concentration?"
The objects were small pebbles he must have gathered from the ground. He struck one with his blade as they flew past.
A sharp spark ignited. In a flash, the world before my eyes was swallowed by a staggering wall of flame.