Chapter 354: The Battle Against the Cattleya Third Son
It was decided that I would have a mock battle with the third son of the Cattleya Marquis family, Toya Cattleya.
It wasn’t exactly a life-or-death duel. More like entertainment for the sake of fellowship.
(Still… there’s a bit of tension. Feels like I’m doing the whole ‘Please give me your sister’s hand in marriage!’ thing.)
“Hey, looks like Toya-san is going to fight!”
“His opponent is… who’s that guy?”
“You don’t know? That’s Count Rest Clover. The Magician who defeated the Magical Beast Sabnock!”
Rest and Toya faced each other, about three meters apart.
Other knights and soldiers gathered around, jeering half-jokingly.
They didn’t seem particularly serious or tense. It seemed this mock battle truly was for fellowship.
(The only ones taking this seriously are us… no, maybe just these siblings.)
“Alright then… Here I come!”
Toya declared unilaterally.
Just when Rest thought he would charge right in… Toya activated magic.
“[Stone Wear]! [Hardening]!”
A dual-cast activation.
Toya’s entire body was covered by stone armor.
The stone armor was further enhanced with Hardening magic, likely giving it defensive power comparable to steel.
“It’s a combo that My Puppy broke through before… but what kind of older brother goes all out fighting his little sister? In that respect, it’s nice and easy since I don’t have to hold back against the ‘Divine Thief (My Sister’s Boyfriend)’!”
“Maybe it’s just me… but I feel like I was just called something with a lot of hidden meaning.”
Don’t write ‘Divine Thief’ and read it as ‘My Sister’s Boyfriend’.
Rest was genuinely… truly exasperated by the siscon older brother, but he was impressed by his skill.
(A renowned House of knights. From his rough way of speaking, I thought he’d be more of a reckless warrior… but that’s some delicate magic. This guy’s capable.)
Many Magicians could probably just coat their entire body in stone.
However, covering the whole body in stone would just render one immobile. Trapped inside the stone, worst case, they’d suffocate.
(But… that stone armor. It obviously has air holes, and the joints are made to allow movement. That’s delicate Magical Power control… even among professional Magicians, few should be capable of this.)
“Alright, here I go!”
“!”
Toya kicked off the ground.
An incredible speed unbefitting his large frame. He charged towards Rest with the force of an oncoming truck.
“[Body Enhancement]! [Acceleration]!”
Rest also activated magic with a dual cast.
He increased his speed and evaded the collision.
(He’s also using [Body Enhancement]… no, that alone doesn’t explain that speed!)
A human-sized stone statue. It must weigh several tons.
There was no way an object of that weight could be moved by human strength alone.
(Is he lightening it with magic? He talks about being from a renowned House of knights, but he’s using magic like crazy!)
“Good reaction! Then how about this!?”
A spear, about two meters long, grew from Toya’s arm.
It was a spear shaped like an axe at the tip, like a halberd.
Looking closely, the stone armor had shrunk by the amount the spear had appeared.
He must have shaved off part of the armor to reshape it into a spear… As expected, he’s quite the user.
“Hmph! Hmph! Hmph!”
Toya leaped forward again, twirling the stone spear.
His movements were still agile. The spear extended his attack range, leaving no space to escape.
“[Firewall]!”
However, Rest didn’t dodge this time.
Instead, he manifested a wall of fire in front of Toya.
“Whoa…!?”
“I’m a Magician. I have no obligation to engage you in close combat.”
Toya hastily stopped just before the Firewall.
If he had charged straight through, he might have been roasted.
“[Fireball].”
Then, he unleashed an attack of fire.
Countless Fireballs appeared around Rest. Like a thousand practice swings, fire was repeatedly thrown at Toya’s body.
Even with armor, heat transfers. A groan escaped Toya’s lips.
“Guh… You…!”
Toya swung his spear, batting down the Fireballs.
As expected of a knight from a renowned family. His spear handling was considerable, and he managed to shoot down most of them.
“That’s hot! Cut it out already!”
“If you want me to cut it out, why don’t you charge in and stop me… dear brother-in-law?”
“Tch… Don’t call me brother-in-law!”
Just as planned. Toya flew into a rage and charged.
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!”
“Whoa… Scary…”
He broke through the Firewall, spear in hand, and slashed down.
It seemed he endured the flames through sheer guts and momentum.
“You have no right to call me brother-in-laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw!”
“So that really is the point of contention… [Icebolt].”
Rest leaped back to evade the stone spear and unleashed more magic.
This time, intense cold washed over Toya’s body.
“This is Hardened stone armor! Something with the strength of steel won’t be affected by your magic…!”
“It’ll break, right?”
“Ah…!?”
Toya’s stone armor cracked with loud creaking sounds.
Rapid cooling after high heat caused distortion due to thermal expansion and contraction. The bonds weakened, causing it to break.
“[Stone Bullet]!”
And… the finishing blow, stone bullets.
The stone armor covering Toya’s body shattered.
Now that it was destroyed, Rest could see… Toya’s stone armor wasn’t packed solid with stone inside; there was a cavity within.
“He made space inside to reduce the weight, huh?”
“Tch…!”
Toya clicked his tongue and swung the half-shattered stone spear.
“[High Accelerator].”
Rest activated Advanced Magic.
He slipped past the sharply thrusting stone spear and placed his hand on Toya’s exposed abdomen.
“[Thunder Shock]!”
“Guuh…!?”
Struck by lightning at point-blank range, Toya’s body swayed.
He didn’t faint… but he fell to his knees, dropping the stone spear.
“Match decided.”
“…Damn it.”
When Rest declared victory, Toya groaned resentfully.
Cheers rose from the surrounding soldiers, and the mock battle concluded with Rest’s victory.
Volume 1 is now available from Sneaker Bunko!
This is all thanks to everyone’s support. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!