Chapter 245 Pordhail vs Pordhail [Part II]
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Now that it’s the real deal, Estesia sweats nervously in front of Amelia.
(What was that just now? Why did magic come flying from behind? It’s not a delayed activation; if it were, it would have triggered my magic sensing.)
Estesia can’t hide her shock at the sudden presence of magic behind her. This time, 2 spots of magic energy catch her attention, and she instinctively crouches down as clumps of dirt and lightning cross above her head.
(I knew it wasn’t just my imagination! Magic is being activated from a different location! No way──)
Because Estesia has an extraordinary ability to sense magic, she accurately understands what Amelia is doing.
”Using the magic you released as a medium to cast more magic… Are you out of your mind!?”
”It’s quite unfair to question my sanity; it’s a very effective method, you know?”
”Well, it might be effective! If it weren’t for me, they wouldn’t have been able to react in time!”
Just like you can’t write words in the air with just a pen, you need a solid medium to construct magic.
What Amelia did was use the scattered ice crystals around her as a medium to remotely build and release magic. While remote construction isn’t that rare, it’s not commonly used in actual combat.
The farther away you are, the harder it is to control the magic, so not many people use it in practice, but there are still some who do.
The problem is that she used ice crystals created by magic as a medium for remote construction. The ice crystals made by magic still have magical power inside them. If you try to flow magical power into them to build a spell, the magical powers will mix together. In that state, even if you try to activate the magic, the magical power needed to maintain the ice crystals will be consumed, causing the crystals to lose their shape, and the spell will collapse before it can even be activated.
In short, you need to build the spell without mixing the magical powers, but that’s like trying to paint a watercolor picture on a piece of paper that’s submerged in water. Common sense says that such a thing is impossible.
”This is Amelia Pordhail…!”
Standing in front of the real thing, she realizes how weak her imagination has been.
She thought she understood that Amelia was a superior magician, but this is just beyond anything she could have imagined. Estesia trembles in fear at Amelia’s unfathomable power, but at the same time, she feels more excited than ever before.
The person she has longed for has easily surpassed her expectations; there’s nothing more joyful than this.
”That’s why!”
Dodging 3, 4, 5 spells as they come at her, Estesia shouts.
She is not weak enough to lose her fighting spirit just because her opponent is a monster far beyond her predictions.
In fact, the stronger her admired figure is, the more motivated she becomes to close the gap. She tries to dodge the magic flying from all directions and counterattack, but the magic she casts in a half-hearted attempt to evade has no effect on Amelia. Before it can even reach her, it is easily canceled out by the magic released from the ice crystals.
While all this is happening, the density of the magic keeps increasing, and at this rate, it will become impossible not just to counterattack but even to dodge.
(Half-hearted magic won’t be useful, so my options are limited… Honestly, I wanted to compete more directly.)
But if she keeps thinking like that, she’ll be crushed by sheer numbers. The moment Estesia activated her magic, her figure vanished.
(Did she disappear with magic? But even if she does that, I can still sense her position with magic──what?)
Amelia tried to sense Estesia’s position with her magic, but she could hardly detect Estesia’s magical energy.
The only thing Amelia picked up was a trace of the magic Estesia had just cast, and she couldn’t feel the presence of the magic that should be active now at all.
(Could it be that she can hide her magic energy this perfectly? This is a skill only someone with extraordinary magical sensing ability like her could achieve. Now, what should I do?)
It’s an amazing technique, but Amelia quickly thought of a countermeasure.
While it would be easy to execute, she believed that if it ended the fight, she wouldn’t achieve her original goal, so she chose a different method.
”Then I will hide as well.”
The moment Amelia decided this and struck the ground with her staff, the scattered ice crystals began to melt, releasing steam, and the space sealed by a semicircular barrier quickly filled with vapor.
(She’s hiding too. But that’s naive; no matter how skilled Amelia Pordhail is, she can’t escape my magical sensing.)
No matter how cleverly Amelia hides her magic, she can’t escape Estesia’s magical sensing. Just as Estesia thought this, she noticed something strange.
(What is this!?)
Amelia also understood that it was impossible to hide her magic from Estesia’s sensing. If her magic was detected, hiding in the steam would be pointless.
What should she do then? If she can’t hide her magic power, she should do the opposite.
What Amelia did was not hide her magic power, but fill the area with it. She filled the barrier with magic that turned into steam, covering her own magic power.
(Could she have prepared the barrier for this situation? Or did she make this decision in such a short time? Either way, I have to admit she’s impressive.)
While Amelia Pordhail is known for her magic control, her true terror lies elsewhere.
Her ability to adapt instantly to any situation and even use unfavorable conditions to turn them into an advantage is Amelia’s true strength. Taking control of the fortress is just one part of how Amelia fights by using such situations.
With visibility and magic detection useless, Estesia found herself unable to move carelessly, having lost track of each other’s positions.
(Usually, in a situation like this, the one who moves first loses, but going on the defensive against Amelia Pordhail is an even bigger mistake.)
Estesia skillfully hid her magic power and quietly touched her staff to the ground to activate a spell, creating countless small crystals on the ground.
These crystals were so fragile that they would easily make noise and shatter if stepped on, and Estesia was trying to use them to locate Amelia.
(With my magic perfectly hidden and this poor visibility, she shouldn’t notice the crystals. If I move even slightly, the crystals will break and make a sound.)
In a situation where making any noise is absolutely forbidden, accidentally making a loud sound would create a blank in her thoughts.
To avoid that, Estesia poured magic into her short staff, ready to unleash a spell at any moment as she waited for the right time.
──Crack!
The moment the sound of shattering crystal hit her ears, Estesia instinctively cast a spell.
The fireball shot straight towards the source of the sound, blowing away steam, and collided with the barrier, bursting apart.
(She’s not here!?)
After hearing the sound of the crystal breaking, Amelia reacted and attacked with surprising speed.
There wasn’t enough time to dodge, and even if she could, it was impossible for them to be invisible. So, there was only one conclusion.
(They were never there from the start; that sound was a decoy to make me attack!)
How could this happen? That question crossed her mind, but there was no time to think about it now.
The fireball had revealed their position, and just as Estesia thought she needed to move immediately, something exploded behind her, causing her to stumble.
(Ugh! If I hadn’t set up a defensive spell, I would have been done for!)
Twisting her body to avoid falling, Estesia barely managed to stay upright and turned her gaze behind her──
”Eh?”
She froze at the sight of Amelia right in front of her.
Without a sound, Amelia had taken her position and pushed the tip of her staff into Estesia’s solar plexus. In that instant, the staff exploded, and Estesia, who was already losing her balance, couldn’t hold on and was sent flying.
”──!?”
After bouncing a few times on the ground, Estesia crashed into the barrier and fell weakly to the ground.
(What… just happened…?)
Air was forced out of her lungs in an instant, leaving Estesia gasping for breath. With her head spinning from lack of oxygen, she tried to think.
Amelia walked over, looking down at Estesia as she spoke.
”I win, don’t I?”
”…Looks like it.”
Estesia was still in a state of confusion, but Amelia’s words helped her regain her composure, and she honestly admitted her defeat.
Although she had been blown away dramatically, she wasn’t seriously injured, and with healing magic, she could have continued fighting. However, the usual rule of duels was that if you took even one direct hit, you lost.
Estesia wasn’t satisfied with the result, but she quietly withdrew, knowing that continuing would turn the duel into a mere brawl.
”When I launched the fireball, I definitely heard the sound of the crystal breaking. But you weren’t there… how did you do that?”
”I recreated the sound of the crystal breaking using wind magic. Sound is created by vibrations in the air, so if you can control the wind well, you can produce sounds or even silence them.”
”So that’s how you got behind me without making a sound. But what about the final attack? I understood that you exploded your magic to blow me away, but it wasn’t just a simple spell, right? I can’t believe your thin arms could handle that kind of impact; it would have been bad if your arm broke.”
”As you guessed, it wasn’t just a spell that exploded magic. I sealed the magic between 2 barriers, and the moment the first layer was destroyed, I released the sealed magic towards you. By using the second barrier to absorb the recoil, I could create an explosion at close range while only disrupting your stance.”
”Wow, I’m impressed. Not only did you use magic as a medium, but you also came up with and executed such a spell. I never expected you to challenge me to close combat at the end.”
Amelia is still active, but she is already over 60 years old, and Estesia never expected someone like her to attack with a cane at the end.
”Well, I may be old and frail, but I thought I should show you as much of that person’s power as I can, so I pushed my old body to do this.”
”…What do you mean by that?”
”The magic you praised earlier, none of it was created by me.”
”No way… that’s a lie!”
Estesia shouted in a voice close to a scream.
”Every magic is something that can’t be handled by just anyone! I can’t believe that a man like him could master magic that I can’t even replicate!”
”Being able to use magic isn’t everything about being a magician. We, the Pordhail, should know that well, right?”
”…Are you talking about Lucid Pordhail?”
Lucid Pordhail was a person who existed a long time ago and was the only Pordhail in history who couldn’t use magic.
How could someone who couldn’t use magic bear the name Pordhail? It was because they made significant contributions to the study of magic.
At that time, it was believed that there were only 6 attributes of magic, and no others existed.
However, Lucid thought, “The workings of this world can’t be explained by just 6 attributes. If magic is meant to recreate the laws of the world, then there must be other attributes beyond these 6.” They overturned the existing concepts of magic, leading to significant advancements in the field. When asked who the greatest figure among the Pordhail was, they were often the first name mentioned.
”It’s true that Neil-sama’s skills as a magician aren’t exactly great. However, I believe his way of thinking and creativity about magic are comparable to the first Pordhail.”
”………”
At Amelia’s words, Estesia fell silent.
It was clear to anyone that she still couldn’t accept it.
”Still not convinced?”
”Of course not! Why would someone like you be so invested in that guy? You’re different from all those other nobodies; you never took on a mentor or had a disciple!”
The solitary magician──that was how people viewed Amelia Pordhail. Estesia admired her and wished to be her disciple, but she had given up on that dream, believing it was impossible. Instead, she had come this far on her own, without anyone to guide her, trying to become like Amelia.
”…You’re right. I used to really hate interacting with others. I thought other magicians were nothing special, and that getting involved with them wouldn’t benefit me at all.”
”Then why──!”
Estesia knew it was selfish admiration, but she couldn’t finish her sentence and just hung her head.
Seeing Estesia like this, Amelia slowly began to speak.
”Then, let me tell you a little story from the past. The reason I changed, my encounter with that person──my story and my little master.”
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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