Rodos charged straight toward the magic.
There was not the slightest hesitation on his face.
The steadily intensifying heat told Rodos that the moment of true battle had finally arrived.
“Not afraid at all, are you?”
Harka sneered.
To charge headlong into his magic was the sort of thing only the barbarians of the North would do.
“!”
His body instinctively recoiled from the heat.
It was the primal fear felt by all living creatures.
Unlike his mind, which yearned for battle, Rodos’s body was somewhat tense.
After all, this was the first time he had fought a mage in his current body.
‘This is exhilarating.’
That only made Rodos enjoy it more.
The first time was always intense.
And now he had been given the chance to experience that intensity once again.
A moment that could not easily be obtained at any price had presented itself before him.
Rodos fixed his gaze on the incoming fireballs.
Meanwhile, the duel was being transmitted vividly through Observation Magic.
“Young Master Rodos has not changed at all.”
“What good did learning swordsmanship from the knights do? He is still the same inside.”
“This will end quickly.”
The members of the family shook their heads as they watched Rodos, as though this was exactly what they had expected.
This was the Rodos they had always known.
Apparently, only his outward appearance had changed.
“Young Master Harka’s Flame Magic has become even stronger than before.”
“What extraordinary talent. Unlike someone else.”
The members of the Flame Faction repeatedly nodded in approval.
They were highly satisfied with the magic Harka was displaying.
Regardless of what the family members said, Rodos tightened his grip on both axes and accelerated.
FWOOSH!
Blazing red fireballs filled his entire field of vision.
There was nowhere to evade.
If he wanted to reach Harka, he had to break through the magic.
‘Close the distance.’
That was the lesson Rodos had learned from fighting countless mages in the past.
And so, Rodos swung a tomahawk at the incoming fireball.
There was no hesitation.
If there was no path, a Northern warrior made one.
SLASH!
The tomahawk swung vertically and split the fireball apart.
Under the precise, forceful strike, the spell lost its form and broke apart.
“What was that just now? The magic split in half.”
“You must have seen it wrong.”
The members of the family had clearly seen the magic split apart in front of Rodos, yet they dismissed it.
There was simply no possibility that Rodos had done it.
It was most likely a coincidence.
“It probably only looked that way.”
The disparity between Harka and Rodos was overwhelming.
Everyone in the family knew that.
At the age of twenty-four, Harka was a genius mage standing just below the realm of a High-Ranking Mage.
Even for a scion of a family blessed by magic, his rate of growth was exceptionally fast.
Rodos, by contrast, had been the disgrace of the family, barely capable of properly using even 1st- or 2nd-Circle magic.
He had recklessly overreached, suffered an accident, and become a useless young master who could no longer even function as a mage.
And those two were fighting a duel?
Anyone could predict the result.
“This will be a boring duel.”
“We might as well bet on how long it takes to end.”
Rodos continued advancing through the torrent of flames, swinging his tomahawks without stopping.
SLASH!
Every time he swung an axe, another fireball shattered.
But there were far too many for him to split them all.
The fireballs he failed to cut apart exploded simultaneously in front of him.
BOOM!
With a thunderous blast, flames spread outward and dyed the air red.
At that moment, Rodos leaped.
He could see nothing.
Everything was filled with blazing red fire.
Leaves touched by the flames burned and crumbled away.
Rodos put even more strength into his tomahawks and swung.
WHOOOSH!
The two axes crossed, generating a shockwave.
Wind erupted with the impact and split the exploding flames apart.
‘Pathetic compared to them.’
Harka could not compare to the mages Rodos had encountered in the North.
Their spells had possessed tightly bound structures.
Splitting their magic in half had been exceedingly difficult.
Harka’s magic, on the other hand, felt like lumps of clay.
Cutting through it was hardly difficult at all.
Rodos burst through the flames and charged until he was directly in front of Harka.
“!”
Harka’s eyes widened as he pointed his staff.
Patches of Rodos’s hair had been burned away, while his exposed skin was reddened or blackened with soot.
Yet rather than slowing down, he was charging even faster.
“Oh dear. What should I do?”
As though he had never been startled at all, Harka gave a meaningful smile.
At the same time, flames exploded outward from his staff as another spell activated.
“Exactly the same as last time.”
He had clearly witnessed Rodos splitting his magic before.
No mage of House Augustus would fall for the same tactic twice after learning how an opponent fought.
“!”
Rodos’s gaze darted rapidly around him.
A swarm of bees made from fire surrounded Harka.
There were too many to count.
“The target is Rodos.”
Harka muttered softly.
The swarm of flaming bees rushed toward Rodos.
If the opponent could knock magic aside, then the solution was simple.
Make the spells too small and numerous to knock away.
Learning an opponent’s characteristics and preparing accordingly was a fundamental skill for any mage.
The bees clinging to Rodos began heating rapidly.
“Try knocking these away too. Hahaha!”
Harka laughed.
If Rodos failed to remove the swarm quickly, he would become kindling, burning alive in agony.
Rodos frowned.
This was not something he could solve by simply striking them with his axes.
Scorching pain spread across his entire body.
Then there was only one answer.
Using the pain of his burning body as fuel, Rodos swung his axes at Harka.
At that moment, blazing flames enveloped Harka and protected him.
“You lunatic!”
With the attack aimed directly at his head, Harka had no choice but to deploy a barrier.
BOOM!
Both of Rodos’s axes slammed into the flaming barrier.
It was sturdy.
Unlike the spells he had split apart earlier, the axes could not cleave through the burning barrier in a single blow.
BANG! BANG! BOOM!
Rodos continued hammering away at the barrier.
There was no tree that could withstand ten strikes without falling.
The same applied to Shield Magic.
A magical shield had a limit to its durability.
It was something Rodos had learned through countless battles against mages, battering their barriers over and over again.
CRACK.
Under the relentless assault, fractures gradually spread across the barrier.
“Does that not hurt?!”
Harka could hardly believe it.
Even while Rodos swung his axes, Harka’s magic was still burning his body.
The man was insane.
What in the world had happened during the past month to turn him into this?
SHATTER!
Eventually, the barrier could no longer withstand the assault and broke apart.
Harka retreated quickly to avoid Rodos’s attack.
‘I should get these off me.’
Keeping an eye on Harka’s movements, Rodos brushed the flaming bees from his body.
Blisters had risen wherever they had clung to him, and patches of skin had become hideously warped by the burns.
It hurt, but he did not dislike the sensation.
The feeling of fighting a mage had been thoroughly engraved into his body.
Rodos tore away his clothes, which had been burned until they were little more than rags.
The scraps fell to the ground, exposing his upper body.
“My goodness, is that really Rodos?”
“What is that? Did he use magic? No, that cannot be.”
The family members could not hide their surprise.
The body of the Rodos they remembered was nowhere to be seen.
Before them stood a muscular young man covered in burns, gripping an axe in each hand.
“How is that supposed to be the young master of a prestigious magic family? He looks like a warrior.”
“Exactly. He looks like some kind of barbarian.”
Their surprise quickly gave way to displeasure.
To display such an appearance in a family devoted to pursuing the pinnacle of magic seemed almost like an insult to mages themselves.
“The Head of the House may have said that any kind of power is acceptable, but this is beneath our dignity. Wielding weapons used by barbarians!”
“Is the Head of the House truly going to say nothing?”
The family members cautiously glanced toward Marcos.
“…….”
Marcos merely watched with his chin resting on one hand, his expression utterly indifferent.
Then he crooked a finger toward those who had been looking at him.
“Urgh!”
They grabbed their throats as an invisible hand constricted them.
It was Marcos’s magic.
“Haah… Haah….”
Only when they were on the verge of suffocation did the spell release them, finally allowing them to breathe again.
The family members immediately fell silent and returned their attention to the duel.
Rodos assumed his combat stance once more and asked.
“I trust that is not all you have.”
Harka’s expression darkened.
To hear Rodos, of all people, ask whether he was already finished infuriated him.
“I was going to end this quickly, but I think I will make you suffer instead.”
Harka cast another spell before he had even finished speaking.
Flames erupted from his staff and spread outward from him in the form of towering waves.
FWOOSH!
The waves of flame burned everything they touched.
The lush green trees ignited in an instant, turned to black charcoal, and crumbled away.
Rodos looked around.
Although fires burned everywhere, much of the forest remained dense.
FWOOSH!
The moment a wave of flame reached him, Rodos leaped high into the air and landed atop a tree.
He could not approach Harka along the ground.
Waves of fire were sweeping across it from every direction.
“?”
Harka looked around when Rodos vanished from sight.
The man who had been charging straight ahead had suddenly hidden himself.
He was clearly planning something.
“Then I will just burn everything.”
Harka did not bother overthinking it.
If he burned down every tree, Rodos would have nowhere to hide and nowhere to evade his magic.
Mana surged from Harka and began swirling.
Before long, the vortex of mana had transformed into a colossal burning tornado.
“Burn it all.”
At Harka’s command, the vortex of flame began moving, consuming the forest.
FWOOSH!
The more trees it burned, the fiercer the flames became.
Acrid smoke filled the forest as it transformed into a blazing inferno.
ROOOAR!
The vortex of flame grew even larger, painting the sky red as it incinerated everything in its path.
‘An opportunity.’
At that moment, Rodos launched himself from the top of a tree.
It was a considerable height, but he felt no fear.
He merely smiled at what was about to happen.
‘This will be interesting.’
Even Rodos had wanted the opportunity to face such enormous magic head-on.
He drew in aether with all his strength.
He had no idea whether it would be enough.
He could only trust himself and move forward.
With both axes glowing white, Rodos plunged directly into the vortex.
“He really is insane!”
“…….”
Rodos said nothing.
As he fell vertically, he simply raised both axes high and brought them down with everything he had.
SLASH!
The axes, glowing white with aether, split the pillar of fire apart.
BOOM!
The instant the pillar was completely cleaved in two, the spell shattered and exploded.
“AARGH!”
Caught in his own magic, Harka screamed as he was hurled away.
Once the explosion subsided and the thick smoke cleared, the outcome of the duel was revealed.
“This cannot be!”
The victor was Rodos.
His entire body was blackened with soot and covered in wounds, yet he remained standing firmly.
“…….”
Harka lay collapsed on the ground, his eyes rolled back.
Only his leg twitched occasionally.
‘I won.’
Holding the nearly ruined tomahawks in both hands, Rodos looked up at the sky.
The exhilaration of victory swept through his entire body.
“Huh?”
“What in the world are we looking at…?”
The family members could not close their mouths at the unbelievable sight.
It was an outcome no one had expected.
“Young Master Harka lost?”
“How did this happen?”
The Dueling Arena erupted into commotion.
The result was too shocking for anyone to remain silent.
“Quiet.”
“…….”
A single word from Marcos silenced everyone.
Apparently irritated by the noise, he frowned and declared the result.
“The victor is Rodos.”
No one objected.
Rodos had unquestionably won.
“You won, so I suppose I should uphold my promise. Tell me what you desire.”
Rodos looked at Marcos.
This was the moment he had been waiting for.
Without hesitation, Rodos answered,
“Please grant me access to the family’s First Warehouse.”