The Great Mage Returns after 4000 Years – Chapter 59 – Trowman Rings (4)
Translator: Seven
Editors: Ana_Banana, Yahiko
“Do you know the rules of the Relic Battle?”
“Rejection is impossible, and there can be as many as three battles in a day. There is no penalty for killing your opponent, and it is possible to increase the number of wagered artifacts after mutual agreement. Did I get it right?”
“Hoh…”
It seems he’d heard the rules somewhere before.
He didn’t seem to like speaking formally but that could all just be a part of his cute little act.
Antoine smiled and said,
“You know them well. Good. We will wager this against your dagger.”
When Antoine opened his hand, there was a red ring sitting on his palm.
Frey looked at the ring for a moment before nodding and walking toward the center of a large open space.
“Alan Piax, you’ll be first.”
“As you wish.”
Alan walked out with a confident look and Frey was able to realise at a glance that he was a Magic Warrior.
“Hey you, what class are you?”
“Wizard.”
At that, the members of the Basilisk Tails circle burst into laughter.
“Puhahaha!”
“There are indeed many ways to commit suicide.”
“He has the nerves of a Circle Master!”
Even a runny nosed child knew that Wizards were weaker in head-on confrontations.
He wore a robe, so they had an inkling, but they never truly believed that he was actually a Wizard.
Alan laughed and increased the distance between them.
“Is that so? Then I’ll start from ten steps away.”
“Are you one of this circle’s executives?”
“That’s right.”
Since he was selected to be the starter, he should be quite skilled among the executives.
Frey didn’t know it, but it was this very same Alan before him who had defeated Fianne, the Force Honor of the Trowman Rings.
Alan could be considered almost as strong as a First Class Magic Warrior.
In fact, he was one of the three strongest fighters among the Force Honors of the Basilisk Tails circle.
‘It would be great if it ended in an instant.’
Alan prepared himself.
His martial art, like a two headed snake, aimed at persistently penetrating the enemy’s defenses by utilizing his anomalous movements.
A wizard without enough fighting experience would never be able to avoid his swift and graceful movements.
A single blow.
Alan intended on finishing the fight with a single blow.
‘It would be better to kill him.’
Then there would be no need for them to have any more fights.
It was not against the rules and most of all, since he was only a wanderer, there would be no backlash.
It was possible that he had more artifacts hidden away, so it would be better to kill him and search his corpse.
Alan narrowed his eyes.
“Begin!”
Paak!
“Kuk…”
Thud.
“…”
“…”
Alan.
Collapsed.
“Huh?”
Someone finally reacted after a moment of silence.
In the silence, his voice was especially loud and it managed to awaken those around him, who then had similar reactions.
“Wh-, what just…”
“Something just flashed past…”
“D-, did Alan lose?”
Frey lowered his hand.
Antoine watched with a frozen face.
“That’s one.”
Frey’s low voice sounded exceptionally loud in the quiet cave.
Antoine, who had finally come to his senses, blinked his eyes rapidly.
‘Wh-, what did…he just do?’
Even he, a 6 star Battlemage, could not understand exactly what had happened.
No, it was more accurate to say that he refused to accept what happened.
‘I-, if I didn’t see incorrectly…then that should have been an Ice Arrow.’
He couldn’t believe it.
It was impossible.
Antoine vehemently denied the thoughts in his head.
Alan Piax, one of the strongest Magic Warriors in the area and a Force Honor of the Basilisk Tails had been defeated with just a two star Ice Arrow spell?
Impossible.
Even he himself, no.
Even Felix, the Circle Master of the Basilisk Tails, would be unable to accomplish such a task!
‘Arcane Magic! Right, it must have been Arcane Magic. He is only pretending to be calm, he must have almost no mana at this moment!’
Otherwise, there was no way to explain the destructive power, casting speed and projectile speed of the spell.
Antoine hid his thoughts and let out a forced laugh.
“Y-, you are quite skilled. Where did you learn such magic?”
“There is no reason for me to answer. Bring the artifact. Or do you not intend to accept defeat.”
Damn it.
Antoine’s expression became filled with rage.
This little bastard, who was still filled with youthful exuberance, truly dared to speak in such a way, even in such a situation.
Before, when he didn’t see him as a threat, Antoine felt that this attitude was amusing and cute, but now it was different.
Antoine gritted his teeth angrily.
Ever since the Basilisk Tails grew, no.
Even before the circle had reached the level they were at now, there was never anyone who dared speak to him in this way.
As he looked at his subordinates with a fierce gaze, one of them brought out the red ring and handed it over.
Frey put the ring on his thumb finger without really thinking about it.
Back when he was still Lukas, it was always his habit to put a ring on his thumb.
‘Is he provoking us?’
A spark seemed to light up in Antoine’s eyes.
Frey briefly observed the red ring on his finger before putting Kungunli’s Dagger back into his bag.
“Then I’ll take my leave.”
“W-, wait!”
Antoine hurriedly stopped him, his eyes shining.
‘As I expected. He is only pretending to be calm but instead, he wants to go back and get some rest.’
Looking at him closely, he could see that Frey was panting a bit. This was proof that he was actually tired.
“I propose we have another duel.”
“That’s good.”
“Huh?”
Frey’s attitude seemed to change in a flash as he immediately continued.
“I’ll bet two artifacts this time. The red ring and the dagger. What do you think?”
What?
Why was he suddenly acting confident?
Antoine began to feel a bit anxious, but he still nodded his head in the end, expressing his assent.
“G-, good. We’ll wager the [Kelvin Stone] and [Winged Boots].”
He agreed because if he took a step back here it would appear as though he was afraid of this young man.
However, Frey’s current attitude worried him.
‘He’s just pretending to be confident. That must be it.’
Since a Relic Battle cannot be refused, he must be trying to hide his weakness.
Antoine shook his head.
‘The maximum number of Relic Battles in a day is three. It doesn’t matter if we don’t follow the rules, but…’
Firstly he had to be vigilant as the situation progressed.
‘I will observe this guy’s magic once more. If we fail again, then I’ll just go up and kill him myself.’
After making his decision, Antoine spoke to the man beside him.
“Killa, you’re up.”
“Yes.”
“…you saw the Arcane Magic he used, right? Its characteristics should be its short casting time, high speed and destructive power. At first glance, it might appear that it has no weaknesses but look at his complexion. It seems that the mana consumption is actually quite high.
It should be impossible for him to use it continuously. Do you understand what I’m saying? If you block the first attack, then victory will be yours.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
Killa nodded once with a stiff face.
Antoine had faith in him.
Killa was a Wizard, not a Magic Warrior, which meant that his mana sensitivity was relatively high.
More importantly, he had seen what had happened in the previous fight.
It would not be the same situation where he failed to defend against an unexpected blow and was thus defeated.
‘This guy’s Arcane Magic! If I can withstand it, then I will win!’
Killa analyzed all the information he had so far.
With a nervous expression on his face, he gripped the handle of his staff tightly.
It was not an artifact but a staff that was able to store one spell. The spell he’d chosen to store was a barrier spell.
He intended to activate it the moment the fight began, defend against the attack and then defeat his opponent.
‘Bring it on!’
“Begin!”
Crack!
“Urk…”
As soon as the voice cried out, something broke.
Antoine realised that it was the barrier spell Killa had stored.
Ice Arrow.
The spell didn’t stop after destroying the barrier, instead continuing till it met Killa’s stomach.
Killa then fell to the ground with his eyes closed.
“…”
“…”
There was no fuss.
Instead, a heavy silence seemed to fill the area once again.
The Basilisk Tails members could no longer laugh.
The only things they felt at that moment were fear, awe and doubt.
Or they just stared at Frey blankly without knowing what to think.
Frey’s voice rang out in the cave once again.
“That’s two.”