Chapter 98: Luna vs Vilde

Why is it that I don't like fighting?

Whenever I fight a person, it feels like I'm doing something wrong. Not only am I constantly worrying that I might accidentally kill someone if I don't hold back enough, but there's also the constant feeling that all I'm doing is bullying people much weaker than me... The battle itself is just me being stupid until I use a spell that defeats my opponent without any resistance. And when I win, that's just what anyone would have expected, it never feels like I accomplished anything.

But this time it's different.

Vilde is stronger than me. I can fight without holding back! All the powerful spells I spent so long learning are finally something that I need! And most importantly, I'm actually the underdog in this fight, it seems like it shouldn't be possible for me to get even one hit on him, which means... If I somehow manage to do it, I will have surpassed myself.

That said, I don't know how I'm going to do it. My greatest strength, my healing, has been rendered useless by those mana-burning flames. I would like to say that Vilde is just a bad matchup for me, but that is probably not the case... He has a lot of combat experience, I bet that he has many different fighting styles and is only using the one that works the best against me.

'Bullet hell'

Uh... He's using that spell again. I might be able to defend against it if I push 'battle analysis' to the limit, but he'll just rush at me again, and he's too fast for me to react while dealing with the flames.

Think Luna, out of all the spells you know, is there anything that could help? Any defensive magic will just get burned down by the flames. Wait... that just made me think of one particular spell. I've never used it in battle and this is definitely not its intended use... It seems crazy, but I think that it should work.

'Explosion sigil'

This spell places a magic sigil that can mix with the opponent's mana and cause it to explode. Normally, it is used to deal with defensive magic, but this time I'm going to place it on my own body. If I'm not mistaken, those flames that attach themselves to mana should explode even faster than normal magic.

*Bang*

"What in the world?"

Vilde seems surprised, it seems like he doesn't know any spells similar to this one.

As the thousands of flames reach me, I become engulfed by the constant explosions. However, my mana is not being burned.

With this, I have converted the attack against my mana into mere physical damage. My body is being damaged, but this is something that I can easily heal. And the best part is that Vilde cannot get close while his own magic is exploding all around me, this should give me the time to cast a large spell.

'Obliteration blast'

I get blown away by my own attack, most of the left side of my body is missing. But as I figured out earlier, the area of effect is large enough to cover the entire arena, not even the 'king of fire' will be able to avoi-

"What in the world?"

He's... running away from the explosion. There's not enough room to dodge on the floor so he's running upwards, on the wall... And he's actually fast enough to escape an explosion that can destroy an entire mountain in a few seconds.

Now he's coming right at me, and he's getting even faster!

'Shadow lance'

I predicted his trajectory correctly, and he still dodged me so easily...

"Ugh!"

This time he hit me with the side of his pitchfork instead of stabbing me. I feel a few bones break and I'm sent flying towards-

"Agh!"

He appeared in front of me and hit me again! How can he be so fa-

"Ouch!"

What's happening?! He moves way too fast! I cannot even stop flying before getting hit again!

He continues to appear in front of me to hit me again and again, keeping me in the air. It's like he's playing a game of tennis against himself and I'm the ball... This is bad, my bones keep getting broken and the heat from his glowing body is burning my skin despite my protection. If this goes on I'm going to spend all my mana healing myself!

I need to calm down. Even if he's fast, there are only so many ways he can move if he wants to keep hitting me like this, I should be able to predict his movements with 'battle analysis'.

'Shadow lance'

Again I predicted correctly but he dodged, his reflexes are too good. Should I use a 'mana push' to change direction? No, he'll just pursue me, he's too fast for me to escape. It might work if I attack at the same time and he's forced to dodge, but my magic won't be as effective if I split my focus like that.

Wait, I just remember something. If I use 'that' I should be able to fly in any direction I want without needing to use magic.

Before the fight, I took a ring that was supposed to make me able to run faster, it ended up being quite useless and I lost it when my body got damaged earlier. That means that I should have some free room for other equipment. And so, from my storage, I take that war scythe that Arana enchanted to be 'impossible to dodge', I almost forgot that I had it.

Of course, even if it cannot be dodged, it can be blocked, and I don't think that it will be strong enough to injure Vilde, so I won't even try. However, if I aim for some rock in the distance, it will drag me in that direction, and I can still use my magic at the same time.

'Gravity bomb'

I manage to get away while he's dealing with my spell. I never knew that having my feet on the ground could feel so relieving.

'Burning hell'

But it seems like my opponent is not going to allow me even one moment of rest. Earlier he kept taking breaks after each exchange, but ever since he started to fight 'seriously' he's been showing no mercy.

The fireball he's conjured this time is enormous, I'd say around 50 meters in diameter. If I make it explode it will do a lot of damage, and Vilde won't let go of the chance to attack while I heal. But I can tell that he's ready to strike wherever I dodge.

'Night's cloak'

It was already hard to see through the fireball, and now I'm using a spell that dims not only light but even sound and smell. This way he won't be able to tell which way I'm dodging. And yet, it seems like he was able to sense movement somehow, and so he dashes to the left of the fireball.

And with a swing of his pitchfork, he smashes the imp I summoned and tossed to the left just before I dodged to the right.

'Shadow lance'

I finally got to catch him by surprise, he only barely manages to deflect my spell. With a swing of my war scythe that aims for a rock on the floor next to him, I fly closer. I need to be careful to not aim for him directly, my weapon is clearly much weaker than his and will probably break if they clash.

And so, I continue to cast spell after spell against him while the scythe allows me to move in unpredictable ways. He might be fast, but I'm starting to notice how every time he defends or attacks, the posture that his body ends up in limits the ways he can attack or defend next. With 'battle analysis' not only can I predict his movements, but I can also tell how to use my spells to limit his next moves even further. In a strange way, this is somewhat similar to that game of chess we were playing earlier. But I think that I might be abusing 'battle analysis' a bit, my head is starting to hurt.

"Hehehe. You appear to be enjoying this quite a bit, were you not supposed to dislike fighting?"

'Black gate'

I just realized that by swinging the scythe through one of these gates I can make my movements even harder to read.

"I'll be honest, I don't even know what I like anymore."

I make a mistake in my calculations, and Vilde manages to get behind me.

'Shadow lance'

He dodges the spell I fired through my body as if he was expecting it. But it gives me time to turn around.

"I'd say that you never hated fighting at all, or perhaps I should say that you didn't know what a fight was like. No, the thing that you hate is violence, something very different."

"Are you saying that this is not violence?"

I need to see further ahead, I need to push 'battle analysis' to the limit. Ugh... I always wondered what people mean when they say that thinking too hard makes their heads hurt. Could this be it? I've never felt anything like this, it's as if my brain is going to explode. I suppose that I had simply never reached my limit before.

"Violence is merely people trying to hurt each other, and so, the most important quality required to excel at violence is WANTING to hurt your opponent, something that you appear to be quite bad at. This, on the other hand, is almost the opposite. To excel at fighting you need to understand your opponent, be able to tell what they are thinking. And as you put all of your being into the fight, all of your worries and fears are cast aside, all that matters is finding out the winning move, reaching your limits, and surpassing them. Isn't it a wonderful feeling?"

This is it, I'm almost out of mana, I need to get him now.

"I suppose it doesn't feel bad."

My face is right in front of his, this is my chance.

'Black gate'

One gate on my right hand, the other right behind my head. And then, I use the strongest mana push I'm capable of.

*Bonk*

The headbutt is far too fast and powerful for even Vilde to react to. I almost lose consciousness for a moment and I can see everything around me spinning as I fall on my butt. Vilde is still standing, but his forehead is bleeding slightly, mine is bleeding a lot.

"I did it! I got a hit!"

"Can it really be called a 'hit' when you got more hurt than I did?"

"Don't try to make excuses now! You're not taking this away from me!"

"Hahaha, I was merely joking. But I was not expecting you to be able to keep up with my full power like that, you have surpassed my expectations. Congratulations."

He says that, but even after pushing myself to the limit the best I could do is a tiny wound that has already closed, it seems like his body can also heal fast. But I know that even if the current me cannot beat him, I can still become stronger, just thinking about it makes me excited.

I will surpass him one day.

forli