CH 179.2

Translator: Jiro Editor: Ryunakama

And so we continued our special training till the night before the Title Match.

As the moonlight streamed over us, Milly and I were both lying down, our breaths ragged.

「Haa… Ha… H-Hey, Zeph. Is it really okay to do this the day before the Title Match?」 Milly asked.

「It’s fine. You don’t mind it as well, right?」

「W-Well… you’re not wrong there.」

「In that case, let’s do it once more.」

「Again?!!! How much strength have you got left!!! Let’s stop it, I give, I give! This is it for today’s special training!」 Milly protested, twisting around and lying face down.

Sheesh, I wanted to go for a bit longer though. Well I guess if we continue it will have an impact on my fight tomorrow. I guess I’ll listen to her this once and stop here.

I mimicked Milly and turned around to lie down as well, gazing at the sky.

「… It’s beautiful.」 I whispered as the light of the countless stars made its way into my eyes.

Milly was completely taken aback when she overheard my unintentional remark.

「WHAAAT?!W-What’s beautiful?!」

She quickly got up, her hair a total mess.

Good grief, what in the world is going on in that head of hers.

When she looked at me, she realized that I was looking somewhere else, not at her, which made her understand that she had misinterpreted my intention.

「Oh, yea… the stars. They really are beautiful.」 

「You’re beautiful as well Milly.」

「Yea, yea, I’m beautiful as we… *cough*?!」

She started her sentence with a slightly dissatisfied expression on her face, but when she heard me, she was utterly taken aback.

She really is quite the restless one.

Those pure eyes of hers, which had looked at me without a speck of doubt since the first time I met her, had not changed at all. They were still as lovely as they were back then.

Her pure gaze was enough to make me fall for her.

We continued gazing at each other for a while.

「U-Um, urgh, y-you s-see…」

「Milly, you’re beautiful.」

「Ughh…」

As I said that while stroking her head, Milly’s face turned bright red.

After some time passed, Milly twisted her body around and hugged me.

She then proceeded to bury her face in my chest.

「What’s wrong. You’re acting way needier than usual.」

「… Zeph. L-Let’s stay together forever… The two of us」

「Hm…?」

「You see I… I’ve always… I’ve always liked you, Zeph! That’s why I want to stay with you… forever!」

As she said that she tightened her grip around me.

Her pure, beautiful eyes were locked onto me as well.

Her expression seemed somewhat desperate at that moment.

「What happened? Why did you say that all of a sudden…?」

「It’s just that I feel like you’ve shifted all of your attention to the Flame of Flame title. To me it feels like that title is your reason to keep on living… That’s why I’m afraid that you’ll end up going somewhere after the battle…」 Milly said, her eyes beginning to tear up.

Hm, I guess it’s correct to say that I’m doing everything I have to prepare for this match. And it looks like that has made Milly worry.

In order to try and calm her down I hugged her back.

「Do not worry. I’m not going anywhere.」

「Really…?」

「Really.」

As soon as she heard me say that, Milly let out a sigh of relief.

And with tears still in her eyes, she buried her head in my chest once more.

「Ehehe! You said it! You can’t go anywhere!!!」

「Hey, stop it! My clothes will get wet…」

「Zeph. We’ll be together forever and ever!」

「Sheesh, okay, okay.」

While I let out a sigh I stretched my hand to stroke Milly’s head once again.

9

Countless gunshots boomed around the Fire Tower.

The number of spectators in the region was in the thousands.

A hole appeared in the centre of the stage and from the inside the announcer appeared.

It looks like the Title Match evolved while we were gone.

「CHACHACHACHA! EVERYONE! SORRY TO HAVE KEPT YOU WAITING FOR SO LONG! IT IS FINALLY TIME FOR THE TITLE☆MATCH TO BEGIN!!!」

Despite the fact that everything else had changed, the announcer remained the same.

As I was letting myself be absorbed in her nostalgic voice, she turned towards me and waved her right hand at me.

「Everyone, I’m assuming you remember this man? He was the one that faced Urohime in the previous Title Match and even came close to defeating her! However, you may not know that he then left for a different continent in order to train, and is now finally back! He is the contender who comes the closest to the Heavenly Mage title! His name is Zeph Einsteinnnnn!!!」

As soon as she finished her speech, I waved my hand at the onlooking crowd.

It appeared like the numerous adventures that we’d embarked on since our arrival in Prolea had spread my name far and wide.

「The one facing Zeph Einstein today is no other than this man!」

The man known as the Heavenly Mage of Fire entered the arena from the opposite side, clad in a scarlet cloak. It was none other than Bertram Cabel.

Despite his placid demeanour, he exuded a powerful aura.

It was powerful enough to give me goosebumps.

「It goes without saying that seeing the Fire Heavenly Mage fight is a rare occurrence given his character! But once he does, he always comes out on top! He has an unblemished record! Amongst the Five Heavenly Mages he is known as the strongest! Ladies and gentlemen, welcome Bertram Cabel!!!」

The crowd burst in cheers.

Well I guess it’s only natural that he’s this popular. Within the crowd, there was also a huge number of magicians.

The other Heavenly Mages could be seen as well. Seeing Bertram fight was a really rare occurrence after all.

「You seem to be quite popular Mr. Flame of Flame.」

「That goes for you as well Zeph Einstein. You won against Uro and even Yera has her eyes on you, you even challenged me… There are rumors going around town that you’re the closest person to the Heavenly Mages. To be honest, I’d really like it if you could take this burden off of my hands. I hate being the centre of attention you see.」

「Luckily for you I quite enjoy it. Kukuku.」 I said, smiling towards Bertram.

「Flame of Flame… If you’re going to receive this title, then you might as well do it in front of a huge crowd, don’t you agree?」

「I only hope you won’t be frightened to go outside because of the embarrassment afterwards.」

The roars of the crowd echoed around us as we exchanged words.

Sparks could be seen flying between us.

「Well then everyone! It seems like our contenders are ready to go!!! And I guess that you’re all quite bored of waiting! How do I know? Well that’s because I cannot wait anymore, as well! Should we have them start?! I guess it’s about time we do! Both fighters! Are you ready?!」

We both nodded at the announcer’s questions.

Seeing our response, the announcer raised her hand high up.

「IN THAT CASE, BEGIN!!!」

As soon as the start signal went off I charged at Bertram.

It would take time for him to set up his barrier of spells.

Which meant that the best course of action was to act before he could do anything!

「Well I guess that was to be expected.」 Bertram muttered out and cast Red Bullet.

He managed to cast a spell while at the same time preparing his spell barrier.

However, his ability to do so was well within my calculations.

Without stopping my charge, I cast Blue Bullet.

The water bullets collided with the fire bullets and a curtain of white smoke enveloped the area.

Without stopping for even a moment, I rushed forward in order to break through the curtain of smoke, however, it was then that…

「How naive.」

A water tornado and wind blades mixed themselves with the fire storm.

Bertram had been able to cast Blue Gale and Black Bullet with perfect timing.

What frightening casting speed… It’s like he’s able to read my every move.

Bertram’s expression confirmed my fears.

「Well, something like this is to be expected. It wouldn’t be fun otherwise. … Ain.」

「I’m here!」

Divine Greatsword Ainbelle appeared in my hand and I blocked the Blue Gale coming at me.

Divine Greatsword Ainbelle absorbed the spell and began to shine with blue light. I swung the blade and chanted the spell immediately after that.

How about this.

At the same time, I swung down Divine Greatsword Ainbelle I also cast a spell from the Sky System, namely Black Thunder.

Double Fusion: Thunder Gale.

Dark clouds appeared within the Isolated Space and from within them a bolts of thunder struck down.

Thunder Gale was a spell that caused a storm to rage across a massive area.

It couldn’t be stopped with half-measures.

However, Bertram just glanced at the storm with a bored look on his face and let out a sigh.

「What a childish spell.」

When he extended his index finger, the clouds in the sky began to dissipate.

I noticed flames flickering over the ceiling when I looked up.

He cleared the clouds with Red Inferno?!

Weather-based spells had a lot of power, but getting the right conditions to use them wasn’t easy either.

For example, with Black Thunder, one couldn’t use it unless there were dark clouds in the area.

The thunder vanished as soon as the clouds parted, leaving only a gentle rain in their wake.

He completely blocked it… Oh well, that much is to be expected.

「I managed to get close enough!」

Powerful magicians such as Bertram were fully aware of a spell’s flaws. They also knew how powerful they could be as well.

It was only logical that he would try to prevent such a spell, but if he had failed, he would have suffered a great deal of damage. To make matters worse, I was also closing in on him.

It would have been difficult for him to entirely prevent everything, regardless of how talented he was.

As a result, I was able to draw close to him.