Chapter 123: Battles Are Often Accompanied by Pain (Part I)

“Bang!”

Ximei was shocked to discover that his magic shield had shattered beneath the club’s blow. Shields of this kind were designed primarily to resist magic, so their ability to withstand physical attacks was naturally somewhat weaker. With his shield broken, he had no choice but to raise both hands to block the strike. Fortunately, the shield had absorbed most of the force; otherwise, the best-case scenario would probably have been broken bones.

“Battle Skill: Shattering Tyrant.”

Carey planted his club beside him and announced the name of the skill he had just used. Behind him, a small sphere resembling a burning ball of flame had already taken shape. It was a fire-element magic rune produced when his attack struck its target.

Ximei’s mouth went dry. Having studied the relevant information, he naturally understood what that single rune signified. From this point on, getting hit even once would probably mean game over. He had no idea how his predecessors had managed to defeat monsters like this.

When he saw his opponent charge at him again, Ximei could no longer worry about maintaining his dignity. He dropped into an awkward roll, dodged the attack, and continued running. Fireballs, water balls, soccer balls—he hurled everything he had at Carey, but the results were negligible. Battle mages had another particularly troublesome advantage: because they knew they had to fight at close range, they placed extraordinary importance on their own defenses. Every one of them cultivated magic shields thick enough to be absurdly durable, making them practically impossible to break through.

“Ximei, find a way to destroy his magic shield.”

Ruby, who had been watching from the sidelines, knew that Ximei would certainly lose if things continued like this. As a teacher of the Rhine Magic Academy, he naturally favored his own students. He therefore shouted toward the boy racing wildly around the arena.

“Destroy it, destroy it—Dispel Magic!”

Ximei quickly thought of a particularly useful spell. It could remove all the beneficial effects on an opponent, though its drawback was its short range. In a duel between mages, it was difficult for it to play a decisive role, but against a battle mage, it was quite effective.

A purple ring of light flared around Ximei, and the magic shield surrounding Carey shattered with a thunderous crash.

Carey was astonished that his shield had been destroyed, but then, deeply moved, he continued chasing Ximei with renewed determination.

“What good did that do, Teacher Ruby?!”

Ximei was so frantic that he was nearly in tears. Even without his shield, his opponent was still chasing him and beating him mercilessly. His weaker spells were useless, while his more powerful spells required time to gather.

“Bend ninety degrees at the waist. Clench your right fist, turn around, and strike toward eleven o’clock.”

Ruby continued searching for an opening on behalf of his student. Carey finally caught up with Ximei and swung his club at the boy’s back. At that moment, Ruby spoke.

Trusting his teacher unconditionally, Ximei immediately bent over. The forceful wind generated by the club passed so close to the back of his head that it nearly grazed him. Without even having time to celebrate surviving the attack, he followed Ruby’s instructions and punched backward.

He felt the impact before he could see what he had hit. Only afterward did he realize that his fist had struck Carey in the cheek.

“I—I hit him!”

A wave of cheers erupted from the Rhine Magic Academy’s stands. The spectators had naturally been unhappy watching one of their own being chased and beaten, so seeing Ximei gain even the slightest advantage filled them with a sense of triumph.

“How could a mere mage hit me?”

Carey wiped his cheek in disbelief. Being hit was one thing, but the boy’s fist had actually hurt. Ximei was different from ordinary mages in that regard. Playing soccer required physical strength, and after training for so long, he had built up quite a bit of power.

“Turn sideways. Bend your knee. Raise your leg.”

Following Ruby’s command, the club that could split the ground apart became completely harmless. Ximei felt so exhilarated that he thought he could continue fighting even with his eyes closed.

“Now! Raise your left leg and drive your knee forward!”

Ruby saw that Carey had missed his attack while maintaining a forward-rushing stance and knew that Ximei’s opportunity had arrived. Following his instructions, Ximei used his right foot as a pivot and raised his left knee.

From everyone else’s perspective, it looked as though Carey had charged straight into it himself, smashing the most important part of a man’s body directly into Ximei’s knee.

“Ah… ngh…”

Carey’s face instantly turned an indescribably ghastly color. He collapsed onto the ground and began trembling uncontrollably. The boys in the audience wore pained expressions as they shared his agony.

“Are you all right? I didn’t mean to do that.”

Ximei panicked. He wanted to help Carey up but did not dare touch him. After Ruby’s lessons in physical hygiene, he now knew enough about the human body to understand the consequences. He really did not want his opponent to become permanently unable to have children because of him.

Ruby could only shake his head helplessly. After all, he had been giving instructions from such a distance; even he had not anticipated that Ximei would strike that particular place.

“Carey is unable to continue fighting. The Rhine Magic Academy wins.”

The referee immediately entered the arena, performed a brief examination, and announced the result. In truth, no examination was necessary. If Carey could still stand, it would only be because he had been secretly disguised as a woman.

“This is unfair! That’s cheating!”

Har stood up and slammed his hand against the table. He had naturally heard Ruby directing Ximei, but he could not accept that his student had lost to a mage. Yet reality was cruel. A battle mage could lose, but only to magic. To be defeated by the opponent’s physical strength was utterly unacceptable to him.

“Come now, Teacher Har, calm down. Teacher Ruby didn’t use any magic power, so how can you call it cheating?”

Shudor grinned so broadly that the flesh on his face shook. This victory had been spectacular, and it had dealt a significant blow to the other side’s morale as well, especially since their team consisted mostly of boys.

“But he…”

As a battle mage, Har’s mind was practically made of muscle. Faced with such official-sounding reasoning, he froze for a moment, unable to come up with a response. He had never encountered anything like this before and could not immediately find another way to object.

“No! I’m going to duel him and avenge my adorable disciple. He’s a teacher too. If you have the courage, accept my challenge!”

Though he could no longer find anything to criticize, he could not swallow his anger while watching his disciple being carried away on a stretcher. He immediately pointed in Ruby’s direction and shouted.

“No, no. Teacher Ruby has no magic power. Surely you know that.”

“What does that matter? I simply won’t use magic either. I guarantee I won’t use magic shields, magic runes, or anything of the sort. I’ll rely solely on my own strength.”

“I accept.”

Ruby’s calm voice drifted over from the stands. Given his personality, he should have refused without a second thought. In the end, however, he could not resist Mayouna whispering in his ear:

“Go on! I want to see how you beat up that bald guy!”

And so he agreed. Even Ruby could not escape the desire to show off in front of someone he cared about.

“Perfect. I took a little loss when we shook hands yesterday. Today, I’ll settle both our old and new grudges.”

Har removed his outer garment, revealing a robust body covered in bronze-colored muscle. He took out his pitch-black staff and leaped into the arena. Ruby, meanwhile, slowly made his way down from the stands.

A great battle was about to begin.

Probably.

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P.S. I’ll post another chapter tonight.