"You really are quite the warmonger, my dear."
From the other side of the park, perched atop a tree, Morgan watched the battle from a distance and murmured to herself.
Originally, Shiomi had only intended to check in on Bazett—one of the Masters—after tracking her movements. He planned to carry out a simple inquiry, per the Association's request issued by Lord Trumbellio, wrap things up neatly, and leave.
That was why Morgan hadn't followed him. Shiomi was more than capable of handling himself.
But she hadn't expected Bazett's Servant to be Lancer—Cú Chulainn, the Child of Light. And that, in turn, made Shiomi—who hadn't planned to escalate things—shift his focus entirely toward his fellow disciple.
The battle, which began as a simple melee, had now become a full-blown clash of Magecraft.
The Primordial Runes weren't Shiomi's exclusive domain. As a student of Scáthach as well, Cú Chulainn had also mastered the eighteen Primordial Runes.
So when Shiomi began channeling Magecraft through the twin magical spears in his hands, Cú Chulainn—despite the limitations of his Lancer class—found himself forced to respond with Magecraft of his own, a rare occurrence.
A storm of fire and wind spiraled violently through the park, reducing everything caught in its path to ash in an instant. Cracked cement paths had blackened, the air thick with dust—like the aftermath of a raging inferno.
"This is getting troublesome," Cú Chulainn muttered, stroking his chin, watching his barely-sustained Grand Magecraft gradually losing ground to his junior's.
It was clear—Shiomi's magic was starting to overwhelm his own.
As a Lancer, his mana reserves were unimpressive, barely at a C rank. And while he was skilled in fire-based magic, it was only through that affinity that he could maintain some semblance of his original power in this class.
Shiomi, however, was on a different level entirely. Wind, earth, water, fire—he wielded them all with no sign of being bound by elemental limitations. His Grand Magecraft arsenal seemed endless.
Slowly but surely, Shiomi was breaking down Lancer's magical rhythm.
"You're not… one of the five elemental types, are you?" Lancer asked, leveling his spear and shifting into a ready stance. He was waiting for a window to rush in and force a return to close-quarters combat.
"Who knows? I've never really thought about it. By the time I noticed, this was just how I was."
Shiomi traced a symbol in the air with his index finger—white runes flickered and vanished in a flash.
Even before the words left his mouth, Cú Chulainn felt the atmosphere around him shift. Within a ten-meter radius, the air became saturated with countless glowing Runes.
Their exchanges hadn't left room for that kind of setup. There was no way Shiomi should've been able to carve that many Runes into the space around them.
But with his deep knowledge of the craft, Lancer quickly identified the anchor points—three specific Runes.
Arranged in sequence, they meant one thing: "Creation."
"Tch… He's using Runes to make more Runes!?" Lancer's blood surged again as he roared and charged at Shiomi.
Shiomi hadn't carved out all those Runes directly. But planting the initial three during a lull in combat? That was easy enough.
The so-called "Magecraft duel" had just been misdirection.
Even Lancer had been fooled. As he dashed forward, he couldn't help but scoff inwardly—Magus were such irritating opponents, always scheming and never fighting straight.
...Though that thought, unintentionally, included himself.
This time, Lancer's strike met no immediate resistance. He had already prepared a counter if Shiomi parried his thrust, but instead, the Gae Bolg felt like it had slammed into the trunk of a great tree—suddenly bogged down with massive resistance.
From the crimson tip of the spear, a chill spread outward—ice, blooming rapidly in every direction.
"Diamond Dust." Shiomi's voice echoed through the scattering shards of ice.
A spell of this level wouldn't have much effect on Cú Chulainn directly—his C-rank Magic Resistance would dampen most of its power.
But as a way to halt his next move, it was brutally effective.
When both fighters wield spears with lightning speed, even the slightest hesitation could mean death.
"Shit—" Lancer cursed, eyes wide.
Before he could finish, the runes encircling him began detonating in rapid succession, engulfing the spear-wielding Servant in a chain of explosions.
From her position behind the battle, Bazett raised an arm to shield herself from the shockwave that swept outward in all directions.
The blast raged for over ten seconds before finally subsiding, leaving the center of the park cloaked in smoke, debris scattered everywhere.
As the dust began to clear, Lancer was nowhere to be seen—only his crimson spear lay abandoned on the scorched, cracked pavement.
Did he lose? Bazett wondered.
But the mana link between them hadn't been severed.
Shiomi looked up—and saw Lancer plummeting toward him.
The fallen spear twitched, then shot upward with a sharp whistle, carving through the air in a jagged path before landing cleanly in his outstretched hand.
Using the momentum from his fall, Lancer hurled his spear at Shiomi with all his might. It crashed into the one Shiomi threw a beat later, both weapons deflecting off one another with a shriek of metal.
Lancer landed heavily and caught his returning Gae Bolg. He looked ragged—wounded, scorched, coated in dust and grime from failing to dodge the full brunt of the earlier explosion.
Bazett immediately activated a basic healing spell, and his injuries began to knit back together.
"Damn impressive. I don't even know if I should call you a Magus or a spearman," Lancer said with a carefree grin, unshaken. "It's not that easy to kill me, you know. We've got plenty of time, and my Master hasn't ordered a retreat—"
He raised his spear and pointed it directly at Shiomi's forehead.
"So, how about a second round? If you can take me down here, you can have the title of Master's top disciple."
Injuries and setbacks only seemed to fuel Lancer's fighting spirit.
"Hmph..."
Shiomi spun his twin spears in a pair of crisp flourishes and resumed his stance, silently accepting Cú Chulainn's challenge.
All around them, the park fell into a tense hush. Only the wind stirred the leaves of trees left standing, the soft rustle barely audible.
Like gunslingers in an old western, the two adjusted their breathing, heartbeats syncing with the moment...
Then—
A light footstep sliced through the stillness.
No bloodlust. No magical pressure.
Just the sound of someone approaching.
Sensing the new arrival, Shiomi and Lancer turned sharply toward the same direction.
"That is...?"
Morgan, who had been watching from afar with amused detachment, was now visibly startled.
And along with that surprise came a creeping chill...
One that raised the hairs on the back of her neck.
...
(100 Chapters Ahead)
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