Harriet was facing Olivia Lanze, who stood smiling faintly on the opposite side. While Harriet’s expression was stiff, her opponent’s expression was overflowing with ease.
Harriet didn’t like that arrogant attitude.
‘I wonder if I was like that once.’
There was a time when everything in the world seemed smaller and more ridiculous to her.
She couldn’t figure out why people were struggling so much, when everything was decided at birth.
There was a time when she didn’t try to understand them, but just scoffed at them. Even now, she didn’t think she had completely abandoned that part of herself, but she knew that she needed to work on it.
The opponent was arrogant.
Sure, she’s known for her selflessness, as her nickname, Saint of Eredian District, suggests, but for some reason, when it came to Reinhardt, she acted like a terrible person.
Blatantly picking fights with Ellen.
Deliberately ignoring her.
The look on her face whenever she did that.
She smiles coyly, hides her true colors, and tries to provoke others.
Harriet knew that the odds were stacked against her. She’s seen that monster fight.
But that mask.
That abominable face, so thick and hideous that it disgusted her.
Regardless of whether it’s anger, frustration, or even annoyance.
She’ll rip that mask off at least once.
She won’t let herself be ignored and looked down on forever.
-And now, the final match of the quarterfinals, Group C! Here we go!
Olivia Lanze gazed silently at Harriet.
“I don’t like to be dirty. I’ll make it quick.”
Olivia’s body was covered in blue mana.
Thick mana enveloped her.
‘I don’t like to be dirty’
Harriet couldn’t believe Olivia’s words.
“That’s funny coming from you, clinging to Reinhardt even when he says he doesn’t like it.”
“Oh, that?”
Olivia walked towards Harriet leisurely while smiling, instead of running towards her.
“It’s because I like him so much that I have to do things he hates.”
“….”
“You can’t say something like that, can you?”
Olivia continued to walk towards Harriet with a dazzling smile on her face.
Someone who was honest with her heart.
Someone who could be open.
Someone who was willing to push through even if it meant hurting someone else because of those feelings.
Someone who recognized that in order to gain something, one must lose something, and was willing to hurt herself and Ellen in order to have Reinhardt.
Harriet suddenly felt envious of Olivia, who could live like that.
However, the feeling of envy quickly subsided.Her opponent was merely provoking her.
At that moment Harriet tried to stop thinking about her opponent’s words to keep her cool.
Olivia gently stepped on the ground and then…..
-Tap!
The sound was light.
-Shhh!
However, the speed at which she was running was by no means light.
-Ching!
As her barrier manifested before Harriet’s eyes, Olivia’s fist slammed into it.
-CRASH!
”!”
A fist came rushing towards Harriet’s nose as the barrier collapsed.
-POP!
In the split-second before the attack landed, Harriet quickly teleported away with Blink. Olivia spun around and smiled at Harriet, who had broken into cold sweat.
“You’re fast.”
She cast Blink quickly, the moment she realized that her barrier had been broken.
But unlike Olivia’s laid-back demeanor, Harriet couldn’t afford to play around.
-Flash!
A bolt of lightning slammed into Olivia’s body.
It was a tactic she’d used in the first match. She would use Blink to create distance, then unleash a barrage of offensive magic to strip away the protection of her opponent’s Magic Body Strengthening.
Even though it’s a simple trick, there had been countless participants who had been unable to do anything about it and were ultimately defeated in the preliminaries.
If you couldn’t deal with close combat, then don’t allow it to happen.
Once a lightning-based spell is cast, its delay is almost nonexistent making it nearly impossible to dodge. Of course, a normal person would be stunned or dismembered by such a spell, but an opponent with Magic Body Strengthening was different.
The best defense was to render them incapacitated with a lightning bolt and then finish them off with a devastating fireball.
So far, so good.
But Olivia charged at Harriet again, even after being struck by a lightning bolt. She didn’t even flinch.
Of course, Harriet had expected this.
-Thud!
Harriet waved her hand in the air, and from the arena floor, a stone wall rose.
If the barrier was easily breached.
Then create a physical wall instead.
However, her opponent used no grand strategy.
“This is nothing.”
She merely believed in her overwhelming physicality and pushed through.
“You think you can stop me?”
-Thud!
Olivia Lanze lunged at Harriet, shattering the rising stone wall with her bare body.
“I’m not trying to stop you.”
Harriet had already cast her spell in that short amount of time.
There was no way a wall could stop Olivia.
Her strength was overwhelming.
If that’s the case, you don’t win by force, you win by other means.
The purpose of the wall was to disappear from her opponent’s sight.
The magic used was called Hallucination. It causes an illusion that fooled the target’s presence.
Magic had endless possibilities.
Right now, the opponent would not recognize her presence. They broke through the wall and ran forward, but since she had disappeared from their senses, the senior could just look around bewilderedly.
That’s how it should have been.
However, the moment Harriet cast the spell, she felt it.
‘Resisted…?!’
The spell cast towards Olivia had bounced off.
How?
It’s not a top tier spell, but it’s a mental magic of the intermediate level at least..
It’s not a magic that could be resisted so easily.
Harriet had no choice but to watch as Olivia’s fist flew towards her.
Olivia won the first set after a short battle.
After being sent back into the arena, Harriet stared blankly at Olivia’s smiling face.
It’s not that the intermediate illusion-type magic was less effective, it didn’t work at all.
“I have a rough idea of what you were trying to do.”
Olivia, with her hands on her hips, speaks to Harriet as if to specially let her know.
“Almost all mental magic doesn’t work on me. You’re a cute junior.”
As soon as she heard those words, it felt as if Harriet’s mind had frozen.
It was not widely known that Olivia Lanze’s resistance to mental magic was close to immunity.Therefore, it’s only natural for Harriet to not know this.
However, as a consequence of her ignorance, all the plans that Harriet had prepared had vanished into thin air.
She’d been hoping that mental magic would be the solution to her physical inability to match the opponent before her, but it was actually outright ineffective..
There was no way it was a bluff. Harriet had clearly felt that the magic she cast had no effect.
She’d expected some level of magic resistance, but not a complete immunity.
“What’s with the look of disbelief? Isn’t that the way the world works? Everyone is born with something. This is just a place where the talented gather.”
Temple.
In the place called the Royal Class, the talented gather from all over.
“As you seem to be an unreasonable person in your own way, I also can’t help being an unreasonable person in my own way, right?”
The second set was about to start.
“If that’s all you’ve got, just surrender.”
Olivia was still smiling.
“Before you make yourself look even more miserable.”
She realized in the first set that her trump card was nullified. She was in an unfavorable situation.
It was hopeless.
Magic immunity. She thought there was only one person with that talent: Scarlett from Class B. But it turned out that there was someone else.
Now that her only chance was gone, Harriet’s mind raced.
-Damn it! You fucking idiot!
And then, piercing through the chaos of her mind, she heard a shout.
From the stands.
It was a familiar voice.
She didn’t have to look to recognize whose voice it was.
There was only one person in the world who called her that.
-Don’t panic!
The guy was shouting at her. He wasn’t saying ‘win’ or ‘cheer up’.
It’s just a message saying ‘Don’t panic.’. The words themselves were not any kind of support.
However.
“Tsk.”
Harriet could see Olivia Lanze’s expression twist slightly as she heard the same shout.
In times like this, you root for the underdog, Reinhardt had certainly said so.
It was annoying that he’d said it when he was certain of her defeat.
But.
In the end, the world was all about results.
Reinhardt is cheering for her.
-Don’t be afraid, just go for it!
Reinhardt wasn’t cheering for Olivia Lanze, he was cheering for Harriet de Saint-Owan.
“I guess this is what it means to lose and still feel like a winner.”
“….”
Harriet smiled at Olivia’s stony expression.
The smile had faded from Olivia’s face. There was no playful taunt, no sarcastic remark.
Harriet’s confused thoughts were interrupted by Reinhardt’s shout and she had regained her calm, but that same shout might have ensured a worse outcome for her as well.
“This is, uh, quite pitiful.”
Olivia Lanze was angry now.
At Harriet.
At Reinhardt.
“This sucks, I just want to get it over with.”
The start of the second set had already been announced.
Olivia attacked again.
Harriet had no barrier this time. Suddenly, numerous streaks of blue energy lines appeared on the back of her hand and began to glow.
“Hwuuuup!”
-Crack!
“!”
In an instant, a crack appeared in the arena, and the arena itself collapsed.
-Thud!
Taking advantage of the fact that Olivia Lanze had stumbled at the sudden loss of footing, Harriet spread her hands.
The magic she’d just cast was Shockwave.
With that the floor was destroyed.
This was no low-level magic by any means.
And then, on top of that, another high-level spell was cast.
One set.
There is no going back. I will take one set at all costs.
Harriet stretched both of her hands towards the sky.
A massive fireball that was incomparable to a mere fireball.
“Eat this!”
Flame Strike hurtled towards Olivia Lanze, who had still not regained her footing..
-Kukwakkwang!
A massive explosion of flames engulfed Olivia Lanze.
Blue magical lines were shining brightly from Harriet’s backhand and forearm.
The arena was suddenly blown to smithereens, and with it, a devastating flame strike.
The audience was speechless in front of this overwhelming spectacle.
“It doesn’t make sense.”
Saviolin Turner, who had been watching the situation, spoke briefly.
“No matter how much of a genius Harriet de Saint-Owan is, it’s impossible for her to cast destructive magic of that magnitude at that speed.”
“Are you saying she… cheated or something?”
“No… However, it doesn’t seem to be a normal way of using magic at all, just looking at those markings that suddenly appeared on her body….”
As Saviolin Turner had said, Harriet’s hands had been covered in blue lines, though they were gone now.
Two back to back high level spells, with an almost instantaneous casting time each.
Ellen, Liana and me.
Everyone was bewildered by the sight.
“Could it be… that Harriet….”
I grabbed Ellen’s shoulder and shook it.
“Did she just get a tattoo?!”
“…?”
Harriet.
I don’t know what it was, but I think she got a tattoo!
No, there’s nothing wrong with getting one!
She could get them! Yes she could! That’s true… but!
“Is that what matters to you right now?”
“Well, it does!”
Liana’s face made me feel like crying. There were definitely people here who knew what that was all about.
“Louis, what the hell is going on, what has the Magic Research Society done to our little brat!”
My near-scream made Louis turn around in the front seat.
As if he hadn’t expected me to react like this at all.
“Ah, wait, no… Why are you so upset?”
Louis let out a deep sigh as if to calm himself down.
“It’s an application of scroll magic.”
“…What are you talking about?”
Louis spoke as he looked at Harriet standing on the demolished arena.
“Harriet, she’s writing a magic scroll in real time.”
This is…
What the heck are you talking about?
-What the hell did the Magical Research Society do to our little brat!
It wasn’t just Reinhardt who was confused, but also the Grand Duke and Duchess.
So, he couldn’t even pay attention to Reinhardt, who was calling his daughter names near him.
“Darling… what was that?”
“Well… I’m not sure, to be honest.”
Even Grand Duke de Saint-Owan, with his mastery of magic, couldn’t figure out what his daughter had done to her body.
Of course, the Grand Duke was not as horrified as Reinhardt.
He was a wizard before he was a nobleman. As such, he lived with the mindset of a wizard.
“It seems our daughter has already done something that will surprise the world.”
The outcome of this battle was not important.
Grand Duke de Saint-Owan intuitively knew that his daughter had developed a new system of magic that had never been seen before.
Casting.
That was the beginning and the end of magic.
However, casting was ultimately a time-consuming task, so no matter how fast it got, it cannot make that time zero. Magic was a great and convenient power, but if you use magic for the purpose of fighting, there was a fatal flaw in casting time.
If enough time was given, magic could destroy anything.
But because the casting time for magic was always present, there were times when even the most skilled battle mages die in vain.
Casting was a natural process. The idea of getting rid of it was unthinkable.
It was the same as providing an answer without the required equation.
However, Harriet was aware of the example set by her senior.
Royal Class 2nd Year A-1 Redina.
Her talent was [No Casting].
Although it’s called a supernatural ability, Harriet had seen with her own eyes that it was possible.
Magic that manifested simultaneously with thought.
If something like that was possible, was there anything out there it couldn’t achieve?
But one cannot obtain supernatural abilities.
Like many battle mages before her, Harriet worked hard to reduce her casting time.
Of course, she couldn’t acquire supernatural abilities.
She just found a way to do it elsewhere.
Harriet wracked her brain with the rest of the Magic Research Society.
The answer was not found by Harriet, but by Louis. He had an understanding of magic, but was unable to use it.
Therefore, his way of thinking was different from that of a typical wizard.
‘A magic from a scroll can be cast instantly.’
‘Yes.’
“And a scroll is an enchanted piece of paper with a magic circle on it, right?
‘Yes.’
‘Well, people already have magic in their bodies, don’t they?’
‘Yes. So?’
‘So, assuming a person’s body is a scroll, can’t you draw a magic circle on it and activate it?’
‘…?’
‘Huh?’
Everyone’s reaction to Louis Ancton’s comment was that it was crazy.
But there was nothing wrong with the idea in theory.
A scroll was essentially a magic circle drawn on an enchanted medium.
Enchanted Medium - Paper
Magic Circle - Formula
It was very counterintuitive for her to think that if she took a medium, a human being, and put the formula on it, magic would be triggered. It was a bizarre claim that even Harriet, with her intimate understanding of magic, could not fathom.
‘Dettomolian said that the warriors of his tribe had warpaint tattooed on their faces by shamans to draw on their extraordinary powers.’
‘I know witchcraft is the root of magic, but… I don’t know what this warpaint thing is, but apparently it draws power by painting magic circles on people’s bodies. Is that what you’re saying?’
‘Yes, I’ve heard it works, and if the warpaint harnesses the magic in a person’s body, it’s not so different from what I’m talking about after all, is it?’
Louis was just saying an idea out loud. Using a human body as a scroll to reduce casting time, with the human body itself functioning as the scroll.
Adelia tilted her head at Louis’s words.
‘If we assume that it is possible, if someone can tattoo a fireball magic circle and cast it, then that person would only be able to use fireballs? What if they wanted to use other magic…?.’
‘They’d be covered in tattoos….’
Everyone’s faces fell as they realized that it wouldn’t be a pretty sight.
Even if they assumed that it was possible, if one engraved numerous spells all over the body, one would naturally end up covered in tattoos.
‘And we can’t even learn scroll magic in the first place.’
Christina said. The magic associated with magic scrolls was so classified that it couldn’t be taught at Temple, so whether it works or not, it wasn’t something that could be tested at this point.
‘No.’
But Harriet shook her head.
‘You don’t need to imprint a magic circle, you just need to imprint a language.’
Language.
The word stunned them all again.
‘If you imprint a language, you have a magical system that allows you to derive countless spells by simply combining the necessary sequence of symbols.’
With that, everyone realized what Harriet was talking about.
An ancient system of magic, less ancient than witchcraft, but just as ancient, and the true source of magic.
‘You can just engrave a rune.’
Through runes, all the magic in the world could be manifested.
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