“Duel, begin!”

• Whoosh!

The magic duel between Agnes and Lillis began with Agnes Blaze making the first move.

Given the tension that had built up in Agnes over the past week due to an incident involving Lillis, it was no surprise that she immediately launched a fireball at the start of the duel.

Ever since the incident in front of the student council hall a week ago, Agnes had been determined to land a hit on Lillis, her resolve unwavering even if her opponent was one of her closest friends.

“Shoot! Blazing flames!”

A fast-moving fireball shot across the circular magic department arena, heading straight for Lillis. The spell crossed the 30-meter distance in less than a second, its power amplified by the fact that Agnes was the one casting it. The spell was formidable; after all, during last year’s evaluation duel, it had knocked out Isolbe, who was the second top student, in one hit.

In magic duels, it was generally accepted that one could only focus on either speed or power in a spell, but Agnes excelled in both. It was no wonder that she had maintained her position as the top student in the magic department. And among the second-year students, only one person had the means to face someone like Agnes.

• Flash!

Since the moment Agnes began chanting, Lillis had anticipated the fast-moving fireball and sprang sideways, pushing off the ground with force. The spell's power was such that an average magic student would have been caught in the blast radius even with a jump, but Lillis’s physical abilities far exceeded those of her peers in the magic department.

• Thud!

Lillis rolled through the air, covering a distance of over five meters before landing. The sight of her landing, her body slightly bouncing, rekindled Agnes’s resolve.

‘Hmph, so you’ve got good physical abilities, huh?’

Agnes was already aware that Lillis had superior physical abilities compared to the other students in the magic department. Otherwise, there was no way she would have been able to take swordsmanship classes for three straight semesters despite being in the magic department. Even if she had a boyfriend in the swordsmanship department, it would have been difficult to continue taking such classes without genuine talent.

And last year’s evaluation duel, where Lillis faced Luke with dagger skills, had also shown her prowess. Although Agnes had chosen Lillis as her duel opponent in a fit of anger, she wasn’t complacent enough to assume she would win easily.

Having used the fast-moving fireball as her first spell, Agnes now had a brief opening, which Lillis immediately seized upon.

“Pierce through, arrows of magic power!”

As always, Lillis executed her signature triple casting, sending three magic arrows towards Agnes. This attack focused on speed, unlike energy bolts that were geared more towards raw power. Unfortunately, Lillis hadn’t anticipated that energy bolts would be more effective against Agnes.

‘Three magic arrows. Just as expected.’

Agnes, known for her sharp memory, recalled most of the duel between Lillis and Luke from last year’s evaluation, having observed it closely despite pretending to be uninterested. Her dedication to her magical studies, driven by her determination to join the main branch of the Elizabeth family, meant that she meticulously analyzed the duels of other top students in the magic department, including Lillis, who ranked fifth last year.

“Shield!”

• Thwack!

With Agnes’s chant, three magical barriers surrounded her, and two of Lillis’s magic arrows embedded themselves into the shields. If Lillis had used energy bolts, she might have been able to break through and deal some damage. Even if Agnes had been prepared, she would have had to spend more time chanting to defend against energy bolts, making them a better choice than the magic arrows.

Moreover, one of the three arrows missed entirely due to Lillis’s still less-than-perfect accuracy.

“Infernosilia, it’s time to use what we practiced.”

‘Got it!’

“‘As the burning flame awakens the soul, today the young spirit shall burn with a new form!’”

Agnes and Infernosilia chanted in unison, their voices harmonizing perfectly. As the chant ended, a massive fire spirit began to materialize on one side of the arena. Infernosilia had taken on the form of the "Fire Giant," a formidable being.

‘Alright, here I go!!!’

This cooperative magic, combining the abilities of a fire mage and a fire spirit, was something rarely seen in the original storyline. Lillis felt a bit of surprise at witnessing Agnes’s original technique.

‘I’ve seen Orion use the Forest Giant before, but….’

Lillis hadn’t expected Agnes to employ the Fire Giant in this duel, though it made sense since she was the one who had helped Agnes contract with the fire spirit. It was, after all, a consequence of her own actions.

‘Take this, you big-chested girl who made Agnes cry!!!’

With her rank temporarily elevated through the cooperative magic, Infernosilia swung her giant flaming fist at Lillis. Even though she was now temporarily more powerful, Infernosilia’s high-pitched voice and overly enthusiastic demeanor were still those of a lower spirit.

Naturally, Lillis wasn’t just going to stand there and take the hit, so she jumped to avoid the giant’s flaming fist. Though Infernosilia’s attacks were relentless, they were easier to dodge compared to the fast-moving fireball from earlier. It seemed that Infernosilia wasn’t yet accustomed to her giant form, and as a lower spirit, her only attack option was to use her enlarged body.

A lower spirit like her couldn’t replicate the truly terrifying aspects of a higher spirit. However, what made the Fire Giant dangerous was that it granted even a lower fire spirit the means to unleash powerful and dangerous attacks, forcing Lillis to dodge far more frantically than when she was only facing Agnes.

• Boom! Crash!

‘Both sides are attacking, but if I focus, I can dodge….’

“Flame Field!”

“…Darn it!”

As Lillis focused on dodging the attacks coming at her from two directions, her concentration inevitably wavered, and Agnes took advantage of that moment of vulnerability. Predicting where Lillis’s feet would land, Agnes cast a fire spell that ignited the ground beneath her. Suspended in midair, Lillis didn’t have enough distance to use a shockwave to counter the flames, but fortunately, she wasn’t fighting alone.

“Sei! Tailwind!”

‘Yes.’

With a brief reply, Sei created an updraft that lifted Lillis out of the flames. Although Sei was only a mid-level wind spirit, her magic was more than sufficient to carry the weight of a single girl.

“Sally! Please take care of that big friend! You can use as much of my magic as you need, just make sure to handle it!”

‘Leave it to me, Lillis!’

Realizing she couldn’t fight both Agnes and the fire spirit simultaneously, Lillis called for help. The moment she did, Sally eagerly flew towards the Fire Giant, forming a flaming ring with her right hand and expanding it.

• Whoosh, whoosh.

‘Huh, what’s this…?’

In an instant, the ring in Sally’s hand grew to a size that rivaled the Fire Giant. Startled by the sight, Infernosilia hesitated momentarily, and Sally, with a grin, hurled the flaming chakram with all her might at the Fire Giant.

‘That giant body is ten thousand years too early for someone who hasn’t even lived for a year!’

‘Waaah!!’

The flaming chakram sliced through half of the Fire Giant’s body, causing it to collapse. With Infernosilia now half the size she was, Sally gleefully charged towards her.

‘A high-ranking spirit can be quite reliable after all.’

Having left the fire spirits to battle it out amongst themselves, Lillis refocused on her duel with Agnes. She barely managed to evade another series of Agnes’s spells, then countered with a triple-cast of energy bolts aimed at exploiting a gap in Agnes’s defenses. However, Agnes quickly deployed another defensive spell, blocking Lillis’s attack once again.

‘Two out of three again. I’ve noticed for a while now that Lillis isn’t the best when it comes to accuracy.’

During last year’s evaluation duel, and even in today’s, Lillis never seemed to land all three of her spells when using triple casting. There was always one or two that missed, with only one or two hitting the target. Agnes, who had studied alongside Lillis and observed her many times, was certain of this pattern.

Initially, Agnes had assumed that Lillis’s triple casting was simply unrefined, but there were no signs of the typical mistakes associated with that lack of refinement in her casting. Despite compressing the three spells into a single sentence, which usually led to mistakes in the final spell, Lillis’s casting didn’t follow this pattern.

‘This time it was the second spell that missed. Last time it was the first. Is she deliberately miscasting one of the spells?’

Agnes couldn’t believe it was just bad luck that one spell always missed. After all, she herself had never missed when she poured her heart and soul into a spell. But this peculiar accuracy was beginning to raise suspicions in Agnes’s mind, slowly drawing her focus away as the intense battle continued.

“……”

Agnes failed to notice that Lillis, who appeared to be simply evading her spells to buy time, was gradually closing the distance between them.