Finally, on the day of the duel, Iria stood in a large dueling arena.

 

It hadn’t been this big even when she had dueled with Lucia. Sera’s must be quite strong.

 

Perhaps a smaller arena wouldn’t have been enough to contain her power. She was stronger than she appeared on the surface.

 

Iria could roughly gauge an opponent’s strength just by looking. Seeing Sera up close, she understood why Rena had made such a fuss.

 

Sera’s strength had already surpassed that of academy students, and in that respect, she was similar to Ariel.

 

Was there something special about this year’s second-year students? Even at a glance, they seemed unnecessarily strong compared to first-year students.

 

While it’s natural for second-year students to be stronger than first-year students, the difference was excessive. They weren’t far behind even third- and fourth-year students.

 

As the distance closed, Sera flashed a grin. It wasn’t fitting for someone about to fight.

 

“You came? At least you didn’t run away.”

 

“……”

 

“Ah, don’t misunderstand. I’m not looking down on you. It’s just that last time, all my opponents ran away. Though I did track them down and beat them up anyway.”

 

Her words were brutal, contrasting with her gentle smile. Somehow, Iria thought this suited her perfectly.

 

She seemed like someone Iria had seen somewhere before. Had she met Sera before? There was a strange sense of déjà vu.

 

“I like that you showed up in one piece. You seem more on edge than before, showing that you’ve prepared. Was it worth giving you a week to prepare?”

 

Sera stood in front of Iria as she spoke. She felt quite different from the other humans Iria had met so far.

 

Most tended to look down on and underestimate Iria, but she couldn’t see any of that in Sera’s eyes.

 

Sera was treating her as an equal human being. There was no condescending gaze or dismissive attitude.

 

It was an ideal duel in the truest sense, a duel in which they would prove their skills in a practical combat format.

 

There was no pride at stake, no great humiliation in losing.

 

At this point, Iria could roughly understand Sera’s character. She was upright like Ariel, just with a slightly different approach.

 

She loved combat to an excessive degree, and dueling was her way of proving her path.

 

She was a crazy person, but not a bad person.

 

In response, Iria also decided to treat her as a fellow human being.

 

She raised the wooden sword in her hand, pointing it at Sera. It was a sign that she was ready for the duel.

 

Sera also raised one hand as a sign that she was ready. That’s when the academy professor, acting as the referee, signaled the start of the duel.

 

However, Sera didn’t immediately make any visible moves.

 

Even though the duel had started, Iria and Sera maintained their standoff.

 

Iria was curious about what tactics Sera would use against her. So, she decided to observe her for a moment.

 

After a short while had passed, Sera finally made her move.

 

“Let me give you a piece of advice. It’s better not to point a sword at me.”

 

Sera lightly flicked her finger and…

 

-Whoosh!

 

The wooden sword in Iria’s hand caught fire. It happened in an instant.

 

What had been a wooden sword turned into ashes in a moment. The weapon that had been there was gone.

 

“A wooden sword is still wood, after all. Now, what will you do?”

 

“……”

 

Iria drew out the mana from within her body.

 

She immediately converted it into blue-green wind. It didn’t take long for this to happen.

 

It was the result of her training. She had trained as a mage majoring in Combat Magic before being a swordsman.

 

A blue-green light spread around. Dense wind elements arose.

 

At the same time, the corners of Sera’s mouth curved upward.

 

“Yes, that’s more like it.”

 

In the dueling arena, Sera ignited her flames.

 

Its power was incomparably stronger than when she had burned the wooden sword.

 

It was flames with firepower similar to what Rena had shown in the practical exam. The difference was that Rena had used an irregular method to create that firepower.

 

While Rena had overexerted her body to produce firepower that was overwhelming for herself, Sera unleashed it purely with her own capacity.

 

This was her true strength. Another legend of the second year who had built an undefeated record in dozens of duels, excluding Ariel.

 

And the fiery blaze approached Iria.

 

***

 

Fire magic is the most aggressive element but can only shine when the flames are hot.

 

That’s why fire magicians have their own intermediate processes to raise the temperature of their flames.

 

Rena used a method of slowly preheating by stacking spells after storing flames, while Eve maximized the power of her magic by exploding her mana during the intermediate stage.

 

So what about Sera?

 

In the dueling arena, her flames spread as if they were alive. The first flames that arose burned brightly and spread to the surroundings.

 

From flame to flame.

 

From small flames to a massive conflagration.

 

Sera doesn’t directly go through the intermediate process that fire magicians supposedly always use.

 

She spreads the flames in all directions, letting them spread independently, then merges them and raises their temperature.

 

“Howl.”

 

The flames, which had grown large enough to cover most of the arena, exerted a tremendous influence just by their presence.

 

The phrase “the flames are howling” seemed fitting.

 

However,

 

“……”

 

Deflecting flames was something Iria could do with her eyes closed now.

 

She recalled the feeling from her training.

 

She changed the trajectory of the flames with a blue-green wind. The wind embraced the heat, creating a hot wind. A massive flaming gust blew across the dueling arena.

 

In the arena that had instantly turned into a sea of fire, only the spots where Sera and Iria stood remained intact.

 

It was a place where breathing was difficult due to the hot flames heating the air.

 

“This is something I haven’t seen before. You’re good with magic too? Well, you are in Combat Magic.”

 

Sera walked over with a relaxed smile.

 

She walked across the flame-covered arena. The flames, which had burned freely as if alive, recognized their master and made way.

 

Sera had all the flames in the vicinity under her control.

 

“Then this time, I’ll fight in the way you prefer. You like close combat, right?”

 

Sera retrieved the flames that had covered the dueling arena.

 

All the flames were sucked back into her. She gathered the massive flames into one place.

 

In the process, the flames brushed against Iria’s skin, and it was hot.

 

The claim that she was officially the best fire magic user among the academy students wasn’t an exaggeration.

 

She concentrated the gathered flames into one point, raising the temperature to the extreme.

 

Then she wrapped it around her entire body.

 

After taking a stance, she engraved the flames on her fist.

 

If it had been an ordinary student, they would have forfeited without even approaching her. The temperature of the concentrated flames was overwhelming to everyone.

 

Sera’s crimson eyes shone through the flames.

 

This was undoubtedly the greatest show of firepower among the academy students. She smiled slightly, ready to charge at Iria.

 

But,

 

“You’ll regret this.”

 

Obviously, it wasn’t a level that Iria needed to be wary of.

 

If Sera willingly closed the distance while abandoning the advantages of a magician, it was rather favorable.

 

Iria wrapped the wind around her fist in the same stance Sera had shown. It was insignificant compared to Sera’s.

 

She had to face massive flames with a small wind, but it didn’t matter much.

 

Rather, this much was more than enough.

 

Because Sera was strong.

 

If there was such a difference in their magical firepower, Iria calculated that there was no need to bother controlling her strength.

 

“We’ll see who ends up regretting it.”

 

Iria half-listened to Sera’s words while focusing on controlling her mana.

 

Blue-green wind enveloped her body. Acceleration of the body using wind.

 

And then,

 

-Bang!!

 

Iria and Sera leaped simultaneously. They lunged towards each other.

 

Sera extended her fist, filled with flames, and Iria stretched out her fist, wrapping it in the wind.

 

The brightly burning flames obscured the surrounding view. In the limited vision, all that could be seen was Sera approaching closely.

 

Their fists collided. A large explosion engulfed the dueling arena.

 

In fact, the impact almost affected the spectator seats beyond the arena, but the professor acting as referee spread a barrier to block it.

 

The power of Sera’s punch was more impressive than expected. It was because she had enhanced her body based on her enormous mana capacity.

 

The power of her fist couldn’t be ignored, and fierce flames followed behind it. It seemed Iria had underestimated her after all. Iria put more strength into her wind-wrapped fist.

 

“…Ugh?!”

 

At the center of the explosion, Sera’s brows furrowed.

 

After a large explosion passed, Sera was the first to retreat. She was frowning, clutching the arm she had used to throw the punch.

 

“……”

 

The outcome of this clash was as follows:

 

Iria’s hair and clothes were slightly burned, while Sera’s right arm was broken.

 

It was the result of overpowering magic with sheer force. It was a somewhat crude method, but Iria had no other means of attack.

 

She couldn’t use magical energy in a place where so many people were watching.

 

“So, who regretted it?”

 

Sera’s face showed signs of bewilderment. She blinked, alternately staring at Iria and her own arm.

 

Engaging in close combat against Iria had been a mistake. Iria took a small breath.

 

The duel wasn’t over yet.

 

“Do you want to continue?” Iria asked her.

 

And then,

 

“…Ha.”

 

Sera laughed.

 

“Isn’t that obvious?”

 

On Sera’s left index finger was a gold ring.

 

It was the type that had a small awl come out when a button was lightly pressed.

 

Of course, it was far from enough to hurt others. It was very small and thin.

 

But it was more than enough to hurt herself. It was custom-made for that purpose from the start.

 

Sera scratched her arm with the small hidden needle. It was quite a bold attitude for self-harm. She stabbed the needle deep and made a large cut.

 

She could receive treatment at the academy’s medical facility after the duel anyway. That’s why she didn’t hesitate.

 

Red blood dripped onto the dueling arena. As it was not a shallow wound, the bleeding was considerable.

 

With an expression half-filled with madness, Sera infused mana into the blood as she cut her arm.

 

“Howl.”

 

At that moment, the dueling arena turned upside down.