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Hector didn’t answer. He simply scoffed and put his hands behind his back.

It wasn’t a sign of refusal.

His eyes, burning with intensity, held a mixture of contempt for a young pup who didn’t know his place and anger that showed he was genuinely furious.

As proof,

With just a change in his posture,

An oppressive pressure weighed down on my heart.

“You have an interesting way with words. Alright. Come at me.”

His hands clasped behind his back, he exuded a relaxed demeanor as if he were on a leisurely stroll, without a single opening.

A difference in class.

I suddenly chuckled. It had been a while since I felt this kind of pressure.

Just as I had despaired when I saw Pelleer back then, it was clear that I couldn’t surpass Hector, no matter what I did.

Both I and Hector knew this.

“Where did your earlier bravado go? It seems you’re scared now.”

No way.

I was the Crazy Mage. And Hector didn’t know that.

Whirrr—

I opened all three circles at once. As soon as I burned through all the mana flowing through the three rings, I attempted another resonance.

“Piercing flames, Fire Spear.”

‘Hardened wind, Wind Barrier.’

‘Fireball.’

The Fire Spear flew in a straight line.

The Fireball curved.

I charged towards Hector with the Wind Barrier wrapped around my body.

“Showing off your little tricks again, huh?”

“Ugh!”

I was repelled as soon as I charged. I didn’t even see Hector move. I could only guess what had happened from the bitter pain in my solar plexus.

When I came to my senses and looked at Hector, the spell I had cast had vanished without a trace.

“Exploding water pressure, Water Bomb.”

‘Slippery ground, Grease.’

‘Wind Step.’

It was a smooth combination of magic, but it made no difference. It felt like I was casting magic at a giant iron wall.

“Hmph…”

“For all your big talk, you’re nothing special. Is that all you’ve got?”

“I’m just getting started.”

I charged at Hector again.

Even if I was repelled, I kept charging without rest.

Fwaaaaaaaang—!

Sweat poured down like rain. After repeating it ten times, my legs started to tremble.

The physical strain of simply confronting a powerful opponent was beyond imagination.

Hector was still in his initial stance.

“Looks like you’re tired.”

“Huff, huff…”

“Were you trying to show some age-appropriate spirit? But that won’t change what you’ve said. Even if you are a Samael…”

Suddenly, he trailed off and looked at me with pity. I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh again.

“You find this situation funny?”

“Isn’t it strange?”

“What is?”

I slowly shook my head and spoke,

“Mages of the past all created circles. Knights all built cores. That was a fact that didn’t change for countless years. But in just 300 years, why, how did mages alone sell out their identity?”

“It seems you’re trying to talk your way out because you lack the skills.”

“I was curious. What was the reason? Why did circle magic suddenly become so disregarded?”

“Because magic has evolved. The limitations of old magic have been proven countless times.”

“No.”

I glared at Hector and said,

“It’s because they forgot.”

“…”

“Knights value fighting amongst themselves. But mages didn’t.”

Mages are different from knights.

Mages don’t value fighting amongst themselves.

Instead,

“They proved their worth by fighting against the countless races that threatened humanity.”

They drove out the giants who ruled the forests, threw themselves into the ogre hordes, defended against the endless waves of monsters, and erased the cunning “Black Clan” from this land.
[TL/N: ‘Black Clan’ name is not final]

That’s not all.

They marched with dragons and slew dragonkin, and in the end… they even fought and won against demons.

Each and every one of those battles was a struggle that threatened the survival of the human race, and it was the mages’ unique value that they constantly questioned themselves and evolved in the process. Just like the damn Samael did.

That’s why, in those glorious days, there were many great mages who could rival even the dragons, the agents of God and the origin of magic.

“Monsters still exist today.”

I shook my head at Hector’s indifferent answer.

“But they don’t feel threatened. That’s why they forgot. You say circles have clear limits? No, circles are just difficult. Modern mages no longer needed to evolve. That’s why they chose the easy path and envied others. They admired knights and started creating things like cores.”

“You talk too much. Why are all Samael bloodlines so delusional?”

“Really?”

I opened all the circles in my heart once again.

“Piercing flames, Fire Spear.”

“Piercing flames, Fire Spear.”

I manifested two spears of flames, overlapping them, and focused solely on the path of mana extending from my fingertips. Extreme concentration to not lose track of the mana’s path, which stretched out like threads.

“Tsk. It’s pointless.”

As Hector shook his head and tried to dispel the spell, I raised my fingertips upwards like lightning.

Whoosh—!

Two spears of flames shot up vertically right in front of Hector.

“…What?”

As Hector’s pupils dilated slightly, I rotated my heart’s rings once more.

“Wind blades that cut through the air, Wind Cutter.”

A meter-long wind blade sliced through the air, and I pulled the vertically soaring spears of flames back down.

There was only one target.

Whirrr— The circles spun wildly, and I felt intense pressure in my heart.

As the Fire Spear plunged vertically towards Hector from the sky,

The Wind Cutter pierced through the Fire Spear, creating an explosion.

Kwaaang—!

A makeshift Fire Explosion using three 3-circle spells.

“Huh.”

For the first time, a surprised voice escaped Hector’s lips.

A Wind Barrier had formed in front of him. It was the first time he had used magic in front of me.

“300 years ago, there were fools who marched towards the Land of Death. The final expedition where countless idiotic knights and mages risked their lives to protect humanity.”

Hector looked at me with increasingly annoyed eyes.

“Are you going to bring up legends now?”

“Yes. They may be just legends now, but it’s a fact that they existed.”

“I can’t listen to this anymore.”

He pointed his finger at me, without even forming a hand seal.

“Ugh.”

Just one gesture.

Blood spurted from my mouth the moment I realized it. Only then did I realize it was a ‘Fireball.’ Even though it was just a 1-circle spell, the magic cast by a 7-star mage was on a different level.

As soon as I sensed the anomaly, I put up three layers of barriers, but my insides were still shaken, and it felt like my organs were about to burst.

“See? No matter how much you rant, this is the unchanging truth. Let’s end this.”

“Ugh, they were all crazy and strong. The 10-year expedition turned everyone into crazed superhumans. Swordsmen, dragon knights, guardians, spearmen, martial artists, mages, everyone. And do you know who was the strongest among them?”

The 10-year expedition.

The two men who remained until the very last moment.

“It was the mage.”

“Stop your nonsense.”

I stood up.

Ruin, the Crazy Mage, who endured for 10 years.

Pelleer, the Archmage, who endured for 10 years.

I couldn’t stand to see their value dismissed as mere nonsense.

“Magic must contain will. Hand seals cannot do that.”

“You’re becoming more and more insolent.”

“I’ll show you.”

I closed my eyes. I opened all my senses and focused on the mana in the atmosphere.

The fluctuating waves of mana felt particularly dense.

SSS-rank, was it? My ‘Elemental Affinity’ talent for fire and wind. My ‘Mana Resonance’ talent.

The talent to perfectly sense pure mana and draw out the elements within it.

In other words,

It meant that I was blessed by Ifrit, just like the mages of Samael in the old days.

I chanted Wind Barrier in that state.

The atmospheric mana gathered by the three circles transformed into wind. At that moment, the Fireball that Hector had shot collided with the Wind Barrier.

Boom!

“Ugh.”

The Wind Barrier shattered, and I was pushed back. But this time, it was different from before.

The Wind Barrier I had cast had neutralized more than half of Hector’s magic.

Blood welled up in my mouth, but it was bearable.

“…What kind of trick are you using?”

“A trick, you say?”

Bang—

Boom—

Boooom—!

Hector fired three spells in a row. I was pushed back, but I held my ground.

As soon as the impact threatened to shake my insides, I converted the mana into wind attribute to absorb the shock.

Yes, this is Samael.

“And among all those mages,”

“What?”

“Samael was the strongest.”

My voice, declaring as if in a challenge, overlapped with Hector’s hand seals.

The 3-star spell he deliberately fired was difficult to dispel even with my blessed talent.

I was pushed back 10 meters and slammed my head on the training ground floor.

Crack— My skull throbbed, and the bitter smell of blood filled my nostrils. It seemed like my forehead was cracked.

But who am I?

‘I am the Crazy Mage.’

I gritted my teeth and raised my head.

“You said you didn’t know Ifrit?”

“You’re still spouting superstition. I really need to end this now.”

Hector looked at me with a tired expression and slowly turned his head towards Kazen, as if to confirm the outcome of this bet.

Yes.

You bastard. I’ll show you.

What the true nature of Ifrit is, the one you call superstition.

That dragons weren’t the only ones granted the status of agent by Ifrit.

— Samael Langrish Ifrit.

“Langrish Ifrit, source of blazing rage and cold wind.”

The name that the high-ranking sorcerers of Samael used to call upon. The blessing of God that they always included in their incantations when casting high-circle spells.

It felt strange. The blessing that I had only watched and mocked back then was now flowing from my mouth.

And then,

Resonance.

All the sorcerers of Samael resonated with Ifrit through their own “status.”

Then.

This is my status, Ifrit.

“I show the qualification of one who faced the end of the Land of Death. Grant your status, dwelling in this world, to the one who remembers your name. Bring a fleeting flame here.”

The mana in the atmosphere fluctuated and flowed into the Fireball in my hand.

At that moment, my head buzzed, and I heard a hallucination in my ears.

*

『Ifrit confirms the agent’s qualifications.』

『The agent’s qualifications are met.』

『Commencing resonance with Ifrit.』

『The level of resonance is… equal.』

『Unable to contain equal resonance at the current level.』

『The level of resonance is decreasing.』

『The level of resonance is decreasing.』

『A very small portion of the resonance is contained in the heart.』

.

.

.

.

【Eternity in a fleeting flame.】

*
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