Chapter 383 – The Gap
As is often the case in slums, children who are not inherited out of necessity are treated as cumbersome tumors and thrown out onto the streets.
The twin siblings were no exception.
Even though they were born with extraordinary talent, not a soul, not even the parents they had never seen, recognized them, and so nobody spared them a glance.
No matter how much of a Genius one might be, without care, an infant cannot survive.
The two children starved miserably to death in the rain-soaked, filthy city.
But then, suddenly, the girl burst into tears.
It was a strange occurrence.
Though she lacked even the strength to move her hand, her cry did not get buried beneath the rainfall but rang out clear.
What's more, the infant burned with magic power rivaling that of an ordinary Mage.
It was surely the instinct to live, to protect the only family by her side.
Thus, the twins caught the eye of Osgar, the Sage of Power, and came to meet him.
Thereafter, under the names Unia and Cain, they grew up treating the three Sages as both teachers and parents.
Cain was special too, but Unia was beyond that.
She awakened magic power as life itself was being formed, an extraordinary talent.
Across all history, the officially observed number of such cases barely passed into the double digits — the possibility of the 8th-tier.
A suitable host for multiple elemental attributes.
And now, having reached the mid-6th tier, she even possessed vast reserves of magic power that surpassed a Sage.
Talent, environment, and effort — the threefold harmony.
From birth until now, Unia had lived with magic for a full twenty-seven years.
That was why she was astonished.
'That's an incredible magic power…!'
An unprecedented pressure gripped her heart.
Not merely slightly surpassing her, but on a level whose end she could not even fathom.
As she beheld, the world itself quaked at the will of a single person.
Unia felt it instinctively.
That gray-haired Magus was the kind of being before whom she could show her full strength.
Her tension eased.
At once, exhilaration filled the void.
Unia exhaled a thrilled breath and gripped her staff tightly.
"…If I step out with the usual mindset I've had in our sparring, I'll be finished in one blow."
"With that level of magic power, plus overwhelming experience. Even if we hold a numerical advantage, dragging it into a long fight will backfire."
"You're right, Cain. I think so too. So I'll prepare my firepower in earnest, just buy me some time. Don't get cocky, don't get careless, just because you want to show off your swordsmanship."
"Hey, who are you to talk… Anyway, fine."
Unia's demeanor became deadly serious, more so than Cain had almost ever seen.
Cain clutched his sword with both hands.
His unique trait was 'Expanded Mana Circuits', veins running through his whole body, now filled with magic power.
And the ritual he unfolded just before — Mado
Fwoooosh.
Blue flames, that did not burn hot, enveloped his entire body.
It was a unique spell that drastically reinforced all of the caster's resistances. Though it consumed massive magic power to sustain, its defensive ability rivaled that of 7th-tier enchantment magic.
───!
Cain leapt into the air like a thunderbolt.
The blade of magic formed by his demonic sword had grown to more than twice its size.
Behind him, Unia focused her mind, devoting herself to her own Mado.
"..."
Verden looked down upon them.
Only after opening his Mado did the real magical battle begin.
No half-measures.
They stood at the resistance of the 6th tier. On top of that, both wore magical gear that dampened external impacts.
Unless he truly meant to kill, there was no chance they would die.
'Even inflicting serious wounds will be difficult.'
Knock them out, or cast them into the sea.
Since neither side would surrender, it would end one of those two ways.
Verden finished his thought and moved.
He dashed forward head-on toward Cain, swinging Orient.
The orb set at its tip flared brightly.
Kwooooom!
A clash with the demonic sword.
The physical shockwave that erupted shook the whole area.
***
Cain's fighting style was, in a word, peculiar.
Beyond the unique property of his sword, which used magic power as fuel… he wielded his own magic power almost as if it were the "qi" of a warrior.
A deliberately regulated triple breath.
Then, pulling his arms wide, Cain unfolded a certain ritual, and his magic power flowed.
At his sword tip, a sphere formed.
Then, with a small explosion, countless tiny thorns made of magic power shot out.
A bizarre magic.
'It's like he's displaying martial arts through magic power.'
Different from Warlord Legrit, who fused qi and magic.
He couldn't immediately pierce the principles of the magic. Which meant Cain's Mado, born of his unique trait, was the cause.
For Verden, the fact that he could not analyze it at once was significant.
Kwaaang!
With a shockwave imbued with spatial attribute, he unraveled Cain's magic.
Thus began the close-quarters clash. Naturally, the level of force was leagues apart from the first bout.
Through precise mana control, Verden conjured blades of magic at the tip of Orient. He further empowered them with
He computed various elemental magics, adding both raw power and unpredictability.
Kaaang! Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwag!
Chain explosions lit the sky like constellations.
The impacts clearly exceeded Cain's ability to counter, yet the spar persisted.
'Even while being struck by 6th-tier magic, he moves without faltering.'
If nothing else, his toughness and resistance were exceptional.
But for that very reason, their match-up was poor.
If Cain was a shield, Verden was a spear that pierced shields.
The longer the clash continued, the more the storm answered, raging fiercer.
Gentle currents swelled, forming waves meters high. Dark clouds shed heavy raindrops that soaked the skin.
The deep sea yawned wide.
Thus, minutes into the second bout—
"Haa, haa…"
Cain, body covered in wounds, gasped harshly.
It was only natural.
Even with Unia, their combined assault had failed to overwhelm Verden. Facing him alone was near impossible.
Opening his Mado had widened the gap further still.
Still, this was an impressive result.
Even against Verden's serious effort, Cain still stood. Even if there was no killing intent, and not all his strength, still.
But then.
"When does Unia plan to join in?"
Verden cast his gaze diagonally downward.
Unia hovered low, eyes closed, lost in intense concentration.
From the aura of magic power surrounding her, she was clearly preparing something…
Cain gave a strained smile, exhaustion clear.
"Normally, she's quick. But this time, she asked me to buy her some time, said she'd do it properly."
"She still seems far too defenseless."
"It's not like this kind of opportunity comes often, does it?"
For a Mage walking the path of magic, time was poison.
Unia and Cain were hoping Verden would willingly drink that poison.
Because this was not a fight to the death, but a spar.
Cain charged in.
So that Unia could finish preparing, he swung his sword with desperate force.
Verden obliged with good grace.
Had they merely asked him politely to wait, he would have blasted them away instantly. But because Cain clung so stubbornly to his ankles—
He would grant them time.
If Cain could endure.
The fierce clash continued.
Though he fought bravely, Cain, burdened by injuries, drained stamina, and the magic power cost of sustaining his Mado, could not hold out long and began to falter.
Verden blurred.
Bzzzzzzzt! From above to below, Orient, charged with lightning, collided with the demonic sword.
At the same time, a bolt struck, blasting Cain.
"Ghhk…!"
Part of his body went numb.
Falling, Cain gritted his teeth and barely managed to halt his descent.
He narrowly avoided plunging into the sea.
But that wasn't the true threat.
Far off, Verden.
Unleashing his full Mado, the sea receded like a great tide.
Kugugugugu…!
While Cain struggled to recover, a tsunami, towering as if to touch the clouds, rose up, larger than anything he had seen.
And it bore down on him head-on.
Cain broke into a cold sweat.
"This is… disaster-level…"
Its range was far too vast to evade.
Even if he used his Mado
He might withstand the shock, but in this duel, defeat would be certain.
Then—
"Finally done meditating."
A familiar voice brushed his ear.
At once, he turned his head downward.
Behind her floated "five satellites of magic power", as Unia touched her staff to the sea's surface.
A wave of freezing.
Crrrkkk—!
A 6th-tier focused spell.
Centered on Unia, cold spread outward.
Within mere moments, a radius of hundreds of meters froze solid.
The colossal tsunami Verden had conjured was no exception. Frozen mid-surge, it stopped, becoming part of nature itself.
"Whew, good thing I made it in time. Cain, you'd have been swept away with me."
Unia slung her staff across her shoulder.
Though visibly exhausted, she still glared at Verden, eyes burning with fighting spirit.
Fwoosh.
Immediately after unleashing such a wide-ranging spell, one of the five satellites of magic power vanished.
***
The
Of course, he understood the theory and computational process perfectly.
'But what was that power?'
Tiered magic could be adjusted between upper and lower limits depending on how much magic power was fed into it.
And magic items or artifacts could enhance performance.
From that perspective, Unia's magic broke the concept.
Even with various assumptions, the range and force clearly exceeded the upper limit.
Surely Mado.
It had to be connected with those five rhombuses, palm-sized, floating behind her, made of magic power.
'She cast
That left about four more.
Like Cain, her Mado was complex and bizarre.
This too stemmed from a unique trait.
Verden spoke.
His voice carried on magic power.
"You intend to end this quickly?"
"Dragging it out won't put us at an advantage. As you see, at least in firepower I'm confident. Though the cost is extreme."
Crkkk.
Cracks spread through the frozen ground beneath Unia's feet.
"This is, our true power."
Unia and Cain rushed together.
Each taking rear and front, their movements were hard to read.
Verden unfolded his magic without reservation.
Kwagwagwagwaang!
A bombardment of spells rained down.
The two responded with reflexive instinct, countering with mana control and magic, or minimizing the damage, as they steadily closed in.
Even for Verden, without using his Mystic Eye, it was difficult to hold them both off at once.
At last, he allowed the distance to close.
The three clashed, weapons and magic crossing.
Strike upon strike, blow after blow.
He had no intent to kill, but the power dwelling within him was frightening.
Boooom!
A stray spell struck the sea.
With a thunderous roar, a massive water pillar shot up.
Had the stage been a city, the streets would already have been reduced to rubble.
Orient sliced through the wind and slammed Cain's shoulder, the shock carried into his very insides.
Yet Cain did not collapse, instead he clung to Orient as though to embrace it.
"...!"
Verden twisted his body free of the bind. That created the briefest opening.
With a shout, Unia swung her staff, wreathed in gravity, down with all her might.
Dodging would have been the wrong move.
Verden instantly judged, and swung Orient in return.
A torrent of dissolution.
Kwoooooooom!
A clash of identical spells.
Yet Unia's Mado drove its force beyond its limits.
Verden was hurled back, overpowered.
'It's been a while since I've lost in firepower.'
A dull ache pressed his chest, the aftershock reaching him.
No matter.
Verden quickly regained control with
He molded magic power into stone.
The fire seeping from Orient merged with earth magic through the boundless Mado.
Heated within, the rock glowed red-hot.
A miniature volcano.
Verden's signature spell that pierced the atmosphere.
Sensing the danger instinctively, Cain hastily performed a ritual and thrust his demonic sword into the air.
A sharp ray of mana spread forward, blocking the front.
But it was not enough.
Unia filled the gap.
With the time Cain bought, she steadied her breath, blood streaking her eyes.
A grand beam of frost, combined with Cain's magic, clashed against Verden.
The burning rock cooled.
Gradually it weakened, covered in frost.
Then, Verden snapped his fingers.
In an instant, the flaming rock blazed with a yellow glow.
The compressed flames within erupted outward.
Kwooooooooooom!
An explosion of extreme heat that evaporated the torrential rain in a heartbeat, shattering even the frozen tsunami.
Cain and Unia were mercilessly swept up, sent plummeting to the ground.
Fortunately, they landed atop frozen sea, not submerged beneath.
"Huff, huff…"
Cain pushed himself up, using his demonic sword, Cretima, like a cane.
Unia staggered upright as well.
Another satellite had disappeared.
Unfolding her Mado
Repeatedly casting 6th-tier focused spells now caused pain in her heart.
Verden, meanwhile, still stood unscathed.
Unia let out a strained laugh.
"Mado or mana, you really are a monster."
The gap was undeniable.
This man, called Shinseong, was clearly stronger than their teachers, the Sages.
There was little chance of victory.
Even so, they would not give up.
Unia boldly demanded instead.
"We saw enough of your Mado. But we told you, what we want to see isn't only your Mado, but the strength you're hiding… So show us more. This is a spar, isn't it?"
Audacious to the extreme.
Whether driven by thirst for learning, or a desire to know the world, it bordered on madness.
The twins were both the same.
So Verden chose to reveal a little more of his strength.
After all, much of it had already been exposed in his battle with the Bone Dragon. There was no need to hide.
"If that's what you want."
Srrrk.
In his right eye, the magic circle of Defying the Heavens appeared.
His glowing gaze fell upon Unia.
"What…!"
Kwaaang!
Suddenly, the ground beneath exploded, shattering the ice and raising waves.
***
Unia rolled across the frozen floor.
Beside her, Cain was flung skyward, barely halting himself.
'Manifesting magic at range, without warning…'
Yes, he had heard reports.
From the battlefield where the Shinseong had appeared, such phenomena were witnessed.
So that was the secret behind the magic circle in his eye.
With his Mystic Eye disrupting balance, Verden closed in on Cain.
Separated from Unia by the last shock, Cain prepared a ritual to buy time.
Verden thrust his staff.
"Ghhhk!"
A crushing pull enveloped Cain.
Failing to resist, his body was dragged in, powerless.
Sensing it, Cain struck back instead.
A blue glow spread across his blade.
Through his unique trait, the Expanded Mana Circuits, he channeled an abnormal output, focusing all into the demonic sword.
A colossal mana slash.
Its power enough to damage even the highest-grade metals.
With all his might, Cain roared and swung the demonic sword horizontally.
But it did not land.
Bzzzt.
Verden, transformed into lightning through Legrit's
His empty left hand touched Cain's back.
Thud, a shockwave tore through his insides.
The force was adjusted, of course, for safety. It was more than enough.
Then with Orient, he lightly swatted Cain away.
───Boom!
Cain was hurled beyond the frozen field, crashing into a reef.
"Ghhhk…"
His whole body felt as if blood boiled.
He nearly fainted, but still conscious, he pushed his torso upright.
Yet his body no longer obeyed.
Off-balance, Cain toppled, barely clutching the edge, but too late.
Splash.
Half his body plunged into the sea.
Regardless of will, his body demanded rest to recover.
By the third rule agreed upon, Cain was deemed defeated and eliminated from the spar.
Verden turned his head.
'Now only Unia remains.'
Following her presence, he looked.
Standing on deep-blue ice, Unia was gathering magic power.
She paid no heed to Cain's defeat.
Verden asked idly.
"Will you surrender?"
"Of course not."
Unia narrowed her eyes.
Shards of ice scattered on the floor rose around her.
Was she preparing a final strike?
Though he could easily subdue her with feints or tricks, Verden chose to end it with firepower.
'Might as well show it to Melard, the Sage of Wisdom.'
Fwoooosh.
His hand was dyed with gray magic.
Trailing afterimages traced into a constellation.
A flowing star, a meteor.
A massive sphere of magic, blooming amidst the storm.
The legacy of Harkan, enhanced with Mado, compressed for greater might.
Its light drew closer.
Unia inhaled deeply, thrusting her staff forward.
"Ultima!"
The artifact's activation word.
At her cry, the staff Ultima bloomed.
It was a simple but potent ability — consuming stamina and mana to empower spells.
Use it once, and the caster is left drained, their ultimate last resort.
A projectile of swirling wind imbued with gravity.
And she consumed the remaining two satellites at once, maximizing its force and scope.
The very environment around her shook violently.
Then, finishing the spell, she unleashed Ultima at the star.
───!
A vortex met the meteor.
Neither overwhelmed the other at once, they clashed evenly, unleashing a maelstrom across the battlefield.
But soon, a massive gravitational current began to pierce through the stellar magic.
Immense magic brushed her skin. Staggering, she still held her gaze.
Then she saw it — a crack forming on the star.
Unia knew at once.
"Ah, I lost."
Her all-out spell was crushed, scattered.
Accelerating, the falling meteor slammed into the center of the frozen field.
The ground twisted.
Waves roared, swallowing everything nearby.
Even Unia, standing tens of meters away, was not spared.
She had no strength left to dodge.
Thus, like Cain, Unia was helplessly swallowed into the depths.
By the third rule, her defeat was clear.
Verden, victory.
***
Unia and Cain's strength was formidable, at a national level. But considering their Mado and tier, it could not be said they fought well.
'They cannot properly wield their full power.'
It was not lack of talent, nor lack of effort.
Simply lack of experience.
No matter the master's teaching, or how many spars they had, they had never crossed the line of life and death.
They had only ever fought limited opponents, thus vulnerable to feints and variables.
They had plenty of room to grow.
One day, they might even become transcendents. But for now, they could not match Verden.
Verden himself dove into the sea, retrieving the twins.
Grabbing each by the scruff of the neck, he landed on the Society's island.
"..."
"Ugh…"
Cain, still suffering internal injuries from the shockwave, could not stand.
Unia, drained of stamina and mana, was barely conscious.
Verden carefully set them down.
Then he turned to the onlookers who had watched the entire bout.
He asked.
"How was the spar?"
Heavy silence filled the hall.
Calming his breath, Osgar, the Sage of Power, spoke for them.
"…Well done."
A quiet praise.
With those words, the spar ended.
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