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Now then, the unveiling of my ace in the hole went perfectly. I’ve thought about the weaknesses of “Corona Burn” ever since the first time I used it at the sacred mountain. “Burn”, the simplest fire attribute magic that simply burns the target. “Corona Burn” is the culmination of this, but it has two great weaknesses.

First is the charge time needed until it activates. Since it requires a large amount of magic power, it can’t be avoided that people will aim for the caster during that preparation time. While this is a solid weakness in the case of sudden battles, for bouts like this, charging in advance is possible, so it’s not much of an issue.

The other is the difficulty of maintaining it after activation. Upon activation, “Corona Burn” is practically no different from a rampaging mass of magic power, so even with my capability to control magic, I can barely maintain it. Prior three seconds was the limit, now is probably about seven? Naturally, that’s only if it’s with the normal methods.

This time I’ve made some modifications for its retention. Though with that said, it’s nothing too big. If I can’t control it, then I’ll just make it so that I don’t need to. If its rampage will cause damage to the surroundings, then I’ll just have to surround it so it doesn’t cause damage. Thinking that way, I made use of a certain technique. It’ll probably have a chance in the spotlight later on, so I’m omitting it for now.¹

「Well then, it’s about time I go on the offense, isn’t it?」
「Eh? Ah, wai-!?」

On my right hand is a white orb. This is the current appearance of my “Corona Burn”. Touching this orb, it doesn’t feel hot at all and there’s no trace of that violent storm of destruction in sight. However, within this orb, slowly consuming my magic power, is a miniature sun.

I carefully yet swiftly remove my control over this orb for only an instant. From the tiny gap this caused, a beam of light overflows and burns everything on its path. My aim was a bit off and a black scorch mark was left several steps away from Tebby. I’ve been practicing in secret, but while it can now be used repeatedly, the accuracy is an issue since I’m actually removing control.

「I won’t leave unscathed if that hits me, won’t I……」
「Don’t worry about it. I will make sure to heal the damage even if you lose an arm or two.」
「Wow, that’s a relief. Like I’d actually think that!」

No kidding, even with the loss of an arm or two, no, actually even if his body is split in half, I can heal him as long as he doesn’t die instantly. Still, even I can’t heal him if it unluckily hits the head, so please try to avoid that somehow. I’ll make an effort not to hit the head too.

Obviously, I don’t use this sort of brutal magic on the regular. Usually, I basically only use “Burn”, ”Cut”, “Water”, and “Wall” during mock battles. Even so, I’ve never lost against anyone, and as long as I can use these four fundamental magic, I have tools to apply for every situation.

Then why am I using what’s practically a murder magic? That’s because I’m against Tebby. Being a singular flame attribute user, I trust that Tebby should be able to handle “Corona Burn”. This is something I have full confidence in after seeing his usual training. So this is also a test, so to speak.

「By all means, please try to endure this.」
「Now that you say that, I’ve got no choice but to try.」

Understanding what I’m implying, Tebby responded so. After a test shot, which Tebby dodged and parried with a wave for fire, I shot two more beams of light, which was shot down by several flashes. I then shot an extra thick beam and just when I saw it pierce through Tebby’s body, it was actually a mirage created from the difference in temperature.

「Good move.」
「W-well, this is… nothing…….」

From this exchange, Tebby is running out of breath. Well, it’s understandable. Since I’m only making use of a magic that was already cast, I don’t exhaust magic power that much. On the other hand, since Tebby is repeatedly using magic to counter my attacks, he probably consumed a lot of magic power.

「I’ll accept your surrender anytime, you know?」
「You kid, I can still go on.」

Tebby calms his breathing and closes his eyes. Magic power overflows from his body. Tebby is a beastkin. Unlike Urania, he’s not a 『diseased』 and unlike Adan, he’s not immature. He’s a sufficiently mature beastkin. Just as how I have Succubus Form as a trump card, beastkins have their own Beast Form.

Tebby’s body hair and horns grow out. Having characteristic patterns, his horns are undoubtedly that of a sheep’s. The horns seem to produce magic power and through “Mana Sight”, I confirmed a powerful magical reaction from it. Besides that, his fur seems to be filtering the mana in the air as well, making more magic power, although only slightly.

「In that case, will you be able to take this?」
『I’ll show you I can! “Explosion Horn”!!』

The beam of “Corona Burn” and the horn-shaped flame fired by Tebby clash. If it was a normal explosion like the ones before, then it would be unable to offset the beam and would only be pierced through. But this time, not only is it different in power, it seems to have vastly different properties too, since just when I saw that it offset my magic, horns once again came out rushing from the remains of Tebby’s magic.

Shocked upon seeing the offset magic come back to attack me, I ended up being late to intercept it. The instant the explosive horn was about to run through me, I activated the magic I cast on myself. Gaining a hint from the technique Ces showed me in our mock battle before coming to the academy, the Magic Shell, I created this new magic. I name it “Absolute Wall”.

Ever since then, no matter how much I practiced, I couldn’t use the Magic Shell properly. However, my conversation with Selena the other day gave me another hint. If I can’t use an existing thing, then I just have to make a new one. I have the power to do so, and, in truth, I was able to create one immediately.

A magic barrier that, after being activated once, can be maintained with a small amount of magic power yet it also has sufficient defensive strength. That’s what “Absolute Wall” is. Its defensive power is strong enough to contain the raging power of “Corona Burn”. Against a regenerating explosion, it won’t even gain a scratch.

「That was quite great too.」
「Guh, kuh…… It didn’t hit, huh……」

It seems that Tebby can’t stay in his Beast Form for a long time, as he’s now returning to his usual beastkin form. It also looks like he barely has any magic power left.

「It’s my loss. I really thought I’d finally do it this time.」
「I’m not about to lose yet. However, from here on out, we’re rivals.」
「Finish! Winner, Lily!」

With Urania’s call, our mock battle has ended. Up until now, my relationship with Tebby was that of a teacher-student relationship. But from now on, things will be different. In today’s mock battle, Tebby proved that his sharp fangs can reach my throat.

The only reason I’ve won this time is because I had two secret cards known only to me. Next time, Tebby will likely have prepared ways of countering these. It was only a mock battle this time, but the next time it might be a battle for my rank. I have no intention to lose, but I’m looking forward to it.

1. Lyly: Lol, meta