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Emilia knows that she has no special talent.
It’s been four years since she came to this school.
She was made to realize, even if unpleasantly, that there are barriers that cannot be overcome by effort.
It is a wall that no matter how hard you struggle, you cannot overcome.
Owen Pepper is a wizard of my age, but he is so far ahead of me.
If it had been someone like Berg, who was on a different level, she wouldn’t have been jealous.
Owen was running one or two steps ahead of Emilia.
His back is getting farther and farther away.
He’s a different kind of player.
His first-round opponent surrendered immediately, and Emilia knew exactly how he felt.
You can’t win.
It wasn’t about effort, guts, or feelings.
There is a relationship between the overwhelmingly strong and the insignificantly weak.
The only thing the weak can do against the strong is to not fight.
The only thing they can do is run away.
Emilia stood on the stage and faced Owen.
“Emilia. I will win.”
Owen said confidently.
I know that he has the ability to say that.
I know that the difference in ability is that much.
But…
“I’ll give it my best shot.”
Emilia doesn’t want to lose either.
I don’t want to be so weak that I lose easily.
The judge raises his right hand.
When Emilia sees this, she breathes in and gets into a fighting stance.
Then, just as the referee lowered his hand and announced the start.
“The Great Fireball ……!”
A fireball over a meter in diameter was released from Owen.
From the very beginning, it was magic that could disable most of the students.
After all, Owen is amazing.
But you can’t be too impressed.
“Water shield!”
Emilia made two shields appear in a straight line and blocked the large fireball.
Of course, two shields provide better protection than one.
However, there is a reason why Emilia took the trouble to create two shields.
Rather than creating a single strong shield, it would be better to place two shields with a space between them to make a strong shield.
That’s how I was finally able to block the fireball.
It’s no good to be on the defensive.
I would be overpowered and defeated.
So I had no choice but to go on the offensive, even if I had to use less powerful magic.
“Blade of the wind, cut through!”
Emilia unleashes the magic that can be activated in the shortest time.
“Earth wall!”
But Owen’s wall prevented the magic from working.
And then Owen collapses the earthen wall.
“Rock barrage!”
Owen broke down the earthen wall and unleashed a barrage of rocks.
“Earth shield!”
The earthen shield blocked the multiple rock bullets.
It must be very difficult to turn a clay wall into rock bullets.
This is because the earthen walls must be in a semi-magic state.
Owen, who uses it without hesitation in actual combat, is terrifying.
And the blow is heavy.
If you relax, your shield will be pierced easily.
In just a few seconds of attack and defense, I was made to understand that there was clearly a difference in ability.
After that, they exchanged magic for a while, but little by little Emilia was cornered.
“Pillar of Flame ……!”
A pillar of flame rose from Emilia’s hand and headed towards Owen.
“Earth wall!”
Emilia can’t imagine a future where she can break down that mud wall.
It’s whether she can finally bring it down with a serious blow.
She put more magic power into the wall to see if she could somehow break it, but in the end the wall did not collapse.
It’s unreasonable.
Just as she was thinking this, Owen pulled himself out of the mud wall and said
“O Ifrit!　Burn them with the flames of hell!”
(Oh no, ……!)
I had given Owen the chance.
He used the most dangerous of his magic, the 【Ifrit】.
Emilia has no way to prevent that magic.
Because of the wide range of magic, there was no place to escape in the venue.
To prevent him from using it, she attacked without pause, but she made a wrong decision.
Would I still be able to win?
No, I knew that too.
I knew from the start that there was a difference in ability between me and Owen.
But I still want to win.
(I tried my best, too. ……!)
“Let the wind blow!”
Emilia brought her magic power to her feet and created a wind from the soles of her feet.
The next moment, she used the power of the wind to fly up into the sky at once.
Below her eyes, Owen’s magic was burning up the place where Emilia was standing.
Somehow, I managed to avoid that magic.
It was a gamble that paid off.
Even when practicing, she could only use this magic to fly once in three times.
But Emilia had done it.
Now she just had to make the most of this opportunity.
Surely, Owen would be surprised by Emilia’s actions.
Thinking of this, I turned my gaze to where he would be standing.
“Wha–!?”
There was no sign of Owen.