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Chapter 0252 Ryo vs Oscar
Translator: Jay_Forestieri
Editor: Tseirp
It was as if time came to a standstill.
No one moved.
No one spoke.
The front line forces of the Southern Army stood still, some of them hunched over, after facing a volley of artillery fire from the opponent.
Well, that was natural.
Just when they thought they were a goner after facing a thousand magic bombardments, an invisible wall of ice appeared in front of them and repelled everything.
The magicians of the Emperor’s Magic Division were also surprised inwardly, although none of them uttered a sound.
Their bombardments had been repelled by a single wall of ice.
Although, there were about four who were not surprised.
What broke the situation, where no one could move, was the sound of multiple footsteps coming from behind Ryo.
And a couple of voices.
“Is that Baron Hagen Benda’s <Teleportation>?”
“Most likely. However, even in our family’s information network, we have never received a report that a group of people can be teleported. As expected of the Empire. They must have kept the information thoroughly hidden.”
It’s the conversation between Abel and Phelps.
The two stood beside Ryo while having that exchange.
Baron Hagen Venda.
He is a ‘Baron assigned to the Imperial Army’, which was a very strange position.
He is the only man in the Central Nations who can use what is called ‘Space-time magic’.
Known magic are <Infinite Storage> and <Teleportation>.
Both are extremely useful magic for the military, so he ‘constantly’ moves with the Imperial Army.
What makes his ‘Space-time magic’ special is also how he came to be able to use it.
His father, the previous Baron Venda, was also able to use ‘Space-time magic’.
While his predecessor was able to use Space-time magic, the current Baron Hagen Venda was unable to use Space-time magic.
And the moment his predecessor died, Baron Hagen Venda was able to use Space-time magic
 as if he had inherited the family curse.
While Abel and the others were talking about this, two figures from the Emperor’s Magic Division came forward.
Sure enough, it was Princess Fiona, the leader of the group, and Oscar, the second-in-command and known as the ‘Explosive Blaze Magician’.
“Are they
trying to have a representative match?”
“I guess so.”
Ryo asked and Abel answered.
“But you’re going to have a tough time dealing with those two
”
Abel said this with a frown, and Phelps added.
“The intel on the Explosive Blaze Magician is that he is unequaled in close-quarters combat. In a previous Imperial martial arts tournament, he left some pretty impressive records. Also, Princess Fiona is reputed to be more skilled than any other magician in history in using the treasured sword Raven, which she wears on her waist.”
“Are there that many magicians roaming about who are also good in melee combat
?”
Abel let out such words with a small sigh.
“I’m not surprised. I mean, if they can close in on their opponent, it’s all over, isn’t that kinda badass.”
“Yeah, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Abel denied Ryo’s words completely.
“Well, jokes aside. Before calling yourself a magician or anything like that, I believe that as a single individual, you should be able to fight in close quarters as part of your self-defense
that’s all I’m saying.”
“
I wish the other magicians could hear this.”
“Rin has Warren, and Rihya has you, Abel, right? To protect them.”
“And you have
Sera, huh?”
“Nah, I will be the one protecting her.”
“I-I see
so you’re going to be better than Sera
in close quarters
”
It’s a degree of magnitude that even Abel could not fathom at all
.
Ryo took a step forward and chanted.
“<Avatar>”
A body clone appeared.
As expected, the sight startled even the Imperial master-disciple duo.
Ryo thought he could hear their gasps.
Then he dared to say in a loud voice so that they could hear him.
“I’m more than enough to deal with these two.”
“Wait, Ryo!”
Understandably, Abel must have thought that it was a bad idea. And called out to stop Ryo.
“You understand that I can’t allow you to take the stage right? If by some stupid mistake you were to be taken out
”
“I’m still an A-rank swordsman, you know. And I’m sure you also know that there’s no reason for anyone but me to step forward in this situation. The Emperor’s daughter versus the new King, seems fitting, don’t you think?”
His Majesty the King was full of motivation.
That’s right, he was undoubtedly an adventurer and a swordsman before he was a King.
Ryo deactivated his <Avatar> and Abel stood beside him.
“Please try not to die.”
“You too.”
Saying this, Ryo and Abel fist-bumped each other.
They didn’t need to exchange words with each other.
The battle, divided into two pairs, began abruptly.
Swordsman versus swordsman.
Abel uses a large, two-handed sword that can be used as both a two-handed sword and a one-handed sword, a type of sword known as a Bastard Sword.
The slender Princess Fiona wields the treasured sword Raven, which is a bit shorter than Abel’s sword.
The effect of the treasured sword Raven puts Fiona in a pseudo-haste state, making her faster than usual, which is abnormal, to say the least, but Abel was able to handle it.
He refrained from making large swings, but adjusted the angle of his sword slightly and let it flow. He dodged using footwork. He even mixed in some feints using his vision.
By harmoniously combining everything, he negated the difference in sword speed.
In addition, his attacks were not all defensive but were timed appropriately to prevent Fiona from activating her offensive magic.
The same melee magic combat during a sword fight that had once put even the Hero Roman at a disadvantage in a mock battle, was now being completely restrained by Abel.
(An A-rank swordsman indeed. He is superior in everything but speed
. The only other person I have struggled this much against was master.)
Fiona’s expression did not change at all.
But she was quite bewildered in her mind.
It wasn’t that she had underestimated him by any means.
But she honestly thought that with the pseudo-haste buff from the treasured sword Raven, it shouldn’t be that difficult to outperform him.
But as it turns out

(I don’t think I stand a chance of defeating him
)
(Her swordsmanship definitely lives up to the rumors
)
Abel was astonished.
Of course, he had heard that Princess Fiona’s swordsmanship was great.
And had also read the reports before.
But there was a big difference between reading about it and experiencing it.
He was well aware that the difference in speed is critical in sword fights.
But even so, he honestly thought that he could make do with his superior skills.
But as it turns out

(I may have made a fatal mistake when I decided to step forward
)
The sword fight between Abel and Fiona proceeded to a sort of stalemate.
The other pair
while both drew their swords, somehow opened the fight with a magic showdown.
The cause, of course, was a remark that Ryo made.
He said.
“Freezing the princess and displaying her in the royal capital should make for a very good exhibition.”
Robbing your opponent of their cool is the very basic of the basics.
“You bastard!”
Oscar shouted and immediately chanted.
“<True Universal Collapse>”
Naturally, Ryo intercepted it.
“<Icicle Lance 256>”
Thick ice lances intercepted the rain of flaming rocks that poured down from above.
Repeatedly annihilating each other in mid-air, all the flaming rocks disappear.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
“<Flying Flame Lance>”
Flame lances suddenly appeared all around Ryo, and flew toward him.
“<Dynamic Steam Mine>”
Ryo then in turn intercepted them not with ice walls but with steam mines.
That was because the light generated at the time of spell mutual annihilation is dazzling.
In other words, a smokescreen of sorts.
And after setting off the smokescreen, an attack would obviously follow!
Ryo rushed in with his Murasame at the ready.
However

“<Flame Falls>”
Oscar attacked, with a waterfall of flames flowing sideways.
He had seen through Ryo’s move to transition to close combat using the smokescreen.
“<Laminated Ice Wall 10 Layers> <Water Jet Thruster>”
The Flame Falls was more powerful than expected.
Ryo, who judged that an ordinary ice wall wouldn’t do, chose the laminated ice wall.
Moreover, he moved backward with water jet.
The flames were powerful enough to devour more than half of the stacked ice walls.
Ryo was frankly surprised at the incomparable power of this fire compared to that during Whitnash.
(Isn’t this
as strong as the Hell Fire Akuma Leonor used back then? I’m surprised that even a human can become so strong in such a short time.)
Ryo muttered to himself in his mind.
<Flame Falls> and the <Laminated Ice Wall> collided, illuminating the area with dozens and hundreds of annihilation particles.
As if to mask himself with them, Oscar chanted softly.
“<Piercing Fire>”
At that moment, hundreds of needles of white flame were generated all around Ryo and swooped down on him.
Since <Flying Flame Lance> couldn’t break through, he chose to suppress him with sheer numbers.
“Dream on! <Water Jet 1024>”
1024 water jets were generated, orbiting Ryo in a random orbit.
Then, they struck the white flame needles accordingly, and the mutual annihilation occurred with them as well.
The exact opposite of his usual position, like when he was blocked by ‘Hassan’ and Leonor.
Similarly, Ryo could see that Oscar, who was currently being blocked, was astounded.
The moment when the largest amount of annihilation particles formed between them, Ryo charged toward Oscar.
A purely head-on charge with no tricks. With the fastest Men* Uchi. (TLN: Head strike: One of the five strikes in Kendo)
“<Barrier>”
Oscar put up ”
A surprisingly thick piercing fire was generated and pierced Ryo.
Ryo was stabbed in the stomach with a pillar of white flame.
Oscar’s left arm was cut off, and he also lost his right shoulder and beyond.
The two of them were within a hair’s breadth of each other.
If they reached out their hands, they could reach each other immediately.
But neither of them could move.
It was all they could do to hold on to their consciousness
.
Even though just the smallest of movements would have decided the outcome!