First, I begin my incantation, pointing the tip of my sword. This had two meanings. One was to intimidate Azua, and the other was to deliberately increase my magic power, aiming to give him some understanding of my abilities.

“……Is that your power?”

My plan succeeded. He couldn’t judge at a glance like Garuku, but he seemed to have grasped my abilities.

I was half-expecting him to say, “That’s enough power,” but it seems that won’t be the case,

“You defeated Garuku. You should have at least that much power. But—”

Azua also unleashed his magic power. It was by no means miasma, but perhaps because it was heavily mixed with the power of darkness, it felt incredibly heavy.

“Whether I am convinced is another matter.”

“……I understand.”

However, given that I possess the power to defeat even a demon king if I go all out… wouldn’t he be annihilated if I used my full strength?

Phoenix Pheus, being a fellow Spirit God, might revive under that name, but Azua probably wouldn’t be able to.

“If you won’t come, I will.”

With that declaration, Azua raised his right hand towards me, converging his magic power.

It was probably darkness attribute magic. I responded to Azua’s movement by thrusting out my left hand.

First, we both unleashed magic—Azua’s was a nameless black mass. Mine was the darkness attribute lower-tier magic, “Black Fang”—it looked the same as Azua’s, but the moment they collided, the difference in power became clear.

My black was swallowed by his… I quickly thickened my magic barrier.

In an instant, a black orb burst around us. When it touched the ground, small holes appeared as if bullets had struck. The clumps of magic power, which could be called buckshot, also hit me, but I was unharmed thanks to the barrier.

I acted reflexively, but even without it, the damage would probably have been zero—

“You completely defended against my attack by utilizing that magic power.”

Azua said that about my barrier, then voiced a question.

“However, that magic just now. It was my darkness, wasn’t it? If you want to convince me, isn’t there another way?”

As I pondered how to answer and was about to reply, Garuku spoke.

“If Lord Ruon were to unleash his true nature, Azua… you would simply be blown away.”

Hey…!? While I was surprised, Azua muttered, “Oh.”

“So, there’s a significant difference between me and that human?”

“That’s how it is.”

I wondered what he was trying to achieve by provoking him, but Azua then emitted an even stronger presence.

“Then prove it.”

He began to show even murderous intent towards me—an intimidation so strong that an ordinary human would faint just from the magic power he was emitting. But I remained nonchalant, thinking about how to move.

“Lord Ruon.”

Here, Garuku, who had provoked Azua, spoke.

“To truly subdue Azua, you need to draw out his full power. Only by defeating Azua, who possesses his original strength, will he finally acknowledge you.”

“So you deliberately provoked me… Well, it certainly seemed to have an immediate effect.”

Even Azua should have realized it was a cheap provocation… but fine. As Garuku said, if I win a battle where he’s serious, Azua will have no choice but to admit defeat.

The problem is the means of attack… wait. Considering the possibility of destroying Azua, I can’t attack with magic that’s a weakness for Azua, like Light attribute. But Water and Darkness—these two are attributes Azua controls. If I use these to fight and overpower him, wouldn’t that be a complete victory?

Of course, it would utterly humiliate Azua… As I was thinking about whether it was okay to do, he said,

“That should be fine.”

Garuku said, as if reading my thoughts. Well, since I can’t destroy Azua, that’s probably the safest option.

However, I must first verify. According to Amaria, Azua should absorb Water and Darkness… but is that truly the case?

I started chanting again. Azua took a waiting stance—I unleashed “Black Fang” again.

Azua no longer even tried to dodge. The magic hit directly—but it struck his Barrier.

“…That’s a move to gauge my abilities.”

Azua said, as if seeing through my plan.

“Let’s see how long that confident attitude lasts.”

Azua declared… This isn’t just about defeating him, but a battle to make an opponent who shows such an attitude submit. I regulated my breathing and thought about how I should move.

From the previous attack, I still don’t know if it was nullification or absorption. I guess I have no choice but to destroy the Barrier and observe its reaction.

What to do… While I was thinking, Azua moved. A stream of water suddenly rose from the ground, and a dark power of Darkness overflowed from his body.

I thought, “Here he comes”—the moment Azua made his move. He came straight at me—I immediately began chanting. Will I make it in time?

Azua, who had closed the distance, threw a punch. It was clearly the power of Darkness… At that moment, my magic was complete.

“—Stream of water!”

What was unleashed with my voice was “Stream Impulse,” an Intermediate Water Attribute Magic. It’s a magic that crushes with water pressure—but it collided head-on with the Darkness Attribute punch, and the water stream temporarily engulfed Azua.

“—This is nothing.”

At the same time as the words, the water stream burst. In the meantime, I performed further chanting.

The magic engulfed Azua, but it still couldn’t break the Barrier. However, there was no sign of the Water Attribute magic being nullified by the Barrier, which made me think it might be breakable.

I activated more magic. It was “Stream Impulse” again, and I hoped this would destroy the Barrier—

“Useless.”

Azua attacked, dismissing me. His advance towards me, combined with his appearance, instilled considerable fear. But I gazed firmly at my opponent, preparing to respond to any situation.

The magic collided. But Azua pressed on towards me, trying to forcefully break through the water current.

There, I unleashed another magic. This was also an Intermediate Water Attribute Magic, called “Aqua Converge.” It’s a magic where a water current sharpens and concentrates into a single point like a spear, piercing the opponent.

Did my plan succeed—the water stream converged on Azua’s body. At that moment, I understood what happened when the water collided with the Barrier.

At the same time, I immediately moved sideways to avoid the charge. Azua’s stubbornly direct attack missed, resulting in a change of our positions.

I immediately regained my stance—and then, Azua spoke.

“It seems you’ve realized.”

I looked back at him… and eventually, I voiced the conclusion I had reached.

“So the Barrier can also have an Absorption Effect?”

“That’s right. This is my power. Do you understand that using Water and Darkness is meaningless?”

Azua reacted to my observation—in Garuku’s case, the Barrier and Garuku’s own characteristics were separate. But in Azua’s case, when the water stream hit earlier, I felt the magic power I unleashed being sucked into the Barrier.

This was a different phenomenon from when I unleashed “Black Fang” earlier—Azua, unlike Garuku, seems to be able to imbue his Barrier with his own characteristics, and he can even turn it on and off. At this rate, he can probably do the same with the Darkness Attribute.

As Amaria said, absorption… Considering that ability, the first thing that comes to mind is to continuously unleash magic to cause an overflow, but—

“What’s wrong?”

Azua asked. I could tell his magic power was increasing further, intimidating me.

The problem is, even with absorption, which of Water and Darkness is more effective… Azua is attacking primarily with Darkness Attribute rather than water. So, for Azua, Darkness might be his strong suit, but—

“Lord Ruon, between Water and Darkness, which can you use more powerful magic with?”

Garuku’s question came. I looked at Azua and answered.

“Darkness Attribute, right. But there’s still Water Attribute Magic I haven’t tried yet.”

“Hmm, I see… If you can prove you surpass Azua in either of those, I’m sure he’ll be convinced.”

That’s easy for him to say… But if I don’t do it, Azua definitely won’t be convinced.

“Understood. I’ll do it.”

I made my decision and began the Incantation.