Chapter 96: Neveres

The arena was boiling with heat.

At its center stood me and Neveres.

The moment the bell finally rang, signaling the start of the duel.

Bang—!

With a sound like a gunshot, Neveres leaped and charged at me.

‘Guess he’s not planning to go easy.’

From his very first move, I realized he was serious.

Neveres’s fighting style was hand-to-hand combat.

He stuck to a method of literally crushing his opponent with overwhelming force. That style suited his tyrant-like personality perfectly.

‘A damn annoying style.’

His combat sense was on par with Jihyeok, who I’d faced before. But his style was quite different. Jihyeok created variables by making all sorts of weapons with his ability, while Neveres didn’t give his opponent any room to create variables at all with his merciless attacks.

Even now, it was clear he was charging in like a madman to deny me any opening.

He was calling me a black mage. That meant he knew I was a mage-type Hunter. So he’d try not to give me time to prepare my spells.

His absurdly fast agility for his size was another weapon he possessed.

Neveres, who had already closed the distance, thrust his fist forward.

With his agility combined with monstrous strength, his fist carried destructive power close to a nuclear weapon.

But.

‘That attack is temporarily neutralized by the highest-level Mana Shield I’ve cast.’

Before his fist even touched my body, I had wrapped myself in the highest-level Mana Shield. An ordinary mage would have been hit by his barrage and collapsed before even putting up a Mana Shield, but I was the world’s only Incantationless Casting mage.

I didn’t need an incantation to deploy a Mana Shield.

KWAANG!

The moment his fist slammed into me, an explosive sound rang in my ears.

‘The power itself is higher than Jihyeok’s…!’

The inside of the Mana Shield vibrated from the shockwave. Just like when I fought Jihyeok, the inside of the Mana Shield shook, making my ears ring.

But unlike back then, there was no problem now.

‘I even sparred separately with Jihyeok for today…!’

When I fought Jihyeok on the snowy mountain, I took a defensive stance and got almost unilaterally beaten by him. I’d never been treated like that in my life. Because I was always the one attacking, not the one being attacked. I’d never had a ‘serious’ fight with a Hunter of similar skill.

Usually, Hunters who reached A-Rank or above didn’t want to fight each other. There was nothing to gain from winning, and if you lost, you’d be considered lower in skill. More than anything, at that level, you’d run into each other often at Gates unless you were from rival guilds.

Our main enemy was the Demon Beasts.

On a battlefield where you had to risk your life, creating an awkward relationship was a loss in itself. That’s why duels between Hunters were rare.

But sometimes, like right now, you had to duel.

And I had to win this duel. To get the stake in End Cave, I had to defeat him with skill. So I needed to develop the ability to defend against Hunters’ attacks.

Fortunately, I had Jihyeok by my side, a fighter on par with Neveres, and over the past two years, I’d asked him to be my sparring partner whenever he had time.

And as a result, I could now take that attack head-on and still have some leeway.

KWAANG!

A barrage of fists rained down. Dodging all of them was impossible even with the highest level of Swiftness. So I took some hits, but unlike last time, there was no ringing in my ears or headaches.

This body was a girl’s body, but it was younger and healthier than Verdiol’s. Thanks to that, my endurance and stamina were higher. More than anything, my senses were sharp.

So I could see it.

‘…!’

The gaps I could dodge.

KWAANG!

I slipped out of the storm of fists falling like a bombardment with Swiftness.

“…Oh?”

Neveres’s lips curled up slightly at my movements as I dodged left and right. He didn’t look particularly flustered. If anything, he seemed to be enjoying it.

‘It was like that before, too.’

Back when I was Verdiol, I’d dueled Neveres several times.

Of course, it wasn’t serious, and the same went for him.

Naturally, no winner was decided.

‘But this time, I’ll have to settle it.’

I had to win. If I didn’t make him admit defeat, he wouldn’t hand over his stake in End Cave.

‘I’m going with this from the start.’

I reached out my hand. In front of my palm, five red magic circles formed.

High-level magic, Hell Fire. No incantation needed for this one either.

FWOOSH—!!

A massive blaze erupted from the magic circles, shooting toward Neveres, and at the same time, the entire arena burst into flames from the Hell Fire.

“What the hell is that?!”

“A little kid like that can use magic of this level?”

“Just being near it feels like I’m melting…!”

“The airship engine is overheating!”

Voices tinged with panic came from outside the flames.

“Hahaha! This is fun!”

But the one facing the flames head-on, Neveres, laughed heartily and leaped straight into the Hell Fire coming right at him.

‘Is he insane?!’

The moment I thought that.

“Kuhahaha!”

Bursting through the flames, Neveres revealed himself.

‘What?!’

I was stunned by his appearance. I hadn’t known his toughness was at this level.

As the distance closed, his explosive fist came rushing at me again.

KWAANG!

I’d already put up a Mana Shield. But.

“Kh!”

The force was even stronger than before, and the recoil sent my body flying, slamming me into the corner of the arena.

Just a moment ago, I’d managed to block his fist technique to some extent with the Mana Shield. But that single blow temporarily shattered the shield. Because of that, I took his attack head-on. It felt like several of my internal organs had been torn apart. I almost spat out a curse from the pain but managed to hold it in.

“Ptui.”

I spat out the blood pooling in my mouth and could easily guess why his attack had landed.

‘That bastard used my magic against me.’

He’d turned my Hell Fire back on me. As a result, I’d taken both my own magic and his fist at the same time, and the Mana Shield couldn’t hold up and broke.

“You’re still alive after taking that. Impressive.”

Neveres emerged from the flames as he spoke.

“You’re the second mage I’ve seen who can cast magic of this level that fast. You know who the first one is.”

“Hmph.”

The first one and the second one are both me, you know?

‘The situation isn’t great.’

The fortunate thing was that, even though he was laughing and acting relaxed like that, the Hell Fire had dealt him considerable damage. Parts of his skin were blackened, and his right cheek and the arm he’d attacked with were still burning.

“Let me ask you one thing, Black Mage. What the hell are you?”

“What am I?”

“You’ve been a Hunter for about two years and a few months. That’s an astonishing rate of growth. And now you’re fighting me to a standstill. There’s only one mage who could fight me at this level.”

“So what?”

“If you got this strong in just two years, what will you be like in a few more years?”

“…….”

Over the past two years, I’d trained in preparation for the coming battle with the Demon God. And as a result, the power and output of my magic had increased, and my already near-infinite mana pool had grown even larger. Plus, this body was younger and healthier than Verdiol’s.

Now I could say it for sure.

The current me is stronger than Verdiol in his prime.

“Well.”

But I deliberately answered his question vaguely. I still had no intention of revealing my identity to outsiders.

“You’ll get even stronger! Maybe you’ll even become the next Moonlight.”

“…….”

He was talking about the position of the world’s strongest Hunter.

Come to think of it, Moonlight’s death hadn’t been announced to the world yet.

“I take back my mockery. I admit it. Your skill is truly outstanding. The lower-tier S-Rank Hunters wouldn’t stand a chance against you.”

‘Hmph, those guys couldn’t even touch me when I was Verdiol.’

I retorted inwardly at that. Was he subtly looking down on me?

Of course, he didn’t know I was Verdiol, so he’d say that.

“But I’m different.”

With that, he spread his legs slightly and took a stance.

And at that moment, a formation of flames drew itself beneath his feet.

“No Hunter has ever beaten me. Not even that Moonlight! He might have cornered me, but he never took me down.”

Neveres believed he was the best, the rule, the king. He had a mindset that no one should exist above him. That’s why he always challenged others and accepted challenges.

Among those he’d challenged was Moonlight.

In other words, the bastard had the extremely rare distinction of having actually dueled Moonlight.

And even though Moonlight — Ludwig Light, the world’s strongest Hunter — had pushed him back, he hadn’t been defeated.

That “war story” had become his greatest source of pride.

“But even I am feeling the danger now.”

“…….”

“So I intend to go all out. If I’m not careful, one of us might die here.”

Neveres continued, still engulfed in the flames I’d conjured.

“So I’ll give you one last chance. Join us.”

“I’m not the type to work under anyone.”

“Not as a subordinate. I’ll offer you equal rights. Your companions too. And when I step down, you’ll be the next master of Hermes.”

“And what about your current underlings?”

“Those bastards have no choice but to follow what I say. Besides, Hermes is a meritocracy! The moment I show my true intent here, the executives will have no choice but to acknowledge you.”

*I didn’t think he’d go that far.*

I briefly imagined what it would look like if I accepted Neveres’s offer.

Leading Hermes — the largest faction among the Five Great Guilds — alongside Neveres, and eventually becoming its master myself.

*…Not a bad deal, actually.*

But there was one flaw.

In that future, I couldn’t see the members of Bisang.

Jihyeok, Deneb, Marcel, Mateo, and even Mr. Luca and Claire — not to mention the members of Crescent who’d agreed to form an alliance.

None of them were there.

So.

“It’s a good offer, but I’ll have to decline.”

I cut down that sweet proposal without hesitation.

“Haha, I knew you’d say that. A shame, truly a shame! Can’t be helped. If words won’t reach you, then I’ll have to break you by force!”

“Are you trying to leave an unhealable scar on a lady’s face?”

“You’ll be lucky if it ends with just a scar.”

Neveres reached out his hand. Flames coiled around his fist.

*This doesn’t look good.*

Bracing myself, I also extended my hand and formed a magic circle.

Five frost magic circles, emitting a blue light that contrasted with the blazing flames.

Extreme ice magic.

“Just as I’m being serious, you give it your all too. Let’s settle this.”

Neveres said with a smile.

“Don’t forget your promise — if I win this duel, you sell your stake in End Cave.”

I answered him like that, and as we exchanged words, each of our finishing moves was completed.

And finally.

*Kwaaaaah!!*

My magic — Icicle Spear — and his flame-wreathed fist clashed head-on.