Rei’s Death Scythe clashed against Noiz’s magic sword.
At the same time, a visible shockwave spread out into the surroundings.
The positions of the two weapons semi-stablised mid clash as both sides tried to overpower the other.
Overlord’s Armour greatly boosted the user’s physical strength.
Rei’s Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour added the fire attribute to Overlord’s Armour, providing even greater physical enhancement
In terms of effects, Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour was superior to Overlord’s Armour.
And yet, Rei and Noiz were still fighting on equal terms……because of how well they understood the other’s skills and the extent of which they had mastered their own.
Being the creator of Overlord’s Armour, Noiz had used it for many years.
In contrast, not only had Rei just learned Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour, even the skill it was derived from, Overlord’s Armour, had only been learned when he had fought against Noiz in the fighting tournament not that long ago.
He hadn’t been taught how to use it either, instead picking it up from watching Noiz use it himself..
As Overlord’s Armour was something Rei had learned on his own, his magic power efficiency when using it was terrible. Even with the vast magic power he had, he couldn’t keep it active for very long.
……All that said, considering he had learned the skill just from watching and being hit by it, it just went to show how good Rei’s combat sense was.
In any case, he had turned Overlord’s Armour into Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour before he had even mastered Overlord’s Armour.
Using the attribute aligned to his magic power, the skill now used a lot less magic power……but even if he instinctively understood how the skill now functioned, he was still far from mastering it.
That was the main reason he was still unable to defeat Noiz, who was using Overlord’s Armour.
Of course, there were other reasons as well.
「Gururururururu~!」
A cry echoed through the area as the Death Scythe and magic sword clashed against each other, seemingly frozen in time.
At the same time, Noiz quickly pulled his magic sword back before leaping away……and the next moment, several ice arrows pierced the location he had just been standing at.
As he leaped away, Noiz dashed forward again as soon as he landed.
Making a feint against Rei, he suddenly jumped straight up, swinging his sword at Set, who was flapping his wings mid air to hold his position.
Naturally, Set didn’t plan on waiting to be hit and flapped his wings again to dodge.
Normally, Set would have tried to counter with an attack from his own claws, but seeing that Noiz was fighting on equal terms against Rei with regards to physical strength……or even having the slight advantage, Set didn’t dare to be careless, even if he was wearing the Bracelet of Herculean Strength, which boosted his own physical strength.
But, Noiz seemed to know that Set would choose to dodge and swung his magic sword at him, unwilling to let Set fly away……
「Don’t think I’ll let you!」
Rei released a Deep Flame, tracing a path that separated Set from Noiz.
Seeing that, Noiz quickly withdrew his attack.
If he hadn’t given up then, it was clear that the Deep Flame would have hit him.
Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour was an upgraded version of Overlord’s Armour and Overlord’s Armour was effectively made up of magic power that had been compressed to the point that it was visible.
As for Rei’s magic power……he had an incredibly high aptitude towards the fire attribute, or rather, his only aptitude was towards fire.
As a result, the compressed magic power that surrounded him wasn’t just visible, it would also explode on contact……or at Rei’s will, creating varying explosions of fire in the surrounding area.
As Rei was the only one who could decide how the flames would react on contact, Noiz had no way of knowing what would happen until he got hit.
Using water or ice magic wasn’t really an option for Noiz either as it would be like trying to put out a fire with a cup of water, considering the amount of magic power in Rei’s flames.
That was why Noiz had to avoid the attack.
When Rei was still using the original Overlord’s Armour, it was troublesome to deal with but still possible to handle.
However, Rei’s strength was now at a different level.
As an individual, Noiz still didn’t think it was possible for him to lose, but with Set joining the fight, he couldn’t help but be pushed back.
「Flying Slash!」
As Rei moved towards Noiz, who was falling from the sky, he unleashed a Flying Slash from the Death Scythe.
His Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour was an incredibly powerful skill, but that same strength was also its weakness.
It could shoot out the compressed magic power that was used to form it, but doing so would also take away some of the magic power around Rei, reducing the direct effect of the skill on him.
In other words, the more he used Deep Flames, the more magic power he would need to compress to make up for the expenditure.
And, each time he had to do that, it meant consuming more magic power.
While it wasn’t as much as when he was using Overlord’s Armour, it was still using a tremendous amount of magic power compared to what an ordinary mage would have, so it couldn’t be considered a skill that could be used for an extended duration.
To compensate, Rei frequently used his other skills like the flying slash he had just sent out.
「Naive! Do you think an attack like that will still work?」
Noiz struck out towards the flying slash heading towards him.
His own attack easily neutralised the flying slash.
However, Rei ignored Noiz’s words as he used Magic Shield to press forward.
「Penetrate, Corrosion, Pain Burst, Power Slash!」
As Rei swung the Death Scythe, he chained several skills in quick succession.
He used Penetrate along side a thrusting attack with the shaft, but Noiz’s magic sword easily deflected it.
Taking advantage of that moment, Rei used Corrosion as the Death Scythe clashed with the magic sword. However, it appeared to have no effect at all, likely due to some passive effect of the magic sword.
The Pain Burst attack was also deflected away by the magic sword as the final Power Slash sent Noiz flying away.
Noiz was blown back around 3m and was about to land safely when……
「Terrain Manipulation!」
Rei thrust the butt of the Death Scythe into the ground as he activated the skill.
The timing was perfect.
It activated just as Noiz’s foot touched the ground as he landed.
Rei’s Terrain Manipulation skill was only at level 1, so he could only raise or lower the ground around him in a 10m radius and only by 10cm up or down.
However, Rei had activated the skill, causing the ground to drop by 10cm just as Noiz felt that he had landed back on the ground, causing him to lose his balance.
Of course, he didn’t spectacularly fall or lose his balance greatly.
However, as this was the first time that Rei had used the skill in this fight, he didn’t even realise what had happened for a moment.
Noiz quickly managed to regain his balance……when he suddenly saw Rei in front of him, swinging the Death Scythe.
「Power Slash!」
Rei used the skill that increased the force behind his attacks once again as he swung the Death Scythe horizontally.
Rei abandoned his own defense completely as he took advantage of the boost in physical strength provided by his Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour.
Noiz didn’t miss the opportunity either, judging that blocking would leave him at a far greater disadvantage, and let out a lightning fast thrust towards Rei.
Since Rei hadn’t considered defending at all, Noiz believed that his counterattack would land……but as if it had been waiting for just that moment, a Magic Shield appeared in front of his attack.
Noiz thought that Rei’s Magic Shield had already been consumed prior to his attack as it hadn’t been visible to him as he had fallen from the sky.
But, while the Magic Shield would move automatically to protect Rei, Rei could also manually move it around.
Using this manual control, Rei had moved the shield behind Noiz as he made his attack……to a position Noiz couldn’t see.
Noiz’s attack hit the Magic Shield before it could touch Rei, stopping it in its tracks.
And Rei didn’t miss the moment as Noiz’s magic sword paused.
Already mid swing and strengthened with the effects of Power Slash, the Death Scythe struck Noiz……
There was a loud thud as Noiz was blasted away.
He was sent flying for 7m before he managed to reorient himself in mid air and land on the ground, where he slid back several more meters.
A clear scar was left on the ground where Noiz’s feet had scraped across, showing the power behind Rei’s attack.
「Guh, d-damn it……」
The left side of his metal armour had been completely shattered by the blow.
The damage wasn’t due to the sharpness of the Death Scythe’s blade, but rather the pure blunt force behind hit from Power Slash, which traded sharpness for raw power.
Noiz realised from the pain in his left side that at least several bone had been broken.
「You managed to break through the defense of Overlord’s Armour and still inflict this level of injury on me. ……I really do envy your talent.」
「……Considering that, you still seem pretty confident?」
Rei spoke with a hint of frustration in his voice as he held the Death Scythe.
It was no wonder. Rei was using Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour. And while it was clear that it was stronger than Overlord’s Armour, it was clear to Rei that Noiz still had strength to spare.
The Bracelet of Magic Absorption had stolen a considerable amount of magic power from Noiz in that attack, but from Noiz’s relatively relaxed response, it was clear that it was far from a fatal attack.
But……
Rei couldn’t help but smile as he continued.
「Noiz, I thought I wasn’t the only one you were fighting?」
「-!?」
「Gurururururu~!」
「Gaah-!」
Noiz instantly went on alert at Rei’s words, but he was unable to respond in time to the attack that sent him flying to the side again.
He was sent flying just about as far as Rei’s previous attack had done.
Set had used his Optical Camouflage skill to deliver a sneak attack.
With a Griffon’s immense physical strength, combined with the boost from the Bracelet of Herculean Strength, it was an unparalleled strike from Set.
In fact, Set’s attack had also broken through Noiz’s Overlord’s Armour.
If anything, it was more strange that Noiz hadn’t suffered any addition injuries from the attack.
……However, the attack had caused Noiz’ magic sword, which he had used as a shield, to break mid blade.
Being a magic sword that Noiz used, it was clear that it was an incredibly powerful weapon, but even such a weapon would become useless after breaking.
「……Turning invisible, huh?」
Noiz might have been distracted by Rei’s continuous attacks, but he had certainly not neglected to watch his surroundings.
While the two of them might be dueling, they were still on a battlefield.
Mercurio’s army and the punitive force were still clashing head on just a short distance away.
Considering that, Noiz had been paying quite close attention to his surroundings, but even he had been surprised by the fact that a monster Set’s size could turn invisible.
For Set, Optical Camouflage was a powerful but hard to use secret weapon, giving him only 20 seconds of invisibility.
Furthermore, it had a cooldown of of 30 minutes after using it, so he couldn’t activate it carelessly.
That was why he hadn’t used it up until this moment……when Rei’s attacks had completely drawn Noiz’s attention.
……Even then, Noiz had reacted fast enough to use his magic sword as a shield to block the attack.
「I didn’t think you’d still be able to block the attack. ……But what will you do now that you’ve lost your weapon? Are you still going to keep going?」
Rei’s words seemed to indicate he would keep fighting if Noiz kept fighting, but deep down he wasn’t sure if he could keep up the act much longer.
While Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour was more magic power efficient that Overlord’s Armour, it still consumed far more magic power than the average mage would be capable of supporting.
It might have been okay if he had been able to absorb more magic power from Noiz, but the only real injuries he had dealt to him were from the Power Slash attack he had made just earlier.
While he had stolen a considerable amount of magic power, it still wasn’t enough to continue fighting against Noiz at the Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour’s full potential.
That was why……when Noiz dropped the remains of his magic sword to the ground and shook his head slightly, Rei felt a faint sense of relief.
(……I’m feeling relief? So, if he had continued to fight, would I not have been able to win? Even though I now have Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour?)
As he looked at Noiz, Rei felt a sense of regret well up inside him as he realised his own thoughts.
Seeing Rei’s reaction, Noiz shook his head with a happy smile.
His smile wasn’t one of a ferocious warrior, like he had when the battle had just started.
Rather, it was a pure smile that came from the bottom of his heart.
「No, my magic sword is in this state after all. To be honest, I would have liked to keep fighting for a little longer, but I’ve now seen what lies beyond Overlord’s Armour, so that’s enough for today. ……My magic sword broke. We’ll call it your victory.」
With that, Noiz glanced as the magic sword he had dropped on the ground, briefly saying goodbye to his long time fighting partner, before leaving without another word.
Having seen the battle play out, the punitive force soldiers that surrounded them had no way of stopping him and could only make way.
(Did he concede the victory to me?)
Rei could only hide his own frustration as he watched Noiz leave.