(Clyde Astley POV)

This Aubrey guy is fucking strong!

No matter how many times I try and throw a spell, he either dodges or takes it head-on. And still remains unscathed.

How much of a monster can you be!?

With the spirits amplifying my magic power, I should be able to damage anyone on the level of an A rank adventurer.

“Damian.”

The two of us took distance from his brother. I used about 15% so far of my total magic power.

“Yeah?”

“Is your brother a shaman who uses a doll to negate magical attacks? My attacks aren’t working!”

I might have to use [Supernova].

Damian shook his head and wiped the blood from his mouth.

“He always used to be disciplined by mother with her magical attacks since childhood. I suspect it was actually to fulfil her sadistic tendencies but overall, he gained a strong magic resistance. No mage can defeat him if he uses his full power. No one has thus far.”

“Shit. Damn protagonist level bastard.”

Will spirit magic perhaps work? I have to try using high pressured water spirits and maybe then I’ll be able to deal enough damage to this guy.

He switched to duel wield swords after a few exchanges with Damian and me. His speed and power far surpasses Damian. If I wasn’t with him, providing support from behind, he might’ve been stabbed a few times.

Damian has black mana while his brother has purple. Both colours are indications that the person can use dark magic.

‘This means that he’s the same as Brynhildr.’

Although not as strong or fast as that vampire who can be called a real monster, he’s still troublesome to deal with.

SHIING

Damian deflected a shuriken with a tilt of his sword. I moved to his back and began chanting.

The two of them both put their hands behind their backs, seemingly searching for something.

Both took out a lot of throwing knives strapped to ropes.

Where did they pull that out of?

“I guess I can take this slow and see how my little brother has grown. Those two won’t get far anyway.”

SHIING

SHIING

Both threw their throwing knives at each other. The knives hit each other but were deflected by pinpoint accuracy.

“Ho?”

CLANK

SHIING

CLANK

CLANG

Sparks flew as the two rapidly threw their knives at each other. It was like a dance of sparks. Damian and Aubrey’s hands were barely visible as they threw with monstrous speed. Their eyes glowed golden as they rapidly moved along with the knives’ trajectory.

All the knives fell onto the ground as none hit their mark but were deflected instead.

Many of the knives ripped the curtains to shreds. A few almost hit me but I managed to protect myself with the barrier I casted.

My spell, [Supernova] was still busy charging up as the two engaged in throwing knives at each other.

Clank

The knives just kept coming. How many do they have?

I closed my eyes and searched for the space spirits.

–Tokiotomaere!

–Kya~!

–Don’t push! Don’t push!

They were busy playing with each other as my senses were enhanced by spirits. They seem to not be affected by the battle between two brothers.

I was slowly pulling them towards my body and absorbing them. There was no resistance from them whatsoever. I can barely remember the first time I managed to control time itself.

I slowly opened my eyes and saw a the world similar to that of a grey panel of a manga through my eyes. Only black, white and grey exist within my technique.

[Lightborn].

Everything seems to have stopped but that wasn’t it at all. Time was only decreased to my will.

“Even though I casted this so much, the world is indeed strange without sound.”

Only my emotionless voice echoed. Even my breathing sounded loud.

I looked at my hand which was covered in a white glow.

The runes are even more complex than last time. Does my proficiency improve each time I cast Lightborn? My control has improved since last time. It’s not as hard to hold on to the technique anymore.

I shouldn’t think about this now.

I walked towards Aubrey who was frozen in time as his eyes looked at his younger brother.

“High rank magic-Supernova...”

I pointed my staff which had a blue orb of mana above it, at Aubrey. The mana started to wildly flutter as I released my grip on the magic.

“Turn to cinders.”

WOOONG

The spell enlarged as it was about to burst forward.

It shot towards Aubrey.

“!!”

But what I could never predict was that someone could actually move in my prison of time.

His body dodged the spell which was in point blank range.

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

His golden eyes met mine even in my void of space-time.

I felt shivers up my spine.

“Fuck!!”

I instantly ran and stood next to Damian.

This guy is a monster. He could even dodge something in this dimension? Was it coincidence? Or...

BOOM–!

My spell destroyed a chunk of the entire camp as it furiously flew and blew everything away in its path. The ground itself was grovelled up and broken down as the spell penetrated the soil.

The world returned to normal again.

Aubrey dodged Damian’s knives.

His eyes turned to me once again.

His one eyebrow went up.

‘Fuck... fuck!’

Not even Lightborn works? Was I arrogant to think it could?

Fuck. I have no choice but to use spirit magic to escape.

“Err, Clyde... what was that just now?”

Unlike Aubrey, Damian looked at the destruction my spell caused in confusion.

What sort of hellish training did his brother go through to dodge a spell that came flying at near light speed?

“Your brother is a monster ,Damian.”

Even though his eyes were just as calm as before, all I saw was the eyes of a demon. A tamed monster.

How could a human like this exist? Could any of the White Order members be this strong? Or is it just people like him that actually achieved all that power through hard work and training? I say that but I haven’t actually seen any of the White Order members in action before.

I gulped audibly and gathered the spirits inside my body.

Only then did Aubrey show an emotion of surprise.

This is the only way I can think of to beat him. Overpower him using a million spirits.

Damian began releasing more mana and burst forward with his daggers.

Clank–!

Aubrey received the attack head-on with his swords.

The two seemed equally matched in power at first glance. Does that mean that Aubrey’s agility and defense is higher than his overall muscle strength?

Both of them engaged in close combat. The sheer power of their blows sent strong shockwaves that shook the ground as their hits were blocked by each other. Damian was slowly being pushed back as I continued to watch their fight.

Is that guy so confident about being able to resist my spells that he doesn’t even do anything about me–

“AAARGH!?”

Just as I was about to summon Undine to aid Damian, a searing hot pain came from my abdomen after I heard a piercing sound.

Why did I feel like I was slowly losing my strength?

“...Ah...”

I looked down and saw a thin white hand that’s covered in blood. A woman’s hand. Her beautiful fingers were dyed crimson in a familiar purple aura.

I looked over my shoulder and saw her.

The same golden eyes as Damian and Aubrey. But instead of black, she has completely white hair.

“You should’ve been paying attention to your surroundings.”

With that said, she pulled out her arm causing the pain to intensify.

‘N-No way...!’

I fell down on my knees and clutched my stomach. It felt like something was leaking out of my body. Not bodily fluids but something else.

“A-Ah... a-ah...!”

“Clyde!?”

Damian seems to have noticed my state as he looked towards me with widened eyes. Aubrey kicked Damian at the back of the head causing the latter to fly face first into the ground.

“You were taking longer than expected, Zelda.”

“It’s not my fault. I couldn’t find that princess. The person helping her escape has excellent mana interference and stealth.”

The two chatted even though they were out to kill us.

The woman, Zelda looked down at me.

She put her boot on my head and whistled.

“You’re still alive? If you were to stick around any longer, you would’ve been an obstacle for us as well in the future.”

She put strength into her foot, crushing my head.

The pain from having my head crushed and the heat from my chest from the damage to my cores was causing my consciousness to fade ever so slightly. Due to the damage to my mana core, even my spirit core was effected and slowly breaking down. I assumed that since I was living with two cores from the start, my body was rejecting the fact that the spirit core alone is keeping my mana veins intact. It’s the same as having two kidneys but the worst thing is that both are dependent on each other.

“Well, that worry is gone now. Since I destroyed your core in a not so gentle way, your life as a mage is over. You’d want to be dead just knowing that. As they say, few survive. Some kill themselves due to despair and others just die due to trying magic again without a core.”

The woman snickered before kicking my face.

It felt the same as being hit by a truck. Due to my cores being pulverised by her aura, my spirits couldn’t be kept inside my body. My body was slowly losing strength.

‘Ugh!!! I can’t die now!’

I covered my face as the woman repeatedly kicked me.

“Come on! Why are you resisting? At least let me have fun before you die!”

Her kicking didn’t stop once.

“Sister, you sure are ruthless. The boy will already die. Can you not let him go in peace? If father and grandfather arrives after destroying the Republican camp and sees you like this...”

“Nah. I prefer letting him taste my pent up frustration from not killing anyone recently.”

Aubrey pierced his sword through Damian’s shoulder but didn’t finish him off immediately. It seems he still has a soft spot for his little brother.

“Clyde...”

Damian’s hand reached out to me. His left eye was destroyed from the earlier impact on the ground.

It seems he too, was at his limit.

‘Ah. I wanted to live a little longer.’

Just to see Chloe and Jessica get married. I wanted to be there for their age of coming ceremony too.

Arielle. I wanted to see her again. I’ll miss her silvery white hair and her slanted blue eyes. But mostly her body. Even in this situation I can be a pervert.

Mother and father. I wanted to tell them that I came from another world.

Even if I was dying, I’d want to write it to them in a letter. I don’t know if I’d have the courage to tell them that I killed their real child and twisted fate when I saved that girl.

And lastly. Future Clyde. What would that old bastard say if he saw me amongst the sea of souls?

Disappointment for believing in himself? Thinking I could become a better him? Or anger that I didn’t do things the right way?

I should’ve run away with Edna. Even if it meant leaving Charlotte behind and valuing my life more.

When I was about to lose consciousness, a loud boom echoed, followed by a large rumble.

ROOOOAR–!

A giant black dragon, almost the size of the red dragon which I fought all that time ago was there. Although it’s smaller in size, the aura it’s releasing is far more powerful than the red dragon.

“A-A dragon!?”

I heard Zelda’s startled voice.

–How dare you hurt my human? My human!? I’ll tear your flesh apart after baking it with flames!

The last thing I saw before sinking deep into unconsciousness was Edna gathering mana in her mouth to attack with [Dragon’s Breath].