101 Magic God vs Sword God

"FIGHT!"

Gal Farion disappeared from where he stood.

Before I even heard Timothy announce the start of the fight, my Eye of Foresight picked up that Gal was going to attack my midsection on my right side at the very start of the battle. I preemptively conjured a stone pillar to rise from the ground on my right side to block his attack, but this only caused the attack to come in from my left.

"CLANG!"

The resounding echo of metal striking metal rang out as Gal's sword struck my armor. The armor absorbed most of the shock from the blow, but I still felt a slight throb to my left ribs. The attack slid me along the ground several meters to the side.

I saw Gal vanish once again, but his first attack, having damaged my armor, activated a little surprise I had prepared.

Not too long ago, I had the idea to embed an [Earth Hedgehog] spell in the armor. If any of the surface level magic circles had their circuits broken, the [Earth Hedgehog] spell would activate.

Gal abandoned his follow-up attack and jumped back in surprise as sharp, earthen spikes jutted out from my armor in all directions like a porcupine. Shortly afterward they retracted back revealing the small, visibly self repairing crack the Sword God's attack had left in the centerplate of my armor.

"Tch!", the Gal clicked his tongue in annoyance.

I reached out my hand and pointed my index finger at Gal, firing an [Electric].

Gal easily dodged the spell and my Eye of Foresight warned me he was coming in for another attack. This time I increased the gravity all around me to be several times its normal strength. As soon as he stepped into range of the spell, Gal faltered and nearly fell to the ground.

Clearly the increased gravity had surprised him, because once he caught himself he stood back up under his own strength without much problem and continued his assault.

The increased gravity did, however, slow his strikes just enough that I could now respond to them. Weaving left and right I narrowly avoided the Sword God's barrage of swings. It seemed like each subsequent attack came closer and closer to its target.

I managed to pull off a [Quagmire] spell right as Gal had planted his foot for another swing. His foot sank into the swampy ground. In combination with the increased gravity, this was enough to trip Gal as he toppled down to one knee.

The Sword God's incredible speed was getting annoying.

[Cumulonimbus]

The momentary break in action gave me enough time to conjure up massive storm clouds. The bright sun was blotted out as winds picked up to hurricane-like speeds and the mountain range was engulfed in a torrential downpour.

"CLANG!"

A strike intended for my neck struck against the plating covering my right forearm as I deflected the attack just in time.

Gal jumped back once again. Perhaps he expected another automatic [Earth Hedgehog] spell. I had only encoded that into the main plates of the armor covering my torso. There simply wasn't room to spare for additional magic circles in the smaller plates of the armor.

[Icicle Field]

The freshly water-soaked valley froze into a huge valley of ice and the torrential downpour transformed into countless hailstones tearing through the air at high velocity. I glanced over to the group of spectators to make sure they were alright. The swordsmen were busy blocking the larger hailstones that flew their way while Sylphiette reached down to the ground and conjured up an [Earth Fortress] spell to shield them.

"Where are you looking!", Gal shouted as he came in for another attack.

I had deactivated the [Gravity Magic] in order to conjure up this hailstorm and the floor of ice beneath us. I was expecting the slippery footing to slow him even further, but to my surprise, Gal seemed perfectly fine fighting on the floor of ice.

"CLANG!"

I narrowly managed to block another of his strikes before propelling myself backwards using a [Blast] spell.

"Did you think I wouldn't be able to fight in an ice storm? Haha! Where do you think I live? This is just another day in the Holy Land of Swords!"

"Oh? Then I suppose I'll have to step it up a notch."

I continued pouring more mana into the ongoing [Cumulonimbus] spell until the thunderclouds began to overflow with excess energy.

Gal jumped to the side as a searing hot bolt of lighting cut through the sky and stuck the ground where he once stood. He continued straight towards me only for a second lightning bolt to strike right between us.

***** Gal Farion's POV *****

Hailstones continued to barrage me from all angles as endless bolts of lightning rained from the sky with deadly precision. The constant stream of attacks along with the poor footing from the fresh floor of ice was making it increasingly difficult to close in for a counterattack.

Cuts and bruises began to build up from the smaller hailstones as I focused on evading the larger ones.

'Surely I won't lose a battle of attrition against a magician? He's got to be running low on mana at this point, right?'

"BZZZT"

I evaded yet another lightning bolt only to step into the path of a horizontal crackling bolt the Magic God had fired from his hand. I could feel the searing heat from the bolt of electricity that passed right beside my cheek as I just narrowly managed to tilt my head in time to avoid it.

I had absolutely no time to rest as the attack was immediately followed up by more lightning strikes and an unrelenting barrage of spells the Magic God continued to fire at me.

'The ferocity of his attacks is only INCREASING. Is he never going to run out of mana?'

I almost dropped my trusty windpipe as a large hailstone struck my hand. For the first time since I faced down the Dragon God, the prospect of losing entered my mind.

'No! I can't count on him running out of mana. As it stands, I'm the one at a disadvantage. I need to find a way to turn the tides!'

It was obvious that the Magic God didn't want to fight up close. Each spell I was forced to dodge was guiding me further away from him. I decided to completely ignore the hailstones and focus only on closing in as I evaded the lighting bolts that continued to rain down from the sky as well as the projectiles the Magic God himself was firing at me.

I flinched in pain as the hailstones struck my arms and legs. As I neared him, something occurred to me.

'Not a single hailstone has struck my head or chest. In fact, all of the projectiles that could be considered 'deadly' have been aimed at my extremities. This kid... I'LL MAKE HIM REGRET LOOKING DOWN ON ME!'

In a fit of rage I abandoned the concept of defense and launched a Longsword of Light head on. Intense pain coursed through my body as a stone projectile struck my left arm during my charge, sending my arm flying back behind me.

I continued forth. The Longsword of Light was a two-handed technique, but Orsted had used it against me with nothing but a single bare hand. Since that day I've continued my practice until I was able to perform the Longsword of Light with a single hand as well.

The Magic God's armor has proven incredibly resilient. If I'm going to do any meaningful damage I need to strike at a weak point. The Magic God had his hand outstretched as he had been firing spells nonstop. My target was clear. I aimed for the joint that allows for movement of his wrist.

For the first time in this fight, my blade was met with the familiar feeling of cleaving through flesh rather than the reverberating sensation of striking an immovable object.

'I did it!'

I watched in glee as his hand flew through the air and blood gushed from his wrist. A mage is nothing without his hands. If I can just get his other arm... I can win this after all!

This was probably the first time this kid has taken any significant damage. The North God probably never penetrated that incredible armor. I expected him to grab his arm and scream in pain, but what actually happened shocked me.

The Magic God lunged at me using the stump of his right arm and I watched in horror as flesh and bone sprung forth from his bloody wrist and formed back into a hand only for it to grab my neck. My vision blurred as my feet slipped on the ice underneath me and the Magic God shoved me down to the ground.

The force at which I struck the ground knocked the wind out of me and I began to convulse as electricity pulsed through my soaking wet body.

I couldn't move a muscle. I could barely keep my eyes open. The Magic God stood above me and reached out his hand only for his gauntlet to materialize back around it. He reached down and grabbed Windpipe out of my hand and held it to my neck.

"I think this duel is over."

The booming thunder and lightning, as well as the endless barrage of hailstones faded as the clouds began to dissipate revealing the bright sun once again.

***** Rudeus' POV *****

"I-Is it over?"

A small slit opened up in Sylphy's [Earth Fortress]. Several curious eyes peeked out at the surroundings. Once she saw me standing victorious over the Sword God she dropped her Earth Fortress and they all ran up beside us.

"F-Father!", Nina yelled in worry.

Gal was lying motionless on the ground, completely paralyzed from a point blank [Electric]. What remained of his left arm was a mangled stump and I stood above him with my foot on his chest and his own sword held to his neck.

"Well?", I asked, looking over towards Timothy.

"Uh... oh... yes. I declare Rudeus Greyrat, the Magic God, winner of this duel!"

"Don't just stand there!", Nina yelled out worriedly. "Hurry up and heal him!"

Reaching down, I held my hand to Gal's chest and it began to emit a yellow-green glow. Bone began to grow and then flesh and tendons formed around it until his entire arm was reformed. At the same time, the numerous cuts all around his body closed and the bruises faded.

Gal sat up and blinked a couple times in a stupor. He watched as he opened and closed his left hand in front of himself.

"That's amazing. I feel as good as new."

"Healing magic will do that", I laughed.

"I've never seen such effective healing magic!"

"Phew!", Nina exhaled in relief.

"What happened!?", Timothy asked.

As soon as Sylphy shielded them with [Earth Fortress], the group of spectators lost sight of the rest of the duel. They could only hear the booming thunder, cracks of lightning, the high pitched whine of my stone cannons piercing through the air, and the pounding of the hailstones against the [Earth Fortress] above them.

"It was my loss", Gal admitted. "Completely and one snidely."

"Hey, don't look so down", I tried to cheer him up. "I'm impressed you managed to get through my armor like that. I'll have to look into strengthening the joints further."

"Heh. I don't need some snot nosed kid trying to comfort me. Truth is, you're simply too strong. I find it hard to believe you're even human."

"Come on now. That's rather rude, don't you think?"

"Congratulations Rudeus", Ghislaine said as she clapped. "I can't believe you beat Master Gal in a duel."

"Well, what do you expect, I was using magic."

"Mages aren't supposed to beat swordsmen in close combat", Timothy noted.

"It's exactly that kind of thinking that holds you back", I retorted. "Magic in this world is all powerful."

I reached out a hand and helped Gal up off the ground and proceeded to hand his Sword back to him.

"I hope there's no hard feelings."

"Of course not", Gal said with a laugh. "I'm not so boorish to hold a grudge over a friendly duel. I'm the one who challenged you, after all!"

"Glad to hear it! You're much more reasonable than the North God!"

"Haha! Yes, I've heard he is a simple-minded person."

"Nice job, Rudeus!", Eris said as ran up to me excitedly. "I knew you would win!"

"I'm glad nobody got hurt", Sylphy added.

"My father was missing an arm!", Nina complained.

"Ah, it was just a flesh wound", Gal said with a laugh.

"I can see why you didn't want to fight at the university...", Timothy said as he looked around the frozen over valley that was full of fresh craters.

"Yeah, lets get out of this wasteland. Everyone, make sure you're holding someone else's hand. I'll take us back home."

The group did as I asked and I activated one of the five built-in magic circles on my gauntlet.

Once again, the environment around us suddenly changed and we reappeared in my basement.

"Bleh. I'll never get used to that!", Nina moaned.

"I think it's fun!", Eris countered.

"Where are we now?", Gal questioned.

Gal's reasonable demeanor after his defeat in addition to the respect he commanded from Ghislaine and Eris led me to trust him enough to take the shortcut back to my home.

"We're in the basement of my house in Sharia. Please behave yourselves, my family is upstairs.

We could smell the delicious aroma of Lilia's cooking coming from upstairs so I invited everyone to stay for dinner. We all go to know one another a little better over a friendly meal. As it turns out, Timothy had trained Eris until she learned the Longsword of Light and now Gal has taken over her training. Eris told me she wouldn't be staying in Sharia because she still hadn't finished her training.

"Oh, speaking of which. Eris, we managed to find your parents."

"You found them? They're alright after all? Where are they!?"

"They're staying here in Sharia and working with Princess Ariel."

"Hmph! That sounds like something they would do. Tell them I'm going back to the Sword Sanctum with Ghislaine."

"You're not going to see them?"

"If they want to see me they'll know where to go."

"Eris, we should at least stop by and see them while we're here", Ghislaine said. "I'm sure they want to see you."

"No. I'm sure they'll forbid me from leaving if I do."

"You're not a kid anymore", Gal cut in. "Make up your own mind about what you want to do."

"Exactly!", Eris agreed. "I'm going back to the Sword Sanctum. You can either come with or stay here with them."

Ghislaine looked uneasy as though she didn't know what to do.

"Go with Eris", I advised her. "You don't have to worry about Phillip and Hilda. I'll make sure they're safe."

"Hmm. Very well. I suppose I have nothing to worry about then."

"Thank you for the food, but I think it's time I leave", Gal said as he stood up from the table. "Who knows what's become of the Sword Sanctum now that I've left Finneas in charge of this long."

"The place is probably in shambles by now", Timothy agreed.

"Oh stop. He tries so hard and you guys are always so mean to the poor man", Nina complained.

"Haha, it's all in good fun. Rudeus if the time ever comes you need my help, you know where to find me. Don't be afraid to call yourself my friend."

"Same for you", I said as I reached out to shake his hand. "You're always welcome to come visit if you find yourself in Sharia."

"Paul's going to be so jealous that he didn't get to meet the Sword God...", Lilia lamented as Gal left.

"It's his own fault for staying out so late", I retorted.

"He was called out on an emergency mission to protect the academy from an invading Demon King."

"Oh right. I forgot about that."