15

The villager's scream was swallowed by the holler that escaped from Arthur's lips. Emile was startled by the sudden scream but he was even more startled by the force that started to push him backwards. He could have sworn he was thrusting the sword forward but for some reason, some invisible force was pushing him backwards.

His target was just inches away from him but he was slowly being forced back against his will. Emile skidded for several metres before he stopped and when he did, he still had no real idea what had happened. The same could be said for the gathered crowd. From their perspective, Emile for some reason decided to slide backwards when he was close to delivering a fatal blow on Arthur. Since Arthur's voice magic was invisible, the villagers thought Emile had a sudden change of heart, deciding to leave things be and put the revenge behind him. However, when they saw the fire of vengeance still burning in Emile's eyes, they realized they were wrong and they could not have been more confused.

If Emile did not have a change of heart, what the hell happened?!

"Did you see what happened earlier?"

"Emile was shoved back but I have no idea why. All Arthur did was let loose a scream, that was probably a reflex from almost getting the knife punctured through his stomach."

"In that case, why did Emile slide backwards?"

"Since we did not see Arthur make any physical move, could it have been a magical attack? Maybe he cast a spell to push Emile back?"

"That's impossible, he wouldn't have the time to cast a spell in that short moment. Plus, all he did was scream, that could barely be counted as a spell incantation."

"Maybe there was a pre-cast? Maybe he finished the incantation beforehand and only unleashed it now?"

"That's an advanced skill that only experienced mages know how to utilize. You expect Arthur who has been diagnosed to have no magical talent to use something like that? You must be crazy!"

"Then, what other better explanation do you have?!"

"..."

Honestly, Arthur had quite a good time being the centre of attention. All his young life, he had to live in his legendary father's shadow, it felt nice to be recognized for something he had to his name, to have the crowd speculating about something he had done.

In other words, even though Arthur was doing this for the sake of the Echo energy, he realized he could get used to this type of experience. Speaking of which, Arthur also noticed the ball of Echo energy above the crowd was close to being finished. The show had gone on for long enough, it was time to wrap things up.

Arthur stood upright and turned to face Emile who was eyeing him suspiciously. He announced to Emile but mostly for the benefit of the crowd, "It was me who did that. I used something called the Voice magic."

The chattering started almost instantly.

"The Voice magic? What is that?"

"Have you heard that before? Is that some newfangled or forgotten school of magic?"

"If it is, where did Arthur learn that?"

"And what about the assessment that he has no magical talents?"

"Perhaps he is just pulling our leg?"

Emile was unconvinced as well. He suspected Arthur was just trying to pull one over his head. "What voice magic? I've not heard of that before. Stop trying to disrupt this duel with your mumbo-jumbo. Action speaks louder than word, stop bluffing and show us this Voice magic if it's real!"

Arthur's lips curved into a smile, "You have no idea how glad am I to hear you say that."

For some reason, Emile felt the wind in the air changing. Perhaps he had spoken too soon. Instead of maintaining his offensive posture, for the first time since the duel started, the man shifted to a defensive stance. On the off-chance that Arthur wasn't lying, he wanted to be ready.

Arthur warmed his throat and channeled the elite phantasm's vocal materialization. He shouted and a blast of force cut through the wind to aim at Emile's centre. Emile could not see the attack because sound is invisible but he definitely could sense and hear it. He tried to use his sword to cut through the force wave but it was too strong. It was like trying to cut through a steel wall. It might be doable for a more experienced warrior but definitely impossible for someone at Emile's stage. Therefore, he pulled the sword back and used it to block the force wave. Again, Emile slid for several metres before he stopped.

The village was silent before chaos erupted in the crowd.

"It's real!"

"Arthur isn't lying, he really has mastered something called the Voice magic!"

"This school of magic is very interesting! Do you think he'll open a class to teach the rest of us?!"

"Remember to tell me if he's taking any students! I'll definitely register to be in his class!"

Emile though could not share the crowd's enthusiasm. He was sure Arthur was the weakest link, which was why he had chosen to deal with the man instead of Felicia or Billy but it looks like he got that wrong.

However, that didn't mean that he had given up on the duel. The man was persistent, Arthur could give him that.

Emile knew the best way to deal with a mage was close-quarter combat and thus he tried his best to get close to Arthur but Arthur kept him back with his range of vocal manipulation. Unlike arrows and elemental spells, which he could see and deflect with his sword, Emile could not do anything to voices.

In a complete turn of events, Emile was slowly forced backwards. Initially, he tried to block the assault with his sword but after he knew that was untenable, Emile started to avoid them instead. Unfortunately, the man was not as quick on his feet as his little brother or Arthur.

Eventually, he tripped on his own feet and exposed his weakness during battle. Arthur took in a deep breath and shouted at the top of his lungs.