Poudre de perlimpinpin!

Genius or not, I could easily defeat Aoban in mere seconds if I decided to. But I couldn't go full power on him and I needed my victory to feel real to the others, so I can't have him collapse suddenly without a reason. I guess I could torture him until he concedes like Vivian did, but he's my brother. I don't want to hurt him. Besides, even if I did, there is no telling that it will work. Lucius did hold out for a long time after all. So I've thought about a way to win without harming him and without using high level spells. The only thing I need to do is hold out for long enough that his defeat doesn't look too unnatural.

I expanded my mana field so as to control the air around Aoban. But as I started to execute my plan, I immediately noticed brother charging at me.

So he intends to finish this fight quickly, huh? Well, it's fine. I just need to distract him enough to keep him at a distance.

One of my main issues in this duel are the incantations. The audience will definitely be able to hear me so I need to be consistent with them. One attack, one incantation. I need to be able to remember them but at the same time, I can't have people understand them. I've already been seen using magic so I'll keep 'Abracadabra' for fireballs. As for the rest, well… I guess it will be time for my knowledge in foreign languages to shine! But for now…

"Abracadabra!"

I launch a fireball at Aoban in order to slow him down in his course. However, it wasn't very effective. Brother didn't decelerate one bit. Unimpressed by my spell, he simply deflected the fireball with his sword. And although it was a wooden sword, his movement was so swift that it didn't even catch on fire.

Yeah, I expected that much.

"Abracadabra!"

This time, I launched ten consecutive fireballs at him. Coming all at the same time, he had no choice but to halt his course. Although Nomi said defense wasn't his forte, Aoban had no problem stopping the fireballs. But I didn't expect them to hit him in the first place. I was only buying some time. Keeping him busy, I kept sending fireballs at him as he kept deflecting them. Brother tolerated it for a while as he probably expected me to run out of mana. A normal person would have, casting spells one after another, but certainly not me.

Eventually, he had enough. Instead of deflecting the fireballs, brother decided it was better to avoid them. With a swift jump to the side, he resumed his course toward me. So I called back my fireballs. Just like homing missiles, the blazing orbs Aoban just evaded changed their course, flying straight to him. Brother didn't see them coming but he felt the heat increasing in his back. He turned around just before they could hit him. Startled by the unexpected attack at first, he still managed to deflect most of the fireballs. Most, but not all. Unable to avoid or deflect them all, he had no choice but to slash down some of the fireballs. They exploded on impact with his sword, unleashing a lot of heat. Brother was unharmed, but his sword was beginning to show signs of strain. It was a training sword after all. It could handle exchanging a few blows, but it wasn't designed to resist magic.

Brother clicked his tongue. If his weapon broke, then he would have no other means with which to fight.

Not letting him rest, I sent a couple more fireballs at him. Aoban glared at me. He knew I wouldn't let him avoid them. But he couldn't afford to keep deflecting them, or slashing them either, at the risk of wearing out his blade.

"Spirit of the day, wisdom of the night," he suddenly started chanting. "Sweep my enemies away, out of my sight. 『Vortex』!"

An incantation?

Mana swirled around him as Aoban summoned the wind. His magic wasn't very strong, but amplifying it with a whirlwind slash of the sword, it was enough to brush to fireballs coming at him away.

It was a bit surprising. I knew brother could do a bit of magic, but I didn't expect him to use it in the duel.

"Are you done?" He asked dryly.

Oho. He's not in a good mood.

"Then it's my turn," he continued, as he didn't expect an answer.

Aoban focused. His mana left his body, passing through his sword. He stabbed the ground with his blade. His fierce and blazing eyes were locked on me.

"Earth my mind, earth my body," he chanted, supplying magic power to his weapon. "Grant me the strength to defeat my enemy. 『Enhancement』."

Fuck me.

Power overflowed his blade as Aoban used Reinforcement magic to strengthen his sword. Without wasting another second, brother charged, quickly closing the distance between us. I need to keep him away, but I guess fireballs won't really work anymore, huh? Well, that's fine. Let's try something else.

I let my mana flow out of my body, spreading it in the ground under my feet and I extended my arms forward. Now, as for the chant… Let's go with French for now.

"Les coccinelles sont des coléoptères!"

Aoban frowned upon hearing my weird chant, but I didn't let him the luxury to stay surprised for too long. I lifted my hands in the air and an earth pillar suddenly rose from the ground. Feeling the earth crumbling underneath him, brother leapt aside, allowing him to evade the attack. I tried to take advantage of the moment and immediately summoned a few more pillars. Aoban, however, saw it coming. Impassible, he swung his blade around him, easily slashing down the living earth and returning it to the ground.

…

Did he just cut earth pillars in half…? With a wooden sword? That Reinforcement magic of his is going to be quite a hassle. Aoban didn't just harden his blade, he infused mana into it and created several layers of magic defense on top of that, increasing its power. He can pretty much cut down anything now, can't he?

As I was thinking that, I noticed Aoban coming closer at an alarming pace. Don't tell me… Did he also enhance his physical abilities? He definitely wasn't that fast before!

This is not good. The moment he reaches me is the moment when my plan falls apart.

For a moment, I considered debuffing him. However, it would be too obvious. Unlike Lucius, Aoban was constantly moving around, never staying still for a second. A sudden decrease in his stats would be immediately noticeable.

Still, I can't let him get closer. Not yet. I need to keep him away just a bit more.

"Poudre de perlimpinpin!"

The land growled as this time, I summoned an earth wall. I made sure to make it extra thick and extra long to prevent brother from cutting it down. He will have to go all the way around it if he wants to reach me, allowing me to gain some time. Or at least, this is what I thought. But brother simply forced his way through the wall. I heard his blade whistling in the air and the next thing I saw was my earth wall collapsing, and he appeared, still charging.

Fuck…