The Deeds Of An Extremely Arrogant Villain Aristocrat

Chapter 74: Clear Enemy

Faster… I need to be faster─

Abel’s explosive growth.

The signs were already there when he defeated the mercenaries. His extraordinary efforts accumulated like dots, connecting into a line and forming a solid strength. Abel himself vaguely sensed this transformation.

He knew he could never give up just because of admiration. It would disappoint his ‘friend’ the most. Driven by this thought, he swung his sword.

By some twist of fate, the spirit smiled upon him.

It was just a whim of the spirit, not something that could be replicated. If asked whether Abel could control the ‘Light Magic’ again, the answer would be a definite no.

However, it was a crucial turning point.

It led him to master the ‘Shining Slash,’ which would later make him a hero.

“Haa… Haa…”

His vision blurred. Abel’s body had long reached its limit from the extreme battle. He managed to stay conscious with sheer mental strength.

He couldn’t even lift his sword anymore, let alone walk. But his will to fight remained.

The enemy lay on the ground, motionless, with a deep gash in its chest, bleeding. It seemed Abel had won.

As he lost consciousness, Abel fell.

He should have been the victor.

“…Guh.”

The Oni who attacked Abel, Fortis, slowly stood up, clutching his aching chest.

“Hah… Hah… This guy is dangerous…”

He shouldn’t have been a threat. Fortis should have been able to handle him without any issues. But that last strike was far beyond what he had expected.

Something was clearly wrong. It was unusual.

The slight fear growing in his heart wasn’t directed at Abel, but at the unknown.

“…What… Why isn’t it healing…?”

The strange phenomenon continued. His wound wasn’t healing.

For an ordinary human, this wouldn’t be surprising. But Fortis had an extraordinary self-healing ability. Most wounds should close up almost instantly, depending on his stamina.

But it wasn’t healing. Blood continued to flow. Here, Fortis recalled the words of his master, to whom he had an almost worship-like loyalty.

“So this is… what they call ‘Light Magic’?”

He had heard of it. But he never understood what it meant for ‘light to reflect everything.’

In other words, even Fortis’s healing ability was being reflected by the ‘light.’

As long as the Light Magic lingers, his wounds won’t heal. This means that if one is attacked with Light Magic, it is absolutely impossible to recover for a certain period, even with potions or healing spells.

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The thought crossing Fortis’s mind is ‘this is the worst.’ For some unknown reason, the boy lying unconscious before him had awakened Light Magic. Dealing with just ‘darkness’ was already difficult, and now the kingdom had two awakened individuals with rare attributes.

(…I should kill him.)

The wound on his chest wasn’t shallow. He had to return immediately, or his life would be in danger. Fortunately, the black-haired boy had lost consciousness, likely due to exerting power beyond his limits, making him easy to kill.

Considering his country’s interests and his own mission, Fortis knew he should kill the boy. However, he sheathed his sword.

He had said he didn’t intend to kill him.

A warrior should never go back on their word once spoken. This was his highest principle.

“One day… I’ll kill you.”

That is why he made a vow.

One day, he would personally kill this boy. 

But not now. Despite the difference in their abilities, he had suffered a serious wound. He would let him go this time, as a sign of respect.

Having made his decision, Fortis turned his back on the black-haired boy and reached for a magic tool. But then, something unexpected happened.

“…!”

A magic circle suddenly appeared. 

He immediately recognized it as ‘space magic’ and deemed it the worst possible scenario. Instinctively, he tightened his grip on his sword.

Before he could gather his thoughts, five people appeared.

“Who are you? Where is the long-haired elf—Arthur?”

“…”

Fortis immediately took a combat stance.

He didn’t understand what the ‘darkness’ in front of him was saying, but he had no time to think about it.

He realized that all five of the newcomers were extremely dangerous. Especially two of them—

“‘─Sound Acceleration.'”

“─Storm Prison, Wind Slash: Twelve Blades.”

Abel lay on the ground, while the horned man held his sword.

A moment’s hesitation could lead to disaster, and so the battle began suddenly.

Amelia and Freya cast their spells simultaneously. A massive tornado formed around Fortis, followed by twelve invisible slashes attacking the tornado.

In wind magic, deploying four blades at once with ‘Wind Slash: Four Blades’ was a feat only for the most gifted. In Freya’s case, it was ‘Twelve Blades’—the power of one chosen as the kingdom’s top ‘Magic Knight.’

“Don’t underestimate me!”

Fortis used a magic tool to enhance his sword with magic and performed a spinning slash, cutting through the tornado prison. His vision cleared.

“…!”

Blood poured from the large wound in his chest. He couldn’t continue fighting. If he had a way to remove the lingering Light Magic, the situation might be different, but there was no such convenient solution.

He needed to escape quickly.

As Fortis thought about his escape, a sharp, piercing sound rang out.

“Tsk!”

He immediately took a large backstep to get away. The ground exploded where he had just stood, and the destruction followed him.

Fortis could sense magic as ‘presence,’ but he couldn’t precisely grasp the nature or scale of the magic being used. However, he instinctively knew he was facing formidable enemies where even a slight mistake could lead to death.

“…!!”

“Amazing, you can keep up with this speed.”

Amelia, with her sleepy eyes, had somehow gotten behind him and swung her staff, but Fortis easily blocked it. The blow, imbued with multiple spells, was meant to knock him unconscious and restrain him, but it failed.

However, this action infuriated Fortis. A mage like Amelia had dared to approach a warrior like him directly.

“Don’t get cocky—!”

But something invisible blocked his sword from reaching Amelia.

─‘Blessing of Sound.’

This was a unique magic Amelia had developed over two years, inspired by Luke’s magic.

It automatically deflected physical and magical attacks without needing her conscious effort. Unlike Luke’s ‘Blessing of Darkness,’ it continuously consumed magic while active, so it couldn’t be used indefinitely. Additionally, it couldn’t block very powerful physical or magical attacks. If Fortis hadn’t been severely wounded, the outcome might have been different.

But mercilessly, Fortis’s sword was blocked, leaving him open.

“─’Sound Shock.'”

“Guah!”

His body, being tough, took no damage. But his vision blurred, and his sense of balance was thrown off. He couldn’t hear, likely because his eardrums were ruptured.

Fortis kicked the ground and, despite stumbling clumsily, managed to distance himself from the two of them.

“…Mia, heal the fool lying over there.”

“Okay, got it.”

“Luke, what about me?”

“I need to think for a bit. If anything happens that disrupts my thoughts, you handle it.”

“Leave it to me.”

“I want to join the fight… ugh, I really want to… but I can’t disrupt the coordination of our teachers… ah, control yourself… calm down, calm down…”

Ignoring the woman trembling with a pained expression, Luke touched his chin, lost in thought.

Though he watched Amelia’s battle from afar, his interest was focused elsewhere. His gaze was fixed on the sword Abel held.

(…What does this mean? Along with Abel’s magic, I definitely sensed ‘Light Magic.’ That’s why I thought ‘that elf’ was here… but there’s no trace of him. So, who infused Abel’s sword with Light Magic?)

“…”

A simmering frustration grew within Luke’s chest.

He considered several possibilities, but none led to a definitive conclusion.

To him, this uncertainty was unacceptable.

“His capacity… he has a vast magical capacity, but his inherent magic is weak, and he shouldn’t possess any attributes…”

He looked at Abel again and tried to analyze him with multiple spells, but still couldn’t figure it out. A burning anger spread through his body. But—

“Kuku, well, whatever.”

Luke’s mouth twisted into a smile.

Even if Abel had awakened some unknown power beyond his imagination, so what? Let him grow stronger. Each time, Luke would prove that he was ‘superior.’

Despite all his deep thinking, Luke laughed at the simplicity of his conclusion.

Then, for the first time, his interest shifted to the enemy Abel had been facing. The figure had horns. It was an unfamiliar race, likely some kind of demi-human. Like beastmen, there was no noticeable magic power. The horned man’s movements were sluggish, probably due to the chest wound, but he was still managing to hold his own against both Amelia and Freya. Even though he was only defending, his skill was exceptional.

Was he acting alone, or was he part of some organization? To avoid future troubles, Luke decided he should capture him here and now.

With that thought, Luke reached for his sword—

“—’Dark Burst,’ activate!”

Astonishment left everyone speechless.

Dark magic exploded from the horned man at the center. However, no one actually got hit by the attack. 

Luke neutralized it with the same magic, and Amelia and Freya quickly escaped its range.

But this provided Fortis with the perfect opportunity. Although he regretted having to use his last hidden card, getting captured here would be the worst outcome. He couldn’t get his priorities wrong.

He activated another magic tool, using ‘space magic.’ In the blink of an eye, he vanished.

“That was… ‘Dark Magic,’ right?”

“—I see.”

Confusion, bewilderment, and discomfort filled the air.

The first thing that crossed Luke’s mind was the ‘Aslan Magic Academy Assault Incident’—.

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[Announcement]

Thank you, everyone, for your continued support.

In the web version, the ‘Luke vs. Sword Saint’ fight will soon be depicted during the Sword Saint Festival. You’ll get to see Luke’s best performance yet, so stay tuned.

Also, tomorrow, May 31st, marks the release of ‘The Deeds Of An Extremely Arrogant Villain Aristocrat III.’

Once again, thank you for your ongoing support.

Thanks to you, I can write this story with joy, and I’m deeply grateful.

I will continue to strive to provide you with enjoyable content, so please keep supporting me.