Vol. 15 - Ch. 16 - Ultimate Clan Battle – Qualification Rounds (16/22)

"Beyond Ultimate Magic?"

Dairon’s eyes lit up. He knew Luke wasn’t the type to lie, especially not about magic.

Ultimate magic was the peak of spellcasting, something only a handful of mages who attained the level of sage with extraordinary talent could wield. And now, Luke was claiming he had gone beyond even that.

"The ultimate lightning spell I can use, Ultima Thunder, doesn’t work on Halt. His magic suit is just too fast. I’ve learned to use it myself, but that alone isn’t enough. So I started researching—trying to find a way to become even stronger."

Luke had fought Halt many times before. He had mastered magic suit, pushed his mana reserves to the limit, and had the best support spells cast on him by Luna, Lielle, Seira, and Hinata. Even so, he had never won.

Halt, the strongest sage cursed by the Evil God, had no cap on his mana reserves. Even if Luke surpassed the limits of human magic with the aid of support spells with the magic suit he conjured, Halt would just counter with an even more powerful magic suit.

Under these conditions, Luke had never once defeated him.

"To stand a chance against that Bakemono, I needed a way to fight without relying on mana alone. That’s when I discovered this."

Electricity crackled over Luke’s body.

However, this wasn’t simply his lightning magic suit.

"No way... you turned your body into mana?"

"Indeed, that’s exactly how it is."

Luke’s body had become pure lightning.

"I call this [Narukami]."

"Reaching that level before even living a full century... My grandson-in-law is truly remarkable."

Dairon watched Luke’s transformed state in awe, his body now composed of countless arcs of lightning. But at the same time, he felt a twinge of concern.

"If your body transformed to mana now, doesn’t that mean you’ll disappear if you run out of mana?"

"There is no need to worry about that. I’ve done plenty of testing and developed a method to revert safely—clothes and all."

When Luke first discovered this technique, he had only transformed his left hand. Once, during an experiment, he drained his mana completely and passed out. When he woke up, his left hand was gone. Magic that required constant mana to sustain would vanish once the supply was cut off—his transformation was no exception.

After that, Luke developed a failsafe way to revert to his normal body even if his mana ran dry, such as the case in prolonged battles. He even devised a way to transform his clothes along with him because otherwise, he'd end up naked every time.

For the record, the missing hand was later regenerated by Ryuka. Thanks to people like Ryuka and Halt, Luke had been able to push his magic development to reckless extremes.

"I’d never disappear, as that would make Lielle sad. I’d never do anything that would hurt her."

"I see. Then I have no reason to hold back either. Come at me with everything you’ve got."

Dairon raised Hakoku.

"Please be careful. I’m on a completely different level now."

Luke vanished in thin air.

His lightning form moved at an impossible speed, closing in on Dairon in an instant.

"Wha—?!"

Dairon barely managed to block Luke’s punch with Hakoku. Or rather, Luke had deliberately 

aimed at the sword. That was all he needed. Luke’s body, now pure lightning, burned anything he touched. Even blocking wouldn’t stop the damage.

Hakoku had the ability to channel mana, which helped dampen the impact on Dairon, but Luke had taken that into account so he aimed at Hakoku.

"Now that you’ve seen my strength, are you ready to surrender?"

"Hah! Hardly! I’ve faced demons in the Demon Realm that used even stronger lightning!!"

Dairon activated his own magic suit—one infused with lightning and wind. Aside from the incredibly rare light-element armor, this was the fastest type there was. Halt himself favored this technique, as it also amplified attack power several times over.

"...Halt uses that too. In order to win against him, I had to develop this."

At equal mana levels, transforming into lightning was even faster and stronger than lightning armor. While Dairon had impressive mana for a human, he wasn’t much different from Luke in that regard.

Seeing Dairon activate his trump card, Luke knew this was his final move.

"So you’re not giving up."

Dairon said nothing, merely pointing the tip of Hakoku at Luke.

"Then, let us end this now."

Luke prepared to finish the fight, aiming for a victory that would be decisive but not lethal to Dairon. He charged, carving a jagged trail into the arena floor as he moved.

"Let me give you one piece of advice, young one."

Dairon let go of his greatsword and clenched his right fist in front of his chest. At that moment, his arm turned into something just like Luke’s. Dairon had also transformed a part of his body into pure mana.

As Luke entered striking range at lightning speed, Dairon’s magically-enhanced fist smashed into his face.

Luke’s body was sent flying sideways, crashing into the wall beneath the stands.

The match was over, with Dairon emerging as the victor.

With his transformation undone and his eyes rolled back in unconsciousness, Luke lay embedded in the wall.

Dairon approached and spoke gently.

"No matter how strong you become, always keep an ace up your sleeve."

During his training in the Demon Realm, Dairon had mastered partial body transformation. 

Unlike Luke, he could only transform his arm—without allies like Ryuka who could instantly regenerate limbs, he had been forced to take a more cautious approach.

"I look forward to your future growth. Take care of my granddaughter."

With a satisfied smile, the victor stepped down from the arena.

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