Chapter 244: Golden Flames

Chapter 244: Golden Flames

The moment Professor Soren lowered his arm, Marven lunged forward.

The tip of his spear was aimed straight at my chest. I slid my right foot to the side and raised my sword diagonally, meeting his weapon with a loud clash. The force of the blow traveled from my wrist to my shoulder as the dragon design on his spear lit up.

Then golden flames appeared.

The moment they touched the black flames around my sword, they began to swallow them. The two colors tangled together for only an instant. After that, none of the black flames remained where our weapons met.

It was exactly as I had expected.

I tightened my grip on the hilt and tried to push the spear’s tip aside. Instead of resisting, Marven pulled his weapon in the same direction. His forward hand slid along the shaft as he turned his other wrist, swinging the butt of the spear up toward my chin.

At the same time, I saw his leg move.

His kick was aimed at the back of my knee. If I only leaned back to avoid the spear, he would sweep my leg, throw me off balance, and turn the tip of his weapon toward me again.

I activated Storm Heart.

As my muscles tensed, I pulled my head back and lifted the foot he was targeting off the ground. The butt of the spear passed just in front of my chin. Before his kick could reach my leg, I accelerated to the side and slipped past him.

By the time Marven turned his head, I was already behind him.

Holding my sword at waist height, I swung at his back. Black flames gathered around the weapon again as the last gap between us closed.

But before my blade reached his armor, the golden mana suddenly intensified.

The wave spreading from Marven blew my hair back. At the same time, he twisted at the waist and brought the shaft of his spear into the path of my attack. When my sword struck the metal, its black flames disappeared into the golden light once again.

Marven pushed against my blade with both hands on his spear.

I had to step back to withstand the force. Then I took a second step. The moment he saw the gap between us, he drew his weapon back and thrust it at my face.

I tilted my head aside.

The spear’s tip passed just beside my cheek, and I felt the heat of the flames around it. Watching the movements of his hands, I turned my body as Marven followed his first attack with a horizontal sweep.

The sharp tip passed in front of my chest. Before I could straighten up, it was coming for my legs.

I lifted my foot and stepped over the attack. By the time I set it down again, the golden gleam in front of me was already closing on my throat.

Marven left almost no gaps between his attacks.

When he missed with the tip, he used the shaft. When the distance between us narrowed, he changed his grip and guided his weapon with shorter movements. I tried to get around his side several times, but he pivoted each time, keeping me in front of him.

Even so, I was fairly sure I had the advantage in speed.

I was using Storm Heart at about half power. For now, I didn’t need any more. I could see when he changed the spear’s direction and avoid his attacks by a few millimeters.

What really annoyed me was the golden flames.

The same disgust rose inside me whenever they came close. When they spilled from the spear’s tip and touched my sword, they swallowed its black flames without meeting any resistance. Feeding more chaos into my weapon only made the same thing happen again.

I deflected Marven’s upward attack with my sword, then slipped to the outside of the spear as it reached for my throat.

This time, his forward hand had extended too far.

I closed the distance in a single step. Pressing my sword against the shaft to stop him from turning it toward me, I opened my left hand and struck his chest with my palm.

A dull thud rang out.

Marven’s upper body jerked backward. His feet slid across the floor as he stumbled back two steps, but he didn’t fall. Golden light appeared on his chest plate, spreading from the point of impact toward his shoulders and sides before fading.

I lowered my hand and looked at him.

The armor had absorbed most of the blow. There was no sign of pain on Marven’s face. After a quick glance at his chest, he raised his spear again.

His armor was just as annoying as his weapon.

This time, I moved first.

I closed in and brought my sword down toward his shoulder. Marven blocked with the shaft of his spear, but the moment our weapons touched, I twisted my wrist and slid my blade downward.

I was aiming for his fingers.

Marven quickly pulled his forward hand back. As my sword passed through the space it had occupied, he spun the spear with his other hand and swung it at my face. I ducked beneath it, then brought my sword upward as I straightened.

Our weapons clashed again.

When the golden flames spread toward my face, I moved to the side instead of retreating. Marven turned with me. As he drove the shaft of his spear toward my shoulder, he pushed off his rear foot and put his full weight into the attack.

I brought my sword between us and blocked.

A thin crack appeared in the stone beneath my feet. Feeling the pressure in my wrist, I bent my elbow, guided his weapon past me, and slipped around his side.

He didn’t let me get behind him. He must have remembered my earlier attempt. Before I could take a second step, he had already turned and brought his spear’s tip into my path.

I stopped advancing and leaned to the side. As the sharp tip grazed the front of my jacket, I sent my sword toward his neck.

Marven stepped back and raised his spear diagonally.

Another metallic clash rang out. This time, the force of my blow pushed him back, but he recovered before I could close in and attacked again.

Our exchanges were growing faster.

When I pushed the spear’s tip aside, its rear end came at me. When I freed my sword and countered, the shaft wrapped in golden flames blocked my path. The voices I could hear from the stands between our clashes had blended into an indistinct hum.

Marven’s attacks were heavier than before too. Each time I met his weapon, my arms took more strain, and pieces of stone around our feet jumped from the force of our clashes.

I dodged a thrust aimed at my face at the last moment and brought my sword beneath his spear. Marven pressed his weapon down to stop my attack, then jumped backward.

As the distance between us widened, I gripped my hilt with both hands.

The golden flames on Marven’s spear grew. As I lunged forward, he completed his step and swung his weapon diagonally.

My sword and his spear collided between us.

The black flames disappeared into the golden fire as the force of the impact spread from my arms through my entire body. The stones beneath my feet shattered, and a moment later, we were both thrown backward.

I adjusted my body in midair. When my feet touched the ground, I bent my knees and slid, then braced one foot behind me and stopped.

Marven had also regained his balance a few meters away. He had lowered his spear’s tip close to the ground and was staring at me.

I shifted the sword into my right hand and loosened my fingers around the hilt. After rotating my left wrist once, I started walking to the side.

Marven moved too.

We circled each other, keeping the distance between us. His eyes moved between my shoulders and my sword, and with every step, he placed his feet so he could attack again.

I was studying him too.

His breathing was still steady. The hands holding his spear weren’t trembling, and although the mana around him had grown steadily denser since our first clash, it remained under his control.

I was certain he wasn’t using his full strength yet.

Neither was I.

If I had used my spells, drawn on elements other than chaos, or fought seriously from the start, this battle wouldn’t have lasted more than a minute. I didn’t have to stay within his spear’s reach and counter after every attack.

I had known from the beginning that chaos couldn’t stand against the golden flames. No matter how many more times I covered my sword in black fire, that wouldn’t change.

Even so, the fight was a useful experience.

I could observe up close how the golden flames spread across my weapon, how quickly they swallowed chaos on contact, and how the armor reacted to a blow. From the stands, we might have looked evenly matched, but Marven’s chances of winning weren’t what interested me.

I was thinking about the time when I would face Charles.

The Golden Dragon’s heir and Toven’s current guinea pig...

I didn’t want my fight with him to be the first time I learned how the golden flames behaved. For now, Marven’s spear and armor were enough for me to study them.

The boy in front of me changed his grip. As the golden light gathering at the tip of his spear intensified, I slowed my steps.

I wondered where Iris might be while I was here. She probably wouldn’t even ask about the outcome of the duel. She hadn’t even been willing to look at me that morning, and I had no intention of waiting until tomorrow to talk to her.

Anyway...

I wanted to get this over with and see my Iris.