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Orcus Estellia held a delicate position in Elena’s life.

He was annoying, but neither an enemy nor a friend, and he had caused her a lot of suffering for that reason.

Indeed, he was one of the few people she could trust in this world, yet he wasn’t someone her heart resonated with.

Perhaps it was due to the accumulated grievances.

Even before her regression, whenever problems arose in the Empire, she was dragged around because of it, but what truly stuck with her was something that happened after her first regression.

After he became Damian, Orcus wanted to draw Damian to his side, and he did just that. If that had been all, Elena wouldn’t have harbored any resentment towards Orcus. However, to prevent the great families from combining their powers, he deliberately severed the ties between them, and that was the problem.

While she couldn’t fault him for making Noel more honest about her feelings, thinking about how he deliberately interfered to keep her away from Damian still made her blood boil.

Of course, Orcus helped his sister in his own way, and ultimately took action to achieve what he desired; it wasn’t something to label as wrong. It wasn’t that Orcus had erred. But can one really confine human emotions to right and wrong?

Elena was a rational person, but she was equally emotional, so brushing everything aside as if nothing had happened was a tough challenge for her.

She knew that Orcus had no memory of this history now, but she saw it as a chance to resolve her previous discomfort through him. By having a duel with Orcus, emotions would naturally become intertwined.

“This time, I need to hold back…”

But now was the Sacred Festival.

She felt the need to give him some face. After all, it was a significant event for the Empire, and it wouldn’t look good for the next Emperor to get beaten up there.

Since Damian had already displayed an overwhelming gap in power, there was no saying Elena couldn’t be the one to win. However, after that last duel, she had somewhat shaken off the lingering ill feelings towards Orcus, so she wasn’t planning to exert herself to use her fists like last time.

At least this time, she intended to maintain enough decorum to make it look like a ‘duel’.

Anyway, for Orcus, the importance of the Sacred Festival was likely just about that much.

But upon seeing Orcus’s face as he entered the venue, she had no choice but to retract that thought. For some unknown reason, he bore a determination towards victory that wasn’t there before.

Could it be a desire for revenge from the earlier duel? No, Orcus was not a man to dwell on such things. He was the type to avoid wasting effort on matters where the disparity was so obvious. He would never think, “It’s okay to lose; let’s just give it our best.” So, could this display just be for show?

Orcus’s actions during the Sacred Festival had always remained consistent, whether before or after his regression.

He participated merely as a façade to showcase his competence as a member of the Imperial Family.

Simply participating in the duel at the Sacred Festival was enough to prove that competence. Thus, he cared little for victory or defeat. Even in losing, he would showcase his skill adequately, and if it didn’t go well, he would gracefully withdraw.

To an outside observer, it would appear that he recognized his opponent’s skill and acknowledged his shortcomings. Still, it also served as a testament that he had no intention of winning the duel.

Seeing such a man now brimmed with resolve for victory left Elena baffled.

“Damian didn’t speak without reason.”

The night when his power was revealed because of Altair.

What Damian said about Orcus wasn’t merely to change the subject. At the time, she had thought little of it, but seeing Orcus so fired up now felt jarring.

Despite always maintaining an air of composure due to her status, Orcus had shown moments of determination before—like when the Foreign Beliefs had appeared, where he had burned with a desire to protect the very existence of the Empire.

Was that the reason?

Elena wiped the thought of just giving him an easy time out of her mind.

Her belief that she would win remained unchanged. She had a target in this Sacred Festival that she absolutely needed to defeat; she couldn’t allow herself to fall back.

However, she thought it would be a disgrace to face someone like Orcus with such half-hearted intentions.

Of course, whether Orcus would be thankful for Elena’s decision, was uncertain.

*

As Elena made her entrance into the venue, it was only natural that she attracted everyone’s attention.

Word of her beauty had already spread throughout the Empire, and those who confirmed the rumors showered her with praise, even though she hadn’t yet won her duel.

The only one unaffected by her beauty at that moment was Orcus, her opponent.

Orcus watched Elena enter with a gaze different from those around him. Standing across from her, the previous duel played out in his memory, and her lovely features barely registered in his eyes.

Orcus had no thought that Elena would underestimate him and let down her guard. He believed she was fully aware of the gap between them and would aim to win even more resolutely.

Perhaps she might even attack faster than Damian had shown earlier.

It was hard to imagine her moving faster than that, but the name Elena Edelweiss gave that conjecture a sense of reliability.

Casting aside the remnants of his lingering fear, Orcus decided to trust in himself. No matter what kind of attack came flying at him, Orcus was prepared to meet it head-on.

As the referee declared the start, Orcus broke from his defensive posture and summoned a spear of flame to hurl at Elena.

His action was swift, and any ordinary magician wouldn’t have been able to dodge it and would have been pierced by the spear. The simultaneous summoning and firing of magic was certainly a skill of a seasoned high-level magician.

But Elena wasn’t an ordinary magician either.

“Acceleration, Rotation!”

She easily caught the incoming spear with her magic and added her own spell to it, sending it back to Orcus.

A flaming spear returning to Orcus, faster and stronger than before.

However, Orcus had already vanished from the spot where the spear had flown.

The spear he had thrown was merely a distraction, and Orcus reappeared right in front of Elena.

In typical magician battles, one would focus on ranged combat rather than close-quarters, but Orcus already knew his magic would be ineffective against her. Whatever spell he used, Elena would nullify it all.

He couldn’t land a decisive hit with magic, then what approach should he take to deal with Elena?

The answer was simple: if magic didn’t work, then he shouldn’t confront her as a magician. He would use magic only as an auxiliary tool, just as Elena had when she had faced him before.

Instead of manipulating mana in the air, he would cast spells directly on his body, something Elena couldn’t control even with her considerable skills.

Enhancing his strength, increasing his speed, and other strengthening spells—though this fighting style relied on direct encounters rather than that of a magician but it was undoubtedly the only way he could match her.

Wasn’t that why he had endured countless beatings from Noel to learn martial arts?

Of course, he felt intimidated the moment he realized Elena would be his opponent, but he hadn’t neglected preparing for it.

“Go!”

Orcus’s stance was incredibly stable and without gaps, thanks to his hard work shining through. With flames igniting in his fist, he swung his punch, looking more like a knight than a magician.

He showed no lack of strength or speed, and the heat from the flames in his fist could not be dismissed either. That molten hot fist was already a deadly weapon.

“I’ve got this!”

The distance between Elena and his fist was very close, and it was too late to manifest magic now. Orcus was certain this would be his first effective strike.

But how could the world unfold just as one desires?

Even though he was confident, that was solely his personal judgment.

Not feeling the impact he expected from what he thought would be a successful hit, he then realized his fist wasn’t headed toward her, but rather somewhere else entirely. Had he fallen victim to an illusion spell? No, that wasn’t it. Elena had evaded his punch using her own martial arts.

The absurdity of the situation was overwhelming, but one part of his mind accepted it. After all, it was Elena who had first demonstrated the blending of magic and martial arts.

Before he realized she had positioned herself behind him, Elena smiled and said, “Now it’s my turn, right?”

 

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