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The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

Chapter 266: Celestial Combat Magic

After a while since my battle with Lucifer began, he was still watching me intently and showed no signs of fighting back.

If I were to say that I was cornering Lucifer unilaterally, that wouldn’t be quite right either. Initially, he had shown signs of being flustered by my unknown attacks, but now he wore an incredibly calm expression, skillfully evading my increasingly rapid strikes with his keen eyesight.

“Hmm. For a human, your combat skills are quite impressive. It’s remarkable you possess such ability despite not being a hero.”

“You sure do like dodging, huh? That first blow must’ve hit harder than I thought.”

“I’ll admit it. That attack was indeed an unfamiliar technique, but so what? The damage it inflicted on me was nearly nonexistent, and you haven’t even managed to hit me since. Rather, isn’t it you who’s in a desperate situation?”

As Lucifer dodged my kick and floated into the air, he spoke as if he could see through everything.

The truth was, no matter how fast my attacks became, the fact that he could perceive and dodge them meant they were not a substantial threat, which was the more troublesome part compared to dodging through intuition.

“You think this is a tough situation? You really think a mere game like that is my all-out effort?”

“Hmph. You really are an arrogant human. However, I will concede that I misjudged your abilities.”

“Haha. So you admit it. What next? Are you going to apologize and beg for forgiveness?”

“Don’t get too full of yourself, human. True, I’ve acknowledged your ability, but it still doesn’t change your limits. After all, you’re just a human. You could never be a match for me, a servant of the gods. Celestial Combat Magic: ‘Piercing Firmament’!”

Lucifer concentrated magic power and gathered it in his hand, where a large bow glowing with a faint green light appeared. As he drew the string, a thick arrow appeared, resembling a spear.

Celestial Combat Magic was a type of racial magic used solely by angels and far exceeded human magic in destructive and defensive power.

On the flip side, the types of magic were limited, and in terms of variation, it couldn’t compete with regular magic. However, each spell had high-dimensional effects, making it undeniably troublesome.

“Now it’s my turn to attack.”

“Haha. Bring it on!”

Instead of manifesting a defensive spell, I wrapped my fighting spirit around my arm, lowered my stance, and prepared for his attack.

“Show me your true power.”

With those words, Lucifer loosed the arrow made of dense magic energy, which spiraled toward me wrapped in a ferocious wind.

As the arrow approached, I didn’t run away; instead, I focused my gaze on it, not panicking, but sinking into a deeper state of calm.

“‘Sakura Petal Flow: Royal’!”

My fighting spirit, devoid of excess emotion, became as tranquil as a windless water surface. I gently placed my hand, which had condensed my fighting spirit, close to the arrow that was barreling toward me.

That was it.

Just with that, the wind that had surrounded the arrow calmed down, and it veered off course as if it had missed its target from the beginning and stabbed into the ground.

“What?!”

“How’s that? Human techniques aren’t so bad, right?”

The Sakura Petal Flow: Royal was a technique I had taught Fiera earlier. Originally, it used to evoke a wild, turbulent fighting spirit matching one’s emotions, which I then calmed to create a peaceful, windless surface, gently deflecting the opponent’s attack like a leaf falling onto water.

“Come on, bring it on!”

“Hmph. Don’t get carried away just because you deflected one.”

Lucifer laughed dismissively at my provocation and once again shot an arrow into the sky.

“‘Heaven’s Feast’!”

The released arrow changed direction midair and began to fall. With Lucifer’s words, the arrow multiplied: 2… 4… 8… and by the time it reached me, there were 1,024 arrows in total.

“The bounty of heaven. Accept it, human.”

“Haha! I don’t need hand-me-downs from others!”

It would be an easy feat to defend against this rain of arrows with magic, but that would be utterly uninteresting.

“This kind of challenge is meant to be faced head-on!!”

Staring down the arrows that had approached close, despite my rising excitement, I rapidly cooled my head and emotions, calming my fighting spirit just like before.

“‘Sakura Petal Flow: Royal’! ‘Sakura Blossom Water Fist’! Composite Martial Technique… ‘Sakura Moon Dance’!”

The Sakura Moon Dance was the reformed technique combining the Sakura Blossom Water Fist and Sakura Petal Flow: Royal into its original form. It was only complete when using both the flowing martial arts like water and the quiescent fighting spirit that was also as gentle as water.

Using such a composite martial technique, I fluidly dodged, deflected, and evaded the arrows like cherry blossom petals dancing on the wind.

A few minutes? A few tens of minutes? No, it might have only been a few seconds.

Around me, all the arrows that fell had been dealt with, and they lay scattered on the ground in a circle, while my feet stood firmly on the pristine surface as if a beautiful temple floor had been preserved.

“Impossible. You didn’t even take a step and managed to deflect them all?”

“Haha. Guess that’s how it turned out.”

It wasn’t something I did on purpose.

Just like the petals blown by the wind, just like the petals floating with the river’s current.

My body simply followed the whispers of the wind and the flow of my fighting spirit, resulting in the optimal and minimal movements needed to deal with the arrows.

“Are you truly human?”

“Well, who knows? At least, I look human.”

“Tch! ‘Immutable Binding’!”

The moment I took a step closer to Lucifer. It was then that numerous golden chains erupted from the ground, binding my arms, legs, neck, and torso.

“Those are the Immutable Chains. A magic that no human can overcome.”

“Then, want to test that?”

When I was told it was impossible, human nature made me want to attempt to prove otherwise.

I withdrew my fighting spirit and began channeling magic power, ready to open my mouth to cast a spell.

“Not on my watch!”

But then, Lucifer shouted as something flew in from the side, and before I knew it, it shot into my mouth, piercing through my cheeks.

It looked like he had prepared one of the arrows he had fired for a surprise attack and used it once I was bound.

“Ha ha ha. You were about to use magic, weren’t you? But if I close your mouth, you can’t cast any spells.”

The iron taste and warm blood pooled in my mouth spilled out uncontrollably, but I paid it no mind; I locked my gaze on Lucifer, slowly extending my right arm toward him.

“What are you trying to do, human without a mouth?”

Lucifer cautiously readied his bow, but I ignored it and snapped my thumb and middle finger together.

Then, in an instant, the golden chains that bound me broke free of Lucifer’s control, becoming still like a waiting dog for the next command.

Moreover, I bit down on the arrow protruding through my cheeks, crushing it with force.

“…Huh?”

As the blood accumulated in my mouth was spat out while I treated my wound, I could hear Lucifer’s bewildered voice, and I turned my eyes toward him in mid-air.

“Not bad, your magic. It took a little time to analyze though.”

“W-wait. How did you…”

“Eh? I just analyzed the magic power’s wavelength and took control, that’s all.”

“You took control of my magic. That’s impossible. There’s no way you could…”

Lucifer seemed to be quite stunned, but for me, this wasn’t particularly difficult.

As the essence of magic is magic power, I had the ability to analyze it, albeit with a time delay.

Whether it was the magic power that structured the dungeon or a racial magic, as long as it was made up of magic power, it remained the same.

In other words, as long as the phenomena born from magic power existed, there was almost nothing I could not do, and by analyzing that magic power, I could take control like I did just now.

“Hearing you say it’s impossible doesn’t make it so. If it’s doable, then it’s doable, so it can’t be helped, right?”

That said, I could understand a bit of Lucifer’s feelings.

It’s different from canceling out magic of the same magic power with that of the opponent; the act of analyzing magic power and taking control is nearly impossible due to the peculiarities of human magic.

Every person’s magic has its unique wavelength, so naturally, analyzing and mimicking the opponent’s wavelength requires significant skill.

However, merely mimicking the properties of magic isn’t particularly challenging, as I myself used to do it frequently when I ate magic organs, and Sonia can also share her magic with others, so with sufficient effort, it can be acquired.

So, why is it nearly impossible to take over an opponent’s spell?

You might think that if mimicking is possible, taking possession of the opponent’s magic would be easy as well, but that is a resounding no.

Magic is infused with the user’s will in addition to magic power, and countless intentions based on the purpose of use, like hitting, defending, or deflecting, are packed into a single spell, shaped by the user’s emotions.

Thus, to take control of the magic, one must decode the countless intentions contained within.

“You truly are a monster.”

“Haha. I’m quite used to hearing that. But hey, can we keep playing? It’s time for you to get serious.”

“Sigh. Very well. It seems I must exert all my strength to defeat a monster like you.”

“Finally! Then I’ll show you a bit more of my strength as well.”

We’d engaged in exchanges several times, but knowing Lucifer hadn’t yet gone all out, I couldn’t help but smile naturally at the thought that he was finally going to get serious.

The exhilaration and pounding in my chest felt similar to when I fought the Hydra in the Kingdom of God Tree; this piercing sense of imminent death was strangely comforting.

“Alright, shall we continue?”

The first clash had been a surprise attack.

The second clash had been a testing of skills.

And now, the third clash would become a battle where we would stake everything on the line.

Alright. Let’s begin the final battle.

 

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