That... looks dangerous.

Rimle pointed his staff at Ludger.

Fwoooosh!

A blast of blue mana cannoned forward.

The spell wasn’t just aimed at Ludger—it sealed off all routes of escape, threatening to swallow him whole.

At that moment, the golden light behind Ludger changed form.

It took the shape of a human figure, with countless golden arms extending from its back.

The hands moved in unison, intercepting Rimle’s mana blast.

Though unable to block it in a single strike, the sheer number of hands overwhelmed the force. One after another, they vanished, but the barrage was stopped before it could even reach Ludger.

“I’ve never seen a spell like that before. It’s not a spirit, nor a magic beast. It doesn’t fall within the standard categories of magic at all.”

“It’s my original spell.”

“You created it yourself?”

“It's just a humble imitation based on the wisdom of our forebears.”

“So that’s how you analyzed and used my Book-Picking spell so quickly... Now it makes sense.”

Rimle began constructing a spell.

Ludger, not giving him any opportunity, launched forward.

The golden Buddha behind him radiated dazzling light.

Even that brilliance didn’t shake Rimle.

Calm and composed, he continued assembling his spell.

Then—he felt something grip his ankle.

Looking down, he saw shadows trailing from Ludger’s body, twisting like vines and binding his leg.

The intense light behind him had stretched the shadow’s length.

So that light was only a setup for this...

Rimle channeled mana into his leg and easily severed the binding.

With his overwhelming mana, such restraints were trivial.

Meanwhile, Ludger, from within the folds of his shadowy cloak, retrieved several vials.

The vials were swallowed by the shadows and vanished as if by magic.

They reappeared high above Rimle—on the ceiling of the great hall.

Ludger had cleverly teleported them to a distance that minimized the spatial distortion caused by Rimle’s mana field.

Even if they weren’t directly above him, dropping them from such a height had much the same effect.

“Hmph. Child’s play.”

Rimle snorted and swung his staff.

A breeze blew, catching the vials and hurling them back toward Ludger.

Clink.

With a snap of his fingers, Rimle triggered lines of mana to shatter the vials midair.

Their contents splashed over Ludger, but he charged forward, unfazed.

It wasn’t actual reagent?

Clicking his tongue, Rimle erected a barrier right in Ludger’s path.

Ludger crashed into it.

His black cloak split apart to either side—transforming into enormous beast-like hands that tore into the center of the barrier and ripped it open.

Even though it wasn’t an ordinary shield, the distortion inherent in the shadows allowed it.

That shadow... or rather, that magic beast... must have some spatial distortion property.

Now that he thought about it, every time Ludger had crossed space, he’d used shadows as a medium.

Having torn the barrier open, Ludger scattered his cloak-arms in every direction.

Like flower petals blown in the wind.

The shadow fragments fluttered like embers—until they transformed into the shapes of malevolent spirits and encircled Rimle.

The First Key of Solomon’s Lesser Key.

Magic of Greater Demons—

Ars Goetia.

Rimle gripped his staff with both hands and slammed it into the ground.

SHRRRRRRRK!

Threads of mana burst forth like arrows, skewering all 72 demons at once.

“Quite amusing. They resemble demons, yet they’re not. More like physical manifestations than actual summons.”

The taut mana threads tangled together, eventually binding the 72 spirits into a single mass.

They writhed, but the threads held stronger.

Just then, the Buddha figure behind Ludger stretched out an arm toward Rimle.

A swift strike shot toward Rimle’s head—but was caught by a massive hand that appeared out of thin air.

Behind Rimle, a hulking figure rose from the floor.

“That’s...”

“I never said I couldn’t summon things myself.”

Rimle’s magic beast was a giant golem with an enormous upper body.

Its pale skin gleamed as it raised both arms to meet the golden hand.

Crackle!

The Buddha and the golem locked in a clash of strength, sparks of mana erupting in every direction.

Amid that chaos, Ludger and Rimle stood face-to-face, only a few steps apart.

Ludger thrust his swordstick.

Rimle blocked with his staff.

Twisting his staff with practiced motion, Rimle deflected the attack and countered—aiming for Ludger’s temple.

It was an elegant, natural display of staff technique.

Though a mage, Rimle clearly had a wealth of close combat experience.

Ludger barely ducked in time, then reached out with his left hand.

Snick.

A blade hidden beneath his wrist snapped forward, targeting Rimle’s brow.

A hidden blade, mounted to a bracer crafted by Seridan.

But Rimle had anticipated a trick the moment Ludger extended his hand.

He raised his staff just in time to block it—

Clang!

The blade struck the staff.

And then—a wire shot out, wrapping tightly around Rimle’s weapon.

Ludger yanked with his left arm, forcing Rimle to brace with strength to avoid losing the staff.

In that fleeting power struggle, Rimle chuckled.

“You’ve been hiding some fascinating gadgets.”

“Right back at you.”

At Ludger’s reply, Rimle smiled.

And as if to prove it, a bracelet on his left wrist lit up.

A beam of light lashed out and snapped Ludger’s wire mid-length.

At that moment, Ludger thrust with his swordstick—but Rimle’s fine threads had already coiled around the blade.

His signature technique: threads of mana.

Rimle gathered energy at the tip of his staff and formed it into a sharp lance, aiming directly at Ludger’s heart.

But the staff never reached its target.

It too was bound—this time by a different thread.

Silver in color, glinting faintly in the light. Not mana.

“Silver thread?”

“I know how to use similar tricks.”

Ludger gave a slight tug to the [Flowing Silver] line he had deployed.

“And mine’s better.”

The thread’s form shifted—and thorns bloomed along its length, covering Rimle’s staff.

Even Rimle couldn’t withstand that.

He was forced to release his grip.

Ludger seized the staff and hurled it far away.

“You’ve lost your weapon. What now?”

“What do you think.”

Rimle muttered, lowering his posture and extending one arm back—like someone preparing to swing.

Mana condensed in the empty air and transformed into a massive bastard sword.

“What the—”

The blade alone was over two meters long, radiating a chilling, icy mana that sent a shiver down Ludger’s spine.

With one hand, Rimle swung the frozen blade.

A flurry of ice shards scattered with each swing, frost forming in the air around them.

In the stinging cold, Ludger summoned shadows to block.

CRACKLE!

The cold seeped through even the barrier—but it wasn’t fatal.

Then Rimle charged.

He slammed the frozen blade into the floor, triggering ice spikes to erupt beneath Ludger.

At the same time, he raised his other arm—summoning another weapon with mana.

BZZZZZ!

A sword of lightning crackled to life, discharging currents in all directions.

Its blade was curved like a crescent moon—and it had power rivaling, or perhaps surpassing, the ice blade.

The shadow barrier shattered instantly.

Ludger infused mana into his swordstick and blocked the thunder blade.

BOOOOM!

Mana clashed—shockwaves blasting through the mansion, splitting the floor beneath them like a spiderweb.

“As a one-man school, what do you think I’ve spent my life doing? You thought disarming me would end it?”

“That’s Southern Fatima Kingdom magic, isn’t it? A technique that weaponizes highly purified elemental forces. You specialized in close combat?”

“Back in my day, I caused quite a stir.”

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Swords clashed again and again in midair.

Rimle moved with a speed that belied his age.

Even accounting for magical enhancement, a man his age shouldn’t have been capable of such motion.

Clearly, he’d kept up his physical training over the years.

Ludger did not back down.

He melted the ice spikes underfoot with fire arrows and, through the source code, continued launching pinpoint attacks to exploit openings.

Rimle countered by evading with swift footwork or blocking with localized mana barriers as he swung his elemental blades.

Then—Rimle extended his free hand toward Ludger, the wrist-mounted bracelet emitting a rising hum.

An artifact.

The moment Ludger recognized it, a chill crawled down his spine.

Without bothering to look, he ducked his head instinctively.

A split second later, the staff he’d thrown earlier grazed just above him.

Clack.

Rimle caught the flying staff and immediately wreathed it in flames.

In his left hand—a sword of lightning.

In his right—a spear of fire.

Surging with mana, he looked like a warrior born to battle, forged in nothing but conflict.

“You even equipped your staff with recall features?”

“You’re hardly in a position to complain.”

Rimle retorted—then suddenly winced.

His vision blurred slightly, his limbs felt heavier.

“Poison?”

He saw the glow in Ludger’s eyes behind the crow mask curl like a crescent moon.

When?

“...I see. The reagent you sprayed earlier.”

Rimle realized what had happened.

The vial Ludger had dropped above him—the one Rimle had flung back—had splashed all over Ludger.

He had assumed it was ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) a mere feint when Ludger showed no reaction, but it wasn’t.

So even inhaling a vaporized dose scattered in the air packs this much of a punch...

To endure that kind of doping and even poison—without a flinch.

A constitution immune to toxins.

That wasn’t something one was born with.

Ludger must have been through hell to earn it.

“You’ve lived quite the turbulent life, haven’t you.”

Rimle converted a portion of the mana around him into a purification spell.

The spell seeped into his skin and pushed the toxins from his body.

His ragged breathing quickly returned to normal.

Ludger tried to strike several times during that window, but the combined power of fire and lightning denied him any serious damage.

“You can use detoxification spells too?”

“Did you forget? To reach this Mansion of Secrets, one must first cross a deadly forest. That place is teeming with poisonous flora. I came prepared.”

Fsshhhh...

Rimle dismissed the lightning blade, seemingly spent.

Instead, he gripped his flaming staff with both hands.

The fire intensified, sparks dancing outward as the space itself began to burn.

Unquenchable flame.

Ludger found himself both impressed and strangely familiar with that fire.

“You’ve infused your mana with emotion.”

“Yes. This blaze is the embodiment of my fury. It will not go out unless my will is broken.”

“So this is why you’ve done all this? To avenge the Truth School?”

“Vengeance is merely a step toward my true goal.”

Before long, flames rippled around Rimle, distorting the air.

Despite the heat, his gaze was colder than ever as he stared at Ludger.

He was not underestimating him—not even slightly.

He saw Ludger as an equal, fighting with full resolve.

“Then what is it you’re truly fighting for?”

“And if I told you, you think I’d be honest? You, who hides your own identity and skulks about in secret?”

“I won’t deny that.”

“Still, since we’re here, I’ll offer you a parting gift. The reason I fight is simple.”

Rimle swung his flaming staff, unleashing a torrent of fire.

It struck the golden Buddha, still locked in a power struggle, and sent it stumbling back.

“Salvation.”

The golem behind Rimle raised its arms skyward—both arms fully restored.

Crackle—Crack!

In each hand formed a new weapon: an ice greatsword and a curved thunderblade.

Each radiated its elemental power, spreading cold, heat, and electric shock throughout the chamber.

Rimle now stood at the center of a battlefield so intense it could barely be called “hell.”

Even the shadows of [Ater Nocturnus] wavered visibly at the sheer pressure.

Not even when he fought Casey Selmore did that thing recoil...

But it made sense.

Rimle’s force of presence was monstrous—and his strength even more so.

“Ludger Cherish. Let me ask you one thing.”

He didn’t call him “you bastard” or “whelp.”

He used his name—plain and deliberate.

That alone carried tremendous weight.

“What are you fighting for?”

Why ask this now?

It’s not as if saying it would earn him mercy.

“To stay alive.”

“That’s just the surface-level excuse.”

Rimle didn’t buy the answer.

He’d lived too long to mistake a partial truth for the whole.

“If survival was your only goal, you wouldn’t have come to such a dangerous place. And yet you’re here. That alone contradicts your claim.”

“That’s true.”

Ludger chuckled softly.

By now, Rimle’s elemental field had begun to encroach into Ludger’s range.

“Then let me ask again. What are you fighting for?”

“My reason isn’t anything grand.”

“Not grand?”

“No. It’s entirely personal.”

Rimle knew the moment he heard it—it was the truth.

To fight this desperately, for a personal reason...

Heh.

“Right. Maybe that’s why you can fight so hard. Same goes for me.”

“Yeah.”

“Then let’s bring this to an end. Show me everything you’ve got.”

“I was going to, anyway.”

Ludger gathered the mist of blue mana that lingered around him and activated his spell.

The Lesser Key of Solomon.

Ritual of the Altar.

Ars Almadel Salomonis.