Bribed by the Demon Lord Right Before the Ending

■ Mage vs Mage □

The one who initiated the battle was Baron Betendorf.

The baron mumbled while waving a short staff that resembled a conductor’s baton in the air.

“Stakato”

An incantation is a form of self-suggestion.

By muttering a word predetermined by the caster, it triggers a specific memory (spell) stored in the brain.

For magic from the 1st to the 3rd hierarchy, there are set common incantations, but once a mage advances to the 4th hierarchy, where all elemental combinations become possible, they begin creating original spells and incantations.

This path of forging one’s own way defines the Way of Magic.

Incantations and original spells are akin to the caster’s fingerprint, revealing their individuality and identity, thus their forms vary greatly from person to person.

“I’ll start with a simple greeting.”

Following Baron Betendorf’s staff, a wave surged from the ground and transformed into a fierce projectile hurtling toward Dorothea.

“Tch, showing off.”

She snickered and stomped her foot.

Instantly, a crimson wall of flames shot up, evaporating the water projectiles in an instant.

After stomping twice more on the ground, eight fiery pillars erupted, breaking through the floor to surround Baron Betendorf from all sides.

But the baron, like his counterpart, remained unfazed by such attacks.

“Mezzo Forte”

Like a conductor leading an orchestra, the elderly gentleman in a blue tailcoat waved his staff, causing dolphin-shaped water to rise from the ground and extinguish the flames in one swift motion.

But the fight had only just begun.

Crack!

Taking advantage of her small stature for quick movements, a surge of crimson flames followed the petite red-haired girl as she accelerated.

In the blink of an eye, Dorothea’s delicate body spun in the air.

Her pointed shoe heel struck the unsuspecting old man’s head, but a wall of water materialized out of nowhere to block her attack.

However, this wasn’t the end of her assault.

Whoosh!!

A series of intense flames spewed from her feet, instantly vaporizing the water wall.

As steam rose, momentarily obscuring their vision, both combatants began exchanging blows at close range.

Unbelievable destructive power emanated from Dorothea’s frail frame as her fists collided with the robust physique of Baron Betendorf, despite his age. Each impact generated powerful shockwaves.

Neither of their physical abilities were inferior even when compared to seasoned knights.

This was all thanks to what is called Ritualistic Armor, a type of enhancement magic.

Every mage specialized in a particular attribute, and the effects of Ritualistic Armor varied sharply depending on the attribute and user.

The old man surrounded himself with waves, while the young girl enveloped herself in flames.

“Annoying!”

Feeling frustrated after continuous exchanges, it was Dorothea who made the first decisive move.

Instead of exposing her back, she executed a devastating roundhouse kick capable of pulverizing bones.

But Baron Betendorf didn’t miss the opportunity.

His arm wrapped in a white wave surged forward, blocking her extended leg with his forearm before striking her exposed abdomen.

“Gahk!”

Dorothea flew back, coughing up blood as her internal organs twisted in agony. She quickly rolled to her feet, but Baron Betendorf had already prepared his next attack.

A massive spear of ice floated above his palm, clearly possessing an enormous mass.

Getting hit wouldn’t merely cause pain.

“This is a bonus!”

“Tch. You senile old man!”

Without time to maneuver, Dorothea hastily planted her hands on the ground.

Snake-headed flames burst forth from the ground, swallowing the house-sized ice spear whole.

Having extinguished the imminent threat, Dorothea wasted no time regaining momentum. She propelled herself forward, emitting flames beneath her shoes.

Explosive acceleration fueled by the continuous jet of fire.

Soon, her entire body was engulfed in flames ascending from her ruby heels.

It resembled the figure of a feline.

Dorothea leaped acrobatically onto boxes and walls lining the street, launching herself into the air.

Twisting her body mid-air, centrifugal force amplified the weight in her legs, and a colossal claw emerged beneath her knees, striking down upon Baron Betendorf’s upper body.

“Cough!”

Just as Dorothea had been caught off guard earlier, the elderly gentleman too succumbed to the fiery claw piercing through his defenses, slicing across his chest.

Had he been an ordinary person, this alone would have been fatal.

But thanks to the aquatic Ritualistic Armor surrounding his body, the gash on his chest healed rapidly, and the accompanying burn marks vanished as if time had been reversed.

While Dorothea gained explosive speed and attack power by encasing her legs in flames, the old man’s Ritualistic Armor, true to its water attribute, specialized purely in defense and regeneration.

Thus, having exchanged blows amicably, both combatants read the competitive spirit in each other’s eyes.

“Fortissimo!”

At the elder gentleman’s gesture, gigantic waves surged from all directions.

Surrounding buildings were swiftly submerged by the sudden influx of water.

With no solid footing available, Dorothea nimbly scaled walls to evade the whip-like currents. She grabbed a flagpole atop a building and spun around, striking with her heel.

Dozens of fireballs formed against the dark sky.

“Gehenna Sturm!”

For the first time, Dorothea, who had previously relied solely on silent spells, shouted a proper incantation. Blue hellfire rained down from the dark heavens like meteors.

It was an unavoidable catastrophe.

Being at least a high-tier 5th level grand magic, the old gentleman solemnly waved the staff in his right hand.

The power of an element increases exponentially with each layer of overlap.

Therefore, to counter this magic, he too had no choice but to use a spell of equal magnitude.

He reached this conclusion.

“Forte!”

From beneath Baron Betendorf’s feet emerged a colossal shape.

It was a transparent white-bearded whale made entirely of water.

As if protecting its creator, the white-bearded whale leapt high into the sky after swimming through the water mass.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Each collision between the blue fireballs raining from the sky and the water whale produced tremendous explosions that shook the very earth. The impact was so great that everyone inside the Hamburg fortress could vividly feel it.

“Grr!”

Due to the immense amount of steam created from the evaporating water and the resulting wind pressure, the lightweight Dorothea clung desperately to the flagpole before her, barely managing to hold on.

“What—!”

But during the brief moment when she couldn’t open her eyes due to the strong wind, Baron Betendorf’s figure, which had been below, had completely disappeared.

The chilling sensation running down her spine prompted her to hastily retreat, but at that exact moment, the old gentleman’s voice came from beside her.

“The game is over.”

Dorothea, trying to create distance, belatedly realized her feet were already frozen.

The elderly gentleman in the blue tailcoat, who had somehow ascended to the roof, stroked his mustache and spoke.

“Don’t you understand yet? Our abilities are in a complete hierarchical relationship.”

Water extinguishes fire.

This is an obvious fact based on the theory of the four elements.

If she had been fighting someone of a lower rank, things might have been different, but Baron Betendorf became a grand mage at the age of forty and had honed himself for decades thereafter. Suppressing Dorothea, who still lacked sufficient combat experience, was not difficult.

Not to mention, the Vulcan Mountain region experienced snowfall year-round, making it an ideal battlefield for a water and ice mage.

Thud… Thud…

Approaching with heavy footsteps, the old gentleman spoke to Dorothea, who was completely immobilized, covered in ice up to her neck.

“It has been a long time since I’ve enjoyed such a fight. After all, opportunities to battle mages of similar skill levels are exceedingly rare.”

“Mmmph! Mmmphhh!”

Although Dorothea tried to say something with her glaring eyes, Baron Betendorf paid no heed and raised his staff.

“When you meet your students in the afterlife, please give them my regards. Tell them their teacher has avenged them.”

Right at that moment.

“That’s something you should do yourself.”

A masked man suddenly dropped from the sky.