Talent VS Ambition

Carlos continues to murmur something under his breath incessantly. Chaos grows irritated by the unintelligible words, so he points his wand, its tip glowing purple, ready to cast the life-severing curse at any moment. The promising young man's life hangs in the balance, at the mercy of dark magic.

Outwardly, the situation looks hopeless, but in reality…

"…." He still murmurs something, further provoking the wrath of the one nicknamed the Sin of Envy.

"What the hell have you been mumbling this whole time?!" The tip of the wand glows brighter and brighter. In a split second, the purple beam will shoot out. In that life-or-death instant, Carlos decides to gamble everything on instinct, tilting his head to narrowly dodge the life-severing curse.

"Phew!" The young man exhales in relief before seizing the golden opportunity to cast the spell he has patiently chanted all along. "Solas Naota!"

A large golden beam shoots from the tip of his wand like a cannonball, flying towards Chaos without hesitation. He tries to block it with a high-level defensive spell, which seems to hold for a moment, but ultimately succumbs to the final incantation.

"Maximum!" the top-ranked student roars, gripping his cherished wand tightly with both hands and leaning forward, his legs and hips tensing to support the larger beam.

Whoosh!

The massive beam explodes with power, shattering Chaos's protective shield into pieces. "Vanish!" Carlos yells at his opponent, adrenaline surging wildly through his body. The beam passes through the Sin of Envy, causing him to lose consciousness and fall backward onto the ground. At the same time, Carlos gasps for breath, his chest heaving rapidly, before he raises his wand to the sky in victory. "Hah… hah… I'll catch up. Wait for me, Nappo… because just now, half of my lifespan was used up by the third wish… just now, huh…"

.....

Demonic minions relentlessly block the way, firing magic bullets rapidly like machine guns. Raymond and I stand back-to-back against a shimmering black obsidian wall. The reflection from the opposite wall indicates they are encircling us, ready to kill or capture us at any moment.

"Can't you use your human form like before?" the young man asks anxiously. It's unbelievable that a thirteen-year-old has to get involved in a war between the forces of light and darkness. "This dog form feels so difficult to fight in."

"My human form has a time limit. What if I use it and then accidentally run into the Demon Emperor?" I retort with reason, and Raymond nods in understanding, even though he usually struggles to grasp things.

"Then close-range attacks are out of the question," the young man says with a serious expression before casting a spell to create an unbreakable magic shield on his left arm, which expands into a shape like Captain America's shield, but glowing. He raises it to cover his head completely before charging forward. Numerous magic bullets collide with the magic shield and are deflected. Raymond aggressively pushes through the horde of demon minions, firing calming spells to turn the crisis into an opportunity, allowing me to follow and provide supporting magic fire without hesitation.

Our luck lies in the narrow passage, which gives the smaller number an advantage, allowing us to attack continuously while the larger number of enemies are hampered by their crowded ranks. The more impatient and agitated they become, the easier it is for them to get hot-headed. They start pushing each other, and their attacking spells are not strong enough. Raymond and I see this opportunity and use large spells to knock them down before running past their unconscious bodies.

"Wait, you mutt!" Raymond calls out, grabbing the cloak and pulling up a demon minion who is not yet unconscious. "Tell me now, where is the dungeon where Anya is imprisoned?"

"Heh… heh… haha! Haha! You are all so clueless! Dark magic will prevail over you low-level mages once again!!... Ugh!" A purple beam shoots through the demon's skull, killing him instantly. Raymond drops the lifeless body to the ground and points his wand at a small figure. His sharp instincts immediately recognize that this is no ordinary demon, so he decides to strike first.

No matter what spell he casts, the small demon dodges them all, as if anticipating the trajectory of the magic bullets a split second in advance.

"This guy is seriously strong. You should probably go ahead, you little mutt. I'll handle this one," the young man says with a grin, getting into a fighting stance. "Before we fight, could I at least get a name?"

"The Sin of Sloth, Arshae," the small, expressionless man says almost immediately, before using telekinesis with his bare hands to control dozens of wands, pointing them at the young man.

"That's enough introduction. It wastes time. You and that corgi have two choices: death or surrender. No need for further words, right?"

"So talkative for someone with your title."

Raymond shows no sign of fear. He raises his magic shield to guard his chin, his wand held like a gladiator's gladius sword, and lowers his stance slightly. "I am Raymond Slayer, the second-ranked student of Escuria Academy of Magic. I hereby declare I will send you to hell."

"You're the one with the stinky mouth," Arshae sneers. "Fine, I'll let the mutt go and fight you to the death."

"Seriously!?" My eyes widen in disbelief because after this, I'll be on my own.

"Go ahead, you mutt. Go help your master. Because what comes next is a fight between men…" Raymond barely manages to raise his shield to block a purple beam from one of Arshae's wands. "Go!"

I hesitate for a moment before gritting my teeth and finally running on. Only the main event fighters remain facing each other, but neither initiates an attack.

"How long are you going to just stare?" Raymond asks with a stern voice. "If you plan to attack, then come at me!"

"Too lazy," the small man shrugs nonchalantly. "I don't feel like attacking an opponent who can only defend. Attack whenever you want, go all out. I'm always ready."

"This is looking down on me…" Raymond frowns in anger before firing a fire spell. One of the wands shoots out a stream of water from its tip, extinguishing the flames with smoke billowing. Then, the young man holds his wand in his mouth before using a spell to enlarge his fist and punch Arshae, but he easily creates a barrier with a single flick of his wand without uttering an incantation, his face remaining still and emotionless.

"Someone as talentless as you can't do anything to me," Arshae says in a flat tone, his eyes unfocused, not paying attention to his enemy. "People are often born with some inherent power, like a unique gift from God. I was born with very high magic power, a natural talent. But someone like you probably has nothing. Don't you think God was incredibly cruel to you?"

"What are you even talking about?" Raymond clenches his fist before conjuring a magic sword and using his strong arm to slice through the opponent's barrier, cutting it into two pieces.

"You're just a lazy bum who claims to have talent because you were born with more power than other kids, is that it? It's true I was born with little magic power, but I diligently trained, unafraid of defeat, until I reached this point!!"

The young man doesn't stop his attack. He swings the magic sword connected to his wand, slashing at the additional barriers Arshae creates, showing no signs of fatigue. Even the Sin of Sloth's eyes widen at Raymond's 'diligence' as he furiously destroys the barriers. Then, Arshae unleArshaes a burst of magic power, forcefully pushing the young man back. But that doesn't stop his diligence. He does a backflip in the air before immediately propelling himself forward. Arshae uses all his wands to fire life-severing curses rapidly like a downpour. Raymond conjures a large shield to protect himself before firing magic bullets. Of course, Arshae easily deflects them, a grin spreading across his face as he starts to enjoy the fight.

"Fighting you is so much fun! Since we're at it, let's settle this once and for all! Which will prevail, natural talent or hard work?!"

Arshae flicks his wand, firing an explosive magic bullet. Raymond raises his shield to defend, but the force of the explosion makes his arm muscles tremble, though not to the point of weakness. In the split second he grins, a magic bullet curves around from behind. The young man doesn't have enough time to cast a shield spell, and within centimeters, it explodes in his face.

Boom!

"Ugh!" The magic bullet explodes loudly, sending the young man flying into a volcanic rock wall before he falls to the hard ground, blood gushing from his mouth and wounds on his face. Amidst the mocking laughter of the Sin of Sloth.

"Hard work can't beat natural talent! What is given by God is always superior to everything else!!"

Raymond barely hears Arshae's taunting words. His consciousness is fading, but at the same time, he suddenly remembers the days when he was a child and couldn't use magic while other children his age could wave their wands with bursts of light. He desperately tried to wave his first wand, following every instruction his parents gave him meticulously. No light appeared from the tip of his wand, as if it were just an ordinary piece of wood, or perhaps he was becoming a magicless person, which was extremely rare. So, he didn't give up, training day and night, even when it rained, the sun was scorching, storms raged, or when others mocked him, he never considered surrendering to his fate. His muscles grew and strengthened from the training until he had a larger build than most children.

Through diligence, he managed to fire a small magic bullet, finally making his persistent efforts bear fruit. After that, he didn't choose to rest but trained relentlessly to increase his magic power. When he was confident in his skills, he went into the city to challenge other mages, which gave him more real combat experience than most children. Then, he accidentally mastered close range magic, especially the localized enlargement technique, which, combined with his perfect physique, became his signature skill from then on.

"Who do you think you are, looking down on other people's efforts like this when you yourself don't do jack shit but boast about your innate power?" Raymond says in a low voice before his body begins to grow more than twice its size. His clothes tear at the seams, and the muscles beneath his skin turn black with a metallic sheen. "Being full of yourself, oblivious to the world, is what will lead to your defeat."

The giant young man lunges forward rapidly, causing Arshae to decide to use his maximum power.

"Semma Binaza Maximum!!"

A large beam from the tip of the wand slams into Raymond's bio-armor, but it can't penetrate or even scratch it. Arshae's confidence in his natural talent, the Sin of Sloth's confidence, is utterly shattered as a heavy fist slam into and crushes his opponent's body, blood splattering and bones breaking in a way that cannot be healed. Arshae's spirit floats out of his body, never to return. As for Raymond, he returns to his original size. The wound on his face, where a part of it is missing, gapes open, blood staining the black ground, causing excruciating pain. But even so, he manages to stand up, a grin on his face, and limps along the path Nappo took.

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To Be Continue Ep.35