How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 252
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magic Family (252)
Crash—!
Luca slammed his staff down on the floor.
[Who has cut a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, to water a land where no one lives, an uninhabited desert, to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass?]
Rumble— Crash—
“…!”
Elias jerked his head up.
Hearing the thunder, he looked up at the sky to see brilliant red mana plummeting at tremendous speed.
Crash, clang—!
Boom—!
Gabrielle struck down the cage-like mana attacking him from above with his sword, then stomped his foot hard to sweep away the red flames rolling across the floor.
Gabrielle let out a short breath.
“Hah.”
Drip— Drop— Whoooosh—
Luca’s mana beaded up and fell like rain. Gabrielle wore a cold expression as he struck away the sharp mana grazing his cheek.
“How dare a mere atheist say such words….”
Crash—!!
When Gabrielle stomped his foot, mist-like divine power spread out, scattering Luca’s mana into the air. Red vapor seemed to rise from him. His ominous voice echoed through the arena.
“How should I take this?”
[…Waaaaaaah—!!]
How should you take what.
It’s just a spell. You’re the one giving it unnecessary meaning.
Elias clenched his fists tight.
Humans would just scream from base pleasure whenever anyone achieved a reversal. No matter who was winning or losing, nothing mattered to them anymore.
Gabrielle and Luca stood quietly on opposite sides, looking at each other.
Luca was the first to speak. Supporting himself with his staff, Luca spoke with still unsteady breathing but in a resolute voice.
[Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew?]
“….”
[From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens? When the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen!]
Crack—
Luca stretched out his hand. In an instant the air flow hardened stiffly, and a mass of divine power like a beast’s maw appeared right in front of Luca’s nose. White traces of divine power like frost in midair pushed all the way to the tip of his opponent’s wand.
No, it didn’t push forward—because his opponent’s attack had frozen, the trajectory of the attack that had been made invisible began to become visible to us. Luca had just stopped his opponent’s attack right there in midair.
‘This is….’
Julia now raised her eyebrows with shocked eyes. Elias himself was equally surprised.
Since he had only evaluated his abilities in terms of strategy until now, he hadn’t thought deeply about Luca’s magical skills very often. He had forgotten about his memory and his diligence. He had never tried to count how many magical formulas Luca had memorized and practiced endlessly.
The magical formula he was reciting now was magic that interfered with natural objects, advanced magic not taught at the high school level. It was the kind of magic that only magical practitioners skilled enough to be called from across the country to prevent the mana lamp terrorism would use.
‘Since the scale isn’t large, he probably hasn’t fully deployed it yet.’
Until one becomes skilled, using the same magic can differ in consumption by at least twice, or even more than ten times. It was clear that fully using the magic would still be too much for him.
However, just completing the basic blueprint so that mana would move according to his incantation was sufficient work.
Elias licked the inside of his lips with his tongue and clenched his sweaty hands tight.
Clang—!
Gabrielle swung his sword to shatter the mana that had reached his throat.
But the moment Luca raised his wand high, the divine power frozen like frost in the air shot up toward the sky. People screamed in surprise at the explosive sound of tearing air. While Gabrielle blocked in front with both arms, Elias’s gaze turned skyward. White divine power glinted in the sky.
[Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades? Can you loosen Orion’s belt? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs?]
—…Enter through the narrow gate!
Crash—!
Luca blocked the mental manipulation magic and thrust his hand down. Luca’s red mana like tree trunks attacked from all directions.
‘Huh?!’
It might be common magic, but wasn’t this definitely Leo’s technique?
Elias opened his mouth to laugh, then suddenly remembered what Luca and Leo’s public relationship had been like and hurriedly glanced at Julia. However, Julia didn’t seem greatly disturbed, perhaps thinking of something else.
Gabrielle was caught by one mana tendril, then violently shook it off to break it and unleashed a barrage of attacks. Occasionally one or two pink mana tendrils would grab his arms and legs again, but he didn’t care. He quickly scattered them into the air and launched attacks at Luca.
His eyes flashed sharply as he chanted a spell.
—Enter through the narrow gate.
[Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth? Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water?]
Craaaash!!
[Ahhh!]
[Aaaaah!]
Screams could be heard from the audience seating as people covered their faces.
The divine power that had risen high into the sky gained momentum and fell toward the stage. Its fragments struck the barrier the Operations Committee had set up in front of the audience seating, flashing red.
But….
‘If it’s divine power, shouldn’t it be white?’
Elias’s eyes quickly turned to Gabrielle. Gabrielle’s eyes widened as he cast mental manipulation magic on Luca while defending against the sky. The output of mana he was sending to the barrier facing the sky grew even stronger.
“Hmm.”
Julia let out a small satisfied breath beside him. Both Julia and Elias knew that Gabrielle’s decision had been a mistake.
At the same time, there was a cracking sound, and it shattered.
Clang—!!
[Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?]
Crash!
When Luca flicked his hand, Gabrielle, who had reflexively covered his face with his arms to block the shattering barrier, was struck down by Luca’s mana.
Luca didn’t miss the timing and continued to launch attacks at his opponent.
The divine power Luca had sent up to the sky was Gabrielle’s. Even if he changed it into attack magic, as long as he used Gabrielle’s divine power as material, it wouldn’t have 100% attack effectiveness against him. So Luca mixed his own mana with it to make it capable of dealing damage to Gabrielle. Against such an attack, he should have used barrier softening magic or magic to absorb or scatter mana into the air, rather than strengthening the barrier.
Gabrielle was now pinned down, prostrate on the floor. He gritted his teeth and put strength into his arms and legs to avoid being completely crushed by the mana pressing down on him. Divine power sparked from his hands. Luca didn’t give up either. Luca changed his staff to a wand, lightly flicked his hand from top to bottom, then immediately swept his wand from left to right.
“Ugh!”
When Gabrielle completely collapsed to the floor due to the red mana striking his face, Luca let out a long breath. Then he continued shooting mana at him while slowly approaching. Luca aimed his wand at Gabrielle’s head.
At that moment, surprised cries could be heard from various parts of the audience seating.
—Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it!
“…!”
Along with Gabrielle’s loud cry, a blinding white light struck.
Elias frowned and leaned out over the railing. His grip on the railing tightened. Even though Luca was clearly shooting mana at Gabrielle while continuing to defend, Luca’s eyes went blank. Since he was losing his center, attention focused on him and it was clearly visible even from a distance.
‘Damn. Is this an advanced form of mental manipulation magic?’
He didn’t know exactly what it was, but it would be similar. The tone of the spell content was similar.
Since it was magic he’d never heard of, it was clearly magic that required considerable skill to use.
‘Since he hasn’t used it until now, it must be magic with high risk for Gabrielle too.’
Crash—!
Was he that cornered?
Elias thought as he clenched his hands tight.
Gabrielle, who had punched the floor to shake off Luca’s mana and stood up, grabbed Luca by the collar and threw him to the ground. Luca’s mind tried to return, but Gabrielle continued chanting spells while keeping Luca trapped on the floor.
—What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?
“…What.”
Luca opened his mouth in a voice like sleep-talking. Fortunately, he wasn’t breathing rapidly like before.
But he now had eyes that were seeing something else.
“What’s going on. What year is it now. How are you here….”
Luca spoke with slurred pronunciation as if he were in a dream. He squinted at Gabrielle.
For some unknown reason, the strength that had been in Gabrielle’s shoulders completely drained away.
Gabrielle changed his wand to a staff and struck down.
At that moment, the sounds they were making could not be heard.
* * *
“What year is it now. How are you here….”
Gabrielle looked down at Lucas and let out a breath. To the audience, he appeared to have a greatly shocked expression. In reality, he was.
He covered his face with both hands, then muttered quietly.
“…What year is it? I’m really going crazy.”
“I must be dreaming.”
[10.]
Right. I’m in the middle of a dream. The problem is the content of the dream.
Gabrielle thought this as he looked up at the ceiling and sky, muttering.
“In Buddhism, don’t they call this karma? The deeds you commit become karma that circulates… and circulates again…”
[9.]
“In that religion, what happens to other living beings who get caught up in someone else’s karma?”
[8.]
Gabrielle stopped his random muttering and sat down next to Lucas. Since everything he said would sound like something else to Lucas anyway, it was like talking to himself.
“More than that, now I understand.”
“….”
“It’s quite impressive that you can use divine power despite being an atheist. You’d be killed by your hyung if he found out, so you’ve been using only magic power this whole time.”
“….”
“Don’t think it’s rude that I know about you arbitrarily. I’m not using my abilities to the fullest. I still don’t know much about what kind of person you are.”
[4.]
Of course, I intend to find out now.
So, let’s end this here. I’ve dragged it out too long.
Instead of saying those words, Gabrielle raised his staff upward, then brought it down.
However, what came wasn’t an explosive sound.
Lucas’s arm was wrapped in red magic power. He had reached out and grabbed the staff. The divine power of the staff overlapped with his magic power, creating sparks. Lucas muttered with bloodshot eyes.
“If you’re going to imitate someone else, you should do it properly.”
Kwaang—!!
Lucas kicked off the ground, stood up, and moved far away from Gabrielle. The sound-blocking magic directed at the audience broke.
Seeing that he couldn’t straighten his body properly due to lack of stamina, his condition wasn’t very good, but just breaking free from the mental manipulation magic was surprising enough.
‘High resistance to mental manipulation magic.’
Gabrielle clicked his tongue while glaring at him.
He already knew this. Even so, it should have been difficult to break this magic. What woke him up?
There’s an artifact hidden with stealth magic near that Ascanien’s ear. The Imperial Government just urgently poured out some words in that direction.
Or the action of striking the floor with a weapon wasn’t something the character who appeared in his fantasy would do. Which of these two woke his mind?
‘The latter, I suppose.’
Notifications from the Imperial Government don’t work importantly on that guy. He could feel that much without using insight.
Lucas said to Gabrielle in a low voice.
“You came to investigate me, but you still only know that much?”
Kwaang—!
Lucas thrust his wand.
[Who gave the wisdom in your heart? Who gave the understanding in your mind!]
Gabrielle struck his staff down on the floor. His destructive divine power hit the barrier of the audience seating, continuously making impact sounds and glowing, so nothing could be seen from the audience seats anymore.
Even though Gabrielle sent out divine power extensively, Lucas didn’t stop. Instead of taking damage, he just launched a counterattack in the same way.
[Who can number the clouds by wisdom.]
Hail-like attacks fell from the sky.
[Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together.]
The floor seemed to squirm and move, then followed where Gabrielle jumped and grabbed his feet.
Blood flowed from Lucas’s nose. His vision flickered as if drowsiness was pouring over him. It was because he was using his stamina beyond its limits to catch a difficult opponent. Using magic without knowing his own capacity – if this had been a practical exam, it would have been a serious point deduction that could lead to disqualification. But not now.
Lucas bit the inside of his mouth to wake himself up and thought.
‘By the way, that person seems to have put quite a bit of effort into mental manipulation magic too.’
If not, he wouldn’t have been able to catch him with that magic just now. Absolutely not.
No wonder it was a type he’d never heard from Narke even once. If you use magic beyond your means, you can’t last long. And that was the same for Lucas himself. Since he was basically facing a superior opponent, if he didn’t end it quickly, defeat would be completely on his side.
Gabrielle launched an attack formula.
—Lord, how long will you look on? Rescue my soul from their destruction, my precious life from the lions! I will give you thanks in the great assembly; among throngs of people I will praise you!
[Do not let those gloat over me who are my enemies without cause; do not let those who hate me without reason maliciously wink the eye.]
Lucas recited the next verse of the attack formula he was chanting. He needed to steal the attack.
Lucas put magic power into his legs and rushed at Gabrielle who was far away. He instantly grabbed Gabrielle by the collar and said.
[They do not speak peaceably, but devise false accusations against those who live quietly in the land. They gape at me and say, “Aha! Aha! With our own eyes we have seen it.”]
—Lord, you have seen this; be not silent. Do not be far from me, Lord. Awake, and rise to my defense! Contend for me, my God and Lord. Vindicate me in your righteousness, Lord my God…
[Do not let them gloat over me. Do not let them think, “Aha, just what we wanted!” or say, “We have swallowed him up.”]
Because they alternated verses, each other’s magic formulas didn’t complete and scattered in pieces. Attacks that couldn’t inflict any harm on each other’s physical barriers were repeated. Gabrielle firmly grabbed Lucas’s hand and shook it off. When he swung his fist, Lucas quickly pulled his upper body back.
This won’t accomplish anything. Before Gabrielle could open his mouth again, Lucas immediately took the initiative.
“You said you didn’t read about me.”
The information that had entered Gabrielle’s head so far would be information that naturally entered without deliberately reading it, just like Narke does. Having finished his thoughts, Lucas pointed his wand at Gabrielle and shouted.
[Make this person understand this vision!]
“…!”
“Instead of thinking about reading leisurely after subduing me, read right now. Check properly before you go.”
It’s not an attack formula. It was a useless magic formula used in daily life to make the opponent pay attention to his words. However, it could be used usefully now. Even now, Gabrielle was unconsciously interpreting Lucas’s words. Lucas grabbed his collar and pressed their foreheads together.
Read what I need to do. Even bringing up Farnese’s name, what are you trying to confirm so much, why did you mention karma – I don’t know, but if you’re going to test me, do it right now. It’s better to cleanly solve problems when they just arise.
Of course…
Kwaang—!
Even if it ends, I have no intention of being the one to end.
Lucas, whether due to using insight, the attention magic, or his own eccentric behavior, tripped Gabrielle who had given him an opening for a moment.
Lucas’s nosebleed fell to the floor from overusing magic. Lucas, who had knocked down Gabrielle, pressed down on Gabrielle’s wrist with trembling hands to block his divine power. He really had to end it quickly now. The flow of divine power transmitted through his hands was certainly weaker than at first but still strong, so Lucas continued to put strength in both hands without even thinking of wiping the blood.
[Can you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket? Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food!]
Kwaang—
“This…!”
Lucas, who took his hands off Gabrielle’s wrist in response to his resistance, quickly struck his core with his fist. He could feel the divine power of the core repelling the magic power.
However, while doing so, his core was accepting Lucas’s magic power. Gabrielle’s eyes widened. Lucas was the same.
Is it because both are divine power users? Normally it should repel. In that process, he intended for the core health to be worn down and fall off by itself, not absorption. Lucas himself couldn’t know the exact operating principle, and neither could Gabrielle.
No, he might know the basis of this phenomenon. Something beyond bewilderment was felt in his eyes.
Anyway, there was no time to be confused. He had gained an opportunity to contact the core, and now when the core was weakening due to absorbing the opponent’s magic power was the last chance. Gabrielle was screaming and pulling Lucas’s arm with the force to break bones, but even so, he had to finish now.
Lucas felt the metallic smell and said the magic formula with force.
[Pour out the fury of your wrath, look at every proud man and bring him low…]
“No, no…!”
[Look at every proud man and bring him low, crush the wicked where they stand. Bury them all in the dust together; shroud their faces in the grave!]
“Ahhh, kuk…!”
Gabrielle let go of the hand holding Lucas and brought his hand to his core area, twisting his body. His face was completely distorted. It seemed like something breaking could be heard.
[…Then I myself will admit to you that your own right hand can save you.]
The divine power coming from Gabrielle’s hands and legs, which had been resisting to the end, gradually died down. Soon the strength in his neck was released and he dropped his head to the floor. His eyes began to close.
[10.]
“….”
[9.]
There shouldn’t be a problem with his core. Even if there was, there’s nothing I can do about it. Lucas thought while looking at the blood falling on his face.
[8.]
Lucas continued to touch the core to check the flow. His heart was beating, but the core had stopped magic circulation and was recovering the divine power spread throughout his body. Since he had suffered fatal injuries, it was time to restore. It seemed to be trying to draw in even Lucas’s divine power.
[7.]
Lucas exhaled and looked up at the air. He could see the frozen expressions of the audience.
[6.]
[…Get up!]
[Waaaaah!]
[No!]
Only then did noise pour out from the audience seats.
[5.]
Gabrielle’s eyelids began to twitch as he started gasping for breath.
It wasn’t just him who was weakening—since Lucas no longer had the strength to stop the bleeding either, this wasn’t a good sign.
[4.]
Gabrielle opened his eyes. He looked once at Lucas above him, then slowly closed his eyes again.
[3.]
Even though his consciousness had returned, he didn’t release his divine power. No, he couldn’t.
Lucas removed his hand. Even after seeing that signal, Gabrielle simply opened his eyes slowly again and stared only at the sky.
[2.]
“….”
[1.]
Beeeeeep—!
Gabrielle Caetani exhaled slowly and raised both hands to press against his eyes.
[…Waaaaaaah—!]
The moment Lucas wiped his blood away with the back of his hand, Gabrielle’s faint voice could be heard.
“I have lost.”
[The match is now over.]
[The winner of the finals, the ultimate victor of this first Penthalon opening ceremony tournament is….]
“….”
Lucas silently looked down at him, then gazed at the magic-powered camera flying toward him. His face appeared large on the screen beyond. The announcer’s booming voice rang out.
[Lucas Ascanien of the German Empire!]
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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