Chapter 161: Golden Children [5]

Ilya’s eyes widened.

There was no incantation, and barely enough time for Tristan to shape the mana before Ilya’s fist reached him.

The spell that formed around Tristan’s hand was crude by his standards, but Ilya had pushed him into a situation where there was no longer enough time for the careful casting Tristan normally preferred.

Tristan thrust his palm forward.

"Get away from me, you fucking psycho!"

A distorted wave of force exploded between them.

Boom——!

Ilya immediately abandoned his punch and threw himself backward with the blizzard, allowing the blast to push him even farther before landing several meters away.

"What do you know?" Ilya said. "So you can curse."

"Shut the fuck up!"

"Twice, even."

Tristan answered by firing three mana blades in rapid succession.

Ilya propelled himself sideways before the first could reach him, narrowly avoiding the second as it cut through the space behind his shoulder, then raised a barrier against the third when Tristan adjusted his aim faster than expected.

The blade crashed against the barrier and shattered it almost immediately, forcing Ilya to continue moving before Tristan could capitalize on the opening.

The moment Tristan had enough room to cast properly, the difference between them became apparent all over again.

Mana circles appeared one after another around him, each constructed with a speed Ilya still couldn’t imitate.

Ilya drove himself forward with the blizzard.

Tristan expected it this time.

A wall of stone erupted from the ground directly in Ilya’s path, forcing him to change direction before a lance of compressed wind tore through the space he had been about to enter.

Ilya accelerated upward instead, clearing the wall and forming several ice javelins above Tristan, but Tristan immediately shifted position as the first descended and shattered the second with a mana blade before it could reach him.

Neither gave the other enough time to catch their breath.

Whenever Tristan gained enough distance to properly control the exchange, Ilya used the blizzard to tear through that distance before his advantage could become overwhelming.

Whenever Ilya came close enough to turn the fight physical again, Tristan threw everything he could into forcing him away, no longer hesitating to use shorter and less refined spells if that was what kept Ilya’s fists from reaching him.

Boom——!

A fireball burst against the ground beneath Ilya, and the explosion forced him upward just as another spell came from his left.

He felt it through Cold Sense before he saw it and twisted around the attack, then allowed the blizzard to catch his body and launch him straight toward Tristan from above.

Tristan threw up a barrier just before Ilya reached him.

Ilya’s fist crashed against it with the blizzard surging behind the strike, and cracks immediately spread across its surface, but Tristan had already begun constructing another spell behind it.

The barrier shattered under Ilya’s second blow, only for a burst of wind to erupt through the broken pieces and catch him directly in the chest.

Ilya was thrown backward, and Tristan rushed toward him.

Several translucent planes formed around the clearing again, far fewer than the network he had maintained through Speculum Caeli but enough for a single mana blade to suddenly change direction as Ilya tried to recover.

Cold Sense caught the shift, allowing Ilya to duck beneath the redirected attack before he slammed one hand toward the ground.

Ice spread beneath Tristan’s feet.

"Shit."

Tristan jumped before it could catch him, but that moment of distraction was enough for Ilya to close the distance again.

Tristan barely managed to turn before Ilya’s shoulder slammed into his chest, and the two crashed through a cluster of branches before hitting the ground several meters away.

Tristan recovered first.

A reinforced kick struck Ilya across the side before he could stand completely, sending him rolling across the dirt, and Tristan immediately followed with a mana blade aimed toward his path.

Ilya used the blizzard to shoot upward just before the spell reached him, then formed an ice javelin in one hand and hurled it downward.

Tristan redirected it.

Ilya was already behind it.

"Got you."

"Fuck off!"

Tristan released another burst of force before Ilya could reach him, but Ilya had expected it and changed direction halfway through his approach.

The spell passed beneath him, and Tristan’s eyes widened when Ilya came down from the side instead, forcing him to raise both reinforced arms before a blizzard-accelerated kick crashed into his guard.

Thwack——!

Tristan skidded backward, but he remained standing.

Ilya landed several meters away.

For several seconds, neither moved.

Both of their uniforms had been torn in several places, their faces were covered in dirt and blood, and the forest around them barely resembled the clearing where their fight had begun.

Tristan was breathing heavily after repeatedly being forced into faster casting than he preferred, while Ilya could feel the accumulated strain from using the blizzard to accelerate himself over and over again.

Yet neither looked ready to stop.

Tristan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth before staring at him.

"You really are a fucking psycho."

Despite the cold air surrounding them, Ilya’s entire body felt unbearably hot.

The Ring of Fire continued circulating inside him, his heart still pounding heavily from the fight, and the adrenaline coursing through his veins made the torn uniform feel increasingly suffocating.

"Fuck, it’s hot..."

Ilya grabbed the ruined fabric around his collar and pulled the shirt over his head, tossing what remained of it onto the ground beside him.

Without the academy uniform covering him, there was little left to hide what years of Belozersky training had done for Ilya’s physique.

His frame wasn’t excessively bulky, but his body had been built for movement, with broad shoulders tapering into a narrow waist, a defined abdomen, and dense muscle across his chest, arms, and back without sacrificing the flexibility demanded by swordsmanship.

Even without Aura, Ilya had been raised as a Belozersky from the moment he could properly hold a sword, and his physique reflected thousands upon thousands of hours spent swinging one.

"I’m going to kill you, Ilya Belozersky!"

"You’re very welcome to try."

Mana gathered around Tristan.

The blizzard gathered around Ilya.

Then the forest shook.

Roooooooar——!

The sound came from far beyond the clearing, so deep and powerful that it rolled through the hunting grounds like thunder.

The mana around Tristan’s hands disappeared.

Ilya’s blizzard settled around him as he slowly turned in the direction the sound had come from.

Whatever conflict had existed between the two of them disappeared for the moment as another roar echoed through the forest.

"...What the hell was that?" Tristan asked.

Ilya’s attention shifted toward the treeline, where something strange was happening above the forest.

"Look over there."

Tristan followed where Ilya was pointing.

Even from this distance, flashes of magic could be seen breaking through the canopy.

Brilliant streaks of light shot into the sky before disappearing again, followed seconds later by bursts of flame and lightning that illuminated the surrounding trees, and every few moments, another impact sent debris flying high enough to be visible above the forest.

Boom——!

A particularly large explosion erupted in the distance.

"Someone’s fighting that thing," Tristan muttered.

"Looks like it."

Another roar rolled across the hunting grounds, followed by a flash bright enough to paint the distant sky white.

Whatever was happening over there was far beyond an ordinary encounter with one of the magical beasts scattered throughout the field.

Ilya glanced at Tristan.

Tristan looked back at him.

Neither needed to say anything.

Almost simultaneously, Tristan turned toward the source of the disturbance while the blizzard began gathering around Ilya’s body.

They took off immediately.