Overpowered Archmage Doesn’t Hide His Talent

Chapter 228 The Thing You Took…

“Huh?”

As the atmosphere of the arena suddenly shifted, the eyes of the representatives watching from the sidelines widened slightly.

Becky was the first to break the silence.

“It looks like she’s trying something.”

“You all have always learned magic.”

Flan, who always seemed indifferent, was now staring intently at Maiev in the arena. Everyone focused on his words.

“But magic is not just something to be learned. It can also be created. Everyone lives each day forgetting this, even though they know it.”

Flan nodded very slightly.

“The moment new magic is created is this beautiful.”

◈

“Hoo, ha.”

It felt like her palms were burning. The blue energy still felt very unfamiliar to her. Maiev took several deep breaths to gather herself.

“…”

Selpen was watching her silently.

Her expression seemed to say she could easily crush Maiev’s best effort. It wasn’t mere bravado—the aura emanating from Selpen was overwhelming.

‘Even her basic knight skills are extraordinary.’

Selpen not only had immense love and confidence in her unique abilities, but her fundamental swordsmanship was also solid.

One could tell just by observing her movements and the path of her sword swings. The more Maiev understood the elements of the battle, the less advantageous it seemed for her.

However,

‘I am no longer a puppet.’

Suddenly, she recalled her duel with Flan.

It was like looking up at an impossibly high mountain. She still remembered the feeling of thinking, ‘He is on a different level.’

But now that she thought about it, that wasn’t a defeat.

It was as if he had cut all the strings that bound her, which in hindsight was a blessing and a victory.

‘Even now, it’s the same as back then.’

Maiev didn’t care if her body broke.

Having discarded her vampire origins and been reborn, winning or losing her life no longer mattered. What was important was what she realized.

“Flame Grand Magic Mirror.”

Maiev murmured the name once more.

Flame Grand Magic Mirror. A spell that unraveled the world of flames in a higher dimension. What had failed even with black magic, she intended to accomplish now with blue mana.

Selpen cracked her neck loudly and spoke.

“Is it going well? It looks unstable.”

Maiev quietly nodded.

It was obviously unstable, being her first attempt. She knew this better than anyone. However,

“It’s not a technique meant to succeed.”

When Maiev murmured this, Selpen’s eyebrow twitched.

“Not a technique meant to succeed? Then what is it for?”

Maiev removed her hand, which had been firmly placed, and slowly opened her closed eyes.

“It’s a technique to avoid regret.”

Maiev’s lips curled into a slight smile. The ominous aura around Selpen subsided just a bit.

‘…She’s not a fool without a thought.’

As Selpen watched Maiev, she suddenly thought Maiev would have made a fine knight.

The intention to avoid regret could even be called a form of chivalry. The thoughts of Flan faded slightly as the focus shifted to Maiev.

‘Let’s clash. Your best against mine.’

Pop─!

Finally, Selpen pushed off from the ground.

Selpen plunged into Maiev’s blue aura, like diving into a lake. Soon, the entire lake began to shake violently.

◈

The Flame Grand Magic Mirror, unfolded with human mana.

Maiev’s blue mana spread like paint, creating a unique world.

As her blue mana spread like paint, the dull arena began to decay. Maiev, the caster, never insisted that it must succeed. She simply said she didn’t want to regret it.

Crash─!

Selpen charged forward, digging in effectively. The sharp blade aimed straight for Maiev’s heart.

Swish─!

Inside the Flame Grand Magic Mirror, countless blue lines were drawn. They soon took the form of long arms and hands, binding Selpen’s limbs.

Whoosh─!

But as soon as Selpen twisted her body, they broke too easily. Each time, Maiev had to endure intense pain.

It felt like she was being crushed.

Her entire body seemed to be crumpling under enormous pressure, just from Selpen touching her unique barrier.

‘However…’

Maiev instead increased the synchronization with her unique barrier. Blue mana continued to pour out through her body as a medium, making the Grand Magic Mirror thicker and thicker.

The weak beginning, created from life force and blood,

now produced a grand, blue result.

Kwoooaaah!

She barely managed to block Selpen’s blow by weaving mana into the shape of a snake. Her feet dug into the ground, and it felt like her entire body would sink below the surface.

“Ugh….”

The burden was so great that she had to grit her teeth.

It felt like trying to block a large hole in a dam with a single brick. Yes, this was an impossible attempt.

‘Flan, if it were Flan…’

She wanted to turn her head and look at him. She wanted to get a hint from his expression, but the situation didn’t allow it.

No, there was no need to look. She knew all too well what expression Flan would be making and what he would be thinking.

He would have attempted it.

And he would have succeeded.

A miracle where the impossible became possible would have manifested.

Rumble─!

Selpen’s strike was unimaginably powerful. Moreover, even at this moment, Maiev’s legs were being scraped and sunk deeply into the ground.

She lacked Flan’s genius and cold rationality.

“I…”

She thought she would resent those points countless times after becoming human, but it wasn’t necessarily the case.

“Maiev.”

It was a name given by others. However, what meaning it held from now on was up to her to decide. Thus, she coughed up blood and drew out her strength.

Ordinary.

Maiev once hated being ordinary.

So she always thought she was special and considered nothing as pathetic as ordinary people.

However…

‘Now, if I can be ordinary, that’s enough.’

Someone who is unremarkable, doesn’t stand out, and doesn’t attract everyone’s attention, but quietly does their work. Someone who fills their life with small joys.

She truly wanted to be an ordinary human!

What she was about to display was ‘the best ordinariness’ that seemed to adhere to the basics more than anything else.

“Cough─!”

It was strange. Even as her legs felt like they were twisting and she was coughing up blood, her focus only intensified.

Snap─!

With a final cry of agony, her left shoulder broke. One of Maiev’s arms hung limply like a falling leaf.

But she did not give up. She did not rely on black magic.

Truly, with her life on the line, until her last breath, she would advance while exhaling blue mana.

Grit!

It seemed even her remaining arm’s wrist was broken.

Though she looked like a corpse standing upright, Maiev just muttered the same words once more.

I will unfold my colors.

Unfold, unfold, and unfold again.

Until my painting is complete.

“…Flame Grand Magic Mirror.”

Now, as she called out its name for the third time. Finally.

Like magma erupting from a volcano, blue paint started gushing out from everywhere.

◈

Slash─! Slash─!

Selpen was in peak condition. It was natural. She had resolved to display her best skills and was indeed fighting as such.

The situation was overwhelmingly in her favor, and there wasn’t even the slightest tremor in the sword she wielded.

Even the magic Maiev was unfolding posed no threat to her. It just snapped like spider threads with a touch.

But.

An odd thought crept into Selpen’s mind.

‘Why isn’t the match ending?’

It was a simple yet significant question. Maiev’s one arm was crippled, and the other arm was like a broken flower, yet she was still standing and holding on.

There was a clear difference between a situation where victory was certain and a situation where victory was achieved.

Yet, it wasn’t progressing from a certain victory to an achieved victory. The question mark in Selpen’s mind grew larger.

Cough─!

At that moment, Maiev coughed up blood again. At the same time, blue liquid surged like lava from below.

‘Did she have this much strength left?’

Selpen’s eyes widened in surprise.

She tried to regain her composure quickly, but it wasn’t easy. How could she not be bewildered when Maiev seemed like she would collapse but didn’t, seemed like she would die but didn’t?

Selpen swiftly activated her unique ability.

‘If I seize the initiative again, that’s it.’

Anyway, this must be Maiev’s last desperate struggle. If she confiscated even this, victory would finally be hers.

So, seizing the initiative…

But at that moment.

The blue waves, writhing like numerous dragons, suddenly lunged at Selpen. She had seized the initiative, yet she couldn’t understand what was happening.

‘What is this?’

Her hands reacted before her mind could question it.

Boom─!

Selpen’s sword clashed with the blue dragons.

Maiev was a wreck, yet this was the most powerful magic she had ever manifested.

The blue color seemed like it would dissipate with a mere touch, fade away before water, and gradually lose its intensity if left alone.

But it was being layered over and over.

Each time Selpen cut down one of the dragons, the severed part would turn into another dragon and attack her.

Selpen, in shock, exclaimed.

“What, what is this! Why are you attacking me…!”

“I told you.”

At that moment, Maiev’s voice pierced Selpen’s ears, even though it was unclear if Maiev’s eyes were fully open.

“I told you that lacking understanding and contemplation is pitiful. I definitely said that.”

And then Selpen saw it, Maiev’s distinct smile.

The ‘human’ magician added just one more thing.

“The thing you took… it’s a suicide spell.”