Defense Specialization and Revenge 2.
Maple, like Mii, moved at the signal to begin the duel, facing Frederica and Sally.
“[Multiple Flame Bullets][Multiple Wind Blades]!”
Sally charged straight forward against Frederica’s magic. She slipped through the two-element spells—seemingly impossible to evade—by exploiting the minimal difference in impact timing, maintaining her speed without slowing.
“[Multiple Barriers]! Notes [Chorus]!”
A mass of barriers unfolded, blocking Sally’s path. With no gap, Sally could not pass through. She swung her dagger, shattering the barrier.
“[Multiple Flame Bullets]!”
If Sally’s entry point was narrowed to one, Frederica could concentrate her magic there, unleashing an unavoidable attack.
Sally countered by breaking the barrier while stepping sideways, widening the opening. Frederica, however, allowed no such approach.
Frederica tilts her head, expression unreadable.
“……hmm. What’s wrong? You’re not as lively as usual!”
No tricks with illusions. No agile, three-dimensional maneuvers. That was proof Sally was not yet giving her all.
“Hm? When are you going to use your [Sea of Mana]?”
Frederica has never used [Sea of Mana] in past duels. That meant she had not cast [Hyper-Multi Magic].
“I’ll wait. This is the last time. If you hold back and get taken down before you use it, you’ll regret it.”
“Quite the confidence.”
Frederica keeps firing spells, trading attacks. Sally does not advance as she promised.
At this distance, even with time, Frederica’s [Multi Magic] will not reach her.
No. Not with [Multi Magic].
Sally halts when she sees Frederica cease aiming her staff at her.
“Fine. I’ll let you have your way.”
“I’ll make one promise too. I won’t wait for time to run out. I’ll break you—head on.”
“…If you can, then try it! 【Sea of Mana】!”
Powerful magic spills from Frederica’s body. Sally readies her dagger in response.
“【Super-Multi Flame Burst】! Notes 【Amplify】!”
As she points her staff, the countless flame bursts expand, magnified by Notes, and are unleashed.
“【Path of Water】【Icicle】【Water Mantle】!”
Sally activates her skills instantly, preparing for three-dimensional combat.
She expands the space available for evasion. Her aim is set on one more thing.
“【Super-Multi Acceleration】!”
“Huh…”
Frederica’s movement appeared incomprehensible. She increased her speed in response to Sally’s skill, stepping back despite the distance.
Immediately after, water surged violently from the spot where Frederica had stood.
“Even if you don’t understand the principle, you can still be wary, can’t you?”
“Indeed… yes.”
Sally fired a skill she should not have been able to use. Frederica could not discern it was due to Disguise.
Yet one fact remained clear: each time Sally activated a skill, another skill triggered in response.
To avoid lethal attack, Frederica inserted evasion maneuvers with each declaration of Sally’s skill. Such a gap, if managed with proper distance, was manageable for a mage.
Thus, she avoided the water-wrapped, disguised form of the cannonwater.
“【Super-Multi Fireball】! 【Super-Multi Wind Blade】!”
This was not the same as 【Multi-Spell】. Flames and winds, layered like a wall, pressed toward Sally.
【Ice Pillar】! 【Super Acceleration】!
【Super-Multi Water Bullet】!
Sally summoned multiple 【Ice Pillars】, stretched threads to escape beyond the range of fire and wind, and moved swiftly toward the 【Ice Pillar】 she had created behind Frederica.
But Frederica did not fall so easily. A barrage of water bullets erupted, cutting off Sally’s advance and forcing her retreat along the path of water.
【Super-Multi Barrier】! 【Super-Multi Compression】! 【Super-Multi Water Bullet】! 【Super-Multi Fire Bullet】! 【Super-Multi Wind Blade】!
Hazy 【Divine Concealment】! 【Partner’s Aid】!
Frederica unleashes hundreds of conventional spells at once, fueled by boundless magical energy. She encircles Sally with a barrier, cutting off escape, then uses Super-Multi Compression to strip mobility and prepare for attack.
But Sally cannot remain trapped. She slips through the barrier using Divine Concealment, breaking free from peril.
"Shrouded — [Black Smoke]"
A spreading black smoke engulfs Sally’s form. Then ten Silences emerge, scattered from within the haze.
"...!"
The true Sally should not be struck by magic until the very end. Frederica calculates to eliminate all illusions with the overwhelming volume of Super-Multi Magic. Once all illusions fall, Sally’s true position will reveal itself.
Frederica’s fire bullets strike one illusion after another. Each vanishes. Finally, all ten disappear.
"Notes — [Sonar]!"
Using Mirage and Instant Shadow to vanish. Without pinpointing Sally’s exact position, which had completely disappeared, Frederica performs a one-time skill-based detection.
“Hyper-Multi-Laser!”
Sally’s location is ahead and slightly to the left, upward.
A platform forms in midair. Frederica launches a barrage of lasers toward where Sally is descending—but Sally appears, then effortlessly slips through gaps, landing on the ground.
“Overdoing it…!”
This is the first time Frederica has ever fired Hyper-Multi-Magic at Sally. Even if Sally is Sally, hundreds of spells should have caught her. She had thought so.
She was wrong.
Sally’s movements are unnaturally precise—far surpassing her previous displays. Sally’s words—“the strongest yet”—were not a lie.
That is why Frederica wants to win today.
Sally avoids every spell cast at her, one after another. No flaw exists. No opening remains.
Yet the difference in speed grants Frederica an undeniable advantage. She does not intend to stop forcing Sally to react.
“[Super Multiple Fire Bolts] [Super Multiple Wind Blades]… [Super Multiple Barrier]!”
She unleashes two spells like a wall, trapping Sally, who must halt her advance, and immediately encloses her within a barrier.
“Caught…!”
“[Divine Concealment]”
“…!?”
Sally’s voice comes from slightly behind Frederica, where she had just concentrated.
Impossible. Already. If this continues, she will die.
One thing a phantom cannot do is use a skill.
The unmistakable sound of Sally’s voice reveals, in an instant, that Sally and her phantom have switched places.
Frederica turns. There, Sally is just drawing her dagger back.
“Windstorm!”
To be caught by a divine concealment is to be unable to strike. Frederica summons wind with a spell far shorter in incantation than her Over-Multi-Enchantment, and is flung backward by it, forcing distance.
With full effort, she pushes Sally away, raising her staff to strike with Over-Multi-Enchantment the moment the divine concealment fades. Her eyes widen again.
“Impossible…”
The Sally before her dissolves like smoke—certainly the real one.
In the midst of the wind she herself has conjured, her gaze falls upon the Over-Multi-Barrier. Sally is not there. Instead, the image that meets Frederica’s eyes is the figure rushing in from nearby, dagger descending in mid-stride—frozen at the final moment before her head is severed.
Frederica’s HP vanished. She respawned without hesitation at the original location.
"Why? Why? Why? Why?!"
"Whoa."
"When!? Where? How did you get so close!?"
Frederica had enclosed Sally within the barrier.
But by the time she noticed, Sally had activated her ability—*Divine Disappearance*—and was already beside her. By the time she reacted, the illusion had already taken her place.
Sally, knowing this was their final duel, decided to reveal the truth to Frederica.
"Just as you’ve never fought me using *Sea of Mana*, I’ve never shown you something of my own. The one who appeared behind you—was an illusion from beginning to end."
"Wha—? That can’t be right. You used *Divine Disappearance*, didn’t you?"
Sally left Frederica standing there, took a few steps, then picked up a small crystal lying on the ground and manipulated it.
—Divine Disappearance! Divine Disappearance! Divine Disappearance!
—Ah...
—This is it. I set the timer earlier. The recorded voice played on its own.
—Uuuu…!
When Sally launched the ice pillar behind Frederica, her true aim was to affix the pre-recorded crystal to it.
Frederica’s combat style relied on fixed positions. She did not move far.
If the ice pillar was released at the right moment, the crystal would fall. The timer would trigger Sally’s voice. Combined with illusion, it would create a perfect mimicry of a skill declaration only a real one could make.
Sally advanced straight toward her, using herself as bait. With false information so convincing that Frederica believed it genuine, Sally had fully controlled and manipulated her focus.
“Guh... hah, I lose, I lose. My loss. Ahh, why are you so strong?”
“Today’s special. Normally, I don’t think even the [Super Multi-Element Magic] would be dodged this well.”
“Don’t need to push so hard, you know. Ugh! So I lose again...”
Frederica twirled her staff, frustration in the motion.
“First victory’s postponed. For good?”
“Running away after winning’s cheating, isn’t it?... But today, just this match. I’ll wait. Come back when you can end me in an instant.”
The moment Sally returned after stepping back, Frederica pointed the staff directly at her.
“Hmph. If I don’t train hard, I’ll lose like that…”
“Don’t think about losing. Then, I’ll keep washing my neck. Waiting.”
“Always so bold, even when you keep losing.”
“What else can I do? I’m weak.”
That’s right… I don’t know how to say it, but thank you. Thank you for fighting all this time. I was glad.
One win for your thanks, then.
As always, they goad each other, and the duel ends. They part, walking away.