A Single Strike.

A red moon shone in the skies as the battle between Viktor and Ayumu neared its climax.

Viktor had only a single moment of hesitation. No more than half a second at most. And yet, it felt like it lasted much longer than that. Finally, he made his decision.

The warrior jumped out of the way.

The moment Viktor dodged, the spot where he stood just a second ago was pierced by a knife. It was the same knife that Ayumu threw at Viktor just a few moments prior. Seeing that, Viktor's eyes opened widely in surprise.

Once Ayumu realized that his trick didn't work out, he cursed internally.

Damn it. And I was hoping I could finish him off right now... Finally, he turned off his acceleration spell. It was no longer going to be needed. Meanwhile, Viktor was still reeling in shock.

"So you actually can control it?! Control Iron!?"

His surprise was met with Ayumu's wry smile. He remained silent. Viktor's reaction helped Ayumu reaffirm his suspicions.

As I thought, the residents of this world don't know about that. Or at least don't know about its connection with electricity.

That was Ayumu's last trick. It was an idea that popped up in his head a long time ago—ever since he had learned that he could control lightning.

But Ayumu didn't have any knowledge of Fabian using something similar. Likely because Fabian didn't use anything of the sort. And if Ayumu didn't need this spell to become a genius mage, then there was no point in learning it. That's what he thought.

But after being pushed to the brink and reading through Fabian's diary, Ayumu realized something important. The genius always tried every idea that popped up in his head. Whether it was a slight change in the wording of the spell, or putting a nuance in the incantation that wasn't there originally—those things were what made Fabian a genius in the first place.

That's why Ayumu decided to do the same. Maybe he wasn't nearly as talented, but he did have an advantage of his own. From his early childhood, Ayumu was a boring person who didn't have much to brag about—nothing like Fabian. Despite that, he was born in a different world than this one. He possessed knowledge that no one else had, and his common sense was also completely different.

That was how he managed to come up with a controlled wall. And his final trick was more of the same. His final card—the potential of roaring flash that no one but Ayumu could have realized.

Magnetism.

It was a phenomenon widely known in Ayumu's original world. Lightning is electricity at the end of the day. To control lightning means to control an electric field. And controlling an electric field allowed one to also control a magnetic field.

The old man's words flashed through Ayumu's mind. That, and the illuminating flame from the fireplace. For just a second, a question appeared in Ayumu's head. Could others even use magnetism in the first place? What if roaring flash didn't actually possess the ability to control magnetism...

"You..."  Viktor cursed, taking Ayumu out of his trance. The boy was reminded that he didn't have time to ponder about the nature of the world. He was still in the the middle of the fight.

Viktor was shocked by the boy's spell. Unlike Ayumu's previous trick, he couldn't even begin to understand how this one worked. And because he didn't understand, he had no idea how to counter it. He didn't know where the spell's limits lay.

The only thing that Viktor did understand was that Ayumu somehow managed to control iron. Despite that, he didn't have time to wait around and limit test the capabilities of Ayumu's spell. In just a few minutes, he would completely run out of mana, and that would guarantee his complete and utter defeat. Therefore, he did the only thing he could in that situation—rushed at the boy headfirst.

There was no more room for cunning plans, and he had exhausted every technique that he had. From now on, he had to make do with nothing but his skills and grit.

In response to Viktor's mad rush, Ayumu threw three more knifes at the warrior in rapid succession. As usual his technique wasn't great, and Viktor dodged all of the projectiles. But when the knifes flew past him, a lightning approached from the side. It was the recharged controlled spell that Ayumu launched prior.

Viktor didn't have much mana left so instead of replying with a spell of his own he simply dodged out of the way. The projectile flew past him, but then returned for another attack. Again and again Viktor dodged the spell. But that was all he could do. Whenever he tried to rush forward at Ayumu, the spell would come back and stand in his way. No matter how quick he was with all of the buffs, he was nowhere close to outpacing lightning.

Once more the lightning blocked Viktor's path. Left with no choice, the warrior began casting.

"Ab bacu—"

But the moment he started his incantation, Ayumu's lightning glowed, and the sound of metal swishing through the air reached Viktor's ears. Just barely, he was able to jump out of the way. As he did, the knifes that Ayumu previously threw past Viktor flew through the spot he just stood at, attracted to the lightning sphere.

Viktor tried to continue his cast, but the lightning glowed once again, and all of the knives that it gathered were pushed towards Viktor due to the magnetic force. One of them nearly hit the warrior, and he was forced to dodge.

"Damn it!" the Dariuses' heir cursed. His incantation was fully interrupted.

That same interaction repeated several times. Whenever he tried to cast a spell, the lightning would attack him, and when he would dodge it, the knives would fly at him. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't find a window of opportunity to finish his cast. Soon, Viktor's mana would run out, and his defeat would become inevitable. He couldn't even deactivate his buffs. That would make it impossible to dodge the combined attack of the lightning and the knives.

To put it simply, it was checkmate.

The only way Viktor had to win was close quarters combat. That was his only choice. But time was ticking, and at best he only had slightly over a minute left.

With every passing second Ayumu could see the increasing frustration in Viktor's movements. Ayumu was confident: soon, Viktor would bet everything on a last chance attack. And just as that thought passed through Ayumu's mind, the boy saw a special glitter in Viktor's eyes.

He's going for it...

It was the last rush. A ball of lightning flew at Viktor to keep him at bay, but he dodged it. Then, before returning, it launched a flurry of knives at Viktor. If he dodged again, that would give the lightning enough time to come back, and he would be stuck in perpetual cycle of evasion.

And so... Viktor chose to break the cycle completely.

Ayumu's eyes widened in surprise as he saw Viktor's barrier get hit by a knife. Immediately it glowed with dangerous orange, signifying that Viktor's shield was significantly damaged. But the warrior didn't care. He shrugged off the pain from the knife and ran at Ayumu at full speed. In response, the boy brandished his sword.

There were only about five meters between the opponents. Hurriedly, as Ayumu prepared his weapon, he pulled his lightning back so that it would hit Viktor in the back. Viktor was racing against the lightning, he had to strike his opponent down before the lightning would reach him and destroy his shield.

What are you thinking?! Ayumu thought, you're never going to make it!

Even with all the buffs Viktor was much slower than the spell, and Ayumu knew that. At best, the only thing he would achieve was a simultaneous knockout, where both of the contestants would have their shields broken. At best, that would be considered a tie.

Achieving a draw could be seen as a good result for Ayumu. But he had no plans of giving up that early. He was going to fight until the end—no, that wasn't it. He was going to win. Not just because it was the right thing to strive for, but because that's what he sincerely wanted. Not to meet others' expectations but for his own sake.

And so, he tightly clenched his sword, holding it above his head, parallel to the ground. The golden staff rapidly approached him.

Viktor's eyes lit up with determination. Once the staff reached the sword, the blow would hit Ayumu so hard that he would slam into the coliseum's wall. Considering the horrible state of the boy's barrier, that would probably be enough to destroy it completely.

Ayumu's eyes were locked on the staff. In his concentrated state, the weapon seemed sluggish despite Viktor's incredible speed. He began moving to the side. It was as if he was trying to sidestep the swing. But he didn't have enough time. He would never be able to move fast enough to prevent the collision between their weapons. And Ayumu knew that. What he was aiming for was something completely different.

The sword and the staff collided. Ayumu tilted his blade ever so slightly. He didn't confront Viktor in a contest of strength. Instead of receiving the full burnt of the warrior's strike, he attempted to redirect the force in order to not get blown away. In other words, he, a complete amateur, was trying to parry a warrior's attack.

A loud metallic noise resounded in the arena. Ayumu's hands cried from pain. The blow was so heavy that he couldn't even feel his hands. It felt as if he was trying to push an unmovable rock with nothing but his own strength.

Move... Move!

He screamed internally as he twisted his blade as best as he could. The blow made his entire body start rotating, but Ayumu didn't resist the motion. He gave into the rotational force, all so that his body wouldn't slam into the wall behind him. As he did, he turned the tip of his blade towards the ground. The golden staff slid from the sword downwards and collided into the arena's wall with a thunderous sound. 

Ayumu wasn't able to fully deflect the blow and his shoulder slammed into the wall during his rotation. He cried in pain as his shield glowed with a light that was somewhere between orange and red. But it was still up.

Viktor's eyes opened in complete shock. Right in front of his eyes, a mere beginner managed to parry his blow.

After avoiding the direct hit, Ayumu jumped out of the way. As he did, Viktor, whose posture was still unstable from the swing, was hit by a blinding flash of light. The lightning roared as it exploded on the collision and swallowed Viktor in its blast.

Ayumu breathed heavily. Slowly, he tried to calm his raging heart.

I... I did it... I did it!

The entire week, Ayumu repeatedly got hit by Kyle and Lucy as a part of his training. He practiced parrying again and again, just in case the fight was going to be decided in close quarters. And all of those efforts paid off. Maybe, it was a mere fluke, but it was still a fact that he had successfully blocked Viktor's strike head on without even relying on magic.

At the end of the day, he won. It cost him the vast majority of his mana and he had to utilize all the tricks at his disposal, but he managed to defeat Viktor. Finally, at the end of a long road of failures he had found success. Now, the only thing he—

"You upstart brat!"

A scream resounded in the arena. As the dust settled, Viktor's silhouette came back in view. A deep red light surrounded the boy. His barrier was in a horrible state. Cracks and damage showed through its entire surface and he was a mere breath away from defeat. And yet his barrier still stood. 

The fight wasn't over yet.