The Strongest Villain Sets Out: Reincarnated into a Merit-Based Clan, I Become the World's Strongest Swordsman - Chapter 44: Unknown Power

Having come to the mine to subjugate a dragon, I achieved a reunion with Lucia after several years.

Lucia, who had been beaten up by me at the royal-hosted party long ago, had greatly changed from her appearance back then.

What exactly had happened to her?

I could easily imagine that she had suffered. However, whether Lucia suffered or wailed in tears was none of my business. I would subjugate the dragon for my own sake. Lucia was in the way.

I would clash with her seriously. First, I clad my entire body in aura.

I kicked off the ground and closed in on her as if rushing toward a quick resolution. However, the moment I moved behind her, a pillar of fire erupted from beneath my feet.

I hastily jumped backward to avoid it.

“That just now… was placement-type magic?”

Normally, magic was basically handled through emission. Whether fire spheres or ice walls, both offense and defense emitted magic power in that way.

But what Lucia had just done was the advanced technique of placing magic at a location away from her own body.

Like aura, curses, and divine prayer, all abilities became harder to control the farther they got from the body.

The story that one couldn’t properly control abilities with just a fifteen-centimeter distance was all too famous.

Lucia had accomplished that with a composed expression.

Excitement showed its face within me.

“Surprised? For me, it’s a simple technique. —Like this.”

Lucia continued activating magic. Around me, five meters away, rings of light were constructed.

The bands of light instantly wrapped around my body.

It was restraint-type magic. The bands of light gradually burned my body.

“I see. It’s a world of difference from several years ago.”

I understood. Precisely because I was the one who had fought her before, I could understand in greater detail.

The current Lucia had surpassed the original work. She had grown stronger beyond the original work.

However, magic of this level couldn’t capture me. My aura-enhanced arm strength forcibly destroyed the bands of light from the inside.

The magic power scattered into the air as particles.

“Hmph. You still look composed.”

“Well, yeah. You’re not serious either, right? This can’t be all you have.”

I immediately treated the slight damage I’d received with divine prayer. Returning to an uninjured state, I kicked off the ground again.

“Of course not. I’ve been gaining power solely to defeat you!”

Crackle crackle crackle!

Familiar blue lightning streaked forth. I sliced through the incoming lightning with my aura-clad sword.

“How nostalgic. This attack too.”

“The power and precision are different from before.”

Crackle crackle crackle!

No sooner had she spoken than Lucia continuously unleashed countless lightning bolts. Additionally, those bands of light surrounded the area. This was different from the earlier restraint. The bands twisted sharply, becoming thin like nails as they flew at me.

They gouged the ground and further erupted from beneath my feet. To manipulate multiple high-powered spells like this. Honestly, her magic control ability surpassed mine.

Nice. At first I thought this would be a boring conclusion, but my heart raced more than I’d imagined.

How had she acquired such control ability? So smooth, maintaining power while making the attack trajectories complex.

Fun. Fun!

While fighting, my expression gradually changed to a smile.

“Isn’t this the best, Lucia! Let me apologize for underestimating you!”

I avoided the multiple spells approaching from above, below, left, and right by a hair’s breadth. I had already gotten used to the attack patterns.

Grasping the timing, I easily evaded them according to the magic power reactions. When I closed the distance with Lucia on top of that, pre-installed defensive magic activated.

Black barriers blocked my path. But it didn’t matter. I’d thought it would be something like this anyway. Just as she had shown me, it would be rude if I didn’t return the favor to Lucia.

I simultaneously constructed fire-attribute and wind-attribute magic in my left hand. I combined them and released them forward. Toward Lucia.

She instantly predicted the incoming magic and deployed defensive magic with all her might, but—

My magic pierced through that along with Lucia. With a thunderous roar, Lucia was embedded in the wall behind her.

Heat and impact blew away a corner of the mine. When I dispelled the rising dust clouds with wind magic, I could see Lucia’s figure collapsed on the ground.

While suffering burns over her entire body, she still tried to stand by putting strength into her body.

In her eyes, there was still no color of resignation. Having taken that attack. In such a near-death state. Still glaring at me with intent to kill.

I shivered with excitement. Without doubt, Lucia was a lion. An existence that devoured others.

“Not… yet… I… haven’t… lost!”

When she shouted this in a raspy voice, the next moment. She erupted pitch-black aura from her entire body, visibly healing her wounds.

“? What is that power?”

It was a power I had never seen before. Divine Prayer… but the color was too dark. If anything, it was closer to curses. However, curses had no healing ability.

“Don’t tell me… you have a cursed item? You?”

“No. It’s not such a petty power. Haven’t you heard of it? ‘Forbidden Designation Magic.'”

“Forbidden Designation Magic…”

That was definitely the terrifying magic whose use was forbidden long ago, wasn’t it?

It possessed power beyond the realm of magic, but was sealed due to strict handling and activation conditions.

Why did she know about that?

Forbidden designation magic was classified information buried in the past.