I walked up to the stage and saw a pretty girl with purple hair standing there.
　Her arms were crossed and her expression was somehow grim.

"Exam number 99......, it's you. You're the genius who was able to cast a spell on all ten of the Mad Dolls.

　Before I could even open my mouth, the girl started talking.

"Well, yeah. You seem to have a problem with that.
"Of course. I was going to pass the ...... entrance exam for this school at the top of my class. And then you showed up. Wouldn't it be tempting to complain or two if the obstacle to my getting in at the top of the class was right in front of me?

　That's backhanded.
　As I was dumbfounded, I could hear voices coming from around the stage.


"Hey, isn't that Maryse Cizenosna?
"Yeah. She's said to be the genius wizard of the Sizenosna family.
Do you know her?　She hit that mad doll with her magic in one shot and destroyed half of it.


　Apparently, the girl in front of me is named Marise.
　And she's pretty famous.

　But...

"But that guy destroyed all the Mad Dolls, too.　And with faulty magic.
Hahaha!　What's with the crazy story? You can't do that!　How can you use magic with faulty magic?


　He could hear me talking too.

　The targeting test was being held in multiple locations.
　Apparently there are people here who don't know what I did.

"I heard about you. "I heard you have defective magic.

　Ah, there's that word again, "defective magic.
　Why does the supreme color of gold have to be called that?

Are you going to make fun of me for calling you a defective magician?
"Make fun of me?　I don't do such low-level things. Because I'm also a 'lesser magic power'. Determining superiority or inferiority based on the type of magic alone is trivial.

　Hmm.
　I don't know what "inferior magic power" is, but this girl seems to have a slightly better sense of it.

　The problem is the ability to do so. .......
　I'm not sure if this is a good idea, but it's a good idea.

I'm going to cast a defensive spell then.

　As we were talking, the examiner deployed a defensive spell on my body.
　The spell was so heavy and yet so fragile that I wanted to destroy it right now.

　But I've heard that if it's broken, you lose.
　So be patient.

"And now for the test!

　The examiner announces.

"What's your name?
Kurt.
Kurt. I'll take no prisoners... so gather your fire in my hands. Gather around my hand, flame. Become a spear and strike your enemy...

　At the same time as she chanted the spell, three spears of flame appeared around Marise.

　I'm not sure what to say.
　It's a good thing I'm not the only one who can do this.
　That sounds like a tough job.

"Burn through it!

　Three fire spears were fired simultaneously.

　It seems that inferior magic power is purple magic power.
　It's a magic that excels at long range magic.

　If that's the case, then ...... is as good as it gets.
　After it was fired, I slowly formed a magic formula that had the same power as the Fire Spear coming at me.
　Then I smashed them together to cancel them out.

"What? ......

　Seeing the Fire Spear canceled out, Marise exclaims.

"My God, ......, you think you can cast a spell as powerful as my Fire Spear?　What about you?

　You're right, I just made it equal.
　I could have ended it in an instant, but I didn't think that would be a pretty fight.

It might not be a lie to say that ...... destroyed all the Mad Dolls, but ......!

　Without pause.

"Gather in my hand, flame--

　I'm not sure what to do.

　It's pretty fast.
　He's much faster than Cyril, who was all talk.

　But alas...

"Slow.

　Her magic is indeed fast.


　But if I kept relying on chanting, I wouldn't make it up there.

　I deployed my fire spear faster than Marries without chanting and let it fire.

"Ack!

　The Fire Spear pierced Marise's foot, and she let out a small scream and fell on her butt.

I'm not sure what you mean.　I'm not sure what to make of that.　I'm not sure how that's possible.　And too fast?

　It seems that Marise was confused when she saw my magic.

　This is the best she can do right now. She's not ready to entertain me yet.
　Looks like the defensive spell hasn't been broken yet. Marise didn't say "give up" either.

　As I approached her.

I've been trying to keep this under wraps for a while now, but ...... I can't help it!

　The color of Marise's eyes changed from black to blue.
　A moment later, she stood up, meditated, and began to chant magic.

"My God. Give me the power of the holy sword in my hand. One sacred sword, roaring from the heavens, annihilate the enemy. I am Marise. I am the wielder of divine power.

　The magic formula slowly builds.

　Oh, is this girl planning to use the Holy Sword?
　It was an intermediate level spell in a previous life.

Wow. It's quite well done, isn't it?

　I'm not sure if it's a good idea, but it's a good idea.

"Are you sure you can afford it?　It's your loss!　《Holy Sword of God》!

　When Marise swung her hand down, and the sword of light was about to fall...

But it's still too late.
"What?

　I invoked a backfire spell.

　I heard a sound like broken glass, and the sword of light disappeared without a trace.

What do you mean?　Where the hell is my Holy Sword ......?
It's backfire magic. You're an intermediate magician, you know that, right?
You know that you can use intermediate magic?　I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that.

　I'm not sure if you've heard of it or not.

　Oh, you've never heard of backfire magic?
　Detection and enhancement spells aren't common. I kind of expected this.

　A backfire spell is a spell that analyzes your opponent's spell and makes it backfire.
　To put it simply, it is a technique to remove an opponent's spell.
　However, since you need to analyze and understand your opponent's magic perfectly, you can't use backhanded magic unless you have a considerable difference in ability.

You've finished your analysis because you're chanting so long.
You want me to use no-chant magic?
Yeah. It's easy.
Only you can do that!

　Yeah. Okay.
　Apparently this world is based on the standard ...... chanting magic from before the magic revolution I started.

　So...

I'll show you the real Holy Sword.
What? ......!

　I'll activate the magic formula I've already set up.
　Of course, no chanting.

　Then a sword of light appeared above Marise's head, just like the one before.
　No, it's not the same.

What a giant!

　Marise looks up and retreats as if in fear.

"This is the true Holy Sword.

　The one she used was the size of a man, while my Holy Sword is the size of a house.
　The hall was bathed in blinding light, and the crowd seemed to be buzzing.

I've got defensive magic, so I can handle this, right?　Here we go. Here we go.

　And that's when he was about to drop the sword of light at Marries.

"Wait, wait, wait!　The test is over!　It's over!　You can't possibly withstand that with defensive magic!

　The examiner looked flustered and stepped in between us.

　Marise sees my magic and sits up.
　The belligerent stare that had been there earlier was completely gone.
　I wanted to use my magic like this, but ...... it seems that the game has been decided.



"Well, there you have it.

　I stopped the magic, and the sword of light was gone.