When I say something, Horace raises his upper body.

"That's pretty good. But you don't think this is the end for me, do you?
"No way.

　What you just did was merely dispelling an annoying insect with your hand.
　That's not even a hundredth of what I'm capable of.

Hmph. You're pretty strong. But I'm stronger than you.
That's odd. I was about to say the same thing. I was about to say the same thing. If you can't tell the difference between you and your opponent, then you don't know the power of the land of Shadgar.
"......!　You can't make fun of my country!

　Horace's anger rises.

　He grabs the huge axe that was on the ground and turns to face me.
　Horace grinned, the corners of his mouth twitching.

"Come at me from any side. From what I've seen of you in the past, you're a wizard, aren't you?　Go ahead and cast your spells as you see fit.
"I don't know what you're up to. I don't know what you're up to, but if that's the case, I'll let you loose.

　I'll set up a Fire Spear spell.
　Lara just wrought ten flaming spears, I'll wield ten times that - a hundred.

I'll just do a little test first.

　Fire Spears are fired simultaneously.
　Fire spears attacked Horace from all sides.
　An ordinary warrior might be able to avoid one or two, but he'd never be able to dodge them all.

　But...

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!

　Horace shouts.
　And he swings his axe, trying to knock away all the Fire Spears that come at him.

"Whoa!　Horace. That's an unbelievable axe move!　He knocks away every single one of Kurt's magic!

　Hmmm. For me, it was still a slow move, but it was certainly a good move by the standards of this era.
　However, the actual voice overlooked one important thing.
　Not only did it knock down and disable every single one of them, but it also said .......

"Well, that's an interesting move.

　He hit one of the fire spears back with his axe.

　It still has the power and precision of my magic.
　The fire spear that betrayed the Lord and turned on him was blocked by a warding spell.

"Aha, aha. How's that for a surprise?

　Horace asks, out of breath.

"What?
"You didn't think I'd let your magic hit back at you, did you?

　Horace looked pleased with himself.

　Horace is not using magic. There was no magic in the axe either.
　He used simple physical strength to beat back my magic.

　To do that, you need wind pressure to create even a storm. And you'd need speed beyond even light.
　But.

"Is that the limit for a mere braggart? I could hit all 100 of them back.
Don't play dumb with me, ......!

　Horace's face contorts, as if he thinks I'm joking.
　But it's true. But it's true. It's ridiculous that he's getting worked up over something like this.

"Then let's try it.

　He beckons to Horace with a quick motion.

"Now attack me as you wish. I don't use magic. I'll block it all with my wooden sword. It's easy enough to do that with you.

　It's the wooden sword Desmond gave me.

"Don't be ridiculous!　There's no way that a wooden stick like that can completely defend against my attacks!
What's wrong?　You think you can't?　What's wrong?
...... It's too late to regret it after you're dead.

　Horace grasps the axe with both hands.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!

　He closes the distance between us in an instant.

　And just as he did with Lara, he struck me with his axe.
　A hundred blows in the space of a single blow. All of them so heavy that they could blow away a giant demon.



"So this is it.

　I let out a sigh.
　I manipulated the wooden sword with one hand and fended off Horace's barrage.

"What the ......!　What's going on here? You're just a stick of wood, and I'm a giant axe!　How can you not break it?
"Well, it's just a stick of wood. But depending on how you use it, it can rival a great sword like this one that will never break.

　Even without magic, it is no match for Horace, who is simply swinging an axe with all his might.

The country of Shadgar was a small village?　It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're going to be doing and how you're going to do it.
"......!　Don't make fun of my country!

　He dares to provoke and lure Horace.
　In combat, anger, if not tamed well, can become a mere hindrance.

　Horace's axe plunges straight at him.

"Hmph.

　You sidestep him with your wooden sword.
　Then the axe leaves Horace's hand and falls to the ground.

"d*mn ......!

　I stomp on Horace's hand as he quickly tries to pick it up.

I stomped on Horace's hand as he immediately tried to pick it up. "You lied to me about not using magic!　I'm not going to fall behind a wizard who doesn't use magic!
I'm not going to fall behind a wizard who doesn't use magic!" "Oh, ......, I didn't know you were this dumb.

　I don't know.

　Horace's face contorted in pain, but he didn't let out a single scream.
　He seems to be quite a patient man.
　This fight won't end until you break his pride.

"Let's see what you can do.

　I lay down, propped myself up on my elbow and held out my right hand.

"Have you ever heard of the game of arm wrestling?
"Of course. In my country, it's also called arm wrestling. What's that?
It's a sideshow. You want to try it with me?

　Horace's pride was hurt, and his expression became even angrier.

　In a game of arm wrestling, two people grip each other with a single hand, and the one who pushes it to the ground wins .......
　It is said to require a lot of skill, but ...... is probably the best way to do a simple comparison of strength.

"Are you insane?
Yeah. If you can beat me with this gladiator, I'll give you an apology or something. You'll win the match.
Don't you dare lie to me with those words.

　Horace, looking smug, gets into the same position as me.

Push when you want.
So, ...... be my guest!

　Horace's right arm is as thick as a log.
　But no matter how hard ...... he pushes my hand, it doesn't budge.

"Ggggghhh ......
Is that what you really think?
Don't lick me!

　Horace's face is turning as red as a tomato, probably because he put too much pressure on it.

　Now, let's end the entertainment.

I'm going to put some effort in.

　I lightly press his right hand.

　And then.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

　His arm suddenly bends in the wrong direction and he falls into the ground.

"Hmm, if Horace's hand would have scraped the ground, it would have been over.

　But there was a crack in the ground centered on Horace's right hand.
　It seemed that Horace's right arm had been fractured by the impact, and he could barely manage to let out an "ugh ......" from the pain.

Don't get carried away with that kind of bravado. You should have at least been able to lift a mountain with one hand before you challenged me to a fight.