Water Magician

Chapter 436: Ryo vs. Garwin

Editor: Tseirp

“”

256 ice lances released.

And immediately, Ryo moved.

“”

The moment Garwin chanted, all the trajectories of the ice lances flipped and flew back to their original positions.

“I see. Unlike the walls of the royal capital, the trajectory doesn’t fly towards the caster but reverses…. Truly ‘bending space’.”

The ice lances, having made a 180-degree turn, returned to their launch point without heading towards Ryo, who had moved.

It seems different from the royal capital’s walls, which reverse and automatically track.

It didn’t seem like he lost control over the magic, so-called ‘magic control deprivation’.

“As expected, it’s interference with space rather than seizing control of the opponent’s magic.”

Ryo muttered such things while swinging his sword.

Naturally, the Djinn Garwin also attacked.

“.”

But immediately, it vanished with paired annihilation particles.

“What?”

“It was just blocked by an invisible ice wall I set up to remain undetected.”

Garwin grimaced. Ryo answers with a smug look.

“…So, you’re capable of activating magic without chanting at all.”

“Damn it! Each of my cards is being revealed one by one. This is troublesome.”

“Yeah right, you should see your face… you don’t look troubled at all!”

Ryo said deliberately, and Garwin shouted with a strained expression.

During that time, Ryo’s sword and Garwin’s gauntlet clashed.

A magic showdown within close-quarters combat.

However, Garwin lightly stepped back and created some distance.

“Well, can’t help it. .”

As Garwin uttered those words, numerous thin black rods fell from the sky like rain.

Clang, clang, clang….

The sound of the rods hitting the that Ryo had set up above him echoed.

It seemed they lacked penetrating power.

“Gravity? Rods? Shit!”

When Ryo muttered, it was too late.

The multiple gravity rods stuck in the ground pulled Ryo in all directions, rendering him immobile.

“Even though I heard about it from Etho and the others…”

Ryo lamented in frustration.

But that was just for a moment.

“”

As Ryo chanted, a thunderous sound reverberated around him.

Ice walls fell from the sky around him other than the center where Ryo was.

Forming a ring-like structure…much like a Japanese five-yen or fifty-yen coin….

All the gravity rods were crushed by these ice walls.

Except for a section in front of Ryo that hadn’t fallen all the way to the ground.

It seemed someone had managed to slip between the ground and the ice wall.

“Why are ice walls suddenly falling from the sky?”

Garwin, who had slipped in, grumbled.

Apparently, he wasn’t crushed by this level of attack.

“That’s a mass attack that once even crushed wild golems… yet you took it like a champ.”

“Don’t compare me to a golem.”

Ryo said, and Garwin retorted.

Then he grinned and continued.

“Is it something like this? .”

The moment Garwin chanted, another thunderous noise resounded.

Just like before, ice walls fell from the sky.

Leaving holes only where Garwin stood….

This time too, some parts in front of Garwin remained undisturbed.

As if someone had slipped between the ground and the ice walls.

“To think you can use water-attribute magic…”

Ryo said ruefully.

Surrounded by nearly transparent ice walls he had conjured.

“Because I’m a Djinn. Naturally, I can use magic of all attributes.”

“That’s unfair!”

Garwin said naturally, and Ryo naturally retaliated with a complaint.

“Have you ever thought about how someone who can only use one attribute feels?”

“Of course not…”

The world is unfair indeed.

“I’ll show you the true power of water-attribute magic!”

“Sounds interesting.”

With a teary look that suggested frustration… Ryo declared boldly, and Garwin replied with a laugh.

Of course, Ryo wasn’t shedding tears…

“The fusion of Fallen Angel Alchemy and water-attribute magic, witness its greatness! .”

Two consecutive spells were chanted!

“”

Another familiar spell was cast!

With that, Ryo swiftly invaded the distance between them and swung down Murasame.

Garwin caught it with his gauntlets, crossing his hands over his head.

But the moment he caught it…

“What… it froze?”

The area where he caught it froze.

“This is the .”

In simple terms, it was Murasame’s unique skill.

Of course, Ryo didn’t know if such a thing existed, but he had a feeling it awakened when Murasame fought the fallen angel in the Western Countries.

At that time he named the freezing phenomenon…thus.

By the way, specifically what he did was ask Murasame to “freeze upon contact with the opponent”…yeah, he asked his weapon.

So, it freezes upon contact. The world is filled with mysteries…

Freeze upon contact.

The effect is straightforward, and for a Djinn like Garwin, it’s not too difficult to shake off the ice from his frozen gauntlets.

But if it happens every time he receives it, it could be quite troublesome.

And then…

“”

A sudden downpour assaulted Garwin, freezing the rainwater that clung to him without delay.

“! ”

Ryo sliced through the frozen Garwin’s neck once again.

Because it was ice generated by his controlled magic, such a thing was possible.

Furthermore, not only the neck but also the arms, legs, torso…

All were cut apart.

It might be considered cruel if it were a human…

Djinn Garwin naturally revived.

But, his revival wasn’t overlooked.

As soon as he regenerated, he was cut apart again.

“.”

Not just Murasame, but he also used Water Jet to cut him apart.

Respawn kill.

Every time he regenerated, he was cut apart in that moment.

Again and again, repeatedly…

Relentless in his assault.

Of course, Djinn Garwin revived many times.

Not just one, but there were instances where he appeared as clones or splits, sometimes even several dozen at once.

“”

Numbers countered numbers.

How many times did such a struggle repeat?

But finally…

Clang.

“Ugh.”

Ryo groaned with a frustrated expression.

Murasame was caught by Garwin’s gauntlet.

The chopping finally didn’t make it in time.

“To think, it took two thousand simultaneous revivals to finally slip through. I’m impressed.”

“What a shame. I was planning to do it a hundred million times.”

Ryo said in a voice that didn’t necessarily sound like a joke, in response to Garwin’s words.

Deflecting the gauntlet heavily, he leaped backward to create distance.

At the same time, he chanted.

“”

“”

The rain fell.

But nothing happened to Garwin’s body.

“You evaporated the water adhered with Squall in an instant?”

“As if the same trick will work twice!”

Ryo was surprised, and Garwin roared, quickly closing the distance.

A frontal right fist punch. Followed by a left hand liver punch with the rotation of his hips. A Mongolian Chop with both hands…

When you name the techniques, they’re a mix of karate, boxing, and wrestling, but naturally, Garwin wasn’t bound by the framework of modern Earth’s martial arts.

Hence the names of the various techniques…

Ryo received, parried, and dodged them.

An ironclad defense.

Ryo doesn’t engage in hand-to-hand combat often.

The only high-level opponent he recalls facing is Ash Khan, the enchanter from the hero party.

Back when the hero party was staying in the capital, Ryo was often used as a sparring partner by Hero Roman.

During those times, he also sparred with Ash Khan, who accompanied them.

Perhaps those experiences were somewhat useful now.

(Well, since monsters usually don’t carry weapons, it’s safe to assume hand-to-hand combat, right?)

Ryo thought.

He doesn’t pay too much attention to the opponent’s weapon…

Of course, his fighting style still changes accordingly.

The shorter and smaller the weapon, the easier it is to handle, making it more effective in close combat.

Anyone can understand this when comparing a spear and a knife.

If so, then the ultimate short and small weapon would be one’s own limbs’, which excel in close-quarters combat.

In reality, Garwin’s attacks are remarkably tricky, and his defense is also solid.

Frankly, if told to defeat him with just a sword, he would be at a loss.

After all, he resurrects even if chopped up…

However, Ryo is a magician.

The sword is merely supplementary.

Huh? Yes, supplementary! Do you have something to say about that?

When I say supplementary, I mean supplementary!

Once again, Ryo stepped back to create distance.

But this time, Garwin did not let him get away.

“Why do you keep trying to keep your distance! ”

As Garwin chanted, dozens of fireballs shot out from his outstretched right hand, heading toward Ryo… but from the moment they were fired, they began to freeze.

“What the hell, is this!”

Garwin shouted in anger.

Ryo smirked.

It was his that he had cast earlier.

The fear of not knowing when he would freeze.

A psychological warfare by Ryo.

Once frozen, naturally, he would shred him to pieces.

Yes, Ryo is a magician.

But Djinns are skilled in magic too.

“Bury him! .”

In an instant, everything in Ryo’s field of vision was filled with pencil-thin black rods.

Indeed, there was no other way to describe it than being ‘buried’.

Gravity rods appeared everywhere, from the ground to the sky, in a 360-degree radius.

A ridiculous display of overwhelming with numbers.

The ultimate saturation attack.

Upon their generation, all previously laid emitted beams of annihilation particles and disappeared.

Tens of thousands of steam mines!

An equal number of gravity rods should have vanished too, but…they were still filling the area.

Each gravity rod emitted a powerful gravitational force.

Strangely, the gravity rods didn’t attract each other; instead, they pulled towards the target at the center from all directions…in other words, towards Ryo.

Earlier, he had crushed them with ice walls…

“”

Ryo chanted.

But nothing happened.

The ice walls manifested in mid-air.

They appeared but didn’t fall… and remained suspended in midair.

Presumably, the effect of the gravity rods extended to the ice walls this time…

In other words, the creator of these gravity rods could select their targets.

Therefore, the gravity rods didn’t interact with each other.

“Talk about fantasy.”

Ryo muttered involuntarily.

Well, the fact that gravity and attraction are treated as magic effects is already fantasy.

Actually, magic itself is fantasy.

In the end, the world is a fantasy.

Gravity rods filled the space.

Ryo, unable to move.

He was in a bind.

But let me say it again.

Ryo is a water-attribute magician.

“”

Garwin, closing the distance to deliver the finishing blow to the immobilized Ryo, rushed in.

It would either be a thrust through the throat, or a swipe to decapitate him….

But not a stab through the chest.

“It’s too late to try to stop me with an ice wall now.”

Garwin said with a menacing grin, attempting to break through the ice wall.

But as he tried to break it…

“Ah…”

His foot slipped, unable to gain traction.

Naturally.

The ground was covered in ice from .

Ryo had a trump card.

It was information.

Know your enemy, know thyself, and you shall not fear a hundred battles.

What did Ryo know about Garwin?

It was his body.

More precisely, the moisture flowing through his body.

How did he know?

Of course, it was from Garwin’s left arm that pierced through Ryo’s heart.

Ryo had encased that left arm in ice.

The water from Ryo’s ice magic had permeated every nook and cranny of Garwin’s left arm.

Ryo understood the ‘water’ present in every cell of Garwin’s body.

What could he do with that knowledge?

“What the? Can’t move?”

Garwin muttered involuntarily.

He could control it down to the cellular level.

Of course, even for Ryo, it was impossible to perform such feats without complete focus on magic.

It was impossible during swordplay or magic battles.

It was only in situations like this, where he was completely immobile while the opponent was in sight and approaching, that it was possible.

It was quite difficult to set up such a situation.

But finally, he had set it up.

However, even if he brought about that situation, he still couldn’t win.

Even if he controlled the opponent’s movements, there was no way to deliver the finishing blow.

Even if he decapitated him, he would regenerate.

Even if he sliced his body into pieces, he would regenerate.

Even if he made him disappear completely… he would regenerate.

How could one defeat such an opponent?

Why could he regenerate even if he disappeared?

Here, one should recall the well-known equation.

E=mc²

E: Energy

m: Mass

c: Speed of light

Matter (mass) can be converted into energy.

= signifies equivalence.

Of course, energy can be converted into matter (mass).

In other words, something doesn’t come from nothing.

It’s just energy, which is ‘something’, transforming into matter, which is ‘something’.

Energy and matter are essentially the same.

In other words, if the energy is gone… regeneration of matter becomes impossible.

That was the magic Ryo had cast even before he began shredding Garwin.

This magic continuously absorbed energy from Garwin through the water vapor in the air.

Garwin, who had presumably consumed energy with each regeneration, would have consumed many times more energy than usual due to this magic.

According to the law of conservation of energy, energy cannot be destroyed.

So, where did the stolen energy go?

An entity that craved vast amounts of energy existed here.

Although the fallen angel was technically confined to a coffin…

After all, the Fragments of God could be considered a type of energy.

And it is an entity that desired to obtain them.

Even the Djinn Garwin would awaken completely by obtaining Fragments of God from humans.

If that’s the case, then within Garwin, there are likely a large number of Fragments of God…

“What a gruesome world…”

The water-attribute magician muttered, as if it were someone else’s problem.

All the gravity rods surrounding Ryo disappeared.

It was because the Djinn Garwin lost his energy and became immobilized… and could no longer sustain the magic.

As a result, Ryo regained mobility.

It was almost unconscious.

Clang.

He received it with his sword.

The one swinging the sword was…

“Who is this child…?”

It was Erwin Ortiz, Duke of Shrewsbury, but Ryo didn’t know.

But then he noticed it.

The aura surrounding Erwin Ortiz…

“No way, Garwin.”

“You realized, huh?”

To Ryo’s muttering, Erwin… possessed by Garwin once again, grinned ominously.

The original body once again became an empty shell.

“This guy has short arms and legs, so a sword would be better, right?”

Compared to Garwin’s original body, which was about 190 centimeters tall, Erwin was shorter.

After all, he was only thirteen years old.

“In the end, it’s still close combat after all…”

Ryo muttered.

Unknowingly flashing a smile…

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