The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

A green aura of arcane energy rose high into the sky.

Tūs’ compressed vortex of energy merged with the air and produced a ringing sound — and alongside the sound, shockwaves that impacted not just Eddo or T’oued, but the furthest reaches of this land.

The cries of beasts and monsters could be heard from all over the place.

It was strong enough for a former Holy Warrior like Lylia to gasp in surprise.

[This isn’t like that time…]

Lylia recalled the last time she had been in a fistfight with Tūs.

The amount of arcane energy on display here made last time seem like a children’s game.

Now it was clear that he had sent Melchi to bring Asley here because he wanted not to waste his arcane energy unnecessarily.

Asley, realizing that, swallowed a lump in his throat and took a step forward.

“A-A-A-ARE YOU ALL RIGHT, MASTER!? You’re not used to how your body is yet, not to mention you can’t use any arcane energy at all!”

As Pochi panicked, Asley turned to her.

“…I’ll be fine. Right now, I think Tūs and I are evenly matched in terms of power.”

“H-how!? That doesn’t make any sense!”

“He’s releasing all of his arcane energy, while I’m not using any at all. At one point, he told me that my level was lower than his by about twenty… so now that I’ve leveled up, I should be stronger than him by about thirty levels. By using magic and physical enhancement techniques, Tūs could close that gap well enough… is probably what he thought. That’s why he’s doing this now. Isn’t that right, Tūs?”

And so Asley turned to Tūs.

“Yeah, if you wanna fight Gaspard and the Devil King, you gotta beat ME first. And now that you’re outta arcane energy, it’s the perfect time for you to learn how to actually fight. I mean, you won’t get to rely on your magic even if you need to, ya get me?”

Asley said nothing, only nodding as he approached Tūs.

Irene and the others, understanding their intentions, kept their mouths shut.

Everyone present silently looked on in anticipation of the fight that was about to unfold.

The adventurer teams, the Resistance, and other adventurers ran from the south gate toward the scene. They could not afford to match this one-in-a-century occurrence, so that they could learn and have a better chance at ensuring everyone’s survival.

Lina tightened her grip on the key pendant in her little hands and looked on at her honored mentor.

Fuyu called Tifa over from Beilanea, and when the latter teleported here, she appeared with Tarawo restrained in a chokehold.

“T-Tifa… I think… my breakfast is traveling back up my throat…”

Haruhana held the Kozakura, her favorite katana, while Irene folded her arms and directed her strong, determined gaze towards Asley.

Lylia looked down at her own palms. She once was a Holy Warrior, and no longer held the title that deemed her one. As someone who could use only a little bit of magic and magecraft, she currently was far below Tūs and Asley in terms of raw strength. As frustrated as she was, all she could do about it now was grit her teeth.

Hornel, Idéa, and Midors, witnessing the sheer power of the one called ‘Philosopher’ before their eyes, watched with anticipation as Asley rose to the challenge without any arcane energy at his disposal.

“Keep your head empty.”

“Yeah… I’m not good enough to think and fight at the same time anyway.”

“Trust your body. All the things you’ve done so far will carry you in the fights to come.”

“I know.”

“All Up.”

Tūs’ Circle drawing was so fast that all the mages were amazed — and Asley was no exception.

“Kah!”

Tūs invoked his special techniques even before the fight began.

Normally, it would have been more appropriate for them to measure each other’s abilities first, but this time, the point was for Asley to fight a full-powered Tūs. No one — including Asley, of course — accused Tūs of being unfair.

“So that’s what it’s like when you go all out, huh?”

“Hmph. Get ready, Asley — I’mma show you why I’m called the Philosopher of the Far East.”

“Yeah.”

Asley nodded in agreement, and at the same time, expressed his resolve.

Immediately following that, Tūs leaped up, creating a huge crater where he previously was. The sky quaked as his gigantic body flew at Asley.

In response, Asley dug his heels into the ground and threw a right straight punch, his fist colliding with Tūs’ right fist and creating a shockwave that tore through the sound barrier.

A thunderous blast echoed through the whole area.

“DAAAHHHHHH!! Title Lock: Count 10! Code: Eternal Fool!”

“Ngh–!”

As one of Asley’s titles was vocalized, Asley himself was immobilized.

“Zenith Mage!”

“–!?”

“Top Student! Staff Deity! Wind Deity! Ancient Slayer! Thousand Magician! Diamond Senses! Skyruler! The Investigator!”

“Shit! When’d you even see my titles!?”

“Melchi told me all about them! And now…! I’mma get my first punch in!!”

With how strong Asley currently was, he had the ability to break out of a tenfold Title Lock in mere moments. But in this fight, even a single moment was crucial — and Tūs would go to great lengths to gain all the time he could.

Tūs’ gigantic fist landed a hit on Asley.

“GWAHHHHHH!?”

It blew Asley quite far away.

“ORA! Come on out!”

With Tūs’ command, Bull the King Happy Killer — Tūs’ Familiar — emerged from the ground.

Asley was in this fight alone, so Pochi would not be helping him… but that did not necessarily mean Tūs would not be getting help.

After all, this was the fight where Tūs would throw everything he had at Asley.

Bull braced his hind legs and got ready to strike Asley with his fangs as the latter was blown towards him.

“Ngh–!”

Asley did a flip in mid-air and landed on one of Bull’s fangs.

“Predictable!”

Bull said and promptly shot a blast of air from his nose.

Being on the unstable footing that was Bull’s fang, it was only natural that Asley would lose his balance.

“Hmph!”

Bull proceeded to lower his head and then knocked Asley upwards.

Asley managed to narrowly defend with his Drynium Rod, but the impact still sent him flying high into the air.

“Take a good look…!”

“…At our big hit!”

Asley immediately could tell what attack Tūs and Bull had chosen to perform… as apparent from how they opened their mouths wide.

“Breath attack!?”

“”KAHHHHHHHHH!!!!””

More specifically, Zenith Breaths from two individuals who had trained themselves to the point of being some of the strongest beings in this world.

The density of their blasts was greater than the combined breath attacks that Asley had blocked the day before.

“GAH–!!”

Asley’s muscles bulged as he swung his legendarily solid Drynium Rod in the opposite direction of the incoming breath attacks.

And then Asley’s body moved — only a little bit, not even more than a meter’s worth.

For Asley, however, that was more than enough.

“Hah! What a stubborn little shit!”

“Fanning the air, huh? Didn’t see that coming!”

As Bull had said, Asley was using the Drynium Rod’s tip to fan the air, enabling him to avoid the accelerating breath attacks.

“Well, well! Looking good!”

“Damn, a compliment from THE Tūs? That’s rare.”

“No, I’m talking about his muscles!”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought! What were YOU thinking when you were ‘correcting’ me?”

“Hah, go figure that out yourself! And aim carefully! Rise, A-rise…! Beheading Vortex: Count 10!”

The Tūs had chosen — the Beheading Vortex — was a more advanced form of the Transient Blades. It conjured tens of thousands of blades, sending them descending towards Asley.

“Damn it…!!”

Asley landed while using the Drynium Rod to deflect the blades that came relentlessly at him. He then gradually moved away, so as to avoid the spots where the blades were more densely packed, but then another Zenith Breath flew into his path.

At Tūs command, Bull had exploited Asley’s opening by launching a breath attack at him, but…

“That’s what I’ve been waiting for!”

Right at the moment of impact, he deflected the attack towards the center of the Beheading Vortex.

The breath attack swallowed up the Beheading Vortex, erasing the magecraft, and then it kept flying towards Tūs.

Tūs proceeded to kick it high up into the air.

“…GAH!?”

At the same time, Bull was struck with a powerful blow to his abdomen.

His consciousness drifting away, Bull caught sight of Asley’s right fist.

“…Good job…”

Bull murmured, praising Asley as he fell to the ground.

Asley proceeded to turn away from Bull to face the Familiar’s Master.

Right then, a dense mass of arcane energy surged forth from Tūs.

“Ultimate Limit…”

A transformation that needed no Circle drawing — he invoked it, and at the same time, despite having a habit of laughing heartily…

“Try not to die.”

…This time, he laughed rather calmly.

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