The Hidden Ending Strategy of a Veteran in a Dead Game

Chapter 19: The Formal Duel

Gaiden’s expression twisted as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“You caught it… with your hands?”

“What else? You think I’d let it hit me, you blockhead?”

If you swung a hammer at me, you’d either block or dodge it, too.

In the past, I wouldn’t have been able to pull this off. But that was then.

With World’s Strongest and my mana circuits, my physical capabilities were at knight level now.

“Hup!”

I shoved the hammer aside with brute force and immediately thrust my fist forward.

Gaiden hastily chanted a spell.

“Veil of Winds!”

Boom!

Gaiden canceled his mana hammer and conjured a barrier of wind.

His casting speed was impressive, likely due to his specialization in wind magic.

Still—

“How long do you plan to just defend?”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Sticking to defense wouldn’t get him anywhere.

I unleashed a flurry of punches, each strike creating an explosive sound and forcing Gaiden back.

If he gave up the offensive once, it was my turn to dominate.

The moment his barrier came down, I’d have him.

“Oh! The young master’s training is impressive.”

“Getting into close combat might’ve been a mistake for Gaiden.”

The spectators murmured their agreement.

It was a basic mistake.

Engaging in close combat when you weren’t a seasoned battle mage was reckless.

Gaiden must have known that, too.

“He wasn’t supposed to be this strong!”

“I’ve been working out.”

To be fair, I could see why he’d be shocked.

The Kellen he remembered wasn’t physically capable or particularly aggressive.

He likely knew I’d started practicing mana refinement techniques, but he wouldn’t have expected this level of progress.

At best, he probably thought I’d reached 1-Star.

What a miscalculation.

I had already climbed to 2-Star.

Crack!

[Modern Combat (B) – Passive]

With my combat-specialized skill, I dominated him.

While it was purely physical and lacked mana application, it was polished enough to earn a B-grade.

Unable to cope, Gaiden staggered under my relentless assault.

A mage cooped up in a room studying could hardly withstand this kind of onslaught.

“Haah!”

I threw a feint with a light jab.

Boom!

“Guhhh!”

And drove my knee into his side.

Focused on defending his front, he stumbled heavily.

Even if the direct damage wasn’t severe, the impact sent him reeling.

Gaiden gritted his teeth.

‘Looks like this will be easier than I thought.’

As I pressed the attack, I realized things were going smoother than expected.

I’d been intimidated by his 3-Star status, but this fight was turning out well.

It helped that he had closed the distance himself.

Though his reactions weren’t bad, his lack of real combat experience was glaring.

He hadn’t anticipated this kind of scenario.

And that was his mistake to pay for.

[Heavy Blow (D) – Active]

Crash!

I struck his barrier with all my strength, shattering it.

“Hiiiick!”

Gaiden gasped in shock and scrambled backward.

The opening I created was only about the size of my fist, but it was enough.

At least for a decisive strike.

“You’re finished!”

I aimed my punch directly at the gap in his barrier.

“Whistle!”

Shrieeeeeek!

“Aaaaagh!”

A deafening, high-pitched noise erupted, piercing my ears.

My heightened senses, already sharp due to my enhanced physical abilities, made it feel like my head was splitting apart.

‘What is this, a flashbang?’

If you’ve ever been hit by a flashbang, you’d know.

While the blinding light is bad, the sound is even worse.

The full name is "flashbang grenade" for a reason—it’s a non-lethal weapon designed to incapacitate enemies.

The magic Gaiden used was similar—a low-level crowd control spell commonly employed by mages.

In the game, it only caused a brief stun or confusion, but experiencing it in reality was a whole other level.

“Headwind!”

Whoooosh!

Before I could recover, Gaiden unleashed a powerful gust of wind, centered on himself.

Even though I managed to regain my balance, I couldn’t stop myself from being pushed back.

“You’ve got some tricks up your sleeve.”

I muttered as I glared at him, rubbing my ear.

I was genuinely impressed.

This was more than I’d expected from him.

Did he have some natural talent?

‘With skills like this, he could’ve been famous even in the game.’

Why wasn’t he?

I’d have to dig through my memory later. Right now, I had more pressing concerns.

“Strike and slash!”

Gaiden sent a blade of wind hurtling toward me.

I twisted my body to dodge.

Slash!

I thought I’d evaded it, but the edge nicked me, sending a sharp pain shooting through my thigh.

It was only one blade, hastily fired, but its cutting power was impressive.

“That was close.”

“Lucky dodge. Don’t get cocky.”

Gaiden smirked.

Fair enough—I had no reason to get overconfident.

Drip.

Blood trickled from the cut on my thigh.

Maybe I should’ve used Diamond Parts to block it.

No, I had calculated that I could dodge it.

But—

‘That spell’s edges are completely invisible.’

The blade’s effective range extended beyond its visible area.

Some skills in the game were like that—annoyingly precise yet deceptive in their hitboxes.

‘The transparency at the edges makes it tricky to gauge its full reach.’

Damn game-like mechanics. If they were going to make it this accurate, they should’ve included a proper explanation.

“Why don’t you give up? Fighting in your condition is just disgraceful.”

“Wow, look at you worrying about me.”

I began walking toward him again.

Though he raised his staff threateningly, I ignored it.

“This is my final warning.”

A warning, huh? Fair enough.

If you didn’t understand magic, you might fall for it.

But I’d spent countless hours in the game.

What that meant was—

“Haha! Our little brother’s bravado is adorable! Look at that pouty face. Are you running out of mana?”

He even knew the approximate mana and health capacity of each rank.

It wasn’t perfectly accurate, though. The range varied depending on the martial arts techniques they had mastered, their innate constitution, and the equipment they were using.

However—

‘In an official duel, you can’t use anything but the artifacts or potions you created yourself.’

Currently, Gaiden could only use the mana he had on hand.

I didn’t know what martial arts technique he had mastered, but it probably wasn’t much.

After all, he had been wasting his magic trying to catch me.

It was the natural outcome.

“That’s ridiculous!”

“Believe what you want.”

Though Gaiden had a decent sense of strategy, he had very little practical experience.

It was obvious from his expressions. It was impossible not to notice when his emotions were written all over his face.

Of course, I wasn’t in the best condition either.

I was still bleeding, after all.

[Explosion Wave (Rank 2) - Passive]

[Mana Expansion]

Buzzzzzz.

Stopping the bleeding wasn’t hard.

A gaping hole in my stomach had been patched up, so a little cut was nothing to worry about.

I grinned, raising the corners of my mouth, and charged forward.

“You’re really pushing this to the end, aren’t you?!”

When his bravado failed, Gaiden started gathering mana.

His complexion paled noticeably in real-time.

That confirmed it—he was running out of mana.

Meanwhile, me?

Other than my limping leg, I was doing fine.

Tap!

Even though sprinting at full speed was impossible in my current state, I could still run. And compared to earlier, it was much easier to close the distance.

Gaiden no longer had the luxury of throwing spells to keep me at bay.

“Wind, surround me and spread!”

Whiiirrr.

He seemed determined to stall for time.

Gaiden’s figure blurred for a moment, and then multiple clones appeared.

A lower-level illusion spell.

The clones couldn’t attack or move independently.

They only served to multiply his image.

‘At most, three of them.’

I went for the one on the left first.

With the same momentum, I drove my fist into its chin, and it vanished into dust.

Boom!

Pivoting sharply, I delivered a spinning back kick to the central figure.

That one was also fake.

Which left only one.

Gaiden didn’t seem intent on hiding anymore. He began casting his final spell.

The wind picked up.

And then—

Twitch!

A surge of mana that was entirely different from anything he had shown before began to gather.

It was invisible, with no clear signs or warnings, but—

[Constitution and Mana Circuits detect changes.]

I could feel it.

The expansion. The heat.

The energy that surged and collided as it expanded!

“Kellen!”

With Nohr’s shout, I threw myself forward.

It was on fire.

Fire riding the wind and spreading!

“Burn!”

It was nothing more than a basic ignition spell, but when accompanied by the roaring wind, it was a different story.

The fire, fed by oxygen, rapidly swelled, becoming no different from a flamethrower.

Fwooooom!

A massive blaze engulfed the training ground.

Searing heat filled the air, and flames roared with ferocity.

Cries of terror and admiration erupted from all around the arena.

“He’s controlling two attributes at once!”

“No, wait. This is double casting! Isn’t he only Rank 3?!”

“Stop them at once! The second son might die!”

Despite the uproar, the knight serving as referee didn’t move.

Because—

[Explosion Wave (Rank 2) - Passive]

[Mana Circuits Expand]

I was charging straight through the flames.

The modified Rank 2 effect of Explosion Wave, activated by changes in my constitution and mana circuits.

Buzzzz!

The mana circuits extended beyond my body and pushed back the flames.

It was still unbearably hot.

The heat wrapped around me, and each breath of the scorching air made my lungs throb.

I wanted nothing more than to fall to the ground and roll away, but—

[Constitution: Titan Wrestler channels strength!]

I clenched my teeth and pushed through.

“Raaaah!”

Finally, I leaped forward and threw my fist.

I poured every ounce of strength into it, determined to pierce through any barrier!

[Diamond Fist (E) - Active]

[Strike (E) - Active]

Mana coursed through my fist, which glowed with a blue radiance as it drove toward Gaiden.

A punch powerful enough to crush a human skull with ease!

“You crazy bastard!”

Gaiden squeezed his eyes shut as screams echoed from the audience.

A gruesome spectacle seemed inevitable, but it didn’t happen.

“That’s enough, young master.”

The referee intervened, catching my fist.

Boom!

The impact caused a shockwave to ripple out in all directions.

Thud.

“Huff… Huff…”

Even though the blow was intercepted, the recoil from the Strike caused Gaiden to collapse.

He had reached his limit.

He had pushed his mana to the extreme, casting spells at the brink of collapse. In the end, he even double-casted two elements simultaneously.

His face was deathly pale, and he kept bleeding from his nose, clearly suffering from the strain.

‘He’s got talent, no doubt about that.’

The final moments had been truly dangerous.

If I hadn’t been able to expand my mana circuits, it would have been much worse.

“How… how in the world did you…”

Gaiden stared at me blankly, unable to comprehend the situation.

But the result was clear.

Gaiden was defeated, and I remained standing.

“I think this duel has gone on long enough.”

The knight glanced at both of us before raising my hand high.

“The winner of this official duel is Kellen von Bayerle!”

A moment of silence.

Then the crowd erupted in cheers.

“Woaaah! What an upset!”

“To think he would charge through those flames!”

“Didn’t he use an artifact?”

“Nonsense! In official duels, only self-made artifacts or potions are allowed!”

“What incredible determination.”

The spotlight was on me.

The cheers and excitement were overwhelming.

No one had expected me to win.

And Gaiden’s performance had far exceeded expectations as well.

This made the victory even more satisfying.

“I acknowledge my defeat.”

Despite his scowling face, Gaiden admitted his loss.

I extended my hand toward him with a nod.

Though he lacked manners, he was at least gracious in defeat.

Now, there was only one thing left.

‘Choosing my reward.’

An official duel wagered on hierarchy.

The rewards for winning were substantial.

“Hehe. Hahaha.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle as my anticipation grew.

Seeing that, Gaiden’s face twisted in annoyance.

Which wasn’t surprising in the slightest.