The Arranged Suitor Was the Kidnapper

A brief recess was granted before the third round commenced.

Rather than retreating to the waiting room, Laria met with her family.

“Laria, that was truly incredible!”

Theodore’s eyes sparkled like stars.

Unable to contain his excitement, he turned to Semela as he began explaining:

“The spellform Laria just handled was a new fusion created by deconstructing four existing spellforms…”

As a non-sorcerer, Semela couldn’t comprehend the details, but she smiled and nodded indulgently, charmed by Theodore’s exhilaration.

Folding his arms, Herdin chimed in with a teasing remark.

“The northern trip must have been really memorable for you to recreate it through illusion magic?”

Herdin was still harboring resentment about being left behind while the rest of the family journeyed north.

Sensing any further prodding might provoke him, Laria appeased him.

“Next time, you can come too. I didn’t get to sightsee either.”

“I’ll definitely take summer vacation this year.”

Herdin pointedly glanced toward Ishel.

Conversing with the Imperial Princess, Ishel shuddered as if struck by a chill.

Habitually scanning her surroundings, Laria asked her family:

“His Excellency didn’t come, did he?”

“Judging by the silence, it seems he didn’t,” Herdin replied.

Laria nodded in agreement. If Zenox had attended, his presence would have been immediately apparent. He wasn’t a presence that could be concealed, no matter how discreet.

‘Could something have really happened?’

She had intended to announce her plans to depart for the North immediately after the duel but hesitated.

A peculiar gaze had caught her attention.

Not far away, Sorcery Office sorcerers clad in robes were seated, murmuring as they observed Theodore. Though their exact words were inaudible, the tone didn’t seem positive.

Considerable time had passed since Theodore’s departure from the Sorcery Office.

Currently, those unfamiliar with him outnumbered those who remembered him, but a few remained who did.

Before Theodore could notice their scrutiny, Laria averted her gaze, only for her eyes to meet those of an elderly man seated among the judges.

A kindly, silver-haired elder with a benevolent countenance.

Following Laria’s line of sight, Theodore’s expression froze.

“…Master?”

Theodore’s murmur caused Laria’s eyes to widen in surprise.

The stunned elder hastily turned away, blatantly avoiding Theodore’s gaze, causing shadows to flit across his face.

Just then, Marquis Hashir emerged from inside.

Reflexively directing a glance toward Laria, the Marquis flashed her a sardonic smile, a stark contrast to his furious departure earlier.

Following behind, Sienna joined the Marquis on the dueling grounds.

Like the vacant Sienna from before, yet she now appeared unnaturally composed, almost like a different person entirely.

‘Something is…’

As she observed Sienna, Laria sensed an unsettling presence.

An inexplicable sense of unease prickled her skin.

When the official took the central position, the audience fell silent.

“We shall now commence the final round.”

The official provided a brief explanation of the third round’s rules.

Only offensive and defensive spells could be used, with the participant who clearly fell behind or forfeited being declared the loser.

“For the audience’s safety, senior sorcerers have erected a triple defense barrier, so you may rest assured.”

Laria suppressed a wry chuckle at the claim of an unbreakable barrier.

Had Sienna not boasted similarly before, only for Laria to shatter it in a single strike? By Laria’s standards, its durability was slightly above that of a glass window.

‘It should be fine.’

Knowing Sienna’s approximate skill level, she merely needed to exercise caution and avoid shattering the barrier herself.

The two stood facing each other from a measured distance apart.

Finally able to properly discern Sienna’s face, Laria caught her breath in surprise.

‘Her eye color has changed…?’

Sienna’s formerly crimson eyes now burned a vivid, bloody red hue.

As she leaned closer for a better look, Sienna released her magic power.

Boom!

The explosive surge of power pounded the ground with overwhelming force. It was on an entirely different scale compared to the magic Sienna had displayed in the previous rounds.

‘Could she have been hiding her true abilities?’

Yet during the illusion magic round, she had seemed to struggle considerably.

Before Laria could ponder further, hundreds of arrows materialized above Sienna’s head.

With a sweeping motion of her arms, the arrows rained down upon Laria in a volley.

Laria swiftly erected a defensive barrier.

The arrows shattered into dust upon colliding with the immense shield, deflected as if striking an invisible wall.

Seizing the momentary opening, Laria cast an offensive spell.

Brilliant white chains slithered along the ground like serpents, coiling around Sienna’s body and immobilizing her.

Laria swiftly scanned the motionless Sienna. Her vacant eyes resembled those of a doll within a display case.

In that instant, Laria discerned the source of the unease she had felt from the beginning.

Sienna was currently under the influence of a spell.

‘Mind control magic?’

A faint aura of mind control could be sensed, yet something felt amiss.

As she scrutinized Sienna to identify the spell, Sienna’s lips parted in a hushed murmur.

“Must… kill…”

Her indistinct muttering was barely audible.

Soon after, magic power surged violently around Sienna.

Unable to withstand the violent fluctuations, the chains shattered like shards of glass.

Staggering, Sienna muttered once more, her voice oozing with sinister undertones like drenched in venom:

“Must kill.”

With a sharp jerk of her head, Sienna extended her arm.

A massive, crimson scythe-like blade arced toward Laria.

Simultaneously, a brilliant white shield materialized, deflecting the blade’s edge.

As cracks spiderwebbed across the shield, Laria’s brow furrowed in concern.

Sienna’s magic power was rapidly intensifying.

“Sienna.”

Laria called out to her, but there was no response.

Like one who had lost all reason, Sienna wildly channeled her magic power.

If left unchecked, the audience could be endangered.

‘I have to stop her.’

Four gems from Laria’s pocket shattered in rapid succession.

A colossal barrier akin to an iron wall encased Laria and Sienna.

The observing sorcerers’ eyes widened in shock, but there was no time to verify their reactions.

Laria immediately completed her next spell.

Bars of light erupted from the ground, caging Sienna within.

Straining to break free of her bindings, Sienna forcibly summoned more power.

“…!”

Blood trickled from Sienna’s eyes.

Oblivious to her own condition, she recklessly unleashed spell after spell.

Witnessing the scene unfold, Laria bit her lip in apprehension.

‘Could she be about to go into mana overload…?’

The amount of innate magic power varied among sorcerers. If one possessed a bucketful, another might have a pondful. Conventionally, one could safely expend up to half their maximum capacity.

But what would happen if they forcibly depleted their entire reserve?

In the past, a sorcerer had experimented with this concept…

Losing all sense of reason, they had unleashed magic indiscriminately until their life force was expended.

This phenomenon was termed ‘mana overload.’

Laria turned toward Marquis Hashir seated in the audience.

As the Sorcery Office Head, he should surely recognize the precursors of mana overload.

Yet upon meeting the Marquis’s gaze, Laria’s lips tightened into a grim line.

The Marquis’s expression was one of utter serenity, as if anticipating this very outcome.

Laria had expected the Marquis to employ any means necessary to subdue her. But to gamble his own daughter’s life…

The fluctuating magic power converged, forming a vortex beneath Sienna’s feet.

Laria immediately recognized the spell Sienna intended to cast.

She had to stop it before its completion, lest everything in the vicinity be utterly obliterated without a trace.

“Sienna, stop.”

“…”

“You might die.”

Despite Laria’s warning, Sienna showed no reaction whatsoever. It seemed no words could reach her now, her only murmurs being the repeated refrain to ‘kill.’

Finally, as the spell neared completion, the crimson vortex surged toward Laria.

Simultaneously, a brilliant white light erupted from Laria.

The collision of their spells unleashed a blinding flash.

The spectators instinctively squeezed their eyes shut as an immense shockwave swept through the building.

Though a portion of the barrier crumbled, miraculously, no one was injured.

Staggering, Sienna attempted to cast another spell, summoning her magic power even as she violently coughed up blood.

Leaving her no choice, Laria unleashed her magic power directly at Sienna.

As if struck by a blunt force, Sienna’s body slowly crumpled.

Before she could collapse to the floor, two arms caught her.

Recognizing her captor, Sienna uttered a single word in a voice that seemed on the verge of fading.

“Liri.”

With that, her eyelids slid shut.

For an instant, Laria’s heart nearly stopped, but thankfully, Sienna was still breathing.

“…”

A heavy silence enveloped the dueling arena.

No one dared make a sound, all eyes transfixed on the two of them.

Laria removed her robe, laying it on the floor before gently positioning Sienna upon it.

Rising to her feet, Laria turned her gaze toward Marquis Hashir.

His rigidly frozen expression betrayed shock and dawning realization.

Witnessing her offensive and defensive spells, he had finally deduced that Laria was the unidentified sorcerer who had repeatedly thwarted him.

Before the audience of thousands, Laria spoke.

“I, Laria Rohan, hereby challenge Marquis Banesion Hashir to a duel.”