Emperor's harem: Transmigrated with SSS mana talent
Chapter 80: [Duel]

Chapter 80: [Duel]

"If you are willing to wager so much on such a gamble, then so be it.

I accept."

Robin’s jaw clenched as he exchanged a worried glance with Kael.

The prince’s acceptance had sealed their fates.

Later, the garden was silent.

The clearing had been swept clean, the air sharp with tension. Even the birds seemed to hold their songs.

Kael stood alone, fastening the last clasp of his enchanted leather armor.

It was lighter than steel but layered with quiet protections — practical, unassuming.

Across from him, the Crown Prince stood tall in ceremonial dueling armor: polished, gilded, and utterly confident.

Elara sat quietly on a stone bench beneath the shade of an old tree, hands folded on her lap. Her gaze stayed fixed on Kael, unreadable.

Above, the sky was clear. Too clear.

Robin raised his staff and took his place between them — the appointed referee.

Kael’s thoughts raced.

I’ve never fought as Kaelion Drenlor...

Well— a faint smile ghosted across his lips, —unless you count that divine intervention.

Kael didn’t want anyone connecting him with it.

With the devil.

With the blackened remnants of something that wasn’t entirely human anymore.

That power — it was a shadow.

A secret.

A weapon he’d never unsheathe in the light of courtly eyes.

So he had made a decision.

A hard one.

The devil would be a swordsman.

A master of the blade, silent and deadly.

But KaelionDrenlor — the heir of Velmora, the Chosen One of the War God Temple — would be something else entirely.

A prodigy of magic.

That would be his identity. His mask. His power.

He steadied his breath and reviewed his arsenal.

Three spells.

One Rank 1. Two Rank 2s.

Plundered from the elite students of the Magic Academy.

Not rare, not restricted — but refined through experience.

He’d used them enough times now to bend them, reshape them.

They were crude tools once.

Now they were his.

But beyond Rank 2... that was where the veil fell. That was where the Church, the Clans, etc began their censorship.

Kael clenched his fists once.

No mistakes.

No flare.

He doesn’t even use a sword.

That truth lingered bitterly in Kael’s mind.

Back then — when he’d drawn the blade during that divine intervention. — it had been a mistake.

He would correct that now.

As Kael tightened the last strap on his gauntlet, Elara’s voice reached him — soft, but not without edge.

"You’re not using a sword?"

Kael glanced at her, then chuckled lightly, almost playfully.

"Actually," he said,

"I’m much better with spells. Swordplay’s never been for me."

She didn’t respond. But she didn’t look away either.

Soon, the two men stood across from each other on the garden’s packed earth.

The prince gleamed in gold-accented dueling armor, a sword at his side. Blade and spell both.

Kael observed him quietly. It will be difficult, he admitted to himself.

But not impossible.

Not with his advantage.

The SSS-ranked Mana Control flowed in him like a second breath.

He could absorb mana faster. Learn faster. Cast faster.

No complex gestures.

What others needed seconds for, Kael could compress into a blink.

That was his edge.

Robin raised his staff, clearing his throat.

"As referee, I must ask: what is your rank, my lord?"

He looked to Kael first.

Before Kael could respond, the prince let out a sharp laugh.

"Oh, please," he said loudly, glancing at the watching nobles.

"I heard he only just awakened his ’gift’. Rank One at best. Why bother with the question?"

Kael met Robin’s eyes.

"Rank Two," he said evenly.

Silence fell like a blade.

The prince blinked. "What?"

Elara’s brows lifted, a breath caught in her throat.

"...Truly, my lord?" Robin asked, his voice quieter now — not out of doubt, but out of a cautious respect.

Kael gave a slight nod.

Robin turned to the prince.

The Crown Prince didn’t hesitate.

"Rank Three."

There was pride in his voice.

Robin inclined his head, raising his staff.

"Then, by the rules of formal royal duel," he said clearly, voice carrying over the garden,

"To ensure fairness... both duelants shall restrict themselves to RankTwo spells and below. Any use of Rank Three magic will result in immediate disqualification."

The prince gave a shallow nod. "Understood."

Kael said nothing, but his eyes never left his opponent.

A breeze passed between them, stirring the trimmed grass and faint petals scattered on the ground.

Robin took a step back.

"The duel begins—" his staff struck the ground once, sharp, final "—

now."

The word struck the air like a blade drawn.

The prince moved first — fast, fluid, lethal.

His footwork carved across the gravel, sword already igniting with flame.

The technique was familiar: Royal Sword Style, one of the kingdom’s signature combat arts.

Kael didn’t move.

Not at first.

He simply raised one palm.

"Arcanum Vortex."

A humming ball of mana spun to life in his hand, light bending around it.

Then another. Then another.

Robin blinked.

"Three?" he muttered under his breath.

The prince’s blade whistled through the air. He came in low, eyes sharp, aura flaring.

The first vortex met him mid-swing — detonating in a blast that shattered stone and sent the prince staggering sideways, cloak ablaze.

Kael flung the second.

The prince deflected it — barely — the blast knocking him into a tree trunk with a thud. Leaves rained around his scorched armor.

"By the gods," Robin whispered. "He’s faster than the academy duelists."

Elara stood beside him, silent. Watching. Unblinking.

"I remember," she murmured, "when he couldn’t even light a candle."

Kael’s hair fluttered in the aftershock wind, his expression unreadable.

The prince roared — more from shame than pain.

"You think cheap tricks make you strong?!"

He dashed forward again — this time with fire magic on his blade.

"Flame Spiral!"

A trail of fire arced around him as he moved, turning his body into a deadly spinning inferno.

Kael stepped back.

"Mana Shield."

A glowing dome wrapped around him.

The prince’s spiral smashed into it.

The shield held — for two seconds.

Then cracked.

Then shattered.

Kael flew back, tumbling across the gravel with a grunt, smoke rising from his shoulder.

The prince followed, sword overhead.

Kael raised his hand mid-roll.

"Arcanum Vortex."

Again.

The prince faltered — how was he casting again so fast?

Kael flung the sphere directly at the prince’s legs.

Boom!

The lower half of the prince’s armor was blown to ruin. His shin was split open. Blood sprayed across the stones.

The prince screamed.

Elara turned her face slightly — not from disgust, but concern.

Not for the prince. For Kael.

Robin’s brow furrowed.

"This is not normal," he muttered. "That rate of casting... it’s—"

"It’s impossible," Elara said. "Unless—"

"—he’s not just casting."

They both looked at Kael again.

He was already standing, one arm limp from the earlier shield impact, the other glowing with two more Arcanum Vortex spheres.

Robin swallowed.

"If given time," he said quietly,

"He could cast a dozen of those in seconds. It’s like he’s not just using mana. He’s bending the very rhythm of spellcraft."

The prince charged again, favoring his right leg — face wild now, bleeding, furious.

"NO MORE GAMES!"

He activated another fire spell.

"Scorching Pillars!"

Flames erupted around Kael — four vertical infernos collapsing inward.

Kael leapt — but not away.

Toward the prince.

His eyes glowed.

"Arcanum Vortex."

"Arcanum Vortex."

Two more cast mid-air. In under a second.

The first he launched downward — shattering the incoming fire pillar with a blinding explosion.

The second?

He crushed in his hand.

The mana burst didn’t go out.

It went in — into his arm, into his shoulder — and with it, Kael punched the prince in the face.

A crater bloomed in the garden path.

The prince’s head slammed into the ground with a crack. His nose collapsed. Blood erupted from his mouth.

He twitched—

Once.

Twice.

Then the prince collapsed, unconscious, his blood smearing the shattered stone.

Kael let out a raw scream.

His arm—twisted, blackened from backlash—hung useless at his side.

The pain hit all at once, and he dropped to one knee, gasping.

"Kael!" Elara rushed forward, but froze halfway, eyes wide.

Robin stared, stunned. "What... what was that?!"